Struggling to be debt free

Happy Halloween to all those that celebrate.  I have been out of town, but hopefully will make it back home in time to hand out Halloween candy. Otherwise, I do not have any spooky plans for Halloween. I have been eating a lot of candy leading up to the holiday so I'll be happy to get the candy out of my house!!  However, I did manage to get a work out in while traveling this week (way to go hotel fitness center) so that should ;) balance out the Halloween candy consumption. Truly, I can't want to get back home and sleep in my own bed. I submitted my November mortgage payment and it was the first one in quite some time that did not include an extra principal payment. :(  I am currently cutting back on my extra payments to rebuild my emergency fund (thanks new hvac unit). The mortgage is down to $189,107.  It didn't even drop down to the next $1000 (face palm).  Hopefully, it won't be long until my EF is back where it should be.  I loved making payme...

In addition to paying off my sister's $3,000+ furniture bill, the new HVAC (which works great by the way)I have paid about $800 for a crown because I cracked a tooth.  Oh, I also had a super expensive car repair as well! Yes, I have paid out over $15,000 in cash over just a couple of months. Thank GOD I paid off all of my debt (other than my mortgage) because otherwise I just would not have been able to cash flow any of this stuff.  When it rains, it pours.  So of course, now I have to replace all of the money that I have spent. Which means I will not meet my retirement savings goal for this year.  Or really any other money related goal for the year.  My plan is to stop my retirement contributions (I still had about $3,964 left to contribute for the year) and stop paying extra (approximately $500) on the mortgage.  All of the extra money I can muster will go towards recouping the cash that I have spent.  I think, generally, I would not stop ...

I have been trying for weeks to get a post up.  If it's not one thing it is another! I swear this has been a crazy fall and I am already over it.   It seems like the firm is back to 3 (plus) months to reimburse for travel expenses.  Really? It drives me crazy that I have to wait for so long to get reimbursed.  I am more irritated right now because I have been shelling out money like crazy!  My oldest sister (Sister A), who is 50 years old, has always been irresponsible with money.  Well last year, she purchased a new mattress and frame on credit.  It was one of those furniture deals where if you pay if off in a year you don't pay any interest.  I did the same as did my other sister (sister B).  Sister B and I paid off our furniture months in advance and did not pay a single penny of interest! Thanks, furniture store! Of course, Sister A did not.  The deal ends on December 8, 2019.  Which means everything ha...