Retire@50

Mom and I went to Old Colorado City yesterday to look around. We went to Fargo's for lunch - Victorian style pizza parlor. We split a small pizza and both had salads. $7.00 each.

I didn't buy anything in Old Colorado, just looked. I did get 2 books for my niece at Border's both 20% off. Spent $16.30 and at Bed, Bath and Beyond I spent $20 on an Entertainment book. Had a coupons for $10 off a $30 purchase. The book has 4 $5 off $50 Safeway coupons that I can use at King Soopers so anything else I use from the book is profit.

Went to Walgreens and spent $1 on groceries today.

1.99 - 1/2 gal milk
4.00 - 2 bags Lays potato chips
----
5.99
-5.00 RR from St Ives deal
----
.99 told them to keep the penny

For the month of October I spent $1,162.15. My monthly retirement budget is $1,500.00 I put aside about $200.00 a month for insurance and property taxes. So I'm under budget by almost $150 this month. I expect I'll go over in some other month.

Here are my totals

Groceries - 138.90
Eat-out - 120.00
Household - 70.24
Books - 61.87
Utilities - 159.77
Gas - 25.00
HOA - 165.00
Xmas - 158.06
Misc - 51.57
Health - 211.74

Eat-out includes the $60 I bought in Gift cards for Texas Road House. So those are meals that won't count in future months.

I also have a bunch of rebates coming which will lower groceries/household in the coming months.

I track all that comes out of pocket during the month.

Finished reading my book Island by Richard Laymon. Mystery. OK kind of wierd.

Started out at Safeway today and got the following.

FREE - 2 Tide trial size .89 cents each had 2 $1.00 coupons but cashier adjusted them to .89
5 cans Progresso soup - Buy 2 get 3 free. They really jacked the prices of these up $3.29/can. But I had 2 $1.10 coupons so my cost was 4.38 for 5 cans plus I have a rebate for a free can which will give me $3.29 back. Final price will be 5 cans for 1.09 or .22 cents /can
-----
4.50 oop with 3.29 coming from rebate

Walmart was next

2.24 - All You magazine - lots of good coupons in this magazine

.50 - 2 10 ct boxes Nestle hot chocolate. Cost was $1.00/box and I had 2 .75 cent coupons. Goes to my brother for xmas

.50 - 2 SeaPak Shrimp Poppers. Cost was $1.25/box and I had 2 $1.00 coupons

FREE - 2 packages Green Giant Steamers $1.00 each - 2 $1.00 coupons

2.74 - Arm and Hammer essentials. Had a 1.00 coupon and a free after purchase rebate so will get 2.74 back. Goes to brother for xmas

2.39 - Walmart brand antacid
-----
8.37 oop with 2.74 coming from rebate

Last stop was King Soopers

FREE - Cottonelle TP 4 pack .99 cents - .25 coupon doubled plus shortcuts e-coupon for .50

FREE - Green Giant veggies 1.00 - .25 coupon doubled plus shortcuts e-coupon for .50

1.99 - 1/2 gal milk

4.67 - 6 pack Ensure - 3.00 coupon this has a rebate so will get 7.67 back. I use this in place of milk on my oatmeal when it's free

1.50 - 6 cans Hunts tomato paste. .75 each minus $3 in coupons = .25 cents each

1.23 - 7 bananas

.60 - taxes
------
9.99 oop plus will get 7.64 back in rebates

Total spent 22.86
Total back in rebates - 13.70
Total after rebates - 11.16

I sent off for 69.54 in rebates today

50.57 Walgreens October rebates
5.27 Lawry's
3.29 Progresso soup
2.74 Arm and Hammer Essentials
7.67 Ensure
-----
69.54

I still have $8 in Catalina coupons to use at King Soopers and $13 in RRs to use at Walgreens, but since I don't need much this week and I didn't see any great deals at Walgreens I decided to save them till next week.

Finished reading the library book A Hymn Before Battle by John Ringo. Sci/Fi. OK

I have been waiting all month for Staples to come out with their customer appreciation coupon so I could buy some printer ink and I almost missed it. I saw it yesterday and it expired yesterday. 10$ off your purchase. They usually have one of these about every 3 months, but they used to be for 12% off the purchase. Got all 4 ink colors for $59.36 - 10% - 10.20 from reward rebate from last time I bought ink. Total 46.57 plus 10% back from reward program towards next purchase.

Since my food plan is basically to stock up whenever I get good prices and then fill in with fresh stuff as needed I mostly eat out of my pantry/freezer. I don't really plan meals for the week, just for a day or two ahead of time.

This is what I had last week. Right now I have a lot of cheap cereal .50/1.50 box so breakfast is cereal, milk and fruit

Lunch is either a hot dog or a peanut butter sandwich, with raw veggies and a piece of fruit.

Sunday - pasta and garlic bread. I made a big pot of my chunky spagetti sauce and took some to my mom's to have with rigatoni pasta. Froze about 9 more meals worth of sauce. The stuff I took to mom's made enough for the 3 of us, plus enough for all 3 to eat another day. Mom also supplied garlic bread with pasta.

