It's been such a strange month.  The computer breach messed with everything, and just when I think I've done all the cleanup, something else happens.  Today I realized that my electric bill was not withdrawn from my new bank account.  When I went into my electric account online, I found that I had deleted the old bank account information but apparently did not successfully add the new one.  The bill was overdue, so I made a one-time direct payment and then updated my autopay with the new bank account into, per their online instructions.  After I did that, the account was still showing that I had not paid, so I called to verify that I did.  The person I spoke to said that it was pending and would be withdrawn today.  I checked my bank account a few minutes ago and there is no pending payment there.  I guess I just have to trust that it will all look right tomorrow.

I thought I was all done with spending this month, but I was surprised to find a $99 payment to AAA from my Discover card.  Nothing wrong with that, I just had not expected it yet.  So that threw my fees/services category into a "big ticket" item, rather than a variable.  Meaning it will tap savings.

Anyway, here is the breakdown:

Housing: $795

Home Repair/Maintenance: $590 (rug cleaning and new pads)

Fees/Services:  $356 (computer service agreement, tollway pass, AAA membership fee)

Utilities: $178

Gifts/Charity: $116 (two birthdays and a scholarship donation)

Personal: $101 (haircut, pads)

Medical/Health: $64 (premium, OTC meds)

Vacation/Travel: $54

Phone: $52

Groceries: $48

Eating Out/Takeout: $46

Clothing: $37

Gas: $23

Entertainment: $16

Laundry: $16

Vet/Pet Supplies: $12

Furnishings/Equipment/Decor: $11

Grand Total: $2515

Variables: 74%

Big Ticket items: $946 (ouch!)

I'm tracking big ticket items because I want to be able to predict how much to divert into savings proactively.  So far I'm averaging $620 a month.  Higher than I want it to be, but it is what it is.

Since the end of the month is coming fast, I started the process to assess my spending categories.  I found I had neglected to record a few things, so my variables are higher than I thought -- 111%, so, 11% over budget.  With only two days left, I think I can keep it there.

The cold I caught last weekend has lingered all week.   The first few days it was very strong and I was pretty miserable.  It is finally abating.  I feel much clearer, though not completely clear.

I felt good enough to go to GS1's baseball game last night.  A cold front came in as we sat there.  I was glad I had brought a hoodie, even though it seemed like a ridiculous thing to do when I grabbed it.  The game was short, as it was a slaughter, and unfortunately, it was our team that was slaughtered.  But that was not unexpected.  They were playing a very strong team.  GS1 knew a lot of the kids on the other team, and he had a good time playing them.

GS2 has gone to camp, and I sent him an e-letter this morning.  He will be gone for two weeks this time.  This is a Y camp.  They are at half capacity, and the cabin mates are going to take part in planned activities as a pod to prevent too much interaction.  All the campers are under 12, so unvaccinated.  They posted pictures yesterday, and they were all wearing masks.  For the pictures, anyway!

Back to financial news, as soon as my automated payments to the utilities go through from my new bank account, I'm going to close the old one.  That should happen within a few days.

I got three replies from Equifax the other day in response to my request for my credit report.  The first one I opened said I was not entitled to a copy, as I had already received one within the last 12 months (not true!)  The second one was a sternly worded letter saying I had to supply more ID.  The third was the  report.  This does not give me great faith in the service.  Anyway, I looked through the report, and did not see anything alarming.  I will continue on the freeze on all three reports until I have a need to unfreeze them.  

I'm back from my weekend trip, but I brought a severe cold home with me!  I have been struggling for several days, but I am finally feeling better.

My trip cost $53, which includes gas, food, and pet care.  I also spent $47 on great buys at Goodwill.  I bought 8 tops, a hoodie and a pair of jeans, also a few housewares, including a brand-new hand mixer.  When I get to feeling better I'm going to weed out the closet and get rid of some older tops to make way for the new.

While I was gone, my Illinois Tollway pass replenished to the tune of $40.  Upon my return, I spent $11 on cold medicine, $24 on groceries, and $13 on personal items.

