Ceejay74's Personal Finance Blog

Tonight was a meal designed to use up some CSA veggies. We had a big salad and I basically put all the ingredients in separate bowls and let everyone make their own. It had:
- CSA Napa cabbage
- CSA Romaine lettuce
- CSA sugar snap peas
- CSA cilantro
- storebought avocados
- storebought tomatoes
- storebought mangoes
- vegan chikn strips
- roasted pumpkin seeds with soy sauce
- leftover soy-lemon dressing from the other night

Not exactly setting the world on fire since we've had similar meals before, but not this exact combination of ingredients so I'm counting it as 27 down, 23 to go! Anyway, it was delicious and I had seconds ... and then ate up the last bits of vegan chikn with more avocado and pumpkin seeds ... and then mashed the last of the avocado and had it on a tostada with a bit of leftover refried beans and hot sauce. Needless to say, I'm stuffed! Oh, and the kids ate it up no problem, so that's always good. Letting them leave one or two ingredients off made it more of a curated experience for them, which always goes over bigger with kids.

We spoke with AS on FaceTime tonight. She's in Va. now, at her mom's apartment. I'm proud to say that my family has really stepped up to the plate: My sister drove AS's mom home from the hospital and also all over to get prescriptions etc., and also stayed with her to help her get settled in. My dad picked AS up from the train station and drove her to her mom's apartment, and even offered to loan AS one of his cars (she doesn't drive and her mom shouldn't be driving for a while, but it was nice of him to offer).

Nevertheless, she's missing home and us and the kids and the cats and her routine, and we're missing her. She got a bit teary at the end of the call. Hopefully her mom will progress to the point that AS feels OK coming home sooner rather than later.

Thanks everyone for the sympathy on my last post! I'm happy to report that things are going better for AS. She talked to nurses, her mom and my sister, and those three voices were able to balance the scales against her aunt's hysteria. So she's still in NYC and having a good, guilt-free time with one of my old college buddies who has become her dear friend too.

Here's one funny anecdote that illustrates what was going on so perfectly: She talks to her aunt who says "They tried to have your mom sit in a chair, but she couldn't handle it! She got so exhausted that they had to move her back to the bed!" Then AS called the nurses to ask how it was going. "Your mom's doing great! She actually wanted to sit in a chair for a little while! When she got tired, we moved her back to her bed to rest." So, there you go. Two ways to look at one situation.

My sister confirmed after a visit (as did snafu from her own experience) that AS's mom didn't really want visitors. And AS's aunt went home, so she's less of an "authority" now that she's not hanging around the hospital.

AS's mom got moved to the "step-down" unit, which is halfway between ICU and a regular hospital room. She confirmed that AS's aunt was being a real pain with her attempts to raise alarms about every little thing. (She couldn't really say it before because the aunt was in the room. )

So that's all looking good. NT and I are hanging in there with the girls, although the housework has slipped a bit. (In our defense it was a really busy weekend and we were barely home.)

Saturday night I tried a new meal. It was going to be pasta with a spinach-garlic sauce. But then I saw that the CSA had given us a much smaller bunch of spinach than I'd expected, not nearly enough for the recipe. So instead I chopped the spinach really small and cooked it with some garlic and herbs. Then I tossed with spaghetti and sauteed broccoli.

It was basically a modified version of this garlic-toss pasta that we do, but it was a nice variation. Simple and healthy. The kids finished it no problem. So I'd do something similar in the future.

So that's 26 meals tried, 24 to go!

Our CSA vegetable delivery has started up again, so I'm trying to look at it as inspiration for new meals. The first one I tried was roasted asparagus, chickpeas and shallots with a soy-lemon dressing. It was pretty good! I don't know if I'd go out of my way to make it again, but we all liked it. I served it over rice with a spinach-lettuce salad that had roasted pumpkin seeds and balsamic vinaigrette. (I usually just mix oil and vinegar for that, but this time I actually read a recipe and added salt, pepper and a little brown sugar, and it was delicious!)

So that's 25 new meals tried, 25 to go. I have another new meal planned for Saturday night.

AS left today on her travels, heading to NYC first. I haven't posted much because everything feels so up in the air. Trying hard to "go with the flow," which includes scheduling as well as money irregularities. And a good deal of emotions.

So AS's mom had her open-heart surgery Tuesday to repair a valve. She could have had her breathing tube removed and been out of sedation that day, but every patient is different. Doctors kept pushing it back until today, when AS was finally able to speak to her on the phone. She sounded groggy but OK. AS's sort-of plan is to stay in NYC until her mom is ready to leave the hospital. Her reasoning is her mom will have round-the-clock expert care there, but could use AS's help more (and just enjoy her company more) once she's headed home.

But then there's AS's aunt. Who has her own opinions and is trying to ram them down AS's throat. Namely that AS should have been there for the surgery (which was not a risky or uncertain procedure and is actually quite routine) and after. She's at the hospital now and freaks AS out every time she talks to her. Trying to tell AS that her mom is hiding things (all of a sudden her aunt reveals that she has suspected for a while that AS's mom "drinks." To excess? Who knows; she's very vague but worried and disapproving. But if she thought it was a serious thing, why hasn't she told AS before?). Trying to insist that AS's mom needs to go into a rehab facility for several weeks, that the doctors and nurses are more worried than they're letting on, that AS's mom sounded really bad when she came to and could only say "yes" or "no" with no sign she understood what was going on. (AS knows that is not the case because her mom was able to respond more than that even on the phone call they had right after she woke up and had the breathing tube removed.) Telling AS that she'll need to make several visits out there.