Monday - baked potato with light honey mustard salad dressing. green beans with garlic and walnuts sauteed in butter.

Tuesday - leftover pasta and garlic bread

Wednesday - roasted chicken breast, Uncle Ben's wild rice with celery and carrots chopped up into it, steamed frozen veggies marinated in a light honey mustard salad dressing. Veggies were green beans, cauliflower, carrots and zucchini.

Thursday - ham and beans - leftover from the freezer and leftover rice from Wednesday

Friday - Village Inn breakfast, eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, pancakes.

Saturday - chicken salad and bread. I had fixed two roast chicken breasts on Wednesday and I made the salad then, Chicken, celery, grapes, and walnuts in mayonaise. The cold chicken 3 days later was better than the warm chicken on the day it was cooked.

Finished reading my book Wild Card by Lora Leigh. Romance. Very good.

Walgreens had their $5/$20 coupons out again this week. I used 2 today

First transaction

Free - I picked up the L'oreal eye cream I had a raincheck for from Wednesday.
19.99 - L'oreal Age Perfect moisturizer
6.49 - Bendryl - 48 ct
1.00 - 2 cans mushrooms
5.00 - 2 boxes Kellogs cereal
1.70 - taxes
-----
34.18
-5.00 RR from last week
-5.00 Walgreens 5/20 coupon
-2.00 L'oreal manufacture coupon
-1.00 Benedryl coupon
-2.00 Kellogs coupon
-----
19.18 out of pocket

I get 21.99 back in Walgreens Nov rebates on the L'oreal moisturizer, so profit of $2.81

Transaction #2

1.99 - 1/2 gal milk
5.99 - Excedrin 100 ct
5.99 - Excedrin 100 ct
5.99 - Excedrin 100 ct
6.99 - Almay mascara
5.00 - 2 boxes Kellogs cereal
1.58 - taxes
-----
33.53
-3.00 - RR from last week
-5.00 - 5/20 Walgreens coupon
-2.00 - Almay coupon
-2.00 - Kellogs coupons
-6.00 - Excedrin coupons
-----
15.53

I got $8 in RRs at the register for the Excedrin and will get $7.69 back for the Walgreens Nov rebates on the mascara. (the mascara goes to my neice for xmas)

Total get back 15.69 giving me a profit of .16 cents

Next stop King Soopers.

1.99 - 18 eggs
1.59 - Generic egg noodles
1.00 - Green Giant frozen corn
1.00 - Green Giant frozen corn
.49 - day old french bread
4.99 - Glade warmer
4.99 - Glade warmer
.79 - taxes
------
16.84
-4.99 - BOGO Glade coupon
-1.00 - .50/doubled Green Giant - FREE
-1.00 - .50/doubled Green Giant - FREE
-8.00 - 2/4.00 Catalinas for buying the Glade last week
-----
1.85 oop

I got another $8 in catalina coupons to use next week. Profit $6.15

Total spent today $36.56
Total get back $45.68
Total profit $9.12

Finished reading the library book Heat Lightening by John Sandford. Mystery. Very good.

I went to the Drs this morning and blood pressure is still up 160/96 better than yesterday but not good. Will get checked again tomorrow.

We got our first snow storm yesterday - about 2 inches

Went to Walgreens where I purchased the following for $2.84

Loreal Revitalift Wrinkle cream 16.49 - $1.00 coupon. If you ask at the beauty counter there is a full rebate on this item this month. So I will get $16.49 back in rebates. Plus when you buy this product you get a free Loreal eye cream product worth $16.49. They didn't have this in stock so I got a rain check for that

4 full size bottles of Pert Shampoo. On sale for $3.49. Used one Walgreens coupon which deducted $2.50 each and used 4 $2.00 manufactur's coupons which made them free and gave me $1.01 overage for each bottle.

Bought one bottle of St Ives Elements on sale for $4.99. Used a $2.00 coupon and got a $5.00 RR on the purchase to use next time I go in.

2 4 oz can's mushrooms. Used WAGS coupon making them .50 cents each.

I recieved a $5.00 RR and will get $16.49 back in rebates. I used $15 in RRs from purchases made last week and $11.00 in manufacturer coupons.

Next stop was King Soopers where I spent $7.11 for the following

7 bananas
6 apples
2 potatoes
1 bunch of garlic
3 carrots
1 bunch celery
1 bunch green onions
2 Glade scented oil - I had a BOGO coupon and these produce $4.00 catalina coupons. Price was $4.99 each so made $3+
1 bottle Lawry's marinade - FAR plus I had a $1.00 coupon so made money here too.

I used $12 in catalina coupons from last week for the Glade products
I had $5.99 in manufacturer's coupons

I got $8 back in catalina coupons to use on my next order and I will get #3.29 back from the Lawry's rebate.

