All Entries

Investments $1,277,331
Cash Savings $29,599
Total $1,306,930
Monthly Loss/Gain -$55,424
Quarterly Loss/Gain -$33,096
July was such a promising month, but it's been downhill since then. At least the interest rates on savings is paying a little more. I may lock in some more money in CDs before interest rates start dropping.
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My student loan payment of $109.75 hit today so my new balance is $31,369.81. I’m hoping to get the balance below $31k by the end of the month. 
 
I also read that the Biden-Harris administration just approved another round of student loan forgiveness.  It includes forgiveness for 51,000 borrowers enrolled in income-driven repayment plans; I am enrolled in this program,  fingers crossed that I get the forgiveness, if not I’m still...
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Today marked a day of a lesson learned on finances,  I had to call the plumber to fix my garbage disposal, which resulted in a $40 bill for simply pressing the reset button. It turns out, my initial suspicion might have been right, but with an electrical issue and a disposal problem, I felt it was best to call for help. I am still counting today as a no spend day  Lesson learned!
Shifting gears, I managed to squeeze in a workout session, successfully checked off all...
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I reviewed our 9/30 Vanguard statements. Year to date our Vanguard accounts generated a combined $44,318.96 in investment income (interest, dividends, capital gains). Our Ally account paid another $1,488.71 for a total of $45,807.67.About 70% of our total portfolio is with Vanguard. I haven't looked at the other 30%, and a lot of that is taxable mutual funds that will pay out most of their income in December.
That means we're on track for our portfolio to generate $75-80,000...
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Since No Spend September is over I want to give myself another challenge. I want to have 10 no spend days in the month of October. I mean real no spend days: no bills, no gas, no grocery shopping, nothing.
This is more than doable, but it will definitely take some planning. I’m going to print out a blank calendar for October and then put my bill due dates on it. Then I will try to make needed purchases on those days, much like the idea of combining trips when you are trying...
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Day 2 and I didn't spend a thing, I'm so happy. I was really tempted to buy a few items but remembered that I had committed to not spending on things I didn't need. I went to Aldi to get grapes, their grapes are always seeet and a lot less. Any way I  was heading to Walmart to pick up a few other grocery items when I decided to purchase the bacon from Aldi. It was $3 less than what I would have paid at Walmart and $4 less than Publix. I hope it's good. 
Headed to...
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I must say, I am enjoying the heck out of my new Halloween themed blog design and avatar.  I know we can't do a ton of customizing, but I felt like getting into the holiday spirit a little bit this year.  Not enough to decorate the house or anything, never a good idea when you won't be there for trick or treaters, but enough to do this.
Anyway, today I had my wellness visit so that is now out of the way.  I have to go get my blood work done tomorrow along with the...
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Love the beginning of the month we manage to pay all our bills and then don't have to worry about them...except our rent but we just put it into an account it it gets taken straight out, so don't have to worry about it...have managed to put $1000 into our ice acct and $500 into savings (yes I am doing them both at the same time) and although I haven't made payments to the CC yet this month, we still have 2 paydays so I am hoping to put between $1000-$1500 on it this month...fingers...
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Exciting news! My student loan payment has finally posted, and guess what? My new balance is a thrilling $31,441! 🎉 
 
Since my payment on 9/29, the interest accrued is  $17.75, which means my loan is now accumulating under $6 a day in interest. 💰 
 
