Friday Fiscal Wellness Check November 28, 3025

     


     Not my usual Friday post after nearly a month of traveling but thought I'd do a placeholder type post. I'll finish up a bit more snippets of my trip at some point over the weekend. I got home around 2:00 yesterday, managed a bit of Thanksgiving family time, and now will be home most of the long weekend enjoying time with my immediate family including all the pets. I arrived home to three adult children, two dogs, and three cats, happy to see them all. 

     Overall, I think I was on budget with my trip, though my friend was so generous hosting me. I probably spent more on items to take home than I planned, but made some compromises too. I regret nothing and hope I can return the favors and be as gracious a host as Siobhan and family/ friends were to me and an open invitation stands. I'd never have been able to experience half of what I was able to on my own. 

     This weekend I'll get sorted and transitioned back to normal life. I have two huge piles of mail to go through and the regular life admin for the end of the month. I see there is plenty of food for meals, someone even made sure I was stocked with coffee and my 2% milk even though my kids prefer almond milk. My list to end November and to get back on a practical mindset is as follows.

  • Sort mail
  • Pay insurances 
  • Balance check book with auto payments to come in early December (I record as if I physically write checks to ensure nothing is overlooked)
  • Pay balances on all credit cards 
  • Update and transfer sinking funds payments 
  • Start Christmas "to do" list including

  1. Gift shopping list- review items already bought (some previously in the year and a few gifts bought on the trip)
  2.  Determine cash gifts for kids (some for fun money but also want to start gifting annual investment support that long term will help them more)
  3. Holiday food budget plan including for baking, candy making, and any needs to finally make jam from all the fruit prepped and ready in the freezer
  4. Get friends and family addresses from my friend to send thank you/ Christmas cards to the UK
  5. Decorating simply for Christmas

     Besides Christmas, my son's birthday is in December so I'll take my family out for dinner. There might be a girl's day to see the second part of Wicked. Otherwise entertainment wise, it'll be simple things or events already paid for. I'm looking forward to meal planning again, making soups, chili, hot dishes, and curries that are cook once eat several times. Let's just say I ate very well the last four weeks and despite the miles walking on most days, I suspect a few pounds crept on. I'll try and do errands by foot as often as possible. 



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