All Entries

I recently bought a pair of double-walled, insulated, borosilicate clear glass mugs. They are oversized but quite lightweight, especially compared to a ceramic mug, and will hold not quite 2 cups, so that's perfect for me. Because they are double-walled, not only do they look cool when you are drinking out of them, but they will keep your tea/coffee hot for longer. Kind of like a thermos. I remember many years ago at work some people liked to use those plug-in mug heaters at...
[ Read More ]

We are finally settled enough into the new house where we are back to cooking each day, which is great..we all really missed our vegies everyday...the weather is coming in cooler now so we can do more slow cookers which makes life a lot easier...so we spend around $1200 a month on food for 3 adults, now granted that covers everything we use food/cleaning etc...but I would like to get it down even with prices going up. I do have to start menu planning again which can be hard because...
[ Read More ]

MM(22) Dec 2025 'Gifted College Fund': $7,900 (+$5K ROTH)
MM(22) Feb 2026 'Gifted College Fund': $2,600 (+$5K ROTH)
Rent is paid through 3/31.
Final tuition payment - Done!
There's enough money left to pay rent through May.  MM's annual utilities (he still hasn't gotten me any numbers) and his June/July rent are to be sorted out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DL(20) Nov 2025 'Gifted College Fund': $20,587 (+$5K ROTH)
DL(20)...
[ Read More ]

I don't always do monthly updates because either not a whole lot happens anymore now that I am retired, or some negative stuff can happen, so it's better to not look at it?  I can't help but feel that this is one of those negative months.  On the other hand, trying to make sense of the negative phenomenon happening in the world is sometimes worth mentioning, so here I am.
Despite being questioned for not releasing the Epstein Files, properly and in a timely manner, Pam...
[ Read More ]

Debts
Mortgage -$106,487.84 (-$510.37)Land Loan -$3,266.94 (-$432.01)
Savings
Roth IRAs +$54,213 (+$5,131)401K +$107,200 (+$5,640)Emergency Fund +$24,037 (+$2,413)Animal Fund +$3,106 (+$17)HSA +$2,253 (+$40)
Overall: +$14,183.38 (This is for January-February)
Some of this is from a large tax refund. We added $3k to retirement as usual, sent $3k to savings, and spent another $1k on more car repairs. We have another thousand put back until we decide what to do with it.
Very...
[ Read More ]

Well we all knew it would happen once bombs were released but our petrol/gas has fone from $1.50 to $2.20 pretty much overnight and they say it could get to $3 a litre...Thanks Trump for starting a war we don't need or want it costs us all but he doesnt care he has his billions, his food, his bunkers etc he will be just fine...lets hope i ends soon and prices will come back down because I am sure sick of all the prices rising and no-ones wages rising at all,,,rant over
[ Read More ]

February was an unusually low-spend month for me, which was a surprise, because it did include a $500 gift I made to my son, who is now unemployed. (Thanks, Amazon!)
Anyway, here goes. I spent $849 on housing, which will be my new normal, as assessments fees in my building went up by more than $50 a month. Ugh. I spent $567 on gifts. The $67 includes valentine gifts to my grandchildren (and isn't chocolate expensive now?) and some random handouts to pandhandlers. Utilities were...
[ Read More ]

When I walked into the office this morning, our office manager told me that she put in her notice to retire.  Her last day of work will be the 27th.  She and I are close in age--she was born the month before I was, and we've periodically had conversations about retirement.  Back when our company was privately owned, she planned to work until 70.  About a year before we were sold, there was a transition because Schwab bought out TD Ameritrade, which was where...
[ Read More ]

My heating oil tank is about one-quarter full. I had planned to see if I could squeak through March with what's left, but that might be a stretch. Given Rump's invasion of Iran, I decided to schedule an oil delivery as a hedge against rising prices, so that delivery is set for Thursday. I checked my favorite (cheapest) suppliers and both prices have risen. I bought at $3.59 a gallon, which is pretty high, historically, though it was higher for the last 10 days of January.
With...
[ Read More ]

