LivingAlmostLarge's Personal Finance Blog

Yay I just got $251 covered by my Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card.  It cost me annual fee of $95. I got it to run all my business expenses on and keep it separate.  But I put our cell phone bills on it so if we need a replacement for theft or repair.  There is a $100 deductible.  So the total repair was $351.  But still getting back $251 today approved was a win for me.

Okay so maybe it's a small win but I feel like a big win.  I mean yes I pay a CC annual fee but I really mostly do use it for business expenses for my business and I like being able to quickly segregate my expenses and track it. I do have a free amex but I really wanted the ink.  I also think I got it because it does have a 3% cash back on travel which no other CC did at the time. 

Now there is the alaska summit and i'm not sure it's worth keeping the ink since the sapphire preferred is not doing $50 hotel credit and doordash $10 a month.  

Either way I love the fact i sort of made back my $95 again this year with the cell phone protection.  Also only this ink preferred and ink premier have cell phone protection, which actually might be worth keeping since it's now happened two years in a row that with a smashed screen we could replace it for $100.

So we bought our second EV last month before the tax credits expired.  We qualified for it based on our 2024 income and had been considering it since 2024, but decided in May 2024 to buy a used Tesla instead for $30k because paying $50k seemed a lot.  Anyway after we bought our 2021 Tesla DH really enjoyed the self-driving and foudn it useful.  So we made a plan to buy a new tesla end of 2025 right before we would lose the $7500 tax credit.  Since they moved it up, we moved up our purchase.  So we have two Teslas Model Y now a generation apart and will honestly buy the next generation after it comes out.

The cost to insure the tesla are substantial.  But i'm not sure if it's expensive because it's newer cars that cost more than what we we were driving or because rising prices.  Either way i used chatgpt to calculate the kwh averaged and the cost.  It worked out to 447 kWh per month for the EV. That worked out to about $67.27/month or $807/year.  Is this cheaper than gas?  A little.  Based on my spreadsheet we spent around $2000/year on gas.  That works out to about $1200/year savings.  But the cost of electricity has bee rising fast as well.  

Of course it's also cheaper to maintain the EV so there is that.  But the increased cost of tires and insurance might balance that out.  Either way it's fun to drive and I think there is some savings gas wise. 

Would i suggest people buy an EV?  I think if you are at the point of replacing your gas car it's worth looking into. I don't think if you had a new car it's worth trading in.  We got our EV because DH last year had his car totalled so we needed to get a new car for him.  Then because it was definitely what we wanted we got it new and now I'm driving the 2021 Model Y.  It replaced my 2015 Sienna minivan which was also a great car but we don't really need a people hauler anymore since I've been carpooling less.  This is pretty much my last year.

It last 8 years 2017-2025 and we paid $28k for it and sold it back for $16k.  Great deal bought used.  I'm sure we could also trade in the used tesla but for now we are keeping it. I am leaning to seeing if DK1 drives ok for year then giving her the 2021 tesla and then getting something different for me, or potentially DH will get another tesla and we'll just keep handing them down.  

So the reason we stayed in Hakone where we did was go to the once a month Geisha Event show.  We stayed at the Hakone Tenyu Kowaiken hotel and they had a special dinner and show.  It was fantastic.  We had a great time.  Got to interact and play games with the Geisha. I'm not sure the kids got it.  Perhaps one day we'll head to Kyoto and do Gion.  

From Kyoto to Nara we took a special sightseeing train called the aoniyoshi train. It was good but I'm not sure it was worth getting up early to do.  But it was comfortable and ride was pretty.  

We stopped in Nara to see the Deer Park and visit the Buddha's Nose at the Todaiji Temple.  10 years ago DH went through the nose and 20 years ago we both did. This time I dare not and DH was going to do it but got scared off.  Honeslty he'd have fit.  

The buddha's nose.  Go through it for enlightenment.  yeah I fit 20 years ago and he fit less than 10.  Since DH hasn't gained weight like I have I'm pretty sure he'd have fit but it's a lot harder.  Kiddos refused to be so undignified and our DK1 had short skirt on or I'd have made her.  She'd definitely fit.

The deer in Nara you feed them at the temple ground. Those pesky things always bite me.  yep every single time.  The kids love it.  We have to stop though we've been multiple times.

this is a specific type of sushi from the Kansai Region.  it's sushi preserved in a persimmon leaf.  Delicious.

That's the salmon unwrapped.

Kushikatsu again a kansai area speciality. It's deep fried food on a stick.

Another Osaka Kansai speciality Takoyaki.  Michelin level street food from Dontonbori area of Osaka.

Osaka Kansai traditional Japanese Okonomiyaki.  We were eating our way through Japan as my mom said.  We mostly did places where they didn't speak english and everyone was a local. My kids thought it hilarious that we walked into random joints that were packed but no tourist and no lines.  

The one expensive dinner was Kobe Beef.  Wagyu Kobe beef.  World famous need I say more?  I will admit we dropped 4 figures on this one meal and it cost more than all the rest of our meals combined including all the sushi.

Tomorrow I'll try to do the Osaka Expo and USJ nintendo world.  The posting now of photos appears to be so much easier than before.  

So I do love sushi and this was quite an experience.  Kaiten (conveyor belt) sushi but michelin grade.  We were there before it opened at 10 am (9:30 am) and we were still number 5 on the waitlist.  I've never had 3 different types of Uni (sea urchin) purple, green, and orange.  Delicious. Scallop, Salmon, and a O-Toro in the background.

We left tokyo and journey to Hakone for a two night stay at an Onsen.  It's a traditional Japanese Bath.  When we arrived late we had this traditional meal they are apparently famous for a Oyako Donburi but made with Tofu breaded cutlet instead of chicken. They make the tofu locally.  Spectacular.  My mom said we ate our way through Japan.  Probably true since i'm not even posting the photos of the kids with food in hand.

next up the view from the onsen.  Taken super early in the morning when I was solo.  The outdoor bath had a private secluded view.  Like an infinity pool.  The peace of nature was glorius.  We arrived early from Tokyo and did the famous Hakone Loop.

next we had dinner at the Ryokan (traditional Japanese Hotel with onsen) and it included a dinner buffet.  Truly traditional ryokan you eat in room a Kaiseki (multi mini course meal) Dinner.  I wasn't feeling it and DH preferred western beds not Tatami mats (sleeping on bedrolls on floor).  So we choose a more modern and westernized Ryokan.  That mean a bigger place with a buffet instead of a home cooked meal.  But the buffet included a quick 10 minute show of cutting the Maguro (bluefin tuna) at least 100 lbs if not more!  I've never actually seen a professional cutting. Yes I'm from hawaii and yes I've seen friends and family cut fish all the time.  But this was insane!  Look at the size of the head.

Enjoy the journey.  If i run out of Japan photos I'll do more from earlier in the year and maybe even more photos from a few prior trips I always meant to post but never did.

So I missed yesterday and I figured i'll post two photos and they kinda go hand in hand anyway.  In japan we went to this place called harry's hedgehog cafe.  We played with hedgehogs and otters.  https://harinezumi-cafe.com/en/

Photo Day 3  well a neighbor sent me this so i will post and detour from trip photos.

