All Entries

The same day I posted my last entry, about my my 2022 merit increase, and ended with that I wouldn't be interested in changing companies for a while now, I ended up having an interesting conversation.
My former boss, who left last year, and I had been trying to figure out a time to catch up.  We are the same age, have remained very friendly, and get along very well.  She was always an advocate for me, even when she was not my boss.  We last minute chatted later...
[ Read More ]

It's my 16 year blogoversary here.  I can't believe I have been here this long.
I splurged a couple of days ago and bought the complete 15 season set of Supernatural.  I had watched it all along up until halfway through season 12 and just finished up watching the rest of it a couple of weeks ago.  I was waiting for a price drop to purchase it and when Honey informed me it had dropped, I snatched it up.  I do like that app, even if it gets in the way sometimes. ...
[ Read More ]

Received $23 bank interest for the month of March.
 
Snowflakes to Investments:
--Redeemed $46 credit card rewards (cash back) from our grocery card 
--Redeemed $83 cash back on Citi card
--Redeemed $6 on dining out/gas card (bought some gas for MM)
 
Other Snowflakes to Investments:
+ $7 Savings from Target Red Card (grocery purchases)
 
TOTAL: $142 Snowflakes to Investments
 
401k Contributions/Match:
+$940
 
Snowball to Savings:
+$1,550...
[ Read More ]

Hell froze over and MH finished his movie!  We had a small premier party this week (for cast and crew).  After brainstorming and shooting down a lot of ideas, it ended up all coming together.   & I mean, I was willing to spend $1,000 on this party (particularly since we never did a wrap party).  Needing the space, a movie screen, catering, etc.  Most of the movie theaters were much cheaper, but just not a great venue to watch a short film. ...
[ Read More ]

March Goals:
March goals
1. Pay down debt by 570.00 
2. Check in 2 times
3. Average 40 ounces of water a day
4. Step count of 210,000
5. Maintain weight
 
Failed on the check in twice.
April Goals
1. Pay down debt by $600.00
2. Check in 2 times
3. Average 42 ounces of water a day
4. Step count of 215,000
5.  Loose 2 pounds 
I have been out of sorts for quite a while.  Today is the anniversary of my dad's death.  Just trying to chug along.
[ Read More ]

I can't recall if I've been using my car value in my net worth as does Mint, but when I calculate it myself I never do.
Investments $1,271,591
Cash $14,888 
Total $1,286,479
Net Gain from February $29,318
My gains include my contributions which are $800 to my TSP every two weeks & $1,000 to my cash savings monthly. The TSP is going to open up an investment window this summer, but I am planning on sticking with their low cost options. I am big on low cost index funds...
[ Read More ]

Assets:NT's UK pensions:AV1: 22,397 pounds ($27,996)SW: 27,225 pounds ($34,031)AV2: 7,567 pounds ($9,459)NT's trad. rollover IRA: $108,777NT's Roth IRA: $69,327NT's SEP/SIMPLE: $3,796AS's trad. rollover IRA: $27,320AS's Roth IRA: $97,469AS's SEP IRA: $73,073
AS uninvested cash: $6,013CJ's 401(k): $229,833CJ's Roth IRA: $75,125CJ/NT/AS house: $592,200 ($630,000 value -6%)
CJ/NT/AS rental property: $520,760 ($554,000 value -6%)---TOTAL ASSETS: $1,875,179Debt:Main mortgage...
[ Read More ]

I haven't done one of these in a while, but I think I did pretty well.  The sales at Fred Meyer were pretty fantastic, though.  I walked out of the store with six bags of groceries for $212.  It was a little less than that but they have program where you can donate the change to the local food bank, so I always choose that option there.  They say it really, really adds up, because most people don't want to deal with coins.
6 bottles of Miracle Whip at $3.99...
[ Read More ]

I haven't done one of these in a while, but I think I did pretty well.  The sales at Fred Meyer were pretty fantastic, though.  I walked out of the store with six bags of groceries for $212.  It was a little less than that but they have program where you can donate the change to the local food bank, so I always choose that option there.  They say it really, really adds up, because most people don't want to deal with coins.
6 bottles of Miracle Whip at $3.99...
[ Read More ]

Things have turned out better than expected! We are getting approximately two acres and he is only charging us a total of $10,000!!! We were honestly expecting to pay around $30,000. 
This changes things because now we can take a lien out on our car instead of getting a second mortgage. This reduces the loan fees from over $1,000 to around $75. We don't have to get an appraisal or do a proper closing or anything like that, so it also speeds up the timeline by over a month!
We...
[ Read More ]

