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two days left

December 14th, 2022 at 01:21 am

Then I'm done with my job, it's so interesting because some folks thought I'd be there through spring but that's when I'm going to be retraining.  When I first started there nearly 15 years ago, there was about 5.4 people working in that department. At the end of the year, there will be a single person there. I'm glad I'm not them.  I don't really know what they are going to do, it's crazy. 

I'll be retraining and we'll see where that will take me. I'm also going to start doing some side hustles. Once the retraining is over at the end of July, we'll see where I am then. So many options and I don't know how it will all shake out but I'm going to be okay.

Over winter break, we're going to go visit family and have some time at the cabin. I'm not going to worry about it too much.  

About three weeks left

November 28th, 2022 at 11:54 pm

I've got a retraining package. I will be heading back to school again. This will put me in a position to continue working for the same organization. There's support from the folks in the department but goodness, I'm so salty. I've really pulled back and my current supervisors understand. I'm working on emptying my office and etc. It's tough after more than 10 years. Another coworker in my department was offered an early retirement package and they have until the end of the month to decide. They are 63 and have been there 30 years. This would leave a single person left in the department, when I first started there nearly 15 years ago there was 5.5 people in the department but now it's been stripped away. It's such a sorry state. 

 

I also believe that if we could figure out health insurance and work part time, we'd be fine. I've thought about this too but I'm not going to decide until I've gone through this whole process. I would be on a layoff list for up to 4 years so if another position opened up, I could claim it. 

health insurance premium vacation

March 3rd, 2022 at 12:00 am

So I work for the state and because of covid, there was less usage of health insurance so they decided to "give back" the surplus as a premium vacation. This month of March we don't have to pay our insurance premiums. I think that will reflect around a increase of $250. I'm not sure what our plans will be for that. I know my spouse wants to purchase a different couch for our main floor. When either of us can't sleep well  (sick, wiggly, insomnia) we leave. I go to our lower level but they don't feel comfortable there so they sleep on the couch but it's not comfortable for sleeping.  I'd rather not have to buy a new couch when the one we have is perfectly fine except for the need to sleep there.  They want to get a small sectional and to be honest, I hate shopping. 

Welcome back!

January 31st, 2022 at 09:55 pm

There's been a few folks who have been gone for a while....or maybe just not posting. Folks who haven't posted in a long time, one more than a decade. It's fun to read about them catching back up here. Congrats on your retirement Priceplus!  And just like Commute I-78, I like looking back too. 

Nothing here happening too much. My household is tracking our spending this month, next month we'll get a little more granular about the spending. It's been good for my spouse and admittedly they are paying better attention to how they spend money. What a great bonus! I usually do the bills but I always think it's important that we both know what we're spending and how to pay for it. If anything happens to either of us, we should know how to manage independently.

This week we're meeting with an attorney to figure out wills and other legal documents. We've been having some of those challenging conversations about end of life and etc. It's good to do this planning. 

Polar Vortex

February 18th, 2021 at 01:38 am

I'm in the midwest so this is familar to me. I don't like it but it's the price I'm willing to pay. At least I'm prepared for it. And I've even gone on walks the last three days because it's gotten up to 10 degrees F. I feel really bad for folks south of here who are ill prepared. Their homes aren't built for this and they are running into problems with the power systems and etc. The house I grew up on had electric baseboard heat but only for back up, otherwise we had a woodstove. We had septic and well water so we usually kept gallon glass jugs full of water in case the power was out for too long. When Y2K happened, I knew that if the world collapsed that I could go and it would be fine. I'm not sure what would happen now. I'm dependent on the grid. This of course has me thinking....

What kind of emergency provisions do you have?

YNAB

February 4th, 2021 at 03:22 pm

I know a lot of you all use budgets, I don't because how I've always done it was figure out what my fixed expenses were and the rest was in the flexible spending(groceries, clothes and etc). If money was tight, I spent less on this and if I had more, I was more flexible. As I start looking into my retirement planning, I want to get there faster. I started reading some of the FIRE blogs and learned that for those who used to use YNAB, will appreciate the budgeting through https://aspirebudget.com/ which apparently is very similar. I'm going to look into it more and see if this will help me get to retirement faster. 

The FIRE folks talk about having 33x the annual living expenses and living off of 3%. It's farther away than I thought but who knows. After covid, I will talk to my financial planner some more too. I've read that when folks retire, spending typically goes up for the first few years because folks finally get a chance to do the travel and etc they couldn't when they were working. This makes sense to me. 

I'm tired - not enough sleep

November 4th, 2020 at 11:31 pm

Thank goodness the election stuff is almost over, it's been so difficult.

Working from home has been frankly, boring. 