Last stop was Walmart where I spent $13.73

I got a book for $6
4 boxes Uncle Ben's long grain rice - $2 off in coupons plus a BOGO coupon.
3 packages Grean Giant Steamers. $1.27 each - 3 $1.00 coupons making them .27 each.
1 bottle Lawry's Garlic pepper - 1.98 this will be FAR
1 package Star Kist Tuna Lemon Pepper. $1.74 - $1 coupon = .74

I used 7.92 in coupons and will get $1.98 back in rebates

Total spent was $23.68
I got $5 RR back from Walgreens
I got $8 Catalina's back from King Soopers
I will get $16.49 back from Walgreens rebates
I will get $5.27 back from Lawry's rebates

Total back = $34.76 or a profit of $11.08 plus all the stuff.

I also got a $10 rebate check in the mail today and a free sample of Tide Total Care and Always Affinity.

I found a new blog I like about someone uses coupons very well - Super Coupon Girl

http://wontbesoonbeforelong.blogspot.com/

I finished reading my book Remember When by Judith McNaught. Romance. Very good.

One of my goals for when I retired was to improve my health. I went to the Dr today and had good news/bad news. The good news is my cholesterol is 108 and my triglycerides are 129. Perfect! I was able to get off one of my medicines saving me $20/month.

I've lost 10 lbs since I retired and while my diabetes is still not completely controlled it's the best it's ever been and is obviously improving. I hope to lose about 5 lbs a month and eventually have this area under control.

The bad news is my blood pressure was sky-high, in fact the Dr wouldn't let me leave until we brought it down. I have no idea why it was so high. 190/120 I've been so relaxed since I quit working. I have to go in tomorrow and get it rechecked. She may need to increase the medication. We'll see. One of my main goals is to get off all the medications - hopefully by the end of next year.

It's a good thing I don't have to take one of the medications any more because I got a notice that my COBRA premium is going up in January by 20% - $30/month. Boo hiss....

Finished reading my book Dark Light by Jayne Castle. Sci/Fi Romance. Very good.

Walgreens has a $5 off $25 purchase coupon out that's good for today and tomorrow. Went to Walgreens and spent $24.89 oop. I got $13 in register rewards back. I will get $1 back from Walgreens rebates and I will get $9.49 back from a rebate on Centrum Cardio vitamins. Total will get back is $23.49 which means I only spent $1.40 for $42.27 worth of stuff.

Just noticed they charged me twice for the milk so I need to take my receipt back and get 1.99 back. Meaning I made a profit of .59 cents on the order

I bought the following items

Scrubbing Bubbles foam cleaner $2.50 - $2.00 coupon = .50 - $1.00 rebate from Walgreens = .50 profit
4 Hersheys candy bars @.39 each. Had 2 BOGO coupons so .78 after coupons
80 Walgreens paper plates sale .99
3 Bounty paper towels on sale .89 each - 3 .25 cent coupons = 1.92 - .64 each
2 Reeses PB cup candy bars @.39 each = .78
1/2 gal milk 1.99
3 packages Kotex 3/$9 - 3 $1 coupons - $3 Register Reward = $3.00 for 3 packages
2 Dimetapp cough syrups @3.99 each = 7.98 - $4.00 coupons = $3.98
Centrum Cardio vitamins 9.49 - 3.00 coupons = 6.49
The Centrum vitamins plus the Dimetapp give a $10 register reward so .47 after the reward but I have a rebate on the vitamins for the full price so made $9
1 bag Lays potato chips $2.29

I saved $3.85 in Walgreens coupons
1 saved $5.47 in sales
I saved $13.53 in manufacture coupons

I stopped at Walmart on the way home and purchased 3 bags of the Green Giant Steamers @1.27 each. I had 3 $1 coupons so .81 cents total. The cashier said that makes them almost free, that's ridiculous. I said no that's nice

Finished reading the library book Duchess by Night by Eloisa James. Romance Very good.

I went to Texas Road House with my parents for dinner. I usually order the 6 oz sirloin for dinner. They have a new early bird special if you order two of these dinners you get a dollar off each. So mom and I both ordered that saving $2. They also have a deal right now if you buy a $30 GC you get a $5 gift certificate. I bought 4 of them. I will give 2 to my dad for xmas. I put it on my Discover card where I am getting 5% back on groceries and restaurants this quarter making another $6. We eat at Texas Road House 2 or 3 times a month so since I would spend the money anyways I might as well get a little extra.

I finished reading my book Noah by Jacquelyn Frank, Supernatural Romance. Excellent.

Went to Walmart today. Last time I went they said they weren't taking internet coupons so I had to take several items off my order. I researched and their corporate policy says they do take internet coupons so when I went in today I asked the CSR before I started shopping and he said yes they do take them. So I got all the things on my list and get to the register where the cashier says they don't take them. Sigh!!!! So I had him call over the rep and he said yes we do. Bottom line I got to use my coupons I spent 14.89 and saved $14.89 exactly 50%. My best deal was on Uncle Ben's wild rice. I had 2 coupons for $1.00 off 1 box and 2 BOGO coupons. They were 1.92 each so 2 boxes for .92 cents or .46 each. I got 4 boxes. for less than the price of 1 box.

