We had a moderate snowfall last night and today. About 6 inches so far, but it looks like a second round is coming with the potential for a few more inches. One of the reasons I decided on a condo was having a maintenance free lifestyle. It was so nice today to watch the parking lot get plowed, the sidewalks and steps cleared and salt put down. All I had to do was go out and clear off my car. I pay for snow removal through my monthly condo fee, and it is well worth it! I did many years of hard labor shoveling snow, and as I age I knew I just couldn't manage it any more.
I made a pot of vegetable noodle soup today and will have this for lunches and/or dinners this week. I really don't mind eating the same things several times a week.
Financially, I will be seeing another $165.00 per month in my paycheck. We received a 3% COLA effective January 1st, and I selected a less expensive health plan through work. Still the same provider, just an in-network plan instead of the open access one. I'll just have to be very vigilant about specialists and so forth. The cost of the open access plan was going up substantially, so I switched.
I am going to continue to keep myself on a rather tight monthly budget. Work continues to stress me out, especially my boss, no matter what I do. So even though things will be very tight for me, it's still my plan to retire from the college at age 59.5, when I am eligible for the health care subsidy. So with that in mind I am still saving every last dime I can. At some point, your physical and mental health becomes more important then trying to "stick it out" because you don't have a million dollars for retirement.
Well, I am babbling...thanks for listening and have a good week!
Sunday Update
January 13th, 2019 at 09:44 pm
January 14th, 2019 at 01:10 pm 1547471407
I don't mind eating the same thing for several days, but only if it's good! I made a vegetable soup the other day, and it just came out flat. Now I've got a huge pot, which I don't want to freeze because it has lots of potatoes. So I'm making myself eat it.
Do you really need to wait til age 59.5 to leave the college job? Last spring I pulled back from f/t work, and a big part of making sure my plan was financially doable was getting the health care subsidy. You can get that subsidy at any age, as long as you make below their income threshold, which is roughly $48,000 for a single person, and you have some source of income that doesn't offer a comparable health plan. (If your employer did offer a plan, then you could still get on the ACA plan, but not get the subsidy.)
January 14th, 2019 at 11:48 pm 1547509691
I agree...your mental and physical health are important and we had goals before either of us could retire. Every time I did without something I wanted (not needed) and I kept saying, a step closer to retirement! Hope you can achieve your goal and enjoy retirement!
February 2nd, 2019 at 09:49 am 1549100963
February 15th, 2019 at 06:37 am 1550212648