Our Subaru will be two years old in a few weeks.  I had it in for the scheduled 30,000-mile service two days ago.  I wouldn’t say I like that I’ve put this many miles on our car in two years, but that’s life.  We live a fair distance from the city; I worked four days a week and made three extra trips downstate (not including the one for MIL’s funeral) to deal with all the estate stuff.  Now that I’m no longer working, we aren’t putting near as many miles on our car. With the rise of car prices, our Subaru now shows a guaranteed trade-in price of a smidge over $30,000.  ..read more

Leave no stone dime unturned.  “If you say that you will leave no stone unturned, you are emphasizing that you will try every way you can think of in order to achieve what you want.”  ~ Collins Dictionary. Being focused on handling our finances using the approach of A Dime at a Time, I prefer my version of this old saying!  For years now, I have done a lot of blog reading related to frugality.  Add watching YouTube to the mix, and that is a whole lot of frugality! Lately, and seemingly more so on YouTube, the topic of “frugality overload” seems to be quite prevalent.&n ..read more

We are getting a tent, courtesy of Hub’s company!  I mentioned several blog posts ago about Hubs receiving a rewards catalog to choose a gift.  More or less a random thing, plus a boss can give out additional certificates.  I thought Hubs might want to get a new tablet as his current one is getting slow.  Hubs ended up choosing to get a Coleman 4 person tent.  He could also choose one other item from the “lower-level” of the catalog, so he chose an insulated cooler backpack thing.  Purchasing a tent has been something that we have discussed from time to time.  ..read more

The drama of my MIL’s estate continues.  Today we received an email from “our” (Hub’s and good SIL) attorney.  In essence, it said that the ball is now in the hands of the attorney for the nasty SIL.  It also noted that nasty SIL had replied to her attorney, who now needs to discuss the division of assets.  Hmm, from what we’ve read in the trust, the division isn’t up to any one person.  If the siblings can’t reach an agreement, they are to take turns choosing items.  But it gets better… Our attorney wanted to know about the clause regarding settling the estate in ..read more

Today is my youngest Alaskan grandson’s birthday.  I usually send each grandchild (7 of them!) $25 for birthdays and Christmas.  It isn’t a large amount, but enough that they can buy themselves a little something.  Given the inflation we are experiencing, I probably should increase the amount. This year I am doing something a little different.  I am sending the grandkids Amazon gift cards via email.  Living in Alaska, my daughter and her family do a lot of shopping via Amazon.  Sending an e-card saves me the worry of the check reaching them, the cost of a regular ..read more

I’m not sure what I could have googled that is now giving me all sorts of ads related to liver health.  Ad after ad, they are all about me having a dying or fatty liver.  Good grief.  Per my routine labs from my physical last month, my liver is fine.  I’m curious what type of ads pop up for you? While my labs for my liver showed no concerns, my LDL cholesterol was a smidge over the limit.  My PA told me to add oatmeal to my diet, which I am doing.  My blood sugar was over the range by one.  Given that my father was diabetic (as was one of his sisters), today ..read more

When it comes to saving money, packing your lunch seems to be one of the most listed items.  When (as in the case with Hubs) you’re an over-the-road trucker, multiple this by all three meals, packing your food becomes a huge money saver!  However, when driving a day cab, homemade meals are nearly impossible to do, which means eating most meals out. When Hubs was working for a company flying him back and forth to work out on the East Coast, meals were a significant expense.  Probably more so for him as he does (thankfully) opt for healthier choices.  Switching jobs over a ye ..read more

All is well at MIL’s house.  The tree that supposedly fell on the roof did no damage.  Based on my son’s pictures, we can’t help but question if the tree even fell on the house.  Nasty SIL wanted that tree removed, and we think this may be her way of making us pay for it.  More furniture items have been removed from the house.  I can’t say that came as a surprise.  The attorney Hubs and good SIL hired sent an email to the nasty SIL’s attorney.  Hubs and good SIL received a copy.  Now it will be more waiting.  Sad, but I think settling this estate wi ..read more

Yesterday I wrote about us being unable to get in touch with who I refer to as “The good SIL” regarding what was going on with MIL’s house/estate.  Hubs managed to get in touch with one of her children and gave Hubs the cell number for SIL’s husband.  The nephew said his mother often has trouble navigating her phones.  (One Family One Income, does this sound familiar?) I’m not sure why we didn’t have brother-in-law’s cell number in our contacts.  I guess we’ve always just connected with him via their landline.  Anyhow, the good SIL is fine.  Technology is not her ..read more

We have another 14+ inches of the white stuff headed our way starting later on tonight.  I haven’t looked at how much snow we’ve been hit with this year, but for sure, it has been more than last year.  I had an appointment scheduled for some follow-up lab work tomorrow, but now, with this storm, I have rescheduled it for next week.  There is no sense for me to be out in the storm if I can avoid it. Hubs and his good sister received a group text from their nasty sister yesterday.  She sent a copy of the tax statement and then said a tree had fallen in MIL’s house.  The ..read more