Trying to keep Tabs on my finances

So I don't know what is going on the past few weeks, but there have been several hack attempts to my various social media and email accounts online. The sources of these attacks are also from various countries from Phillipines to Argentina... though of course, countries of origin could easily be spoofed.

These are accounts that I rarely use, so I am not terribly concerned. What DOES concern me is that these are accounts with separate IDs that have no connection with one another. So how am I getting attacks from them as a group?

Anyways, off I go to lock these down, and hopefully it's just a random bot attack, and not someone who is interested in me somehow.

Today, I finally got rid of the remaining item from my past: My secured credit card that I got after my divorce when my finances and credit score for that matter was in shambles. It was among my first steps in my vow towards financial recovery, and now, after all these years, I've finally canceled it.

All of my major purchases are done, I have new reward cards now that I use exclusively. In fact, I probably waited much longer than necessary to have it canceled, but I wanted to be sure before I do so.

So that's it. I also got a few other thing scratched off my to-do list, and plan on scratching off a few more tomorrow. Anyways, hope you guys are having a nice Labor day.

My work schedule has recently changed in such a way that I can probably get online more often when time permits. So that means maybe more time for SA like from the days of yore?

The only thing is that I no longer have anything much to say these days. Things are running along fine and is pretty uneventful actually.

However, I do have a friend of a friend who owes a lot of money. Let's call them "L" and "E". L is a super nice guy. Took E and his girlfriend at the time in when they were super strapped. Housed them. Fed them. Even helped E find a job at his company.

And how does E repay L's gratitude? Well, actually that's the problem. He has not at all. If the story ended there, then things would have been fine though, as L is a super chill guy who is just generally to help his friends out in times of need.

However, E has since broken up with that girlfriend and is now dating L's sister-in-law. And they would constantly stay out and party late, and wouldn't answer phone calls to see if they are safe or not.

When L try to talk to E about these things, E would blame L for being nosy and how he will continue to live his life as he sees fit.

And now, E has taken L off his birthday event or something like that, citing that incident as the reason why... that L was somehow being a jerk. Nevermind the fact that E still has NOT even TRIED to pay off his debt to L for basically housing and feeding E for months at a time.

Even though it's a friend of a friend, it's bothering me too. I have done that myself once in the distant past, and I ended up with about the same results as well. So, I can certainly empathize, although I am so glad that I no longer have that issue.

This video gives me the chills.

For the first time in many years, I took off work early to help my parents set up their retirement nest eggs. This event is highly peculiar, if not shocking, because my dad is typically a proud, self-made man. In fact, I can't even recall when was the last time he ever asked ME for help with anything. And yet, this time, he did.

Ok, but in order to do so, I politely pushed and explained to them that I would need to know their full financial picture. You see, up until this week, their financial picture has always been an enigma wrapped in a mystery. I knew they were doing OK, but they never really talked about it... at all... merely pushing such values as hard work and financial modesty.

While I do cherish those values as well, I have also warned them repeatedly that it takes quite a bit more money than most typically realizes to retire safely. In fact, I've personally spent years ruminating how I would go about affording them a decent nursing home or if I need to move in with them some day to help out with some of the assisted living stuff.

So, I guess now comes the next shocker. Turns out my parents are millionaires. Not like super duper millionaires or anything, but somewhere between 1 and 2 mil. Ok then! I guess I can now breathe a sigh of relief.

Well, I mean things can still go wrong at this point, so I guess this is where I come in. They asked me to take a look at their portfolio and asked me if any changes were needed... and changes were needed indeed! Their portfolio read more like an individual with an over-active case of bi-polar disorder.

For example, who in the world has $250k+ in a checking account for no good reason? I mean it's barely even making any interest at all. On the other end, they have an unhealthily over-weighted positions in physical real estate that will need to be sorted out as well. Also, they are resistant to change. "What is a bond fund? Why can't I just put all my money into this annuity that this nice company lady said I can do?" Insert facepalm here.

In any case, they were so thankful for some reason that they treated me to a steak dinner...which was pretty darn delicious I must admit. Still though, I think the biggest compliment was that they actually trusted me enough to have me help them plan for their future. I had a really nice day.

Just finished my taxes. Took maybe 25 minutes? Anyways, I was saddened to see that the Amazon 10% bonus promo is gone. Too bad. I really enjoyed that the past 2 years.

Also, I have hit a peculiar milestone. My net worth is now almost at the point where my total debt cratered more than a decade ago. In other words, if I used to owe... let's say a thousand dollars, then my current net worth is currently at a thousand dollars. It's like that, only a lot bigger.