Next stop was Walgreens. I had a $10 register reward coupon left from Sunday's trip. This can be used like cash. I purchased 9 jars of the Skippy peanut butter on sale 3/$5. Total $15 - $4.80 in coupons = $10.20 I added a .39 cent candy bar since you can't have the same number of coupons if you want to use your register reward coupon. Total 10.59 for the 9 jars of PB and candy bar. After the $10 register reward I spent .59 cents out of pocket plus because I bought $15 worth of the Unilever product I got another $5 register reward to use on my next order.

I did another transaction at Walgreens for 3 bottles of Robitussin cough medicine. Same deal as Sunday. I added another .39 cent candy bar so I could use the $5 register reward coupon from the previous transaction.

11.97 cough medicine
.39 candy bar
.95 tax
-------
13.31
-6.00 coupons
-5.00 register reward
------
2.31 oop and I got another $10 register reward to use on my next transaction

Last stop was King Soopers

Currently Glade has a promotion if you buy a Glade scented oil warmer you get a $4.00 catalina coupon to use as cash on your next grocery order. The Glade warmers are $4.99 but I have BOGO coupons meaning I spend 4.99 x 2 = 9.98 + .79 taxes for a total of 10.77 - 4.99 for the BOGO coupon = 5.78 and I get back 2 $4.00 coupons to use on my next order. I make $2.22. I had 4 of these from last week.

I bought 6 bananas, a potato, Sure Max deodorant and 2 more of the Glade warmers.

I used one BOGO coupon on the Glade and a $2.50 coupon on the Sure deodorant. I used 3 of the $4.00 Glade catalina coupons from last week. Total oop = .15 cents. Plus I got 2 more $4.00 coupons and There is a rebate for the Sure Deodorant so I will get another $5.99 back from that.

Overall I spent $17.94 cash today. I got 16 food items at Walmart. 11 food items at Walgreens. 2 at King Soopers. 3 bottles of cough syrup, 2 glade warmers and the Sure deodorant for that. Plus I have a $10 register reward to use at Walgreens. I have $8 catalina coupons to use at King Soopers and I will get $5.99 back in a rebate. I spent $17.94 and have $23.99 to use for other purchases.

Finished reading my book Turbulent Seas by Christine Feehan. Romance. Excellent

This is a great article from the Centisable Saving blog

http://www.centsiblesavings.com/2008/10/why-i-buy-things-i-d...

Finished reading my book Someone to Watch Over Me by Judith McNaught. Romance. Very good.

Went to Walgreens this morning and made a profit of $3.08 to use on my next trip

Here's how

buy 3 Dimetapp cough medicine $3.99 each
3.99 x 3 = 11.97
+ .95 tax
----------
12.92
- 6.00 manufacture coupons
------
6.92
get $10 Register Reward for next purchase
--------
$3.08 profit

$2.00 coupons off the Dimetapp are here:

https://j.ovm1.net/wch1/universalreg/Registration.aspx?reg=true&product=di&c=1490&s=01&p=DIM06002

after you register you can print the coupons. I plan to go again later this week and get more. I haven't had a cold in years but will give the supplies to my sister/brother or donate them to a charity. I will use the overage to fund other purchases of things I want/need.

Finished reading my book The Third Magic by Molly Cochran. Sci/Fi King Arthur. Very good.

I haven't blogged in awhile since I don't feel I'm doing anything that interesting. Since I retired I spend a lot of time reading, gardening, cooking, excercizing, cleaning, doing jigsaw puzzles, meeting friends. While I enjoy it it's nothing that exciting. I am spending more time reading blogs and shopping. I'm not spending more money, in fact I'm spending less, but the shopping for deals takes more time. I'm not sure sharing my shopping experiences once or twice a week is all that interesting, but I'm going to do it anyways

Yesterday I went to an estate sale and hit the jackpot of minature doll furniture. That's my hobby. I got a beautiful handmade dresser for $2.50, original price $40. I got a bed for $2, original price $20. I had just put wallets on my list of things to start looking for since mine was in danger of falling apart. I found a brand new one for .50 cents. Score

I went to Walgreens and got the following deals:

2 bars Lindt chocolate - 2.29 each

2.29 @ 2 = 4.58
- .75 manufacture coupon
- 2.00 Walgreen coupon
- 2.29 BOGO manufacture coupon
-------
.46 cents overage. This gave me .46 cents to use towards my other purchases plus the 2 candy bars free, which will go to my nieces for xmas.

Scrubbing bubbles automatic shower cleaner - 19.99
2 bottles Windex 2/$5
1 bottle Scrubbing bubbles foam cleaner -2.50
1 bottle fantastik cleaner - 2.50

29.99 - Total cleaners
+ 2.37 taxes
-------
32.36
- 10.00 coupon for automatic cleaner
- 4.00 2/$2 coupons on windex
- 2.00 coupon for scrubbing bubbles
- 1.50 coupon for fantastik
-.46 overage from candy bars
-------
$14.90 oop (out of pocket)

However Walgreens has rebates on all the cleaning stuff

$10 Automatic cleaner
$4 on the other cleaning supplies $1 each
------
$14.00
+ 1.40 - 10% bonus for putting the rebates on the Walgreens gift card
--------
$15.40 returned in rebates so I get all the cleaning stuff plus the 2 candy bars plus 50 cents to use on something else.

