Last week the IRS announced new limits for remitrement plans. The increase to $20,500 was already anticipated. I will increase my deduction in December to $800. That will give me 25 paychecks contributing $800, then my last paycheck will be a $500 deduction. I can also contribute $789 to get me to the max, but I always like a nice round number to contribute. Plus, it gives me a little extra cash around the holidays.

For 2022 I am planning to contribute the full amount to my IRA in January. My plans is to save $500 monthly in order to contribute the full amount again in January of 2023, and so on.

I've been working OT this past week again. It's good to have a little extra cash around the holidays, whether to spend or to save. I've continued to put money in my brokerage account from the sale of my condo & that has been doing well. All of my investments are doing well, actually. Knock on wood, I may get to $1 million in my TSP by the end of the year if this continues.

I took some time this morning to update my budget in Mint. So many categories were obsolete now: homeowners insurance, alarm system, property taxes, student loans (which I paid off over 4 years ago!). Then others needed to be adjuste: mortgage & rent, which more than doubled. 

One of my credit union accounts won't update in Mint, which is frustrating because it's my largest cash account. It is, however, updating in Personal Capital.

I finally figured out how to add my car value in Personal Capital this morning. It's crazy because the Kelley blue book value today is almost the same as it was when I bought it 5 years ago. Supply & demand, I suppose. I think this is the first time in my lifetime that cars have held their value. Usually they are rapidly depreciating as soon as you drive them off the lot.

My new mattress will be delivered today. Mattresses have become quite expensive, but at least I get interest free payments for 4 years. The furniture will be no payments for one year. I don't expect to pay for that long on the mattress, but will take advantage of the one year payoff for the furniture.

My furniture went from expected delivery in October to full delivery expected in January. I should get some pieces this month. That is one thing that hasn't changed: furniture deliveries getting delayed. They blame it on the pandemic, but I remember prior orders. I'm looking forward to getting my second bedroom & sun room (office) furnished.

My investments for Q3 were up, partly because I invested the profits from the sale of my condo just before the end of the month. Since it's only 5% on my portfolio I decided to try something a little different & invest in Vagaurd's high dividend yield index fund. It's pretty new having began in 2019. It will be interesting having a new fund to follow.

Yesterday I got my both my CV19 booster shot as well as my flu shot. I went to bed early last night. Woke up just before midnight with all the symptoms of coming down with something. I am achy, chilly, tired, have a headache, & my arm is pretty sore. Then this morning they started working on the roofs before 7. I hope this banging won't be going on all day long. 🤕

Today is a 3 paycheck month. I'm going to transfer some more money to my brokerage account for investing. At least $3k. The market is a little shaky with talks of a government shutdown, but I know it's best to stay the course.

I was able to transfer the funds from the sale of my condo to my new brokerage account just in time to invest before the end of the 3rd quarter. The proceeds ended up being just 5% of my total investments so I played with the investments just a little rather than sticking to my usual index funds. I still selected an index fund, but not the total domestic stock and total international stock index funds I'm currently invested in for my IRA. 

After living in my condo for 15 years, it's interesting that my equity was such a small amount of my net worth, when I always read that most people's net worth is largely tied up with their home. I'm not anxious to own again, and I've done much better selecting mutual fund investments that investing in my home. That's not to say that I'll never own again, but I always been told that renting was throwing away money. I don't have that perspective now.

I am no longer a homeowner! Closing went off without a hitch. Just a small glitch when they got my new street address wrong, but that didn't delay anything. 

When I was searching to see what my credit union's hours were I found that they had opened a new branch even closer to the title company's location with later hours. It's an interaction center which was a new thing for me. My mom said her credit union is the same now. You walk up to a screen that is something like an ATM, and you interact with a teller via video. I'm sure the tellers feel a lot safer. 

My money is on hold for a week then I have access to it. All this time I've been thinking about how to invest it & I'm still undecided. The market has been kind of blah lately so maybe this is the perfect time to invest.

It's amazing what you can accumulate in a home after 15 years. I moved into this home with only the bedroom set I had in my parents' home. I have accumulated so much stuff, some that I didn't buy myself & never used. Such as a silver gravy boat. I don't even make gravy & if I did, I wouldn't serve it in silver! So that has been my life the past 3 weeks. If anything will cure me of my love of shopping it's weeks of having to give things away. 🛍 

I hope to get repairs done soon so I can list my condo soon after I move out. It's so hard to find reliable people that follow up. 

