The personal finance blog for Life Balance

We received another refund from the high school. This time it was $20 that we had paid for a class lab fee. It was refunded since the school was closed in March. That class – Foods – wasn’t fun for DS4 to do online. It would have been a challenge to make fun & interactive online and that teacher just wasn’t the type to change her lesson plans. The school just sent out a survey to get feedback on parent preferences for safety measures vs going online so I guess the Fall semester is in the air. Hopefully if it is online the teachers have time to learn how to teach effectively that way.

About a month and a half ago the company announced a contribution matching initiative for donations to Covid-19 support organizations. The employee contribution can be to any qualifying organization that is helping prevent the spread of Covid-19 or addressing other damage caused by it. The match from the company though will go to one of about half a dozen organizations that the company has chosen. The employee can select which one. And it’s clear from the wording of the memo that the company thinks that those organizations would be ideal for the employee’s contribution too.

So here’s the rub for me: First, we just all took 10% mandatory pay cuts. But more importantly, while the organizations chosen by the company are reputable, they don’t reflect my personal values around the pandemic. In my opinion, all the guidance provided by the government and health organizations has been a defensive strategy – avoiding the virus. That’s fine. But what seems to be missing is a complementary offensive strategy – planning for the encounter that is likely to happen and making all of us healthier so we aren’t taken down by the thing. I wish we’d spend some of the money being thrown around to provide Vitamin D (& C and zinc) for free to anyone who wants it. This is my view – I know everyone doesn’t think like I do.

I opted not to contribute and instead our family found ways to support our local community. Now I wonder though: will it hurt me at the company? Do they keep a record of who participated in the initiative they promoted?

Have you ever skipped a work fundraiser and worried that it could negatively impact you at work?

When FIL died at the end of January, he left most of his assets (IRA & other accounts, vehicles, etc.) to his wife. In his will he left one savings account to be split among his grandsons. Noone expected this. Our boys will each receive about $10k in the next month or so. They each inherited a gun from FIL too but they weren’t surprised because they’d been asked in past years which one they preferred. (FIL was an outdoorsman.) His will might be entertaining for another hunter to read because one line after another says something like “To my GS1 I leave my Winchester blah blah rifle with the blah blah scope, serial number blah blah” through about 20 guns. He covered all his grandsons, his sons, his son-in-law, former son-in-law, step-son-in-law, former boyfriend to his daughter, and his daughter.

I’m not eager to have those guns in the house – I resisted this with DH for the past decade because our boys were the have-to-touch-everything type of little boys. I guess I’m glad at least that they are older now and two of them don’t live at home any longer.

As for the money, because two of our boys are minors, we will be given the money on their behalf. The other three will receive it directly. I told the twins (DS4 & DS5) that I would allow them to spend some of their money if they chose to but that I would be doing it on their behalf. I’m not trying to be controlling but I just don’t want them to be vulnerable to someone taking advantage of them. In fact I worry about DS3 in that regard but he is 18 and typically not receptive to advice from me.

This is what each boy plans to do with his windfall:

DS1 - $5k to Roth IRA now for 2019 since the deadline is extended, $2k student loan debt, $3k current desires including $1k to “play” with stocks

DS2 – All of it to top off Roth IRA for 2019 and 2020

DS3 – undecided, but has talked about a newer more reliable car

DS4 - $1k to buy the bed he wants, $9k to savings for a car purchase after he’s 18

DS5 – up to $3k for a fancy gaming computer setup, $7k to long-term savings with no goal yet


I’m curious to see if all their plans stick when the money arrives.

Please delete

In our county hair salons aren’t yet open. I haven’t been covering my grey hair growth except with a temporary solution when I’m forced to do a video conference. I have to say I’m starting to like the grey and I’m seriously thinking of keeping it. My hair is now naturally salt & pepper with the salt/pepper proportions different in some places.

Once salons open I may even ask my hairdresser to dye it all grey and then I’ll just have some dark roots but less over time. A while back I saw a model online with grey hair even longer than mine and I liked the look. (Rosemarie Fern is the name in case you want to search.) I think that influenced me to break that unwritten rule that middle-aged women shouldn’t have long grey hair.