Not massive, mind you. I mean, I am not filthy rich or anything, nor did I owe a ridiculous amount back in the day... though it was certainly enough for me to feel utterly hopeless. I am happy to say, today, I feel absolutely hopeful, like I really could have a chance a life after all.

Money may not bring happiness, but I can personally attest that it most certainly can give one a peace of mind.

I am forever grateful for everyone in this community who has helped me get here. You were the support that so desperately needed, and did not have in real life.

Now I just have to keep moving forward....

It's not who said this that bothers me, but rather what this person said. "I can't believe you bought a house." I can't believe it either. I feel like I've given in or given up on my dreams and have merely settled for reality. I feel like am betraying something, or letting someone down. This bothers me. I feel like I don't entirely belong here, where I am. I feel like I am still living in someone else's house.

I don't know how to come to terms with all this just yet. All I know is that my commute was really bothering me, and this place effectively solves all that. For now.

So, the temperature earlier in the mid day was like just below 40, and it is expected to get below 20 tonight. Winter time has definitely arrived here.

It's gotten to a point where my little heater can't keep up anymore. Of course, central heating is still set to 50 like I usually do every winter, and anyway, the HVAC in this new house isn't all that great to begin with.

So, after a brief mulling over dinner, I've decided to throw my mattress into my closet again, and bring my heater in there as well.

I'm sure you're all curious as to what the new space looks like, so I took this pic:



This is an unvarnished view of the current situation. To just get through tonight, I have done nothing else to the space other than to shove everything aside to make room for the mattress. Clearly, more work will need to be done to actually make it look nice and livable.

Well if I do anything more with this, I'll be sure to update. Sanity check: Yep, still crazy.

I have a friend who recently got into a fender bender. I was advising my friend to take it to a few places and get the best quotes possible, and try to haggle for an even better price where possible. She got different quotes, ranging from $650 to $2000 to get the bumper fixed.

Naturally, I advised to go to the $650 place, but her boyfriend is telling her to take it to a place quoting $1000 instead.

His reasoning? The $1000 place is cleaner looking, and so, he feels better about having her car fixed there. Yes. $350 extra... for a bumper... because the garage basically looks cleaner.

Now, to be fair, I know the condition of a garage can tell you a bit about the quality of the service there, but come on now, we're talking about a bumper here. For a Nissan sedan.

Why in the world would anyone want to waste $350 extra like this? She then told me about how he's obviously not a saver type, and likes expensive stuff... and something about taking pride in taking care of his stuff.... What does pride even have to do with any of this? It's such a strange, strange line of thinking that just utterly baffles me.

But after conversing about it last night and much of today about this, I think I have come to figure out that, sometimes, some people feel better about their product or services when they have paid "top dollar" for something. Even if it means unnecessarily overpaying.

People confuse me sometimes. This just makes no sense to me.

Because this is pure comedic gold.

I've accrued too much comp time and annual days that I haven't used, so my boss is making me take a vacation. It starts next week, and I think I will be off for about 11 days.

I don't mind of course. Paid vacation? Yes please.

Trouble is, I don't know what to do with myself. I can't think of anything I want to do that doesn't cost a bunch of money that I don't want to spend.

I've thought about maybe going to the coast for a few days and try out some actual fresh seafood, but I don't even know if I want to bother doing that.

Sooo yeah I can't think of anything really. I just might stay home instead. Anybody have any ideas about what to do with time off?

It's not everyday you see a

webcomic about budgeting. This one is from doodleforfood.com.

When I go through the blog entries, I am often times amazed at what people are going through. Just seems like a very eventful world.

I on the other hand, have absolutely nothing going on in my life. No drama. No serious crisis. Nada. Just going through my usual motions; personal finances are still chugging along like a little choo choo....

But don't get me wrong! I am content with the way things are right now. No news is good news in my book.

I was talking to a friend of mine not long ago, and she was telling me about all the difficulties in her marriage and how her husband is extremely spendy, all the way to hiding purchases from her. These aren't tiny purchases either. They're like thousands to tens of thousands of dollars spendy. Also, he parties on the weekends... while blaming her for holding him back from being happy or some such.

She's basically freaking out. She knows they are hemorrhaging money, and they can't keep this up forever. She's already accepted that they will lose their house at this rate. It's pretty insane... and a bit of a Deja Vu for me as well.

To me, this stuff is so crazy, and I feel sorry for anyone going through their struggles. I will cheer you on and help if I can, but overall, I am so relieved of my boring little life... and having nothing to report.

I have a sister who loves the French Quarter. She bought a house right after Katrina, when real estate prices were in the slumps. In fact, I remember her telling me that, back then, she had to wade through the waters to get to the front porch.

