All Entries

$16,623.91 Starting EF Balance
+__,_87.92 Amount Added
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$16,711.83
With the contributions that went in today, retirement now sits at $61,175.04, bringing net worth to $115,807.92.
I had $200 left in the grocery envelope from last payday, so I transferred that to the Hog Fund, bringing it to a total of $977.  Of course, we are still trying to find someone who does warranty work on the 9 month old Frigidaire freezer that isn't working right.  The Hog...
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Hard to believe that August is here and school is just around the corner.  I worked summer school (special ed, grades 1 and 2, in the RISE program (Reaching Independence through Strucuted Environment). It was overall a debacle - 20 days of understaffed classrooms with no access to curriculum and the bright idea that THIS was the summer to track IEP goals).  The only good thing about it is that I made enough money for a makeover of my fireplace - $330 for the tile and...
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In addition to it being payday we had a tiny dividend check for 51¢ and a check from MIL for $120.00, so I just added that in to the budget.  I used part of it for a new envelope system and part for a small EF deposit.  Hopefully they will actually send me the red envelope system that I ordered this time.  My son will be taking the green one they mistakenly sent if they actually send me the red one, otherwise I am going to have to try to deal with their customer...
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I mentioned in a previous post (2020) that I have a deadline set for the start of my retirement. And that I have a list of prerequisites to determine whether I’m in a safe-enough-for-me position to retire sooner. Each quarter I evaluate my progress against those prerequisites, and my quarterly check-in for this is aligned with my birthday instead of the standard calendar quarter. That’s because a couple of my prerequisites are based on my 60th birthday so the calculation...
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I took the day off work today and headed north into the Poconos about 90 minutes to meet up with fellow SA blogger Patient Saver.  This is about the fifth or so F2F get-together we have had.  We both started on SA around the same time in 2006, and met in person for the first time a decade ago when I was driving to New England for a cousin's wedding and realized that I would be driving by where PS lived.  That first visit was a meet-up and walk as a break on my drive...
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I finally made it to the grocery store for a decent sized shop.  DS and I went to Whole Foods since today was his day off.  It really isn't as expensive as some people think.  Like all stores it depends on what you buy.  For organic, it can beat some of the other stores and some of their prices were lower than for regular produce or gluten free items in regular stores.  I never find moldy produce there which is beginning to be more and more of a problem...
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July was a crazy expensive 'low spend' month.  It did work out pretty well that we were so busy spending down buckets that we didn't spend money on anything else.  Thus the 'low spend' but expensive.  
MH and MM are back from Florida.  Pulled $365 from vacation fund to cover Florida expenses.
Movie filming is about 60% done.  Pulled $330 from film funds.  Reminds me, MH received some more donations and has raised $1,500 to-date.  One of...
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I feel like I made about 100 stops today--all errands.  I bought a new family room rug on FB.  I love it.  It's a year old, sells for $800 on Overstock and I paid $75.  We hauled it home, set it out in the sun to air it out, and brought it in.  Lots of fun!  DD and I went to pick up our CSA veggies, went for a pre-flight COVID test, dropped off veggies that won't keep or get eaten with a friend, returned library books, went to the bank, got coffees,...
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After I went to the gym today, I stopped in at Sam's to get something to take to my brother's house this weekend.  It will be a full house there, as my son's family is coming, too, so I got some La Croix sparkling water, Bacardi cocktails, pistachios, and pub mix.  Party food!  It cost me $45.  Then I went to Jewel to buy some items I can't get at Aldi, and that cost $32.  Variables are now at 20%, only five days into the month.   Oh well.
I...
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Retirement went over $60K this week, so I thought I'd do an update, even though the next contributions go in on Friday and it should jump significantly if nothing wrecks the market this week.  I was a touch concerned about the president defying the Supreme Court and if people start worrying about another step towards a loss of the checks and balances of our government, but it didn't seem to.  We have Congress and the Supreme Court for a reason.  I don't like end...
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So I am dragging my sorry self back in to post.  I had a bad weekend with my thigh muscles being absolutely on fire and it made it hard to focus on anything else.  No blogging, no writing at all.  It started to pass on Sunday morning and except for some occasional shooting fingers of fire it is much better, though the side and front muscles all feel like a massive bruise and are tender to the touch.  This is all from a massive psyatic nerve pinch.
I ordered...
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I'm now in my third week of unemployment, so far I am not in too bad a place.  I have not hit the very stressed point yet.  I read somewhere that at the moment there are a lot of jobs but potential employers are being slower than usual to interview potential employees and make final decisions.  I definitely think there is a bit of truth in this.
I have applied for 16 jobs so far in this three weeks of unemployment.  I did also apply for one right before I resigned...
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Businesses in our area have been struggling to maintain staffing. I assume that it’s related to the stimulus package(s). Some have restricted their business hours or their offerings in response to the shortage. Some of the fast food restaurants just close for the day when enough workers don’t show up. It’s sad. But – it’s been a help to teenagers that are off for the summer and want to make some money, including ours.
 
