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R.I.P. Trash D.R.I.P.

August 1st, 2021 at 05:45 am

Well its been nice knowing 'ya.  

A long time ago in a galaxy... ok, I gotta stop that.  Anywho, it's been 2007 since I started a little experiment.  I would work out how to do without paying for the local trash pickup, and I would invest the money.  This would be my incentive to cut back on my trash.   To do this I started a DRIP (Direct ReInvestment Program) online.  I invested in a stable stock, and put in originally $25/mo. as this was close to the monthly trash charge.  I upped it after a few years to $40 and left it there ever since.   Well with my efforts to clean up my finances this year, along with my finances being tight as I put so much into my 457 plan + pension + HSA + taxes + insurance (yikes!), I am taking home only 15% of my gross pay right now.  Any little bit will help and so I have decided to stop monthly investments in this stock.  I'm sure its for the best as tracking all these investments if I should ever decide to sell will be ... lets just say "a challenge".  

So to get two benefits, I stop the investments and save myself tracking and get a little extra cash.  Yep, not a bad idea.

Something you may want to consider...

October 22nd, 2007 at 03:25 am

Well this has to do with finances only in a round about way... but in any case, I will post it here.

If you live where you have a clothes washer without any water overflow drainage next to it (or even if you do), you may want to consider turning off the water before any long (or even short) trips.

I came home late Friday from work and found the water hose burst sometime during the day and half the first floor was flooded. The burst was on the top of the hose, so water was spraying upwards into shelving full of things, including some cardboard storage boxes, so the mess was imense. Obviously this wasn't a trip, but I can only imagine if this had happened while I was away for a week (as I have done twice this summer). Using a carpet water vac, moving furniture, ripping up carpet - oh yeah, this weekend was fun.

(Finance note: I needed to clean up as fast as possible, otherwise there could be damage to the house and then the cost would sky rocket)

One thing of note. Some time back I was thinking about something like this happening, so I had the water turned on just enough that the tub could fill properly. So I only needed to make a quarter turn to turn off the water. What would have happened if the water was on full blast??? Lets just say I don't want to go there.

And so it begins

February 28th, 2006 at 02:43 am

Tonight I set this thing up, and tomorrow I start with ideas that have been rattling about for some time. If you plan on stopping by later, I figure to be better on giving out ideas on saving money than investing it. I know some on investing, but there are others out there that really know how to set up finances. I'm just someone who knows enough to be dangerous (to himself).

For me, my finances are some 401k(s), a pension (not vested yet Frown ), CDs, savings bonds, stocks (just a few - DRIPs), savings (online and brick, money market & savings). Oh... and a house I bought in '98 and has tripled in value since (whew, talk about buying at the right time!)