If you were to look at most aspects of my life, I think I can convince most people that I am rather frugal.  It's when you finally look into the skeleton closet that is my food budget, that is when you finally understand why women scream in terror while covering the eyes of their children.

The topic of my food budget has come up before, but frankly, I have been very reluctant to talk about it.  However, I suppose nothing will ever get better if I don't ever talk about it, and with people who may actually have the solutions that I seek.

Ahem.  Right.  The numbers.  My average monthly food expenditure is roughly $1500 each month, give or take a few hundred.  That's for both dining out and grocery shopping combined.  Let me just give you guys a moment to gasp here....

Ok, so why is it so high?  Well, I've always liked to dine out, even if "dining out" is just getting Chinese take-out.  But even with Chinese take-outs, food costs in general has soared.  The same order that used to cost $20 now costs $30 to $35.  And so, my already massive food budget has ballooned that much more.

I do cook at home too, but the truth is I am a dirty, dirty foodie at heart.  Good food is like my meth er I mean sunshine for the soul.  It's what makes getting out of bed each day worth it.  Nothing beats a good bowl of Vietnamese pho, the perfectly executed Pad Thai, the earthy, hearty bowl of high quality ramen, the amazing mess of deliciousness that is seafood boils, the heaven-sent bounty that is the Korean BBQ, the pristine freshness and craftsmanship of sushi, and steak....  Oh my goodness, I am so picky about steak, but a good one will absolutely make my day.

Another factor that complicates things for me is that I am also diabetic.  My blood sugar is always too high, and therefore, I need to avoid carbs at all cost.  As we all know, carbs are the cheap foundation of most meals, but it's also something that I can not have, even when I want it.  Instead, I do my best to replace it with vegetables, but even veggies aren't exactly cheap these days.

I can go on, but I think you get the picture.  So far, my budget does allow for this extravagance, but I also realize that just because something is possible, it still doesn't mean that's a good idea.  So, if there are ways to cut it down without missing out on yummy foods, I'm all ears.

This didn't happen to me, but to a friend of mine, whose house burned down.  This happened while he was at work so he wasn't hurt in any way, and he was also able to salvage his most expensive stuff, along with all of his important documents.

For the past week, I have been helping him with whatever he needed, which included temporarily storing some of the salvaged stuff at my place, and let him borrow my washing machine and dryer.

According to the fire investigators, they believe it was most likely a basket of batteries he collected that maybe shorted and caught fire.  As for the damage, pictures are worth a thousand words.

Quick recap: 2024 was the first full year of my journey into retirement.

I just filed my taxes for 2024, and without earned income, all that is left is me living off of and filing my dividend interest... right?

While I was aware of basic stuff like dividend interest tax brackets, and qualified vs unqualified dividends, etc. the bottom line is I would not certain of what exactly is my tax burden will be until I actually file it, which again was today.

Much to my pleasant surprise, the computer is saying I owe exactly $0 in taxes!  To clarify, my dividend interest fell under the $47k limit for 0% tax, for those filing single, and that's before standard deductions.

I don't think my tax situation could be any simpler, but it also makes a part of me a bit anxious, thinking maybe I forgot a step somewhere.

For now though, it's filed and hopefully goes through.  In the meantime, does anyone see anything weird with this situation that I should be aware of?