With all this, I overspent on my variables, which is up to 106%, and I have a week to go.  But I have no regrets.  I got some great deals and the rest was necessary.

Today is DIL's birthday.  I have some presents for her -- still unwrapped.  I feel too sick to take them over, so maybe one of the grands will come and get them.  Off to look for gift bags!

Yesterday I went to another evening baseball game, in which GS1 performed well, but the team performed fabulously!  It was a rout!  I bought myself dinner on the way home - $9.  There is another game tonight.

Tomorrow I am heading down to BFF's house for our first weekend visit since the pandemic.  We have been meeting in the middle for lunch every other month or so, but this is the first time we are getting back to pre-pandemic visiting.  I'm excited!

I have "hired" GS2 to look in on Iggy while I am gone.

Today will be devoted to doing little things to get ready for the trip.

The day before yesterday was payday.  My social security was deposited, and my automatic payments seem to be in order.  Some of them are still pending, but that is typical.  I have had to do more wrangling with TIAA about the direct deposit of the payment I receive from them, but I think the problems have finally been resolved.  If the direct deposit doesn't work, I will get a physical check sent to me.  The holdup has been that I do not yet have any checks for the new account, so I can't upload an image of a voided check.  Finally they figured out that they could verify my ownership by depositing and withdrawing a small amount.  That happened yesterday.  I verified the amount, and I trust now that everything will work.

After several pleasant days, we are poised for more steamy, hot weather.  Too bad.  I hate having to run the AC.

I had a few more gifts to buy -- two family birthdays this month.  I had some cashback rewards on my Discover card, so my out-of-pocket spending was only $25.  Variables are at 77%, and it's only halfway through the month.  Hope I can stay under this month.  The computer problems messed with my budget!  But the good news on that -- all my accounts are now linked to the new bank account and I'm only waiting to make sure all the automatic payments/deposits go through before I close the old one.

Yesterday I was reminded that I wanted to contribute to a scholarship established by a good friend of mine.  I sent in $50.  Wish I could do more than that, but it is what it is.

This morning I went to the gym, and since it is close to Sam's, I filled up the tank.  $23 for half a tank.  I think the posted price was $3.29.  Yikes!

Yesterday I took my grandson to dinner.  We both got appetizers and the total was $25.  I also picked up $25 worth of groceries at Aldi.

This morning I ordered a birthday gift for my Oregon DIL.  Using $23 worth of credits, I only paid $20 out of pocket.

I transferred my funds to the new bank account yesterday.  They advised that I wait until I see that my automatic payments/deposits are working before I close the old account.  It will be a month before all of them post.  Guess I'll play it by ear.

I'm still cleaning up after getting scammed.  Yesterday I froze my credit reports and mailed in a request for copies of each one.  I would have requested them online, but it was too convoluted a process.  I'm hoping I froze them in timel.  It's hard to remember everything I have to do.  But I think I'm ready now to transfer my money from the old bank account to the new one; I have updated all my automatic payments/deposits.  When that's done I can make an appointment at the bank to close the old one.

I did a bit of spending yesterday.  I picked up a bag of fluids at the vet's ($12) and spent $6 at Steak N Shake for a light lunch.  Variables are at 54%, but that is skewed by the $220 I spent to clean my computer and upgrade my security.

My son has LifeLock.  He couldn't say whether it was doing anything, but he hasn't had any trouble.  Does anyone hear have LifeLock?

Well, it happened to me.  And I let it happen, which is the worst part, but at least not too much damage was done.

I'm talking about a computer scam.  I thought I was talking to a Microsoft rep, but no, of course I wasn't.  In the end, I had to freeze my bank account and open a new one, change all my passwords, get my computer cleaned, and update all my automatic payments/deposits.  A lot of work, which I'm still doing.  The only money I "lost" was purchasing a service agreement from Best Buy so this won't happen again.  Or is less likely to.  That was $220.  I was lucky it wasn't worse.  Of course, I don't know if it is over yet.  It may be that the thieves took information that could result indentity theft.

