All Entries

While trying to fall asleep but failing to do so, I decided to write down my retrospective of this weekend's fishing and kayaking fiasco er festivities.
Unlike the camping trip, which took literally weeks if not months to plan out and prepare, this one kind of came together at the last minute, using nothing more than the proverbial duct tape and hopeful thinking.  However, it also helped that my adventure buddy was the one providing and transporting the kayaks.
I still had...
[ Read More ]

I'm back from a wonderful waterfall trip in the Finger Lakes region of New York.
Together with two prior trips this year that included waterfalls, I can say I am hooked!
You might think it would get repetitive after a while, but that didn't happen, as each setting was unique. Some involved rigorous hikes of several hours, starting at the top and ending at the bottom (of course you had to climb back up to where your car was parked), while others could be seen from the road and...
[ Read More ]

I never did an August update.  I thought we might be in the black in August.  We were, but it was a close breakeven month.  (Technically, +$400 in the black).  Looking through the details, this is clearly mostly because it was a one-income month.  But other budget busters were a $300 office chair purchase (long overdue) and $1,200 in impromptu vacation spending (priceless; taking advantage of some calm during a very terrible year.)  Though we almost...
[ Read More ]

That time went by quickly!
My aunt is doing better. She was moved to another location, closer to her daughter. 
We did turn off our landline. However - the phone is still sitting where it's been for the last 25 years! Haven't discussed getting rid of the actual phone with Mr. H. Daisy has been paying her part of our joint cell phone bill.
I was asked by my sister and her husband in January, and agreed, to come stay with my mom for 2-1/2 months while my sister and her husband...
[ Read More ]

Ok first of all, are your electric bills also high?  Talk about a shocker (heh heh), last month was at nearly $200 USD!  It's not like I use all that much electricity to begin with, so what's going on here?
Anyways, Foodie buddy and I finally visited this new Chinese/Japanese buffet... wait, have I told this story already?  In case I did, I'll just make it short then, which is basically that it was very nice but very busy, but because it's so busy and it's still...
[ Read More ]

Harvest is currently going on around us. We live in Central Illinois where the two main crops are corn and soybeans. It has been very dry not to mention hot, so the combines are kicking up lots of dust and dirt around us. The other night when they were picking soybeans a few fields over, it was like we were living in a fog. Having a clean car is almost impossible during this time. 
My DH's daughter will be getting married in a week at our place. We have worked hard on some...
[ Read More ]

Today's been the kind of rainy day I like. Nothing torrential, just a nice, steady rain since early this morning. Like days of yore. It's a nice change from the every-weather-event-is-extreme weather of recent years. I really wish more was being done about climate change. The average person doesn't feel like there's much they can do about it, so we all go about our lives.
I took a break, skipping two consecutive gym workouts because my FitBit was telling me my "readiness score"...
[ Read More ]

Another week of pretty skies...
I just noticed that we had reached the max of our grocery credit card reward, and so it is time to take those credit cards out of our wallets for the rest of the year.
I don't know if it will be worth keeping this credit card longer term, but I presume it will be useful for at least one more year.
I haven't made any credit card changes in a while.  I can see that empty nest spending (in another year or two) will be different and it will...
[ Read More ]

We usually try to get together at least once a year. We have been meeting for several years now at a certain small town in northeastern PA, which is roughly midway between us. We've browsed the shops there, dined at the best spots, hiked Raymondskill Falls and even rented bikes to explore the neighborhoods with. 
This year, I proposed we meet at Bushkill Falls, also "roughly" midway between us. Just for something different. We met there yesterday and caught up with what's...
[ Read More ]

My life is a string of imposter syndromes.  I was a cop, but I never felt like one, nor quite fit in as one.  I played musical instruments, but I never really liked it.  Instead, I loved martial arts, but even that was only to a point, because I was so hyper-focused on self defense, that I never quite fit in with the true martial arts crowd either.  And while I do practice frugality, well, I too feel like an imposter here as well.
In this case, I am not technically...
[ Read More ]