I got my second COVID booster yesterday at Walgreens. Since I had made the trip, I decided to get anything I was getting low on, to save another trip later. I bought razors ($9) and prebiotics/probiotics ($12).
Today my arm is quite sore and I can only lift it so far. And I am definitely feeling under the weather. But I'm not discouraging anyone from getting the booster! This is a small price to pay for protection, and I'm sure I'll be back to normal tomorrow.
I am just lying...
[ Read More ]

Praise God, the Biden administration has extended the pause on interest and payments for student loans again. 
I logged into my account and read, Federal student loan flexibilities for the COVID-19 emergency have been extended through August 31, 2022. This is awesome! I'm slated to pay off student loan number 3 in June and can begin to tackle student loan number 4. 
Though there isn't an official announcement yet, I know that this is true, because it's on the site. 
Many...
[ Read More ]

Our annual merit increases came out the other day, and I was given 3.5%.  My new salary is $119,025. 
I am mildly disappointed by this, as others on the team who did not receive as high of a rating/are not as high of performers received larger percentages, however my overall salary is quite a bit higher than theirs so my raise in dollars was higher.  My manager expressed that she felt that she should been included in the convo on how to allocate the pool of funds,...
[ Read More ]

Yesterday I had a couple of medical appointments. One was an ultrasound, which will cost me $143, but I haven't paid it yet. I will pay it on my payday. The other was a checkup with the surgeon who operated on my ankle 12 years ago. My ankle has been giving me some trouble and my primary care physician suggested I meet with the surgeon. He took x-rays and determined I have arthritis in my ankle. He said I may need to have more surgery in the future, perhaps to replace the pins,...
[ Read More ]

The market has rebounded nicely in these past few weeks  We are down 10% in retirement and 20% in our taxable.  But then again we also got our unexpected stock sale so we made some money.  Here is what we did with it.
 
35.74% to 529
5.71% to spending
9.52% to I bonds
48.05% to taxable savings
the 5.71% spending I just threw into our emergency fund.  I am going to use to it spend a little extra. I also will probably cut back on savings for the year...
[ Read More ]

If you are paid the stimulus payment do they keep your taxes in lieu of that payment? a quick run down
we sent our 2019 taxes in covid hit so they weren't done till may 2021, once they were done they paid my hubby 2 stimulus payments which was $1200 (for both), when I called the irs as they hadn't done our 2020 taxes yet to let them know that we got that payment but they weren't on the taxes as we hadn't received them at that point, we were owed between $1200-3030 in taxes as...
[ Read More ]

In preparation of me reaching financial freedom, I signed up for a stock stimulator, so that I can learn the market. 
Though I anticipate paying off student loan number 3 in June, and number 4 next year, I want to get a better understanding so when I meet with a professional, I have some kind of a clue. I’ll continue to contribute to my IRA account and then next year I’ll dabble in the markets. 
 
I took inventory to identify the brands that I believe...
[ Read More ]

This will likely be a long post, but I don't have the brain space to separate.  I'll be looking at my March spending, my 3/31-4/1 summary, and check in to see where I am with regards to my 2021 goals.  
March Spending:
Reminder, my spending does not include bills, those are fixed and I cannot adjust them as easily in the short run.  This is anything variable or discretionary.  I track every penny I spend, for better or worse, and use this data to try...
[ Read More ]

It was dry and overcast yesterday, so worked on the garden, filling a 22 foot by 3 foot raised garden bed with rotted manure and soil.  I can't do any weight bearing exercise, so I was in charge of raking the dirt out after DH and DS dumped it in, plus breaking up clumps in the manure.  This stuff has been composted for 3 years, so it wasn't gross or anything and anyway, I wore gloves.
So we now have two beds the same size ready to go, although one of them has 8 feet...
[ Read More ]

Payday this week and finally got around to paying the bills they are all paid except for groceries/gas, I have added an extra $200 a month to the gas bill although it has come down $2.22 pl ($7 gallon) to $1.69pl ($5.8 gallon) it can jump up over 50c a night so will keep the extra for now.
I have decided this month to put have of our "extra" money on the CC and the rest into savings...hopefully will be back on track this month financially. I have decided whether we move or not...
[ Read More ]