Since it was already a challenging month financially, the timing was not good.  When all the pieces fall into place, we'll see where I stand.

Price creep on my haircut -- last time it was $70, this time it was $73.  Ridiculous to pay so much.  But I do like this stylist so much.  I also paid a $15 tip.

I also spent $29 on allergy nasal spray.  It's the generic for Flonase, and I got a twin-pack to get the best unit price.

Can't wait till the 11th when my Discover card cycle closes.  It will be huge, what with the down payment on the table, the rug cleaning, the haircut, and just the regular stuff.  Feeling poor.  I have to figure out new ways to cut back.

My rugs were picked up yesterday.  I needed to get new pads as well, so the total cost was a whopping $590.  Well, this won't happen again for a while.  The technician made a comment about doing this every year, but with my living alone, having only one cat who uses the litter box religiously, and having three flights of stairs upon which to deposit outside dirt -- I can go a lot longer than that.

Today I'm scheduled for a haircut.  The salon I go to now doesn't allow me to tip the stylist on my credit card payment, so I have to go get some cash before I go.

I'm feeling some shell shock from this spending so I'm pledging to keep food costs as low as possible, and cut everything else as much as I can.

My grandsons gave me a watch years ago -- bought from Target, I think.  It finally gave up the ghost, just won't keep good time anymore.  Around the same time my Fitbit stopped working.  I find I keep looking at my wrists for the time, even though I can glance at the phone.  I like to have the time on my wrist.  So I looked up some possibilities on Amazon, and I found I could get a Casio digital watch free with the Amazon points I have.  So I ordered it.  It is not in stock, so it will not arrive until after June 10, which is fine.

Today my rugs (an area rug and a runner) will be picked up for off-site cleaning.  This is badly needed, and with my dining room table out for refinishing, this is the perfect time to get it done.  It is rather expensive, but provides such a better "clean," it's worth it.

Tomorrow I get a haircut.  It will not be cheap, either, but I have reconciled myself to that since I like this stylist so much.  Anyway, with my hair so much longer, I can stretch out the time between cuts.  It's been ten weeks since the last one.

It was a spendy month, but most of it in a few categories.

Home Repair/Maintenance: $1000

Housing: $795

Vacation/Travel: $492

Utilities: $151

Fees/Services: $140

Gifts/Charity: $129

Groceries: $74

Phone: $52

Eating Out/Takeout: $48

Medical/Health: $33

Gas: $30

Furnishings/Equipment/Decor: $17

Entertainment: $16

Laundry: $16

Car Repair/Maintenance: $6

Grand Total: $2999

Variables: 103%

Big Ticket: $1233

The $1000 spent on home repair is the down payment for refinishing my table.

Vacation costs included part of my Oregon vacation and a short trip to Michigan.

Utilities are low because my gas bill did not hit this month.  I'll pay it twice next month.

Fees/Services were license plate renewal and delivery fee for getting my table to the refinisher.

Gifts/Charity: Several graduations and various little gifts.

Groceries:  Very low because I focused on eating from my freezer.

Furnishings, etc:  A set of mixing bowls with lids.

There were no costs this month for Vet/Pet Supplies.  That's unusual, but I was stocked up.  I also didn't buy any clothes, I didn't get any household supplies, and didn't spend anything on personal grooming.

In other news, I had a good day yesterday with my family.  Since it was cold, we had an indoor cookout, with hot dogs, brats, hamburgers and chicken.  Many leftovers!  My ex-husband always buys too much.  I came home with some of those leftovers, which will help me with my grocery budget this coming month.

My ex also offered to pay for re-tiling my kitchen floor.  He is in his last year of employment before retirement, and I think he is trying to make amends.  Since the choices he made in the past pretty much impoverished me, yes, I am taking the money.

