I did a little Black Friday shopping. On Wednesday I took advantage of Old Navy's 50% off the entire store to buy a pair of leggings. Last week (or maybe it was the week prior?) I bought some Moose Munch popcorn through Macy's. Thursday I ordered a couple of shirts to layer underneath my scrubs from Kohl's. Friday I bought a couple of soaps from World Market. I also bought a $100 gift card to a nice local Italian restaurant. I will get a bonus $50 gift card in addition to the $100 gift card. That is my dad's Christmas & birthday gifts. His birthday is in January. Saturday I bought a few fun holiday items from Joann's, marked down 70%. I definitely didn't buy any big ticket items, though I am eyeing a Soda Stream from Kohl's that is greatly marked down. I drink a lot of sparkling water. 

I went by my parents' hone to do some food prep. We made carrot soufflé, cranberrry sauce, and prepped vegetables for tomorrow. I put the wine & egg nog in the fridge to chill. Pies were purchased, but my dad baked some cakes for Christmas. They went into the freezer.

It will be just the three of us tomorrow.

Our menu:

Cornish hen 

ham

cornbread dressing (my favorite)

cranberry sauce

green beans with potatoes & bacon

sweet potato pie

pecan pie

rose wine

moscato wine

Pennsylvania Dutch egg nog

We also like Evan Williams egg nog, but Pennsylvania Dutch was near the check-out register.

What are you having?

Due to our rate of positives our governor has pushed us back to phase two. We were in phase three with up to 75% occupancy, now we're back at 50% occupancy. 

I unexpectedly sold an EBay item on Sunda (it's been a while since I've had a sale) and the two people ahead of me weren't wearing masks even though we still have a mask mandate. That Pfizer vaccine can't come soon enough for me. Fingers crossed that I get selected. 🤞🏾

I really have banged myself up this last week. I have some sort of carpet burn on my side possibly from the Lyra loop, I think I may have broken the same toe again, and I sliced my finger open in the lab fridge door. I'm a walking accident!

The Dow passed 30,000 yesterday! So exciting. I am less than $23k from $1 million in just investments. My home equity & car worth is what is pushing me over $1 million now. I am kind of kicking myself for not getting in on those travel stocks, but oh well. You win some, you lose some. There will be other opportunities I'm sure.

I am home during the day for the next 3 days. I need to go grocery shopping for today's holiday cooking. So happy to have a few days off. I still have to work in the evening, though. I have 3 more use or lose days before the end of the year after this. I will take them the week of Christmas. My sisters are still planning to come home & I pray for their safety traveling.

it is my birthday next Saturday & my early birthday present to myself was buying President Obama's first volume of his presidential memoirs. He is a wonderful story teller & I look forward to reading it when I can find the time. I may lend it to my mom first as I'm currently so busy. It is over 700 pages.

Friday is payday & I only have 3 paychecks left in 2020 as well as 3 payments on my car. My last car payment is my Christmas paycheck. Merry Christmas to me! That's $200 extra biweekly. I love when I give myself a raise through debt payoff. I will also max out my TSP with my last paycheck.

Happy Thanksgiving all! 🦃 

Net Worth $1,077,566

My work at the private lab has really picked up. Since they first called me in on a Friday evening, I've been in every weekday evening since then with the exception of one. They have arleady contacted me to say they'll need me every evening this week, except for Thanksgiving evening. At my hospital job they also are offering as many hours as I want. They continue to lose their full-time staff for better pay & hours elsewhere. I don't understand why the hospital administration doesn't take some action. It's a critical situation in the middle of a pandemic.

I can say that the rate of positive COVID tests are really ticking up.  One of my fellow lab supervisors lost his wife to the virus Saturday. I don't know her health history but I would guess that he is around 50, so not elderly. Please be safe out there all.

My debt pay off continues to tick down, while my net worth continues to tick up. If I continue to work these hours the payoff date will continue to move closer. I've already made at least $25k between these two jobs this year.  Next year, when I'm debt-free I'd like to scale back. I think I have finally learned the lesson on how to budget & be more aware of the debt I'm accruing. 