Anyone else considering a permanent switch to grey?

A few weeks ago I was celebrating the arrival of unexpected money: $212 from the car insurance for cancelling Bertha (minivan that departed), $54 voluntary refund from insurance to account for the stay-at-home order, and $40 refund from the school for the pay-to-play fee since the sports season was cancelled.

I also cancelled the 0% CC that was paid off which didn’t bring in money but did simplify my financial life by removing an account.

Then it went the other way and in a big way. The company implemented a 10% pay cut on total compensation across the board. The reasons were valid – they are trying to avoid layoffs and foresee the revenue being much lower this year. The pay cut is supposed to be for this fiscal year only and if the revenue doesn’t fall as sharply as anticipated, we may get some of it back later. Other cuts were made too – travel, hiring, and summer interns were some of them.

As a result, I had to make tough decisions about items in our family’s budget to cut or eliminate. No more ordering in dinner from local businesses once a week. No more family trip planned for this summer. Of course it wasn’t fun relaying this information to the kids but despite it being unpleasant, I did think it was a teachable moment. They got to see my response (as our family’s CFO) to a sudden unexpected reduction in income. And we’ll be fine.

I wish our local school board had enough fiscal maturity to go through that exercise. They also have realized that revenue will be impacted by the shutdown this year and instead of making tough decisions on budget line items, they are planning to raise taxes in hope of making up the difference! I usually don’t have strong feelings about local politics, but this time, maybe because of my situation, I am annoyed by them. One of every five neighbors is unemployed and probably wondering how they will pay the whopper property tax bill this year without selling their homes and you’re going to raise it? Such a lack of compassion and responsibility.

I’ve been on a slight hiatus due to feeling overwhelmed and discontinuing unnecessary tasks as a result. And it wasn’t directly because of the country’s 3-month turmoil either but instead my fretting about family members I love. In two separate situations (DS3 and my dad), I watched consequences from poor choices while I was powerless to do anything. But pray, which I did. Both situations eventually resolved themselves better than I thought possible but boy – I feel like I lost a year off my life from the stress. I really wish I knew a secret to truly let go of situations out of my control when they’re close to me.

The good news is that I have been keeping up with the high priority items directly in my control. So back to regularly scheduled programming…

My 2020 goal #2 is to adopt a permanent health-enhancing habit each month. My new health habit for May is to drink 32 oz of filtered water each day. (in addition to any other liquids I consume)

I think the ideal water intake for an adult is more than this but it’ll be a step up for me. I have a good quality water bottle that I keep at my desk. Two fill-ups should be at least 32 ounces.

NEW HEALTH HABIT #5:
Drink 32 oz of filtered water every day.

BENEFIT:
Drinking water positively impacts brain function, energy levels, digestion, and metabolic rate. Water intake eliminates headaches caused by dehydration and can prevent kidney stones. It aids in detoxification and lubricates joints, eyes, and skin.


COST:
Upfront – zero (I already have a filter.)
Ongoing – zero


2020 health habits so far:
(1) Fast one day per month
(2) Consume fresh organic juice at least 3 times a week
(3) Stop storing food in plastic containers
(4) Spend at least half an hour outside every day
(5) Drink 32 oz filtered water every day

It was time for my annual purchase of sneaker shoes and I did it online since stores are closed. I typically order clothes online but shoes have been different – I feel like I need to try them on to make sure the size is okay. The shoes arrived and they’re fine. It was actually a time-saver so I’ll consider purchasing online next year.

Each year in the spring I purchase a new pair and my current pair becomes my yard shoes. That pair eventually gets green soles from fresh-cut grass and dirt stains from the flower beds. I use them until Octoberish when the last mowing is done for the year, then I throw them away. The following spring my everyday sneakers become my yard shoes when I buy a new pair.

Do others rotate shoes? Or do you purchase a pair to be yard shoes from the start? Or do you stay cleaner than me in the yard?

Chipotle spread

I track our spending and overall we’re spending less but we’re spending a lot more in two budget categories: home maintenance and restaurants. It’s to pay for local places that are open like house & yard services and restaurant delivery/pick-up once a week. The once-a-week food delivery is expensive because we have big boys with big appetites but it’s becoming a homebound tradition, and I feel good about supporting the local businesses.