My rent will be more than double my mortgage, which I can afford & am okay with. Since I applied 3 weeks ago they have already raised the rent by a few hundred dollars. (On another note I hope I don't regret passing up on the 3rd floor unit with the vaulted ceilings & skylight.)

My 401k rollover has been deposited in my TSP. It was only a little over $1k, but I'm glad to have the money consolidated in my TSP. I was being charged a $1.25 fee for what I'm not sure. It's not much, but I try to avoid any fees.

Stocks were up & down this week, but ended up at a high. My accounts are at an all-time high. 

Investments $1.193 million

Net Worth $1.335 million

My first week went well. It's a lot of new information, but I love point of care testing already. It's always interesting. 

My promotion took effect 2 weeks before I actually started the position. So I had increased pay this week, including holiday pay for working the new Juneteenth holiday. I also had increased contributions to my FSA take effect. My matching TSP contributions increased due to my new base pay.

Investments were up over $32k this week & my condo also increased in value a little.

I notice that employers are trying hard to recruit employees. Costco upped their minimum wage to $16 & Wal-Mart has a minimum wage of $11. McDonald's is starting at $10 and is even advertising paying workers daily.  Last time I went to Wal-Mart there were signs advertising $13-21 for overnight stockers. These are really good wages for my area.

It seems employers are going to effectively raise the minimum wage even if the government can't seem to find consensus. And the more they raise their wages the less $15 as minimum wage seems a pipe dream as it once did. I think a split between current minimum wage & $15 should be easy to pass now. 

As for my own wages, the President has proposed a 2.7% raise for federal employees, which would be nice. If I get a promotion that will be a nice bump on top of that raise with another step increase to come in a year's time. I won't be making 6 figures, but I'll be close enough with working just one job.

My investments are up $8k this week. I hit $1.3 million net worth and $1.165 million in investments. I should hit $15k in savings this month before I quit my second & third jobs. I already sent off my resignation letter for my weekend job at the hospital. 

The market is closed Monday so I can make my end of month review for May now. I am at an all time high in my investments. I close the month of May with $1.158 million in investments and a net worth of $1.292 million. I was able to add an additional $2k to savings in addition to my regular $500 monthly contribution. Next month I hope to hit $15k in savings.

I plan to work my additional jobs through June then just work my full-time job. I may pick up another job in the future, but I have no plans for that at the time. 

All 3 of my pay days fell on Friday this pay period. I received enough to cover my bills for the month plus a surplus to save yesterday. When I get paid again in 2 weeks that will be all surplus to savings.

I made my initial savings goal last month ahead of my December timeline, so I'm working on the next $5k benchmark. This will get me to 5 months' expenses. I may achieve that goal next month at current savings rate. I don't see a reason to save beyond $20k with a very stable, in high demand job, but the surplus could be for my next car purchase, which is always inevitable.

I would like to take a short trip after this inspection, but I'm not sure where. I could also use a staycation to get things done around the house, but a change of scenery would be nice. Maybe I could do a little of both.

The market was a little all over the board this week & so were investors. Times like this I try not to read my investing groups too much because some people are so easily rattled. I started investing in college during a downturn so I'm not too bothered by the ups & downs. I survived 99-00, 08-09, 17-18, 20 and I'll survive this blip even if it turns into something major. I'm 14 years out from retirement with my current plans & I will have a pension to anchor me so I'm riding the waves. For once international stocks are doing well so I'll take those gains while I can.

It's my nephew's 8th birthday today. Time really does fly by. It feels like he was just a baby yesterday. I remember how much he loved to be held. Those days are so sweet. 💙

I worked another late, stormy night with bad weather. There were tornado warnings & my mom texted to see where I was. I told her I was at work & she told me that I should stay there for a while. I told her that I had my co-worker there (I always work alone except for last night) and we were going to be there a few more hours. I ended up leaving after 2 a.m. and he was hoping to be gone within the hour. The rain was pretty heavy, but not nearly as bad as the storm a couple of weeks ago. 

My co-worker was doing a big batch run (almost 200 patients) on the PCR analyzer while I was doing smaller runs on the quicker, but smaller capacity analyzer. They want me to come in again this afternoon/evening. We are staying so busy because we contracted with a film company. We are testing the entire cast & crew multiple times a week for COVID-19. Great for my cash flow, but I'm a little tired. I also have a 12 hour shift at the hospital tomorrow.

We had a quiet, but nice lab week at the clinic. I was talking to my manager about how event planning isn't my forte. She felt the same, but we got it through it successfully. On the career front, I qualified for an interview for a potential promotion. I owe a lot of people my thanks in the entire messy, complicated process. Our biannual lab next inspection has been scheduled & I'm looking forward to getting past that successfully. 