Today, I found out that the overall real estate value has since rebounded... hard... and now her net worth is higher than mine! Nooooo! Haha.

But seriously though, I am glad that she is doing financially well. She is all around a great person and I've always secretly worried about her financial situation. I mean I know net worth isn't everything, but I never knew about her full financial picture until now, and I am happy to say my worries may be misplaced!

So I learned there is a term for describing the fear of spending money, and it's generally called

Chrometophobia. I really think it should be called Chrimataphobia though (the actual greek term for money), so that it does not get confused with Chrometophobia's original definition of the fear of colors... which apparently is also a legitimate phobia.

I think I have a mild case of this. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing though. In fact, I think everybody should at least have a mild case of it. So what do you think? How bad is YOUR Chrometophobia?

Warning: Graphic language ahead.

Some of you may have heard, but for those who do not know yet, there was a "

secret millionaire" who recently passed away.

Mr. Ronald Read was a man who exhibited many traits that is not at all surprising to this frugal community. He was a man who lived a humble life while having a seemingly unquenchable thirst to save and invest.

As a gas attendant and janitor, he surprised many in his community when, upon his passing, he bequeathed six million dollars in charity to a local library and hospital.

As a "secret millionaire", people like him rarely get the kind of recognition they deserve during their lifetime, not just due to their generosity and impact, but also for their ability in amassing such wealth-- especially when you consider Mr. Read's relatively low income-- and doing so in relative obscurity.

He may be gone now, but his charity will help many, and his inspiration will endure in people like myself.

Yay. Would have done it sooner, but I admit I was kind of dragging my feet.

Placed my refund into Amazon again, because I do nearly all of my year-round shopping online, and their 10% bonus is just too good to pass up.

I don't have any particular urges to buy anything having the money there, so I think I am OK.

However, I may be finally be upgrading my car this year, and if I decide to do that, it will likely be the Nissan Leaf. And if I should decide to do that, I may use the tax refund money to buy a spare charger through Amazon.

I think I am also going to look into upping my tax withholdings, although if you stop and think about it, it's amusing to consider that I am basically loaning Uncle Sam some of my money, but earning a guaranteed 10% return on Amazon... which may actually make it worth my while NOT to increase my withholdings. Funny thought, eh?

I've already made max contribution to my Roth electronically, though I am sure it won't actually settle until maybe another day or two.

I don't really have any particular New Years Eve resolutions other than the usual, which is to keep pushing to stay fit, stay frugal, and stay as happy as I can.

That last one, perhaps it's a bit vague and may run contrary to the first two resolutions. I don't know; we shall see.

In any case, I'm just glad the holiday season is over and hopefully the roads will quiet down so I drive and park again haha.

Anyways, how was your New Years Eve? And what are your resolutions if any?

I was going to start out by rambling about how materialistic this girl I know of, but the more I think about it, the more I realized that maybe that's still the norm. That perhaps I am the strange one.

I guess for a guy who has pondered about living in a van down by the proverbial river, my standards certainly doesn't quite match her more jet set lifestyle.

I have to keep reminding myself of this because when I get interested in someone, it's hard to see through the emotional fog so to speak.

It's a shame though, because I wish I could find somebody that is right for me. Somebody who sees frugality as a blessing, and not a curse.

Anybody like Michael Buble? Have Android (Google Play)? If so, his

Christmas album is free this week! I like Bubbles and it's free so I picked this up.

Speaking of freebies, the kitchen staff gave us a free meal at my work place, and the food was just well it's great for that price. I can't complain. I couldn't help but smile, so really, you can't beat that.

Uh happy holidays still!

* Finally got my rewards Visa card in the mail. Activated.

* Got a matching credit limit increase with my rewards Amex.

* Got both cards tied to my checking account for automatic cashback.

* Contributions for my Roth 2015 is standing ready.

So far so good.

Again, this is all I ever wanted to do with my CCs into the foreseeable future. So, am very pleased with the way things are now.

If I don't stop by again, I hope everyone have a safe and happy holidays!

I've had a rewards Amex for a while now, and I plan to keep using it. It gives me 2% cashback on all purchases, and I really want to build a history with Amex anyway.

However, there are times when I run into shops where they just won't take an Amex, and I've had to resort to an older, regular MasterCard.

So, I've been eyeing this rewards Visa card for a while now, and I was going to wait until next year to apply, but I decided to just go ahead and do it.

So, I am approved. This is great. The only downside with this card is that it only gives 1.5% cashback for the first $15k purchase. After that, it's 2%. So, for me, my CC habits will stay exactly the same. I am just going to keep charging everything on my Amex unless they don't take it. Then I'll switch to the Visa.

