Ceejay74's Personal Finance Blog

AS got a $300 check in the mail for some freelance work. This was already figured into our future surplus but it affects the actual deficit.

AS freelance payment net: $195

Actual deficit: $4,606.79
Projected deficit w/ future money in: None! On paper we have a projected surplus of $8,414.44

Knowing our long-term budget looks good, and now that our checking account balance is no longer in the danger zone, it's tempting to pay off the CC balances we're carrying on some 0% interest cards. But I know the smart thing to do is wait until there's no actual deficit, or at least until it's closer to being eliminated, just in case anything unexpected happens.

Looking ahead, it's hard to predict when we'll actually clear up the budget deficit, but I think it'll be in July sometime. Once we do, future snowflakes and surplus will go toward AS's dental procedure. I'd love to be done paying for that by August or September! I want to start thinking long-term about our money, but until we clear up these two big expenses, it's hard to focus on anything but them.

I was reading an old thread on the forums started by someone who said when they look at their checking account, all they can see is how much money they have and think of it as money they can spend, not as money that's allocated for other stuff.

I used to have this problem waaay back in the day. I think that's why the system that has worked best for my budgeting is my "future checkbook" spreadsheet. Instead of entering bills as they come and seeing what my current balance is, I start with my current balance and calculate all my future income and expenses a month or two out. On each line item, I have a column that shows what would happen to my checking account balance with each transaction. I even have that column programmed to turn red if a number is negative.

It's really helpful to see if there are any dates in the upcoming months where the checking account balance could dip dangerously low. Usually it never dips below several thousand, but since big expenses come up occasionally, it helps.

Once an expense is paid or income comes in, I update the current checking account balance and delete that line from the future budget. I don't really track things that have already happened; I'm really only interested in what's going to happen in the future and whether I have enough money to fund everything I want and need to. When there's only a few weeks left in the future tracking, I add another month to the bottom of the spreadsheet.

I make sure the bottom of the spreadsheet always balances out to zero, even though my checking account balance never gets to zero. Basically if there's any surplus in the upcoming budget, I add that as an expense line item so if I spend more than predicted in my future checkbook, I have to take it out of my surplus.

Anyway, knowing where every cent is going in the future helps me not see my checking account balance as available. Obviously it's a commonsense notion, but I like having the concrete proof of that.

I haven't seen anyone else use a system like this, but I taught one of my friends how and now she uses it religiously. It hasn't solved all of her problems but it does keep her from overdrawing her checking account, so at least she doesn't get hit with NSF charges anymore.

AS confirmed another freelance job for $2500. Her projected gross income for the year (so far) is up over $30K now!

This adds to the project surplus but doesn't affect the actual deficit.

AS freelance job net: $1,625

Actual deficit: $4,801.79
Projected deficit w/ future money in: None! On paper we have a projected surplus of $8,414.44

I'm very glad to have this much upcoming income, because AS's dental bill estimate just went up, to $3781.32. (Still better than my was; I paid over $5K even with insurance!)

AS's state tax refund hit the bank yesterday, so not nearly as late as I'd feared. It didn't affect our tax bill goal since I'd already factored that into how much we owed, but that $701 did clear up any lingering worry that we might have to take a LOC advance to avoid a checking account shortfall.

AS also received a direct deposit for the second half of a remote teaching gig ($625). This was already factored in to the future surplus but does reduce the actual deficit.

AS freelance job net: $406.25

Actual deficit: $4,801.79 (We're over halfway to clearing this up!)
Projected deficit w/ future money in: None! On paper we have a projected surplus of $6,789.44

AS booked her first dental procedure for the tooth extraction and implant, and I got her approved for a Chase Sapphire card that we'll hopefully get in time to put the charges on. So that reward will be helpful in the future.

AS worked for my company a few hours Monday, and invoiced them for $146.25. Since she won't get paid for a while, this affects the future surplus but not the current deficit.

AS freelance job net: $95.06

Actual deficit: $5,208.04
Projected deficit w/ future money in: None! On paper we have a projected surplus of $6,789.44

Just to remind myself not to get too comfortable with that surplus, I need to note some upcoming expenses happening in May/June. They aren't set in stone, so I'm not taking them out of the surplus yet. I'll do that when I have exact amounts:
Mother's Day
Bday gifts for 3 of the kids' friends
Eating out during my sister's visit
Father's Day
AS dental surgery
NYC/reunion travel/food expenses

Only the dental surgery will be a huge expense, though the NYC trip might add up a bit. At least most of the meals, lodging and transportation are already paid for, so this would just be for subways/cabs, meals on the days of travel, and any incidentals. The other things are small, but they probably will have to come out of the surplus, since AS and I depleted our spending money in the trip to Va. and NT probably has other plans for his spending money.