It's a bobcat in my neighborhood.  Wow gotta be careful with our dog.  I'm enjoying these quick little photo posts

Photo Day 2  Japanese Fluffy pancakes are delicious and we happened to eat some.  It has fresh peaches and jelly.  So delicious.

I wanted to post a photo a day so I'm going to post photos of our travels throughout the year.  So this summer our big trip was to Japan.  We started our trip in Tokyo and we stayed at Tokyo Shibuya Excel Hotel. It is directly attached to the train station and overlooked the famous pedestrian Shibuya Crossing.  We arrived at 5 pm then had to clear customs and take an hour ride in from Narita Airport.

We had a lot of awesome adventures this year and i'll be hard to only pick one.

It's hard to picture compounding as it happens.  It's hard to see it as you save and all your effort seems to get you nowhere.  You seem to tread water forever.  I mentioned the wealth ladder by Nick Magguli before and I said it was the spending muscle.  I mentioned getting lost in rung 4.  All true but something interesting has happend along the way. I've gotten to see a really clear pattern of compounding.

DH started his 401k in 2005.  20 years ago.  He didn't have it before even though he'd been in the US since 2000.  We had no money and graduate students didn't have a 401k.  But in 2005 he contributed $4870 because he started working that September I believe since he graduated in June 2005.  

We also maxed out our Roth IRA contributions every year since.  I started in 2003 but it was a struggle for us.  In 2005 the 401k contribution was $14k and the IRA max was $4k. So we could save a total of $22k/year into retirement accounts.  I haven't had a 401k until I started my own business but that's a different issue.

So since then he only missed one year of maxing out his contributions 2022 when the startup didn't offer a 401k.  2021 he contributed to his job in January before he quit.  In 2023, 2024, and 2025 he's maxed out his contributions.  So he's saved $375k into his 401k and into his Roth IRA $121,500.  But let's call it 20 years of contributions, not quite but close.  For me i've saved around $127,500 into my Roth IRA.

What does he have now?  His old 401k is $1,197,300 and he has a new 401k of $52,934 (when I last checked in January 2025.  So for $375k in contributions he now has $1.2m.  His Roth IRA has $896,936, just shy of $900k.  We did a few conversions and rollovers, but mostly it's been growth.

So this year our entire portfolio has been up around 20%.  But I thought the most interesting part has been his old 401k.  He has not touched it since 2021.  it's been the same investment of 80% total stock market and 20% Global Stock Market.  We didn't even rebalance. 

2021 February - $708,978 in the total market and global market

2022 January - $847,934 - we couldn't contribute only growth

2023 January - $694,765 - that was the bad year

2024 January - $852,245 - recovery

2025 January - $1,046,748 - growth

Today 10/1/2025 - 1,197,300 

Since 2021 it's been all compounding.  It's hard to see when you are contributing the growth since you only see your contributions.  But seeing an account we just leave alone without messing with it, without contributions it's a bit mind blowing how it's growing.  From here on out a 10% year over year growth will mean in 20 years when DH is 67 mean there will be $8m in his 401k alone. 

At a very conservative 5% considering we aren't going to touch it and leave it in total stock market $3.2m.  So a bad 2 decades we will still have $3.2m.  At 8% compound annual growth rate it is $5.6M.

But the first 20 years took his saving a lot to reach $1m.  The next 20 is when it really takes off.  I'm not sure if we will leave it alone or do some conversions because it'll be about 30 years before he has an RMD.  At 5% he'll have $5.1m.  At 8% for 30 years he'll have $12m.  At 10% for 30 years $20m.  That seems a bit crazy to be honest.

I'm not sure where we will end up.  But the RMD on $5.1M which is the 5% conservative growth for 30 years is $194k/year.  From that one account DH will have $194k RMD potentially.

Seeing this in black and white, listening to the wealth ladder.  Thinking about coast fire.  This is why I decided we needed to start spending.  I honestly think we might have oversaved in a way I certainly didn't think was possible as we were going along.

Yes I did feel like we deprived ourselves.  But I said we had to live below our means.  That if we saved say 40% of our income then we only had to replace 60%.  All true.  And we are at our FIRE number in our 40s because of it.  A very fat fire.  But it was hard to picture in my 30s that we could ease up.  That we could save 15% of our income and be fine and retired at 55 or 50 and live a little more lax.

I guess i'm reflecting so others can maybe think more about what they are saving for earlier.  Why?  And is it really necessary?  I ask myself that daily now.  Is it necessary to be so cognizent of money?  Do i need to say I don't need it. Or is it okay to say sure we can have it.

Sure we can afford to eat it, buy it, wear it. I can unflinching pay for all school stuff and do so immediately. I can donate to the PTSA more than they ask.  I am not going to waste things but i can relax about splitting a check because it's not going to ruin our monthly budget.

Honestly we don't have a budget anymore.  I was never the serious budgeter, I was a pay yourself first and spend the rest and I still am.  But now I am starting to lean in. I am starting to be more like we can spend all of our salary after we max out our Roth IRA, 401ks, and ESA.  Why not?   We are coasting to retirement.  We hit our number.  Every year of saving gives us nothing but excess so we need to thoughtfully spend now instead of save.

I probably could have been less harsh on myself 4 years in 2021.  When DH started the startup.  I was freaking out that we didn't have a 401k.  That we weren't saving 15%.  That we weren't able to save more than 25%.  I was like "failure".  I worried we were reckless.  I realize and hindsight is 20/20, that if we didn't save a penny since 2021 we'd likely still be okay to retire today.  That compounding and the fact we are still working would do the work for us.

I think i sort of realized it a little last summer 2024 august.  But it really hit me this summer when the wealth ladder crystalized how I felt about our net worth.  I felt I had "enough".  That we were fine and I was fine never getting to rung 5 and hanging it up instead.  And that acceptance really helped me feel enough.

It helped me accept it didn't matter and I could stop stressing about running out and being "prudent".  I could stop penny pinching and looking at a budget.  Instead I should breathe and say we're fine.

I hope this shines a light on others who are hoping to retire or retired about their spending.

tabs said of course people like spending money.  Yes and no.  It's hard to explain but when you live frugally your entire life it's really hard to change.  What do I mean?  When you are raised and it naturally fits your personality to be frugal you live that without seeing it as a hardship.

By nature I'm a saver and so is DH.  Our first instinct with our first job was to save the maximum and live on the rest.  Then we got bonuses and stocks and never touched them.  They went into our savings.  Then as our income increased we increased our life a little, but really not much.  our first 10 years working the life we had was just a little more spendy than the first 5 together as grad students.  Mostly we just bought a more expensive house.  Then we moved and bought a more expensive house, but the same saving habit continued.

The spending muscle needs to be exercised too.  When you hit the point where you will never spend more than you have saved.  We've crossed that point and i think many on here did too.  How?  It's the idea that you've managed carefully during the earlier harder times and now you have this natural instinct to save.  But it's time to spend.  It's time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. It's time to realize that you have been prudent and frugal.