I did some spending yesterday, and I also adjusted a couple of my spreadsheets.  I took away some of my vacation spending from the Big Ticket spreadsheet.  I left in the cost for the airline ticket, but the other spending should come out of Variables.  I don't know why I put it there in the first place.  That means my variables are now at 93%, but that's okay, it's almost the end of the month.  Big Ticket spending is averaging $231 a month now.  I'm tracking it so I know how much to save per month to cover it in the future.

As for the spending:  I spent $37 on groceries, $30 on gas, $17 for a set of bowls, and $5 on takeout food.

The bowls were an impulse buy.  I was at Sam's, and there they were.  I have been wanting to replace my current set of mixing bowls, since a couple of them are chipped.  The new set is melamine, and they all have lids, so they will also be good for storing and transporting food.  And they were on sale!

I have to do some more spending for our Memorial Day get-together, which is also a graduation party for my two grandsons.  One is graduating from middle school and one from elementary school.  I figure I'll give them each $20.  I'll try to find some cheap cards.  I also promised my son I would make ambrosia salad for our MD lunch, so it's back to the store for almost all of the ingredients.  Maybe all!  Yes, I think all.  I don't have a single ingredient on hand.  Oh well.

I'm back from my short Michigan trip.  It was a very nice two days.  My grandniece's open house was pretty amazing -- held at her grandparents' farm, which includes a beautiful house, swimming pool, and some beautiful landscaping.  My brother and I attended together and met up with other family members we hadn't seen in several years.  Good conversation and good food in a beautiful setting.  You can't beat that!  

In the evening I played cards with my brother and his wife.  In the morning I met my man friend at a bakery/restaurant for breakfast.  I hadn't seen him for a year and a half, though we have kept in touch by email.  His health is clearly getting worse, which is concerning -- so many things he doesn't remember!  But it was still a really nice time.  Afterwards we went to his retirement home, where I toured the facility (lovely!) and saw his studio apartment.  I asked him if he was happy, now that he's been there ten months, and he said yes, with reservations.  I know it's been hard for him to give up his home, but he knows he is safer and that if he needs care in the future it will be an easy matter to arrange.

My spending on this trip was very small.  I spent $27 for gas and $2 for an ice cream cone.  Variables are at 49% -- which doesn't count the big spending on my Oregon trip, nor the down payment on my table.  Yes, it is actually a crazy spending month, so I'm really working to keep regular expenses down.

Just a bit of spending today.  I went to the car wash and spent $6 on a wash and vacuum.  Then I stopped at Walgreens and spent $4 on a graduation card (into which I will insert $50 for my grandniece), as well as $7 on an OTC medication.

Tomorrow I head north for B's graduation open house.  I'm staying over at my brother's house one night.  I'm having breakfast with my man friend on Sunday morning.  I have not seen any of these people since Thanksgiving 2019, and I'm very excited!

Yesterday the refinisher called and gave me an estimate for the cost of repairing and refinishing my dining room table.  He recommended stripping the whole table, not just the top, and it needs a lot of regluing where boards are separating.  That said, he said it was a wonderful table, and when it is restored it will be amazing.  So, the cost.  He is estimating just over $2K and asked for $1K to begin, the balance upon finishing.  I put the $1K on my Discover card, even though I have the cash.  I want to get the cash back reward. 

He said it would be 4 to 6 weeks to finish the stripping and gluing, and at that time I will take in a chair so he can match the stain.  I'm not sure how much longer it will be after that.

While the table is gone, I want to send my carpet plus a runner out for cleaning.  Last time, when I sent my other rug and runner, it was $390.  It will probably be more now.  We'll see.  I'm going to wait till after my Michigan trip to make the arrangements.  One day at a time.

I arrived back home yesterday -- tired -- exhausted, really.  But I'm bouncing back today.  My Oregon trip was wonderful and amazing.  Seeing my grandchildren was the high note of the year.  I got so many hugs and kisses it was almost overwhelming!

I spent $463 on vacation costs, which includes the extra fare I had to pay for changing the date.  The rest was baggage fees, eating out, and fun activities.  My son shouldered most of the entertainment cost, which was great.  He is finally at a place where he can treat, rather than be treated.

