All Entries

Our contractor left today. He has some finishing stuff to do but is waiting for items to come in so he is done for now, 57 days since beginning. He only worked Monday to Friday, of course, except he did come a couple of times on Saturday to finish some things but didn't do full days. He also took a couple of days off along the way, so he probably worked a total of 38 days I think. Pretty damn impressive when you look at what he did and consider the fact that he worked alone with...
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I could have sworn I posted an update since 7/12 but I'm not seeing one.
Except for some finishing touches, the kitchen is done! We moved the fridge into place Friday morning. The dishwasher was delivered a short time later and our guy installed it. He had installed the toilet on Thursday and did the sink on Friday as well as installing the new bathroom light fixture and the toilet paper holder.
Every major component is now complete and we've started using the kitchen again....
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I reached a milestone this week--total current debt under $35,000!  That's $22,300 on the mortgage (which I estimate I can pay off at the end of 2028) and the rest on loans at rates ranging from 4.99% to 7.98%).  The first of those loans will be paid off in a month.  That's about $360 a month of cash flow freed up, most of which I intend to put in my brokerage account so that I start building up a decent balance in a taxable account.  Then another loan I will...
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We were hoping not to move again until we could buy but the owner is putting the rent up and this house just isnt worth the extra money, our lease is up in 2 months and if we havent found anything we will do a month by month lease...in the mean time seeing what we can find out about buying a home this is what I was told by a company earlier this week
We can lend up to 759k (would not get a house around here that would fit us for that), you will need $85k deposit and 49k in upfront...
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Geez, these Chase offers are getting into serious money...
Of course, they want serious money, too, which won't be forthcoming.

Tempting to think about though.
I went to one of those retirement planning programs last night. They always talk about Roth conversions. Which I understand can be very helpful in reducing taxes you'll pay once RMDs begin, but I don't think they're necessary for everyone, and they didn't mention scenarios where they wouldn't make sense.
There's a...
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I normally don't comment much on politics, but today I was taking a break from some housework and the White House press secretary was on the news talking about all the wondrous things that have happened since DT has taken office. This isn't a quote, but something along the lines of groceries are cheaper, gas is cheaper, and so on and so forth. I don't know about you, dear readers, but I'm not seeing a big reduction in the price of groceries. Gas fluctuates, but it isn't like it...
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One of my major goals for this year, along with the renovation that’s underway, was to roll over my 401k into a self-directed IRA. I could have (and should have, in retrospect) done this earlier but held off until I was 59 ½. I believed that waiting provided more flexibility if I needed funds earlier and I also was nervous about doing it. It’s basically my life’s savings and having it moved and reinvested virtually seemed a little scary. What if something...
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Few things scratch my budgeting itch like a slick online calculator. Instead of eyeballing a spreadsheet, I can punch in a few numbers and—boom—get a crystal-clear answer (or at least the illusion of one). Over the past weekend I’ve test-drove a dozen tools to see which are helpful and which feel like clickbait. Below are my notes on four big categories: retirement, credit-card payoff, portfolio balancing, and life settlement calculators.
How I Tested


I...
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Progress this week:
++ The replacement cabinet for the broken one was received and installed. They sent doors with it so now we have 2 extra doors. Since we have three sets of identical cabinets on the peninsula, I’ll keep the extra doors in case we have a mishap.
++ The electrical wiring was completed. This now includes the pendant lights above the peninsula, the new 220V circuit for the stovetop, and another recessed light by the beverage station.
++ The hardware was...
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Yesterday our guy picked up the backsplash tile before coming in for the day. We took out a few tiles before he started working so that we could use them for paint shopping. While we were out, he did about 1/2 of the sink wall, and finished the rest after we returned. It looked really nice, though it was hard to fully appreciate it with the spacers in place and stuff smeared all over it. He returned for an hour or so this morning, removed the spacers, and cleaned it all up. Now...
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2025 TALLY:
$1,000 Capital One Venture (MH double dip)
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$1,000 TOTAL *ONE-TIME REWARDS*