My investments are at an all time high. I don't know where things will go from here with the changes being proposed, but I'm just chugging along & staying the course. I continue to vacillate between staying or selling my home. I am consistent about wanting to move forward on a few needed repairs, though they may wait until work is a little more settled.

Investments $1,143,270

I'm going to spend some time this week changing my candles for sale by delivery only to offer shipping. A potential buyer mentioned that you can ship 4 large candles for $22 flat rate shipping. I think it would help me move my inventory a lot quicker. I went to the post office & picked up a large priority shipping box. I packed 4 large candles to make sure that they would fit well with plenty of packing material to minimize breakage. They are insulated pretty well.

I have been paid 6 times already this month. Two paychecks to go. Income surplus is nearly $4,000 now. That will be a nice deposit to savings. $500 to my IRA on Thursday & $750 to my TSP yesterday. 

Investments $1,142,785

It's 10 o'clock in the morning & I'm just waking up. I didn't getting home until after 4 this morning, after getting caught in a horrible storm. So thankful to have made it home okay. I left & it was raining, but not horribly. By the time I got halfway home I had little to no visibility due to driving rain coming in waves, lights were going out as I drove putting everything in complete darkness, & the winds were terrifying: knocking traffic lights askew & debris across the road. I was shaking & praying the whole time. When I got out of my car I could barely see to unlock my door & I got drenched from head to toe in a matter of a few seconds.  Still thanking God that I made it home safely. I never want to experience something like that again.

I worked so late last night (or rather this morning) because my third job picked up a major client. Just when I thought things would be slowing down due to vaccinations, I learn that not only is the Covid testing picking up, but also we will be getting mass collections. I worked every weekday except Good Friday & this Thursday and still made over 55 hours. That's the most I've made since I got hired a year ago & had to put in training hours. Thankfully I didn't pick up many hours at my second job. The only thing keeping me at my second job at this point is that I genuinely like the people. 

I'll definitely have a nice chunk of change to send to my savings this month. I get 8 paychecks this month! My checking balance is at over $11k as I continue to have surpluses in my budget. My goal is to keep it at least $5k to avoid fees. As much as work I can't outwork my investments! They continue to grow. This week was a good week for the market, though Friday ended a little down. It's exciting to see people meeting big goals. I saw a few people become TSP millionaires this week. I know I'll get there, too. 

Today I'll stay mainly close to home, cleaning up around my home. I'll also stop by to visit with my parents. Tomorrow I'll meet up with several girlfriends to celebrate a friend's birthday. It's my first social gathering in over a year. The birthday girl is staying two hours away, so we're splitting the distance and meeting up at a street fair in a city an hour away. We wanted to stick to something outdoors for safety, though I think most if not all of us have now been vaccinated. I hope the weather cooperates! 

Net Worth: $1,248,369

Well, my April Fool's was fun because I hit $1.1 million in investments! On to the next milestone.

Investments Quarter 1 2021 Review:

Balance December 31, 2020: $1,023,303

Balance March 31, 2021: $1,087,545

Growth/Loss: +$64,242

Contributions: $6,000

Gain/Loss: +$58,242

Savings:

December 31, 2020: $2,814.15

March 31, 2021: $6,319.03

Contributions: $3,5000

Interest: $4.88

Net Worth: $1,227,452

My mom gave me an expected gift of $3,500! She said that she didn't want me to feel left out because I didn't my qualify for a 3rd stimulus. She is going to give me another $1,500 at a later time. It was such a sweet & unexpected gift. I truly am blessed. I have no plans for the money at this time.

I have all my expenses & income for the month & I only ended up in the red by about $141 not including the gift. Again, I wrote checks for my federal & state taxes totaling $1,410. I will mail them later. Happy to have an extra month to pay federal taxes!  

So close to $1.1 million in investments.

Net Worth: $1,211,800

Investments: $1,099,951

Happy (early) St. Patrick's Day & may the luck of the Irish be with you! I've been reminescing on my trip to Dublin a little over 4 years ago. It was a great, but too short trip. I would like to go back & see the Irish countryside.

My goal was to have one thing done to my home each month & I've done nothing this month. I will reach out to some awning companies to get quotes. An awning is something that I've needed for 15 years now! I think it will cost less than my painting based on quotes I received a few years ago, but everything goes up in price, of course.

