There is always talk about Social Security not being sustainable. It would be concerning if it were not available for future generations that have already paid into it. Regardless of whether that is true, it is a good idea to not count on it and instead, consider it a bonus. I’ve recently had people tell…
Saving for the future – August
Oh, what a month it has been. Our Savings has been as fluid as the stock market. In Savings we saved our normal $500. We also transferred the $1,250 from our child tax credit and another $500. Unfortunately, we had to transfer $2,015 out to cover my annual life insurance premium and other bills. As…
Leaking Roof: The Worst $5,000 We Ever Spent
Remember a few weeks ago when I was excited to spend the child tax credit money we received? Those were good times. It’s fun to dream, but we aren’t doing any of those projects. Instead, we’re going to be replacing our leaking roof. We replaced our roof about 13 years ago. Unfortunately, we have had numerous…
Child tax credit: How to spend the money?
These are crazy times. The government keeps giving me money! Don’t get me wrong – I am thankful to receive it. But it’s a little weird that large sums of money are regularly being deposited into my checking account. Last week, we received $1,250 from our child tax credit. Technically, we were supposed to get…
Working Toward Retirement – July
This month our retirement savings is up $2,148. Not as good as last month, but at least its growth. Since my last retirement post, my work 401k peaked at 31%, but took a dramatic tumble to 29%. I’m kidding of course. These high rates of return are going to really help our average over the…
Spending ALL our HSA Money
When it rains, it pours. Remember when I told you the story about our son meeting his health insurance deductible a month before it resets? Well, my youngest daughter decided to get in on the action too. Our poor little HSA has been put through the wringer. Last week, John and I were in our…
Accuplacer – Acing the Placement Test!
I am bursting with pride, so I want to share our oldest daughter’s latest success. As I mentioned a few months ago, I was hoping she could start taking classes at a community college this fall. I have been doing a lot of leg work, making sure we dot all our i’s and cross all…
Saving for the future – July
This month in Savings we saved our normal $500 and earned $5.04 in interest. We recently bought our oldest daughter new bedroom furniture. We purchased it on a 6 month no interest / no payment plan to spread out the cost. We can only afford to pay $200 a month on it and the rest…
HSA Woes
Our family has a high deductible health insurance plan. We don’t have any chronic health problems, and we rarely go to the doctor. During a typical year, we save money with the high deductible policy. However, when things don’t go as planned, money starts flying out of our HSA. Last February, our oldest son started…
Sealing a deck and bringing it back to life
I am terrible when it comes to maintenance, which is why it has been about 12 years since I sealed our deck (or even cleaned it). Sealing a deck isn’t hard, I’m just really good at not maintaining things. As our two readers know, I am also not good at documenting home improvements. Luckily, this…