It's a big stew of manipulation, mistrust, judgy-ness, lifelong sibling conflict (between AS's aunt and mom) and attempts to get her way, for all of the above reasons. AS knows her aunt, knows she can be unreasonable, paranoid and inflexible. But still, when her mom's health is involved, it's hard to stay dispassionate in the face of all this.

So anyway, she's going to talk to her mom again tonight when she's had more time to clear her mind from her aunt's latest barrage (and when her mom will have had time to perk up after being sedated for four days). She'll talk to the doctor. She may talk to my sister, who's in the area and has visited a couple times. She'll try to decide if she is needed there sooner than she thought. My feeling is if her mom seems despondent, scared or lonely, that would be a good reason to come early. If not, there's no medical or practical reason to hurry down there. This is all due to her aunt's emotional blackmail.

I hate to think of AS having to take calls from the aunt when I'm not there, because they rattle her and I'm usually able to help her calm down. I'd like her to enjoy a couple days in NYC as planned before heading down. But I don't know how that's going to pan out.

I also don't know how long she'll be gone. She's been thinking a week or two in Va., starting next Tuesday or Wednesday.

I also don't know how much this will all cost. It's not that expensive to fly to Va. from NYC, but AS has also mentioned hiring additional help if the insurance-provided caregiver doesn't seem sufficient. So I know that could be a huge expense. And then there's the flight back from Va. to MN.

And then there's just the worrying. Me worrying about AS, her worrying about her mom, and what her aunt thinks of her, or might try to do.

And just missing her. We were separated for up to a month at a time when she was in college because she'd go home on breaks sometimes while I stayed in MN. But we haven't been apart for more than, probably, 5 days at a time since then. Our 20-year anniversary is coming up, so it's probably been over 15 years since we've been apart longer.

Plus, it's a luxury, but it's so nice to have three parents and I've gotten used to that flexibility and ability to cover for one another, so it's gonna be weird to be just me and NT. And the fact that AS works her own schedule, from home, gives her more opportunity to watch the kids if they come home sick, or wait for repairmen, or do little errands and chores that need doing during the work week.

So, I'm just trying to be supportive and flexible and get through the next unspecified number of days/weeks with relative grace and calm. It goes against my pro-planning, routine-loving self these days, but I know I have to try, and that it could be much worse.

OK, OK, technically it was yesterday.

I put it on my calendar a long time ago, reminded myself to post even during the day yesterday--and then just plumb forgot. I'm a bit off my routine at the moment.

Anyway, here I am 10 years later! Since my blog is largely numbers-focused, I thought I should do a snapshot of then and now.

My estimated debt was $457,714. It included $305,544 in mortgage debt on two homes, a $7,000 loan from my dad, $5,000 projected for a trip to England, $72,365 in education debt (this included $40,000 projected debt for NT's undergrad that was about to start), and a horrifying $72,808 in credit card debt!

I didn't calculate our assets for a few months, but in August I estimated them to be worth $507,550. That included $445,000 of home values (though one of them ended up being overvalued by about $40K) and $62,550 of retirement funds.

So technically taken together, we had a net worth of $49,836. If you took out the overvaluation of our condo it would be less, but then again if you took out the $45K of "estimated future debt" for our trip and NT's education, it would then come to about the same. So I'd say we had about $50,000 net worth together.

Our monthly net income from paychecks (including an estimate for NT because he was a temp at the time) was about $5,400.

Fast forward to today:
Our debt is actually almost the same, just a tiny bit lower, at $454,735. The difference is it includes $0 in personal loans, $0 in student loans, and $0 in credit card debt. It's all mortgages on two homes (one of them a multifamily), except $9,000 owed to our downstairs neighbors, which will get converted from a debt to their down payment if we ever complete an agreement for them to purchase their unit of the home.

Our assets are $974,945. This includes two (much more realistically valued) homes and $335,164 in retirement funds. That puts our net worth at $520,210.

Our monthly net income (again an estimate because now AS is a freelancer) is about $9935. So it's $4,535 more per month, almost double, and that's with increased retirement, healthcare and daycare withholdings.

So, our debt hasn't gone down much, but our "bad debt" has been wiped out. Our retirement funds are up $272,614, our total assets have increased in value by $467,395, and our net worth by $470,210!

All in all, it's been a great 10 years. We've made some mistakes, had some setbacks, but I'm pretty proud of my family for sticking with me through it. We've all changed in the way we look at and talk about and use money. I hope the next 10 years will be even more fruitful!

Thank you, SA family, for always being willing to listen and advise. I feel like I wouldn't be in as good a place without you.

And just like that, AS's freelance check drought broke! She got $1800 from one place and $2500 from another. Our shared-spending deficit is gone.

That win might be temporary, with Father's Day festivities coming up tomorrow, and AS's trip to NYC that will probably get a trip to Va. tacked on to it. Oh and we need to get the outdoor spigot fixed. But it's still nice to see us in the black for a bit! And she's still expecting a couple more checks this month, so hopefully we won't get badly behind again.

Earlier this week (gosh, I can't even remember what day) AS got a call from her mom. She was in the hospital because she'd been getting dizzy and out of breath while on a walk.

Turns out she had an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia?) and they wanted to do this procedure where they shocked her heart to get it back on track. They also wanted to examine her more closely and figure out the right medication, because she'd never had an ideal mix.

