All Entries

Yesterday Mom and I did a bunch of canning.  I did the peeling and chopping while she ran the canner.  I did 20 pounds of potatoes and then the carrots were 12 pounds.  I ended up with 14 quarts of Yukon gold potatoes and 23 pints of carrots.  This is a good time of year to do both as the deer carrots are available readily and cheap and of course the potatoes tend to be on sale through the holidays.  So it is definitley eating sale priced (or home grown)...
[ Read More ]

2020 is nearly over - finally. As I've posted before, our spending has been down quite a bit thanks to Covid. The two biggest areas of savings continue to be travel and dining out. Travel has been zero. Dining out still happens though almost entirely take out especially now that the weather is getting too cold for outdoor dining. Yeah, I know they have heaters but when it's in the 30s and windy that only helps so much. I don't suspect we'll be braving that much if at all.
Year...
[ Read More ]

I love the end of the month for the blogs since so many people post monthly updates and outlooks for the following month. It really is so very interesting to read how people live the frugal life, and I get some excellent ideas from others. My exercise and weightloss goal went totally flat the week before Thanksgiving. I lost motivation and just gave up for about two weeks. So, I only lost 1.4 of the 3 lbs I was hoping to lose in November. It's still a loss, so I am happy. But this...
[ Read More ]

Finally, some progress on the retirement goal!Goal: $814,292 by March 2024Current retirement balance: $632,504July 2020 balance: $565,234Progress since last update: $67,270Still needed: $181,788This interim goal is based on getting my and NT's retirement to 4x my current and his last full-time salary (currently $82,500 and $64,118) by the time we turn 50 and AS's retirement values to 3x her highest annual income ($75,940 in 2018) by the time she turns 45.$82,500 x 4 = $330,000$64,118...
[ Read More ]

One of the things I've noticed this year since paying off our debt is that I have gotten a little too free-spending.  Or maybe it just seems that way.  Well, I know it is with eating out, though we've cracked back down on that, but I am wondering about whether or not I truly am on other things.
Maybe it is just because we went so long without replacing things and upgrading things that now that we have the money, I am just getting what I put off getting.  I've replaced...
[ Read More ]

Income Total: $1725.00


     * $1500 Recurring monthly retirement account distribution  


     * $200 Swagbucks earnings (cash out to PayPal) 


     * $25 My Points (cash out to PayPal)  


      


Total Spending: $1500.23


Total Savings: $224.77 (difference between monthly income...
[ Read More ]

It's been a very good year for us.  Our retirement is up to $1.24m.  We have $680k in taxable accounts.   Our debt is down $29k.  Our nw went up $506k for the year.  Fingers crossed that we end up doing just as well next year.  
I also made a large payment to the IRS today and we paid off a bunch of credit cards because we've been building a shed and stuff.  Yuck. 
[ Read More ]

Home Repair/Maintenance:  $858
Housing: $824
Gifts/Charities: $507
Utilities: $155
Groceries: $127
Phone: $51
Entertainment: $44
Fees/Services: $44
Eating Out/Takeout: $41
Clothing: $31
Medical/Health: $26
Laundry: $19
Furnishings/Equipment/Decor: $12
Household Supplies: $10
Grand Total: $2749
Variables: 100%
Major spending was on electrical update, and Christmas gifts.  
[ Read More ]

The hub got a call from work that he will be returning to his 4/2 rotation when he returns this month.  Meaning, he will work 4 weeks, and be home for 2 weeks during the remainder of the winter (May-ish)  This will increase his monthly pay significantly and provides additional income I didnt budget for.  I will likely put most of it towards our mortgage, since that is our final debt.  I would love to have the mortgage paid off in 5 years, but since my income...
[ Read More ]

It's the first of December & the last month of the year. So the first of the last. 😄
I'm turning 29 again on Saturday. 😉 I told my parents I just want to get take-out and order a cheesecake (instead of birthday cake). I'm always low-key on my birthday celebrations, even in a non-pandemic year.
Today was payday for my third job. I am adding the amount to my debt pay down. I love that I earn PTO at this job, even though I'm not full-time. Next day that they don't call...
[ Read More ]