Finished reading my book Edge of Desire by Stephanie Laurens. Romance. Excellent.

I was eating my lunch today and realized it only cost me 7 1/2 cents. I had sliced tomatoes from my garden - free. Carrot sticks - free after coupon.
A banana - free after coupon
A Oscar Meyer all beef hot dog - free after coupon
Ketchup - free after rebate
A hot dog bun - 8 ct pkg half price at .59 cents or 7 1/2 cents each

Pretty good :0

Thursday I met a friend for breakfast at the Egg and I. I haven't seen her in a year, but I have a lot of friends like that. Especially when I was working it was hard to find time to get together. Now that I'm retired it should be easier.

Friday mom and I went to a craft show. It was raining and very muddy, but I got a very pretty white tin angel for mom's b-day.

Went to Walgreens and tried to use the $10/$40 coupon they had for this week, but since they didn't have many of their sale or rebate items stocked I wasn't able to get to $40. Walgreens frustrates me so much. They have really good deals on paper, but I can hardly ever complete them since they are always out. I told the manager I was just going to give up and stop going there if the situation didn't improve. It's a waste of my time, they just keep telling you to check back in a couple of days but that's a waste of time and gas and I'm not going to do that.

We went to Michaels because they had a coupon for 25% off the entire order and it included sales items. That's a very good coupon. I got 2 memory boxes that I will use to create miniature rooms. They were 30% off and then I got 25% off the top of that. I spent about $12

Zios for lunch. Very good large salad and spaghetti for under $7.

Finished reading the library book Into the Brink by Suzanne Brockmann. Romance. Excellent. She's such a good writer.

Finished reading my book Omega Games by S. L. Viehl. Sci/Fi Very good.

is dealing with the stuff when you get home. I have several gifts occassions in September. Youngest nieces b-day, best friends daughter's b-day and parent's anniversary.

Last Wednesday I took both nieces to see the Mummy 3. 20.25 for tickets. 14.50 for junk and 10 for food court dinner. We went shopping for youndest nieces b-day. The mall had a promotion for every $100 you put on your Discover card you get a $10 Discover gift card. I spent $115 on her presents, dinner and a book for a xmas present. I had a 20% coupon and a $5 off coupon on the books.

Thursday my mom and I went to the mall. She doesn't have a Discover card so she put her purchases on my card and paid me the cash later. She spent $180 and I spent another $42 on books for me. I had another 20% off coupon plus I got a free book for buying 4 books. When we were done I went to customer service and got 3 $10 Gift cards. We had spent $337 and the lady wanted to know if I wanted to do more shopping to get another card. You could get up to 5 cards. I told her I wasn't going to spend another $60+ to get a $10 gift card. Every thing I bought I would have bought anyways. I gave one of the gift cards to mom, she should have got half of the second one put it's hard to cut a gift card in half and she told me to keep it. Thanks mom

We went to Bed Bath and Beyond and I got a gift for their anniversary and a small gift for best friends daughter's b-day. Had a $10 off $30 purchase so gift for b-day was free.

Went to Hobby Lobby and got colored pencils with a 40% off coupon also for friends daughter's b-day. Cost $1.89

Friday I went to WalMart to get the rest of friend's daughter's present. Barbie stuff and do this week's price matching. I got two 4 pack of Scott TP for free after coupons and used another 6 $1 coupons on the Muir Glen organic tomatoes.

I just got all the presents wrapped and everything put away this morning.

There are some very good coupons in the paper this week. A good week to buy extra copies of the paper.

Finished reading my book Warriors by Angela Knight. Supernatural romance. good

Finished reading the library book Deamons are Forever by Simon Green. Sci/Fi Very good

Finished reading the library book Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward. Supernatural Romance. Excellent

Went to WalMart and saved 80% on my grocery bill. Cost before coupons was $38.64 and cost after was $7.46. I got the following items for free

3 10 ct packages Oscar Meyer beef franks - $2.50 each
3 10 ct packages Kraft Velveeta cheese slices - $3.98 each
3 16 oz bottles Kraft Ranch dressing - $1.98 each

I also got 6 more cans of the Muir Glen organic tomatoes for .44 cents each after $1 coupons and a box of Ronzoni Rigatoni pasta for .50 cents.

If you are looking for good coupons you should pick up the All You magazine at WalMart. Most months have high value coupons. The magazine costs $1.97 and usually has at least one rebate or coupon for a free item as well as several $1 or more coupons. To see what coupons they have in the September issue you can go here:

http://pennypinchingdiva.blogspot.com/2008/08/walmart-has-one-of-best-magazines-in.html

I guess Kmart is doubling coupons up to $2 this week in some areas of the country. I haven't gotten the ads yet so don't know if it's true in my area. If so I will probably make a trip there later this week.