A couple days later she had the procedure, but they'd turned up a leaky valve and a stiffening artery. They said she would need open heart surgery.

At first AS was very scared and upset, but the more she learns about it the better she feels. She was thinking she'd need to go take care of her mom, but her insurance will cover a nurse, and she doesn't seem that worried.

To complicate matters, AS's solo trip to NYC is coming up next Friday-Wednesday, and we didn't get trip insurance on that one. AS was trying to figure out whether to skip it entirely, to fly to Va. from there, or what. The date of the procedure kept changing, so that was adding to the uncertainty.

But today things seem to be clearer. The procedure is probably happening this Monday. AS's mom is insistent that she doesn't need her by the bedside during/after surgery. She'll be in the hospital a few days and then will go home.

So at present AS's plan is to go to NYC as planned, but instead of coming home afterward, to fly to Va. and stay with her mom for a week or two. (Just saying that is weird to me -- I haven't been away from her that long probably in about 18 years!)

The great thing about being a freelancer is she can bring her laptop and not miss a beat work-wise.

I'm glad this is happening after the school year ended; AS does all the getting-kids-ready stuff in the morning while I get myself ready for work, and it's less stress if I just need to get them to daycare vs. to the school bus stop at a certain time!

It'll take a lot of other adjustments too; we're creatures of habit, and while we're used to covering for one another during short absences, I'm sure there are lots of things we don't even realize AS takes care of until she's gone!

So it'll be a bit of a drain on our funds, but overall it doesn't seem as bad as it was seeming (health-wise or money-wise) earlier in the week!

Our shared spending is in the negative because there's been a big drought of freelance checks. I would really love that to get back in balance before all this starts up!

So last Thursday I made tostadas for what I believe was the first time. Basically hard flat tortilla shells spread with refried beans and sprinkled with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, avocado, salsa. It's funny because Mexican is a staple that shows up almost every week for us, but I'd never thought to do these. The kids loved them and even had more for snacks the next day. AS wasn't a huge fan because she prefers soft wheat tortillas, but I can easily get a pack of those the next time I make tostadas. We also had corn and Spanish rice with the meal.

Sunday I made "grilled cheese rollups" from the damndelicious site where I got the Korean beef bowl idea. The kids like regular grilled cheese and tomato soup so I thought they'd find this fun, but they didn't seem to be very into them. So I'll probably just stick to regular sandwiches in the future.

Our neighborhood is mostly big, early 1900s single-family or multifamily homes, interspersed with (non-high-rise) apartment buildings. There are these three darling little houses that we pass a lot on our walks, and we've always thought we'd love to own one and make it a rental property, preferably renting to a good friend of ours. They're only a couple blocks away from us.

We never thought they'd ever go on sale, but one of them did, just two days ago. $225K for a 900-square-foot home. It's a reasonable price for our neighborhood.

If we'd sold the UK flat this year I'd totally consider making an offer! But alas, we won't be listing our UK property until next spring at the earliest.

I see that this house is already "pending," and it's only been on the market 2 days. Sigh. I know a duplex would make a lot more sense as a rental property, but I just have such a crush on these adorable houses.

https://www.edinarealty.com/homes-for-sale/1212-w-33rd-street-minneapolis-mn-55408-4840710#/

We tried three new meals in the past week or so, so we're getting close to the halfway point on my new meals goal!

First, I decided to make a "breakfast wrap" with a burrito tortilla, stuffed with my go-to tofu scramble, veggie bacon, cheese, and sauteed peppers and onions. We had it with watermelon and potato chips; I'd planned it to be able to be taken on a picnic if the weather was nice (it wasn't). It was tasty, but I prefer a breakfast burrito (refried beans etc.) so I wouldn't go out of my way to make this again.

Then, AS made mushroom Swiss burger melts, with veggie burgers (and vegan mozzarella instead of Swiss for me), sauteed mushrooms and onions, and melty cheese, served with fries. A tasty twist on the usual veggie burger meal; we'd definitely have it again.

And tonight I tried the Korean beef bowl that Monkey Mama posted about! I used vegan ground beef but otherwise followed the recipe, and served it with white rice and sauteed broccoli. It was a big hit with the adults (NT and I spiced ours up with Sri Racha) and even the kids finished it with no complaints. It was super easy, so I could see this becoming a regular weeknight meal. Thanks Monkey Mama!

So that's 22 new meals tried, 28 to go for the year!

Our kids are at a sleepover, so we can stay up late and sleep in. So what's a girl to do but check our budget?

All our mortgage payments hit:
US: $697 to principal
UK1: $181
UK2: $39
UK3: $40

That makes $957 to principal this month

New debt totals:
US Mortgage $396,071
Loan from friends (duplex) $9,000
UK Mortgage 1 $34,663
UK Mortgage 2 $7,306
UK Mortgage 3 $7,695
TOTAL DEBT $454,735

The year we bought our current home was one of the most stressful, but in terms of actual activity I can't think of a year that's been as busy as this one!

The main thing is travel, which I find more disruptive than other types of activity because there's all the preparation leading up to it and getting caught up from it afterward. Somehow we went from thinking this would be a quiet year travel-wise to planning a ton of trips (and having a few dumped on me by my job).

