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Better Weather & Plans, Plans, Plans

January 3rd, 2014 at 03:55 pm

Well, weather-wise, it's a much better day. The sun is shining on our 14 inches of snow. It's COLD out there, but the walk today was so much better than yesterday's, with no flakes in my face, and the walkways cleared.

Next week, below-zero temps are predicted. I will not walk in that weather. I will work from home.

I haven't talked much about my (financial) snowflakes, since I don't earn very many. But I closed out 2013 with almost $800 in snowflakes. Next year, I hope to top that. I just applied for the Discover It card that Ceejay recommended, so that would bring in $150 for a starter. I'm also expecting a $50 Amazon gift card from MyPoints.

My imminent goal is to charge nothing until January 12, when my current Discover bill cycle closes. I have a bit of cash, but I will try not to spend that either. Then I plan to pay the bill in full, without having to go to my EF.

My secondary goal this month is to spend only $300 on variables. However, I do have to buy a plane ticket to Florida for a trip in February, and I just won't count that in the $300, obviously. If I were retired already, I either wouldn't go, or I would pull the money from my EF. But I'm not going to "practice" retirement quite that rigidly.

The Florida trip is to help my son with a garage sale. I'd say a massive garage sale, judging from the number of boxes in their garage! They will probably move at the end of the month, though at this point they don't know whether it will be to another Florida location or back to Chicago. But they know for sure they need to leave this rental which is too expensive for them.

I may choose to drive, and I may bring a friend to help. We'll see. I know in mid-February I'll be ready for some sunshine!

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

3 Responses to “Better Weather & Plans, Plans, Plans”

  1. snafu Says:
    January 3rd, 2014 at 05:57 pm 1388771845
    1388771845

    CB, you've touched on a point that I'm finding bewildering. What unusual spending needs to be addressed by a 'slush' fund and which items truly warrant dipping into EF? To make it worse, we have a House Maintenance Fund left over from former home and all the updates initially needed when I bought this out-of-date condo. For those of us who have extremely low likelihood of unemployment, what factors to choose? [we have a different medical system so know those costs are nil]

  2. CB in the City Says:
    January 3rd, 2014 at 06:18 pm 1388773126
    1388773126

    Well, for me, the slush fund is for temporary bumps in budget -- unexpected expenses that are too high for the regular income/outgo. It's easy to get to, easy to repay. The EF is more remote. It's for emergencies -- like losing your job -- but it's also where I stash money for planned big-ticket items (appliances that fail, etc.). Theoretically you shouldn't mix them like that, but I don't like to have a lot of accounts.

  3. ceejay74 Says:
    January 3rd, 2014 at 07:22 pm 1388776959
    1388776959

    We're getting record lows (like 50-year record) on Monday! So far AS's office is doing a work-from-home day, my office has made working from home an option, and all Mpls public schools are closed. Waiting to see what other closures occur. We'll be taking a cab to drop the girls at daycare, assuming it's open.

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