I also spent $25 for little gifts for the grandchildren, which I counted in gifts rather than vacation.

The trip home, especially, was a struggle.  I had stayed up late the night before and then couldn't sleep.  My flight was late.  I spent three hours in the airport and flew at night, where, again, I couldn't sleep.  I finally caught up on my sleep yesterday.

Today I withdrew $165 from my bank account -- $115 will go to the guy who is picking up my table.  Yay!  It finally really is getting refinished!  And $50 will be for a graduation present for my grand-niece -- I'm going up to Michigan this weekend for her open house.  

Life is getting fun and exciting again!

I woke up this morning feeling 100% better.  Well, make that 98%.  I still had a little headache, but that went away eventually.  I got online and booked a fresh set of tickets for my trip.  Now I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon and staying through the next Saturday.  Naturally, my reimbursement from the cancelled trip did not cover half the cost, but I only had to pay $233 out of pocket, and it could have been worse.  Chalk it up to "these things happen."

Now I have the day to rest and recuperate.  And I'm not leaving at a crazy time in the morning, neither coming nor going.  I do have a red-eye flight on the way home.  Hope I will be tired enough to sleep all the way home.

I hate to keep adding to this saga, but it gets worse.  Yesterday I decided I would go to Oregon unless I heard from my son that he was definitely positive.  At the end of the day, he had not gotten a result yet, so I told him I was coming anyway.  I went to bed early, planning to catch up on a little sleep before the 3 am alarm.

I couldn't sleep.  I thought I was anxious about the trip, but now that I look back I realize that I started to feel not quite right yesterday afternoon.  I went through a drive-thru for lunch, because I didn't want to mess up the kitchen, and I was barely interested in the food.  At dinnertime I wasn't hungry at all and ate nothing.  That should have been a red flag, because I'm always hungry!

I got up four times in the night to go number 2.  Still wasn't catching on.  Still thought I was just stressed.  At 3, I got up, after having slept maybe one hour at the most?  I cleaned up and got dressed and sat down, ready to call Uber.  Finally it hit me.  I couldn't even imagine going downstairs and getting in a car, much less getting on an airplane.  I was sick.  Not just with the diarrhea, but with nausea, headache and general achiness.  (Yet no fever!)

I'm still sick, and really, just thankful I didn't push myself any harder to go because I would have been extremely uncomfortable -- not to mention, they probably wouldn't have let me fly!

After doing some online searching I diagnosed myself as having stomach flu, or gastroenteritis.  After a day at home, I am still not much better.  I sleep intermittently, but I can't stay asleep.  Mostly that is because I am interrupted by my phone.

My son, of course, is very disappointed, and I don't think he quite gets how bad I feel.  He is urging me to come in the next few days, whenever I can reschedule.  I think a lot of that is driven by the fact that he is home from work due to the sick colleague and he doesn't want to waste the days off.  He did let me know that his test result came in and it was negative.  I am dying to get there, but I don't know how long it will take to get better.

During one of my better spells I called Alaska Airlines and canceled, and they sent me a credit for another flight.  It was such a low fare, though, it will probably not nearly cover the next one.

So there you have it.  The most ill-fated trip you could imagine.  I halfway wonder if the plane crashed -- it seems the universe was really telling me not to go.  I'm kidding about that, I'm not superstitious in that way.  But I am feeling beleaguered about how things have turned out.

My only goal today is to rest and get better.  Hoping to sleep tonight.  I'll figure the rest out later.

My son in Oregon called this morning to tell me one of his co-workers tested positive.  It is not someone he works closely with, but still, you have to figure there is a possibility of exposure.  He got a COVID test today, but he has to wait 1-3 days for results.  That means I might have to fly without knowing his results -- or cancel the trip.  Right now my head is spinning.

I am fully vaccinated.  He has had his first Moderna shot and is scheduled for the second in one week.  Also, he has aleady had COVID -- he was one of the first, back in March 2020.  I think the odds are very good that he does not have it, and even if he does, the odds are good that I will not catch it.  But who knows?  This is so distressing.

