Where did it all go, Blanche?

As I recall, that was the opener of a very old telly ad for Mastercard.   The point being, by using a Mastercard you always knew where your money had been spent.  Clever marketing.

Update to 2021.  I use Quicken.  My financial records go back to 1999.  Yes, I'm OCD about money.  Income, outgo.   I have a belt and suspenders approach to my personal finances.  Quicken and multiple Excel spreadsheets.  But Quicken is my oracle.

Yesterday I paid my last bill for 2021.  Once the data was entered into Quicken/spreadsheets, and all were backed up, it was time for the annual "where did it all go?" report.  I consulted my oracle.  

I spent 53% of my 2021 income, saved 47%.  Highest expense categories were: condo, medicare insurance and cash.  Here's what really interested me.  Comparing 2021 with 2020, my overall expenses in 2021 exceeded 2020 by only $61.05.  It doesn't get better than that.  My budget plan works.  

Here are my 2022 New Year's resolutions:

-- Stay healthy.  Wear my mask.  Practice social distancing.

-- Stick to my budget.

Wishing all the joy and bounty of the New Year.

Penny Pincher

Decking the Halls 2021

My halls are decked for the holidays.  

In a niche - between step cabinet and armoire - stands my bling tree in all its silvered glory.  A skinny four foot tall fake tree, complete with two strings of multi-colored lights and random fake pine cones, it was a $10 flea market purchase a few months ago.  For the holidays it's topped with a silver star, festooned with chained ropes of silver bead necklaces, the only ornaments are silver bells.  After the holidays I'll put the silver away and trim the tree with multi-colored bead necklaces in chained ropes.  I have no place to store the tree other than where it stands, so I'll enjoy it year 'round.

A friend of mine used to say "You can't overdo for Christmas."  He was right.

Knock yourself out.  Deck your halls, enjoy the holidays.  

Joy to all.

Penny Pincher

Giving Thanks - 2021

This year there's only one contender for the top spot on my "what am I grateful for?" list: 

Good health.

Without good health, nothing else matters.  

I am blessed.  And hope you are, too.

Wishing all the bounty of the season.  Get vaccinated, wear your mask, keep your distance.  Stay healthy.

Penny Pincher

What Is - Is.

One thing I've lost in the covid pandemic is my capacity for outrage.  I read the news (online; don't watch it on tv, I've had my fill of talking heads) and ask myself: Does this concern me personally?  Is there anything I can (or should) do about it?  If not, move on.  

The latest hue and cry is over inflation.  Social security recipients are getting the biggest COLA (5.9%) in decades for 2022.  That's the good news.  The bad news?  It's eaten up by increased Med-B premiums (14.5% increase) and INFLATION!  Yup.  Inflation.  Everything is going to cost MORE.  Don't uncork the champagne, there's nothing to celebrate.  

I say it's spinach and I say to hell with it.  Get a grip and live with it.  Prices are always going up. 

I've looked at my budget for 2022.  With a some tweaking, it will be just fine.  I'll be able to save a bit more, I'll cut some discretionary spending.  All will be well.  Belts will be worn a little tighter in 2022.

Yes, I will drink a toast to the new year.  A small champagne toast on my beer budget.

Penny Pincher

from FOMO to FORO

I hate acronyms.  Half the time I have to Google to find out what they really mean.  For the purpose of this post you need concern yourself with only two:

FOMO = Fear Of Missing Out

FORO = Fear Of Running Out

I seldom concern myself with the former, but I'm becoming very aware of the later.  So much so, that I'm beginning to become a hoarder.

Last week I went to my favorite supermarket.  No wheat germ on the shelf.  I went to customer service to inquire.  "Aisle seven."  "I just came from there, nada."  "Try aisle eight, we've been rearranging.  I'll be there with you in a minute."  Off to aisle eight.  Nada.  The very pleasant and trying to be very helpful employee and I scanned both aisles.  Nope.  No wheat germ.  

This may be a "who cares?" to you, but yogurt and wheat germ are my daily breakfast.  Off I went to another store, where wheat germ was in stock - priced higher than my favorite supermarket.  I bought two jars to add to the one in my pantry and a newly opened jar in my fridge.  Is a four jar supply enough?  It'll do.  For now. 

In the U.K. it's automotive gasoline that's in short supply, in the U.S. there are rumors of  heating fuel shortages for the coming winter.

It's always something.