But if you don't exercise the spending muscle you'll never be able to spend.  I still struggle with seeing i "only" save like 25%.  But now i'm like I'm okay saving 10%.  we crossed the line of enough and I still save because it's what you do.  But I could not save another penny and still be okay.  But it's hard to spend that extra money.  Suddenly you do have more since you aren't saving at the same rate as before.

I can't lie and say I don't like spending money, I really do. It's funny.  I still have the saving muscle. It's innate.  It's next to impossible to turn off.  But I like spending money.  The problem?  How much guilt I still feel when I do.  My DH?  No guilt.  He doesn't know what anything costs and just goes along for the ride.  Huh, we sure are staying at nice hotels.  We sure buy nice food for the house. Hmmm my beer is always craft.  Hmmm the whisky I get is quite pricey I think.  

Just the little things are slowly getting upgraded.  That I can slowly accept and wrap my head around.  Clothes still on sale and still at old navy and target for the kids, but less goodwill.   Less looking for everything second hand because I'm tired.  Less chasing sales at stores and going from store to store.  Basically not streching the dollar till it screams but just sensibly spending. This I like.  I like valuing my time as worth more.

I also take better care of our health.  Better food, more exercise, more dr visits or anything that might help us take care of ourselves.  These small expenditures you might have quibbled about before.  That I can accept without flinching.  

I also love treating people to dinner.  I like paying for our family. I don't mind treating them or wincing at the check.  It's more about being with them and not worrying about splitting a bill with friends.  Now it's like going out to dinner is not going to break the bank or the budget anymore.  This took me awhile but i'd say in the last few years we've gotten there.  Just like I order what I want because I want to eat it, not because I'm looking the best deal (i still like a good deal though). 

Now I look at things through the lens more of what am I buying? What is the value?   Does it save me time?  Money?  Is it valuable to me?  It's weird.  

The real guilt is the luxury I now pay for.  It started last summer with our trip to Peru.  I believe I posted pictures.  I'll be posting pictures of our trip to Japan soon.  But this year I upgraded our travel again.  I thought last year only time for business. Then I snagged more mileage tickets for the kids in business and decided why not?  We've got lots of miles.  So I did. 

But it isn't only this trip to Japan. It's a lot of our trips this year.  I had a ton of upgrade certificates and cheap mileage tickets so we kept on ugprading.  Multiple flights.  It seems to be snowballing.  Good deal?  I'm hopping on it.  Before I probably would pass because I might not afford it.  But now it seems like we are accruing miles and ugprades faster than ever and the value seems more because of it.

Then DH and i are celebrating our 20th anniversary this year.  We wanted to go on a "big" trip since we missed 5, 10, 15.  But my mom made me feel guilty about leaving the kids so we pushed our trip to 2030 when they leave and we do a big 25th.  Instead we're going to Cabo for 5 days and 4 nights.  This is our 5th trip without the kids.  First one was in 2011 one night away in hawaii to another city while my mom kept DK1.  2017 was our first trip without both kids a long weekend and DH's 40th.  Then 2/2024 we left the kids overnight with a friend and saw adele in concert in Vegas.  Then in 12/2024 my mom watched the kids for 3 days while we went to DH's work retreat.  this will be our longest and farthest trip we've taken.  

So we definitely are spending money. It wasn't even on my radar until DH said he'd like for us to do something alone together.  So I didn't buy a package. I did use an alaska companion fare, but I didn't buy a package because I wasn't sure what i wanted.  I will admit I am feeling guilty over the flights and this extra cabo trip.

But that's the purpose of Paula Pant afford anything podcasts and the wealth ladder and die with zero.  Sometimes we get so caught up in saving we forget how to spend or how to enjoy what we've worked hard for.

I listened to Nick Maggiuli on Afford Anything with Paula Pant https://affordanything.com/629-nick-maggiulli-the-wealth-ladder-has-six-rungs-and-most-people-never-climb-past-four/

I read the book as well from the library.  It was very interesting.  The levels?

1 - $0-10k

2 - $10-100k

3 $100k - $1m

4 $1m-10M

5 $10m-$100m

6 $100m+ 

His point is most people never get beyond level 4.  And the advice changes as you go along.  The bottom 2 levels how much you make is the most important lever  you pull and work at to get there.  But the average person saving 40 years can get to level 3.  They can also get there by buying a home. Most home owners are level 3 or 4.  Then the 18% of people can get to level 4.  That's impressive considering the range.  

But the jump to level 5 is like 10% so less than 1 in 10.  Sounds right since it's only 1.68% of the population and 100M is 0.05%.  His point is that most people stop before $10m because they've won the game.  They are ready to get off.

I can tell just from this board, ER, Bogelheads most people never get to $10m not because they couldn't but they aren't willing to work and save.  They pull the ripcord long before then and are satisfied.  That's what he was talking about Paula Pant.  That having enough.

He said honestly getting to level 5 most people need to do more than work a high paying job. They usually need to take some sort of risk to get that outsized wealth.  And I needed to hear that.  I feel like DH and I have recently made gains in our net worth.  We've been seeing more gains than adding to the portfolio.  So it's hard to be motivated.  Honsestly I think I could hang it up and be done. DH waivers but I think he'd just want a less stressful job.

But this summer as i listened to the podcast I got it. I too would rather hang it up early and never get to rung 5 and i'd be satisfied.  And about 1% of people aren't.  But the 99% of us are.  And once you are there do you need more?  It's okay to coast. It's okay to spend a litle more because you are okay with where you are.  You can stop saving that amount.

So it's started.  In June we went on a week road trip and visited a bunch of schools.  Yes I have a kid who just finished freshman year and is about to start sophomore year.  I have a kid who "thought" they knew what they wanted and what school and what career field.  Came out of this trip completely 180.  

Now she's thinking maybe a school where she doesn't have to declare and get admitted to a major would be great.  It might be fun to explore.  She is now interested in taking multiple different courses in high school to explore instead of focusing "depth" in the major she "thought" she wanted to go into.  That the idea of school she thought she wanted to go to might not be the right fit since maybe she wants a college experience and not a co-op.  The college visits turned everything on it's head.  She is now starting over what she really wants to do in life and in high school.

Since you all have followed DH and my journey of career changing and not really understanding that we should have done what made us happy, not our parents.  That we shouldn't have picked careers our parents picked for us.  That when you love what you do, you really are better at it and exceed expectations instead of being merely average.  Probably because you work harder because you really like it and not just "tolerate" something you are good at.

So another part of this journey was looking at the price tag of these places.  I had my suspicions for years now that DK1 would need a smaller school.  I was suprised that she is interested in exploring more some of the bigger schools but maybe.  I was surprised she wanted a city and hated college towns and small towns.  I thought she'd want something smaller and quieter.

But that being said what also was interesting was the price tag and the conversation it started.  When she looked at the colleges and said stack ranked them we pulled out the websites and checked out what it would cost to go.  It was surprising the variation and costs.  So she said should i even bother applying?  Can we afford it? 

I said yes, we can afford anything.  I then pulled out the investment accounts and started going over the 529, ESA, and UGMA. i explained that the UGMA taxable i had hopes she didn't need to use it for college.  That it would be a reward and seed money for the future.  A house, a car, a wedding, anything.  It was eye opening.

