I always thought that infants and kids would be the hardest part of raising a child. LOL!!
It is physically demanding and they have 1000’s of books to resource on sleeping, eating, behaviour, learning... not so much with kids in their 20’s.
This week my oldest encountered dental issues that had to be taken care of. $1900 of surgery issues and $50 of medications. This office doesn’t bill insurance, you have to send it in after the fact. But when you don’t have $1900 available on your credit card (because your limit is $1800) and you don’t have that much cash...Mom to the rescue.
There will be reimbursement of likely $800-900 by the insurance, but that is it. The importance of having some extra money around is very clear. While I was getting medications I thought that the fridge was pretty low on fluids for someone that can’t eat solids, so I added smoothies, ginger ale, sports drinks, broth soups. I’m so happy that I could do that. 30 years ago I needed a huge surgery to have my wisdom teeth out. I was hospitalized. My parental units wouldn’t help with a penny of the cost. It was $800. They also felt no need to be with me. My sibling had all of her dental work through high school and college including COSMETIC paid out of pocket by my parents. I didn’t even see a dentist between the ages of 12-20. I couldn’t imagine treating my kids so differently.
I guess that is how they saved money. Pretend that you only have one child.
We have been trapped inside with very cold temperatures here for the last week. I would really like to get away on vacation. It hasn’t been booked yet. Waiting for some dates we have to be at home added to the calendar. The dh has been on his yearly diet/fitness try for all of January. He’s not happy with the scale, but his digestive issues are so much better without a pail of Diet Pepsi and a bag of chips every day. (Go figure). Kid 3 is enjoying the fitness equipment that we’ve bought. Very dedicated to exercising daily. So that is nice. It gives dh a workout partner too! The rap music pumping through the house is a bit much for me and the dog but we will survive! LOL.
Kid 1 has been texting me and looks to be recovering really well. I’m relieved. That is the part that I worry about, not the money.
I had a huge find in my “Clean and Purge” last week. In a drawer were 5 gift cards (to the same place) and I didn’t know if they had money on them. I took them into the store yesterday - $100!! Wowza! Happy day for me! I already know that I will use this for a xmas present for one of the kids for next year.
Have a good week!
The good things:
Having money in the bank of Mom
Having appreciative kids
Finding $$
Things that suck:
Painful dental work
Having to pay for painful dental work
-40 windchill
Saturday, January 19, 2019
Friday, January 11, 2019
2019 Simple and Splurges
This is my personal splurge year.
I bought a new iPad and a keyboard to attach. The keyboard takes a bit of adjustment compared to my one at work, but I like being able to type normally. I’m also able to add pictures now, and comment easier on others blogs. I bought a lamp for my livingroom so that I can see to read in the evenings. I bought a printer so that kid#3 can do homework easier, we bought a home gym so that kid#3 and dh can do workouts at home instead of the $50 a month gym.
Our Christmas was small. Just us and and kids. I prefer that now instead of trying to make uncomfortable chit chat with jerk family. I took a week off work to relax and catch up on sleep. I averaged 2 hours of extra sleep a day!!
I did a shwack of baking. (That means a ton). Cookies and squares mostly. And 2/3 of it was gifts for the neighbours.
I got lovely gifts that I appreciate and enjoy from DH and the kids. My parents gave $$ which is good and my MIL gave me a gift card. She also gave me a horrid smelly candle. Somehow it made its way into a donation pile 😉. I actually got 5 candles for xmas, plus a wax melting pot. (Maybe my house stinks??)
Dh and I talked about taking the 3 of us on a hot holiday. It will be to Mexico. Not visiting the US until there is a change in government. Like almost all of my co-workers as well. Canadian politics is bad, but hoo boy, what a circus going on (not a fun one to watch either) I am sick to death of that con man on our t.v.
