Yesterday afternoon I dropped Hubs off for work. He will likely be out for at least a week. Since I was relatively close to town, I went and did a little shopping. I wanted to get a special card for my granddaughter’s best friend, who lost her father to ALS just a few days ago. We met her a few times when we would visit family downstate. The girls were inseparable. Last February, she (along with my daughter and her family) spent a week at our house, so we got to know her even better. Losing a parent at any age is tough, but I can’t even begin to imagine losing one at only 14 years of age. I also wanted to enclose a little something special for her with the card. Per my granddaughter’s suggestion, I got her a gift card for Starbucks. [Read more…]
I have written this blog post in my mind several times. Unfortunately, up until now, that is where it has stayed. Have you ever had an upcoming month or two where there are just too many variables? That is where I’m at, which leaves me to do a lot of financial figuring. 
A few short years ago, a $6,300 
I’m back at it today, playing with the pesky numbers. Before I delve into all what’s on my mind, let me first give a mini update as to where we currently stand with our debt payoff. As the usual, not a lot of change in the first half of December. We paid another $600 towards Citi, bringing it down to $4,200. Our Visa remains at $8440.44 as the statement closing date is later in the month. For those who dislike math, our total owed is now $12,640.44. 
The past week has been busy, both on a work level and personal level. I covered a lot more hours with the baby while his grandmother was out of town. I’m happy with the extra money I earned but will say I didn’t enjoy the early mornings, long days or my RLS symptoms which were exacerbated by being more tired. Those earnings certainly do come with a price! Anyhow, the purpose of today’s post isn’t to complain about my physical ailments. Tough decisions are what has been weighing heavily on my mind. 
Good news. Hubs is getting a raise! From what he heard, it is 2%. Unfortunately, he doesn’t yet know all the details as he was unavailable for the conference call to learn more about it. I’m sure he will get more info in the coming weeks. At least we know the raise is coming.