Practically a Backyard Vacation

The Mr. had four days of vacation this week .. so we ventured less than 200 miles away; a mid-day start .. and at our destination by 4 PM.  Traveling with our special needs son AND staying in a hotel .. eating out .. and trying to take in a hike or state/national park are a bit much .. add driving and sitting in a car for hours on end .. and you have a bunch of cranky people.

This year we opted to rent a private cabin that was our little home away from home.  It had a full size kitchen, two bedrooms,

 great room, 1-1/4 baths, laundry room .. mud room .. and a wrap around porch, fire pit, hammock  ... Oh .. and lake/forest views. 

Two boxes of food supplies and a cooler were easily packed.  I brought my 12 inch cast iron skillet cuz I never travel without it (; 

For some reason, I really enjoyed cooking.  The Mr. helped by washing the dishes each night.  We watched movies, popped pop corn, drove to town and walked around a museum village .. even took a stroll along a riverbank.  The sun set about 9:45 PM .. so the extended sunlight made for some good reading on the wrap around porch.

Who needs a fancy vacation far away when you can practically have one in the backyard? 

This by far was a thrifty way to spend our days.  The rental was less than staying at a moderately priced hotel.  Bringing our own food saved us even more.  Our time at the cabin was more enjoyable than sitting around in a single hotel room.  This type of traveling will hopefully be repeated (often).

Easing Into Retirement

We're back to the 'grind' of a budget.  This year it's with new purpose.  The Mr. is planning on retiring at the end of December, 2013, and we need to adjust our spending.  Last year we paid off the last of our debt; the biggest being our mortgage.   Now we must squeeze back into the habit of setting aside a portion of future known bills that will be due over the next 12 months.  To do this we have made a list of known expenses:  life/home/auto insurance, property/estimated income taxes, etc.  These bills are either paid quarterly, semi-annually and/or annually. This year's coming due date was noted, along with how much the payment will be ... divided by how many months until it's due.  That amount will be set aside (noted in our checking account) and when the time comes for it to be paid, we will have the full amount waiting to have a check written.  'Setting aside' money in the checking account takes much will power not to spend on other things .. such as emergencies.    We have a separate fund just for such unexpected occurrences.  Paying for items such as groceries, clothes, office supplies, etc. is done with cash accumulated each month in envelopes. Spending with cash 'hurts' more (mentally) than whipping out a debit or credit card.  Parting with greenbacks is tangible/concrete/painful in a way.  It takes a written budget showing INCOME minus EXPENSES with a NET BALANCE of ZERO .. and is known as spending your month's income on paper (assigning a name to each dollar), and takes both of us working together, going over each month's budget and bills to keep on target.  We make sure to allow a little 'free' money to do with as we please each month so we don't feel dread about living on a budget.  

Our goal over the next several months is to get caught up with our future bill reserve so we can then budget and 'practice' living on our predicted retirement income and banking any extra.  This endeavor has become almost exciting as we whittle out unneeded expenses and return to thrifty buying practices (thrift stores, garage sales, used items) consciously making an effort to watch EVERY penny. 

Happy New Year from our home to yours.

Sound financial advice for getting out and staying out of debt.

I Blew It!

Done did spent all the money for the entire month of January .. and it's only the 6th.  Well, let me tell you a little secret .. come closer .. I spent the whole wad on PAPER :)  That's right .. on a budget sheet!  Yesterday the hubby and I even went to dinner .. bought pantry supplies ... filled up the truck with gas ... and signed me up for a gun safety class.  Ya know what, not one bit of plastic was used .. er .. I mean nasty old credit.  Not one swipe of a debit card either.  Do you know it's a fact that if you spend cold hard cash or greenbacks that it's MORE PAINFUL mentally than using a bank card??  Do you also know that by SEEING how much cash is in your grocery envelope and taken out to spend lets you know how much is left to get by for the rest of the month.  Not that easy with a debit card.  I even forfeit getting cash back credit points just to 'suffer' using cash.   How do you suffer for money?  In a good painful way .. or in a I don't know 'til I get the bill type of way?