Dear So and So

[Crankin]

First time I've seen ETOH noted somewhere other than an assessment or treatment plan...

[emily_in_nc]

Okay, I'm lost. What's ETOH?

Malkin, so sorry about your contractor from hell. Hope you can put a notation in on angie's list or something similar so others don't suffer the same fate. Glad you were able to get away for awhile and have fun!

[solobiker]

I have seen ETOH in medical charts which means alcohol abuse. And it is the first time for me to see it other then in a medical chart too.

[OakLeaf]

It just stands for ethyl alcohol aka ethanol aka the kind you drink (-OH is an alcohol, the full chemical symbol for ethanol is CH₃CH₂OH) - doesn't necessarily denote abuse. I've used the abbreviation in my own notations to myself - don't have much call to use it now that I'm retired. The abbreviation, not the substance.

[tulip]

Dear Tulip,
Wow, you are doing so wonderfully with your finances...you are really getting it! Did you really budget and fund all your bills and expenses THROUGH APRIL already?? Funding and budgeting two months ahead is AWESOME! And saving for all those rainy day categories really makes life easier. Ahhhh...

Congratulations, and enjoy those Arkel panniers--you deserve them (and you saved for them and budgeted for them!). Oh, and that upcoming bike vacation--all saved for and budgeted, too. Have fun and congratulations, again!

-Tulip

[Becky]

Dear Tulip,
Wow, you are doing so wonderfully with your finances...you are really getting it! Did you really budget and fund all your bills and expenses THROUGH APRIL already?? Funding and budgeting two months ahead is AWESOME! And saving for all those rainy day categories really makes life easier. Ahhhh...

Awesome! We're still plugging away at getting that buffer built up, but we're doing a great job of saving for rainy-day categories. No more scrambling to pay the heating oil bill! Any suggestions for buffer building?

[alexis_the_tiny]

Yay for Crazycanuk and Tulip! By the way, Tulip, ever since you mentioned budgeting software, I had a good hunt around and have been using a budgeting app. It's terrific, knowing I have a few thousand dollars stashed away is nice (even if that amount isn't a lot).

Dear friend, thank you for coming up and nudging me off the ledge of fear I've started to teeter on. Thank you for reminding me that now that I'm physically away from that person, they can only hurt me as much as I allow them to.

[Pax]

Awesome! We're still plugging away at getting that buffer built up, but we're doing a great job of saving for rainy-day categories. No more scrambling to pay the heating oil bill! Any suggestions for buffer building?

We decided to become a one car family again, our old Ranger is paid for and cheap to maintain so we're getting rid of the Wrangler. We're also stopping the extra payments on our house, we plan on selling it in the next 2-3 years so the money would be better saved.

The payments on the Wrangler and house are small but by making those changes we put ourselves in the place where we can put over $2000 a month into savings (which for us is huge).

I realize a LOT of people can't do the one car thing though, it's just doable for us because we live in a small college town.

[tulip]

Awesome! We're still plugging away at getting that buffer built up, but we're doing a great job of saving for rainy-day categories. No more scrambling to pay the heating oil bill! Any suggestions for buffer building?

Becky, it took me a year to get my buffer. I started out with a small emergency fund, and then just kept growing it until it reached my buffer amount. Then I rebuilt the emergency fund, so I have a buffer and a separate emergency fund. Now I'm building up my rainy day categories, and it's going nicely. I have taken on some side work that I really enjoy, and that has helped pad out my rainy day funds. I could not have done this without YNAB, but now I find it really alot of fun and it's very empowering to me to be in control of my money instead of the other way around.

Alexis-the-Tiny, I'm glad you found something that works for you. If I can inspire one person to take control of his or her finances, it's a win for everyone. If I can do it, anyone can, that's for sure.

[Becky]

Becky, it took me a year to get my buffer. I started out with a small emergency fund, and then just kept growing it until it reached my buffer amount. Then I rebuilt the emergency fund, so I have a buffer and a separate emergency fund. Now I'm building up my rainy day categories, and it's going nicely. I have taken on some side work that I really enjoy, and that has helped pad out my rainy day funds. I could not have done this without YNAB, but now I find it really alot of fun and it's very empowering to me to be in control of my money instead of the other way around.

Tulip, thanks for sharing. This makes me feel loads better about not having a fully-funded buffer yet.

[indysteel]

Becky, it took me a year to get my buffer. I started out with a small emergency fund, and then just kept growing it until it reached my buffer amount. Then I rebuilt the emergency fund, so I have a buffer and a separate emergency fund. Now I'm building up my rainy day categories, and it's going nicely. I have taken on some side work that I really enjoy, and that has helped pad out my rainy day funds. I could not have done this without YNAB, but now I find it really alot of fun and it's very empowering to me to be in control of my money instead of the other way around.

Thumb's up, Tulip. That's awesome! I'm really thrilled for you.

[Owlie]

I have seen ETOH in medical charts which means alcohol abuse. And it is the first time for me to see it other then in a medical chart too.

I use it all the time in my notes...not to drink! Of course, having done my undergrad in chemistry and being in grad school for toxicology (where the favorite example of one of my professors is ethanol toxicity), it gets used fairly often.

It's pretty common to use MeOH (methanol) and EtOH in science because we're lazy. Then we go out for EtOH produced by some very lovely fungi on Fridays!

[crazycanuck]

Dear body,

Thank you for all your hard work today . I never thought i'd ever enter and finish a 1/2 marathon but today I did

2:46 was my official time & did it by walk/run/walk/run/walk etc...

I had heaps o fun & can't wait for the next one...(soon )

Thank you

back to lurking

[Blueberry]

Dear Tulip:

Congratulations!!! You rock

Enjoy those panniers, your vacation, and the satisfaction of being in control of your life!

[azfiddle]

Dear DH- I am very proud of you for completing a 400k rando ride, and doing it in about 19 hours. (Even though I think this randonneuring stuff is a bit extreme). Way to go.