My car was not totaled out. Repairs were $2,465. I was to be reimbursed that amount minus a $500 deductible, but I'm still awaiting my total reimbursement. I was reimbursed $1,375 initially. I am just waiting on USAA to settle an overpayment of $422 to the repair shop & it seems to be taking far too long. I'm trying to be patient, but it shouldn't take this long for the repair shop to settle an overpayment.
In January I traveled to St. Louis. I had a fun time & ate a lot...
[ Read More ]

TSP $1,607,123
IRA $474,973
Brokerage $15,966
Investment Sub-total $2,096,062
House Equity $146,000
Savings $5,101
February 2026 $2,247,163
January 2026 Net Worth $2,219,701
Monthly Loss/Gain $ 27,462
[ Read More ]

I have to say I don't like trump in any way shape or form...but I went to send out a package today to a friend in the US and before you would write what was in the package and then pay and it would be on it's way...no now Trump wants to know what is in the box, what country it is made in, how many, the weight etc, so we now have to write out what country it is from....I'm like it's coming from australia so what does it matter...so now have to undo the package and get all the information...
[ Read More ]

Time to update my net worth and also update you on the situation in Minneapolis. I know we're slipping out of the headlines what with the Iran attack and Epstein files and everything, but ICE/Border Patrol have not left MN as what's-his-face the "czar" claimed. There are still over 1K agents here. The noise and violence isn't as constant but it's still here. My BFF's sister went over to the building where they detain people; there are lots of helpers there because even if someone...
[ Read More ]

Well I can't believe it is march already...this year is just flying by so fast.
February was an expensive month with the move most of our savings went to rent/bond/end of lease bills so now it is time to get back on track. I have done our budget since our rent is more than the last house. It is pay week so will pay the bills today and will do the monthly shopping list and order it, then we only will neeed to pick up the essentials and the stores are literally a 10 minute walk...
[ Read More ]

In another twist on my two worlds colliding, there is this strange world of men's fashion that I call Grayman fashion.  Now, people who do this will NOT call it that, because that's way too sissy.  No, these men consider themselves the most operatey of operaters, the tips of the spear, possibly even tier 1 (and some actually are!) but the point is, you can't just be a badass.  You also have to look the part too.  As Garand Thumb (a military YouTuber) loves to...
[ Read More ]

I hadn't realized, but it's now been 2 years and a month since I officially retired. I've been happy with how those 2 years went, though I wish I could slow down the pace of life. I always feel too busy with too many things to do; rare is the time I choose a "non-productive" activity that involves just relaxing or reading over other things that need to be done. I have a feeling this won't change unless I sell this house, because just maintaining a home like this takes a lot of...
[ Read More ]

OK... I guess I need to come clean on the gambling tease from my prior posting.  (AND I have another jack of all trades entry at the end)
==================================================================
Around the beginning of January I receieved a postcard inviting(?) me to go to a relatively new and local casino to play, and that I was to be given free "bonus" money to play with.  I normally wouldn't give such things a second thought, but I had seen the location...
[ Read More ]

Aside from friends and family, there is not a whole lot that I need or want out of the world. And though I've mentioned this before, the one notable exception is me being low key kind of a foodie.
For example, I typically watch cooking competition shows while I am eating.  The last one I watched was called Culinary Class War, a Korean cooking competition. (Good show!)  Yesterday, I went out of my way to finally go try Raising Cane's chicken for the first time.  (It...
[ Read More ]

Today I have good news to share.  I got the bill for MM(23)'s last quarter of tuition.  I am transferring funds now and will make the final payment tomorrow.
Take it with a grain of salt because life be cray cray.  He's having problems getting a couple of classes that he needs.  I don't think it's necessarily a big problem.  He was just running down some red tape for two classes he couldn't simply register for.
I am just being realistic re: if everything...
[ Read More ]

Before I forget, we had one small win.  MH ended up replacing his theater chair mechanism for $15 (the cost of the replacement part). 
I briefly thought that maybe we were continuing the trend of 'constant emergencies that cost $0 or very little' trend.  Which was most of 2025.  Maybe this ER vet stuff was just a blip.
HA!
Emergency spending was $11,000 during the past 2 weeks.  The last 8 days or so were completely absurd.  If I can have 5 minutes...
[ Read More ]