I have to say I don't get reading posts about college why more parents aren't telling their kids in freshman or sophomore year that they can't afford it.  That you can go to the Ivy League or private school but we didn't save money or we can't afford it.  Why aren't they having the tough conversation and being honest.  

We can't afford many things in life.  We can't afford to fly first class.  We can't afford a BMW.  We can't afford private high school.  We can't afford a bigger house.  We can't afford a 5 star hotel.  We can't afford name brand clothes.  People do tell their kids we can't afford it.  But why aren't they having the conversation in the early part of high school instead of senior or even junior year?  Why aren't they telling them that no matter how big a scholarship we likely can't afford it.  That we can only contribute $X.

There is nothing wrong with not affording it.  Maybe you got laid off, had an accident, got divorced, overspent, or have your own school loans.  It's not a requirement to be a good parent to save for college. It's a privilege.

But i think being honest and telling your kid the truth should be a requirement.  That helping them make a wise decision is good parenting.  That having them learn about affordability before they sink into a debt hole is good parents.  That telling them the future of having student loan payments if you can't afford it.

Why are we so afraid of the conversation?  Why are we so afraid to tell our kids the truth?  Telling my DK1 the truth also allowed me to bring up inheriting my mom's estate.  I put broad strokes that they would be inheriting from my mom directly.  I didn't say how much but more they will be okay and even if they go on to graduate or professional school they will be inheriting enough to cover the cost and will walk out without student loans.

My DK1 passed her driving test on Monday.  She can't officially get her license until she turns 16 in January but still it's a big deal and accomplishment.  It is a bit unreal that time has gone by so quickly.  A year ago she started freshman year and she'll be a sophomore.  She will be driving to school in January.  Our insurance is going to go through the roof.

Another consideration is I wanted to wait until the end of 2025 and potentially buy another tesla.  But the $7500 EV credit is going away end of September.  We will only qualify for it for 2024 and never again.  We bought a 2021 tesla Y last year but used for $30k.  And it's worked out great.  But now I really want AI5 for the newest generation of tesla and we were hoping to make use of the tax credit.  This would be an awesome year since we'll be in the 37% bracket.  That means it's worth like 3x that value to us.  But I am not sure i want to buy HW 4 when AI5 is around the corner. 

We're paying cash for the car but I looked into leasing to wait it out.  But the money factor or interest rate is 8%.  Crazy.  If they let me prepay it and 0% lease then fine.  But they won't.  So I guess leasing is out of the question right now.  IF interest rates come down I can see us leasing so that we can have the cutting edge technoloy in self driving.  Something we personally find super valuable.  Maybe others don't but we need it.

Anyway I guess another thing to consider is if we buy a 4th car now we will pay an extra $1k in insurance for 6 months.  I'm not sure how to balance losing the tax credit or buying the car now? I wish we could have till end of the year.

Thoughts on what we should do?

I paid the $20 for the upgraded chatgpt features.  Yes I can use gemini, co-pilot, or llama.  But I found that chatgpt worked the best.  At least for what I used it for.  What was I using it for and what do I use it for?  I wanted help travel planning with all the travel plans we have this summer and it was awesome.

Could I have done what it did?  Absolutely but it would take longer to do all the research.  I might also use it to write emails but everytime I read chatgpt emails i can tell from people.  Maybe if they use it for ideas and edit it would work better.

But for travel planning?  It is insanely good. It can help you keep track of confirmation numbers, phone numbers, addresses, keep an excel budget of your spending, which credit card, which site.  It even can help with a packing list. 

But the travel planning and how it excecutes it?  It makes suggestions for places to eat.  I had it help me evaluate places between different hotels.  I had it look over my thoughts on flow of the day. I had it help evaluate between daily plans and help me create a list of dates i needed on my calendar to book things a month or 2 months or 2 weeks ahead of tiem. It helped keep addresses and websites organized.

We just got back from a college tours trip and it helped keep all the details neatly summarized.  Yes I had printout.  It also helped me look at hotels by the campuses and determine which might work better.  It also helped me with maps and organizing everything into one printout and one mobile printout.  

So we have a trip to Japan in August.  It's mainly why I paid for the chatgpt for a month for the high usage for the trip.

It really helped me iron out the details like a travel agent. We are staying in Tokyo from August 21-25th.  It helped me with daily activities like Disneysea, baseball game, shopping, shibuya sky, hedgehog cafe, possibly a sumo event.  It also helped me determine the hotel and location and using a private transfer.  Then we move onto Hakone and it helped me determine 2 days there and where to stay and the hakone loop.  Then we head to Nara and Osaka. it helped us plan the day in Nara en route to Osaka.  Then we would be in Osaka from 27th - 30th.  One day for the expo, one day for universal then we head back to Tokyo for the flight on the 31st.  This time making suggestions for where to eat and evaluating the packages for universal. 

It has all reservations so far compiled and neatly organized as well.  I will say if you have a big trip coming up it's a great use of chatgpt.

So if you don't agree with these GLP drugs ozempic or mounjaro don't read this post. I am giving a straight up warning about it because this is my opinion about them and what I've experienced.

So on June 1st, I started on zepbound which is the mounjaro eli lilly shot for diabetes.  I started it for a lot of reasons.  Mostly I started it because I want to try to lose weight and see if I can reverse my pre-diabetes with the drug.  I've been pre-diabetic for about a year. 

A year ago in May I had a high A1C and high cholesterol and I decided to try to do something more about it.  I changed to eating low carb and less red meat.  In september nothing. I couldn't lose weight. I also started exercising more but again no weight loss and no changes in A1C or cholesterol.  I also started a libre 3 continuous blood glucose monitor.  It was pretty nifty and covered partially by insurance because of the pre-diabetes so I could see how my blood glucose was out of control and how I felt when it was. From this i can tell when my blood glucose is high and how tired and sluggish I feel. I still could not lose weight no matter what calorie counting i was doing. I was starving at 1500-1800 calories a day.  I was always thirsty.

But I continued on until March of 2025.  I came back from our cruise in February having talked to a nurse on the boat in the hot tub.  She told me about everyone on Ozempic or Mounjaro.  She told me her story.  She suggested I go back and talk with my PCP. I said I would. I did and my PCP turns out had been on ozempic since April 2024 and looked great.  She had also gone it for pre-diabetes and had lost some weight.  She said she did offer it to me last year but I said I wanted to try to do it myself.  It wasn't working.  So we applied to my insurance.

My insurance refused unless i was diabetic.  So I had a decision to make.  Pay out of pocket or let myself go. I decided i would pay out of pocket. It is $349 for 2.5mg and $500/month for 5-15 mg.  I sat there for a bit stewing and decided that my health was my priority. I would give up other things but not this. I wanted and needed a change.  So I got the medication and took my first shot on june 1st, 2025.

I did my blood work and urine that first week in june and it found that my cholesterol has finally come down a bit from 210 to 195 and my A1C was 6.1 deown from 6.2  No weight loss, in fact over this past year I've been gaining weight.  UGH.  Don't get me w ronerg I'm overweight, in fact obese based on BMI.  I started at 211, having gained almost 20 lbs in 1 year on my "diet" and exercise regime to bring down my a1c and cholesterol. I have no idea why.  Possibly starving myself and eating the 1500-1800 made my body into starvation mode.