Finished reading my book Damien by Jacqueline Frank. Supernatural. Very Good

Finished reading the library book Tribute by Nora Roberts. Mystery/Romance. Excellent. I just love her books, characters and dialog.

I'm following a blog of a woman who feeds 4 people on $800 a year. Amazing and very inspirational.

http://jane4girls800dollarannualbudget.blogspot.com/

I don't do near as well as she does but I did get some good deals this week. Went to King Soopers Wednesday and saved 64%. Spent $23.01 and saved $39.17

I got the following for free

10 oz grape tomatoes
1 lb carrots
1 package Fresh Express shredded cabbage
2 potatoes
1 onion
1 ear of corn
6 bananas
1 package ready to eat Uncle Ben's Cajun Style rice
3 16 oz cans of Planters cocktail peanuts
1 bottle French's mustard
2 boxes Rice a Roni Natures Way wild rice
1 4 pack Cottonelle TP

I had a coupon from Safeway for $10 off a $50 purchase which King Soopers took. It was pretty hard to get to $50 since I refuse to buy stuff when WalMart has it much cheaper. For example Ronzoni pasta is $1.50 at WalMart and #2.58 at King Soopers 42% difference. I have a $1 coupon so will get if from WalMart next week for .50 cents. I eventually got a large package of generic brand TP to make it to $50.

Went in town on Thursday and met a friend for lunch. Stopped at Target first and got $28 worth of stuff for less than $3 after a $10 rebate I will send in.

Target had Pop-Tarts on sale for $1.75 and had coupons for .50 cents each. So I printed 10 coupons and used 1 manufacture coupons for $1. Total cost before coupons $17.50 - $5 in Target coupons - $1 in other coupons = $11.50. And there is a Kelloggs rebate when you buy 10 items for $10 back so final price 10 boxes for $1.50 or .15 cents each.

I also picked up 5 trial size All laundry soap free after $1.00 coupons and 2 25 ct packs of Ziploc bags .50 cents each after coupons.

Went to Panera Bread for lunch. I'd never been there before. The sandwich was pretty good.

Went to the dollar movie and saw Kung Fu Panda for $1.50. It was cute. We wanted to see Mamma Mia but it wasn't playing at the regular theater and hadn't hit the dollar theater yet. Maybe next time.

Hit the used bookstore on the way home and traded for 6 books. No out of pocket.

Finished reading the library book Silent thunder by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen. Mystery/Romance. Good

Finished reading the library book The lost duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn. Romance. Very good.

For the first three weeks of my retirement I haven't done hardly anything. I feel like I've been on an extended vacation. I've mostly read, slept, cooked and watched TV. But that's ok. I really think I needed that time to de-stress. I'm feeling very relaxed now and my blood checks for the diabetes are the best they've been in a decade. I can't believe how much the lack of stress has helped lower those numbers. In fact they were so low one day I had to eat something to bring them up. That never happens. One of my main goals is too get of the medication this next year and this should certainly help.

I'm starting to wake up though from my vacation time and get energized to start doing something. Anything I doubled the amount of walking I do each day from 40 min to 80 min. I've been walking with my mom for 40 min a day for years now, but I'm adding two more 20 min sessions after meals. This will also help with the blood control and maybe help me lose some weight which will also help with the blood.

I'm slowly getting my house really clean and will be working on decluttering also. I need to determine all the stuff to give to Goodwill before the end of the year since this is probably the last year I will have itemized deductions on my tax form.

I've started to do lists for each day and am getting most of the items done. Fall has always been an energizing time of year for me. It's my favorite with cooler days and nights.

I have a big pot of beans cooking today. Plan to have beans and rice for dinner.

I think most people would have to agree that Amy Dacyczyn is the queen of frugal. When I read books/articles or blogs about saving money I get really tired of reading the back-handed slams at her. How many times have you read people saying they are frugal but wouldn't think of washing plastic bags or reusing dryer lint. That's fine, no one said you had to, but there's no need to slam the ideas as kooky or going too far or just plain cheap. She was making a point and her brand of frugality made most people think about what they were or weren't willing to do to save money. She never said you had to do everything she wrote about, so quit acting like your brand of frugality is so much better. Everyone has areas they will or won't go to for saving money. The point is to save money and live within your means and that's different for everyone. So if you don't care for an idea don't do it, but don't put down everyone else who does.

This is not aimed at anyone on this site, I've just read three different blogs and 2 books and they all made the same types of comments and it ticked me off.

I finished reading the library book Vulcan's Forge by Jack Du Brul. Adventure. OK

I finished reading the library book Jhegaala by Steven Brust. Sci/Fi Good.

I have a ton of coupons for $1 off the Muir Glen organic products. I've been buying them in 4 to 6 can lots all summer from WalMart. I was there Tuesday and paid $1.34 per can for the canned tomatoes with Basil and Garlic. This was an increase from $1.24 earlier in the year. I went again today with my mom and the price is now $1.98 WOW! I must have missed some important news about a tomato disaster. That's an increase of 32%. The plain canned tomatoes increased to $1.44. But with the $1 coupon they were only .44 cents so still a good buy an I bought 6 of the plain tomatoes. I use canned tomatoes a lot in soups, chili's, spagetti sauce, pasta dishes etc.