So here's what we've done so far (and have coming up):
January: No travel
February: NT overnight road trip to Chicago with friends and an overnight solo work trip to Memphis for me
March: 2 overnight solo work trips to Memphis and my solo vacation to NYC
April: family road trip/vacation by a lake
May: a 4-day work trip to Memphis
June: AS's solo vacation to NYC
July: Possible 2-week work trip for AS to Tahoe (late July/early August)
August: week-long family vacation to Virginia
September: NT's week-long solo trip to UK for his sister's wedding
October: my niece is getting married in West Virginia and I'm tempted to go as she's my first niece or nephew to get married, but I'm looking at our schedule and budget and feel very on the fence about it!
November/December: No travel planned at present

So, whew! What a year it turned out to be. Somehow we've managed it all (so far; the airfare is bought for NYC & Va. but nothing else) without incurring debt, and had our bathroom redone, and saved over $8K toward renovations, over $5K toward our EF and upped our retirement contributions by 1 percent or so.

First the good: NT was able to fill up all the bus passes we needed with reimbursable expenses, so we were able to save $100 in the budget. AS is still benefiting from catching up on this mysterious healthcare discount, so we saved about $176 in the budget! (Next month I think it'll be about $85 less than budgeted for, but I'm not counting on it because I'm not sure what this discount is for.) We also earned $10 in credit card rewards and checking account interest.

I put $100 into savings and the rest toward our shared spending deficit. Even with having a planned restaurant dinner night and me and AS getting some clothes, our deficit is only $500, and we have a bunch of money expected from AS's freelance job.

We found some 4' by 4' raised garden beds for half price on Amazon and ordered two at $25 apiece. Our downstairs neighbors ordered one too.

However ...

I found out that our homeowner insurance will be going up $54 per month in August. That's the same month we'll be done paying in for an escrow shortfall, so I was looking forward to saving about $120 per month, but now the mortgage will only be about $70 less than it is now. Bummer.

Also, we found out our leaky outdoor spigot was due to a pipe freezing and bursting over the winter, and our first quote to fix it is $675.

Plus, we got a massive wasp infestation in our screened-in porch. They found some tiny gaps in the screen's frame, poured in by the hundreds and started building several nests on our porch. We have pest control coming out tomorrow; estimate is $175 to get rid of them.

So overall it's been a bad money week. But I know we'll be able to fund these expenses with AS's expected freelance income.

Which is good because we have to pay for more swim and dance lessons soon and start saving up for AS's June trip and the August family vacation. Oh, and the kids will need a bunch of school supplies over the summer. And AS and I really want a fancy dinner date for our 20-year dating anniversary coming up in July!

Goal: $494,743 by 2019

As a reminder, this is just an incremental goal along the way to 8x income by retirement. This mini-goal aims to get us to a milestone by the time I turn 45 and AS turns 40.

The milestone (which changes whenever our salaries change) is to get me to 3x my current salary, which is now $68,291, so $204,873; NT to 3x his, which is now $62,100, so $186,300; and AS to 2x hers, which in 2016 was $51,785, so $103,570)

Current balance: $330,279

April 2017 balance: $324,735

Progress: $5,544

An OK bump, but not as much as we need to gain monthly to reach our interim goal. (At least it looks like we'll pass our 2017 mini-mini-goal of $350K before the end of the year!)

To reach the goal by our birthdays in 2019, that's 21 months, so we'd need to contribute (or have assets appreciate) $164,464 -- $7,832 per month -- to reach it.

Assets:
NT's UK pensions:
AV: 17,967 pounds ($22,459)
SW: 20,398 pounds ($25,497)
FL: 5,534 pounds ($6,917)
NT's 401(k): $53,055
NT's Roth IRA: $19,166
AS's trad. IRA: $17,339
AS's Roth IRA: $37,755
AS's SEP IRA: $16,239
CJ's 401(k): $107,705
CJ's Roth IRA: $24,147
NT's flat: $212,500 (200,000 pounds value x1.25 -15%)
CJ/NT/AS house: $427,281 ($454,554 value -6%)
---
Total Assets: $970,060

Debts:
US Mortgage $396,768
Loan from friends (duplex) $9,000
UK Mortgage 1 $34,844
UK Mortgage 2 $7,345
UK Mortgage 3 $7,735
---
TOTAL DEBT $455,692

Current Estimated Net Worth: $514,368

April 2017 estimate: $507,869

Change in net worth: +$6,499

Summary: Slowly working toward the million-dollar mark on assets. Not sure we'll get to $600K in net worth since I devalued the homes last month, but maybe.

Notes on the numbers above: House value estimates are approximate. (I do have my eye on a comparable listing for the UK flat, but it's been on the market a long time.) UK pension values updated about once a year. UK asset values and debt amounts are calculated figuring $1.25 for every British pound.

This was a good money week! As I mentioned earlier, I got a $100 Amex gift card from my job. The next day, NT got a $500 mini-bonus check from his! And AS got paid for a freelance job for NT's work much earlier than expected (netting $400). We have about $70 in CC rewards that I can redeem, and we finally got the "secure key" replacement so I could log in to NT's UK account and transfer rental income into savings.

So, of the $1070 in U.S. dollars, the $100 gift card will be used for our next date night, $350 went into reno savings, and the rest went to make up some of the shared-spending deficit we have right now. (I decided to go ahead and book our airfare for AS's solo trip to NYC and our August trip to Va., knowing that AS's booked jobs will pay eventually.) Our deficit is now only $260, with more money expected soon.

Our reno savings are up to $8300! We have quite a ways to go if we want to do the kitchen next. Or we could decide to do a smaller project.

