I am worried about retirement.  Truth be told, I am only 25 years old, and I’ve got a long way to go.  The fact of the matter is: with the way things are going now and watching people go back to work after being retired and watching others postpone their retirement, I don’t want to be one of them.  I want to be old and gray and enjoying life on the road or comfortably at home, just like this little old lady in the picture at the top of this post.  I don’t want to be 70 and still working or looking for a new job.

I checked my 410k today and it has lost 40% so far. There isn’t a thing I can do about it. I hate that.  I guess I’m just not a good investor.  I realize I’ve got at least 30 years to make it up, but I hate logging in and seeing that I’ve lost that much.  I don’t think I’m going to look at it until November 15th, when I’ll sell the company stock that is matched by my employer.

I think that I’m going to set up an automatic transfer into an ING account set up specifically for retirement.  I’ll earn a guaranteed 3% and have the peace of mind, which I think is priceless. When things turn around, or when I get the guts to do so, I’ll make a decision to contribute that to our ROTH IRA or do something else with it.  I know that I’m probably worrying too much, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.

Are you worried about your retirement?

Posted under 401k, Retirement

In accordance to October’s no spending month, this weekend I stayed at home, baked a loaf of bread, hung my laundry out, painted my hallway, had my yard sale to make extra money, and didn’t go out and spend extra money even though the temptation was there. I really wanted to go shopping to have something to do, but instead I resisted the urge and stayed at home, doing things that didn’t cost me any money.  I did go and buy eggs and a toothbrush, but that was under $3 and I paid cash.  Those were some things we needed so I figured it was fine to buy them.

I wanted to go out to eat so badly that I almost caved in.  I resisted, and made my own meals at home.  Although they weren’t as tasty as eating out, they did the job; I wasn’t hungry, and I didn’t spend any extra money.  I thought about some things I could do that don’t cost any money, and decided I would come up with a list.  I think I can use some new suggestions too. 

• Rent a movie using a free Redbox code.
• Cook a nice homemade meal from scratch.  Not only will it taste great (hopefully) but you can cook with your family and make it a nice activity.
• Knit or crochet.  I’ve got a ton of yarn sitting around that can be used and I can put that to good use.  Plus, if I ever need a gift for someone, I can just give them a hand knit dish cloth.
• Go for a walk or to the park.  Going to the park uses gas, but it doesn’t cost anything otherwise.  If you go for a walk around your neighborhood that’s free, but do whichever makes you happy.
• Play a board game or card game with friends.
• Blog

Those are some of the things I do when I’m bored and trying not to spend money.  What are some things you do?

Posted under Save Your Money

I am almost embarrassed to post this, but I’m going to anyway since I’ve been talking about it since June.  We had our yard sale on Saturday. Two people stopped, and we sold $7.40 worth of stuff we had for sale. $7.40. That is not worth the time it took to price it! I guess I’m looking at this as a learning experience. Maybe I had it too late in the season, maybe the advertising wasn’t there, and maybe my presentation wasn’t the best. Regardless, I think that in the future I’ll sell large ticket items on craigslist or ebay, and then the little things I’ll just donate to Goodwill.

I feel so much better after dropping all that stuff off. I have adapted this mantra that “less is more”. I’ve been going through things at home decluttering and cleaning and making myself feel better about the things we do have. I am tired of having items take up space that we rarely use or don’t need. I feel that time is money and space is money too, so by decluttering I’m saving money! I won’t spend as much time cleaning and I’ll have more space in my house to live!

I think that next time we have a yard sale I’ll plan ahead, have it early in the year or at least in the summer, and invite a few friends to participate.  I think that the more people involved and the larger the sale looks, the more people will stop.  Also, next time I will advertise in the paper instead of just on craigslist.

Sometimes you win, and sometimes you don’t.  I’m happy that I am rid of the “things”!

Posted under Make More Money