I usually order a variety of options instead of full meals, then we put everything on the island in the kitchen so we can each sample a variety of interesting items. So far our weekly meals have been Japanese for DH’s b-day, Indian twice (now it’s pick-up only), Italian once (not as healthy but fresh & super tasty), and Chipotle this week. I’m avoiding fast food places that would admittedly be cheaper but are also unhealthy.

For next week I’m looking at a local Mexican restaurant that initially closed for the shutdown but has just reopened for delivery or pick-up. I doubt they anticipated the shutdown lasting so long when they closed.

For the house, we had pressure washing done and we just had mulch delivered in anticipation of yard work this weekend.

Today was exciting because it’s the first CSA delivery of the year. Our first box contained spring onions, Tuscan kale, green chard, wintered kale, radishes, and gold potatoes and one butterkin squash from winter storage.

I’ve already made green smoothies for us with an assortment of the greens. I feel healthy just knowing that we’ve got just-harvested organic greens in our bodies.


Smoothie raw materials – 2 types of kale + radish greens

My 2020 goal #2 is to adopt a permanent health-enhancing habit each month. I’ve decided that my new health habit for April will be to spend at least half an hour outside every day.

It’s a shame that I have to work to make this a habit but I do. Even working from home, some days I realize that I didn’t get out at all except to pick up the mail. Especially when the weather is cold. So now unless there’s a bad storm or the temperature is in the single digits, I’m going to spend time outside. It doesn’t have to be for exercise – I could just drink my coffee on the deck. Part of it is covered so I could do that on a rainy day too.

NEW HEALTH HABIT #4:
Spend at least half an hour outside every day.

BENEFIT:
Provides a de-stressing effect, might improve short-term memory, creativity, and the ability to focus, reduces inflammation, helps eliminate fatigue, may prevent depression, may protect vision, lowers blood pressure, may boost the immune system

COST:
Upfront – zero
Ongoing – zero

Cheap and simple.

2020 health habits so far:
(1) Fast one day per month
(2) Consume fresh organic juice at least 3 times a week
(3) Stop storing food in plastic containers
(4) Spend at least half an hour outside every day

Even from home on a weekend, I’ve been able to do some small things that should improve our finances:

(1) Turned off the pilot on the gas fireplace. It’s still getting down into the high 30s for the daily low but it’s mid-April! We can kick on the heat for a few minutes if we get uncomfortable.

(2) Sent an e-mail to our auto insurance agent to remove Bertha from the policy. I assume that’ll save us a few bucks, but I don’t know. We’ll see.

(3) Redeemed our everyday CC’s points for two Lowe’s gift cards totally $75. They are physical cards that get mailed so it may be a couple of weeks before we receive them.

DS4 and I mowed the grass today for the first time this year and I found an egg! (That’s how tall the grass was in some places.) No money, but a Twix candy was my compensation for mowing.

DS3 forgot to close his door before backing out of the garage this week. I can’t remember a time that I ever forgot to close my door before driving. Maybe the trunk or the gas cap but not my door! He assures me that he was paying attention to driving and not his device. Ahem. I was working in my office space which is above the garage and felt the walls shake while I heard a loud crunching noise.



My initial reaction will not go on record as one of my best parenting moments. In order to get the truck’s door out of the wall, DS4 and DS3 pushed forward together while the thing was in neutral. Then we could see the damage.



DS3 knew that he’d be responsible for the repair. And we both agreed that he did not have the skillset to do it to my satisfaction. He opted to hire DS2. DS2 also has no drywall experience but he does have the skillset (He’s an engineer-to-be.). He’s charging DS3 $300 for the fix. I have no idea if that’s a competitive price. But the silver lining is that he’s learning something new while DS3 learns a tough lesson himself. The job is nearly finished.



I realized that all three driving boys have had a mishap in the garage. DS1 backed out with the side garage door open and bent it so badly that it couldn’t close so it had to be replaced. DS2 backed out too fast and broke one of Bertha’s side mirrors. And now DS3 has done this number. We’re 0 for 3 in getting through initial driving years without having an accident before leaving the garage. Wow.