**In addition, various monthly rewards that I will tally at 12/31
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Side note:  I am also helping DL(20) with a $250 credit card reward. 
I reported earlier in the year that the theme this year was, "Big money drains everywhere.  Nevermind."  Maybe it's just, "Nevermind."  All of our the...
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Door project done!
I'm happy to say the front entry is now finally done, both the main door and the storm door. The installer was here this morning. He has a very interesting background and I enjoyed talking to him because he's very personable. He was born in Marseilles, France,, but came to the US and was in the Army for 8 years. He's been installing mostly Andersen doors for 18 years and says he loves his work. He's very excited because he's leaving tomorrow for a 2-week vacay...
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I have been meaning to write a long summary of where I am financially.  Currently, I have 3 debts totaling 46k and change. I have 460k in a traditional IRA, 40k in a Roth IRA, and 14k in savings. I am vested in CalPers and will receive a small pension for life. I own a modest little house. I am 58 plus, a little more than a year away from that magical age of 59.5 when early withdrawal penalties cease to exist. I'm in a LCOL area. I have a job I enjoy which is paying me 42k...
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When I was a kid, my parents gave me a piggy bank to teach me how saving a little adds up. So, I've always sort of had a bank of some sort to save coins. I no longer have a "piggy bank" but rather a Mason jar. It was getting full, mostly pennies, and I decided to cash it in and put the money into our savings account. 
As they say, no good deed goes unpunished or something like that. Our bank no longer has a coin counter, so I was told I had to roll the pennies. But they were...
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So we got our car serviced today, they called and said that we needed 2 new tyres and we had a cracked coolant cap, but other than that just a general service so was a little more expensive than we expected but was able to pay for it no problem...its a 2009 car so glad that it is holding up as we dont want to upgrade at all...and it runs great.
Our youngest daughter paid for a family friends lawyer to get his will done as he isnt well off and has a very aggressive cancer, its...
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Looks like I forgot to post yesterday so let's see if I can remember what happened LOL. So much is going on it's hard to keep track.
Our guy came in yesterday having visited the tile store and not finding anything either. He suggested we go to one other store (where we had shopped for our floor initially) and talk to a specific person in the contractor department and have him help us. So we headed over and this guy was great. We showed him the granite and the floor samples and...
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I paid the $20 for the upgraded chatgpt features.  Yes I can use gemini, co-pilot, or llama.  But I found that chatgpt worked the best.  At least for what I used it for.  What was I using it for and what do I use it for?  I wanted help travel planning with all the travel plans we have this summer and it was awesome.Could I have done what it did?  Absolutely but it would take longer to do all the research.  I might also use it to write emails but...
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I just happened to come across this article, which had good information re: recent tax law changes:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2025/07/08/answers-to-your-individual-tax-questions-about-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-act/
I do have a couple of coworkers (one salaried) who have been giddy about the 'tax-free tips and overtime' since mid January.  I think they asked me January 20th if that had been executed yet (they seemed to think it was already a new law).  
I...
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Bummer.
Today was the day Home Depot was to install the new Andersen storm door with retractible glass/screen in the door (not interchangeable, where you have to physically remove one or the other). The arrival window they gave me was 11 am to 3 pm. They got here after 5 due to some delays and they brought the door up, still packaged. Thank god we chit chatted about the door and I discovered the door they brought didn't have the retractable feature which is what really sold me...
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Well I have finally heard back from the electric company and what do you know my bill went from $2200 down to $959..although still a bit higher (and yes elec prices have gone up yet again) it is much better than it was. That is a whopping $1241 difference, I wonder how many people just get a bill in and pay it without looking at it...but I am glad I questioned it and now have the right amount to pay. 
Payment went through to my dreaded CC so it currently stands at $4000 that...
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