Friday Fiscal Wellness Check May 30, 2025

         

    I copy the previous week, delete the old and updated as I go along the week as a way even when busy and not in a blogging mind set I'm accountable to myself. Good thing some of us ordinary people accept accountability for ourselves, good or bad, unlike those that work in a certain large city without a state. Here's my recap of Friday, May 23 to Thursday, May 29.

Avoiding Spending/ Saving on Needs

• I moved my 1/2 day sub pay right to the sinking fund account. As I thought, they are under withholding because of the threshold of pay. I don't want to be caught off guard next tax time and I don't need the money for bills. 

Spent Intentionally

• Wanted to help my daughter pay off student loans that had previously been interest free; that's now cancelled. We've got a couple hoops to jump through but hope to settle it tomorrow when she and I are together a bit. We had taken a small loan each semester to help cash flow with the intent to pay off after she graduated. With interest frozen (Covid relief then her fellowships), I held off until now. The money is there in a designated college fund. There's grad school money there too.

Opportunities to add Funds/Windfalls 

• Entered Fetch receipts and played MS Rewards.
• I sure hope this isn't an issue, but the old credit card that I've tried repeatedly to updater in just my name, had a credit. I wasn't thinking and chose the option to have a check sent for the credit rather than try and spend it down. Sure enough, the check came in my husbands name. I signed, "For Deposit Only" and it is sitting as a pending deposit. Now that I have the AmEx, I'm just going to close that card entirely and avoid any future issue. 

Miscellaneous (added as a few things don't quite fit elsewhere)

• Not sure where to put this, but my first retirement account withdrawal was supposed to be deposited for June, but hasn't shown up yet. I'm glad I have no dire need to have access before I leave Sunday, but it's not ideal. The plan is it should hit my bank account on the 28th of each month. It'll take half a year at least to really see what my cash needs are and when. I've got a few big bills in July. 
• After spending a small fortune on bigger planters, all plants are repotted and seem to be thriving. I used natural rain to give them all a 16 hour outdoor shower. 
• I overbought by one planter/ plate and coincidentally that's what my daughter needs as she's doing some repotting so gave to her. 
• I also took advantage of a couple broken stems and started propagation of a new pothos using an old scratched large clear mug. One of my daughters will take the plant. Of course I saved the old planters. 
  
  
  

Then, there are often other things that impacted my check book that came up without much planning or notice, or an all-out splurge.

• I had a very late invite to a US wedding for my former office support specialist. He actually was married 18 months ago in India but it took a long time for her Visa and then the wedding celebration just came together quickly. I've never been to a Tibetan (his family had a hard multiple country immigration journey) wedding. We had done a collective gift when he was married but I gave a cash gift Saturday. It was also a long drive to the wedding but it was worth it. 
• I'm adding here because a quick late afternoon meetup with my daughter turned into an early supper at a very overpriced and mediocre "cantina" in a packed touristy rivertown. Never thought I'd see a Mexican style restaurant with portions that left you still hungry and the happy hour prices were still higher than most restaurants full menus. She was picking up her race packet as were hundreds of others plus start of the holiday weekend, so the streets and food places were packed. Still, two nice hours with my daughter is always a bargain. 
• Treated my colleague to dinner as congratulations for her fellowship. My treating days are going to have to be curbed now going forward. 

     Daily Dinner Diary (Friday 5/23 to Thursday, 5/29). 

• Fri - I made Vegan chili with rice, but ended up eating with my daughter out. Used chili for meals all weekend and froze two portions.
• Sat- Wedding meal, which was Americanized Indian food and delicious!
• Sun- BBQ food at sister's. I brought potato salad and a veggie tray with dip.
• Mon- leftovers 
• Tues- Pork burritos or bowls (my SIL sent me home with two bags of frozen pork leftover from funeral when I went to help her do thank you cards last week. The caterer she used was same I had for my husband's and their portion sizes are humongous  resulting in so many leftovers as both of us easily fed the number of people in the count.)
• Weds- Chicken tortellini Alfredo with toasted Italian bread
• Thurs- I met a former staff, mentee from 20 years ago for dinner to congratulate her on receiving a very prestigious fellowship. 

     I need to mow the grass and weed whack, was too wet still yesterday. I have a friend's son wedding at 4:00, then will rush the opposite direction from my home to catch the end of my nephew's graduation party. I'm not sure how that will work as his team won their Wednesday section game, and the next game is tonight, not tomorrow as his parents were thinking for round 2. Maybe the graduate will miss the second half of his party. I've one more wedding and one more graduation gift (money for both) for the summer. Tomorrow I'm helping my youngest for an event at her work but once home. I will do nothing but clean, pack, and perhaps some meal prep before my trip with my sisters. How was your week?