I put the stimulus payment to good use – the balance on the 0% CC expiring in May is history. Woohoo! That means that my annual goal #4 - pay no CC interest or fees – will be achieved so long as I don’t take on additional CC debt this year.

I’ll close the CC in the next few days. I don’t need the credit since I have another card with rewards for everyday purchases. Next focus for unallocated funds is the EF: annual goal #1 - get EF back to 3 months’ basic expenses.

Our dog found two more eggs in the yard yesterday! One just had Skittles but the other had a dollar bill.

She made 274,000 miles. We had to let her go this week. DH said that watching her leave was like putting a pet down! It was sentimental but not really THAT sad.


almost like a part of the family

I’d made the decision to do it in August when $1100 of work was estimated for her to pass inspection. After some consideration, DS3 offered to pay for the work if I let her be his vehicle to drive. He’s been driving (and driving and driving) her since that time. But the transmission went so it was time.

We reluctantly made the purchase of this van new, even financing, after having learned to enjoy having paid-for cars for several years. But a surprise twin pregnancy required a bigger vehicle and neither of us had mechanical skills so the risk of breaking down with small children was scary to us. At least we did pay the loan off early.

Getting us to vacation spots, serving as our home base during sports tournaments, moving big boys into and out of dorm rooms… Now we just have the Fit – Lola – since our needs are small. If we need a minivan for a few excursions, we’ll rent one.

Stuffed eggs ready for the hunt

Our family has a tradition of a family egg hunt on Easter morning. The boys are older now and still look forward to the egg hunt because some of the eggs have money in them! It used to be mostly coins when they were small but now it’s an assortment of bills and a few are substantial. Only some eggs have money but all eggs have candy. A couple of eggs had vouchers for bigger candy items that don’t fit in an egg like a chocolate bunny. I use the same plastic eggs and big basket year after year. During the hiding all the boys stay in the master bedroom with DH and watch a show to ensure no one gets a peek outside. They are released for the hunt by age in ascending order and when they were younger, I’d give the younger ones a longer head start. Now their hunting skills are comparable so I only make them line up to prevent trampling.

It's still a hoot to watch and the dog had the best time of all. She loved having all five boys running around the yard at the same time. This year she figured out how to hunt for eggs herself! We had to throw out one plastic egg she found because she cracked it with her teeth.

DS1 got the whopper egg with a $50 bill this year.



I guess if I ever become a grandma, I’ll stop hiding for the kids…

The first quarter of 2020 has passed so it’s time to check the status for my annual goals and plan my adjustments and/or next steps for this quarter.

(1) Get EF back to 3 months’ basic expenses – on target

For us 3 months of basic expenses would be $10,500. Currently the EF has $5050, which is less than half the goal, but it started the year at $3500 so progress has been made. My focus for unallocated dollars right now is on the soon-to-expire 0% CC. Once that is gone, the EF will be the focus so I still consider it to be on target for the year. The current economic situation illustrates the need for an EF and I wish I were in a better situation with mine. The reason I don’t fret (too much) is that the most likely emergencies that we would have that exceed my EF’s coverage are medical and unemployment situations. For medical, we have an HSA account that would cover costs and for unemployment, I know that my employer has historically been generous with severance pay. Still, I’ll feel more at peace when my goal is achieved.

(2) Adopt a permanent health-enhancing habit each month – on target

Oh yeah – I’m proud of this one. I have started 3 habits and kept them up. I can’t say that I enjoy fasting – it’s hard for me – but one day a month is doable. And in fact it’s really 24 hours so I only miss two major meals. Usually I start the time around 6:30p after an early supper. The current pandemic also illustrates the importance of a healthy immune system so I’m thankful that I made this an area of focus. I feel motivated to continue with my monthly habit additions.

(3) Renew my professional certification by the September due date – on target, maybe even ahead

Renewing my certification involves paying a fee which is not too onerous and earning continuing education units which is a lot of effort. I started the year being 38 units short of being able to renew. I’ve since earned 18 units so I currently have 20 units to go. If I can keep up the current pace I’ll finish in the summer.