I really have blown through my FSA this year with my shoulder problems. It makes me all the more eager to sign up for an HSA eligible plan for next year. I have seen some progress. The worst of my symptoms will take longer to resolve of course. I had an appt with my primary care doctor today & I definitely need to get back to my lower carb eating. I'm disappointed that I have regained what I lost last summer & fall. Plus I'm not making as much progress in my Lyra classes & I attribute it to the extra weight. It makes moving around in the hoop harder!

Friday is my last paycheck of the month and I'll end it slightly in the red due to writing checks for my federal & state taxes for a total of $1,410. Next month is a 3 paycheck month. 

Net Worth: $1,209,196

Investments: $1,097,199

Not only have I paid off my credit cards, for a short while I actually had a negative balance as I paid more than my balance. I just did my own Dave Ramsey yell at home.

LivingAlmostLarge had another great survey post. I am resharing my answers below for posterity.

My parents retired with 2 pensions. One for 20 years active duty military. They were able to pay all bills with his military income while earning another pension of 20+ years working with the state. They didn’t need that much money in the bank, but working 20+ years without touching their salaries certainly allowed for it. My mom mostly stayed at home until all of us girls graduated high school.

I don’t envision myself retiring early even though I could. I have enjoyed my career & am looking forward to achieving more. I have the age of 60 in mind, which is still plenty young. I will have 30 years with the federal government so a good pension, SS supplement until age 62, and SS after that if it’s still available. I will probably wait until full SS age to withdraw depending on my health. I should have several million in my own retirement accounts as well. I am on track to be mortgage free many years prior to retirement, but I am planning to sell soon. 

Net Worth: $1,180,104

12/31/2020: $1,024,677

12/31/2019: $841,380

Contributions: $24,000

Net Gains: $159,297

Net Gains & Contributions: $183,297

Year end balance does not include the $1,500 that I contributed on New Year's Eve, even though it was well in advance of market closing time. They also have it categorized as a 2021 contribution so I will have to go in & recategorize it as a 2020 contribution.

My investments are officially out earning me & I work 3 jobs!

Net Worth: $1,131,831

It's almost 2021 & time to reflect on the wins & losses of 2020. 202 was a very good year for me with few losses except for a couple of canceled trips, which actually ended up being to my advantage.

1. Paid off my TSP loan. I took out a loan of $30k in the autumn of 2015 to pay off credit card debt. I buckled down to pay it off early in May 2020.

2. Paid off my car loan. I had an accident (not my fault) in November 2015. The insurance company totalled out my 2008 Toyota Corolla. I put $10k down on my Honda CR-V and financed $20k at 2.19% for 73 months. I buckled down to pay it off a year early. I hope to keep this car for at least 5 more years.

3. Probably my biggest debt win this year was the $22k in credit card debt that I had earlier this year. It's now down to $2k and I will pay it off next month. That will mean a lot more money to rebuild savings and explore stock investing. I am recommitting to paying off my cards every month.

4. I worked a lot! I made approximately $30k at my side hustle jobs. Since so many of my plans were canceled: trips, dance classes, theatre season tickets, I was able to maximize my time to earn more.

5. I lost some weight. I've gained some of it back, but am recommitting to healthier eating in 2021.

6. I had $0 savings at the beginning of the year. I now have almost $3k in savings. It's not a lot, but it means I won't have to get a loan from my mom again if I have to replace my A/C or some other home repair pops up. I have recommitted to saving monthly. Again, this will be easier with less debt payments.

7. And finally, I passed $1 million in net worth in September. Earlier this month I achieved $1 million held in investments only, not including assests such as my home or car.

Here's to an even better 2021!

A good day for the markets meant I reached my investment goal of $1 million! It was so close only a week or two ago, but then the markets pulled back.

Investments: $1,004,409

I received another Clever Fox planner, this time the financial planner. It was a special gift bundle that came with the cash envelopes. I weighed the pros & cons of both and have decided to keep the financial planner and gift the budget planner. I gifted the cash envelopes & extra stickers as well. With achieving so many goals this year I'm looking forward to achieving more in 2021.

I got confirmation of my performance award on my next paycheck. That will be a nice bonus at Christmas. I will also be working Christmas Eve since my employee that recently returned from maternity leave wanted the day off. I get holiday pay so that's nice. Usually I want off because my family is in town, but that's not happening this year.

Every once in a while I get a letter from a realtor saying they are looking to buy in my complex. This time I responded & she will call me today. I am ready to sell. I'm not sure what my next step is, but I'm open to the possibilities. I have $70k in equity if I sell for what I bought it for.