And, I was able to transfer 450 pounds ($562) into the UK savings account. That brings our EF savings to $5500, over halfway to our $10,000 goal!

Whew, it's been a crazy few weeks at my job. I traveled for work 4 days last week, and this week is me playing catchup. Plus it's our main client's fiscal year end on 5/31, so it would've been nuts without being mostly out of commission for four days.

The bad: Yesterday I came home from work, made dinner, then pretty much worked until 1:30am on a project I totally hadn't wanted to take, because I had more than enough on my plate. And it was for this PowerPoint where I'd presented an outline that the client got really confused about and thought it was meant to be the piece itself, so she thought I'd really "missed the mark."

The good: I got a really big compliment from two clients yesterday, emailed to an account exec. She forwarded it to all the execs and supervisors, and today I got a nice note from my two direct supervisors and a $100 Amex gift card! Oh, and the client that was confused about my outline yesterday was really happy with the actual writing I stayed up late to do, so I fixed that little snafu.

Anyway, I came on here to record progress on my new meals goal. I knew it was going to be busy this week (though I couldn't have guessed HOW busy) but wanted to try a new meal. So I decided to do "loaded fries." Essentially it was frozen fries, baked in the oven, topped with lots of cheddar cheese partway through. Then people could add chili (heated up from a can), green onions, veggie bacon and tofu sour cream. It actually went over really well, even with AS who's not crazy about chili and our youngest who's not big into fries. Oh, and I roasted some cauliflower so we'd have something healthy with it. Would definitely do this again for a week when we're busy and/or not trying to spend much! That's 19 new recipes tried, 31 to go.

I noticed that AS's healthcare premium payment hadn't posted for May 1, so I asked her to look into it. Turns out there was some kind of discount from the state (she's on Obamacare), and we don't owe anything this month! So that's a $351 bonus we totally didn't expect. I also redeemed $33 in credit card rewards while I was at it. As usual, I put one-third into reno savings, one-third toward future travel and one-third to shared spending.

The shared spending portion went to make up part of our current deficit. We were about $500 in the hole and now we're $369 down. AS's income has had a dry patch where she's booking lots of work, but no checks have come in this month and she's not expecting any for a little while. We've scaled way back on shared spending; we've only splurged this month $75 on getting delivery (first unplanned eating out all year, I believe) and $90 for a ticket to a show NT goes every year. But we were already in the hole from April; a $100 budget mistake that I had to take out of shared, plus $70 for contacts for AS, plus $175 for kids' swim lessons, and some spring wardrobe items for each of us had put us in the red.

When the money does start rolling in, we'll be all good again. AS has nearly $10K worth of work booked through mid-June, and some of it has already been worked so some money will hopefully come in this month.

And it's important to note that we're not *actually* in the red; I have $7675 saved up for renovations, $200 for painting and other small improvements, and over $600 saved up for travel. So any of that could be used to make up our shared spending shortfall if need be.

Which is good, because we have a couple of fun things planned this weekend that I'm planning to take out of shared spending. A friend visiting from out of town, so we're hiring a babysitter Saturday and going out for drinks with her. And boozy Mother's Day brunch for me and AS on Sunday . Oh! That reminds me I need to figure out what we're doing for OUR mothers.

Oh, and we've agreed to split the cost of a handyman/yard worker with our downstairs neighbors; they've found someone who does odd jobs for $15 an hour and is eager to get more work, so we'll be hiring him to mow the lawn, help us plant our garden, and do other general outdoor work. So that type of stuff will come out of shared spending.

But, on the plus side, we've got about a $700 surplus in the June budget that I haven't applied yet. And it looks like AS's healthcare discount may be for the whole year; the way they applied it was about $88 for every month of 2017 so far, so it seems like they may be giving us that discount for every month of 2017 going forward. Not sure why, but pretty cool! (Maybe because she made a little less in 2016 than she did in 2015, and the premium was based on her 2015 returns?)

Oops, I realized it's about time to leave work! I think that's most of my money news anyway.

I tried two new meals this week, so that's 18 down, 32 to go!

First, I had a bunch of cooked lentils left over from the last new meal I cooked; I'd thrown them in the freezer until I thought of what to do with them. With some advice from a friend, I cooked them last night with curry flavors and made lunch portions with rice.

It wasn't a recipe per se; I chopped some garlic, onions and carrots and sauteed in olive oil until they started to soften, then added curry powder, garam masala, coriander, salt, cayenne and black pepper. When they started to smell fragrant I added some water and mock chicken broth powder and cooked until the carrots were really soft. Then I put the cooked lentils in and simmered for about 15 more minutes.

It tasted great and had a real spicy kick. A good lunch option I'd make again!

Then for dinner tonight I made Thai-style tofu wraps with ginger peanut sauce, shredded carrots and slivered red bell pepper, and a side of fried Thai-style potato-corn-chili-cilantro-lime patties. All the chopping and prep took quite a while, but the results were delicious! If I had someone assisting, or had extra time and energy, I'd definitely make both again.

I never did post photos of our bathroom reno, which was completed a couple months ago! Part of the reason is because I lost most of my "before" pics when I ruined my work phone. And also, it took us a few weeks after the reno was done to buy matching towels, curtain etc. And also, we kept meaning to buy more matching stuff such as shampoo bottles, hairdryer etc. but never did.

But I do have two "before" pics that I posted on Facebook. And it looks really good even without all the matchy-matchy accessories we planned. So here goes!

