Category Archives: budgeting

Simple Sunday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, Uncategorized by

We’re back in nice fall weather again. Highs in the low 70s, just where it should be.

I had a great swim yesterday, and the pool was not busy. But I probably overdid it as my knee is just a bit sore this morning, so I’ll take it easy today.

After the pool, I went over to Winco and then Trader Joe’s. Maybe that’s why my knee is sore with all that walking. Anyway, I mostly wanted TJ’s eggs as I find them to be the best, even over Costco’s. So I picked some other things as well, a frozen quiche, salad packs, chips, and a few bottles of 3.50 TJ’s chardonnay. It used to be two buck chuck, but not any more. 😦 So for dinner we had greek salad and a broccoli cheddar quiche. It was good. I might make some soup for dinner and have that with some bread. It’s definitely soup season.

This morning, I’m not going to the gym as my daughter and I will go to Home Depot to get the gutter stuff. Plus, we need some deck stain and or sealant. I also want to get the car washed, so we can do that first.

This will be a busy appointment week for me, and as you know, I don’t like having a lot of appointments. It’s definitely going to mess up my swim/gym schedule. Oh well. I’m also planning on reducing my dex. I’ll ask Dr. L, but he was in favor of it last time. Plus, I believe there is research that says taking Dex doesn’t really add to OS or stop progression. So I’ll drop the dose by half and see how I feel and how my numbers get affected.

The news weighs heavily on me, and I just feel so sad about it all. Plus, I’m scared we’ve gotten to a place of no return with Frump and his allies. Democracy is in peril.

Frugal Friday

Posted in books, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, frugalism, Uncategorized by

All the big Fall annual bills are accounted for. I put Allstate on payments and also the California Fair Plan. The AAA rider is still not paid, and I think I saw it was on auto, so I need to double-check that. I paid the property tax with cash from my envelopes so that was very positive. It’s not due technically till December but I figured i’d get it done.

Update: It does look like it’s autopay for October. I actually haven’t gotten the bill, so I’ll check the mail today. So I feel pretty good about having handled all this by myself, even though I don’t like doing it.

I also paid the motorcycle insurance for the year. They took Barclay off as the rider, so the insurance really is just on the bike if something happened to it.( I guess, they weren’t very clear about it.)

After accounting for all the monthly bills, there’s not a whole lot left, but I’ll manage. I’m planning on doing one more Costco shop because I couldn’t find the smoke alarms on sale last time. I spent $100 last time, so I still have a grocery $ budget. I’ll probably do that next week after I see Dr. L in Sacramento.

We had a horrendous amount of rain yesterday. It was like a hose turned on full. My daughter has been working on fixing the gutters so the water was coming down right in front of the door. Not good!! That should get fixed this weekend, and I think today is the last rainy day for a bit.

Today, I’m undecided if I’m going to the pool or not. I’m not crazy about driving in the rain. Plus, my sleep disturbances were elevated last night, and my blood oxygen was lower than normal. I generally don’t feel much different either way, but I have been tracking it since I got my Apple Watch last December. I just had a 10-day period of not elevated which is so weird because nothing is different. I’m glad it was like that but I still can’t figure out a common denominator. I haven’t heard yet from the sleep people for an appt so who knows when that will happen. If I’m inspired I will call them.:)

My son picked up 5 books at his favorite thrift store for me for my birthday, so I have a nice stack of books to read. That’s nice since I don’t feel pressured to go to the library. I started the Nelson DeMille, The Cuba Affair, and so far, I like his writing. I don’t know if I’ve read his stuff. I’ll check out some other titles.

Next week I have my doctor appointment and also Velcade. The doctor’s appointment is on Wednesday, and I do plan on asking about a plan of action should my numbers go up. Knowing his style, he’ll probably say, let’s wait and see, which is probably ok since we won’t really know anything for a few weeks. Fingers crossed it doesn’t but I do need to be ready probably more emotionally than anything. Hopefully I’m just overreacting but still cancer is always there in some way.

Mujō (無常)

Posted in bread, budgeting, California, camping, cancer, Death, husband, Myeloma, simplicity, Uncategorized by

The transient and ever-changing nature of things. As with Wabi Sabi, impermanence of things and the beauty in the imperfect.

Mono no aware, Mono no aware (物の哀れ): 
This term translates to “the pathos of things” and is an aesthetic appreciation for the transient nature of life. It involves a gentle sadness or wistfulness at the passing of things and a deep sensitivity to their ephemeral nature. That’s exactly how I feel in my life. It feels somewhat ‘unreal’ Barclay is not here with me to laugh with, joke with, travel with and everything in between. But I do take comfort in he’s not suffering anymore. It was a very difficult painful last 3 months of his life. Well, now to fall.