But it doesn't matter. I couldn't seem to do it.  So my PCP said i'll see you 9/4/25. She herself went from 130 lbs to 100 lbs and it took about 1 year and she is no longer pre-diabetic.  She is tiny at not quite 5'0".  So that 30lbs meant a lot. She only meant to lose 20 lbs but vanity kicked in and she lost 10 lbs more.  Her prediction was that I wouldn't lose much weight in 3 months but that my A1C and cholesterol would come down to normal levels.

Since I have a glucose monitor and a renpho scale I know what's going on.  I had my 5th shot on sunday and I won't be able to step on the scale again until 7/7.  But so far i've lost 5 lbs and 1" off my waist.  My glucose went from an average of 118 (90 day average) to 99 for the past 7 days.  It's gone from 104 for the past 30 days and 103 from the past 14 days.  Every day its' going lower fast.  I feel amazing.  I don't have any side effects.  

My suspicion from reading is that a lot side effects are for people on higher doses.  It also is for people who aren't using it for hormonal regulation.  My thought is that you do have to have a super high dose to have appetite suppression and stop the food noise. I don't have appeite suppression or food noise.  I find myself eating pretty similarly to before.  I feel like I still don't eat much ob but I can!  I had olive garden.  I had noodles. I eat everything in smaller portions but i don't feel sick after eating cars. 

I do think that perhaps for people who only want it to lose weight but don't need it to stimulate insulin production or sensitivity or decrease glucose production from the liver or slow digestion.  They are overstimulating things that aren't broken in their bodies so they feel it.  Those of us who have the pre-diabetes or diabetes our bodies are not working properly.  The hormones aren't regulated so getting the shot and feeling normal is better than how we feel.

I may not lose as much as those people who are using it to lose weight, but i feel so good I wouldn't stop. I also will continue to pay. I am unsure how this is going to go and maybe as I lose weight I'll feel the side effects.  Apparently losing weight this much is like a paper towel roll.  You just keep tearing off a sheet at a time and you don't really see the effects until much later.

I wanted to wait a month to see what i thought.  Ask away any questions and I'll try to answer. I'll also maybe try to post weekly something interesting.  If you want to warn me about the side effects or long term effects I know.  But where I was wasn't feasible long term.  Maybe this isn't a magic shot but maybe it is for those who need it.

Tomorrow I hope to write about chatgpt. 

A friend asked recently how I decide about the 3% credit card fee.  Couple of things I'll lay which she never considered.  Starting with the easy 2% back CC.  You have to pay 1% for the privilege of using the card.  Pretty straightforward.  Only consideration is how much?  Let's use the easy number of $10,000.

$10k = $300 = 3% fee

2% Credit Card = $200, so $100 to pay for the privilege.

But that $10k can be left in an online savings account.  Currently I use Capital One at 3.6% APR because it's easy but it is not the highest out there.  Vanguard MM is 4.1%.  But let's go with Capital one.  $10k @ 3.6% is $360/year in interest.  It is $30/month or a little more if it compounds.  But for simplicities sake let's go with $30/month.

So now you are paying assuming 30 days $70/month for the privilege.  Personally I think it's 45 days of float so $45 in interest earned on the $10k.  That means to use a plain vanilla 2% credit card you are pay $55 or 0.55% fee to use the CC at todays current savings rate.

Now there things get tricky are the credit cards that are less.  Say a Chase Freedom Flex @ 1.5% points back or Alaska Card which you get 1% back but status and possible transfer.  Let's do the Chase Freedom.

Now you get 1.5% back in points so you are looking at $150/fee.  But you transfer it to the chase sapphire preferred and you can redeem it for 1.25 points to book through their portal.  So the $10k charge for $300 gets you 18,750 points.  You still get the $45 in bank interest assuming 45 days of float.  Chase assumes that $18750 is $187.50 in cash value so you have $232.50 in "cash value" and paying $67.50 for the privilege.  This is assuming you use the points on chase and don't transfer it to other hotels redemptions or airlines.

Now I pick Alaska CC because I use them.  1% back means I get 10,000 miles on Alaska.  30,000 miles recently got my kids a redemption flight for $832.  That is worth 2.77 cents per mile.  So the 10k miles is worth $277.  That plus the $45 in interest, the points pay for themselves.  That along with the recent bonus of 10k miles is worth 3333 Elite Qualifying Miles towards status.  So using a CC I am getting paid to charge it.  Basically you need about 2 cents a miles redemption on airline points.

Is it worth it? I don't know.  But DH and I have managed to redeem our travel points for a high value so yes it's likely worth it for us.  But your mileage may vary (YMMV) as they say.  You have to do your calculation.  We also recently redeemed 150k miles for $4500 business ticket so 3 cents/mile redemption rate.  Again that paid for itself with the 3% fee.  But not everyone can get that sort of redemption.

Zion might have overtaken the Grand Tetons for our favorite national park.  DH and I as most who read know 10 years ago to the day (fourth of july 2015) moved cross country on our wild adventure without jobs and no income.  Without a career and hope, dream, and a prayer that we would be successfully reinvent ourselves.  I'm happy to say we did with smashing success.  Anyway I'll repost the pictures because seriously they are incredible and part of what I call the trip of a lifetime for us.  To capture the nostalgia is impossible.  And now 10 years later...the little ladies are young women and we went back to nature.

This time I was like I want to hike the narrows.  And 25 years ago DH said we should go to Zion and Bryce when it's not summer and see the hype.  Well it was awe inspiring.  Not only that but I get why people on the East Coast don't get the west coast vibes.  The East Coast doesn't have the same national parks and the feeling of vastness.  The freedom and nature feel so much bigger and more.  I get why utah is the big 5 parks.  I am now dying to see moab, arches, and capitol reef.

Anyway https://imgur.com/a/uAXuE3Q

I always struggling formatting the photos and figure this is easier.  Thanks steve for using imgur and giving me the idea.

Reading that post about frugality being sexy made me laughed a lot.  DH constantly tells the kids and other people I won his heart on the first date when I pulled out the entertainment book, does anyone know this?  It was $20 for BOGO eating out coupons, coupons to events, activities, etc.  It was mostly sold as a fundraiser and this thick book.  It might even still be around.

And I said "can I used a coupon?"  Apparently I stole his heart with my frugality and practicality and that was it.  He laughed about it still and my ever lasting habit of using a coupon and getting a deal 25 years later is still there.  I can't help it.

I tell the kids all the time the same thing my mom told me "a dollar saved is a dollar earned."  "it's easier to save a buck then to earn it."  "It's not about taking from others it's about being smart with your money to get the most value."

Finally when I was young my great grandmother told my mom "LAL will be rich.  She was born under a lucky star (and yesterday was my birthday) and her hand is always open.  Money will always come to that open hand because it doesn't rule her.  She gives generously but with an open hand that will always receive money."  My mom laughed and said sure grandma.  