Before:





I did have some photos of in-between but lost them all. The room was down to bare boards. Our contractor completely redid it with new drywall, paint, tile, floor, tore down the shower and built in a bathtub, and added a glass panel so we could still take showers in the tub. It's sooo nice to be in now. It was one of my least favorite rooms and now it's one of the best!

After:









It cost about $9,000 counting accessories.

All our mortgage payments hit:

US Mortgage $695 to principal
UK Mortgage 1 $181
UK Mortgage 2 $39
UK Mortgage 3 $40
All told, that's $955 to principal this month.

Current debt is now:

US Mortgage $396,768
Loan from friends (duplex) $9,000
UK Mortgage 1 $34,844
UK Mortgage 2 $7,345
UK Mortgage 3 $7,735
TOTAL DEBT $455,692

We've made some progress on savings over the past few months. The EF is up to 3950 pounds, which is nearly $5,000, which is almost halfway to my EF goal! We have $7,625 saved for renovations; we're mainly saving up for a kitchen reno but will use some for minor porch improvements soon. One-third of AS's net income goes into reno savings, so we'll keep adding to it every time she gets paid.

Oh, and we also have $425 saved up for whatever vacation AS decides to take. She's wavering between NYC and San Francisco. Either way we have enough for her plane ticket, but we'll need to save up for hotel and other expenses (transportation, dining, etc.). We also need to save up for the family trip to Va. this summer. We'll get there!

Goal: $494,743 by 2019

(As a reminder, this is just an incremental goal along the way to 8x income by retirement. This mini-goal aims to get us to a milestone by the time I turn 45 and AS turns 40.

The milestone (which changes whenever our salaries change) is to get me to 3x my current salary, which is now $68,291, so $204,873; NT to 3x his, which is now $62,100, so $186,300; and AS to 2x hers, which in 2016 was $51,785, so $103,570)

Current balance: $324,735

March 2017 balance: $317,920

Progress: $6,815

A nice bump up, but our goal also grew because of my raise.

To reach the goal by our birthdays in 2019, that's 22 months, so we'd need to contribute (or have assets appreciate) $170,008 -- $7,728 per month -- to reach it.

Assets:
NT's UK pensions:
AV: 17,967 pounds ($22,459)
SW: 20,398 pounds ($25,497)
FL: 5,534 pounds ($6,917)
NT's 401(k): $52,216
NT's Roth IRA: $18,842
AS's trad. IRA: $17,059
AS's Roth IRA: $37,131
AS's SEP IRA: $15,964
CJ's 401(k): $106,285
CJ's Roth IRA: $22,365
NT's flat: $212,500 (200,000 pounds value x1.25 -15%)
CJ/NT/AS house: $427,281 ($454,554 value -6%)
---
Total Assets: $964,516

Debts:
US Mortgage $397,463
Loan from friends (duplex) $9,000
UK Mortgage 1 $35,025
UK Mortgage 2 $7,384
UK Mortgage 3 $7,775
---
TOTAL DEBT $456,647

Current Estimated Net Worth: $507,869

February 2017 estimate: $555,321

Change in net worth: -$47,452

Summary: Retirement accounts went up at a nice pace, but I decided to adjust both home values to what seemed like a more accurate estimate, so our assets are below a million again. Darn! Hopefully the next time they get up there, they stay there.

Notes on the numbers above: House value estimates are approximate. (I do have my eye on a comparable listing for the UK flat, but it's been on the market a long time.) UK pension values updated about once a year. UK asset values and debt amounts are calculated figuring $1.25 for every British pound.

I pretty much consciously abandoned trying new meals during the month of March and the first part of April. Way, way too many other things going on, so we opted for easy, familiar meals (when we weren't having restaurant and delivery meals for birthdays and other occasions).

But tonight I finally got back on track with this particular goal. I made a pasta dish called "lentil-a-roni" out of the cookbook "Isa Does It." Pasta, pureed cashews and veggie broth, lentils, and a simple tomato sauce. Everyone loved it but AA, and even she managed to finish half her bowl, so if I gave her a smaller portion and let her have a healthy snack after, it would work for her. It's a keeper!

That's our 16th new meal this year, so we have 34 to go. There are 35 weeks left in the year, so if we average one per week, we should be able to meet it. Luckily we were trying more than one a week before our seven-week break!

In light of Zillow's drastic reduction in home valuation, I decided to adjust the value in my net worth calculation. eppraisal has it at $472,235 and Zillow $436,873, so I chose a midpoint of $454,554.

Minus 6%, that's $427,281.

While I'm at it I thought I'd update the UK flat. I think I have it valued lower than it's worth, but I also never accounted for how much it would cost to sell. I know we'd have to pay our management company 10% and I imagine there are other closing costs involved, so I'll say I need to take 15% off the value.

I had the flat valued at 180K pounds, but I think it's closer to 200K. At a 1.25 exchange rate that's $250,000, and minus 15% it's $212,500.

Slightly less than what I had in my net worth calculation, but it seems more accurate.

Looking at my Mint.com account, I noticed my home value seemed a lot lower than usual. So I went and checked eppraisal for that and our Zillow estimate.

Zillow is now estimating our value at $436K. That's a far cry from the $586K in September! And I believe it went even higher than that, but that's the note I found.

Weirdly enough, they seem to have reverse engineered their trend line so that the value has never gone above $470K in the past 8 years. If I hadn't blogged about it, I'd think I was going crazy. They must have course corrected, but it seems disingenuous to fix their past estimates like that. It makes them look more consistent than they really are.