Penny Pincher

Booster shot

Because I had the Pfizer vaccine and am in one of the booster qualifying groups and it's been just over six months since my second shot, I had a booster shot on Monday.

Heads up:  do NOT laminate your vaccination card.  Repeat:  do NOT laminate your card.  Who knew six months ago I'd need to have an additional entry on my original card.  Who knew?

The community health clinic very cheerfully issued a new card, which I promised NOT to laminate.

The booster is the same strength as the original two shots.  I sailed through the first two with mininal effects.  This time I had a very sore arm (enough to wake me when I turned in my sleep) and a fever (topped out at 100.4 F -- I've had worse).  I took a 12 hour pain pill, and fifteen hours later a second pill.

It's now two days since my booster and I feel fine.  Haven't had a pain pill in thirteen hours and don't need one. Fever is gone, my arm is no longer sore.

Was getting a booster worth it?  You bet.  If you qualify, do it.  And keep wearing your mask.

Words to the wise: Do NOT laminate your vaccination card!  

Penny Pincher

Who owns YOU?

I'm re-reading John Grisham's 1991 blockbuster novel The Firm.  Mitch is set up from day one: salary, house with low interest loan, BMW, signing bonus to buy clothes, and most of all, paying off his student loans.  All that's before the encounter on the beach in the Caymans.   He's owned by the firm.  Lock, stock and barrel.

Which made me think: who owns me???  Answer: no one!  I own me 100%.  Why?  Because I am debt free.   Everything I have (condo, car, etc. etc.) is PAID FOR.  Paid cash up front with money I earned during my working years.  I owe no one!  That's a good feeling.

Penny Pincher

Mass Mask Confusion

When the New York Times makes conflicting CDC mask wearing dictates the lead story in the morning report, you know the CDC doesn't know its mask from its elbow.

To mask or not to mask?  It's a crap shoot.  I'm on the side of caution.  Better fully-vaccinated (which I am) and masked (which I am in public) than sick.

Get vaccinated, wear your mask.  And keep your distance.

Penny Pincher

Happiness

“Happiness is like a butterfly, the more you chase it, the more it will evade you, but if you notice the other things around you, it will gently come and sit on your shoulder."

― Henry David Thoreau

Penny Pincher

Gratitude

There are people who wouldn't know gratitude if it bit them on the butt.

These people reside on my permanent "lump of coal in your stocking" list.  

What does it take to acknowledge a kindness?  

Just two little words: thank you.  

That's gratitude.

Penny Pincher

What's the Best Thing You've Done for Yourself?

 This week I celebrated the 12th anniversary of buying my condo.  It's been 12 years of very happy cheap and cheerful living.  My average monthly expenses are less than I was paying in rent.  Looking at current real estate listings comparable units in my complex are listed at double (or more) what I paid.  We all know that "askin' ain't gettin'" but I know I made a good investment even if I have no plans to sell and will probably leave my unit feet first.  I'm here to stay.  Every morning I look around my 485 square feet and smile.  I love what I have.  

Buying my condo was just one of the five best things I've done for myself.  The first was not having children.  My life would not have been possible if I'd had kids.  Next is quitting smoking 14 years ago.  I'm not going to beat myself for having started smoking in my teens, but I will celebrate having quit.  Also on the list is being debt free for over 20 years.  No loans, no mortgage, no debts.  Credit cards paid in full every month.  Frugal living works for me.  I spend half, save half of my monthly income.  Last, but not least, on my list: getting published.  It brought me joy, new friends, travel and was the culmination of a long creative journey.  As a reward for myself the year my first book was published, I bought a metal sculpture of a moko jumbie (a dancing figure on stilts, a highlight of Caribbean parades), titled "The Celebrator."  The sculpture hung in my rental apartment for several years and was the very first thing I moved into my unfurnished condo on closing day 12 years ago.  

Celebrate yourself.  You've earned it.

Penny Pincher

2 down, 2 weeks to go to a hug

 I got my second covid vaccine shot this week.  Done and dusted!  In two weeks it should be fully effective and at long last, I can hug my nearest and dearest.  

It was worth it.  I had minimal adverse reactions.  None to the first shot, minimal side effects from the second.  Nothing to get excited about.  Two days after the second shot, I'm fine.  

Overall, it was a positive experience.  All due to the people running the community health clinic.  They were efficient, upbeat, postive, smiling and a joy.  Thank you.  