There's good weather forecasted here until Monday and I'm very excited about that. Friday I deliver prepared meals to three students from my college. I did it last Friday as well and it helped to see some students even through the door as I dropped it off. 

In the last few weeks I've been in communication with my adult child and they are moving back to the state maybe even before the end of the year.  It's so strange at how knowing that will likely come to pass has lessened by stress, knowing that a car ride away versus 1800 miles seperates us in the event that something happens. They are looking forward to being back with family. Like CB in the City's son, they are currently living in Oregon. 

The local paper just published an article about where folks can purchase Thanksgiving meal and we're thinking about that. Fancy and a little indulgent but I just know I've got to have things to look forward to as we get through Covid. 

My sister recently made the decision to purchase a house in the town she once lived in. It's about 2 hours from where she currently lives. She's been wanting to get back there but her occupation is very niche so few positions open up. She knows of a part time+ full benefits position that would have possibilities so she hopes in the next year or so she might be able to transition to that. Otherwise, she will live during the week in a inexpensive apartment and return home every weekend. I'm so happy she's going to be able to dig her roots back in as she wants to. I'm going to send her a lawnmower as a housewarming gift. 

I'm so happy the blogs are working again. 

It worked

October 26th, 2020 at 08:51 pm

So we're doing okay here and I did write a post that got lost in the switch over. I don't remember exactly what I wrote about but my spouse and I have talked about a challenge of a month of trying to spend as little as we can just to see what we can do. We have mostly fixed expenses and some food. We'll see how it goes. If we do it, I'll report back. 

Can 2020 get any worse?

May 30th, 2020 at 09:02 am

So I live in a suburb of Minneapolis. I have been staying up really late the last few night listening to social media about the police killing and the riots. I absolutely believe that there are issues with law enforcement and bias against people of color. That's not really what I'm going to talk about. The impression I got from listening to the Mayor of Minneapolis and the Governor of the state is that they were sympathetic about folks needing to grieve but that it's gotten out of hand with folks from outside of the state coming in to create nothing but destruction, specifically they mentioned the drug cartels and white supremacists. It seems that they are trying to save lives. It's very disturbing. This is history happening.

From a personal finance perspective, I think this is gutting our community and I can't even imagine how this will impact just nearly everything. I really do wonder what forces are in play here.

staying at home

May 10th, 2020 at 09:10 pm

We're eating at home so much more but I'm wanting to find healthy low carb foods that will fill me up because when I'm bored, I'm snacking. It helps having regular walks to both keep me busy and burn some calories. I found a great vegan cream of broccoli soup that I've made twice now. Super easy and tasty.

We also were watching on Netflix Nadiya Hussain’s Time to Eat which is really good and inspiring. We want to make her seasoning that goes in her rice noodle dish.

I had remembered formerly known as patient saver's granola recipe so I went looking for it. It was back in 2015 that she shared it. I'm going to try and make a batch of that too.

CB, I've always appreciated your ability to be a single person and have the variety of homemade foods you do. You're amazing.

It's unseasonably chilly here today. I like walking in the cooler weather and enjoying that soup.

So far I'm still employed but who knows what the longer view is. I think if I lost my job, I could go a year but health insurance would be the issue. I sure hope things will be ok for us all. It's reinforced how careful I've been with money.

Covid19 still

March 26th, 2020 at 06:50 pm

So my location on campus is considered a computer lab apparently (grrr...) and so we're still open. My spouse has severe asthma and we're very concerned about if she would get it. It would devastate me if I brought that home to her. I'm mostly working from home. Our state has a "stay home" order but my job is exempt. We'll see if they close the campus or somehow I don't have to go in. We have had 346 cases and two deaths as of today. I peeked at my retirement down $100k and I'm grateful knowing that I'm not trying to retire tomorrow. I'm checking on folks that I know...single parents, older folks. We're trying to organize something here in our townhouse development but we don't know all our new neighbors because we just moved here in September.

We have also discussed that if there is money coming to us and it looks like there is. We plan to give it to folks we know who are struggling far worse. I'm still working, we have an emergency fund and I think we will be ok. There are folks who don't have all that we have.

I hope you all are staying safe and healthy.

taxes are done - but now Covid-19

March 16th, 2020 at 09:35 pm

We got the taxes done last week and amazingly, we didn't owe. It's confusing since our tax guy told us it would be a large amount which we set aside to pay. The money we set aside, we'll use some for a big project at the cabin but save the rest. We're getting a little refund but it might end up going to all the additional spending for extra food and etc.

Because we went to the cabin 90 minutes away in another state for spring break, I have to self quarantine myself for 3 days. It makes no sense to me because I could have caught the virus and still not know until a week has passed. Trying to figure out working from home which I think I'll be able to do but it will be lonely and feel less effective.

