We’ve been in our house more than a dozen years now. When we first built the house, we had a list of ‘extras’ we wanted to add that stretched out a few years. We expanded our lower level, added a bar, covered & screened in our porch, and worked with our wonderful cabinet-maker on a number of built-ins. At the same time, we bought new … Continue reading Furnishing A Life …
We went to Target the other day for groceries and the bill came to $150. As we walked out to the Jeep to bring things home, my wife said, “I don’t even know what things are supposed to cost any more. Was that a good deal or did we overpay by a lot?” I agreed that inflation – year after year after year – begins … Continue reading Cut Those Prices In Half!
I saw a news segment earlier this week about the supply chain issues on the west coast and how it may impact toys at Christmas. The ‘Toy Industry Expert’ went out of his way to ensure everyone there would be plenty of toys from Santa Claus, but the news person did her best to try to create holiday hysteria anyway. I fell for it. Within … Continue reading An Early Start …
My all-star softball friends Russ & Mike had me along on a couple of very long bike rides the last couple weeks. Each ride averaged about 25 miles as we pedaled through the city, stopping at pubs & taverns along the way. Related: A Year In Beer – Dive Bar Tuesday For the last 3 years they have been doing this. Biking throughout Minneapolis & … Continue reading Pedals & Pubs
Our puppy chewed up the corner of one of our bath mats this week. He doesn’t do that too often anymore. We’re not sure why he suddenly gnawed it up. It wasn’t a big loss as it gave us a chance to look for a new one. We went to Macy’s at the mall yesterday because they seemed to have a big selection. It’s hard … Continue reading Pricing Too Good To Last
Anyone that has tried to make a major purchase recently – a home, remodel, new vehicle, or electronic purchase – knows how tight supply is for everything after the pandemic. At the same time, investors are wringing their hands over rising inflation. With that in mind, I was surprised to see this JP Morgan chart on the US personal savings rate. People are doing a … Continue reading Sudden Savings Surprise
I might have mentioned before that my wife and I don’t really keep a household budget. We used to be very, very diligent about it, but over the years we just stopped. I could tell you what we roughly spend each month, but not without actually adding it up. I only really know if we are spending too much by looking at our long-term net … Continue reading Budgets & Big Purchases
I turned 55 last week and to celebrate the milestone, my friend treated me to my first Senior Discounted meal at breakfast. We went to Denny’s and my 55+ eggs, pancakes, and extra crispy bacon (burn the hell out of them!) cost $8.49. That’s a savings of $1.00 even, or 16% off the regular menu. I guess that’s worth it, although Im not a big … Continue reading Double Nickel Discount
Reaching financial independence requires a combination of good choices and good fortune. Even the best laid plans sometimes go awry, but if you aren’t making smart decisions along the way, it won’t matter. Recently a post on the early-retirement.org forum asked “what changes/sacrifices did you make to reach financial independence?” In general, the folks responding are a very successful group of early retirees and their … Continue reading 25 Proven Moves To Reach Financial Independence
Americans have been cash-poor for decades leading into the pandemic last year. It seems that using credit – mortgages, student loans, car loans, and consumer credit – have just become an unfortunate part of American life. Related: Debt Has Spread Like Virus With the pandemic, people are spending less on discretionary things like travel and eating out and the government has sent out several rounds … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Charts
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