Odds and Ends

I have been spending quite a bit of money on gardening lately.  Pretty much the majority of my budgeted spending money and part of my slush fund.  While I "need" new furniture and tons of other material things I feel like spending money is the yard is the best bet for my money.  $100 in the yard goes a lot further than $100 in the house. I have purchased some beautiful flowers and hanging baskets.  I hope nothing dies, it appears we will have at least one more cold snap.

Friday is payday so I will post an update in the near future on the breakdown of the paycheck.  This will be the first time that I pay extra on my large student loan, the only one left at this point.  That makes me happy to know that I will finally be making a little progress on it, even if it's not as much as I'd like.  Typically only about $1,600 goes to principal on the loan for the entire year.  The interest rate is 2.88%.  I hope to get close to $4,000 in principal paid down on the loan this year.

I had my evaluation for my root canal last week and my appointment is scheduled for March.  I paid $100 for the evaluation and the actual root canal will cost $990.  I really need to be sure to keep all of my medical receipts together for tax purposes next year.  I might actually beat the 10% floor for the medical expense deduction this year.  I hate to spend the money, but since I have to I hope to get a benefit from it in the long run.