This is more of my just thinking things through - without the financial info

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Spent a week with my mother this month - first time with her since our cross country trip.  A big reason I went is the town-wide yard sale weekend.  I have been selling there the last four/five years (I've lost count).  It's much easier selling there as so many buyers come to the town each year.  I've been taking excess items there, and this year I pocketed over $400 so not too bad.  Will this year be my last year doing this?  Don't know, but I am considering it.  I also needed to put on my handyman hat while I was there.  This time was a pull down attic stairs.  It's in the carport and was a mess.  It worked, but man oh man, it looked terrible.  Anyway, I took it apart, needed to do some woodworking on it, and then rebuild it.  Looks good as new now, and is probably better than new.  The covering was stapled on, which was bad and allowed most of the damage to occur.  I added some extra wood to make it sturdy, and used screws instead of staples(?!?).  Beyond this there is still a hole in her roof, but we have it contained and won't do any *more* damage until I get there again to work on it.

I helped my mother get online and finish paying for our cruise this fall.  They call it a "free" cruise - yeah sure. <eye roll>  There are fees they break out of the cruise price so they can call it free when it is no such thing.  We have had to pay port fees and gratuities fees above and beyond the "free" cruise.  My mother wanted to pay for all of us (me / her / & a mutual friend) and it was less than $1,000 for all of us, so she can easily handle it.  And it is the week following the timeshare week, and I paid the yearly maintenance fee for that ($1,500!!!), so I'm certainly paying for this trip too!

I'm still exercising weekdays, and I have been trying to add useful exercises to my routine.  I search you-tube videos for exercises for men over 60, and have found some recommended exercises I could, and did, add.  Also I am adding supplements too.  My latest is creatine - this is supposed to be good for muscle energy, especially over 50 years old.  It's supposed to take a few weeks until I notice a difference - we'll see how it goes.

As well I am keeping up with projects.  My latest are (1) I have been wanting to replace my kitchen faucet for a few years, but felt I could find one for less than the prices shown.  A month ago I came across the exact type of kitchen faucet I was looking for, still new in box, at a flea market for 1/3 the price of local hardware stores.  Person said they were upgrading their house, but went in a different direction in the kitchen after buying it.  Why didn't they return it?  I dunno.  Anyway, I was able to install a $200 faucet for $60.  And now (2) I am refinishing my wooden furniture around the house.  By "refinish", I mean only where needed on some items, all over on others.  I'm currently in the midst of working on my dining table.  There is minor damage to the base, and the top needs to be refinished (Just finished stripping the top), so I will be busy on this for a few days (or longer if the weather doesn't clear up).  Oh (3), I also removed a tree stump out back too.  That's hard work doing it by hand!

Finally I am still getting my deals over at the Amazon return store.  They have other things there too - lately I have been able to get various cases of drinks crazy cheap.  Often 12 packs of various drinks that Amazon carries for $10 - $16 a case I get for $2.  And another deal of late - Chunky brand soup - 3 for $1 that goes for 2-ish each in a store.  And I make sure to get things for my mother too, she wonders how I am finding all these things.  Oh, and I have found some hobby supplies I can use for about 10% normal price, so that's been great.

I could add more, but this is boring enough. 💤

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So overall I am doing well.  Health isn't like I am a twenty year old 😞, but I am way better than most, and finances are good too.  Personal situation... yeah that could use some work.  I'm thinking it will stay as is, but who knows?

I had started writing up a post, and as usual it ended up going way too long.  Thus I have split it in two.  Here is part 1, my current financial status.

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My investments have pretty much gone up and down through the year, not much change from year's start to be honest.  As I "guardrail" my mother's investments, ummm.... they have done very well.   She got a 'lil lucky as she had some nice investments in the companies NVidia and Caterpillar.  I had hoped to whittle down her inherited IRA as it's the only taxable IRA she has.  I had her withdraw from it last year in a way that would keep her at $0 taxes, cutting the balance down 30%.  Sounded great, but already it's up 40% OVER what she started last year in the IRA, even with that withdrawal.  I was hoping to do more this year, but she had a mental "glitch" a few months ago.  She bought and sold in her brokerage, and to avoid taxes I am thinking we will need to wait until next year to start withdrawing again.  She told me she meant to buy, not sell, so she immedately bought the sold stocks back.  *Sigh*  Oh well, no major damage at least.

Next are taxes.  I got a bill from the state saying I underpaid.  After talking to them on the phone I realized my mistake.  Extra *Sigh*   Well it wasn't a major issue - the "penalty" was less than $20, so no biggie.  As for the Feds... I was expecting another $500 compared to what they sent me.  The papers sent to me didn't explain the issue really, but after talking with them on the phone it sounds like they don't have my LTCG information.  I know I sent it, so????  For now I have written to their address where I can request a review.  I wrote a detailed explanation on why they are wrong - I'll see how that goes.

I did my final Roth conversion for 2026 a week ago.  My retirement account ony allows two conversions per year and I've hit the limit.  I'm doing less conversions this year than prior years, so I won't have to pay as much in taxes, which means... more money into my checking versus last year.  I may have enough to cover everything without selling stocks.  Not the end of the world if I do, but I'm still trying to grow my accounts.

Finally, I need to update my pension withholding in the coming week.  As usual I under withhold the first six months of the year, then extra withhold the last six months.  Looks like compared to last year I will have an extra $1,000 hitting my checking account each month after June so I should have some breathing room.

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Next time: Everything else
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