I bought some pasta on Tuesday also for 1.20 and now it's 1.28. But eggs have gone down almost 50 cents a dozen. So back to eating eggs more often and looking for sales on pasta. My overall spending on groceries has remained the same for several years now. I just look for bargains more, stock up or don't buy something that's gotten too expensive until it becomes more reasonable again.

Finished reading the library book Cheap eating : how to feed your family well and spend less by Pat Edwards. This was pretty good. A lot of good ideas on saving money on food.

Finished reading the library book Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase. Romance. Very good. Funny and witty and smart.

Finished reading my book The Dragon Queen by Alice Borchardt. King Arthur. I have always enjoyed reading the King Arthur books. I must have read 40 versions of the story. This is a completly new take and it's excellent. It's supposed to be a trilogy and this first book concentrates on Guineviere's childhood. A second book is out and I've put a hold on it at the library. While searching for the third book in the trilogy though I found out the author died and so no ending. Big Bummer! For her and me. She's the sister of Anne Rice. I don't care for Anne Rice's books since I don't care for horror, but she is a good writer. It's interesting that the family produced two really good writers in such different categories.

I've been looking for some blogs of people who have retired early. They are surprisingly hard to find. Most of the ones I do find are from people who want to retire early but haven't done so or from people who could retire early but again haven't done so.

I did find one I like at http://retiredsyd.typepad.com/retirement_a_fulltime_job/. I only have one issue with her. She is very concerned with how people will percieve her now that she is retired. Frankly I think retiring early is something to be proud of, not something to be be afraid to tell others because they might think you are lazy or boring. As far as I'm concerned if someone has a problem with my not working at this age - it's their problem not mine.

I used the $10 GC I got in the mail for Kohl's today and got 3 pair of gold toe crew socks. On sale from $12 for $9. $0 out of pocket.

The new Walgreens opened in my small town last week, but they don't have any of thier sale items so I wasn't very happy with them when I went there. They keep telling you to come back or get a rain check. I don't care to make multiple trips and the rain checks don't generate the Register Rewards so what good is that? Irritating

Went to MacDonald's on the way home and got a free Southern Chicken sandwich with purchase of med drink. $1.61 The sandwich is ok, nothing special in my opinion. Chicken and pickles and bun.

My company finally mailed me the paperwork to get COBRA health coverage. I will fill it out and send it in tomorrow.

Finished reading the library book The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston. True crime. OK

Finished reading my book High Noon by Nora Roberts. Romance/Mystery Very good

The last two nights we've had huge thunder and lightening storms around 2 and 4 in the morning. When I was working this would have caused me a lot of stress since I would be anxious because I wasn't sleeping and I knew I would be tired the next day. Now that I'm retired I just enjoyed the experience. I like lightening storms especially at night. I got up and opened up the drapes and watched for while. I knew I could sleep in as long as I wanted the next day and if I got tired during the day I could take a nap.

I'm feeling much more relaxed overall. I'm hoping to get off the blood pressure medicine sometime in the next year as the stress levels drop.

Finished reading the library book Phantom of the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Romance. Very Good.

Finished reading my book Innocent as Sin by Elizabeth Lowell. Romance. Very Good.

1. I had a paradigm shift

It was the early 80s and I was in my early 20s. I was working an entry level job and living paycheck to paycheck. It was difficult to find jobs at the time and I was always living in fear of What if…? What if I lost my job? What if my car breaks down? What if I get sick and can’t work for a while? Etc, etc, etc….

Then I ran across the following article in issue #4 of The Mother Earth News magazine. How to Retire 6 Months Every Year. The basic point of the article was by lowering your expenses to half of your income you could retire 6 months of the year.

What? What a minute, you mean there is another way to live? I don’t have to work a 40 hour job for the rest of my life, constantly worrying about the future? This was a revelation to me. I had never considered retiring early or not working week-in and week-out until I was old. I didn’t make enough to live on half my income and wasn’t willing to go to the extremes the article suggested for cutting expenses. I also didn’t want to quit work every 6 months and hope to find another one in the future. But the thought of lowering my expenses to where I could save enough and not have to work any longer by the time I was 40 was extremely appealing. So my goal was defined.

2. Create a financial foundation.

The first thing I decided to do was make myself more secure. I was tired of being afraid of a financial mishap. I had about $1000 in credit card debt and no savings. I started working all the overtime hours I could get and having garage sales and eventually paid off the debt. It took about 7 months. I also got a bonus of $500 around then and saved all of it for the start of my emergency fund. I gradually built my emergency fund up to $1000 which made me feel more secure. $1000 was 3 or 4 months living expenses at the time. It took a long time to actually get the $1000 to remain stable. It seemed like as soon as I got to $1000 I had to spend part of it on car repairs or replacement of some item. However, I eventually added a $100 monthly savings to my budget to cover unexpected expenses which helped stabilize my budget and made me feel much more secure.