I am anxiously awaiting the results of my COVID test.  I suppose I should have opted for the test with a quicker result, since the wait is driving me crazy.  I keep imagining that I have symptoms, but I think I am just psyching myself out.  I so badly want a negative result so I can freely travel to Oregon later in the week.  Meanwhile, I have been advised to quarantine until the results are in, and that's annoying, too.

I paid my license plate fee yesterday.  It was only $25, compared to the $151 it would have cost without the senior benefit.  So glad I didn't give up on that even when I found the application process daunting.

I'm sure my visit to Immediate Care to get the COVID test will result in a bill, but it's not posted yet.

Edit:  Just got my results.  Negative!  

This is the last day of April, but I won't do any spending today, so I totalled up my spending for the month:

Housing: $795

Car Repair/Maintenance: $250

Vet/Pet Supplies: $212

Utilities: $186

Home Repair/Maintenance: $142

Groceries: $129

Furnishings/Equipment/Decor: $88

Medical/Health: $73

Phone: $52

Eating Out/Takeout: $48

Fees/Services: $40

Gas: $23

Gifts/Charity: $20

Entertainment: $16

Laundry: $16

Personal: $6

Household Supplies: $3

Vacation/Travel: $1

Grand Total: $2101

Variables: 113%

Car repair was the $250 deductible to have the windshield replaced.

Pet supplies were cat food, dry and wet, three bags of fluids, 12 needles, 3 bags of cat litter pellets and 6 bags of cat litter pads (for Breeze system).  Iggy was rather expensive this month, but I'm glad he's still around.

Home repair was the replacement/adjustment of locks and new keys.

Furnishings/Equipment/Decor - two phone chargers, some secondhand kitchen stuff, organizers.

Medical/Health - Shingles shot and my medical premium

Fees/Services - Replenishment of my tollway pass

Nothing else really needs explaining -- except the $1 for travel.  That was a tip on my short Uber ride trial.  The ride itself came out of a debit card account that has already been logged.  I saw afterwards that I could have put the tip on my Uber account, but not until I was already handing him the cash.

I was surprised this morning by a call from the locksmith.  The technician who was sent to my house on Wednesday has tested positive for COVID.  I wasn't too concerned, since I am fully vaccinated, but with my trip coming up so soon I was a little worried about possible transmission.  I messaged my doctor and he recommended getting a pretravel test at Immediate Care.  But he was pretty sure there was little likelihood I have the disease.

I'm going to do that tomorrow.

The locksmith just left.  Final charge was $131 for adjusting the front lock, replacing a cylinder in back and a new key.  Most of the cost was actually for the service call, but whaddaya do -- you can't exactly take a lock in to the store.

This pushed variables up to 113%, which is unfortunate, but it had to be done.  I could have waited a few days, but didn't want to do anything too close to my vacation departure date.  The average of my variables this year has been 97%, so I'm good.  Just have to be sure I don't spend anything for the next two days!

Forgot to say -- I also ordered a box of pads for the Breeze litter box -- that was $50, which helped to push variables up to 113%.

I just purchased two bags of fluids and 12 needles to make sure I have enough for Iggy while I am gone.  Total was $28.  Pet supply spending is high this month.  Variables are now at 87%.  There are only a few days to go, but the locksmith, who is coming tomorrow, will be expensive.

When I came home, there was a postcard in my mailbox about a class settlement for Blue Cross Blue Shield, which was my insurer while I was employed by the college.  I got online and filled out a claim form.  I have no idea how much it will be or when it will come, but I always follow up on things like this.  I was grateful to have my blog to refer to in order to figure out what years I was employed at the college.  Turns out it was 2009-2015.

I tested out my Uber account this morning.  Since it's now attached to a debit card that is provided by the city, I wanted to make sure it was working okay before I need it for the ride to the airport.   The ride went fine; everything worked as it needed to.  I asked to be taken to the locksmith, where I had some keys made.  From there I walked to the train station and rode home.