Fall is in full swing, here in N. Ca, I get the feeling of Mono no aware and Mujo, and wabi Sabi all rolled up together. We’ve had rain and cloudy days, as well as Tahoe-like days with big, fluffy clouds. I’ve had a few twinkly fires already, since the house stays cool even if it’s nice outside.

Just to back track a little here:

Barclay and I practised Zen Buddhism for many years after our Quaker roots seemed to fade away. However, Quakerism and Buddhism are very similar in fact. Both embrace simplicity and a WAY of life. Of course, Quakerism is rooted in a Christian context, and Buddhism in Eastern philosophy as taught by Buddha.

Right now, the impermanence of life is very real for me and maybe somewhat depressing. I am trying to embrace the Mujo concept because it does help me get through the day and realize that life does go on, and it will for me what whatever time I have left. Some of that is on my mind because of my rising kappa light chains and thinking about having to change treatments by January if they continue to go up.

I know that things will change, and I need to change too. But for now, I’ll try and take comfort in Mujo and mono no aware.

On a brighter note, my kids put together a very nice birthday for me. My son came and took a huge load to the dump( which I wanted done). We got a Round Table pizza, and my daughter had gone to Safeway for some small squares of cake to share. I didn’t have any champagne that day to celebrate, but I will soon.Turning 73 is not much different than 72 for me. The real change for me was at 70. Then I felt like I was getting old. Now, I’m old and just keep trying to do the things I love like swimming, walking, the gym and I hope some day in the near future doing some camping again. If i could afford the camper type van that’s what I’d do. We still ( my daughter and I) are going to check things out sometime in the spring. A small tent trailer is very doable, but I like the idea of self contained. Time will tell. Also, If I got one I’d get a loan so that the payment would be what we were paying for rubi. And we’d have the trailer as our trade in.

Well, I’ve rambled on a bit here, so that’s it for me. I do have the day home today after going to the gym yesterday, so I’ll do some tidying and make some sourdough bread.

Simple Sunday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cash envelopes, Uncategorized, Walking by

Well, as expected, yesterday was a wash. I woke feeling terrible, so I just stayed in bed. I finally got up and started feeling better by the afternoon, and even sat outside a while. This morning I feel fine, so it wasn’t too long. My daughter, though, had a histamine reaction, so she’s had to take it easy all week.

I’m still getting up around 5:30 -5:45am, depending on whether I plan on walking, which I am today. I’m not pushing going out in the dark to walk, as I think that ship has sailed. As much as it was one of my favorite things to see the stars, I think it’s smarter for me to hold off. So that means today I’ll go out and walk around at 6:30. I’m still bringinga flashlight for the first round.

We are in for rain this week, so I need to be sure everything is done. The wood needs to be covered, and the wood stove needs to be ready. Tahoe is already quite chilly, as would be expected. It still would be beautiful, though. I’m still looking at a hotel for one night for my daughter and me to go up in October.

I’ve done October’s budget and made the first payment on Allstate. My son is going to donate his Subaru (which is parked in my yard). When that’s done, I’ll take that off the insurance, and that will help a lot. He’s using the truck and making the payment, so I’m ok with that for now. He still needs to figure out the car he wants.

Anyway, the budget looks ok. Not a lot of wriggle room, but ok. I haven’t done too much with cash envelopes since B died, but I do have some still. Mostly, I want the big annual bills covered, so I’ll keep adding to those. Smaller ones, like Target or household, I’ll just let go or add that to a general spending. I do keep cash for groceries unless it’s Costco because I can use the card and get the rewards back.

Here are my two LVs I use for cash envelopes. I also have a monogram MM that B bought me for my birthday a few years ago.

An open Louis Vuitton agenda in Epi black leather, displaying its interior with rings and card slots.

I have 2 preloved LV agendas in the Epi black. One I got off of the Facebook group, and the other from eBay. One is the PM size and the other is the MM size. Of course, I love LV with classic things. Most of their fancy stuff is way beyond my reality. But I use these daily and enjoy them.

Finally, a week where I think I can get to a regular schedule. I hope.

I need to do some meal planning for the week. I have some more soup in the freezer, so I’ll pull one of them out, and I have some tofu to use. My son is coming over on Tuesday, and I plan on ordering a pizza for us to share. He’s going to do at least one dump run. Hopefully, he can get it done before it starts raining. I also want to close up the trailer and have them put a tarp over the top.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, budgets, California, covid-19, Uncategorized, Walking by

This coming week I have a few appointments:(

One is with the sleep doctor, finally. I am sure he will order the CPAP machine, and I’ll give it a try. I figure, why not try it and just see? If I hate something on my face, I’ll know. Then later in the week is my flu/COVID shot, but that’s just walk in and get it. I do have an appointment for it.