DS4 kept his lifeguard...
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I decided to do a grocery challenge for myself for the month of August. My goal is to stay below (or at) $160.00 for the month. Food only. 


 
On 7/31 I noticed that I had some grocery store club card points that were going to expire, so I ran over to the store and picked up a carton of 18 large eggs. These were priced at $2.49. After using my points, the cost was just .99 cents. I eat an egg every morning for breakfast, so...
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I’ve been back home since the middle of April and just haven’t gotten back in the habit of blogging. There was quite a bit to do to get the house back in order and my office set up. And catch up to do with neighbors and friends after being away for months. During the time I was gone, two people that were part of my regular routine died – not friends exactly, but folks I chatted with regularly in the neighborhood and the grocery store. That discovery put a damper...
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Made a quick trip to Aldi this morning, spending $32.  My county is a Delta variant hotspot, so masks are required in indoor public spaces.  I was pleased to see that everyone was wearing them in Aldi.
I'm planning to go see my brother in Michigan this weekend.  I feel a little bit creepy about traveling, but I am fully vaccinated, and I won't be stopping on the way, except at a gas station, perhaps.  And once there, I will mostly stay at my brother's, and...
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I spent much of the day untangling messes at the university.  Three of "my" lecturers have found mre lucrative jobs, and we're facng our usual budget constraints.  Another quit this morning, so I'm scrambling for class coverage in a month.  Instead of hiring new people, we're going to try to offer overloads.  After the furlough cuts of last year, I've had a good response to my offers.   And I keep thinking about retiring. 
But enough about work...
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I paid my mortgage down to an even $42,000 this morning (it was just about an extra hundred dollars beyond the usual payment to get down to this amount).  That is an amount that feels do-able before retirement (I will turn 61 this month and plan to work at least until my full retirement age per SS of 67).  I now own approximately 3/4s of my home's value.
The rate on my original 30-year mortgage, taken out in 2005, was 5.875%.  I refinanced in 2012 to 4% and a 20-year...
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Well I have paid the bills for the month already we will keep some extra as we did a monthly shop a week ago that should get us through the month other than milk/bread and fresh fruit/vege...its a new thing we are trying to limit our exposure to the outside world as much as we can.
In our big order we got free delivery but it also came with extra, 2 buches of kale...but you can't return it so made my daughter some kale chips that she loves..so they were free. Our lemon tree is...
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Well, it's a fresh new month.  It's always fun to start a new spreadsheet.  Today I entered $4 for groceries (strawberries) and $2 for laundry.  Variables are a whopping 1%.
I talked to my sister today and found out that she has had gall bladder surgery, plus a short stay in the hospital for AFib.  I knew her silence was ominous.
I met my son and grandsons in the park today for a board game on the picnic table.  It was lots of fun, and, oh, I won!
A...
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