Best of all, both cards are tied to my investment accounts, so it is easy for me monitor everything all in one place, and any cashback rewards are automatically deposited into my checking account.

With that, I think I am done with credit cards for quite a while.

and a bit bored. I decided to read up on how much retirement homes cost, and I had no idea the cost could be so ridiculously high. I mean, anywhere from $3000 to $5000 on up per MONTH high!

Of course, these are the nice communities where they have gardens, swimming pools, and yoga classes. Also, I think government insurance will cover some of that? I am not sure how much so. Anybody know?

Still, all I can think of is how much cheaper I can live simply on my own... which I will probably end up doing. Hard to say right now since it's still something that's so far away in my mind.

Then again, Fruggies are well-known for planning ahead. So, just for discussion sake, anybody here ever thought about this yet? Any ideas for a frugal retirement?

Oh, and I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! I am easily avoiding the Black Friday hub bub by... simply having to work haha.

Here's something amusing I came across on the net today.

Seriously though, thank you all out there for your service.

I forgot but I hit an invisible net worth milestone not too long ago.

It's amazing how, once upon a time, I thought it would be like winning-the-lottery awesome if I could reach this point.

Now that I am here though, it literally feels no different than I did before. In fact, I completely forgot.

Still, I need to be at this point financially, so it's not like I am unhappy about it. Plus, having goals and milestones helps keep me focused.

Anyways... yay! I went from feeling hopeless from years ago to feeling hopeful today. That peace of mind is certainly worth something. Yay!

My headset is finally breaking apart. The padding has disintegrated, and what's left hurts my ears when I wear it. More recently, I also accidentally dripped ranch dressing into one of the ears. I cleaned it the best I could but it still soaked into one of the earphones.

So I figure it's high time I replaced it. I shopped around for what I think is the best solution for me, but ultimately decided to just break out my existing earbuds and dusted an old mic I had sitting around.

The reason I didn't use all that before is because the headset was more convenient, combining both earphone and mic at the same time. The new setup splits it into two separate items again, BUT at least there is no new cost involved.

On another note, the weather is finally getting cold enough that I may need to cut the heater on at nights. It's not so much that I am freezing but I do sleep poorly if I get too hot or too cold. Last night was cold enough that I don't think I slept well....

Luckily, I don't think I have to do much more than pull out my old room heater, and it doesn't use much electricity for the temperature I need.

I am trying really hard to stay frugal. Some days, I do better than others. Other than that, my life is still the same as always.

Just found out I got a raise today. Yay. It isn't much, though far be it for me to look a gift horse in the mouth. So, I am certainly happy with that. Yay.

Remember that friend of mine who loaned me money? (Correction: I loaned HIM money, not the other way around. Sorry for the confusion!) He finally sent me check, but then asked if I could delay cashing it. Turns out he's really tight on money. I said OK.

He then went on to tell me about how he got a new top-of-the-line smartphone and is building a fence for the yard. All I can think of is, "Wow really? In the same conversation?" Perhaps that's why money is tight. Haha.

All good though. Most of it is already paid off and I can afford to wait another week or so.

Beyond that, not much new. I'm just trying my best to keep my boat of life afloat and on course.

Elsewhere, on another financially-related forum that is mostly populated with the younger crowds (20's and early 30's), they're talking about the importance of enjoying life over agonizing over a budget. After all, they say, what is the point of working so hard for your wages if you don't enjoy life a little?

Now, see, this to me is the exact definition of "Knowing just enough to be dangerous".

No one on there argues that one should not save or set aside some money for rainy days. The thing is, to them, budgeting is not fun. Budgeting is something you do as a chore. I get it. Some people don't like it, and that's fine.

However, they're taking it to the next step and saying, look, I work hard, I make money, and basically I should be allowed to spend freely to enjoy life, without having to budget if I don't want to, and without having to be constrained by said budget because, after all, I am working and I can always make more.

Bzzz. Wrong. To me, spending without knowing your budget is to drive at night with your headlights off. You just don't know where you are going and what will happen to you.

And see, here's the funny part. I am at a point now where I too am operating relatively freely in terms of spending and is not as restrictive on budget. However, the difference is that I've been operating within my budget for so long that I KNOW when I am doing something that may throw my budget off. (I also only have to track myself, so it's really not hard.)

The bottom line is, YES, YOU NEED TO BUDGET. You don't have to LIKE budgeting, but you do need to know what is going on with your money. The fact that I know what's going on without having to physically look at my budget doesn't mean I don't have a budget.

Ok, just had to get that off my chest. Honestly, these kids. They're also the type that loves to pursue stock and option trading, which I think is way over-rated, but that's a topic for another time.