Up until now, just the basement of my old house was rented. Since I still had a lot of belongings there I still paid the heat/electricity, water and internet. One of MO's friends was renting the basement for a flat fee of $600 and that was working very well as I trust him so was ok with my belongings still being there. Plus we were able to get some much needed repairs done while still having some rent coming in. Now that I am finally out of there I let him know that if he stays rent will increase to $1200 as of March 1, or if he moves out, I will raise rent to $1500. I am ok with losing the $300 a month to have someone I trust in my property so was really hoping he would stay. Got great news yesterday, MO's brother is going to be moving in to the other half of the house, he is friends with the current renter and will be paying the other $600 a month!

This is awesome! So that will be an extra $600 a month in rent, plus they will now be resp for heat/electricity (est $100 per month) plus internet ($55 per month). So that is an extra $755 per month in my pocket!

AND I still get the benefit of having people I trust in there!

I made a goal for this year to write down whenever we throw away any food to see how many dollars we are throwing in the garbage. Today is day 27 and I haven't thrown away anything yet!

That means we ate the leftovers of some soup I made that was supposed to be Beer Cheese Soup, but tasted ONLY of onion (YUCK!). I put my turning brown bananas into my daily Shakeology even when they are D E A D. I have also been putting in some skim milk to try to use it up as well as 0% Greek Yogurt, both past the expiration dates.

I have never been one to follow expiration dates much, but I do use common sense to make sure me or my family doesn't get sick.

I think I can use the rest of the Greek Yogurt up in the next week or so in my shakes. The skim milk is probably ready to be dumped so I will have to jot that one down.

The goal of not wanting to have to write anything down has really helped with making sure that things get used up. I know if we weren't doing this there would have been a LOT more waste, so I am super happy with how it is going so far!

*ETA - Today I ate the last of our celery for a snack. Tonight I noticed that a lot of salad supplies were looking pretty close to the end of their days, so I made 4 salads. One for me, one for MO and two I put in tupperwares for tomorrow. This finished off an expired bag of salad, an expired bag of spinach, and a bag of snowpeas. Also put a good dent in our peppers and carrots.

Our new stainless steel appliances came in a few weeks ago. I am so happy to have working appliances! We got a good Black Friday Deal through Best Buy and it is at 0% interest through June 2017. I already set up the auto pay so that we don't have to worry about missing a payment, and we will have it paid off before the due date. We are selling the old microwave and fridge. The stove and dishwasher were both old and broken so Best Buy took them away to recycle for free.

Before pic:


After pic:

Shoot I just realized I didn't post my debt update numbers for 1/8/16, so here are the last 2 updates!

1/8/16 Update

Celebrations for 1/8/16 update:
-Total debt went down $365.39 this update
-Store Loan went under the next $1000 mark!

Student Loan $0
Payback Savings $0
David's Bridal $0
Scheel's Card $0
Total Rewards $0
LOC - US Bank $0
Ring Iddeal $0
Loan from Mom $13,487.44
Store Loan $12,901.86
HELOC $28,830.17
MO Mortgage $88,051.53
My Mortgage $158,190.00
Our Mortgage $255,775.94
Total = $557,236.94

$365.39 paid off in the last 2 weeks!!

Starting total was $584,391.18.
$27,154.24 paid off since 6/19/15 (including downpayment on house)

We have $4080.00 in a savings account to pay off my Mom, so the amount we still owe her is $9,407.44.

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1/22/16 Update

I added our new appliances with Best Buy. We got new stainless steel fridge, microwave, dishwasher and oven. They are so pretty! We have the money in savings to pay for them, but Best Buy was offering 0% for 18 months so we decided to do that and we will pay it off a month or 2 before it is due. I set up auto payments this morning of $50 a month to make sure there are no issues with that, the 0% is good until June 2017. The old fridge and microwave we will be selling. The old stove and dishwasher were junk so we had Best Buy haul them away for recycling at no charge when they brought the new appliances.



Celebrations for 1/22/16 update:
-All of our debts went down this update except for the Mom Loan!
-Rental #1 went under the next $1000 mark!
-Rental #2 went under the next $1000 mark!
-Total debt went under the next $1000 mark! (other then adding the appliances)
-Total debt went down $1191.83! (other then adding the appliances).



Student Loan $0
Payback Savings $0
David's Bridal $0
Scheel's Card $0
Total Rewards $0
LOC - US Bank $0
Ring Iddeal $0
Best Buy $2900.00
Loan from Mom $13,487.44
Store Loan $12,790.58
HELOC $28,583.33
MO Mortgage $87,881.72
My Mortgage $157,890.00
Our Mortgage $255,412.04
Total = $558,945.11

Up $1708.17 in the last 2 weeks since we added the appliances.