I've always been upfront about my relationship because trying to write about our finances without revealing that facet would be hard. When I started this blog I made that decision and figured if I got a lot of negative attention or harassment, I could just delete it -- nothing ventured, nothing gained. Well, nearly ten years later, I can barely remember any negativity about my family structure, so here I still am!

And then LAL asked if I'd ever said how we'd met, and I didn't think I ever had! So here's the long story short (OK, not that short) of how we got together:

The beginning sounds worse than it is. I first met AS when I was a teacher and she was a student. In 1996 I was fresh out of college and working in Georgia when I got in a bad car accident (broken pelvis, damaged spleen and stomach). My parents flew me home to Virginia when I was released from the hospital and I spent several months in a wheelchair, recuperating.

One day (after I was walking again but going nowhere with my life) my old high school English teacher called to say she was going on maternity leave in the spring and wondered if I would sub in for her. I signed up to be a substitute teacher and took some short gigs at other schools until she went on leave.

AS was a senior and worked on the literary magazine, as I had done when I was at the same high school. She wasn't in any of my classes, but she was often working on the magazine while I taught, and we'd chat between classes and during my free period, and after school.

After school ended and she graduated (1997), I was still living at my parents' house trying to figure out what to do with my life (I'd hated teaching and was terrible at it, and I didn't much like Virginia either). AS and I continued to hang out over the summer, and friendship soon (and surprisingly) turned to love.

After we'd been dating for only a week, she announced she was moving to Northfield, Minnesota for college in a month, and I said I'd move out there too if we were still dating by then. (It felt awfully sudden, but also like the right thing to do, and virtually no risk for me since I could always come home again.) We were, so I did! (Well, I moved to Minneapolis, where a friend of a friend had a house with a room to rent.)

I had hardly ever been a one-person type and AS was OK with that, so we dated other people but were extremely committed to one another. We stayed together during weekends, holidays and summers and when she transferred to a college close to me in 1999, we moved in together. Several apartments later, we bought a condo together in 2003.

In the meantime, we'd befriended a couple of British guys who were visiting one of our MN friends, who had spent some time in the UK during and after college. AS and I went to visit these guys in 2002 (I think), and they introduced us THEIR friend, who happened to be NT. We liked him instantly.

After our trip we corresponded occasionally with him and the other Brits, and in 2005 they announced they were all coming to visit. They stayed with us and NT met a MN girl and started dating her (oh the pangs!). So he made plans to come back and see his new girlfriend in a few months. However, she broke up with him a couple weeks before his trip! He couldn't cancel the flight so asked AS and I if he could crash in our spare room again. We said yes and this time, spending some time just the three of us versus a large group, things suddenly clicked and we all realized the romantic feelings were mutual.

We kept in steady communication this time and soon realized it was serious (Dec. 1, 2005). Over the next year, we managed 2 trips out to see him and he came out to see us twice. (All the travel, mailed gifts and long-distance phone charges certainly contributed to the debt we all had when we combined our finances!)

By April 2006 we knew we had to do something to get together permanently. The most expedient way was for him to marry one of us, come here and hopefully we could all then find a way back to the UK together. We figured AS's career goals made her the most primed for a work visa, so we all agreed I would marry NT.

I worked obsessively on the fiance visa process (I think it improved my organizational skills, attention to detail and persistence, which set me up well to deal with our finances later!) and in October 2006, NT arrived in the U.S. permanently. We married that December and were in completely irresponsible honeymoon mode until early 2007, when I realized we were about to hit rock bottom financially. Soon after that I joined SavingAdvice, so you know the rest of the story from there!

All our mortgage payments hit:

US: $671 to principal
UK1: $226
UK2: $48
UK3: $51

All told, that's $996 paid in May. Getting close to where the minimum will be a thousand a month; that's got a nice feeling to it, like we're actually going somewhere!

I revised our retirement goal because I got a small raise but AS made slightly less in 2015 than projected. The old goal: $486,000 in retirement assets by 2019.