I gotta say I think I won in life and pretty much the lottery. I swear I'm not cheap and I like to spend money. But I always try to help others and give and be wise with my money and it's come back 10 fold.  Like I said I obviously liked going out and buying the $20 entertainment book I calculated how much I saved as well on each BOGO meal.  And it won me my DH's heart after all.

Best investment ever.

How do you know you've made it?  It's usually the big things like I contribute 10% to retirement.  10% to savings.  I pay cash for a car. I could cash flow college.  No more credit card interest.  I paid off the mortgage.  These are all easy big signs people often see quickly to realize they've made it. 

But I was cleaning my garage this weekend and I realized that are lots of little signs too.  First up was sorting stuff in the garage, and I needed ziploc bags. I realized wow i'm comfortable.  I no longer buy non-name brand ziploc bags. I also buy only bags with zippers.  I like how thick the ziploc brand bags are and I love zippers because I find it easier to use.  But 25 years ago no way was i buying ziplocs and using it for storage.  I washed them out and flipped them inside out to dry and reused it usually for something not edible.  Not anymore.  I have nice ziploc bags, the expensive ones.

Second, I realized I don't save takeout containers or containers from food.  If I want to jar something I have a nice set of matching jars.  My tupperware matches. I also don't buy the cheap, plastic crap. I use glass or more expensive sturdy stuff.  Yep when you are broke you don't ever buy food storage, the only food storage comes from what you eat.  I'm trying to get my mom to throw all of her crap containers away or my in-laws and it's not happening.  

Third, I have a pile of plastic forks, knives, spoons, etc from takeout and I'm donating it.  I am embarrassed to say i donated two gallon size bags to the middle school and I found another 2 bags of plasticware I want to donate to the school on Monday.  Why?  I don't need it. I like using real cutlery at home and while we get it I have one box I bought in case and that's enough. I don't need to storage it and use it like it's super precious.

I also got new towels.  We repurposed towels for the dog.  But again it's not the expensive $$, actually they are from costco. But it's the fact we even got new towels.  My mom makes us use towels that don't soak up water because they are 50+ years old if not 75, i kid you not.  They might be hand me downs.  And she won't replace them because why?  It works fine.  Seriously a $10 towel.  Yep that's why it's crazy to be breaking these rule.

It sounds crazy but I realized that we're okay.  We aren't rich but we are not struggling enough to reuse and keep everything. I don't mind recycling or repurposing or getting used stuff.  But we don't need to hoard.  And we also can have a nicer level of goods.

Finally I realized I buy small condiments instead of large. It stays fresher and is nice.  Again not something that I ever thought I'd do.  My uncle always laughed when he described one of my cousin's telling his teacher ketchup comes out of a metal tin (they bought it like coffee can size) for the size of their family.  

It's sort of like the recent travel discussion how nice a hotel do you stay at?  For us it's about location first. I want prime location where we might not need a car.  But at the same time we no longer risk our lives staying at a motel 6 or red roof inn unless absolutely necessary (it's happened a few times where we had the dog and no where else was available that took pets).  What's the purpose of money if you are killed trying to keep it?  I kid you not after DH thought he saw blood stains on the motel I booked him in Buffalo (no offense buffalo) in 2015 he has never let me forget booking something based on price.  Yeah we can afford to stay somewhere that if it burned down we would sleep in the car and not worry about being mugged or car jacked.  

So even the small things as you upgrade your life can show how far you've come.

People are saying keep on buying as it keeps going down.  Great time to buy.  But for the first time I question this sentiment?  Why? Because I think that you have to look deep down and see will you panic?  If the market drops another 10-20% or more will you immediately hit the panic button and sell.  Will you reach out and catch the falling knife as the market starts to drop rapidly? If we go into a depression can you withstand the pain of watching newly invested money drop even more?

Right now?  I can't.  I can sit tight and not withdraw any more money from any of my accounts.  I've lost a lot.  I've been investing since my 20s. I never sell. I have held stocks from 2000.  DH and I have original investments in ETF as well as things like paypal and google in our roth.  We've never sold.  We've never sold a share of certain stocks and ETF like VOO we've owned now for 20+ years.  Our tech investments have 100x.  We literally have held it through all the markets. 

But in 2006-2010 we were buying in our 401k on the way down and on the way up.  We maxed out our 401k since 2005 and Roth IRAs.  We've plowed money into our taxable brokerage.  DH's 401k at his old job we left literally in the same investment 75% VOO and 25% Index International since 2021 February when he left.  We weren't able to add, but we could change.  We've left it.  We have invested our 401k since then.  

I don't believe in changing the course. I believe in staying the course.  Once invested that money isn't for me to spend until retirement.  It's gone to the market.  

I've invested the kids in VOO since birth and reinvested the divedends and never sold a share since i started buying for them in 2012 and 2010. I just buy more every time I add to the ESA $2k or the 529.  Nothing.  They own only VOO and QQQ and APPL as a gift.  I've never sold APPL either.  One kid went from $600 (2 shares) appl to $12k in 15 years (61 shares).  

If I need money it's in a money market/treasury bonds, etc.  That I do keep cash on hand.  So I look long term.  But this time, I am afraid.  I'm actually afraid of putting money in and feeling a sinking feeling my stomach as I watch it go down.  Yes it will go up long term, but do I need to feel that bad in 6 months or could I just be like well in 6 months if it's even lower I'll be going sure it's time to start buying again?

I guess for me another part of it is that I'm so heavily invested at this point that maybe that's another reason I am holding back.  Do I need to keep to my 90% stock portfolio?  Where do you stand?

Not panicking.  A can feel the fear in a lot of clients.  Telling them not to panic.  I'm not sure if they are going to listen. I am now 45 years old and for the first time I feel the fear.  I suspect it's age.  It's the fact I worry how long this recession/depression will be.  Yes we have lots of time, but time seems shorter since we want to retire in 10 years.  20 15 20 years ago in 2006/2007 I kept on plowing money into the market.  We were trying to save as much as possible, but we just had less to invest.  Now we have a lot more to invest and it's hard to pull the trigger. 

I set aside actually about $100k in cash tied up in a CD until June to see where the market goes. I have another $50k in a savings account because I thought I would be moving it into my 401k in April.  But I find myself hesistating.  I find myself worrying did we bottom out.  Before I would have thrown it in and just said let it ride.  I know I am a firm believer in not pulling money out of any of our accounts. If we can't afford it we don't buy it.

I've never worried about tapping our investments.  I still don't.  But for the first time I don't want to put money into our investments because I'm worried.  I'm actually nervous.  I'm actually a little unsure if I can stomach buying more.  how much have i lost?  a lot. Seriously a lot of money.  Multiples of our annual income.  

I do understand  you can't time the market.  I am a firm bogelhead and buffet devotee.  However this is the first time I sit and think maybe I should wait and try to catch the market on the up instead of on the way down.  And sitting in cash isn't so bad.

I don't want to pay off our house.  it's at 2%.  We have no other debt.  And this year I was thinking of possibly getting another car.  But personally it's off the table because our portfolio is way down.  As for my mom?  Well she voted for trump and doesn't like to hear that we're losing money and he is directly causing it.  She watches only fox news so she has no idea what is real.  But it's really hard to not point out that right now our stock market problems are directly caused by the president.