And there it gets kinky.  I was normally friendly to a fellow rider -- big mistake!  He decided that I should go out for coffee with him and was asking leading questions about where I lived and who I lived with.  He was insistent, and CREEPY, and all my warning bells went off.  I got home safely and I don't think I was followed, but I was quite shaken.  I have not had to deal with this kind of a threat in quite a while.  I won't be riding the train alone again any time soon.  The train is more and more dangerous these days in other ways, with reports of robberies and beatings and even gunfire.  Rare, yes, and mostly at night, but demanding caution.

Anyway, the keys were $11, and I paid the Uber driver a $1 tip.  The ride was "free" since it charged my debit card, and I counted the cost when I made the deposit way back when.

I arranged to have a locksmith come on Wednesday and adjust one of my locks (my grandson is having trouble unlocking it) and to have a key made for the secondary lock on my back door.  I have never had a key for that lock, so haven't been able to use it (and I have felt quite safe with the primary lock), but it's silly not to use it, so I'm getting the key.

Last night was GS1's first baseball game of the season.  It was COLD, and even though I thought I had bundled up enough, I was miserable.  The game was called after six innings -- not because of the cold but because we were losing the light and storm clouds were gathering.  It didn't rain though.  Unhappily, our team was behind, so GS1 was bummed that they didn't get the chance to pull ahead.

The game was at a park 45 minutes away.  I forgot to eat beforehand, so on the way I bought dinner at Subway for $8 and at the game I bought coffee for $1 to keep my hands warm.

I have been approved for senior benefits again -- you have to keep proving that you are still poor enough to qualify -- I'm always poor enough!  It was kind of challenging to apply though, because I had to attach scanned documents and I no longer have a scanner.  I tried using the Adobe Scan app, but needed help from DIL.  Got it done, but it was not easy!  Don't know how other seniors are managing.  They really should have a mail-in option because I know there are seniors out there who are even worse than I am.

The senior center connected me with a person at the department of aging, who helped me with other aspects of the application.  She was wonderful.  

I will renew my license plates on Monday, when I am sure that the system is updated.

I tried to renew my license plates online this morning, but when I clicked on the "senior benefit" box, it said I wasn't eligible.  Now I remember getting a letter saying that I didn't have to re-apply last year, because of the pandemic -- no one was in the office to handle that stuff -- so benefits were renewed automatically.  I guess time has run out.  I filled out a new application, and I have to wait 48 hours to be accepted.  Then I'm not sure how long it will be before the system recognizes me.  I'm glad I got started on this early.

Today was pay day and on top of paying my normal bills, I also ordered cat litter pellets from Amazon.  They won't be delivered until April 28 - May 5.  That's okay, as long as they aren't any later than that.  On May 6 I leave for Oregon.  I guess my son can bring in the box if it comes late.  $38.  It's been a heavy month for pet supplies -- I'm already up to $134, more than I've spent on groceries!  Variables are up to 79%, but only 9 days left in the month.

Yesterday I went to the local senior center to get some help with installing my Uber app.  I wasn't having trouble with the app per se, but couldn't get it to accept the debit card I wanted to use.  The debit card was a benefit from the senior center, so that's why I went there for help.  They couldn't help but did refer me to someone who could.  Turns out I was just entering the wrong zipcode.

A word about the debit card -- it is a benefit for seniors at a certain income level.  I can use it for transit, which includes buses, trains, taxis and ride services.  I'm not sure if I can use it for air travel.  Anyway, I deposit money into the account, and it doubles in value when used -- i.e., if I have $50 in the account I can spend $100.  A really nice benefit.  Since I am already "ride-free" on local buses and trains, I plan to use it mostly for Uber.  I'll use it for getting to and from the airport in a few weeks.

The senior center is close to Aldi, so I went there again to get ten more items.  $22.  Variables are now at 72%, which is higher than I would like for this point in the month.  Payday is tomorrow, so I'll be doing some non-variable spending, but I'm also going to order some pet supplies from Amazon.

Snow is in the forecast today!  It's cold enough -- I had to turn on the radiator this morning.