We're in such strange days that I do even know what to expect. I wish I could lay eyes on my son but he's half way across the country in one of the hardest hit states.

I hope you all stay safe and healthy.

The end of the year is coming

December 11th, 2019 at 11:21 pm

Now that we have a little room to breathe after the sale of the old house, I'm looking at what things I want to do now in the new place. We can afford the new place but now have a quarterly HOA fee. My spouse is looking to go back to work so that will help. We have a emergency fund but I would like to have it hold a year's worth of expenses. We also still need to pay off the taxes on the house sale.

I'm looking into the "none to run" training to see if that will help with my health. I've never been an athlete but I've enjoyed more activity in the last few years and with a recent weight loss, I want to keep going. My sister did a running program and maybe I can do it too.

We have holiday plans set, 2 nights with my sister and then a drive up to visit my mother. I'm looking forward to it. NY will be for gathering with friends and a little time at the cabin. We plan on reviewing the last year and decade and make plans for the new year/decade.

Does anyone know the best way to include a picture? I tried adding an image but it doesn't seem to work.

The long slog

November 14th, 2019 at 12:39 am

April was when we realized we were going to sell our house and buy a new one. It took a lot out of us to sell a camper and a very old truck (1935) and then pack up everything to put the house on the market. The house was on the market just before July 4th and and after multiple offers, we accepted a bid. Inspection and then just a bit before close, it fell through. It was back on the market at the end of August and the close was September but it was canceled. Then it was back on the market and within a week multiple offers and that fell through just a couple of weeks before close but we were able to keep the earnest money. Back on the market and maybe two weeks we had multiple offers with the close date of being December 2nd. We've gone through with inspection and everything, there's just one more load to empty the house and we're crossing our fingers. I can't wait for it to finally sell so we can pay off our bridge loan. I really want to figure out what the monthly budget will be.

Going forward we'll be working on our health, maybe taking some classes and looking into travel.

3rd times the charm

October 23rd, 2019 at 11:35 pm

So the house went back on the market on 10/11 and we ended up with one really low ball offer which we countered up and then a second one a day later so we could call for highest and best which resulted in a purchase agreement. We expect the close date first week in December. It's not as good as the first one and frankly, I forget the amount of the second one. I just really hope this one goes through. I'm going to be holding my breath until it's finalized. I really do want to get back to a place where we don't worry too much.

We have just a couple of things left in the house and the garage to empty, perhaps 3-4 loads.

I'm really looking forward to a month of just one house so we have an idea of what our normal expenses will be. I tend to take the income subtract all the fixed expenses and then the rest gets put back to savings.

My spouse is heading to Indiana for a week to lay eyes on her brother. I'll be on my own which is rare but it will be good.

We're also still in the game, we have not turned on our heat yet. We're in the same state as CeeJay!

fake winter

October 12th, 2019 at 03:43 pm

That's what I'm calling it. It's 33 degrees outside and snowing. We're inside at 62 degrees and the heat is still off. Next Friday it is supposed to get back up to 62 degrees so I'm hoping we're still in the game. It helps to live in the middle of other connected townhomes.

Thanks for the links Ceejay, is there a way I can re-insert them into my blog? back date them?

And we're back

October 11th, 2019 at 05:18 pm

UGH, bummer with the loss of posts. I lost all of our trials and tribulations on getting ready to move. We moved in our new place and our old place is back on the market. To recap: first buyer signed agreement, "inspected it" and we discovered a little bit of mold and repair that needed to be done. Apparently, the first buyer didn't actually have a real inspector go through it. She canceled after the mold but we cleaned it up and put it back on the market. Second offer, inspection and a couple of repairs. We were about 18 days from the sale and the second buyer canceled. ARGH!! We do get to keep the earnest money and it's back on the market but in the midwest, we're past the busy season. We need this to go in the next couple of months. We have a bridge loan that is interest only but we have bills on both houses now. I'd really like to get this off our plates. We need to put the money back in our emergency funds and figure out what our monthly expenses will now be. Part of why I always had a healthy emergency fund was so that I could help in any trouble with my son and my spouse is concerned about her brother who just ran into some life altering health issues. Feel like we're just holding our breath. Good thoughts are welcomed.

Glad to see this back up, I would miss you all.



Townhouse sold

June 4th, 2018 at 10:12 pm

We sold the townhouse, after closing costs we received a check for over 108k which is pretty good since I bought it for 35k in 2012. I used a chunk to pay off the mortgage on the house we're now living in and will use some to buy my sisters out of the family cabin(they both want to sell). I've got it currently in Ally bank because that online savings account has the best interest annual interest rate at 1.6%. Anyone know any better rate to keep it liquid in? The rest will be used to do some things around the house. I feel pretty good about it. I'm now completely debt free at age 48.

