DH and I were discussing what it would cost and whether we should put in a/c in our place.  We moved in 2017 and didn't do it when we did a major remodel of our house.  We had a furnace and I had a few HVAC guys come and talk to us.  They said our furnance was old and would have to be replaced within 5 years.  It was 20+ years at that time.  They said if it were them they would wait and do it later because we were spending a lot and why not just wait until...
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Over the years I have had investments in a number of things.  Home, pension, brokerage, IRA, 457, HSA, DRIP, Savings Bonds, CDs (maybe more?).  Anyway, as I get closer to retirement I realize that in some things fewer is better.  Or at least that is the case in this point in life.  
I've come to this realization through a number of things I have seen lately.  One of them has been working with my mother.  She has (and I have helped from time to...
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Two more baseball games, and they were both amazing.  One was a decisive win, 16-1, and the other was a close win, 9-8, an incredible comeback -- and my grandson made the winning run.  I tell you, this free entertainment is the best!
Today I made an Aldi run and spent $37, then popped over to PetSmart and bought cat food for $15.  This is another attempt to get Iggy to eat wet food.  This time I bought Friskies packets with gravy.  If he won't eat it,...
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My weekends now consist of purging & packing. Purging involves dropping off my discarded items to the local charity consignment store. I have packed more books than anything else. I have donated many as well. I bought a CD organizer & have been able to get rid of all of the cases. I just ordered a second one for my DVD's.
Yesterday I got a call from the apartment manager that she should be sending me my lease. After all those papers I signed I thought that I was done....
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Clothes shopping is just not my thing.
Years ago TLC had a program called "What Not To Wear" and I loved watching it and seeing how they helped people be their personal best. Being someone who has always struggled with weight issues, every time they had someone who was overweight, it captured my interest even more. So many times those ladies would leave the stores in tears. I felt their pain because that is what it was like for me. Being short and overweight did not make it a...
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We did it!!!  End of last year we moved to Switzerland.
We live in an old medieval town on lake Geneva, near the city of Geneva, in a little house with a garden. It is very beautiful, with old cobblestone pedestrian streets, clear water, a castle and mountains in the distance.
We are very happy here.  So many things are different that I do feel the urge to post about daily random things and how life (and money) is like here.  It is a different perspective, lifestyle,...
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I was sorting through some old receipts and I came across the receipt for the garage door opener I finally had to replace earlier this year. It was a Sears Roebuck model that came with the house, so I knew it was old, but the receipt confirmed a previous owner had installed it...in 1988! That garage door opener lasted 33 years!!!
Looking at that old receipt got me interested again in tracing the history of my house. I did it once many years ago, but got stuck at one point in the...
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Interesting thing happened today. I drove up and used my prepaid Toyota Sienna oil change packet.  It is synthetic and they had a deal of $300 for 5 oil changes at the dealership.  Cost about the same as going to a jiffy lube. Oil changes are expensive now!
Anyway I drive up and the guy comes to my window and say they'll be with me.  How do I like my car?  I say it's great I have no complaints.  Just got back from a roadtrip and planned it this way. ...
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Our retirement account balance now rests at $59,197.67, an increase in the two week period of $1196.98, only $785.40 of which was contributions.  We gained $411.58 in interest.  I am starting to calm down a bit about the stock market.  I was getting antsy after last month didn't do so well.  Not that it matters, we are in it for the long haul, and I'm not about to bail.  It would be nice to hit $60K next payday, but who knows?  Might take longer.
That...
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We drove out to Lynden Meats today and picked up our whole beef. I wasn't sure we were going to fit it all in the back of the mini-van, but we did. For those who are interested in pricing we paid a $400 deposit, the remainder to the farmer was $1892.50 at slaughter, and the cut, wrap, and kill fee was $663.14. That was a grand total of $2955.64 for 665 pounds of hanging weight.
It works out to $4.51/lb for pasture raised, grass/hay fed only, organic beef, including soup bones,...
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I attended GS1's baseball game last night.  It was very exciting.  Our team came from behind in the last inning and won.  In celebration, the team went to Culver's for dinner.  I went along and I spent $7 on my meal.  I wasn't going to spend anything till Monday, but I paid cash, which will make less of an impact on my budget than charging it.
There is another game tonight and one on Saturday.  I trust there will be no food costs.
After some really...
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Well I was offered a job. It’s about $5k less than I was making and way less than I wanted. I’m going to try and negotiate an additional $5k or one extra week vacation. 
It’s about 7 miles from my house, so about 15 minutes with traffic, much better than the 1.5-2 hour drive, each way. 
 
Benefits are okay, much better though than my last job. 
 
I’ve been looking for a job since January, prior to quitting and nothing....
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Please join me in congratulating one of our own resident experts here. Dido at Fiscal Fitness here has passed the Certified Financial Planner exam today!
You've studied long and hard...you earned it, girl!
 
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2021 Financial Goals  
 


These are the spending/income goals I set for myself for 2021: 



 

1. Groceries: Spend $2400 or less for the year. 






2. Shopping: Spend no more than $1000 for the year. 






3. Utilities: Stay under last year's spending total of $1011.45 






4. Income from Swagbucks and My Points: Earn more than last year’s total of $1825 




 
Here...
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Husband got notified of a possible class action lawsuit a few months ago regarding ADP at his last employer. Well he filled it out and thought nothing of it, and last week we received a surprise $400 check for our settlement. Sweet! His employer also just sent him another one concerning his health insurance, so we submitted it as well. I used to think they were scams, but I’ve successfully received money for several of them now. Never hurts to fill them out and see what happens.
 
I...
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Well, it happened again.  Like my electricity bill, the gas bill was not automatically taken from my new bank account.  I don't know what happened there -- did I actually forget to update my utilities with the new account?  It's possible.  Anyway, I fixed it -- I think.
My auto insurance payment and my Medicare Advantage premium went through okay.  My checking account is under $1K now, which I don't like to see.  I'm going to try to make this a no-spending week.
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We had a nice Independence Day.  The fireworks were beautiful and they had quite a few new shapes that I had never seen before.  They also had some that were this intense shade of orangey-yellow that I've never seen on a firework.  
Today was nice and peaceful.  DH had the day off paid since the holiday was on the weekend and it was one that the company pays for either the Friday before or the Monday after if the day falls on a weekend.  He gets seven...
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Hi everyone. 
That job that I thought was so awesome was not. They switched my reporting structure between the interview and first day and I was 'semi' reporting to a micromanaging sortof toxic lady. Those who have read my blog for a while remember the last time that happened. Anyway. after lots of stress and indecision I decided life was too short and I quit after a week. Turns out my contract company knew this lady (she once worked for them) and totally understood. Anyway...
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Hi all!
Hope you enjoyed your holiday. 
 
I wanted to do a quick check in. Last month I quit my job, well gave my resignation and my CEO terminated. It was an extremely toxic environment and I don’t regret it. 
 
Since quitting I’ve been trying to apply for unemployment with no luck, it has been a challenge getting on the site. Thank God I had money saved. This business of people living off unemployment and don’t want to work is a joke,...
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Well I did a 3 month update, and as the amounts seem to keep rising, so why not a quick six month update as well.
Investments: Started the year at $1,305,000 and as of today stand at $1,531,000.  That gives an increase of $226,000.  With contributions of $33,300 that leaves growth of $192,700.  That growth is just crazy.  Feels like I moved into the 1%. 💸
Also financially: I did a $20,000 in-plan Roth rollover this spring.  Going to hate the tax hit...
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