The new one: $485,480 by 2019
(As a reminder, this is to get me to 3x my current salary which is now $66,625, so $199,875; NT to 3x his, which is now $57,083, so $171,249; and AS to 2x hers, which last year totaled $57,178, so $114,356)

Current balance: $265,900

March 2016 balance: $263,174

Progress: $2,726

To reach the goal by our birthdays in 2019, that's 34 months, so we'd need $6458 per month to reach it. Looking less and less likely we'll reach it, but I've got to keep trying!

Assets:
NT's UK pensions:
#1: 17,105 pounds ($27,368)
#2: 20,501 pounds ($32,801)
#3: 4,452 pounds ($7,123)
NT's 401(k): $41,444
NT's Roth IRA: $9,932
AS's trad. IRA: $14,950
AS's Roth IRA: $25,764
AS's SEP IRA: $7,679
CJ's 401(k): $85,900
CJ's Roth IRA: $12,939
NT's flat: 180,000 pounds ($288,000)
CJ/NT/AS house: $440,000
---
Total Assets: $993,900

Total Debt: $478,821

Current Estimated Net Worth: $515,079

March 2016 estimate: $511,362

Change in net worth: +$3,717

Summary: The market had a (very) modest gain, so our net worth went up. I can't wait until we start contributing to our Roths and AS's SEP IRA again, so we can hopefully top a million in assets yet this year!

Notes on the numbers above: House value estimates are approximate. I don't have a way to check NT's UK pensions or flat value, so their values stay static for the purpose of this update (unless I happen to get some info by chance). UK asset values and debt amounts are calculated figuring $1.60 for every British pound.

AS got a $700 freelance payment, nearly a month earlier than expected! This was like kismet, because we found out that state refunds may take longer than usual this year, and we'd been depending on a $701 state tax refund for AS to prevent the May checking account deficit. Now it doesn't matter when the refund comes!

This payment was already factored into projected deficit, so it only reduces the actual.

Actual deficit: $5,208.04
Projected deficit w/ future money in: None! On paper we have a projected surplus of $6,694.38

I had some financial ins and outs that I managed to balance against each other: CC rewards and low grocery spending due to gift cards on the one hand; NT's passport, my and AS's vacation spending and a much higher than expected electricity bill on the other. AS and I used some personal spending money to make it break even, so no positive or negative effect on the tax bill goal.

However, AS got confirmation of two new jobs, a medium one ($500) and a HUGE one ($7900). We're still where we were on the current deficit, but our future surplus now looks much bigger.

AS freelance jobs net: $5,460

Actual deficit: $5,663.04
Projected deficit w/ future money in: None! On paper we have a projected surplus of $6,694.38

Once we clean up the actual deficit, AS can start planning her dental extraction and implant. She got the final piece of the post-insurance estimates, and the procedure will end up costing us a max of $3034.32.

A few positives have happened, but I'm not counting them into the tax bill goal yet:

I ordered CC rewards from 3 cards, totaling about $120.

NT got reimbursed for a Prime membership with his work that I forgot we'd paid for: $99 in the bank from out of nowhere!

AS heard from an old co-worker of mine about a possible ongoing writing job. She'd have to sign up with a staffing agency his company uses, but if that works out, should be a good source of income!

We used a CC rewards Target gift card for groceries last week, so we were able to put AA's school lunch refill and a few other extras on it. So far we still have $20 left over from last week's grocery budget. This week we got more gift cards, so we're going to try and do as much of our grocery shopping as possible on Target cards.

The reason I haven't put any of this toward the tax bill is that NT has his passport application coming up this week, and AS and I are traveling with the kids to visit our parents in Va. I'm hoping we can also use Target cards there to buy some snacks and whatever else we need, and use whatever surplus we have from the above good money things to fund NT's passport and whatever incidental expenses AS and I can't either pay for with a gift card or use our own spending money.

I'd be really happy if we just broke even and didn't have to dip into the progress we've made on the tax bill so far!

Breakfast: coffee, banana.

Lunch: leftover Cuban black beans, plantains and rice.

Dinner: Southern-fried tofu, mashed potatoes, broccoli and a biscuit with jelly, glass of wine.

Snacks: mango, another glass of wine.

Extra activity: only a bit.

April 18
Breakfast: strawberries and grapes, coffee.

Lunch: leftover cauliflower and "cheese."

Dinner: sesame tofu with green beans, carrots and rice.

Extra activity: a bit, about half a mile.


April 19
Breakfast: part of a grapefruit, 2 oranges, coffee.

Lunch: salad with broccoli, Brussels sprouts, orange and sunflower seeds, 3 veggie chikn nuggets, 1 small piece of bread. Snack: coffee.

