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We had leftovers for dinner. DH made tacos last night, one of our favorite meals when we can't think of what to make. We always keep tortillas in the frig and the rest of the fixins can be easily had in our home.

I took my mom to the doctor today and she talked her into a flu shot! Her fasting blood sugar was back to prediabetic levels so that was good news.

Even better news was my husband's follow-up PSA after his prostate cancer diagnosis and being on Proscar for several...
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last year was hard as we had a lot of medical tests that we had to pay for and I hardly ever left the house due to dizziness and I needed a babysitter 24/7...I hated it...I use to walk 50-60 miles a week which was impressive for me as I cfs and fibro...when I got this illness I couldn't walk to the end of the street.

although still dizzy I am improving and today I walked to the store and back to post a letter (around 2.5 miles) and I did it by myself..no help or anything...so...
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Happy New Year everyone!

This is very late because we had guests for almost 2 weeks and it has taken me a while to get back on my routine.

Total for Dec was $4,394.98

Grocery - it was by a lot, $448.14, extra 3 adults and a toddler can cost a bit.

Household goods – we bought a portable air conditioner, bed and bed frame for a total of $1,243.97.

Christmas Expense for December - $524.84

Car Registration – We renewed our annual car registration for $816.50....
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I finally have time to write about our 2018. I still have to rebalance our portfolio. I should have probably have done it in December but I was so busy I didn't have time.

Well I already maxed out our 2019 Roth IRA contributions today. I had it transferred and will roll it into the Roth IRA next week. I also interesting made DH's company match be after tax dollars into his 401k. I will discuss with DH the ESA contributions for the girls at $2k each.

So we are in a...
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Hardship and Hope- America and the Great Depression walks you through day to day life as the stock market collapses, jobs are lost, welfare runs out, the government throws out experimental programs, the programs bring hope, economic hardship persists, productivity jumps to support the war, and we remember the legacy. It addresses topics on many levels such as individual entertainment, racism, unions, ideological shifts, and survival methods.

Where I found it:
I found this...
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The Big Short is more like a biographical novel. It follows the stories of several people who spotted the signs of the oncoming 2008 financial crisis before there was any stress in the system. You get to experience their minds as they spot the absurdity, as the uncover immense moral hazards, as they struggle to find a profitable way to trade on the information, as they fight with investors who want out, as they make the victory, and how they deal with the aftermath of having...
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If you are in debt, this is the first place to start to get motivated and organized. It breaks down the process of going from sinking in a paycheck to paycheck (or worse) life to taking your extended family out on a cruise. The “baby steps” go as follows:

1. Save $1,000 for a rainy day
2. Pay off all debt (except your house) using the debt snowball technique
3. Finish off your emergency savings by saving up 3-6 months’ worth of expenses
4. Invest 15% of your...
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This is a Text is FREE PDF and Link is https://www.etf.com/docs/IfYouCan.pdfFREE PDF!! Read it Now! If you want to learn the 2 step lazy man's way to invest with better returns than professional investors, this one is for you. It is only 16 pages long and only takes about 20 min annually to execute. The PDF will take you through the theory, the steps, the pitfalls, and how to overcome your obstacles.

Basically, it teaches you to invest like this: Set up 3 investment funds (US stocks, foreign stocks, bonds) and fund it with a certain percentage in each (typically 1/3rd in each). Every year rebalance the ratios between your funds so that they are back to what you intended (such as 1/3rd in each). You can choose different percentages based on your aggression/risk tolerance or even have it shift towards bonds as you age. The percentages are up to you, just leave it alone except for tweaking it annually and you will do fine.

Where I found it:
I came across the PDF while surfing the Text is BogleHeads website and Link is https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Getting_startedBogleHeads website.

What I learned:
I finally understand why balancing portfolios increases your returns. If something is going up, it is probably becoming more overvalued so you sell some off while it is high and put that money into something that still has growth ahead of it. If something goes down, it is probably becoming discounted, so sell some of your higher valued positions and put that money into scooping up the discounts. If you maintain a specific percentage of your portfolio in each category you decide to invest in (US stocks, precious metals, foreign stocks, bonds, etc.), you will naturally adjust more optimally. It just takes guts to stay the course. Don’t leave your money to grow longer in any category just because it is hot right now and don’t be afraid to “buy the dip” when things go down.

Recommendations:
Anyone who is interested enough to have read this far is definitely interested enough to benefit. Seriously, just click the link. It’s short and it’s right Text is here and Link is https://www.etf.com/docs/IfYouCan.pdfhere.

More Text is Financial Book Reviews by Milly and Link is http://milly.savingadvice.com/2019/01/07/milly-book-reviews_217941/Financial Book Reviews by Milly
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Although not strictly a financial book, I see Who Moved my Cheese? as the number one most important thing to master in times of financial change, which we will all experience in some form or another.
The book is very short. The audio is only an hour and forty minutes long, so I imagine reading it is even quicker.

Who Moved my Cheese? tells the parable of two mouse sized men in a maze. After years of working through the maze, they have learned that cheese is deposited daily...
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Beating the Street should be required reading to all who wish to pick stocks. The author, Peter Lynch, was the widely successful manager of the Fidelity Magellan Fund averaging about 30% returns for 13 years. Despite his success as a mutual fund manager, he strongly believes that individuals can outperform Wall Street fund managers if they are dedicated enough to be thorough and follow some common sense rules (numbered and in bold throughout the chapters and on Text is this website and Link is https://rbcpa.com/commentary-archive/lynchs-25-golden-rules/this...
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How to Retire the Cheapskate Way takes the opposite end to retirement planning. Instead of learning hot investing tricks or even old school strategies to maximize your nest egg, this book is all about reducing expenses. As discussed in another post, Text is a penny saved is 1.57 pennies earned and Link is http://milly.savingadvice.com/2018/01/23/a-penny-saved-is-157-pennies-earned_214835/a penny saved is 1.57 pennies earned! In it you learn to focus on what you actually want from retirement and find the cheapskate version, which can be achieved with very little money.