There's more good news! I received an unexpected check for $200. I immediately put $100 towards my student loan, $25 into my emergency fund, treated myself to $20, and the rest went towards paying...
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Our grocery budget during No-Spend September was brutal! We did our last shopping trip on Saturday 9/30. Technically I could have played the game and not gone grocery shopping until Sunday, but either way, the money was going to be spent. We were at about $420 and spend another $198, so actually over our normal budget of $600. We spent (roughly) $618 on groceries for the month.
We got 6 gallons of milk, Greek yogurt, raspberry, oranges, apples, asparagus, artichokes, 4 loaves...
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I'm back from a wonderful weekend away about 4 hours north of New Orleans in a beautiful little town called Natchitoches. It's actually the oldest settlement in Louisiana and where they filmed the movie Steel Magnolias. They have a nice downtown on Front Street which runs along the Cane River. I had an event to attend & they also have the car festival this weekend. I saw some really beautiful old cars.
Next week I'll be in Napa Valely, then Lake Tahoe. I'm looking forward...
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October 1st is here, and I'm absolutely pumped to kickstart this month! Today marks day one of my financial reboot, and guess what? I didn't spend a single cent, not even on that tempting bacon!
 
As I dive into crunching the numbers, I can see that some spending categories were over the top, while others fell short. It's crystal clear—I need to step up my game.
 
One thing that's been bothering me is the delay in my student loan payment posting. It's infuriating...
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I haven't done this in forever either.  I won't update my medical fund, because right now it is fluid as we are using it to purchase things for our current medical expenses, but I will be opening up a non-fluid sub-savings account Medical Fund #2 to start saving for next year's deductible when I make my deposit in October for medical.  So here is the list of the amounts of money currently in each fund or envelope.
I keep it in an envelope in the safe until it hits $1000...
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I haven't done this in a long time, and I'm picking a paycheck from a three paycheck month that is missing all the regular deductions except taxes and retirement and one with a lot of overtime on it, giving us a little over $2K above a normal paycheck, but we purchased a lot of items this month on the Citi card that were much needed and DH had to get round trip plane tickets to Salt Lake City.
Those will get refunded eventually and to pay for his hotel in advance.  His company...
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Housing
769


Gifts/Charity
577


Utilities
212


Medical/Health
190


Groceries
100


Personal
96


Entertainment
67


Phone
38


Vet/Pet Supplies
36


Eating Out/Takeout
35


Clothing
33


Gas
29


Household Supplies
24


Laundry
18


Car
5


Fares/Parking
2



Grand Total                 2231
Variables                 ...
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Dang. In July I was all excited over a $25K increase in our net worth. Well, between August and September we lost $50K in net worth (most of it this past month), so we're now DOWN $25K from where we were in July.
Oh well. I haven't been able to contribute to retirement with our recent shifting around of job situations and income streams, but I took advantage of this low market and threw $300 in each of our Roths and a couple thousand in each of our kids' 529s. And soon, hopefully,...
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I had a few days off at the beginning of this week.  Did little day trips with my sister.  Visited some cousins.  Did a lot of walking.
Still contributing to retirement funds although it is tough watching the total value go down.  Working on paying down debt and saving a bit outside of retirement.
 
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Yesterday was payday for me. I allocated my funds by prioritizing my financial responsibilities, including tithes, my student loan, and credit card payments. In light of forthcoming student loan obligations, I adjusted my bi-weekly contributions to my Emergency Fund to $150.
 
Here's a breakdown of my allocations:
- $361 for tithes
- $500 for the student loan
- $225 for credit card debt
- $178 for my electric bill (factoring in budget billing)
- $1,200 into savings,...
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I'd budgeted for a pedicure, $40 which included tip. I try to treat myself periodically.
Well the salon was unable to provide a pedicure so I opted for a polish change which was $15, I paid $20, to include the tip.
I am going to add the difference to to my savings funds, which is $20. 
I also returned an item that I didn't need and put on my credit card, total refunded $235. Why I make these impulse purchases I have no clue. As I'm typing this I think it's my ex. I think...
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This was a mostly successful No Spend September. I did save money. I did decrease debt. And I think I have a grip on my Amazon habit. The amount of charges on our credit card is drastically reduced as before this challenge most of them were Amazon charges.
I became addicted to the convenience.  Instead of putting things on a list, and then maybe changing our mind, I just bought whatever came to my fancy. Not to mention, these were credit card purchases because you can’t...
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