Dinner: grilled refried bean & vegan cheese sandwich.

Snacks: more refried beans, salsa and potato chips, 2 glasses wine. (I know, bad snacks!)

Exercise: only about half a mile again.

Yesterday was so great eating-wise; today started out great but I admit the NY voting news depressed me and I self-medicated with carbs and wine. Oh well, tomorrow is another day!

AS just received a check containing payment for several smaller jobs she did for my company, totaling $1576.25. I'm now 99% sure we won't need to pull from the line of credit at all to cover a temporary shortfall! There's one other place where we could fall short if AS doesn't receive a payment, but it's from a university, and those have been very reliable direct deposits, so I'd be surprised if it didn't work out.

These expected payments impact the current deficit but were already figured into the future surplus.

I also noticed a line in the budget for AA's April bus pass renewal. Even though her 6th birthday was in early March, we only recently pulled out the bus pass we'd ordered and started using it, so I won't need to renew it in April. This benefits both actual and projected.

AS freelance payment net: $1,024.56
Bus pass budget surplus: $85

Actual deficit: $5,663.04
Projected deficit w/ future money in: None! On paper we have a projected surplus of $1,234.38

Breakfast: cinnamon Life cereal and soymilk, coffee.

Lunch: molletes (salsa, refried beans and melted cheese on a bolillo roll) w/lettuce & cherry tomatoes.

Dinner: roasted cauliflower with nutritional yeast "cheese" sauce.

Snack: 1 glass of wine.

Extra activity: walked maybe 2 extra miles.

Weighed in at the usual time tonight and I was 2.6 lbs. down! That puts me at 138.5. It's good to be back in my 130s, and only 11.5 away from my ideal weight.

Thursday through Monday I'm visiting my parents; traveling to the boring suburbs of Virginia usually makes me want to stuff myself with junk food. We'll see if I can keep the goal in sight and keep the noshing under control!

You'll notice I'm allowing some of the forbidden foods back into my diet, such as white-flour products, alcohol and fake meats, but still trying to limit them overall.

April 15:

Breakfast: everything bagel w/hummus (my work's treat), coffee.

Lunch: mock chicken dijon sandwich and salad with broccoli, Brussels sprouts and sunflower seeds (my boss's treat, but I tried to stay good by swapping out chips for salad).

Dinner: spaghetti & veggieballs.

Snack: one delightful glass of red wine.

Extra activity: Walked about 2 miles extra.

April 16:

Breakfast: 1 slice 12-grain toast with peanut butter and a banana.

Lunch: grilled hummus sandwich and tomato soup.

Snack: wheat grass shot, apple-spinach juice.

Dinner: Twice-baked potato and broccoli.

Snacks: popcorn and 1 glass of wine.

Extra activity: walked about 4 miles extra.

Now to my question: A friend I've been trying to help confessed that she's been making charges to a credit card that she'd opened for the purpose of a low-rate balance transfer. The purchases, of course, are subject to the higher interest rate. She's since gotten rid of the card so the spending temptation is gone. Now she has another balance transfer opportunity. She'd like to only transfer the higher-interest portion. The credit card company when she talked to them refused to tell her what portion of the debt was at the higher interest, and they said she couldn't just transfer the higher-interest balance. Both things seem anathema to the Consumer Protection act, but I admit I can't find anything explicit about these two things: whether they're required to tell you what portion of the balance is at a higher rate, and whether balance transfers apply to the higher-interest portion. (I know payments do, but I'm not sure if balance transfers count.)

I'm going to talk to my friend about what led to making this mistake so hopefully we can figure out how to keep her from doing it in the future. But in the meantime, I'd like to help her with this problem.

AS let me know she got partial payment ($1984.66) early for a freelance job. She took a credit card payment, so there was a fee, meaning we're getting a bit less than expected. But we're getting it earlier than expected, so that's great!

The payment affects current deficit, while the fee impacts both current and future. What's really cool about this payment is that it possibly eliminates the remaining temporary shortfall in our May budget that would have required a LOC advance. We may get out of this situation not paying a cent of interest to anyone!

AS freelance payment net: $1,290.03
CC fee: -$69.61

Actual deficit: $6,772.60
Projected deficit w/ future money in: None! On paper we have a projected surplus of $1,149.38

Breakfast: coffee, soy latte (my co-worker was buying!).

Lunch: Moroccan stew and rice.

