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Home > Still alive - Still saving.

Still alive - Still saving.

July 22nd, 2018 at 12:15 am

Hard to make posts when most everything is going well. Maybe not hard, but at least interesting. Anywho... everything is going well if you ignore the job. And relationship wise too. The job... well that's another story. Lots of boring info follows, but I wasn't up to making these separate entries, so they all get packed into one.

And away we go....

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Finances
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I don't have the dollar amounts here, but I did do a half year analysis back at the end of June, and the return on my investments was - UGH. Maybe 2-3%. I forget exactly - probably just trying to forget. (Its gone up some percentages in the past month - so go me). My investments have been growing though as I have been putting money in faithfully. In fact....

... I have only $800 more to contribute before I hit the limit for this year. And that means next paycheck goes up maybe $700 and then the rest of the year goes up $1,300. Hurrah, I survived another year of retirement plan contributions. And I put in the Roth IRA money at the beginning of the year. And I have already paid property taxes for the year. And made all of my major purchases for the year. And I got a 4% raise that will show up in my next paycheck. 4% is not bad in today's economy. So I'm looking at large saving numbers for the remaining 5 months.

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Frugality
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Well I got the lawn mower from the SG-GF working and it was / is much better than mine was, so I was able to sell off my 10 year old clunker. I may have had it longer - all I remember is I got it at a yard sale long long ago for $20. I sold it this spring for $10, so I figure I was able to use it for $1/year. Not toooooo shabby! I've been keeping my expenses extra low. Maybe $25/week for food, $20/week for auto gas, electricity for the past year was maybe $500, same for natural gas, and internet now costs about that as well. Phone (cell & MagicJack) is around $125/year. No cable. So utilities are not much.

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Ebay-ing
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This has been going very well, though it comes and goes in spurts. For the year I already have well over $1,000 in sales, probably close to $1,200. A few things were for the SG-GF, but still... I like it. As usual I still think I need to pick up the sale pace. Not sure how, lower the prices perhaps? Also had one Craigslist sale for $100 for wooden train stuff I pick up here and there - probably cost me $20 for the lot.

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Relationship
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The relationship with the SG-GF is going great. In fact she is retiring at the end of the year and moving in with me after that. OMG, that means we need to condense our lives and get rid of lots of stuff. I think in the end it will be great, but its going to be stressful for a while until we are settled.

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Health
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No major problems so far this year. Though it does seem like small things crop up that never would when I was younger. Growing old #@$%!@$%!!!. I have kept up the extra workouts at work, so muscle definition is doing great now. Makes me wonder how I could have turned out if I was this dedicated to working out when I was in my 20s. Oh well, better late than never.

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Job
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Left this for last. Oh man, there have been days and weeks and... where I have really (and I mean REALLY) hated this job. It was never like this, in fact I sorta liked it before, until I got put on the PFH (shorthand for Project From Hell) a year or two ago. No one thing is horrendous about it (ok, I can think of a few), but there are so many ways this was set up awful, it just added up to Gawd Awful. I'm sorta dealing with PTSD now. Even when the day is good, any little thing I get dealing with it just rattles me.

Good news is I did get the 4% raise, and my annual leave starts accumulating an extra 6 days / year starting this fall. I am gonna need it.

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So life is doing good. Could be better, but sure could be worse too. How long until a pension kicks in? Four years, eight months. Is this what it feels like waiting to get out of prison? Who do I talk to to get a pardon?

5 Responses to “Still alive - Still saving.”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1532215601

    Oh my I'm so sorry that your job is such that it is causing you near PTSD! You really need to figure out how to improve the job (a different position in the same company?), or how to mentally deal with the job ( counseling?) if you are going to put another four years into the company.

  2. Wink Says:
    1532220977

    Congrats on all the good things happening! I can relate to your work situation. I'm in the same boat, except I have the BFH (Boss from hell). She came on board about a year ago now and I'm counting down the days (1 year, 9 months, 10 days) until I can retire. Too close to retirement to leave, so just have to find ways to keep sane! Fortunately I have some great co-workers. Hang in there.

  3. rob62521 Says:
    1532284248

    Glad so many parts of your life are positive. I hear you on aging and the body not working like it should. As far as your job, I'm very sorry it has become a pain in the patootie. Hopefully you can keep the stress level down and look forward to that pension in less than five years!

  4. PatientSaver Says:
    1532342163

    Sorry about the job...definitely been there, done that. Any chance you could downscale your job to p/t or even 3/4 time and come up with some acceptable personal reason for doing so? (aging parents, for instance)

    Congrats on the raise. Yep, "aging" sucks. I notice all sorts of little things, like, I guess/know I have arthritis in various joints; things just aren't as limber as they used to be. Regular exercise and a healthy diet are the best you can do and so important.

  5. Single Guy Says:
    1532660327

    AFAIK, there is no option for shorter weeks. At least not in this position. And if they did allow it, I would get taken off the project. And if that happened I wouldn't need the shorter weeks. Other positions... not really available for what I do. Thanks all for the encouragement - not sure how this will all play out... For now I am just going to hang in there.

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