(4) Pay no CC interest or fees – on target

In order to meet this goal, I had to deal with a CC balance on a 0% card (and continue to pay off our normal expenditures each month of course). I’ve written another post about my split strategy to move some of the balance to a new 0% CC and to pay the rest off. I currently have around $1900 remaining on the CC that must be paid by mid-May. My projections show that this should be completed in time. Then I’ll cancel that CC.

(5) Spend time with each kid to encourage his current area of growth – okay, but could be better

All-in-all I did fine on this. I helped DS1 create a budget and provided support for his job hunt which was successful though he hasn’t started the new one yet and there may be uncertainty now. DS2’s focus has become more about keeping up since his last semester of college is online now. I didn’t spend the time I’d planned helping him find housing. However, now that he’s closer to the job location since campus is closed (It’s 2+ hours away.) it’ll be easier when he does have availability. Good progress on DS3 as I reported earlier. He’s committed to a college and found a roommate. Now to see how he finishes high school with the school doing a nontraditional online format, possibly for the rest of the school year… I have worked with DS4 on his rank advancement but not enough. He’s so close to achieving the next rank of Star. And ironically working with DS5 has been easier with school off and then online. I’ve just got to keep it up.

(6) Complete identified home maintenance – behind

It’s always been my experience that I can’t have everything going well at the same time. What I have done is to get a quote for the pressure washing. I allocated funds for it so now I just need to schedule it. I requested a quote for the fan/light replacement some time back but the electrician never got back with me. Maybe the job is too small to be worth his effort. I need to look for another company. Most of the painting I’m doing myself (not the ceilings – I’ll hire that out). I moved furniture away from one wall in the living room to prepare to paint several weeks ago and it’s still like that! Maybe this weekend.

Overall, I’m happy with the quarter’s progress.

A couple of pieces of small positive financial news: While the company has announced that annual profit sharing as it’s implemented now is being discontinued, we did get an annual payment this year. I used a portion of mine to purchase a new laptop. I have been limping along with this one far longer than most would I think – it’s soooo slow and it crashes if I try to view a video. And the already replaced battery is bad so it must be plugged in. I’ve just ordered a replacement and it should arrive next week. I don’t look forward to the productivity curve for a new device but it’ll be nice to let go of the worry that I’ll lose things that are important to me suddenly.

A week or so ago I read a blog (I can’t remember the site.) that had a list of things that could bring in cash. One of them included a link to a site with the unclaimed property pages for every state. I checked our current and former state pages with our name and guess what? I have $20 of unclaimed property from our former state. I have no clue what it is. But I completed the form and just received an e-mail that there is a payment on its way to me.


Rambo, the office helper

Well I purchased Norton Lifelock for my computer’s antivirus protection since it was only $20 and I already have buyer’s remorse. I can’t get it to complete the install – it keeps requesting a reboot again and again – and the online technical support isn’t available because of the coronavirus according to their website. If ever there was a job that was conducive to working remotely, I would’ve thought that online technical support would be it, but apparently not. Needless to say, if I can’t get it working I’ll ask for a refund. I suspect that I may be told (if I ever talk with a live person) that my computer is too old.

We’re still being vigilant about vitamins to stay healthy. And DS1 who still is expected to work in a customer-facing role says that he’s receiving an extra $300 per paycheck for working during this outbreak. He’s taking the high-dose Vitamin D he received in his stocking and so far is symptom-free. We also talked about him using any stimulus money that might come his way to start his new EF.


Mine and boys

Tomorrow I’m invited to a virtual retirement party.

One positive piece of financial news in the midst of chaotic meltdown in our net worth otherwise: I received notice that some stock options I received from the company last year are 25% vested now. When combined with previous stock options, I have a total (only on paper) of $8k. I’m planning to wait 3 years until they are all vested before cashing out.

Our March spending like most others I’m sure is odd. We’ve spent $1200 in my grocery category! That includes toiletries and pet food, but still. Since it’s related to stocking up, in theory it should result in less grocery spending in upcoming months. ‘Kids’ activities’ is lower since sports and Scouts are canceled.