Snack: ended my cleanse a half day early to celebrate Neil's citizenship with a margarita and some chips and guacamole.

Dinner: "Buddha bowl": sweet potato, broccoli, onion, kale, chickpeas, sunflower seeds, tahini.

Exercise: walked about a mile and a half extra.

My paycheck hit the checking account with my raise reflected: $44.41 more. Not bad! I was hoping for at least $30 more.

I'd already worked out my budget through the end of May, so when I updated my April 30 and May 15 paychecks, I had a net gain of $133.23.

This helps reduce the actual deficit as well as increase the projected surplus.

I also applied the raise to the rest of my annual budget. I'd been holding $742.16 in checking to help cover maxing out the Roth IRAs July through December. Since I'm doubling up contributions the last half of the year to free up money the first half, for those months my budget is in the hole. Now with the raise, I only need $229.07 plus my June surplus to fully fund the Roths. That frees up $513.09 to apply to the tax bill!

CJ raise (3 paychecks): $133.23
Roth funding surplus: $513.09

Actual deficit: $7,993.02
Projected deficit w/ future money in: None! On paper we have a projected surplus of $1,218.99

AS got a $75 check today. It was expected money, so it only counts toward actual, not projected.

AS net payment: $48.75

Actual deficit: $8,639.34
Projected deficit w/ future money in: None! On paper we have a projected surplus of $572.67

NT got his citizenship today! Very exciting. That was already paid for, but he needs his U.S. passport now. I don't remember how much it is for a new one (not a renewal). So that'll be an expense.

Also, AS is gathering quotes for her tooth extraction/implant she'll need at some point. The total so far looks to be $2425, but the second stage needs to be estimated by her dentist office, so that could be a couple thousand more. We'll have to start saving up for this expense, because she really does need it.

On the upside, I found out that AA's yearbook is only going to be $8! That's a relief.

Another bright note: I got the first of the gift cards from the Citi ThankYou bonus. Most of them are for Target with a few for CVS. We'll use them for household expenses and hopefully be under budget for groceries, so we can put any surplus in the grocery budget toward the tax bill.

Speaking of, the checks go out tomorrow! Today I requested a transfer from savings of the $15,331 that's going to help cover them. So far it looks like I won't need to take a LOC advance, but if some of AS's checks are delayed I may have to. I'll closely monitor the situation; I can make the transfer instantaneously so I'll wait until I absolutely have to.

April 12:
Breakfast: canteloupe, honeydew, pineapple, strawberries, coffee.

Lunch: Leftover chickpeas a la king on whole wheat toast.

Dinner: Cuban black beans, rice, plantains, avocado and mango.

Snack: a bit more mango.

Extra activity: a half mile in the morning, another half mile in the evening (both with the kids, so not moving fast).

April 13:
Breakfast: 2 oranges, coffee.

Lunch: Moroccan veggie stew and rice.

Dinner: tempeh BLATs (the A is for avocado) on 12-grain bread with sugar snap peas and carrots.

Snacks: none (I had 1 and a half sandwiches and was stuffed!)

Exercise: walked a bit extra and cleaned grout off bathroom tiles for an hour.

Let's see if I can remember everything that happened today:

I got a raise! Just 2.5%, but I'll take it. I'm not counting that in my tax bill goal because I don't know the net; I'll note that on Friday.

NT got a small bonus! $135 cash, which he'll deposit tomorrow to help with our tax goal.

I signed the kids up for swim class -- well, tried to. I have to try again tomorrow, because their system was causing problems. But I know it will be $180, so I'll count that as a minus now.

AS found out that her new healthcare had a credit from a previous overpayment, somehow. I don't quite understand, but suffice it to say we're paying $171.86 less than expected this month!

I transferred $3.90 of CC rewards into checking!

AS got a future job! Estimated at $1,170, so we'll net $761.15 after tax and retirement.

So that's:
NT bonus: $135 (applies to both actual and future)
Swim class: -$180 (applies to both)
Healthcare budget surplus: $171.86 (applies to both)
CC reward: $3.90 (applies to both)
AS net payment: $761.15 (applies to future only)

Actual deficit: $8,688.09
Projected deficit w/ future money in: None! On paper we have a projected surplus of $572.67. Of course we've got expenses coming up that will eat into that, but exciting nonetheless!

Breakfast: 2 oranges, coffee.

Lunch: leftover pintos and rice.

Dinner: deconstructed sushi bowl (sushi rice, teriyaki sauce, broccoli, tofu, avocado, green onions, wasabi & pickled ginger).

