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Well, we've only just begun 2023 and already I feel lots of big changes happening in my life.
For one, I will earn a living as a writer again after a roughly five-year hiatus during which time I was copy editing p/t. I've been hired as a W2 writer for a university not in the Northeast, and I'm expecting my first assignment this Friday.
I'm excited because it's really just the kind of job I was hoping to find: one with pretty p/t hours so as not to interfere with my semi-retirement...
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It's the last day of January, and I'm not going to spend anything, so I did my recap.



Insurance
968


Housing
769


Utilities
234


Clothing
97


Gifts/Charity
58


Medical/Health
55


Eating Out/Takeout
55


Groceries
50


Personal
41


Phone
32


Household Supplies
29


Gas
24


Entertainment
17


Laundry
14


Furn/Equip/Décor
5


Fares/Parking
5



Grand Total was $2453, and I kept variable spending...
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We finally completed the long-procrastinated task of updating our wills. I’m glad to have it done though I am still working on the step-by-step guidance document for the executor. (requested by DH) That document has been a bigger chore than I expected but I’m learning a lot. In addition to online research, I bought a book that is so worth the cost: The Executor’s Guide by Mary Randolph. I also created documents for inventory of assets, final wishes, and contact...
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I did my taxes yesterday. I owe nothing to federal, and I'm getting nothing back. I'm getting a $262 refund from the state, because they withheld that amount from my RMD's.
It was pretty easy. Retirement has certainly simplified tax time. For me, anyway.
I will have four grocery shopping days in February, starting on Wednesday. That means $25 a trip.
I have one birthday in February, and I'll be getting an oil change, which may generate some car repair costs. Also, according...
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Debts
Mortgage −$115,590.99 (-$241.61)Land Loan -$10,673.24 (-$187.63)Hospital Bill - $1,188.02 (-$75)
Savings
Roth IRAs +$22,938 (+$1,766)401K +$46,828 (+$3,968)Emergency Fund +$4,798 (-$2,527)Animal Fund +$1,686 (+$5)Car Fund +$20 (-$0)HSA +$1,383 (+$184)
Overall: +$3,900.24
A good month thanks to the markets bouncing up. I had to pull from our savings for our 6-month car insurance. This is a planned expense that I use that account for besides emergencies. But the...
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Received $79 bank interest for the month of December.
Received $220 I Bond interest for the month of December.
 
Snowflakes to Investments:
--Redeemed $2 credit card rewards (cash back) from our grocery card 
--Redeemed $113 cash back on Citi card
--Redeemed $25 on dining out/gas card (+ groceries during Q4)
 
Other Snowflakes to Investments:
+ $5 Savings from Target Red Card (grocery purchases)
+ $141 Dividends
+ $100 MH income (to meet 2022 goal)
 