Well if things are scary now hold on. I think a recession is coming.  I hate the fact so many people didn't vote.  I think we are getting what we deserved because more people voted for the guy making the decisions.  I did not.  But i'm holding on for the ride.  But what really pisses me off more is that so many people (they say 90 million americans) didn't vote. It's frustrating.  Why isn't voting on a weekend?  Or over a weekend? 

But more than that explaining to foreigners that yes Americans voted for this is all true.  We did.  Not all of us, but enough of us did.  So we have to accept the consequences of our actions.  The consequence is 47 said he was going to trim down government so when he closes SS offices and fires workers NOT SORRY at all.  Cry me a river if you voted for him and lose your job well he is doing what he said.  Making the government more efficient.

If things are more expensive from Tariffs, again NOT SORRY.   He told us what he was going to do.  It was pretty clear he was going to use tariffs, his favorite word. The most beautiful word in the dictionary.  

Your portfolio tanking?  Well you agreed to the short term pain for long term gain if you supported 47.  No take backs.  We can only move foward.  The only thing worse than someone crying about voting for 47?  Someone who didn't vote at all.  

Not a joke but i'm sure many people have lost a good chunk of their portfolios. I have sat tight and refused to panic or sell and so i'm just watching things drop.  I'm actually about to transfer a good chunk to my solo 401k in April and max it out for 2025.  $23,500.  I'm not sure what the best thing to do it. 

Being a business owner and DH in a start up we probably have more cash on hand than most people.  I do sometimes think perhaps it's not efficient.  But really does it matter?  The question I asked a friend today. I said to her does it really matter to be making the absolutely maximum return on your money?  Today her and her husband are meeting with a "fidelity" financial advisor to help them invest more and pay 1.5%. I told her to stuff it and dump her money into VTI and BND and VXUS.  Go bogelhead.  3 fund portfolio.

I told her that we are mostly bogelheads. I play our money a little but the bulk of it is in VOO (I'm a bit more aggressive than VTI).  I told her if they want to play then decide how much they can lose.  And instead go boring, and why pay 1.5% to an advisor?  If you are going to lose money might as well do it yourself right?

DH 401k - 80% VOO and 20% VXUS ( because I didn't rebalance it) 25% of portfolio

DH Roth - 50% VOO and 10% small, mid, global, and REIT 17% of portfolio

Brokerage Account 25% QQQ, 25% VOO, 10% small, mid, global, REIT 30% of portfolio

Kids 529 - VOO 100% kids total investments 15% of portfolio

Kids ESA - VOO 100%

Kids Taxable - VOO 100%

LAL's 401k - risky stock picks and QQQ 15 4% of portfolio

LAL Roth IRA - risky stock picks 4% of portfolio

Robinhood less 1% of our portfolio - this is where I've been stashing my extra mortage money.  And I've been buying literally risky stocks, crypto, etc. I probably shouldn't have since this is the money in theory I would add to our ARM mortgage, but I like having fun play money. 

Lately though I've been moving my Roth to something more boring along with my 401k to VOO and QQQ.  Those are long term investments.  And i might just focus on playing with the Robinhood brokerage.  I feel like I am conservative with most of our investments and just a little play money.

Since it's been a year since my dad passed I am fully into managing my mom's finances.  I let her use her tax person one more year.  I may even let her use him another year.  He's a nice guy and I'm not sure I'm up to doing it.  That being said we had a little scare today about it.  

Since my dad passed in March 2024, tax planning was a bit weird.  It was hard to estimate things and I did a small conversion from his IRA to a roth because my parents had space in their bracket.  They were in the 22% bracket.  I spent the last few years converting their money in this bracket because of the upcoming scenario.  I'm sharing because I'm sure there are a lot of people around this age probably not thinking about it and they too will be hit with this.

My mom being widowed and suddenly being hit with an RMD and income as a single person.  My mom is a retired state worker.  But because of that her pension is large.  With SS and her pension she starts her income at $105k.  Then add in an RMD and she's looking at $125k.  Then add in dividends or interest and she's closing rapidly on the second level of IRMAA $133k.  

Fortunately for my mom her state medical covers the medicare premiums.  So she can have irmaa and not worry about the extra premium.  But for most people it's a big deal.  Fortunately I had a few years of being able to shift things around and get my mom out of a larger RMD by taking advantage of my parents MFJ status and converting more money out of the IRA into a Roth.

That being said my mom is now stuck with a couple of homes, which she fortunately inherited at a partially stepped up basis.  That will help ease the capital gains if she happens to sell.  But when that happens, unless she passes in the house and my kids fully inherit the house and condo stepped up, my mom will be slammed with massive capital gains.  

How do I view that? Well I figure I'm fine.  My kids are set (either which way).  So if my mom wants to sell her house and buy a different condo then we'll cross that bridge when it comes to it. 

But for many people who are MFJ, perhaps look at your RMDs, pensions, SS, and determine if one of the couple happens to pass, what happens to the other surviving spouse tax wise.  Will you leave them in a bind?  Or will they have enough to sustain themselves? Or will they be in a cycle of draining more of an IRA to get out of the tax predicament caused by becoming single.  

I will admit my mom went from being married and not worrying about money to being single and not worrying about money.  She now freely admits to my aunts and the tax guy (he asked her if I really paid her taxes by CC and gave her a monthly allowance on top of the pension and SS).  The answer is yes.   Money comes in and she doesn't see the taxes or investments.  She gets $x like she wants and if she wants more I give her whatever she wants.  The tax envelope comes in and she tosses it in the box still and I told her give it to the guy.  I also uploaded her estimated payments to him.  Like I said I am not sure I'm ready in doing her taxes too.  I figure she can go see someone and sign it at least.  

Although he tried to roll her refund (i made sure to give her the same amount that she's used to getting back), to next year.  But she was a bit upset so I told her to turn around and drive back and tell him to give her the normal refund.  Like I said my mom likes to see the same amount come in.  She even turned off withholdings because she wants the same amount of money as before my dad passed and I told her I'd cover the taxes from her investments, which I do.  

I wonder if I'll let my kids pay my bills?  Next up automating her payments by check and CC. I've gotten some done (like water, electric, cable, phone) and I got her an amazon CC to only use for amazon.  

DH got a very large raise and a very large bonus. 20% bonus and a 35% raise.  Quite a shocker.  His first year at the startup he got 15% raise (2022).  Then the next year it was 2% (2023).  Then the next year it was 2% (2024).  He got small bonuses as well more like 10%.  I think in 2021 when they started the company he was really, really underpaid and low even for the area. 

This sort of brings him more in line with the area. He's not making what he made.  Nor is he making what he could be making.  But we are now making about double what he started at in 2021.  Yeah that's a bit insane.   But inflation has been crazy.  

As for me, I started my business in 2021. I didn't make money but lost money that year with setting it up, filing LLC, business licenses, etc.  I had a negative number.  Let me tell you it was sort of stressful for both of us to be wondering if we were throwing away good money after bad for me.  And for DH if he was going to regret missing out on his normal income for years.  We certainly didn't expect it to be 4 years and he's still slogging along.