No snacks that I can remember.

Only a bit of extra activity (walking half mile).

We got notice of our May gas bill and it's $26.62 less than I had set aside in the budget, so that amount can go toward the tax bill goal.

Gas bill budget surplus: $26.62

Actual deficit: $8,818.85
Projected deficit w/ future money in: $319.24

Although we've been experiencing all positive progress recently, I see some nonbudgeted expenses coming up that will cut into that progress. I need to sign our kids up for another session of swim classes (our older kid is finally moving up a level after being stuck for quite some time, so I don't want to miss the next one!), and kindergarten yearbook order forms are here. (I adored my yearbooks as a kid and think my kids will as well.) But on the whole, we're doing a good job avoiding extra expenditures.

Today we got two bits of good news in the mail: $800 of freelance checks AS was expecting (one a bit earlier than expected!) and a letter from the WV tax dept. telling us that we didn't have to pay interest on the tax owed, so we actually owe them $259 less. I haven't sent out the checks yet, so I'll write a new one.

The freelance check was already factored into projected deficit, but the WV news affects both bottom lines!

Net AS payment: $520
WV tax reduction: $259

Actual deficit: $8,845.47
Projected deficit w/ future money in: $345.86

We're very close to eliminating the temporary shortfall in April (when the tax checks hit); if we get one more good check for AS we may not have to do a LOC advance in April! Actually, too, if the contractor doesn't finish the bathroom work this week, that may be enough to eliminate the shortfall because we wouldn't have to pay him this week, and we should receive AS's freelance checks next week if they don't come in this week.

The May temporary shortfall is now less than $2K. Seems unlikely we'll be able to avoid that one completely, but even the thought of avoiding one temporary advance from the LOC is exciting!

Breakfast: 2 bananas, coffee.

Lunch: chickpeas a la king on spelt toast with margarine.

Dinner: portobello-broccoli-tofu stir fry and rice.

Snack: popcorn cooked in margarine with nutritional yeast.

Extra activity: walked to and from Hourcar (about a mile total).

I weighed in last night 0.4 lbs. lighter, so I'm at about 141 now. While I would have liked bigger results, at least I finally stopped the yo-yo from bouncing up again! I didn't feel at all hungry these past 10 days, so I think I can lighten up on portion sizes during my final 4 days of super-healthy eating, which will prepare me for portion control when I allow some processed foods back into my diet.

Breakfast: coffee.

Lunch: tofu satay, snow peas, rice.

Snack: wheat grass shot, carrot orange juice.

Dinner: tempeh ratatouille (tempeh instead of eggplant), spelt bread with margarine.

Snacks: wheat grass shot, coconut shake, pepitos.

Exercise: walked to and from a store to get my first snack, about 3 miles total.

Breakfast: Blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, grapes, mango, strawberries, coffee.

Lunch: big bowl of chili, little bit of rice.

Dinner: pinto beans & rice bowl w/ avocado, tomato, onion.

Snack: apple.

No extra activity, I'm afraid. It was a weird and busy week.

A couple weeks ago, we got a free dishwasher (well, except the cost of the carshare to go get it) from Freecycle. Our current one leaks and is white (whereas the replacement appliances we've been buying are black). The free dishwasher is black and hopefully won't leak! We haven't had time to think about trying to install it yet. Still dealing with the basement bathroom, an issue that keeps creeping along. But it's nice to know we might be able to put off buying a replacement dishwasher!

Remember the possible medical issue I was worrying about and was going to get a battery of tests done to check out? Well, the soreness went away on its own, and I confirmed with my doctor it's OK to not get the tests. If the problem recurs and doesn't go away when it's "that time of month," then we'll revisit. Big relief from both a money and health standpoint!

NT is becoming a U.S. citizen next week! He's already passed the test and interview; this is just the ceremony that makes it official.

AS has two possible jobs, either of which could eliminate the tax bill deficit. One of the jobs, possibly by quite a lot. She's still waiting for confirmation and exact dollar amounts, and likely won't hear for sure on the bigger job until May. But they both sound like nearly sure things.

Of course, the spending for our upcoming Va. and NY trips haven't been accounted for. And there are other things we need to think about this year: I'm a bit short in my future budget to max out the Roths. AS needs to get a tooth removed and replaced with an implant at some point before the bone loss becomes too great and causes an even bigger problem. But it's nice to know that solving the tax bill is possible.