We had another game night – Hearts this time. Good fun! Many of our local restaurants have closed for the duration – no more takeout menus. I hope they’ll be okay.

Work continues as usual but having the kids at home is distracting. I have plenty to do but I feel like it’s tough to focus. DH has been like a drill sergeant, administering temperature checks and vitamins twice a day for us all.

My annual computer anti-virus subscription has just expired. I deliberately paid it with a CC that I wasn’t keeping so they couldn’t auto-renew. I hate that practice and I like to evaluate the purchase each year. Any recommendations?

I was beginning to think our state delayed the payment of income tax refunds because it’s been about a month and a half since our taxes were filed online. But this morning I see that the state refund is direct deposited in the bank account. As planned I directed it to the 0% CC that needs to be repaid by May. The remaining balance now is $2130.

We recently adopted a stray cat and today was its first vet appointment to get checked out and receive immunizations. The animal clinic sent a message a few hours before the appointment to alert us of the temporary protocol in place due to the coronavirus. After we parked the car, we called them to let them know that Bandit (The kids name our pets.) had arrived. I spoke on the phone with the technician to review concerns & health history just like we normally do in the exam room. Then when the vet was ready, we carried the pet carrier to the front door for a hand-off. We waited in the car until the vet called my phone with the exam notes and results. I paid with a CC over the phone then met the technician at the door to retrieve the full pet carrier.

I have to say that it was efficient in addition to being safe. It was strange though not to be with our pet while he was examined.

The total bill was $201. That included the visit, two immunizations, a fecal test, and a leukemia test. They’re only doing medically necessary surgeries for the next 2 weeks so I have to call to schedule the neutering for sometime later than that. We found out that he is about three years old! We guessed that he was less than a year.

The company has sent a memo that there will be no compensation increases this year. It’s disappointing for sure but understandable given the uncertainty of the economy. Now I know for planning purposes to count on my current minimum income.

We had a fun Monopoly game night last night after corn chowder for dinner which was a hit too.

Our state just closed bars and restaurants.

I’m a planner by nature so I’m directing any anxiety about the current situation to our logistics. The boys are off school for at least two weeks. DS2’s college extended spring break so he just extended his visit with our families in the south. He’ll fly home in a week. I’m hoping that travel is safer then with international flights discontinued. He also connects in Charlotte rather than one of the mega-airports. If his college makes a decision to complete the semester virtually and travel becomes more restricted, I suppose he could stay there. DS1’s current job is customer-facing so I do worry about that although it’s not in a big city. Fortunately, my job with the exception of occasional travel being canceled isn’t impacted much. I’m most productive working from the home office and that’s the typical work day for me. I will need to creatively replan some projects that have tasks normally done at the customer site though.

This weekend I’m cleaning. Our house is grubby most of the time. Women who value a pristine home environment would be appalled by our place. But with a crew of boys I learned years ago that I would be a ball of stress if I insisted on keeping the place like a showroom. Usually my cleaning efforts are focused on keeping dishes and clothes caught up with an occasional vacuuming. But this weekend I’m dusting, wiping, scrubbing, and disinfecting door knobs and light switches.

We’ve never had an emergency food stash despite the fact that we live far enough north that a snowstorm could potentially force us to be homebound without power. We once lost power but the snow wasn’t too deep to get out and we moved to a hotel for a couple of days. Every year I say that I’ll make one before the winter arrives and I don’t. Laziness I guess. Knowing that we could be forced to stay home for a month or more, we created a stash now. It includes an extra round of household items we purchase every couple of months – garbage bags, laundry & dishwashing detergents, and pet food. And some healthy food that can keep awhile – rice, beans, applesauce, figs, peanut butter, mixed nuts, carrots, onions, potatoes, and one box of Girl Scout cookies so we don’t feel deprived. I also ordered some organic coconut milk powder. Really I think we’d be healthier is we were forced to fast a couple of days or eat beans & rice only! I’m not saying that I hope it comes to that though.

In addition to the food stash, I created a small cash stash. That’s another thing I’ve always intended to establish. Eventually I’d like to have a month’s basic expenses in cash. Maybe I’ll consider that as a goal next year.

