Boats – expensive isn’t a requirement
I shared part of my savings rate conversation with a data science colleague in my last post. That conversation also included a short funny story, I thought I’d share it with you all today. I’ve been interested in saving money since forever. I like to be efficient. I could be…
Savings rates and Grandma’s 10%
Not feeling valued at work is rough. Triggered by ongoing (failing) salary discussions for our area, I got asked for my input today by one of my data scientist colleagues, about their own financial situation. “If you have thoughts or perspective, I’d be glad to hear them as well, ……..
We can recover from anything except Zero
In some aspects of life, it’s pretty obvious that we need to stay above zero. In my favorite “low oxygen environment” (kayaking in the river), it doesn’t matter that I’ve had plenty of oxygen available to me for decades. If I put myself in a situation where I’m without oxygen…
Why do I want a good credit score?
Historically, individuals knew each other. The family unit knew whether they could loan money to Uncle Fred or if he was a drunkard who would squander it all. Church members knew if a farmer had been down sick and needed help getting their crops in at harvest time, or if…
Bi-weekly pay and 3 paycheck months
There are many payment models for employees, everything from ride share’s flaunted “cash out up to 5 times per day!” to getting paid once a month is common. In between is getting paid bi-weekly. That usually means getting paid twice a month. But every approximately 6 months, an extra payday…
Dates of Reckoning
One of the advantage of crisis schooling at home is that I often get to listen to what my kiddos are learning, via their distance classes. My big kid had been working through polygons in her math class. Today was the first day of circles; I was really glad we…
Economic Relief Funds
Any time you’re looking at the prospect of incoming money, that money should have a plan. That’s true if you’re in normal times with a paycheck, getting a bonus or an inheritance, or now as the United States Congress is trying to come up with their economic relief plan that…
Merry Christmas is SECURE’d
December 27th, 2017 was the date the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was signed in to law. Typically major tax reform is only an every ~30 years affair (with the prior set being in the 1980’s), with some non-trivial bumps every ~10 years. This week, only 2 years later,…
Planning ahead
Thanksgiving is coming. With it, ideally, we’d be hosting and attending various gatherings with family and friends. Planning a meal for the immediate family. Developing a meal plan, making a grocery list, hitting the grocery store. Planning out my cooking timelines, making shelf-stable items in advance, making freezable items in…