Our family is a single income family right now and our plan is to begin the process for foster care licensing.

While I don't care to live where I do because it's so conservative and rural, the house is paid for and if we lived closer to the metro area, we'd have a higher housing expense. We will plan to live in our current location for at least two years to avoid capital gains. It's been hard to return to where I lived because of the isolation I feel. We just returned from a nice two week road trip to see some of the National Parks. Roosevelt, Estes Park, Arches, Canyonlands and hiked Bear Butte. It has me dreaming about purchasing some kind of campervan or simply a van for future road trips. We spent more on hotels than I'd like because camping wasn't has comfortable as it has been when we were younger.

I've also been dreaming of living abroad for a few years....but I'm not sure what country I would want to live in that is affordable. I guess I feel like I'm trying to position myself for future.

Family budgeting software?

January 11th, 2018 at 10:13 pm

I am really accustom to doing things on my own and now that I'm married, I'm hoping that I can find some kind of software or program that I can share with my wife that allows us to do some budgeting.

I do use mint but mostly to see my net worth, I don't really use the budgeting aspect of it. I don't really want to pay too much...I peeked at YNAB and it's $$$.

Care to share what you use? Can two people equally use a budgeting plan or does it really boil down to one person managing it and the other following along?

Thanks

future plans coming together

November 7th, 2017 at 10:47 pm

Sitting with the future of possibilities my wife and I have figured out some next steps. The renter of my house is moving out at the end of the lease which is the end of the year. We have decided to move back and do foster care. We have both always dreamed about this and there's going to be challenges, we're excited about it. We have continuous conversations, we're going to go slow and check in to see if we want to continue to do this. I will be the sole provider for the family. We're going to have to make some big purchases (pull out carpet from the house, install laminate floors due to allergies and asthma) purchase commuter car(likely used Honda Fit). We both feel like we have a lot to give. I know that these expenses will impact my current net worth but I've been so lucky in my life, it's good to try to make a positive impact in the world, one starfish at a time. We both know it's not always going to be easy but we're willing to try it. We can always stop if it's too much.

Our plans are to work for a crisis nursery (parents need emergency care while they deal with other crisis) or respite but nothing long term so we can also enjoy each other and have breaks. We don't intend to fall in love with any child and adopt.

My question for you all, have you ever done foster care? Any tips or suggestions?

Thanks in advance

Learning to manage money

July 25th, 2015 at 08:42 pm

I grew up in a family where we didn't value stuff. It was more about valuing experiences and people more than keeping up with the Jones. Both of my parents were social workers and thinking of others was important but so was living the life we have chosen versus trying to be boastful or prideful. It would seem that our family was religious based on our judeo christian values but religion didn't come into our family until later(another story and only includes some of my family).

My parents gave us allowance and I often spent it as soon as I got it as a child, usually on sweets. My parents (or maybe my father specifically) really believed in children developing their own autonomy so as children we were able to make a lot of our own decisions. My mother didn't work until we were all in middle school so she kept expenses down by doing more (home cooked meals, gardening and etc) instead of buying more. When she went back to work, all the family pitched in for housework because her extra paycheck would allow us more luxuries. I don't know how they did it because I saw my late father's Social Security Statement for his income and it was never above 40k. This was very surprising.

I started my first job(waitressing) when I was about 16 and used tips for spending money and banked all my paychecks. I usually always had some money in a savings account. I lived at home until I finished my 2 year degree. Within 6 months of completing my 4 year degree, I was pregnant and married. We lived in low income housing for a couple of years and then with the help of my family, purchased a home. When my son was born, I expected to go back to work but when he showed up, I fell so absolutely in love with him, I couldn't. Daycare would effectively zero out my wages so it was more worthwhile to me, to learn to live on one income. Thankfully, Amy Dacyczyn of the Tightwad Gazette helped me through those lean years. It also helped that I could delay gratification very well. I learned how to stretch money based on watching my family but also being motivated(public library is your friend for research!) to stay home with my son when he was a baby.

Speaking of Amy Dacyczyn, I just came across this blog post about one of her now adult daughters about growing up her family. It's very interesting to see her perspective then and now. http://thefrugalshrink.blogspot.com/2013/05/dacyczyn-interviews-jamie-part-1.html

I do think I was very lucky to have already been ok with a lower cost lifestyle based on what I grew up with. We went camping, to the library and to free events at museums or in the parks with our picnic lunches instead of hotel vacations, cable tv, restaurant dining and the like.

How did you learn to manage your money?