Then in 2022 I made double what I made in 2020 working for the big tax company, then in 2023 I increased my revenue by 26.7%.  Then in 2024 I increased my revenue by 21%.  This year I think i'll increase my revenue by 18%.  But I'm starting to think i'm leveling out and I may not increase my workload by much after this year.  I may start turning away clients.  

Part of it is that DH is making more.  Part of it that we're back to being normal after covid with kid activities.  Part of it is that I think I grew the business rapidly but I'm not sure I have the bandwidth to handle much more.  I've nearly doubled my revenue in 3 years so 100%.  And i'm making 5x what I made on a w2 and I get to stash it a solo 401k.  The question now is what do we do?

I'm waiting for the bonus and raise to hit.  Because I've already earmarked it for a new roof, braces for kids, and taxes.

The bank uploaded their 1099 for 2024.  We paid $15682 in mortgage interest last year.  That works out to renting out place at $1306.83/month.  Of course our property taxes were $13014 for the year. I paid $1409 for the year.  All in all to rent our house monthly?  $2508.75/month.  Pretty sweet.  We are currently paying $1836/month in principal so our payment is hefty but that's an enforced savings of almost $2k/month to live in our house.  

When we moved in 2015 we were renting our first ever single family home at that time I believe for $2500/month.  That was less than the PITI on our old condo which was $2250/month plus HOA!  Of course that included principal so not a fair comparison.  It broke down to $851 interest/month + $545/month taxes = $1396 interest and property taxes.  Then add in HOA and insurance I believe we were at $250/month HOA and $25/month insurance $1671/month rent.  But with principal we were paying more than renting.

But our prior placed we lived from 2005-2015.  Our current place we moved in 2017 and are still here.  We now pay too little in mortgage interest to itemize.  

But I want to point out to people who say renting in HCOLA have obviously never really broken down the numbers.  I guarantee you that there is no way they ever do the actual math.  Why?  Mostly because when you are renting you need to be saving the difference in payment and investing it.  You also need to be saving more to get the down payment along with not building appreciation.

The rental we had in 2015-2017?  Now rents 10 years later for $4000/month. I checked on zillow and saw a house for rent listed currently.  So I would be renting now for $1500/more than I renting my house for.  To rent my house which is in a better location than where I rented?  I rented in a good neighborhood to save money, but location was lower tier.  We picked A tier to buy because we wanted the shortest commute possible.  To me that's how you compromise.  Rent less and buy best.  To rent my house now?  Rental in our neighborhood for the size of home (smallest) is $5k.  Most are starting at $7k -$10k because the homes are larger.  

I plan on teaching the kids, buy as soon as you are stable.  I hope to help them in fact and perhaps even encourage buying a 2 bed and renting out a room. Housing is a hedge against inflation.  But something people fail to realize is that as you get older and pay off your home the amount of money needed to live there will be our property taxes, insurance, and maintenance.  To be paying $5k/month or $60k/year rent right now for our house means in the 8 years since we've bought the renter should have been saving the difference and invested it to pay for the increased cost they will be paying moving forward.  

And this is for a home on the west coast.  I can't imagine that in cheaper places it makes sense to rent forever.

Glad 2024 is over.  It ended with a bang.  I ended it with a flat tire the day before we left for hawaii.  Driving to pick up pizza and i got a nail in the Tesla.  New tire November 1st, so we replaced it but $462 and 2 tows.  Thank you AAA.  UGH.

Then that afternoon when i went to pull out the suitcases I found a leak downstair and it turns out our water heater is leaking.  So we turned off our water and are dealing with it after we came back.  I'm not sure what the damage will be.  It appears to the piping into the water heater so I don't know if the water heater needs to be replaced or just the piping.  I think DH could do it, but he isn't sure if the water heater needs replacement as well so I guess we'll calling a plumber.

That being said at least it's 2025.  And 2024 financially was a very good year for us.  We increased our net worth by more than we contributed and decreased our mortgage by $25k.

So yesterday another of my very dear friend passed.  A week ago I found out my boss.  And yesterday I found out the lady who manned the front desk of my office passed.  She was old and in poor health but still it greatly saddens me.  She was 87 years old. 

She fell in March and went into a rehab facility.  She was also so kind to me and my girls.   In fact in May during of our lunches I was telling her about our car being "totalled" and she offered to sell me her car.  She sold it to me for $1000. In fact i mentioned it on the blog about the car.  It was a 2011 red Subaru Impreza with 31k miles.  It was in terrible body shape but excellent condition.  She said she was so happy it was going to keep my DK1 safe.  It was the perfect first car with excellent safety features, top of the category of compact cars.   So we made a deal and she was thrilled it wasn't going to the junkyard and instead driven by a family who would love it.  She had such a kick when I would pick her up for lunch in it and visited her in it all fixed up.

In July she had a stroke and that really was the beginning of the end.  She did manage to go home but with a feeding tube.  And I did manage to visit her in October and she was still cognizant if bedridden.  She told me she was looking forward to her two boxes of thin mints and couldn't wait to see my holiday card.  And then when i've tried to visit the person in charge said she was too busy or too tired. 

I had hoped to stop by and drop her holiday card as I always did before the break and drop off a box of chocolates.  But instead I got an email she had passed early yesterday.

All I can say is I really need 2024 to end.

2024 has been a crazy year.  So much has happened.  And more to come.  So yesterday I found out that my old boss died a week ago.  He was 57 years old and I thought in good helth.  He died of a heart attack 12/4 at home alone.  He was single and lived alone and his work partner went and found him on Thursday.  He was a wonderful guy and super great to work for. I stayed longer than I needed because he was so good to me.  He let me bring in the kids and they played  in the break area.  He was so nice to me about leaving in an emergency. I cannot say enough about what a good person he was. 

He left the company about 2 year before I did and went to start his own business.  He encouraged me to leave and go on my own.  He came to see my place and we had lunch usually in the summer or after the busy season and I always sent him holiday card so he could see the kids growing.  He's know the kids since they were 3 and 5 (they are 12 and 14 now). 

His work partner called me today to try and recruit me to take over his business and work full time. I said no.  I said I would more than willingly take on some of their clients, and I would be willing to help in the short term.  But I'm not in a position, even though I have a super small clientele and only started 3 years ago to absorb his workload.  I was honest and told him I'm not looking for full time work, even with a very lucrative income.  My boss this summer  showed up at my house in a new $100k trucks so I knew he was doing well.

I told him that I'm pretty happy where I'm at but I will help him clean up and finish any clients that were left hanging.  I feel like my boss deserves that much.  After all if he went to other established businesses and he admitted he did think about that, he knew they wouldn't want to be taking on that much.  Most established firms/small companies typically have a maximum and certainly weren't looking to fully takeover someone's entire client list.

He asked me if I was scared now that my boss passed about the future being so quick. I said absolutely.  I said that it makes me even more certain I did not want to work like my boss so hard.  He worked super hard and I think that definitely contributed to this early demise.  He worked 7 days a week and his life was his job.  The partner said it was making him rethink his work ethic as well if it was worth it.

I am going to guess I might be unexpectedly growing my business more than I predicted this next year. I'm on the fence as I write this as to if I want too.