Starting total was $587,351.27
$28,406.16 paid off since 6/19/15 (including downpayment on house)

We have $4105.00 in a savings account to pay off my Mom, so the amount we still owe her is $9,382.44.

Oh my that is a LOT! The good news is I saved almost $70!

The cost for the food for our dog is $16.24 for a 15.5lb bag at our local store (there is only a grocery store and a hardware store to buy dog food in our small town).

I just ordered (8) 31.1lb bags from jet.com, total was $237.44, I got $10.64 off for ordering a larger quantity, and then 15% off ($34.08) for placing a new order today (I assume this is for everyone?). No shipping and no tax! So total for 248.8lbs of dog food was $192.72! (Instead of $260 at the grocery store!) Plus MO will be happy he doesn't have to lug the bags of dog food home all the time. I believe this will last us about 10 months.

I don't think jet.com is always the cheapest option, but it is working good for us for dog food!

Current Balance $11,835.00
+$25.00 MO Payday to Our Savings
+$12.00 Bball Savings
+$34.00 FB Sales
+$4.00 Even Out Amount
Balance $11,910.00

Local Savings $2625.00
GC Savings $725.00
Capital 360 Savings (US) $3205.00
Capital 360 Savings (Mom Payback Account)$4105.00
Capital 360 Savings (Rental Deposit Account) $1250.00
Total Savings = $11,910.00

52 Week Challenge
2015 - Week 52 = $1378
2016 - Week 3 $3 (total) + $3 (deposit) = $6

FB Sales for last week were $69.00!

Sale #390 (SC) $10.00
Flashmob Eyeliner Set - Joint with Mom
We paid $1.31
Sold for $3.00
Profit = $1.69

POP Hair Boutique - Joint with Mom
We paid $2.56
Sold for $6.00
Profit = $3.44

Pepsi Lip Balm - Joint with Mom
We paid .22
Sold for $1.00
Profit = .78

Sale #391 (CO) $6.00
Emergency Vehicle Toy Set - Joint with Mom
We paid $2.65
Sold for $6.00
Profit = $3.35

Sale #392 (RB) $5.00
Desktop Boxing Bag - Joint with Mom
We paid $3.99
Sold for $5.00
Profit = $1.01
(I accidentally marked this too low, oops!)

Sale #393 (JT) $5.00
Desktop Drum Set - Joint with Mom
We paid $2.65
Sold for $5.00
Profit = $2.35

Sale #394 (SR) $39.00
Desktop Drum Set - Joint with Mom
We paid $2.65
Sold for $5.00
Profit = $2.35

Headphones - Joint with Mom
We paid $2.65
Sold for $6.00
Profit = $3.35

Gummy Bear Making Set - Joint with Mom
We paid $5.31
Sold for $12.00
Profit = $6.69

Meditation Fountain Large - Joint with Mom
We paid $2.65
Sold for $6.00
Profit = $3.35

Frozen Fan Set - Joint with Mom
We paid $2.65
Sold for $5.00
Profit = $2.35

Star Wars Fan/Light Saber Set - Joint with Mom
We paid $2.65
Sold for $5.00
Profit = $2.35

Sale #395 (DA) $4.00
Slipper Socks (2)- Joint with Mom
We paid .32 each
Sold for $2.00 each
Profit = $3.36

Most of the clearance items my Mom found at Target are well...Christmasy..lol. So most of them will be boxed up till next November rather then trying to sell now. But there were a few things that I kept out to sell and these were 90% off deals on everything so next Christmas we will have some nice profits coming in!

I am not going to put the rummage sale prices on the Christmas items right now as I am not marking them at this time. These items are all split with my Mom for cost and profit.

Philips Mini Lights (Bought 2)
Regular Price $11.99
-10.72 Clearance Price
Final Price = $1.27 each after tax
*ETA - Sold 1 for $5.00 on FB on 12/10/17

Philips Net Lights (Bought 1)
Regular Price $16.99
-15.19 Clearance Price
Final Price = $1.80 after tax
*ETA - Sold for $7.00 on FB on 11/24/19
Profit = $5.20

Mini Lights (Bought 1)
Regular Price $2.99
-2.68 Clearance Price
Final Price = .31 after tax
*ETA - Sold for $2.00 on FB on 11/26/17
Profit = $1.69

Tonka Police Car (Bought 1)
Regular Price $3.99
-$3.56 Clearance Price
Final Price = $.43 after tax
(Marked $2.00 for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold for $2.00 at 9/23/16 rummage sale

Slipper Socks (Bought 2)
Regular Price $3.00
-$2.68 Clearance Price
Final Price = $.32 after tax
(Marked $2.00 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold both pairs for $2.00 each on FB on 1/21/16
Profit = $3.36

