Resolutions for a new year 2023

From a NYT morning email - resolutions for a new year

Stop reaching for people who aren’t reaching back.

That's #1 on my list for 2023!!  As a dear friend used to say: "That could be a stone tablet."

Also on my list:  staying debt free.  I have a pet peeve with a credit card I hold through my local bank.  Somewhere in the fine print is a restriction on payments... can't be less than three days apart.  WTF??  How stupid is that???  I don't carry a running balance, my account is paid in full before the end of every billing cycle.  I like to pay off the charges by online transfer from checking as the charges are posted to my credit card account.  But less than 3 days between payments?  I get an error message and the payment is not accepted.  Stupid.  I use the card for local purchases only.  I have another card I've had for eons that I use for non-local.  That card is also paid in full every month.  No petty payment restrictions on that card.

But enough.  A new year (with pizza at midnight) awaits.  Wishing all peace and prosperity.

Penny Pincher

Giving Thanks 2022

This year, the same as 2021, 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.  Stay healthy.  Count your blessings.  Go for a walk before dinner.

Penny Pincher

Cheap and Cheerful Holidays 2022

I'm keeping it simple this year.  

-- Shopping locally, paying cash, no credit card use.  I want to wake up on January 01, 2023 without a hangover of debt.

-- Sticking to my budget.  Food and treats all come out of my monthly cash draw.  

For Thanksgiving, I'm making two favorites: cranberry/tangerine/pomegranate relish and the no crust pumpkin pie I've made for several years.  I have plenty of whipped topping for the pie in my fridge.

For Christmas, I'll make my favorite peppermint stick ice cream, to be crowned with chocolate sauce and whipped topping.  I'll buy a bag (or two) of Ghirardelli peppermint bark when I see it in the store.

Decorations, using what I have on hand.  Don't need to buy more.  

Be an elf to yourself, you don't need to go into debt to enjoy the holiday season.  Be wise, economize!

Penny Pincher

Living Lean

It's all about choices.  Bye-bye boneless/skinless chicken breasts and chicken tenders; hello cheap and cheerful chicken thighs and chicken leg/thigh quarters.  It's still chicken, and it tastes good.  I have a 6 qt Nesco roaster (a glorified slow cooker with adjustable temperature from zip to 450 degrees) I use to cook from frozen.  Works for me! 

Hello cheaper gas... $3.59... a price point not seen locally since January 2022.  I still do $10.00 fill-ups to top off my tank.  Recently took my car in for maintenance.  Tune-up/top off fluids, oil change, new battery.  It's my experience that a battery lasts 3 years max; when it goes, it goes.  So I have a new battery installed ahead of the 3 year death date.  The bill was $450.00.  Where did it come from?  My cookie jar account.  The one I add to monthly (and didn't tap for additional grocery spending; I didn't need more money for food, I needed to spend smarter) and use when necessary for car repairs.  

Thursday 10/13 is Christmas for social security recipients.  We're due to receive the biggest cost of living adjustment in decades.  I've been over my current budget and I can live with the same for 2023.  What the social security Santa gives me will go entirely into savings.

If you save for a rainy day, you may never need an umbrella.

Penny Pincher

Choices

When my favorite 10 lb bag of boneless/skinless chicken breasts went from $26.99 to $41.99, I considered increasing my monthly food/gas/pocket money cash allotment.  Where would the extra cash come from?  The only place was the cookie jar, a secondary savings account I maintain to pay for things like auto repairs, to which I add on a monthly basis.  At the beginning of 2022 I'd increased my monthly deposit into that account by $100.  Now I'd take that $100 and use it for food.  

Bad idea.  I was reminded of something a friend used to say about food: "It's all sewage in 72 hours."  

What I needed to do was make smarter choices in my food spending.  Bye-bye boneless/skinless chicken breasts.  Hello chicken tenders for salads and chicken thighs for dinners.  

The $100 still goes into my cookie jar savings instead of my stomach.  Spend less today to have more tomorrow.

Penny Pincher

P.S. Gas is now $4.19, down from $5.49 the beginning of July.

How Much is Enough?

I've been asking myself:  "how much is enough?"  

Thinking about sports stars seeking additional income abroad... Saudi/golfers, Russia/basketball players.   What are they thinking?  Is it greed?  Are they ass up in debt?  Do they really NEED the money?

It's not my business how much people earn or how they spend it (or gamble it away), we are each responsible for ourselves.  Actions have consequences.  

I am responsible for myself.  There is NO backup anywhere.  I sink or swim by my own efforts.  When I bought my condo in 2009, I knew a mortgage was out of the question.  I needed to find a place I could afford for CASH.  And I did. 

Buying my Ford Fiesta in 2013, car loan NOT an option.  Pay CASH.  And I did.  

Now I think about my future. The great unknown.  I have health insurance up the wazoo: Medicare A&B, AARP Plan F supplemental and Plan D drugs, Masa for off-island transport if needed.  Knock on, I'm healthy!  So far, so good.  I have separate savings, to which I add every month.  That is my "not to be touched unless absolutely necessary" emergency fund.  Is it enough?  I have additional savings - cookie jar, secret santa - to which I also add on a monthly basis.  Are they enough?  I have assets.  Are they enough?  How much IS enough?  My budget is 49% savings, 51% spending.  Is it enough?

The answer is simple: you make do with what you have.

Penny Pincher

Sticker Shock

Gas at two stations this morning was $5.999.  My station is still $5.199.  I topped off my tank 6 days ago, otherwise I'd be doing it again this morning.  My car will be spending less time on the road and more time in its parking space.