In between, I’ll try and swim and I need to go the the Maheny gym and library. So a little busier than I like.

My son is planning to come over and stack the firewood. He is going to bring an apple pie to celebrate his dad’s birthday. He would have been 75. I’ll decide on the day trip to Tahoe tomorrow. It seems I am deciding things based on the day and that’s ok. Update: my debit card isnt working so I may have to go into the bank at 10 am and that will change things.

I didn’t sleep very well the other night, so when I woke up, I decided not to walk as I had a headache. Weirdly, though, my Apple Watch says no sleep disturbances(which is sleep apnea). Very strange. I did walk this morning, and it was nice. I used the flashlight for the first round.

Fall is really here, and the colors are changing on the leaves. Plus, the cooler nights make a difference. I’ve been sitting outside with the fire pit all this week while eating dinner. It’s nice. I have to fill the propane bottle as it is almost empty. I’ll just do the exchange at the store.

I’ve been having fun playing around with ChatGPT. It’s kind of fun to ask questions a get an answer. One was about selling Rubi while still having a balance on the loan. It’s not a lot, but that means I don’t have a title. So it suggested paying it off and then selling. Something to think about. The other idea was to do a trade in. If we can find the tent trailer my daughter and I want with them this would be a good option. Well, I have till next year to figure it out.

I listed the All American on market marketplace so I’ll see what comes of that. I also pulled out all my canning jars from the garden shed, and I will list them today. Or as soon as I have some pictures. I haven’t had any interest in the All American, which I’m surprised at since this is canning season. I won’t lower the price on that so I’ll just keep it for now. The pressure canner is one of those things that retains value even if it’s older, which mine is not.

Friday Things

Posted in Blood test, books, bread, budgeting, budgets, California, decluttering, Myeloma, swimming, velcade by

It’s been a busy week. I’ve done tons of decluttering. The back of the Santa Fe is full, so I’ll go to Goodwill, maybe even this morning.

I emptied 2 binders of recipes I had saved and only kept the ones that were really favorites. Most of them can be gotten from the internet anyway. I went through the last two vintage suitcases that have my kids’ Waldorf toys and got rid of a few little things, but mostly just consolidated them into one, so the other is going to the thrift store.

It’s a strange place to be, but I’m determined to whittle things down to just the bare bones and keep the poetry. I have two empty shelves in the closet now. The bread maker is in there on a shelf and I haven’t decided on the bread maker yet. I think I’ll plan a sandwich loaf over the weekend, and then that’ll help me decide whether it’s a keeper or not. Good bread is easily bought at Costco and then frozen.

It’s raining this morning, and it’s wonderful to have everything watered.

We had a fun (expensive ) lunch with my son this week, and it was worth it. It was only burgers for all three of us but now a days that’s $20 each for a sit down meal. I also went to Costco after my labs on Wednesday. Something was off this week because I went in twice, and both times my lab orders were NOT there. Fortunately, I thought to get a PDF copy, so they did do the labs minus one (the SPEP). I scheduled it for next week but I think I’ll just cancel it and get it next month. My kappa Light chains went up another point. So now it’s at 21.5 . If the trend continues I’ll need to do something by January. I see Dr. L in October and see what he says. I can only hope it drops again next month but who knows.

All the bills are done for the month, so that feels good. It’s a good feeling to know it’s all taken care of for now. I’m still waiting on the Allstate bill to activate, and then my only choice at this point is to make the partial payments.

I’m planning on going down to the pool this morning and then straight home. I do need to get water at Costco, but it’s too heavy for me to get alone, so I’ll see if my daughter can pick some up after work.

I haven’t been reading much, although I did start my annual rereading of The Hobbit and LOTRs. I have books to drop off at the library, so I’ll check what’s new.

I scheduled my flu shot and COVID-19 booster for next week, so I’m sure I’ll be down for a few days. That’s usually what happens.

Update: all dropped off!

Friday Things

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, budgets, California, cash envelopes, home stuff, travel, velcade by

I’m not sure if there’s much to share frugally. It was a crazy week with appointments, which I do dislike immensely. But today is my home day on Dex, so I should be able to get some stuff done and chill. All I have next week are my labs and a fun lunch date with my son, which is his belated birthday present.

After my Velcade shot, I stopped at Noah’s and got the dozen bags and one free one. I also got a free coffee. Most of the bagels I froze for later mornings, but kept some out for today and tomorrow.

