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On Wednesday I did my weekly shopping. Same procedure every week. Usually get mostly the same stuff. But this trip had a little more frustration added.
A couple walked in ahead of me. I didn't think anything of it, until I couldn't get around them. They had a cart and between the two of them and the cart, they blocked aisles. The mister felt it was important to discuss every little thing they were shopping for. And it was usually a lengthy pontification. Seriously, how earth shattering...
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I've already had to adjust my budgets for the year a little bit.  Number one, I forgot that my driver's license was due this year, so I need to get that renewed by February 12th.  It's $72 for a freaking driver's license now.  I feel sorry or poor people.  That's a lot of money to have to come up with just to be able to drive.
It will be inconvenient and quite possibly painful, but I feel I need to actually go in in person because my photo is 9 years old and...
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For 2023, I have decided to make only a couple goals. I will flush them out in a little more detail but essentially, they are decrease debt and increase savings.
Our credit card debt is hovering right around $20,000 and it has been difficult to get it below that level… this is the year! My goal is to decrease our debt (by the end of 2023) by $7000.  After interest, I want our debt to be lower than $13,000. Still high, but it would be progress. We will need to send...
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Cash/Liquid Savings:$1,686 Animal Fund ($1,214)$6,042 Escrow Fund ($7,537)$2,062 Checkings ($6,427)$20 Car Fund ($20$1,119 HSA ($1,491)$10,929 Total Liquid Savings ($16,689)Retirement:$42,860 DH's 401K ($45,294)$5,050 DH's IRA ($5,463)$16,122 My IRA ($15,337)$64,032 Total Retirement ($66,094)Liabilities:-$115,833 Mortgage (-$119,044)
-$10,861 Land Loan (-$0)
-$1,263 Hospital Loan (-$0)
-$127,957 Total Liabilities (-$119,044)
Assets:
$185,000 House$20,000 in Cars (not counted...
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Debts
Mortgage −$115,832.60 (-$241.04)Land Loan -$10,860.87 (-$184.25)Hospital Bill - $1,263.02 (+$1,263.02)
Savings
Roth IRAs +$21,172 (-$825)401K +$42,860 (-$1,108)Emergency Fund +$7,325 (+$49)Maternity Fund +$0 (-500)Animal Fund +$1,686 (+$4)Car Fund +$20 (-$0)HSA +$1,199 (+$184)
Overall: -$3,033.73
Bad way to end the year. Received a large medical bill and several more hospital bills pending and more sure to come with our deductible starting over and our child’s...
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I've done a little spending in the last couple of days -- $8 for hair conditioner (big bottle from Sam's), $16 for probiotics, $24 for a haircut, $5 for parking, $4 for laundry. That's 8% of my variables.
This morning I realized that the insurance payment would be withdrawn soon, and there wasn't enough in checking to cover it. I transferred some money from savings. I'll transfer it back after pay day. It's just a timing thing. But I was really glad it dawned on me to do that.
My...
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I’ve been unable to comment on any blogs for some time now. I’m not sure what the issue is since I can see comments from others and nothing has changed on my end – computer, web browser, etc.
 
I especially appreciate Wink’s most recent blog entry. This is the year I’ve planned to retire and several unplanned potential expenses and risks of expenses have come to light. I’m determined not to fall into the ‘one more year’ rut....
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Wow my budget is doing well so far...we have all our bills paid for the month or put away ready to come out when they are due, have started an account for this years christmas already, have grocery and gas money out...we have chosen to go back to cash as it is easier to keep track of as we were spending way to much on groceries...and cash works for us..I am back to meal planning and writing a shopping list...this week was a bit hard as we try to do all grocery shopping in 1 day...
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Last year was a whirlwind. I moved to Australia with DW (who is an Aussie citizen), we bought a small place, and we both started new jobs. DW switched to contracting after 15 years of government service, so with that change came a large payraise. My pay is slightly higher than what I was making in the U.S., but I don't have as much time off because I'm not teaching. 
In 2023 we really need to update our plans to reflect our new income, expenses, and responsibilities. My goal...
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My main financial goal for 2023 is to continue to live on my current monthly income without dipping into savings or increasing my monthly retirement distribution. If I find that I can't, and I am just stretched too thin, I will increase my retirement distribution by $100 a month. 
When I first retired at age 60, I knew that I would be on a very tight budget until I can switch my health insurance to Medicare at age 65, and start taking social security at my full retirement...
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We recently received our power bill and it was the most we've ever spent! It wasn't unexpected, but it still was painful. And this next month's will probably be more since we had that Polar Vortex with Winter Storm Elliott and it seemed like the furnace was running an awful lot.
In the bill was a flyer with suggestions on how to cut energy costs. I almost had to chuckle. The suggestions were things we've done for years such as turn the heat down when we leave for any extended...
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Happy New Year everyone! Hoping you all had a lovely break and feel refreshed in the beginning of 2023.
 
