Retirement and Money

Talking about retirement is incomplete without talk about money.  It is a weird topic for me.  It certainly comes from my upbringing.  I guess most of us do carry some emotion around this topic.  I have listened to Dave Ramsey and Suzi Orman - they are just dynamic and accessible.  Less accessible is honest, not perfect, real everyday people and their stories.  At least specifics.  Most people will talk in generalities.  Actually, some of the more specific numbers I get are other bloggers.  Whether they are accurate is no way to tell.

I looked at some statistics...According to the Motley Fool, 40% of Americans do not have enough money to cover a $400 emergency.  This same article says that the ave American hh savings is $16, 420 while the median is $4380.  That means most Americans have closer to the $4380 figure.  In another article, this same source indicated that ave retirement costs a bit over $700,000.  It also indicates that 1/3 of American hh do not have ANY money saved for retirement.

This tells me that we are a bit above average.  We have more saved up and less debt and also DH has a small pension which is a trend of a bygone era. 

For us, our goals were simple.  Pay off our house and credit cards.  See if we could anticipate our budget needs, both bare bones and with a little flesh for wiggle room.  6 months emergency fund.  2 months immediate emergency fund for Oct and Nov - before pension and SS start.  I have our taxes saved up for house/personal property that is due in Oct.  I also have a year of homeowners insurance ready to renew that policy in mid October.  We have gotten everything in the house the way we want it (kitchen flooring and lighting).  No other home improvements for a while.  I have cash to buy a TV for my kitchen and I have paid off our NYC trip.  What else? 

Another way that makes us stand out, is that DH is 13 years older than I and I can and will go back to work.  We have decided that just for the time being, we are going to take a break and see how we do on this reduced budget.  I can start looking in 2019 or 2020.  I don't really care what career track I am on, so I will be fine reinventing myself. 

We have decided we are going to sell our old suburban and my motorcycle.  If we sell my Harley, we may get a small cheaper bike I can hop on just to go to the next town, or just scoot up the road.  The suburban, we will keep that money and save it to eventually replace DH older car.  We are still paying on my Toyota truck, but that fits in budget fine and we need reliable vehicle to be able to drive back to the city to see my Granny.

I am using my last paycheck for spending money in NYC.  I can't think of a more fun way to celebrate that!

Budget

I have 3 months to pay off my 4000 credit card, while maintaining my stringent saving and budgeting plan.  This is $100 over budget, because I charged my mani pedi instead of paying cash.  I also plan to go back one more time to this esthetician and have a facial along with my mani pedi - maybe right before we move.  I will make it up.  I received $107 from a class action settlement about billing practices for this licensing prep class.  I will add it to our cash stash - we are up to $800.  We want to have $1000 squirreled away in our home safe for emergencies.
I also have to buy another delivery of a couple of my supplements before I am in between addresses - so, that is another $200 I have to come up with.  I may have to see if the extended stay hotel will let me get a package.  I order a probiotic from Amazon that is pricey and has to be refrigerated, but if i go more than a couple of days with out it, I get incredibly sick.  I already put aside $400 for my last 4 months of parking.  So, I should be ok.  We have to pay $103 a month to park.  For the first 10 years I worked here at this downtown, I found free parking a couple blocks away.  It was sort of a pain, but I got used to it.  At another place in another city, I had to pay $50 a month 20 years ago and still walk further than 2 blocks, so walking 2 blocks for free seemed doable.  Then, we had a pretty cold winter this past winter and a friend and I decided to pay Jan through March to park in parking garage and we never looked back!  But, we did figure out that by parking free for 10 years, we had saved over $12,000!  $100/month x 12 = 1200 x 10 years = $12,000.  So paying for 8 months isn't so bad.  Hope everyone has a great Wednesday.

Saying Some Goals out Loud

I need to write some this down for accountability.  I am feeling bad today.  The course of steroids my doctor had me on ended this weekend and I feel horrible today.  I had some edamame noodles and they upset my stomach.  Either that or an allergy pill.  I am going to avoid both tomorrow and see if I can do better.  I am also going to do a 14 day no sugar and really limit my carbs.  I am also going to pay off my credit card by the time husband retires so we can have our October celebration trip all paid for except for the airlines/pet sitting.
We did about 10 -14 day low carb program but I have gotten lazy because I am trying to eat down what is in our freezer/pantry.  But, it is not really going to work - it is not worth getting sick.  I have another 1.5 hour to get through my work day and I am not sure I am going to make it.  On my way home I am going to take the earnest check, sale contract and the information requested by closing company...I will then be waiting to hear from inspector.
Crossing my fingers!  Have a great Monday! 

Anxiety

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/?m=1
I am going to try and do April A to Z challenge this year.   I am not totally up on the technology, but I will give it a shot.
My theme is rightsize.
A for me stands for Anxiety.  Marrying another person who collects lead us to accumulate.  11 years in our house lead to lots of stuff.  In 2 to 6 months we are moving.  I have been purging for 2 years.
2 houses has lead to excitement and anxiety.  Too much stuff = anxiety.  Too much stuff means too much physical, but also too much mental.  I feel like I have been dealing too much for the last couple of years with "stuff" and not as much on personal experiences with people who matter to me.  Some weekends I tell me husband "stuff is winning".  But, I know that my perspective has shifted and now my actions follow and soon, it will all be worth it.  Out of necessity - selling one house means I have to get rid of a bunch, over half our stuff.  But, also out of a desire for something different.  I think it will be a lifelong process, but one that I am willing to put in the hard work. 
Happy Monday everyone!  Today it is gray and snowy here in the Midwest.  We won't see the sun till Wednesday.  Some April Fool, Mother Nature!  Do you all have any good April Fools jokes?  Once I had a co worker who always played jokes on people.  I am not good at practical jokes.  I cannot keep a straight face and on the phone, I laugh.  But one year I enlisted the help of a 3rd friend to call joking friend and tell joking friend that his vehicle that was at the mechanics was going to cost $1000.  He about had a fit!  The fun thing was, I worked with him.  So when 3rd friend called joking friend, myself and a couple other co workers were in the other room listening to it play out.  It was so fun!  Tell me some of your experiences, I can always use more ideas!  HAHA