TOTAL:...
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I've been struggling to get back down to my preferred weight. Not by a lot, but enough that I have to put in a real effort to lose it. It's a combo of my age (premenopause) and the fact that my job no longer requires me to be on my feet all day long, so my daily steps are very low. I'm addressing the exercise by trying to take more breaks during the day, attending at least 3 paddling sessions a week, and aiming for 2 additional workouts on my own at home. 
The easiest way...
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Today I shopped at Aldi for the second time this month. I spent $26 and bought butter, apples, frozen pie crusts, tuna, green peppers, flour tortillas, lastose-free milk, crackers, salt, half & half, baby carrots, and biscuits. For another $5 I bought a boot tray -- much needed today as it is wet and sloppy.
I made a side trip to Sam's for gas, which was $24 for a half-tank.
Variables for the month are at 50% and I have bought no big-ticket items.
Edit: I almost forgot!...
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BFF came and stayed with me over the weekend. We were pretty low-key and didn't spend much. I spent $18 on eating out and $15 on gifts. We ate at home most of the time and watched movies on Netflix. So far my variables spending is only 26% for this month.
I've received two tax documents. I'm going to take my time before I file. I always seem to jump the gun and then I have to make changes because I was lacking a document. This time I'm going to make sure I have everything. Not...
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When I went down to the central valley for my mom's surprise 90th birthday party,  that same old nasty hacking cough came back.  By the 3rd day there, I was coughing non-stop.  It continued on for 5 weeks, then mercifully tapered off and is now back to normal.  (I feel the urge to cough most of the time, but can mostly resist.  I use cough drops to help control the urge.) I missed a bunch of work because I just can't function like that.  
All...
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When I was a kid, we struggled financially. It wasn't because my parents were lazy, it just that money was tight. I saw resourcefulness as well and hard work and believe I was raised with a Depression Era attitude.
Once I finished college and landed my full time teaching job, I listened to some of the older teachers talking about pensions, retirement accounts, and things like that. My dad and mom had to rely mostly on Social Security come retirement, and I can attest it was nothing...
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I have recently stumbled across this YouTube channel.  The host goes through people's account statements prior, then interviews people and discusses their financial information.  These are generally people who aren't managing their money well and need some help.
It's an interesting show and I thought that people here might enjoy it.
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MH's parents told him last month that they are going to buy an EV in 2023.  They are eyeing the Bolt, same car we have.
They've probably never spent more than $15K on a car.  They prefer to buy new and will probably end up in the $25K range.
I am 1000% in the "they should splurge and get what they want" head space and am happy to see them buying something a little nicer than they usually would.  But...  I don't see the point in going new for a Bolt. ...
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I hadn't thought much about it because "saving money" really wasn't a reason that we bought our EV.  I mean sure, it made it easier to justify financially because of all the fuel savings, but it wasn't the reason we made the switch.  Fast forward to high gas prices in 2022 and this seemed to piss off people and they misdirect their anger at EV drivers.  So have been fielding a lot of really stupid comments.  The comments peaked when gas prices peaked. ...
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I plugged in my numbers into the H&R Block calculator because I was anxious about having to pay a lot this year due to increases in income. It looks like I will owe less than $100 to federal, maybe a couple of hundred to state. It doesn't seem to calculate state taxes so I'm only going off my own rough calculations.
I didn't realize that the state income tax rates went down last year. That's a huge thing as they've remained unchanged for as long as I can remember. I don't...
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Our net worth decreased by $65K in 2022.  This works out to $15K cash spent (college, new mattress, MH's movie and film festivals, etc.) & a $50K decrease in stocks.  I am depreciating our autos aggressively but that is offset by mortgage paydown.  Home values remain steady.
Re: my sidebar big picture goal, this leaves $120K to come up with in the next 4 years.  Considering that our goal was to increase net worth by $60K every year...  We are still...
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Finally have this years taxes done and ready to post out...will add in last years since we don't even have confirmation that they have received them and will make it when they arrive that they require a signature so we know they got them...hopefully they will both be done and dusted in the next few months!!
Other than that things are just chugging along...Have found a new program that should hopefully help with health...Im skeptical but will try about anything right now...I can't...
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The new bank has free coin-counting for members so I took my banking bag full of change and deposited it into the new checking account: $53.07. I didn’t think so much of it was quarters! Then I used the new debit card at the grocery store to make sure it worked with no problem.
 
Finally, I submitted my updated direct deposit splits to the company’s payroll department that will hopefully be effective by February.
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I'm and doing okay on the eat from the pantry challenge.  In 19 days we have only spent $27.32 on fresh produce and a half gallon of milk, which are within the parameters of my challenge.  Also within the parameters of my challenge are that if I find a really good sale on something, I can buy it, but I can't use it during the challenge.  That's okay, because I don't want to.  Most of it is for canning, the rest to be eaten during the next 3 months or so.
Some...
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I haven't filed yet because I am waiting on one more thing, but we finally got my husband's W2 and I can make a pretty good estimate on what we are getting back. It looks like right around $9,000, which is great! I was honestly only expecting at least $4k with hoping for up to $8k, so even better than I planned.
This is the first year completely without my W2 income and my old job was a major tax leech.  I was expecting our refund to go up, but then a lot of things that we...
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