My covid card has been laminated - free, thanks to Office Max - and is in a safe place.  I made a photocopy of the covid card and my other health cards to carry with me in my fanny pack if needed.  (God forbid I get into an accident and need instant proof of insurance, I'm covered.)  

I will still wear my mask, socially distance, keep my away from home jaunts to the essentials.  I have no plans to travel, haven't been to a restaurant or eaten take-out in over a year since I split a take-out pizza with a friend.  I cook for myself at home.

Will my life change because I've been vaccinated?  I don't know.  I do know I feel good that I faced my fear of injections, and that I'm now safe to be around.  For that I'm grateful.

Penny Pincher

To V or not to V... that is the ??

The main topic of conversation lately has been "have you gotten vaccinated?"

I confess, I am a wimp!  I hate needles, hate shots.  Hate, hate, hate.  I also hate being lied to.  When I was a kid and the polio vaccine was introduced I was conned into getting it with the promise that it would be the sugar cube, not the needle.  Wrong.  It was the needle.  And it hurt.  So much for trust.

I was on the fence about getting the covid vaccine.  That in itself was a decision.  People I talked to said they had gotten both doses, minimal ill effects... some said sore arms after the first shot, another said extreme fatigue after the second dose, a third party reported chills, fever etc. after the second dose.  

I have not gotten flu shots in the past... knock on, I am very healthy.  Last time I was really sick was six years ago... a non-throw up flu variation that laid me up for three weeks.  Since then, nada.  

Still on the fence, but wavering.  Sticking to my social distancing, wearing my mask when out and about, generally being a home hermit sitting on my balcony with a book.  

A tipping point was the thought that eventually a vaccination certificate may be required, like a passport, or driver's license.  Better to have, than not have.

Last week a community health clinic was opened at our local university for vaccinations.  Prior to that, there were various venues around the island for shots, and a number to call for an appointment.  All too complicated.  The community health clinic set up a website to make appointments online and complete the paperwork online before the appointment.  That sold me.  I logged on, filled out the forms, made an appointment for that same morning and off  I went.

It was a piece of cake!  Everyone was so nice, so cheerful, it was a pleasure to be there.  The shot was over before I could even blink.  Didn't feel it, didn't hurt.  Ill effects?  None.  Not even a sore arm.  

I've already made my appointment for the second shot in three weeks.  Get it done.  I will treasure my covid vaccination card.  Proof that I faced my fear and won.

Be your best self.  Please wear your mask.  To V or not to V?  That is YOUR decision.

Penny Pincher

What I learned from a year in virus limbo

 I ask myself what I've learned from this past year in virus limbo.

Be flexible - if you can't find what you want, look for something else.  Color outside the lines.

Be frugal - it doesn't get any rainier than the past year.  Stick to your budget when possible, save what you can.  Live without, make do with what you have.  

Shopping - buy it when you see it, stock up on essentials.   Shop when the store opens, avoid the crowds, don't forget your list.  (True confession time:  I generally eat the same thing every day - yogurt/wheat germ for breakfast, salad for lunch, simple weeknight dinner, a burger every Saturday.  Short list, easy shopping.)

What got me through the past year?  Thrift shop books and my balcony.  

The best part?  Living alone and never having to hear those (dreaded) three little words: "What's for dinner?"  

Stay safe, stay well, please wear your mask.

Penny Pincher

Books are our Friends

 Books have saved my sanity during the past year in virus limbo.  

We moved from stay at home to safer at home, back to stay at home, then safer at home. Non-essential businesses open, then closed, then open again; beaches closed, beaches open until 4 pm; no mask, no service.  You get the idea.  You know, you've been there too.

Through all the ups and downs, book were (and are) a constant in my life.  Without a tottering TBR (to be read) pile, I would have been bonkers.  

I've limited my time away from home to the essentials: grocery, laundry, the usual.  Mask firmly in place.  But the highlights of my time out are weekly visits to the two charity shops/flea markets where I donate books I'm not keeping and stock up on new-to-me books at very reasonable prices.  I eagerly scan the shelves, letting books call to me with eye catching covers, titles that intrigue me, authors I have read and want to re-read.  I seldom come home empty-handed.  

Then it's out on my balcony, iced tea in hand, to sit and read.  Bliss.

Stay safe, stay home when you can.  Wear your mask.  Read a book.

Penny Pincher