How to Retire the Cheapskate Way covers everything from fulfilling side jobs that can supplement retirement, to where to get less expensive medical care and how to navigate Medicare, to extreme frugal living. It is filled with cheapskate strategies ranging from the normal brown bagging your work lunch to the extremes of saving discarded calendars and giving them out as Christmas gifts when the dates line up again.

Where I found it:
I found this one while browsing the very limited financial section of my local library.

My takeaways:
I am a cheapskate. My poor husband has to beg me to throw out everything from old underwear to tangled embroidery thread. Many sections of this book were like candy for me as I got glimpses of people doing things that I would totally do. It gave me more confidence in my cheapskateness and assurance that it is really okay to never spend money on things.

It also helped me feel much more at peace about retirement. Between a social security check and some type of “selfish” employment, I can survive without any retirement fund. It would be way nicer to have more money in retirement, but if I don’t need to have money, money gets a lot less stressful.

Don’t let a financial planner tell you what you need (unless, like Yeager, your potted plant needs a stack of papers to catch the runoff water). You have control of your spending and you don’t have to be conventional.

Recommendations:
I recommend How to Retire the Cheapskate Way to anyone who has thought about retirement and worried if they will have enough to make it. Don’t worry, you don’t have to go to the extremes to benefit from this book.

More Text...
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The Mandibles is actually a novel. It starts a few years after a major financial shock, but before the final blow to the financial system. The family of interest is one with a humble circumstance, but with extended family in richer circumstances. The financial collapse follows much of Jim Rickard’s theories, but I think it is way off on a few details. I have hope and faith that America will be better than this book predicts.

Where I found it:
I listened to an interview...
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The Road to Ruin is written by the head lawyer for the LTCM hedge fund that was hours away from shutting down the global financial system in 1998. He saw everything as it happened and negotiated the response. While everyone else dismissed the occurrence as a once in the lifetime of the sun experience, he wasn't convinced and developed entirely different models using "complexity theory" and captured the financial world as a complex system (physics term).

The Road to Ruin lines...
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The Big Drop is all about preparing your portfolio with a looming financial crisis. First, it convinces you in mathematical, historical, and allegorical terms that it would be surprising NOT to have a crisis. Then, it talks about why investing today (2016) is harder than it has ever been: deflation is the driving force, but inflation is soon to come. Both forces are investigated thoroughly.

Where I found it:
After reading Text is The Road to Ruin and Link is http://milly.savingadvice.com/2019/01/07/the-road-to-ruin-by-jim-rickards_217944/The...
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Over the last few years, I've been reading a ton of financial books. See below for my summaries, takeaways, and recommendations on over 4,500 pages of reading.

Understanding MoneyText is Rich Dad Poor Dad and Link is http://milly.savingadvice.com/2019/01/07/rich-dad-poor-dad-by-robert-kiyosaki-boo_217935/Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

Economical Forecasts
Text is Rich Dad Prophecy and Link is https://milly.savingadvice.com/2019/11/15/rich-dad-prophecy-by-robert-kiyosaki-boo_219167/Rich...
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Here begins my more controversial financial journey. Crash Proof, by Peter Schiff, was originally published in early 2007 as a warning bell for the coming subprime mortgage meltdown. Since the meltdown, it has been republished as Crash Proof 2.0 to also include the actual data from the financial crisis and updates for the larger crisis to come. In Crash Proof 2.0 (and its earlier version), Schiff correctly identifies the housing bubble, correctly predicts that the Federal Reserve...
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FB Sales for the week were $185.50!! That was 49 items sold!!


Sale #1105 (CB) $6.00
Plunge Chopper (Joint with my FIL) - We paid $3.20
Sold for $6.00 each
Profit = $2.80

Sale #1106 (DI) $6.00
Plunge Chopper (Joint with my FIL) - We paid $3.20
Sold for $6.00 each
Profit = $2.80

Sale #1107 (FMO) $4.00
Scented Crayons (Joint with my FIL) - We paid $2.66
Sold for $4.00 each
Profit = $1.34

Sale #1108 (DM) $20.00
NDSU Plastic Cups (10) (Joint with...
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Think and Grow Rich is based on the concept that thought creates physical reality. It outlines a formula to teach yourself to accomplish any mission you choose. The focus is how to become extraordinarily rich, but you can apply the principles to any deep desire you have whether it be to raise your children well, overcome illness (not necessarily fix it, but overcome it), create an organization, become more patient, or have the marriage you want. If your mission is to become...
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The Automatic Millionaire lays out a plan to easily accumulate an egg nest larger and faster than normal, even on a normal or low salary. Strategies include things like decreasing your "latte factor" and putting your extra paycheck on 3 pay check months (if you are paid bi-weekly) into debt reduction,

The best part is, once it is set up, it is nearly fool proof. If you use the tool kit presented in this book, you can automate your saving plan, tip the scales and start building...
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Robert Kiyosaki wrote this as an introduction to the rules the rich use when it comes to money. *Spoiler alert* many of the financially responsible things you’ve been taught won’t make you rich. If you don’t want to get rich, go to school to get a good job to work most of your life to hopefully retire comfortably. If you want to get rich, you’ll need a whole new set of rules based on the concepts of assets/liabilities and cashflow (net monthly income on an investment)....
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