It's September now, but this coming week is going to be so hot.  Will it cool down anytime soon?  I hope so because my fellow camping buddy finally got back to me, and somehow, he is still down to try to go fishing later this month.  I understand perfectly that he's a busy man, and so, I'm not surprised at all that I haven't heard from him in months.  In fact, I thought he'd forgotten about it completely, but nope, he just got back to me and talking like he's...
[ Read More ]

How can it be we are already at the first Monday in September and Labor day weekend is here? One of the local drugstores on their sign said "Summer ghosted me." How appropriate!
It's been a busy week here working on things, picking some vegetables, and just trying to survive in the heat. The back garden has been pulled up other than the pumpkin plants. I planted some seeds for a fall garden, but without rain, I doubt if anything will come up in this heat. 
I so have 4 tomato...
[ Read More ]

As I've mentioned before, I am a type 2 diabetic.  The only reason I am paying for this particular insurance company is because they had been allowing me to see this Endocrinologist I like for treatment.  However, as of January of this year, and without any warning whatsoever, this insurance company decided that they were no longer going to cover my doctor.
Oh, and it wasn't like there was even a clear, decisive notice either.  When I had asked about it, their response...
[ Read More ]

My TSP hit $1.8m this month for a high of $1.827m, but dropped to just barely under $1.8m by the end of the month. No worries, I know that I'll see it again though. Also, just barely missed the $2.5m net worth mark.
Investments $2,341,634
Savings $8,202
Home Equity $149,000
August Net Worth $2,498,836
July Net Worth $2,435,359
Monthly Gain/Loss $63,477
[ Read More ]

How Smart Manufacturers Protect Capital: Lessons Investors Often Overlook
Most investors focus on financial instruments — stocks, bonds, index funds. But some of the clearest examples of sound capital allocation happen inside industrial operations, and understanding how well-run facilities make equipment decisions can sharpen how you think about any long-term investment.
The Real Cost of a "Cheap" Decision
One of the oldest traps in personal finance is confusing purchase...
[ Read More ]

Well on paper it was a decent month; our net worth increased by $12K. Our real story is a lot more complicated.
I don't have time to go into gruesome detail, but we've been hit by curveball after curveball this year. First AS and I "lost" $60K of projected income due to a contract job ending much earlier than expected. This was with a previously reliable client of mine so we really didn't see it coming. After that it was a string of expenses: boiler replacement, electrical and...
[ Read More ]

I had no idea I love rugs. I had no idea what they were for. I like hardwood and I don't like carpets.  But rugs are beautiful and they totally can make a room.  I also didn't know they were expensive.  Cheapest to most expensive?Kids rec roomEntryMaster bedroomRec roomDining roomliving roomThe living room rug the saleswoman told us I pulled this for you. This is the rug you will buy.  We had come back for the third and final time.  First time we were just...
[ Read More ]

Here we are, end of the month, and while I did not under-spend as much as I did the previous month, I still only spent maybe 60% of my monthly budget?  Staying below budget is important to me until I can get to age 60 at least, which is another 8 years away.  That's still quite a way, and what I do now matters significantly on what happens to me down the road.  The butterfly effect I guess.
Once again, my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for not only being...
[ Read More ]

Usually winter is sunset season, but we've been blessed with a week of dramatic skies.  On Friday we saw a spectacular sunset, a full rainbow across the sky, and a lunar eclipse.  This was Thursday's sunset.
It looks like TM(21) will get a promotion at work.  August has been a good month on the employment front. 
Not much else to report.  Which is a very good thing!  Appreciating some peace, however long it lasts. 
Today I will get an idea...
[ Read More ]

The front door has been completed.  This is the most impactful change that I have made in the appearance of the house in nearly 21 years of ownership.  I've done other substantive repairs and improvements in the past--plumbing, gutters, roofs, and last year we (my next door neighbor and I) replaced the shared front steps, which definitely improved the look of the front of the house, but only in comparison to how horrible the old stairs were.  They're just concrete...
[ Read More ]