I listed the Triumph, but no inquiries. I’ll lower the price next week and see if that prompts anyone. I’m sure motorcycles are a bit of a luxury right now, so who knows if it might sell. If not, it’ll just stay where it is.

This morning I sorted all our important papers into folders, so that’s one job ticked off. A while back, I bought a fire-safe file box, and that was for these files. I also finally made the appointment to go to the bank with my daughter to add her to the account. Slowly, a few more things are getting done.

I decided to not book a hotel for Tahoe on my birthday and B’s. I just don’t want the added expense right now, so I do plan on a day trip, which is totally doable, and B and I did that often. So I’ll see who wants to come, either S or Z. They have work, so I may just drive alone. We’ll see how it turns out. I also finally came to the realization, I don’t have to do anything right now so that eased my self pressure.

I dropped off all the thrift store stuff at both thrift stores. I also got my LLS paper from the bank and $ for the firewood. Firewood is quite expensive. If you go pick it up yourself, it’s less, but I can’t do that, so $$ it is. But one cord should see us through he winter with what I have already.

Other than that, not much.

Simple Sunday

Posted in budgeting, California, cooking, decluttering, home stuff by

Sunrise is 6:38 am, so I walked at 6:15, and it was just getting light, but I still turned on the flashlight, although I didn’t really need it. No one was there, which these days is pretty rare. Anyway, our beautiful fall weather starts today and goes on for at least the next 10 days or so. I’m hoping we can get more yard stuff done since it’s cooler.

Today, I’m not going to the gym but plan on going through each zone and tidying up and dusting, etc. I’m going to start in the sunroom and work from there. I also need to get out to the trailer and see what needs bringing in. Plus, do a wipe down of counters, etc, and fluff up the bed. My son is planning on spending the night and go to work from here so that’s a good motivator.

Sachi and I continue to watch Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. It is so good. The actors really have the mannerisms of the original down, so that is fun to watch. I finished Professor T, I think. It was on Prime and just as I was trying to figure out what at the end of Season 4 I had watched they took it off. So now I have to figure out where it is and see if I want to pay for it. Such a pain when Prime does that.

I made a roast chicken the other night, so for leftovers, I made some asian wraps for dinner, and we had those as we watched the show. I have a lot left leftover chicken, so I think I’ll make a soup and end up freezing some. I have a pan of lasagna in the freezer, and I think I’ll pull that out as it’s been there a few months.

Tomorrow is my dentist appointment for a cleaning. It’s early, but still not enough time to get to the pool to swim. I just plan on coming home unless there’s something in Auburn I need to do.

I have a good-sized load to take to the thrift store, so I’ll do that after one of my appointments this week. I added the dehydrator since I don’t plan on doing any herbs this year or ever, actually. I enjoyed all that in the past, but now it just feels like too much effort for just a little payoff. Oh well, everything changes. Nothing stays the same that’s for sure.

Friday Things

Posted in books, budgeting, budgets, California, cooking by

It’s been a frugal week overall.

I got gas at Coscto and it was $3.96 a gallon. That’s a whole dollar less than in my town.

After the pool on Tuesday, I went to Winco, which is across the street. I mostly needed some salad stuff, but threw in some extras like Triscuits and Popcorn Cakes. My total was @$100, so not too bad. That’s all the grocery shopping I’ve done this week.

The monthly bills are starting to come out, and I always feel better when the big bills are done. I haven’t checked Allstate to see if the bill is ready, but I did get the statement. As I’ve said, I’ll just have to pay in installments since I can’t do the full amount. I also need to have my son figure out his car situation as that’s a big part of this bill.

Yesterday, I went to the gym and the library. I was going to go to the pool, but I haven’t been to the gym in 2 weeks, so I felt I’d better tick that off the list. I didn’t have any holds at the library, so I picked up some random books off the ‘new shelf’. I came straight home after that. After I rested some, I went to work pulling out the cabinet by the stove that was beyond help. It only held our coffee things and my sheet pans.

My plan is to buy an Amazon Basics cart to put here. I will wait a bit to see how the space shapes up or what I feel it needs.

Today is a home day except for a pop-out for a coffee with one of the library friends. It’s just at our little coffee shop in town. Then, when I get home, I read and do what house stuff needs attention.

Next week is crazy with appointments, which I hate having more than one. But I’ll get through. It’s also my Velcade week, so Dex will be involved.

Last night, my daughter worked her late shift, so I had breakfast for dinner and watched Casablanca. It was great as always.

We are headed into really lovely fall weather for the next week or so. Temperatures in the 70s.