I really can't believe it, but we had another raise announced this week. It was 5% this time. I never would have expected another raise after the 16% raise we received last year & the 4% annual raise we got in January. I think we are also going to get retroactive pay for the raise back to April. What makes this better than the 10% retention is that it goes toward your pension calculation & your match calculation.

I have no plans to increase savings. If I end up with a lot of cash in my checking account - like I did last year - I will make a contribution to my brokerage account, but otherwise I just plan to enjoy the money for once. I max out my TSP & IRA every year. I contribute monthly to my brokerage & savings. This time I'm going to learn to relax & enjoy the present rather than save for the future.

Happy belated Mother's Day! I worked yesterday, so this morning I drove to BR & took my parents out for brunch. It was a nice brunch & we had an awesome waiter. I usually pick a 20% tip by default, but he was such a nice young man that I picked the highest percentage that they offered for a tip, 25%. My mom had the Spanish omelet, I had the shrimp omelet, and my dad had the Southern breakfast.

We stopped at Trader Joe's after brunch & picked up a few things. My mom & I love Trader Joe's. This afternoon we had a family video chat since it was my nephew's 10th birthday. Time sure does fly!

Saturday was a fun day. I met my friend for lunch and although we've been to this restaurant several times, I've never enjoyed lunch as much as I did this weekend. I had a delicious salad followed by a shrimp pasta dish. We then went to the local ballet and saw Romeo & Juliet. It was very well done with a modern twist and beautiful costuming. The costume designer actually passed away two days before the performance so it was a poignant feeling to the performance.

After the ballet my friend & I walked back to the hotel where we had lunch and stopped into their cafe. We got coffee drinks and sweet treats to go. We walked back to our cars and said our goodbyes. She headed to BR & I headed down the street to work to meet with my co-workers.

I had about a half-hour to spare. I freshened up (it was hot Saturday!) and did something quickly on my computer while it was on my mind. Then my co-workers & I carpooled to a different theatre to see Trevor Noah. It was awesome! I'm such a fan of his and he was hilarious, as was his opening warm-up comedian. We really enjoyed it, even though we kept taking shop while we waited for Trevor. 😆 

Sunday I had to work. Usually ask off for Mother's Day, but I got it confused with Fatger's Day, forgetting it was the second and not the third Sunday. After work I went to the library, watched Jennifer Lopez in The Mother on Netflix, and got in my one hour walk.

I also bought us tickets to NY, NY on Broadway for our July trip. My friend got the tickets for Funny Girl. So we have two ballets and two Broadway shows booked. I will leave Friday night open in case we have travel delays. Maybe I'll get to use my Broadway gift card that night. My sister gave it to me for my birthday in December 2021, but this is my first trip to NYC since then. Last week I booked my nonstop flights for only $218!

So it's been a good few days, though spendy.

I enjoy following your budgets so much that I thought I'd give it a go at sharing mine. I know that I put more on credit cards than this budget accounts for, so I really need to get better at actually accounting for my expenses. Now that I write that, I realize that I had nothing in my budget for travel or shopping, which is definitely not correct. In fact I just spend $800 on booking ballet & plane tickets for NYC in July. 🩰 ✈️ 🚖 

rent $1712

utilities $100

auto insurance $143

cell phone & internet $143

food $400

travel $300

shopping $300

church $100

charities $100

Apple $1

IRA $500

savings $500

brokerage $500

Expenses $3399

Savings $1500

Total $4899

I now realize that in posting a budget how vulnerable you feel opening yourself up to others' scrutiny.

Since I don't know if I'll be able to recover my lost entries, let's try this for a third time. Third time's the charm, right?

Retirement investments $1,156,452

Brokerage investments $81,542 

Savings $26,551

Total $1,264,545

My brokerage account is set aside for a future home purchase and my cash savings is earmarked for future car purchases. I put $500 into each every month.

I hope to not have to buy another car until 2032, which is when all cars are projected to be electric. I know a hybrid CR-V today will cost approximately $35k with the trimmings I desire, which are nothing extravagant.

Not included in my net worth is my cash in checking accounts and car value, which amount to approximately $35k.

I got an email that my new checking account is now paying 5.25% interest which may finally motivate me to start using my debit card. I haven't used a debit card for a very long time. I have to make 15 credit card transactions in order to qualify, which seems like a lot!

Just testing because I'd hate to type out another lengthy blog only to lose it again.