I'm not really thinking of a refi anyway; I think the best course of action will be to start paying extra on the mortgage once we've gotten most of our major home renovations out of the way. That won't be for another couple years at least.

Happy Easter! I see it's been nearly two weeks since I last posted.

Our screen-free vacation at the lake went really well. The kids, AS and I didn't look at screens at all, except I checked the time on my phone if there wasn't a clock nearby. NT used his phone for directions a couple of times (which we could have figured out with the map and a little bit of thinking, but oh well), for playing iTunes in the car (we thought it came with satellite radio and it didn't; I would've been fine with whatever radio stations we could find, but...) and to look up a couple of things. So he couldn't make it a day without the thing, but at least he wasn't constantly on it. Huge difference!

I was going to look at AS's edits of my novel, but she hadn't had a chance to work on it before we left. She printed it out and worked on it a little, and she's continuing to work on it electronically in her spare time now that we're back. Hopefully in a couple weeks I'll be able to start fixing it up for self-publication!

The lake house was really nice. We wished the main bedroom had a king-size bed but otherwise it was perfect. Both floors had a view right out onto the lake. The kitchen and whole layout was really nice. We had a rental minivan that was roomy and nice.

The weather was gray and rainy before and after our trip, but it was clear and 40s-60s the whole time we were there! Magically it started drizzling just as we were getting ready to drive home!

We were a near a small town (Alexandria), so we drove in occasionally. We went to a candy/ice cream store (twice), a quilting store (twice), a multi-level antiques place, fast food places, and the movies (Beauty and the Beast).

I got the kids out of bed some nights to come look at stars. The nearby town and other houses meant there weren't as many visible as I thought there'd be, but still more than in Minneapolis. We had a book to help us but I still couldn't figure out any constellations except Orion and the Big Dipper. NT found the North Star.

I read one and a half giant Stephen King novels I'd been meaning to get to: Duma Key (really good) and Under the Dome (amazingly good, but tense and dark. I mean they were both dark, but this one really hit me).

The kids did some drawing, playing on the beach, board games, reading and just bumping up and down the stairs with balloons the grocery store gave us. The only time one of them asked for a screen was when we were going to put SL in the bath, because at home we sometimes put a show on an iPad in the bath. But it was just habit and when we reminded her no screens, she just smiled and said she'd forgotten.

We cooked all but three meals; we grabbed Chipotle on the way up there, fast food for lunch after a nature walk one day (there was a paved trail that went between lakes), and Chinese takeout after the movie.

It wasn't a very frugal trip; between the movies, the three meals out, firewood, groceries and wine, candy and ice cream, and a few items at the quilting and antique stores, we spent probably about $400. And that wasn't counting the $450 for van rental and I think the house rental was about $600 or $700. But it was really fun and relaxing. I loved being away from screens! I've been trying to use them less since I got back, with varying success.

We got back last Sunday, and I've mainly been focused on getting back in the swing of things at work and back into the home routine of cooking etc. After four straight weeks of trips it's taking a while to feel settled again.

One thing I had to do in the middle of the week was get follow-up tests for the abnormal mammogram I got in March. I'm happy and relieved to say that it turned out to be a benign cyst which they drained on the spot. I'm sure the Wednesday appointment will result in some bills, and it wasn't exactly fun, but immeasurably better compared with the alternative of having the tests raise more concerns.

I had other things going on this week too; a friend over on Monday for dinner; a show Friday; the "Tax March" protest/rally on Saturday; and meeting with a friend Saturday evening to help her adjust her withholdings and with other financial things. Then last night we had to hide the eggs and put out the baskets from the Easter Bunny. This morning I dragged myself out of bed at 7:30 so the kids could start the egg hunt. I've been mainlining coffee to try and perk up!

Oh, and yesterday I got word of a raise! Just 2.5% cost of living, but I'll take it. I immediately bumped my 401(k) contribution up a percent, so I won't see most of the raise. But I did get one paycheck with it and gave each of us $15 extra in spending money.

We were going to pay a friend to put in screens on our front porch (which is a 2nd-floor balcony), but after NT bought the supplies he realized it would be a relatively simple job that he could handle. So he did it this weekend! Now the cats can enjoy the porch and when the mosquitoes come, NT will be able to hang out there without getting eaten alive. We may still have our friend help us fix up the floor out there; it's made of old boards covered with ugly peeling brown paint and is really in need of some sprucing up. But anyway, getting the screens up only cost about $150 in supplies!

I suppose it's time to start thinking about the yard and what we can do to get ready for spring. Our neighbors put down a plastic sheet last fall down one strip of the front yard to kill the grass so we could plant veggies there this year. We've tried in the backyard but the big buildings on either side plus the big tree makes it a very shady place, so the veggies didn't thrive. The front yard gets a lot of sun and there's one side by the steps that isn't used for anything else, so we'll try that this year.

I've also got to talk to the downstairs neighbors about the dogs using the backyard for a toilet and them not cleaning up unless I tell them we're going to have people over to hang out there. I'd like to be able to send the kids out back spontaneously this summer and not have to worry about dog poop. This winter it got absolutely shocking and disgusting. They were better last summer so hopefully it was a winter thing. But I've still got to have the talk. Hopefully they'll change that habit.

AA started art class this weekend. She really liked it. I'm glad because we signed up for about two months of it and it cost a fair penny!

