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Home > Archive: May, 2017

Archive for May, 2017

Bits and Pieces

May 31st, 2017 at 12:26 am

Little by little some things are selling on the FB lists, and I have a charity pickup tomorrow for some others. Tomorrow folks will pick up an air pump and DD's outgrown swim cover-up. Someone will come on Thursday for a few books. I've been a bit unhappy about not being able to add much to my 100K fund this month as I'll need my adjunct salary to help pay for our UK tickets, but delightfully, I got a check for $13.90 for a class action suit that I'll round up to $14 for a small but cheering addition. Tonight I'll go through more boxes of things to see if i can sell anything else. The cash is nice, but the real point is to clear some clutter. I'm also on a fridge clearing mission. Soup is in the future!

UK Planning and Spending

May 30th, 2017 at 01:56 am

We had our planning meeting with our daughter's BFF's family on Saturday night to talk through England planning. I think her mom really wants to join us! But it's all systems go--and I booked flights Sunday, and after looking at hotel prices in London, booked a two-bedroom airbnb for six nights instead. The airbnb also gives us plenty of options for breakfasts in, access to laundry facilities, and other meal options. It's a self-contained flat with a full kitchen etc. And--it's in my old neighborhood in London so I know the shops and transport very well. I thought about exploring a new part of the city, but finding a two-bedroom with three beds for under $200/night was a triumph. Now, of course, the girls want a day trip to Paris. DH would prefer to have a day to himself in London, maybe with his brother or BFF, so we'll trade off who has the girls so I can have the following day with my London colleagues.

Real life also progresses here. I spent more than I wanted to at the garden center, as usual. We spent Saturday clearing the raised beds and doing lots of weeding and chopping. I also drove DD to Half Price Books where happily we bought nothing and got $12 for her outgrown books. I'm making several boxes for the upcoming garage sale. Lots of things can go. Plenty to do!

Cash In and Junk Out

May 25th, 2017 at 02:02 pm

It's been kind of an odd money week. I spent nothing on Monday or Tuesday, but I needed two new headlights, and took the car to our local mechanic yesterday. He has a very hard time replacing these headlights--as has everyone who has tried in the past. He was rattled, cranky, and asked if I'd pay in cash for the seemingly slim $40 he charged. I only had $35 on me as I was expecting to put in on my card, but he was happy with that. I think he's doing some of that "under the table," but I like him,he specializes in this make, and he's six blocks away. I guess I saved $5? I also sold two jigsaw puzzles on the local FB list for $6, cashed $25 out of Swagbucks, and was paid for an editing job. The $425 is going into the 100K fund--very slowly building, but the interest rate there has gone up slightly.

Our water meter will be replaced by the village this morning. There's no charge but I'm waiting around for them to arrive and trying to find more things to sell.

Back from Door County

May 23rd, 2017 at 10:13 pm

I had a lovely five days with BFF in Door County. We used the airbnb where the family stayed last fall. The weather was not fabulous, but the cherry trees, forget-me-nots, and trilliums (trillia?) were all in bloom. We hiked a lot, took the ferry to Washington Island, ate delicious food, drank wine, watched movies, shopped, and talked and talked. My BFF is the best traveling buddy. We made lots of long-term plans and had a wonderful time.
My regular spring classes are done, graded, and projects headed for the shredder. Either students pick them up or off they go. I went to the university today and ran into pre-med students I'd had in my fall classes. They're lovely folks, and I told them I'd help with application materials. It's above and beyond, but I sure like them all. One young man has Syrian parents and is taking two years between now and med school to work in refugee camps. How can you say no to someone like that? Another young woman has been accepted to Kings College London and wants to sit down and talk London. Can you see why I like them?

My evening class continues with the other side of the socio-economic scale. I've got a student who is just out after 10 years in prison. Man alive, the stories.

So, I've spent a lot on Door County, our upcoming anniversary, and various things. We need to do a little belt tightening soon. I do have a few things listed on FB, but am traveling to Minneapolis in a few weeks for a friend's birthday which coincides with her neighborhood garage sale. We're all bringing things to sell so I plan on spending much of tomorrow gathering and pricing. I deposited two small rebate checks into the 100K fund. It needs a funds infusion. I need to make some lists.

