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Please don't forget days like earlier today.  Please.  Don't let anyone sugar coat this, or blame it on their (Democratic) opposition, or drink the GOP apologist Koolaid that this is somehow "normal".  It's not.
The Dow hasn't fallen like this since the Covid lockdown only a few years ago, and that was a global pandemic that shuttered the entire country and its businesses.
And you know what's really sad about this whole thing?  If Trump had literally not picked...
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Seriously, what is going on in this country? I just checked my investment portfolio, and I'm down quite a bit. As someone who is new to investing, I cannot afford to lose any money.
Prices for goods are much higher than they were a few months ago, rights are being taken away, and people seem to be okay with this.
I can only imagine what my property taxes will look like. In just two months, this man has racked up 26 million dollars in security fees for his golf visits.
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I have noticed in the past month that my refrigerator, the freezer part specifically, kept building up hard ice. Not the frosty kind, but hard ice. And sometimes water pooled in the fridge. It looked like it had to be draining tube problem, according to Google, but there was no way I could fix it myself. So I called an appliance repairman, and to my shock, it was $340 to make the repair! This was not what I needed.
But, good news, I did pass my road test and I'm driving again!...
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I told myself I would be posting more frequently in April than I did in March and here it is already April 3rd and I have done nothing, so I decided that I should get back into more of my old habits.  I did my payday report last week and now I need to get back into my tracking my groceries.  This will be from a store trip on April 1st.  I bought mostly organic produce, but my goodness it was not that much higher than conventional.  We're talking .25 to .50 difference...
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So I don't normally go shopping it is to much noise, to many lights etc...way to much stimulation...but the last couple day we have gone over there to buy a few things and one of our store has these racks and they are selling clothes for $1 and $2, we have bought a bunch of things for her future kids as a pack of 3 jumpsuits for $1 (so 33c each), you couldnt do any better we have also been buying extra for the foster kids charity that we support as $1 each you can't go wrong when...
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Yesterday was a day I could head to a Kroger store in a nearby larger town. Since we live 40 minutes away, I try to bunch my errands so I don't make a lot of unnecessary trips and with gas prices on the rise, I especially don't want to spend more on gas and wear and tear on my car.
I had a list created. Most, not all, of my items were either on sale or I had digital coupons. I was fortunate that I found a couple of things that I wanted on clearance so I saved even more. Even so,...
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Not a joke but i'm sure many people have lost a good chunk of their portfolios. I have sat tight and refused to panic or sell and so i'm just watching things drop.  I'm actually about to transfer a good chunk to my solo 401k in April and max it out for 2025.  $23,500.  I'm not sure what the best thing to do it. Being a business owner and DH in a start up we probably have more cash on hand than most people.  I do sometimes think perhaps it's not efficient. ...
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We lost about $24K of retirement savings, or about 2.5% of the total value of those funds. Offset by a small contribution to NT's 401k and our regular mortgage payments, our net worth decreased by $22K.
I turned 51 this month, so our CoastFIRE number increased $35K. We are still at CoastFIRE with a $22,500 surplus of where we need to be at. A far cry from the $86K surplus I had in January, but what can you do? It's all worth it to have hundreds of thousands of government employees...
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I almost didn't believe it. I got my letter from the SOS saying that I am medically cleared to apply for a new driver's license. The accident that caused this whole mess took place in April of last year, so it's been almost a year.
I went to the DMV this morning. Thank goodness my town has a branch just for seniors that encourages walk-ins. I took and passed my written test and my vision test. I could have taken my road test, but I traveled there on the bus, never thinking that...
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It has been a long, long time since I have done one of these things and it is time I get back to it, I think.  Payday was Friday and this one has quite a bit of overtime on it.  Thank goodness, because a large chunk of the check went on the Citi card to pay for the adjustable bed for my daughter that I talked about in the previous post.  The rest of that bed will be paid off on Wednesday with the tax refund.  You have to do what you have to do when you have...
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Murphy struck in threes three times, for a total of nine in the last nine months.  Not that I really believe in that sort of things, but we have had a real string of broken things, which is why our Emergency fund is $1010 and not $15,000.  The most recent thing that broke was my daughter's adjustable bed.
Now she needs this because of her special needs.  Because she has ideopathic intercranial hypertension and it is pretty bad, she has to sleep with her brain elevated...
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Yesterday we went to the local theatre in the small town we live in and saw a movie that was called "The Farmer's Daughter." It isn't the old movie, but a recently made one about a young woman who was once on the local TV station as a reporter, but after her brother died, she gave up her career and came home to work for her father on the farm. Fast forward a few years and her dad became very ill, and she's now running the family farm. It was a good movie and if you are interested...
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I tell you what, when asked if I’m better off than I was four years ago, my answer is Hell no! 
 
The cost of goods has increased, work is extremely slow, interest rates on savings decreased, lost a long-term client, and my retirement accounts have been hit badly, not to mention my nerves. 
 
With all this talk about social security, I am nervous about my mom, she has small savings, no debt, and her social security. She depends on that, I don’t...
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Wow, another month gone, and I realized I haven't even posted for March.  It has been a difficult month for various reasons, but this post is just a financial one.  I am updating the retirement, the emergency fund and the net worth.  For what it is worth I have a net positive for the month, but it is a squeaker.
I came out of retirement for the month with a net gain of $1,759.63.  If it weren't for our contribution rate of 17% of monthly income, I don't think...
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On ething I like about our elections is they don't drag out like the US ones. Our PM has decided that our elections will be held on may 3rd...so not a lot of campaigning they don't really travel around to each state...I'm hoping our liberals don't get in they have more of a mindset like Trump and take care of their rich friends and forget everyone else, they will throw the rest of us scraps...so here's hoping Labor stays in and continues to do some good.
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Last year, I got hit with a tax penalty for like $6,500 USD.  I believe they garnished it out of my Roth.  I thought perhaps it was because I didn't wait long enough or something before I sold a position to buy another one.  So, I figured it might be a one-off thing, but through the entire year of 2024, I did not sell anything.  I only bought more of the same positions.
Anyway, I just received a letter from the IRS again, saying this time I owe $13k+ !  I...
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Work with 2 of my volunteer groups is heating up, and these days, my rallies, demonstrations, phone calls and letter writing is very much another p/t job, so I guess you could say 3 of my volunteer groups are heating up.
I am very excited to have succeeded in building consensus between my environmental group and another nonprofit here in town that seeks to protect a certain river that is a sole source aquifer and supplies drinking water to half the population.
More recently,...
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Let me preface this with, I believe in tipping those folks who provide a service such as a hair dresser or a server. I understand that the tip is actually part of their pay. 
But, and this is a big but, the tipping thing has gotten out of hand. I was looking to order some food for Easter. Food that I will pick up, heat,  and serve. I couldn't understand why the price was so expensive and there it was, at the end, a large tip tacked on. Fortunately I caught it, but good...
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Patient Saver's blog about trying times ... I was tempted to copy that title to mine. Again, another week of losing more money in the market than making. I know the market has ups and downs, but it seems more down and up and I don't see it getting any better.
I was watching CNBC yesterday and the CEO of Affirm was saying the economy was OK, people were still spending money. Before that, I had never heard of Affirm, but it is one of these companies partnered with Walmart that has...
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It's impossible to ignore everything that's happening in the world around us. I've become increasingly involved in local rallies, letter-writing and so on. I went to a rally yesterday in my hometown and listened to a series of heartfelt testimonials by local people. Included among them was the mother of a child killed in a school shooting here who somehow has the strength and determination to fight gun violence. 
I did not expect that this is the turn my retirement would...
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