There have been some wonderful NW gains this month - a whole $13,400!! This also means that my NW is now over $200k. I am grinning! My home equity went up $8K (appreciation + paydown). This was the biggest monthly jump in house price estimate this whole year. I imagine this will decline at some point if there is another housing market crash, but for now it's lovely to see. With the financial markets rising, all my retirement accounts, the HSA, and the brokerage account went up....
[ Read More ]

The new mattresses came on Friday.  We ended up going with the regular Purple mattresses.  It has made a tremendous difference for all of us.  I haven't woken up with stiff shoulders since.  They are still a little sore, but I can move them easily enough and raise them over my head without pain.  Also the side of my thigh that I lay on the most is no longer going numb or getting what I like to call fire ants.  It is beyond pins and needles because...
[ Read More ]

Since 11/20/20 the retirement account has gone up $929.03, $220 of which was contributions.
$28,777.01 401K
+11,071.78 IRA
------------------
$39,848.76 Total Retirement (minus company stock)
$151.24 to go to hit $40K.  I hope things continue to climb so we can make up some more of the lack of progress that there was due to the Covid lockdowns earlier in the year.  And I hope the new lockdowns don't make it all tank again.
 
[ Read More ]

My little nest egg has broken 400k.      
Looking back, it broke 200k on 5/22/14, just over 6.5 years ago.  
[ Read More ]

Nothing new really going on.  Still paying debt down.  Have not checked retirement accounts yet.  Hope everyone had a Happy and Quiet Thanksgiving.  It was just me and my DF.  
[ Read More ]

What kinds of things do you do for gifts? I have a set limit that I spend on each person and yes for my hubby and girls it can be a fair bit....I get them to choose some of their gifts so they get what they want...it can be hard since they are adults and can buy what they want/need throughout the year...so we do a mixture of gifts that they want and things like ambulance cover/raa (covers car breakdowns/keys locked in car etc)...things that we can do every year that are good for...
[ Read More ]

I started some holiday baking. Here's a recipe I developed. It's a quick one. 
 
Chocolate Coffee Muffins
2/3 cup milk
5 T butter, melted
3 Tablespoons of freshly brewed coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup sugar
1/2 bar baking chocolate chopped ( I used dark chocolate)
1/3 cup baking cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 to 2 cups flour
additional sugar for topping
Muffin tins with cupcake liners
Preheat oven to...
[ Read More ]

In preparation for retirement, I knew I would need a laptop - since the one I currently use belongs to my job.  With today being 'cyber-monday' I went on the HP website and they had a few door buster sales.  I really dont understand the different types of laptops, but know my basic needs (which are very basic) and found one that I felt would work.  Total cost was $550 after upgrading a couple of options and adding on Microsoft 365 and 3 years of antivirus. ...
[ Read More ]

I did some online Christmas shopping today, totalling $190.  I had decided ahead of time that I could spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $40-50 per person.  The gifts I got for my grandsons are a little under, so I will give them a little cash, too.
My big gifts will be money for college to all four grandchildren.  I'll take care of that after pay day in the middle of December.  I'm not sure yet how much I can afford to give this year.
It's the last day...
[ Read More ]

I never got around to calculating last month's net worth, so this represents the change over two months. But holy cow, what a surprise I came back to this month!
Assets:NT's UK pensions:AV: 22,397 pounds ($27,996)SW: 27,225 pounds ($34,031)FL: 6,462 pounds ($8,078)NT's trad. IRA: $97,596NT's Roth IRA: $54,171AS's trad. IRA: $24,606AS's Roth IRA: $79,044AS's SEP IRA: $57,264CJ's 401(k): $190,361CJ's Roth IRA: $59,357NT's flat: $212,500 (200,000 pounds value x1.25 -15%)CJ/NT/AS...
[ Read More ]