To prepare ourselves for exposure to the virus which may be inevitable, we’re all taking vitamins and an anti-viral herb each day. Last week I also ordered replacement filters for the Berkey water filter.

Since we’re hunkering down, I’d like to plan what to do with boys during their time off. Maybe working on scout merit badges with DS4. Or having a game night. I’ll check out our game cabinet and see if we have all the Monopoly pieces.

My 2020 goal #2 is to adopt a permanent health-enhancing habit each month. I’ve decided that my new health habit for March will be to stop storing food in plastic containers. I’m going to use glass containers instead.

I don’t think it’s unhealthy for food to just touch plastic but I’ve read that temperature fluctuations can cause plastic to leach into the food. I stopped microwaving with plastic containers years ago but the rest of the family will do it if it’s most convenient. My dad personally knew a woman who was taken to the hospital (I forgot the symptoms.) and the cause was her consumption of bottled water that had gotten very hot in the trunk of her car then cooled back down before she drank it.

NEW HEALTH HABIT #3:
Stop storing food in plastic containers.

BENEFIT:
Prevents consumption of plastic (microplastic) that is toxic to the body

COST:
Upfront – $95
Ongoing – zero

The upfront cost is the total for the purchases I made of glass replacements for my plastic containers. I bought a set of Pyrex containers with color-coded plastic lids for leftovers, six canisters for storing rice, pasta, & legumes, and two glass carafes with plastic lids to replace our yucky stained plastic pitcher.

This new habit is easy compared to the others.

2020 health habits so far:
(1) Fast one day per month
(2) Consume fresh organic juice at least 3 times a week
(3) Stop storing food in plastic containers

I’ve just returned from another business trip. It was an experience – especially the trip home. I loaded up on high doses of Vitamins C & D before traveling and used Airborne daily while I was away. Just in case. On the planes, many people were wearing masks and all of us used sanitizer repeatedly. Very few tray tables were used on the planes. On the trips home one flight was 2/3 full and the other about ½ full. I’m happy to say that I didn’t see anyone that appeared sick. The Washington Dulles airport was like a ghost town last night. While I was traveling, the company issued a memo banning all travel through the end of April. So that will be my last trip for a while.

On the financial front, I paid our spring property taxes today: $1300. That represents a 2% discount for paying earlier than the target date. We have two property tax bills – spring and summer. The spring is the smaller one. The summer bill is close to $4000 for us.

I need to go through my receipts and get my expense report submitted now. Also, I received notification from Ally that the online savings account interest rate is decreasing to 1.5%. I appreciate their transparency. They also are offering a 1% bonus for transferring more than $1000 into an Ally savings account before the end of the month. This might be a good deal for someone like CCF who has sizable amounts in a variety of banks. I’m not sure it’ll work for me given their timing coinciding with my paying off a 0% CC.

Last night DS1 finally made the time to come over to create a budget. I have been nagging him so his participation was somewhat reluctant. I asked him to bring his laptop and I started him with an Excel workbook that I created with sample categories populated. I preached my truth about budgets not being restrictive but instead giving control so the funds are allocated to the things we believe to be most important in our lives.

I am cautiously optimistic that the session was effective! He adjusted the categories and evaluated different scenarios just like I do sometimes. The spreadsheet is basic but it calculates totals by month, by category, and year-to-date. He got excited about having a vacation fund and an entertainment category. Once he had the budget balanced to nearly align with his minimum pay, he downgraded his Netflix membership, downgraded his health club membership, and deleted a Doordash app from his phone. I didn’t suggest any of those things!

He created a category for health insurance premiums so he doesn’t forget but the budgeted amount is zero for this year since he can remain on our health insurance plan through December. We also talked about removing comprehensive auto insurance coverage to lower his premiums once he gets his financed 2007 vehicle paid off which he said will happen by summer.

We’ve planned another session on Easter day when he’ll be home to open an HSA account with Fidelity and a Roth IRA account with Vanguard. He’s got budgeted amounts ready to auto-transfer once he gets those accounts established. Before then he’s going to open a savings account at a different bank than his checking for his soon-to-be EF.

