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I can't believe where I've come from. I have worked so hard to save and pay off debt. I've done it before but this time seems more difficult. I don't know if it's because I'm older, had more debt, or simply have a better understanding of money. Either way I'm making progress. 
I re-worked my budget to include extra payments on the mortgage. I know some will say why pay extra on the mortgage when you have student loan debts? Well because it makes me feel good and keeps me...
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My uncle is visiting us. We mostly have been eating out (mostly uncle's treat) but really only doing one meal a day. Last night I was hungry for dinner and neither N or uncle was all that interested in a meal. No big deal, we have plent of food at home. I took a look through the pantry and ended up making linguine with pesto, artichoke hearts and black olives. A pot made 4-6 servings and probably cost $7 total. Probably less because I know I used ibotta and Kroger cash back rebates...
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I bought my train tickets this morning. I opted for coach, because it was SO MUCH cheaper than a sleeper. Maybe I'll regret it, but right now I'm looking upon it as an adventure. BFF's SIL has taken this same trip by coach, and she said it wasn't bad at all. Yes, I would prefer to have the privacy of sleeper. If I were rich, that's what I would do. But I'm not rich. I have to do what I can afford. The two tickets, with insurance, were $332. That will come out of savings. It doesn't...
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I really want to get back into the habit of writing here, especially because I need some encouragement/accountability. 
Since we moved to Cincinnati, we have expanded our real estate holdings by a lot. I had already owned a rental property in California, we own a house where we used to live and then in 2019 we bought a commercial building (storefront + apartment) and a single family home we moved to.
In 2020 we bought a church and the parsonage next door.
In 2021 we bought...
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For some reason, I am unable to submit comments today. So I want to say welcome to Comicguy, and kudos to Amber for cutting down on social media -- it's a rabbit hole! I avoid it, because avoiding it is good for my mental health.
I went out for lunch with my kids and grandkids yesterday. Our tradition is to go to a Mexican restaurant -- they are not so busy on Easter! They wanted to pay for me, but in the end allowed me to contribute $12.
I talked with my Oregon son yesterday...
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Well, I've maxed out the deductible for the family this year with my therapy, both physcial and mental.  We still have the out of pocket max to hit, but we no longer have to pay for the full amount of doctor's appointments or prescriptions, just the co-insurance part.  That takes some strain off the budget.  We also have used all of our FSA debit card for the year.
I had my first pool therapy session early last week.  All of the other appointments were on land...
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Hope everyone had a great Easter. 
Today, was so-so. It started out great then my niece got on my nerves a bit but I'm good now. I made my own holiday dinner, I'll be freezing the bulk of it. I tried stuffing for the first time and it turned out great. I am so happy because I love stuffing. 
Other news, I'll be blogging a little more. I've decided to give Social Media a break. I realized that I spend way too much time on social media, to the point it is not productive....
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I realized I didn't post last week. Happy Passover and Easter to all.
My year to date sales total is $2,034.12.
YTD profit is $1,366.56.
I went to several estate and yard sales this weekend but the results were disappointing. I only picked up 3 items on Friday but nothing major.
I did spend a good amount of time in the garage Friday and Saturday and put together 2 boxes of stuff to list for sale. I listed 5 items yesterday and will do more today. Hopefully some of those will...
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Hey everyone, this is my first attempt at blogging and hoping to use it as a way to keep me more motivated on my finacial journey towards retirement.
A little background info:
Currently 52 married to my wife for 30 years! One son who is 29 and married. I have been a teacher now for 18 years 3 years as a substitute and now 15 at my current school. Looking to hit the 20 year mark at my current school to lock in the healh insurance for retirment.
Prior to going back to school at...
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We were going to move in october as this house doesn't really fit us...but if the landlord agrees we might stick it out another year and then hopefully have enough for a deposit on a house....if housing prices don't continue to rise, I am hoping to get to $50,000 but we will see it doesn't leave much wiggle room if something comes up but it is something to work towards each month.
This means our CC won't be paid off till november (which is bad I know) but it will still be paid...
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I have no idea what triggered my ex but he broke down and told me he has to get his life together. He has a client, a few who are millionaires, who want to help him and he finally spoke with one today. He said he’s tired of living the way he is living. 
 
For starters he need to focus on him and not the mother, in my opinion. The mother keeps him in a financial black hole. I’m not saying not to help mom; however, he’s not in a financial position to...
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On Friday I went to the gym and then to Aldi, where I spent $57 on groceries, and $9 on a tiered shelf to house my spices. Some of them, anyway. I also have a drawerful.
This morning I walked to Walgreens and spent $9 on brow color, and $3 on a package of hot dog buns.
This is the latest of many attempts to find some viable solution for my graying eyebrows , which really don't look good. But everything I've purchased is too dark -- I don't like my brows to stand out in sharp...
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It's been a while since I've posted. Some is because I didn't have much to say, but the biggest reason is I couldn't do anything besides call up the page -- I couldn't comment on anyone else's posts either. It is very frustrating.
Things are just going along here. DH's ornamental pear bloomed and it is a thing of beauty. It's too cold to plant anything yet, but he's eager and I'm eager to start having home grown stuff. 
I continue to work with our church's looming group....
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This is something I just started thinking about yesterday, and I thought who better to ask than my SA buddies!
I use this calculator when tracking our progress toward potential Coast FIRE status:
https://walletburst.com/tools/coast-fire-calc/
As some of you may have read, we recently bought a rental property. While it's not fully rented yet, when it is, we think we can count on about $1500 monthly income after expenses.
Since we intend to hold onto this property and keep renting...
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I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things this morning and checked on the price of eggs. An 18 count of large store brand eggs was tagged at $4.15. Yikes! Just 10 days ago on 4/4 the price was $3.39. That’s an increase of .76 cents in just 10 days! They were well stocked though so no shortages yet.  
 


My store is still running the club card deal where you can get an 18 count of store brand large eggs for just .99 cents when you use 100 club card...
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Yesterday I went shopping for a winter jacket on clearance. I didn't find one, but I did find bed pillows on sale, so I bought a couple of Sealy Cool Touch pillows. I slept on them last night, and I love them! And they're washable. They were so reasonable -- $42 for the pair.
 
This morning I walked to Walgreens and bought coffee creamer ($4) and then mailed Easter cards to my Oregon grandkids with $20 in cash inserted.
 
Variables are at 37%, approximately halfway...
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I can't discuss the details of my case for nonpayment of services, but I wanted to let you all know we settled and I am pleased. I hate it had to come this but here we are. 
 
Edited to add that I paid another $100 on student loan #3, the balance is now $10,100. I can see the end. 
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I picked up my first batch of free frozen meals today, and I had one for lunch. It was "Mediterranean pork" with Brussels sprouts and escalloped potatoes. It was pretty much like hospital food, before hospital food improved. I'm not complaining, though. Now I know, having tried it, that I need to repurpose it. Today's meal, for instance, could have been used to make stir fry and potato soup.
 
I was surprised to receive, in addition to the meals, fruit cups, graham crackers,...
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The other day I went to Sam's after my stint in the gym. I spent $20 on raspberries and apples.  Variables are at 29%.
I received $39 from a class action settlement from State Farm.  I had already received over $100 some time ago, but the letter with the check said I was entitled to more. Yay! Every little bit helps! I can't even remember what the claim was about.
Today GS1 has a baseball game, but we have had so much rain lately, I don't know if it will go on as scheduled. ...
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