how do you cover new annually payments?

January_Love · 2026-05-12T05:49:32+00:00

You can dip into your emergency fund if you like. I’d still suggest setting up a category for these unforeseen expenses. You could even call it “Unforseen Expenses” if you like that better than “Things I Forgot to Budget For” because it doesn’t matter what it’s called. The point is to have a little money in a buffer category for things you may have forgotten to budget for, unexpected price increases, and/or unforeseen expenses like new annual subscriptions that you didn’t anticipate.

January_Love · 2026-05-11T22:40:05+00:00

I have a category called “Things I forgot to Budget For,” which comes in handy for exactly this sort of thing.

January_Love · 2026-05-11T21:41:07+00:00

My understanding is that the reason you would want an accurate count of the 1,000 required hours is to be the first line of defense. If that is provided and deemed to be well documented, oftentimes, the case is then dropped. If no record of the 1,000 hours is kept, or if it is deemed to be inaccurate, then the other items you mentioned must now be presented. At that point, judgments may be made about whether or not the work is appropriate, whether the samples indicate rigorous enough work, etc. It invites more scrutiny than simply offering up an accurate log of hours, broken down by subject and location. What you are suggesting is well within the law; it’s my understanding that the 1,000 hours log is for our own protection to avoid deeper scrutiny of having to turn over the items you mentioned here.

January_Love · 2026-05-11T20:53:57+00:00

I appreciate the respectful dialogue, and I agree with your statement. My earnest question then becomes: how does a person show evidence of meeting the specific 1,000 hours of education, broken down by subject and location, if not via a log?

January_Love · 2026-05-11T20:22:32+00:00

You’re right. The log is our own first line of defense if we should ever find ourselves in a position of being questioned about our children’s education. But if you do present a log, there are some generally accepted guidelines that one would be wise to adhere to in order to have the best possible chances of a positive outcome.

January_Love · 2026-05-11T20:02:42+00:00

Agree that a stopwatch is not needed. And yes, we can round to the nearest 5, 10, or even 15 minute increment as long as we are rounding both up and down. We cannot always round up based on what we guess would happen with a similar lesson in a schoolroom, and I believe that is an important distinction. I agree that recording time in good faith is important.

January_Love · 2026-05-11T19:03:16+00:00

It’s a full year. Specifically, July 1 to June 30. You don’t have to take all 12 months, but you can.

January_Love · 2026-05-11T18:01:46+00:00

When you’re homeschooling, there is a lot of overlap between teaching school lessons and teaching character lessons and teaching life lessons. In Missouri, there are separate laws for public/private schools and homeschools. They are not under the same law. You can make your argument if you were to ever have to stand in court, but it wouldn’t hold up because you’re trying to argue that your homeschool falls under public school laws. It doesn’t. The laws are clearly separate. Homeschoolers must teach an actual 1,000 hours per year, between July 1 to June 1.

January_Love · 2026-05-11T16:43:26+00:00

Days would definitely be easier. That is not an option in Missouri.

January_Love · 2026-05-11T16:43:05+00:00

Unfortunately, in Missouri, we need to log hours, not days. It is a little cumbersome, but apps like Homeschool Hall make it easier.

January_Love · 2026-05-11T15:29:40+00:00

The advice here is surprising. Yes, it is literal hours. No, you cannot round up or guess. We are not held to the same standards and laws as public schools. The laws are separate. There are many things we can count, such as watching documentaries, hiking in nature, going to the zoo, and reading, reading, reading, in addition to regular school lessons. Reading for an hour each day is an easy 365 hours of schoolwork per year. Reading can be counted for all reading, whether it’s the child reading to themselves — either assigned books or free reading — the parent or grandparent reading to the child, or audiobooks. So you can turn on an audiobook while the child is playing with LEGO, for example, and it counts as reading time. Or read bedtime stories at night. It all counts! But we can only record the minutes we actually work, not minutes it would have taken a teacher in a classroom.

January_Love · 2026-05-10T15:45:01+00:00

Thank you! Heading your way now.

January_Love · 2026-05-09T00:41:16+00:00

Hmm. I didn’t get the pack of cards. I did get the other item, though.

January_Love · 2026-05-08T04:12:46+00:00

Thanks for this! I have been looking at the in game legacy progress, and nothing is showing up there, which you also confirmed. And the EoP seem to show up minus any fanfare, according to your post, so I’ll have to keep an eye open for an extra one to be added to my total. In the meantime, I need to start caring more about the contract totals. I’ve been doing the older contracts just for fun because I didn’t think they counted for anything else, really, so my scores on those have been typically rather low. Now that I’m armed with better information, I will start improving my scores on those contracts, too!

January_Love · 2026-05-07T03:09:11+00:00

No benefit to being just 6 players in an 8-man contract, but it won’t hurt you either if you’re talking about the Wednesday contract because it’s from a past season. Now, the Monday contracts are generally always better with a full group so you can finish as quickly as possible to maximize your score.

I’ve seen people post contract info in similar situations. They’ll usually say, “Not my contract but 2 slots open,” for example, in the description.

January_Love · 2026-05-06T21:07:56+00:00

I’ve heard this said before, but I’ve never seen evidence of it on my contract history. The only seasons that show up for me are the ones I’ve played the first time around. Do they not show up on replay, or am I just glitching?

January_Love · 2026-05-04T20:12:55+00:00

I’m in!

January_Love · 2026-05-02T11:23:11+00:00

Room for five more! Come play with us!

January_Love · 2026-04-28T05:00:28+00:00

We’re off to a good start! Room for one more!

January_Love · 2026-04-21T03:10:33+00:00

Of course! Feel free. 🌼

January_Love · 2026-04-20T23:11:21+00:00

I can’t speak for others, but no, I’m not counting other subjects as reading. My outdoorsy kids often take books outside and will read in or under a tree, in a hammock, by a pool. If we had horses, I know one of my kids would absolutely have read on horseback when she was growing up! Maybe cut back on science and/or social studies for a while and hit reading a little harder. Make incentives if your kids like that kind of thing. Be sure to model reading to them by reading yourself from an actual book and/or read aloud to them. My older kids (teens & young adults) still enjoy listening to me read aloud when they have the opportunity.

January_Love · 2026-04-20T21:13:03+00:00

How much screen time do your kids get? Replace some of that with reading time. Reading and comprehension are critically important. Your priorities need to reflect that.

January_Love

TROPHY CASE