The swim classes we wanted this spring were filled up, so we paid a bit more for four semi-private sessions (just SL and AA with the instructor). Maybe it'll be a blessing in disguise and they'll progress a little faster.

Let's see, any other updates? The kids had a good Easter egg hunt (indoor) and we have a vegan ham thawing for dinner tonight.

I think (hope!) this week should be relatively uneventful. I'm ready for a boring week!

I'm mentally preparing for a screen-free trip. My plan is to try and not look at the computer or phone at all starting tomorrow morning. I hope I've got the willpower!

We've got books, games, satellite radio in the car, nature, a map, directions to several possible activities. We'll be fine and it'll be fun. It's just I've gotten so used to leaning on the internet for every little thing.

We get back Sunday, but I might not check in for a couple days depending on how much other stuff I need to catch up on.

Until then!

All our mortgage payments hit:

US duplex: $693 to principal
UK #1: $181
UK #2: $38
UK #3: $40

So that's $952 of debt paid off this month.

New debt balance:

US Mortgage $397,463
Loan from friends (duplex) $9,000
UK Mortgage 1 $35,025
UK Mortgage 2 $7,384
UK Mortgage 3 $7,775
TOTAL DEBT $456,647

Whoa, has it been three weeks since I posted here? Hard to believe, but considering I was on a short trip each of those weeks, not *too* hard.

So what's happened since the last time I checked in? I got my two business trips out of the way (both overnight trips to Memphis), and we went out for a date night on St. Patrick's Day while the kids stayed later at the daycare (we picked them up by 8:30 though; NT and AS were exhausted).

NT and I also had an impulsive date to see my fave band; they were opening for another band. We left soon after my band played though. It was an expensive impulse; my spending money is out of whack! But I always make it up in the end when that happens.

NT's birthday was the day I came back from my second business trip; he just wanted delivery food and to hang out with us and our downstairs neighbors, so that's what we did.

Soon after THAT, I had my solo trip to New York. It was so fun! I couch surfed at some old college friends' apartments, visited my old campus, went to a historical museum about the transit system, went out to eat a lot, and saw a movie plus my fave band (again, which was the main reason behind the timing of the trip). I got to see them in a little theater that was part of Lincoln Center. It was a great venue because I could really hear everything, vs. bars and concerts which tend to have a lot of peripheral noise.

It was rainy and/or gray every single day in NY, but I didn't care. I love that city and my college friends, and it was a fun and unique experience to travel without any of my family members.

I got back Wednesday, just in time for SL's 5th birthday! Everything was chaos when I got home, and AS was exhausted, so we ordered pizza delivery and hung out at our downstairs neighbors' while SL opened presents. She had a fantastic time!

Then it was two hectic days at work; basically trying to fit two weeks' worth of meetings and work into that short window. Needless to say I didn't get everything done; I'll need to work some on Sunday and be available to answer questions on Monday.

Today was SL's bday party; we had eight kids besides our two, which is a good number. We had several activities besides karaoke: hunting for clown pictures all over the house, temporary tattoos, blocks and puzzles. For snacks we did fruit, veggies, chips, pretzels, juice, frozen pizzas, and cupcakes. Pretty easy spread and not too expensive. Everyone seemed to have a great time besides a couple of minor meltdowns by kids.

It's beautiful outside, and I know we should take advantage, but we're forcing the kids to have some quiet time in their rooms, mostly for our own sake so we can rest up after the party, and then I'll take them to the playground.

Coming up in our crazy lives: a full week off! AA is on spring break, so both kids are in daycare Monday and Tuesday. We have a rental car the whole week, so we might go clothes shopping and to a movie, and anything else that occurs to us. Oh, and our precinct's caucus is Tuesday night. I might sign up to be a delegate this year. I wished I'd done it last year.

Wednesday through Sunday we're going to a house on a lake, about three hours northwest of here. I'm going to try and enforce a strict screen-free policy there, so I'm going to print out directions to everywhere I think we might want to go, and we'll bring lots of games and books. The only screen time might be going out to a movie; I think that's different from the sitting around staring at screens, which we all (especially me) do too much of.

I even asked if the house had a landline, thinking we could turn off all our phones, but they don't. So I'll keep my oldish phone out, with WiFi/data turned off, just in case any of our parents need to reach us in an emergency.

The week after that things should hopefully start to slow down. A friend is coming over the Monday after our trip to say goodbye before she moves out of state. Wednesday 4/12 I have a follow-up scan because of something concerning on my mammogram last month. I got the call about it while in NY, which wasn't very nice, but I've decided not to worry about it, after reading that most things turn out to be nothing. If it does turn out to be something, of course, our lives will change a lot, but I'm going to hope and assume that it isn't anything to worry about before then. I was thinking about buying some new glasses, but now I think I'll hold off until I see how much this follow-up exam costs (and if anything else comes up as a result).

Our shared spending went in the red for a while this month due to all the rampant birthday and travel spending, but some of AS's checks came in and we broke even. There will be more spending during our week off, but also AS is expecting a few more checks soon, so hopefully it'll balance out.

We might have to take it easy on shared spending for a while; she's booked a couple jobs, one of them quite big, but I don't think she'll get paid for them for a while. Hopefully we can stay about even until they start coming in, and then we can book our summer trip to Va. and whatever AS wants to do for her solo trip this year.

We're still adding to our reno savings for (hopefully) a kitchen redo or insulation or HVAC system. But it's in the back of my mind that this money may end up going to medical. Hopefully not. I'll know soon enough!