Earn, Save, and Live Joyfully.
We celebrated my friend’s birthday last night. So of course the topic of conversation turned to the big ‘3’-‘0’. One of my friends said she’d set her expectations to high for 30. At 30 she planned on retiring from her current job. She planned on making a living off her dream job. But as 30 … Read more
I started going to acupuncture at the end of March to help recover from surgery and from the general sense of anxiety and pain I have felt ever since my medical problems erupted last year. I looked up my insurance carrier’s philosophy on acupuncture and found that my medical condition was not included in the … Read more
The total amount of rental income on our beach home in the Outer Banks of North Carolina came to $24,600 this year. Of course, you have to subtract out Commission ($3,727.25), Laundry ($1,178.10), Maintenance Fees ($375), Pest Control ($50), and a couple other misc. fees and the result is $18,729.48. I can’t really complain about … Read more
My husband and I have always been open and honest about money matters. That honesty became more important after we bought our first house. At the time I made about $40,000 a year. He was bringing in well over $80,000. We weren’t married at that time, so we wrote up a lengthy document detailing … Read more
When my nephew was born a little over two years ago I bought a $500 savings bond as his Christmas gift. He was about six months old at the time and I figured he wouldn’t be able to distinguish a gift from it’s package. So I made the conscious decision to spend my money on … Read more
I work 37.5 hours a week for a total of 1950 hours a year.At $100,000 a year I make $51.28 an hour. Now figure in the 11 federal holidays and 4 1/2 weeks of vacation.And that $51.28 an hour changes to $59.00 an hour. Now add in my employer’s 401(k) match of $3000.00, a $5,000 … Read more
This month’s ‘Real Simple’ magazine had a great article from the editors of ‘Money’ called Life, Act II. The article discusses four lessons one should consider when planning for retirement. #1: Figure out what you enjoy — Write down seven occasions when you were particularly happy. What about these events made you happy? Were you … Read more
A week or two ago my company announced that it would be shipping a whole bunch of us, (probably 100+ people), out of DC and into the suburbs of VA. The drive will add about thirty to forty minutes to just about everyone’s commute. Some people up and quit on the spot. Going in search … Read more
So I realized that I think about money way to often when I had a dream about it last night. Here’s the dream:I had gone back to college for some type of reunion. All of the people that lived in my old dorm were there and we had to line up in order of net … Read more
I ran a whole bunch of calculations between the standard 401(k) and the Roth 401(k), before ultimately deciding to put the whole kitten caboodle, 15% of my paycheck, into the Roth option. (You can see an earlier posting for more information on my Roth decision.) I called Fidelity a few weeks ago and last Friday … Read more