Thursday's This & That

• I got a raise at work! I work in a unionized environment, so I had my anniversary last month and was automatically bumped up in pay. I'm now on level 5 of 6, so next year I'll get another significant raise. 
• We found out that title insurance will not pay for the home repairs (it was a long shot, but the easiest avenue to try). So now we have to go after the previous owners. There is very little doubt in my mind that they will have to pay, but it's all just taking so damn long! I'm hoping we can do arbitration, which will be faster and easier than going to court. Keep your fingers crossed!
• We got winter tires on our car! Total cost was $978. This included the tires, rims, warranty, and having the tires put on the car, plus an oil change while the car was in the shop. We opted for more expensive, but higher quality tires with better ratings, so while we could have saved money on cheaper tires, in the long run we'll be better off. And because we bought the rims, Husband can change the tires from now on.
• Our property taxes are going up. We haven't gotten the assessment yet, but we should know next month how much. I don't think it'll greatly impact our budget though as right now we're paying more each month for our taxes since we got on the program late in the year. I'm hoping that while the overall taxes may go up, our monthly cost will still be lower than they are now.
• I've started preparing my income tax information already! Every year in March, I scramble to get all my business and personal stuff together and I find I always forget something, so this year I'm determined to be more organized.
• I finally got all of the reimbursements for our health spending lately. We had quite a bit, including a flight to Toronto for a test that couldn't be done here, new contacts for Husband and I, a massage and prescriptions. All of that spending was sitting on the credit card, so I'm happy the money has come in.