My justification for being so assertive in getting him to sit down and work a budget was that I wanted to make sure he paid back his loans to me. That’s what I told him to make him feel obligated to meet. And that is indeed a category in his budget. But my motive was broader – I wanted him to be empowered, to feel like he controlled his finances. I’m hopeful. He did seem to own it by the time we finished. We’ll see how it goes. I think I’ll e-mail some links to blogs with budgets every few days so he can compare his with others. I know I always find that an interesting exercise.

Today was the day for my monthly net worth calculation. I time it each month to be just after the automated house payments. I expected ugliness so I actually was almost pleasantly surprised. I’m down $24k since last month. The retirement accounts did take a brutal beating but it was countered by the company stock price increase, house value increase, and debt payoff. The company is private and the stock price is evaluated only twice per year. That happened last month so the impact of the volatile market isn’t reflected in the price yet.

As much as I know that it’s risky to try to time the market, the three days of huge losses was too tempting. I spent a few thousand of funds in the money market to buy more index funds. (all within the retirement account). I must not have been unique in that thinking given the big gains yesterday. I don’t regret doing it since the (much) lower value of the account overall made the cash position a little lopsided.

In other financial news, DS2 just received an unexpected scholarship. It was $1500 so with our split arrangement that’s $750 for me. I had money set aside for his food costs for the remainder of the semester so I’m redirecting that money to the 0% CC to be repaid by May. The balance on that card will now be $4900.

I think I will be able to continue my new juicing habit without needing to increase the grocery budget. This is good news because I predicted that the budget would increase by $50/month. That increase would be realistic if I weren’t flexible about the veggies used. But I have discovered that Sam’s typically has 5-pound bags of organic carrots for only $3.50 and that carrots are a good base for most juices. My juice is usually mostly carrots with apples, celery, and/or raw ginger. Cucumbers are good with apples, but organic ones have been especially expensive. Perhaps in the summer when they’re in season the organic ones will be cheaper.

I’m not having any problem getting in 3 glasses each week – I usually have more. And while I’m at it I make extra and offer a ‘shot of health’ to another member of the family. I’ve gotten used to cleaning the new juicer too. It’s still not fun, but it’s not hard to do.

Maybe this is a morbid topic but FIL’s recent death along with our ages too I guess is prompting some discussions about our wishes for a time that we might not be capable of expressing them. I never have created a living will because I want to live! I figured that that is what doctors are supposed to do by default. But I didn’t think of more detailed aspects for a time when I could be bedridden and not able to either think clearly or communicate clearly. I decided that I am going to document how I want to be treated if I am ever bedridden. From getting fresh air, to music, nourishment, being at home, etc. I am going to write it down, tell my family, and show them where the file is kept.

We wrote wills almost 20 years ago. At that time we didn’t have much in the way of assets but we were concerned about our children (only two of them then) being cared for in the event that something happened to us. So we had relatively simple wills drawn up to name a guardian and to provide him with all assets and life insurance proceeds to use for providing for our children in the event that we both died. Otherwise we each left everything to the other.

Not only have we added children, but most of those children are 18+ so considered adults now, and we’ve moved to a different state. Watching both of our dads remarry after our moms died opened our eyes on how assets pass around. For example, if I died it would be fine with me for DH to remarry. But would I want my mom’s jewelry to go to his newer wife when he died later? No! I would not. So I’d like to have some possessions included in my will that would not go to DH in the event of my death if he outlives me. Also we’re seeing how very important it is that you appoint an executor that will carry out your wishes even if he doesn’t agree with them. I want to change mine now.

And on top of those things, we now live in one of the six states that has inheritance taxes for estates, even on assets (IRAs for example) that are not included in the will. The tax doesn’t apply to items inherited by spouses but it does apply to items inherited by children.

So actions for us now: (1) Rethink our second phase of retirement when we plan to downsize to a cottage. Let’s consider neighboring states that have similar climate and terrain but are more tax friendly for our family. And if one of us dies soon, God forbid, the surviving one should move. (2) Rewrite the wills this year. Plan to revisit them every 5 years – could be on all my milestone birthdays.

I’m curious to hear of your experiences with wills – creating your own or unintended consequences of others that you’ve witnessed. Anyone have a story to share?