More Spending

May 15th, 2017 at 05:19 pm

And the spending just continues. I think it started a week ago when I got a haircut. My local salon had a deal where you buy a $100 gift card and get an additional $20 added on to it. It's my regular spot, so there went that $100 on top of the haircut I'd already paid for. Then there were the sheets on Friday. Then there was $150 at Costco. Yesterday we had a lovely Mother's Day brunch. Some of this was a bit excessive, but yikes, it seems like a lot right now. I was hoping for a NS day today, but DD really needs some shorts and honestly, a good amount of new clothes. She's grown three inches in the last year, and not much fits.

Small economies (very small in retrospect) include taking home food from the dept picnic on Saturday, laundry on the line today, and a few small rebate checks. UK planning continues, and we've managed to wangle an invitation for two nights with friends outside Cambridge.

I'm determined to get my grades completely ready today, although I must plan my evening adjunct class too. I SO want to turn them in before I head to Door County with BFF on Wednesday (where I'll just spend more.) Sigh.

Bedding Buy

May 13th, 2017 at 05:57 am

I spent the morning at school proctoring a competition exam. I got some grading done while watching over the testers, said goodbye to more students, and came home and to promptly fall asleep for an hour. The endless sitting and grading is starting to get to me.

I looked all set for a NS day, but saw on a "bargain" website that Macy's had sheets on sale. We really need new sheets for our bed, but I may've also bought sheest in a London pattern for either DD's bed or the guest rooms. They were adorable, in a pretty blue that matches both her room and the guest room--and not so steep at $17/each. I also bought them through Swagbucks so will be getting a 6 percent rebate on them. The king-size sheets for our room were significantly more, but both sets of ours were in sad shape. As that sort of thing always does, it got me thinking maybe I should paint our room. It hasn't been painted since we moved in 14 years ago. The trouble is it has a deep red/burgundy carpet that doesn't go with much. We painted it a deep tobacco color, and I am very sick of it. I think I'd like a pretty gray since the woodwork and trim is white. ideally I'd like to recarpet, but that could wait.

See what happens when you spend some cash? You start thinking of more ways to spend more.


On a thriftier note, I sold eight of DD's books. I'm taking a $1 commission and giving her the other $7. I'm eager to get more posted, but those stacks of papers still need to be read.

Two Down, Two to Go

May 10th, 2017 at 05:54 pm

It's been a busy week, but I said goodbye to two of my classes this morning. They're so weary, but they were both good classes. I still have some grading to do for both of them, but they're the easy one. My health science writing classes will end tomorrow. I still have an avalanche of their papers to grade, and will spend the rest of today on those.

Tomorrow should also be full. After my classes there's the department award ceremony and I'm humbled to say I won the teaching award. I'm pleased to say it comes with some cash. It remains to be seen how much cash, but I'm happy about it no matter what.

We've sort of been coasting around here until my grading is done. I did cash $75 out of Swagbucks and put $50 in my 100K fund. we'll have 97599.32 to go. Little by little, I guess.

Plans are Being Made: Advice Needed

May 7th, 2017 at 02:58 am

So, we're off to the UK again this summer. DH needs to help clear up his parents' house, and it looks like DD's BFF will be joining us. I've just booked a cottage via airbnb, and we'll spend another week between London and someplace else.

I'm trying to figure out what to do about costs and could use your sage advice. The BFF's parents will pay airfare, but the usual cottage/car costs should be all ours. Should I just tell her parents to figure money for meals out? We may end up with two hotel rooms in London, and she'll need cash for tourist-y things. Any advice?

I will also have them buy travel insurance, and I guess we'll get a notarized letter etc from her parents authorizing travel.

Eight Days

May 4th, 2017 at 12:55 am

Eight days and 8000 papers from now to the end of classes. I don't have much other news. I think starting a diet during these last stress-filled weeks of the semester was probably a bad idea. But we're still working at it.

I deposited $1000 (rounding up) from my adjunct job into my 100K UK House goal and made a whopping 68 cents interest on it. You can see the totals in the sidebar.

I'm very eager to get started on house projects, go for a walk, read a book, eat down the freezer again. But first--back to the papers.