I've cut the frills from my grocery list (except for my weakness:  Mini Klondike chocolate mint ice cream bars which I ration to one a day).  

As  the summer warms up, my fans are on.  No a/c, just fans.  I've seen my electric use go from 4 KWH per day to 6 KWH.  I'm paying $0.44 per KWH.  If my monthly bill is less than $100 per month this summer I'll be grateful.

Penny Pincher  (still wearing my mask)

When Ends No Longer Meet

 It's been an expensive week!  

-- USPO Box Rent - $84 up from $76 a year ago

-- Real Property Taxes - not only are the bills inaccurate (blame the new computer system); the base rate "gotta pay regardless of exemptions" went up $41 from last year; and I was billed for an unpaid amount from 2008, which previous online records showed as paid in full.  My records showed I paid in full.  The 2008 added amount due was less than $10.  I paid it to make it GO AWAY.  Not worth the hassle of dealing with the tax assessor's office.  I won't risk losing my condo for a $10 charge.  

-- This was also the week to pay my annual home insurance.  The good news???  The premium was the same as last year.  I paid that bill PDQ!

-- Yesterday I went to the local supermarket.  Several items on my list were not in stock.  I ended up with three non-essential items in my cart, total about $10.00.  One look at the long checkout lines made me rethink.  I put the items back on the shelves and left the store empty-handed, heading for the gas station to spend that $10 to top off my tank.

-- STICKER SHOCK!  When I topped off my tank exactly two weeks ago, the gallon price for regular was $4.799.  Yesterday it was:  $5.199!  UP $0.40 per gallon in two weeks!  (I remember when gas WAS ONLY $0.40 a gallon.  But we won't go there.)  My car will be spending less time on the road and more time in the condo parking lot.

Taking a long hard look at my budget.  Some rethinking/reallocating is necessary.

Still wearing my mask in public.

Penny Pincher

Making Do

 It's the little things... 

-- Regular gas is now $4.759 per gal at my favorite nearby station.  It's $4.999 at most other places.  I top off my tank $10.00 worth of gas at a time to lessen the sticker shock.   A top off lasts 2 to 3 weeks.  I live on a small island, try not to drive much, combine trips based on proximity.   

-- Groceries.  Living alone is a plus.  Don't have to feed or please anyone but myself.  I'm easy.  Eating the same thing daily doesn't bother me.  Yogurt/wheat germ for breakfast, simple salad (green leaf, scallions, mini sweet peppers, diced boneless skinless chicken breast) with homemade dressing for lunch.  Dinner varies:  some nights it's soup and crackers, other nights microwaved Mex topped with sour cream.  Saturday night is burger night.  I make my own patties with 80/20 ground beef, keep a stash in my freezer.  Frills are OUT.  No more chips, no more "oh, I think I'll try that" indulgences.  Latest splurge: whole watermelon at $0.59 per pound.  

I have a budget and I'm sticking to it.  I'm also still wearing my mask when I'm out and about.  I can't afford to be sick.

Penny Pincher

Beanie Weenie Time is Here

Since my last post two months ago, gas is now $4.259 per gallon, condo fees have gone up 5% (instead of the 2% inflation fighter increase mentioned at the March annual meeting).  

Every time I shop prices have inched upward.  Simple things like fresh limes... not too long ago 3/$1.00, now 3/$1.99 (no thanks, they're hard as rocks).  I make my own salad dressing.  I've switched from a lemon/lime combination to all lemons at 3/$1.09.  Takes 9 to make one jar of dressing which lasts for a week of daily salads.

I feel like I'm treading water and my legs are beginning to tire.

Penny Pincher

Wiggle Room

Inflation keeps making its ugly presence known.

Gas has gone up AGAIN - from $3.599 to $3.999.  I think twice before I hop in my car.  

At the annual condo association meeting yesterday it was announced that monthly condo fees will probably be increased 2% each year to help keep inflation from eating the condo budget.

I took a hard look at my personal budget.  Where do I have wiggle room?  Have I budgeted enough to cover increased expenses?  Where can I cut back on spending?   

Good news!  My annual auto insurance was less than last year.  I paid the bill immediately.  

Beanie Weenie time may be coming soon.

Penny Pincher

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

Phil Mickelson is back in the news.  The reason?  Hoof in mouth disease. 

https://nypost.com/2022/02/26/phil-mickelson-loses-two-more-sponsors-after-controversial-saudi-comments/

See my previous posts on Phil: 

Phil, Phil, Phil... - May 29, 2016

https://cheapncheerfulliving.blogspot.com/2016/05/phil-phil-phil.html

It's All About Character - June 18, 2018

https://cheapncheerfulliving.blogspot.com/2018/06/its-all-about-character.html

Some people never learn.  The Greeks called it hubris. 

• (in Greek tragedy) excessive pride toward or defiance of the gods, leading to nemesis --  

  a downfall caused by an inescapable agent.)

•  
• Once again, Phil has no one to blame but himself.  He is the agent of his own demise.  How sad.
• 
  
• Penny Pincher

Inflation Has Reared Its Ugly Head

I just got home from a routine shopping trip.  Sticker shock!

First stop: grocery store.  Chicken broth (32 oz) now $1.00 MORE per carton.  

Second stop: gas station.  Price per gallon now $3.599, when I last bought gas seven weeks ago it was $2.799.  That's an $0.80 per gallon INCREASE.  The difference between what I got today vs what I got last time (for the same amount of money) was 0.83 gallon LESS.

A dollar here, a dollar there.  It may not sound like much.  But it all adds up.  Pretty soon we're talking budget-busting money.

Penny Pincher