Spiderman Electric Toothbrush Set (Bought 2)
Regular Price $11.98
-$10.07 Clearance Price
Final Price = $1.91 each after tax
(Marked $6.00 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 1 for $6.00 on FB on 8/22/16
*ETA - Sold 1 for $6.00 at 10/1/16 rummage sale
Profit = $8.18

Reindeer Booties (Bought 1)
Regular Price $7.99
-$7.15 Clearance Price
Final Price = $.84 after tax
*ETA - Sold for $3.00 at 10/1/16 rummage sale
Profit = $2.16

Table Runner (Bought 1)
Regular Price $17.99
-$16.08 Clearance Price
Final Price = $1.91 after tax
*ETA - Sold for $6.00 on FB on 11/18/16
Profit = $4.09

Cookie Exchange Kit (Bought 1)
Regular Price $10.00
-$8.93 Clearance Price
Final Price = $1.07 after tax
*ETA - Sold for $5.00 on FB on 12/2/18
Profit = $3.93

Elf on the Shelf Mini Blankies (Bought 2)
Regular Price $9.98
-$9.46 Clearance Price Each
Final Price = $.52 each after tax
*ETA - Sold 1 for $3.00 on FB on 11/18/16
*ETA - Sold 1 for $3.00 on FB on 11/5/17
Profit = $4.96

Rudolph Socks (Bought 1)
Regular Price $3.98
-$3.59 Clearance Price
Final Price = $.42 after tax
*ETA - Sold for $1.50 on FB on 11/12/17
Profit = $1.08

Mens Christmas Boxers (Bought 1)
Regular Price $5.99
-$5.36 Clearance Price
Final Price = $.63 after tax
(Keeping these for MO)

Santa Dresses with Cardigans (Bought 5)
Regular Price $9.99
-$8.94 Clearance Price
Final Price = $1.05 each after tax
*ETA - Gave 1 as a gift
*ETA - Sold 1 for $5.00 on FB on 11/18/16
*ETA - Sold 2 for $5.00 each on FB on 12/11/16
*ETA - Sold 1 for $5.00 on FB on 12/18/16
Profit = $15.80

"Kiss Me" Onesie (Bought 3)
Regular Price $9.99
-$8.94 Clearance Price
Final Price = $1.05 each after tax
*ETA - Sold 1 for $5.00 on FB on 11/18/16
*ETA - Sold 1 for $5.00 on FB on 12/11/16
*ETA - Sold 1 for $5.00 on FB on 12/18/16
Profit = $11.85

"Santa's Helper" Onesie (Bought 2)
Regular Price $9.99
-$8.94 Clearance Price
Final Price = $1.05 each after tax
*ETA - Sold 2 for $5.00 each on FB on 12/18/16
Profit = $7.90

Christmas Sleepers (Bought 4)
Regular Price $8.99
-$8.04 Clearance Price
Final Price = $.95 each after tax
*ETA - Sold 1 for $4.00 on FB on 11/18/16
*ETA - Sold 1 for $5.00 on FB on 11/18/16
*ETA - Sold 1 for $5.00 on FB on 12/11/16
*ETA - Sold 1 for $3.00 on FB on 11/26/17
Profit = $13.20

Santa Sweatshirt (Bought 1)
Regular Price $10.00
-$8.93 Clearance Price
Final Price = $1.07 after tax
*ETA - This got damaged from moisture getting into the storage box before it got sold.
Loss = $1.07

Juniors T-shirts (Bought 1)
Regular Price $12.99
-$11.62 Clearance Price
Final Price = $1.37 after tax
*ETA - Sold for $4.00 on FB on 11/24/19
Profit = $2.63

Despicable Me T-shirts (Bought 1)
Regular Price $9.99
-$8.94 Clearance Price
Final Price = $1.05 after tax

Holiday T-shirts (Bought 4)
Regular Price $7.99
-$7.15 Clearance Price
Final Price = $.84 after tax
*ETA - As of 11/21/17 had to donate one to a friend as it had gotten discolored in storage.
*ETA - Sold 2 for $4.00 each on FB on 12/4/17
*ETA - Sold 1 for $3.00 on FB on 12/4/17
Profit = $7.64

Hello Kitty T-shirts (Bought 2)
Regular Price $9.99
-$8.94 Clearance Price
Final Price = $1.05 after tax
*ETA - Sold 1 for $5.00 on FB on 11/19/17
*ETA - Sold 1 for $4.00 on FB on 12/16/18
Profit = $6.90

Disney T-shirts (Bought 6)
Regular Price $9.00
-$8.04 Clearance Price
Final Price = $.96 each after tax
*ETA - Sold 2 Nightmare Before Christmas Shirts for $5.00 each on FB on 10/30/16
*ETA - Sold 2 Mickey T-shirts for $4.50 each on FB on 12/4/17

Peanuts T-shirts (Bought 1)
Regular Price $14.99
-$13.40 Clearance Price
Final Price = $1.59 each after tax
*ETA - Sold for $4.00 on FB on 11/24/19
Profit = $2.41

I sold one more Christmas Shirt (White with Reindeer) for $4.00 on 12/16/18, I am almost sure this shirt was from this haul. Possibly it just didn't get logged.

