I just noticed that my last few blog entries are missing? Darnit. I had just started getting back into blogging here! 
Well, I guess it is time to start again, again. 
What happened?
October 7th, 2019 at 07:28 pm
October 7th, 2019 at 08:30 pm 1570480246
October 7th, 2019 at 09:00 pm 1570482016
October 7th, 2019 at 11:47 pm 1570492075
October 7th, 2019 at 11:49 pm 1570492196
October 8th, 2019 at 12:55 am 1570496130
October 8th, 2019 at 08:39 am 1570523953
October 9th, 2019 at 08:03 pm 1570651383
Its been a while....
September 25th, 2019 at 12:34 pm
I don't know what happened. Maybe I lost the link to the site on my favorites. But I was wondering what was happening around here so I found the site again and I can't believe how many years it has been! It's gone by in a flash!
Well, we can update that the debts are all paid off (except the mortgages and the vehicles - and the vehicles are at 0% interest so I am not really in a rush since we plan on keeping them as long as they run).
I'm putting 26% of my paycheck into my 401k and husband is putting 40% of his in a deferred comp plan. The rest of his paycheck gets deposited straight into savings.
So now I am at a point where the last few years I haven't had to "worry" about money - and looking at my expenses I have gotten out of control. I mean, we are doing good with retirement accounts and saving $1600 a month in the savings account (Still have a couple more thousand to go before I feel comfortable moving that money into another investment vehicle).
But man, I know I am spending too much (even if I don't feel a pinch and there is always money left over every month)
So, there are definitely areas that I am looking at slashing the $$ spent - I will post that at another time.
But also, at this point in my life, since retirement is looking good - I want to travel more. It's a big world out there and I want to experience it.
Husband and I agreed that for my 45th birthday we will take a trip to Tahiti. That gives us 4 years to save for our trip. I have already started looking at how much we need to save to have the vacation that we want. Of course I am going to try to get the best deal I can - but I am by no means going to be camping in Tahiti to save money. Smile
We also decided that we wanted friends in our lives - and we have made some pretty good ones! Which we love because it gives us people to hang out with and experience new things with. And while yes, we do do free things together - we also do paid activities. And these are important to me.
So while I am looking at my budgeting spending column - what I really need to do is to assess what is actually the most important to me. Experiencing life is important to me, so I have to figure out where else I spend money that isn't important to me. Which may be harder than it sounds - because all the things are important to me in some regard! lol
And it is usually easier for me to keep myself on a straight path if I am being accountable in some fashion. So even if it is this blog - I feel accountable to the few people who may read it. So, I am going to share my journey here and am excited to see where it leads!
October 9th, 2019 at 08:03 pm 1570651405
$240 a year back to me - woot!
September 25th, 2019 at 04:39 pm
So, I was looking through my bank statement and realized that I am paying $19.99 a month for ancestry.com.
Now, I have totally used this and have printed off a gazillion things about my family history and have made scrapbooks going all sorts of backwards and sideways and forked and, well, it is really complex.
And I enjoyed doing it. As far as hobbies go, $19.99 a month for subscription and about $10 a month in supplies to print things off is a steal.
However, I haven't been doing it for quite some time and as such, it is something I am cutting. If/when I want to re-explore my ancestry, the site will still be there.
So. It may not be much, but it is $240 a year that I can spend on something else that I am enjoying NOW.
Yay!