We had a wonderful week camping with our friends and got home yesterday. We are still very tired but are slowly getting back into the swing of things - I did two loads of washing today, got some groceries, caught up on the blogs and thought about the things I want to achieve for the year ahead, which are as follows:
 

continue reworking the budget. We have two...
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Or Zelle transfers, cash handing out, debit card loaning... whatever you want to call it - it's done. I lent my son $2000 for rent on Dec. 31 - and I said, I'm done. No free money in 2023. I love my kiddos DEARLY. But why do I need to pick up the slack when they aren't giving 100% first? My DIL could be working more, taking on more clients... but she doesn't. It never really bothered me until today when I realized that I KEEP ENABLING THESE KIDDOS! I have to stop. 
We did...
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I think my last post on this got buried.  Some in-progress (float) photos if you go back a few posts.
I figured I was a little biased, but just saw that the float won for most extraordinary!  
These pictures popped up re: judging yesterday afternoon.  The second picture was from MM(19).  When I saw the crowds of people at the judging, I really doubted that MM would get seats for the parade.  I mean, a bajillion people have helped to pull this off. 
What...
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I am memorializing goals in my sidebar.  I kind of like the format I used last year, so will stick with that.
Pay cash for college ✔
$10K to Savings ✔
Final tally was $11,412.  The plan was to use this money to pay cash for college.  At the end of 2022 we had roughly -$0- cash plus emergency funds.  So that's about how it sorted out.  That we had just enough to cash flow college.
$2K to Investments ✔
Funded with snowflakes.
I...
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Time for a fresh start!
I've updated my goals in my sidebar for 2023.
Here are results for 2022 and thoughts for 2023:
Health:  I lost weight during the first 3 quarters of the year but regained 8 pounds during the last quarter, so need to lose that again.  I was pretty consistent with activity and came just shy of my goal of 4 miles on average per day (based on total step count), for an average of 3.89 miles daily and 1,422 miles for the year.  I'm aiming for...
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I'm going in to 2023 with far fewer expectations about how life will go. It's just too unpredictable. However, that doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying! On the financial side, since we have 1.5 steady incomes (plus rental property income), there's only so much I can say we'll be able to do with any amount of certainty. So I've set up a snap shot of "good," "better" and "best" scenarios and laid out how much extra income gross would need to be made (mainly on AS and her freelance...
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Hi everyone! It's been about four months since my last update. Financially not much has changed; we paid down some debt and lost some more value in our retirement accounts, so we gained $1,900 in net worth over 4 months.
Lifewise, AS is doing a LOT better mentally after quitting her high-stress job and has restarted her freelance business. It takes a bit to build future work so income has been slow to come this year, but she's got tons of work booked for the first part of 2023...
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Looks like the last time I logged in here was last January at this time, how embarrassing. 
I know that writing helps me feel more in control of my life. It may help me set up a plan going forward, so things don't look so scary, or help me better understand what I'm feeling. I vow to return and write a real post when I am logged into my laptop! 
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Housing - $12,027
Home Repair/Maintenance - $3,056
Gifts/Charity/House - $3,026
Utilities - $2,425
Insurance - $1,775
Vacation/Travel - $1,184
Groceries - $1,119
Taxes - $1,021
Medical/Health - $987
Fees/Services - $877
Furnishings/Equipment/Decor - $704
Personal - $644
Car Repair/Maintenance - $553
Gas - $427
Clothing - $415
Phone - $379
Eating Out/Takeout - $359
Household Supplies - $264
Entertainment- $260
Vet/Pet Supplies - $190
Laundry - $186
Fares/Parking...
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