I started a "Never-Ending" To Do List back in July when I was getting ready for the wedding.

I absolutely love it and it helps me get things completed that I pushed off for a long time.

I have always been a big "list" person, and would have little lists all over the place and typically would get the easier tasks done and then the list gets thrown away and the junk I didn't want to do would never get done. Now with my never-ending list, I have a smaller size notebook and every day I write the date and every time I think of something I need to do I write it down even if I have no intentions of doing it today, or even this week or this month, at least it is on the list to eventually get done. Then the next day the same thing, etc. Many of the items are crossed off within the same day or week that I write them down (laundry, dishes, making a recipe, print off a form, renew library books, etc.) and then there are many that stay on there for weeks or even months (change name on passport, get MO a passport, use label maker, etc.).

The reason this works so good for me is because eventually every item that I have ignored will one day be the oldest item on the list....and I want to get the oldest items done....so once something is the oldest item I really work to get it done instead of leaving it. Right now the oldest 2 items on my list are change name with new mortgage company (9/6/15) (they gave me a laundry list of paper work to submit with it, so I am working on getting all of the papers together, relying on MO for some of them) and selling my old wedding ring set (9/19/15).

The name change I definitely would have done right away had it not come with about 20 hoops! When I changed my name on the mortgage for my bank, I just showed them my marriage cert and they changed it right away. With our new mortgage, they gave me a list of 10 items they need including my new SSN Card, a $10 fee (for a name change?!) and many other items.....super frustrating!

The ring I had tried to take around to several jewelry shops to see what they would offer. Unfortunately the best offers I was getting was around $400 (this was a $5000 set, 14K white gold, 2 ctw diamonds) because they all said they would take it all apart and make new jewelry out of it. I want to get rid of it, but I don't NEED the money and if they are only going to give $400 then I am just going to hold onto it for now. I did put it on a local selling site for $2500 so hoping to at least get some interest there...I think the lowest I would take would be $1000-$1500 and that is really sad as it is a beautiful ring, but I certainly understand people not wanting a "used" set.

So if you are like me and always have certain items that you just keep putting off this has helped me a lot to focus and get that old junk done!!

Well now that I don't have OT, at least I have about 10 hrs more a week to continue working on unpacking, cleaning, organizing and working out!

Since I work from home I get reimbursed for my internet service, but I have to submit the bill monthly for reimbursement. I went through all of my statements today and matched them up with my paystubs to make sure I didn't miss submitting any, and I have been reimbursed for all of them, so that is great and now those can get filed away.

MO and I started entering our taxes on Turbo Tax a few days ago, just wanting to get a general sense of where we are at since we had so many big changes this year. We don't have everything entered yet, but looks like we should be getting a refund of $1000-$2000 which would be great. I was very worried with having the rentals that we would have to pay in this year, but since it is the first year and we have a lot of expenses for getting them up and running it isn't going to hurt us on the refund side.

I also need to overhaul all of my files and move 2014 and 2015 papers from my yearly file to my permanent file. I usually do this every January, but last year at this time I was still dealing with a lot of stuff from XH and just didn't get around (or care to) do it.

We are back from mini vaca. MO was very surprised and we had a great time! Now we should be back to normal life till April-ish. Really going to work hard to cut back on unnecessary expenses, namely eating out, gambling and fuel. Also since OT is cancelled for now, I have been talking with my parents about doing work on their rentals and also possibly putting some hrs in at MO's grocery store. Oh also good news we talked to MO's bro and he is considering moving in as a roommate to my old house to live with MO's friend who currently lives in half of the house. That will be an extra $600 a month for rent PLUS an extra $100-$150 a month in saved utilities! We will make things work!


Current Balance $11,965.00
-$400.00 Mini Vaca
+$25.00 My Payday to Our Savings
+$25.00 My Payday to Mom Loan Savings
+$100.00 Football Win
+$120.00 FB Sales
Balance $11,835.00

Local Savings $2575.00
GC Savings $725.00
Capital 360 Savings (US) $3180.00
Capital 360 Savings (Mom Payback Account)$4105.00
Capital 360 Savings (Rental Deposit Account) $1250.00
Total Savings = $11,835.00

52 Week Challenge
2015 - Week 52 = $1378
2016 - Week 3 $3 (total) + $3 (deposit) = $6