I can't wait to write an end of year update. I've accomplished so many things this year!

It's so close, but I think it wil back off a little today rather than reach that milestone.

They have already called me in to do some COVID testing tonight. I have my Lyra class, so I will go I about an hour late. Again, I'm so grateful for the hours. I was also supposed to work only 8 hours Sunday, the first time I've been scheduled for a regular 8 hour shift in months. It just so happened that someone called in so I did my usual 12 hour shift.

Tomorrow we have our annual management meeting with the director. Last year he proposed closing our clinic lab. He has it on the agenda to follow-up on that proposal. With whatever decision he makes I know I'll land on my feet. I've already been contemplating what my next moves will be & I'm excited about the possibilities. 

Net Worth $1,060,646

Today is a beautiful day, the weather is perfect. I'm actually writing this while sitting outside sipping on a cafe au lait at a local coffee shop. ☕️

I had my Lyra class this morning. I had a hard time getting up because they finally called me back to do some COVID testing last night. I worked almost 5 hours. It's nice quiet work. I'm happy for the extra money. They pay very well & it will help me with my debt payoff.

My expected debt payoff time keeps moving up which is exciting. I can't wait to be debt free (except for my mortgage). My mortgage will be under $55k with my next payment! I owe less than $600 on my car.

I'm a federal employee & the Senate is proposing freezing federal employees pay. There are the 2 Senate races in Georgia that will decide control of the Senate. That may be the deciding factor for what happens. The president can override the Senate, but I don't think he's in the mood to show such goodwill.

I'm due for a step increase in January so even with a freeze I'll still get a raise. It's understandable during economic crises, but the spending freezes don't help when expenses keep going up. We had several years of freezes under Obama. I'm thankful to have a job, to get the $1200 stimulus that I didn't really need, an unexpected windfall with the union settlement, & to still get my step increase. I'm blessed in so many ways.

Net Worth $1,047,070

Happy Veteran's Day to all who have served! 🇺🇸 

I am taking my favorite veteran & military spouse out today. My parents, that is. Is there a word for the meal between lunch & dinner like brunch? That's when we're going out to avoid the crowds. 😁

It's also restaurant week here so there are good specials available. We are looking forward to heading to one of our favorite restaurants for restaurant week. They have a 3 course special that is really more than enough for 2 people.

Speaking of veterans, our VA was one of the sites designated to receive the Pfizer vaccine. When the news came out Monday we were very excited! 

I'm still paper trading my travel stocks & they shot up this week. They didn't sustain Monday's gains, but they are still up overall. I'm being patient & will continue to wait it out. I just feel that something will rattle the markets again & it will be a good time to buy in.

Net Worth $1,039,560

Well, it's finally over. The election has been called & I couldn't be more relieved. The markets handled the uncertainty just fine.

I planned on giving all of my immediate family planners with stickers for the next year. (Added: I already purchased the Denise Albright planner stickers. She has several sets of stickers for working people, moms, dads, budgeting.) I found some planners at Dollar General yesterday, but I think I will end up buying something spiral-bound. They were surprisingly nice for $1, though.

I think I will end up paying off my credit card debt before spring. Probably not by the end of the year, but earlier than I had planned. My car loan has 4 more payments on it then she's all mine!

Net Work $1,023,683

I haven't been working my third job since August, but on Friday they contacted me to say that they're going to be ramping up COVID-19 testing. They have a new instrument so I would need to be trained on it if they want me to use it rather than the instrument I was already trained on, the BD Max. Both labs that I work at also got a BioFire, but it doesn't seem to be getting much use yet. 

At the hospital we are using the Abbott ID Now. It gets super busy with the seasonal flu testing, as well as the COVID-19 testing. The ER is supposed to be getting their own instruments to run, which will be a huge relief for the lab. 

I checked my mail Saturday & I received my settlement money! I mobile deposited it & scheduled 3 more weekly payments to my credit card. This debt will be knocked out in no time!

The IRS announced that retirement plan limits will stay the same next year. So I will continue to contribute $19,500 to my TSP & $6,000 to my Roth IRA.