Net Worth: $1,109,739

Due to our rate of positives our governor has pushed us back to phase two. We were in phase three with up to 75% occupancy, now we're back at 50% occupancy. 

I unexpectedly sold an EBay item on Sunda (it's been a while since I've had a sale) and the two people ahead of me weren't wearing masks even though we still have a mask mandate. That Pfizer vaccine can't come soon enough for me. Fingers crossed that I get selected. 🤞🏾

I really have banged myself up this last week. I have some sort of carpet burn on my side possibly from the Lyra loop, I think I may have broken the same toe again, and I sliced my finger open in the lab fridge door. I'm a walking accident!

The Dow passed 30,000 yesterday! So exciting. I am less than $23k from $1 million in just investments. My home equity & car worth is what is pushing me over $1 million now. I am kind of kicking myself for not getting in on those travel stocks, but oh well. You win some, you lose some. There will be other opportunities I'm sure.

I am home during the day for the next 3 days. I need to go grocery shopping for today's holiday cooking. So happy to have a few days off. I still have to work in the evening, though. I have 3 more use or lose days before the end of the year after this. I will take them the week of Christmas. My sisters are still planning to come home & I pray for their safety traveling.

it is my birthday next Saturday & my early birthday present to myself was buying President Obama's first volume of his presidential memoirs. He is a wonderful story teller & I look forward to reading it when I can find the time. I may lend it to my mom first as I'm currently so busy. It is over 700 pages.

Friday is payday & I only have 3 paychecks left in 2020 as well as 3 payments on my car. My last car payment is my Christmas paycheck. Merry Christmas to me! That's $200 extra biweekly. I love when I give myself a raise through debt payoff. I will also max out my TSP with my last paycheck.

Happy Thanksgiving all! 🦃 

Net Worth $1,077,566

It's so close, but I think it wil back off a little today rather than reach that milestone.

They have already called me in to do some COVID testing tonight. I have my Lyra class, so I will go I about an hour late. Again, I'm so grateful for the hours. I was also supposed to work only 8 hours Sunday, the first time I've been scheduled for a regular 8 hour shift in months. It just so happened that someone called in so I did my usual 12 hour shift.

Tomorrow we have our annual management meeting with the director. Last year he proposed closing our clinic lab. He has it on the agenda to follow-up on that proposal. With whatever decision he makes I know I'll land on my feet. I've already been contemplating what my next moves will be & I'm excited about the possibilities. 

Net Worth $1,060,646

Happy Veteran's Day to all who have served! 🇺🇸 

I am taking my favorite veteran & military spouse out today. My parents, that is. Is there a word for the meal between lunch & dinner like brunch? That's when we're going out to avoid the crowds. 😁

It's also restaurant week here so there are good specials available. We are looking forward to heading to one of our favorite restaurants for restaurant week. They have a 3 course special that is really more than enough for 2 people.

Speaking of veterans, our VA was one of the sites designated to receive the Pfizer vaccine. When the news came out Monday we were very excited! 

I'm still paper trading my travel stocks & they shot up this week. They didn't sustain Monday's gains, but they are still up overall. I'm being patient & will continue to wait it out. I just feel that something will rattle the markets again & it will be a good time to buy in.

Net Worth $1,039,560

Happy Halloween! 🎃

We had a fun Lyra photo shoot yesterday evening inspired by Halloween. I got some good pics out of it. My flexibility with Star on the Bar (my favorite pose) continues to improve. 🌟 

Yesterday at the clinic we had a Halloween party. There was costume & pumpkin decorating contests as well as other fun games. Lots of good food as well. It was a fun event. 👻

We survived Hurricane Zeta with little local damage. There was more damage in the New Orleans area with this storm. And we still have another month to go in this very active Hurricane season. 💨

I've decided to start trading stocks within my Roth IRA (for tax purposes). I'm excited to do my research & learn more about the companies I'm interested in. They say you should buy what interests you & I am definitely leaning towards stocks related to travel. 🛩

Cruises are no longer under a No Sail order as of midnight today, but who knows when they will start cruising again. When will people feel comfortable cruising? Maybe not until there's a vaccine & even then maybe only when we've had time to study the side effects. 🛳

I got my third paycheck of the month yesterday. It's nice when you get to make an extra payment on debts. I'll do some end of the month budgeting later today. 💰

I have 4 biweekly payments left on my car loan! Today my cash on hand exceeded my debts for the first time in years, probably. Still on track for total debt payoff by spring 2021. 🙌🏾

Net Worth: $960,559