It is soon 7 years that I have been mortgage free!! I am planning my retirement date already. Freedom 55 here I come!! Because I am only working part time it does take quite a bit of planning to reach the numbers that I need to make that a reality. The markets are doing very poor these days, so this year I am doing my TFSA (Tax Free Savings Account) in a GIC. Super low interest rate, but safe and will be short term and hopefully reinvest in a year or 2 when the markets are doing better.
2019 will be the year that I free myself from many things. I am cleaning and purging many aspects. Both physical and emotional. I have too much stuff, too much baggage. Too many things in the way, too many things holding me down, too much that I keep- just in case.
Simple makes me happy. I don’t like things complicated and intense anymore. I get exhausted from almost nothing. I have to pace myself all of the time. It is my new normal.
Right now I am enjoying the flock of birds in my backyard chirping away as they jostle for space at my bird feeder. My $2 feeder and $6 of birdseed have given hours of enjoyment! Sparrows, chickadees and blue jays seem to be my most frequent visitors.
I bought a new iPad and a keyboard to attach. The keyboard takes a bit of adjustment compared to my one at work, but I like being able to type normally. I’m also able to add pictures now, and comment easier on others blogs. I bought a lamp for my livingroom so that I can see to read in the evenings. I bought a printer so that kid#3 can do homework easier, we bought a home gym so that kid#3 and dh can do workouts at home instead of the $50 a month gym.
Our Christmas was small. Just us and and kids. I prefer that now instead of trying to make uncomfortable chit chat with jerk family. I took a week off work to relax and catch up on sleep. I averaged 2 hours of extra sleep a day!!
I did a shwack of baking. (That means a ton). Cookies and squares mostly. And 2/3 of it was gifts for the neighbours.
I got lovely gifts that I appreciate and enjoy from DH and the kids. My parents gave $$ which is good and my MIL gave me a gift card. She also gave me a horrid smelly candle. Somehow it made its way into a donation pile 😉. I actually got 5 candles for xmas, plus a wax melting pot. (Maybe my house stinks??)
Dh and I talked about taking the 3 of us on a hot holiday. It will be to Mexico. Not visiting the US until there is a change in government. Like almost all of my co-workers as well. Canadian politics is bad, but hoo boy, what a circus going on (not a fun one to watch either) I am sick to death of that con man on our t.v.
It is soon 7 years that I have been mortgage free!! I am planning my retirement date already. Freedom 55 here I come!! Because I am only working part time it does take quite a bit of planning to reach the numbers that I need to make that a reality. The markets are doing very poor these days, so this year I am doing my TFSA (Tax Free Savings Account) in a GIC. Super low interest rate, but safe and will be short term and hopefully reinvest in a year or 2 when the markets are doing better.
2019 will be the year that I free myself from many things. I am cleaning and purging many aspects. Both physical and emotional. I have too much stuff, too much baggage. Too many things in the way, too many things holding me down, too much that I keep- just in case.
Simple makes me happy. I don’t like things complicated and intense anymore. I get exhausted from almost nothing. I have to pace myself all of the time. It is my new normal.
Right now I am enjoying the flock of birds in my backyard chirping away as they jostle for space at my bird feeder. My $2 feeder and $6 of birdseed have given hours of enjoyment! Sparrows, chickadees and blue jays seem to be my most frequent visitors.
They aren’t the most beautiful birds, but they sing happily.
I also have enjoyed this morning’s snow. Soft and fluffy, making everything look clean. I had to run a quick trip to get some laundry fabric softener as I was out. I don’t dry my clothes in the dryer and they get a bit “crispy” without it. Sometimes I will throw the air dried clothes into the dryer with a fabric softener sheet, but that is just an extra step that I don’t wan’t to do.
Well, no reason to procrastinate doing the laundry now... so off I go!
Happy 2019 to everyone!!
The Good Things:
My little family
My grown kids that thank me for what I did for them when they were little.
Costco Sweet Potato Crackers (Man I LOVE these)
Things that Suck:
My parental units
Aches, pains and exhaustion.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)