3. Make a plan

I had defined my goal - retiring by age 40. Now I needed a plan on how to get there. Based on my living expenses at the time and adding a 10% cushion I decided I needed $10,000 a year to live on assuming my house was paid off. At the time you could make 13 - 14% on CDs, so I decided I needed to save $100,000 by the time I was 40 with a projected interest of 10%. I gave no thought to inflation at the time. I divided $100,000 by 15 years and came up with $550 a month. Well of course I couldn’t afford to save that much, but I messed with the calculations and added in the interest I expected to earn during the 15 years and calculated projected raises and eventually got to a number I thought I could save each month. I don’t remember what it was now, but it was a hefty amount by my living standards then. I determined to save a percentage of my salary each pay period. I think it was 5% to start and increase it by 1% each time I got a raise. The plan didn’t work out exactly as I expected but at least I started and was saving and investing money.

4. Learn about investing

I started reading whatever books and magazines I could about investing to educate myself. I took advantage of the company stock plan and 401K offerings. I started prepaying my mortgage with any extra money that came my way.

5. Make adjustments to the plan.

At first the plan was too stringent and I rarely made my goals, but I was saving more than I would have without a plan. Eventually I started exceeding my savings goals. When I was 37 my job was outsourced and I was laid off. However, because I had built my foundation and had several months living expenses saved, plus my investments and low expenses I viewed it as an opportunity instead of a disaster. I knew my field was dwindling and jobs in the sector were not plentiful so I decided to take my severance pay, unemployment insurance, government grants and savings and go back to school to retrain in a new field.

I took every class I could cram in during the next year and got my 2 year degree in 1 year in Computers. I went thru all my liquid savings and had about $1000 left when I got a new job in my new field; for less money than I was making in my old field. I quickly advanced in the new field and was making more than I had in my previous field within a year. However I had lost quite a bit of momentum towards my goal of retiring at 40. By this time I was very interested in my new field and didn’t want to retire at 40, I enjoyed my new job. My living expenses had increased during that time also. So I revised my goal to retire at 50 with $24,000 a year income. I determined I needed to have my house paid off and $600,000 in savings earning 5% a year.

6. Persevere during down times

There have been many downturns in the stock market during the last 25 years but I kept my money in regardless and continued to invest during good times and bad. When I started investing in stocks the DOW was 400 something. I went thru the 1987 Black Friday plunge. The early 90s downsizing craze. The 2000 tech market bust and now this years downturn, plus many other recessions in between. I didn’t panic and sell when times got bad and then buy back when times were booming. I diversified and continued to invest during it all.

7. Know myself

I had to know what was important to me for this to work over all the years. Retiring early was the most important goal and many things were sacrificed for that, but I needed/wanted other things too. Everyone has certain levels of comfort where if they can’t have enough of some things life is miserable and you can’t continue with the plan. I analyzed what was important to me and directed my money to those things and scrimped on other items that I didn’t care about.

Living alone was important to me. Having a nice, safe and comfortable house. It didn’t have to be fancy, but it had to meet those criteria.

Having books to read. I like owning books so a pretty big chunk of my money was spent on books. Now I’ve mostly satisfied that need and am much more content with borrowing books verses owning. I still like to own some, but it’s tapered off during the years.

Good, reliable transportation. It doesn’t have to be expensive or fancy, but it has to be reliable.

Eating out. I enjoy eating out both for the food and the social aspect, so I budget for that at least twice a week.

Most everything else was lower on the list and could be put aside for other priorities. Vacations, clothes, gadgets etc.

8. Getting the most for my money

Savings always came first in my budget. To afford more for savings I had to make the rest of the budget stretch as much as possible so I didn’t feel deprived. I started learning how to get the most for my money. Couponing, bargain hunting, using less, recycling etc all helped to make those dollars stretch farther and allow me to get the maximum amount for the money spent.

I read virtually every money saving book or article I could get my hands on to help with this. The best resource of course was the Tightwad Gazette. But I was constantly finding new ways to save money.

9. Revise the plan again.

After 11 years in my new job, the situation changed. It was no longer as interesting and the environment was much more stressful. I hated going to work and was under a lot of stress. I had been living on budgets and lowering my expenses for years so knew what I needed to live on. I reran the numbers on what I needed to retire and determined that if I was careful and adjusted as needed I could retire now. My new numbers were $18,000 to $21,000 a year income. I determined I needed my house paid off and $525,000 in savings. My house will be paid off this month. And I had more than the necessary savings. I also had a cache of money put aside to cover big expenses for the next 12 years until I am 60; when I can withdrawal money from my Roth IRA and not pay taxes on the withdrawals.

10. The courage to quit

I had determined that I could retire on paper. But we are in a downturn in the stock market and it’s a scary time to retire. I think most anytime is scary. Even though you have planned and revised and thought and thought about every possible scenario and response, you still hesitate and wonder if you’ve thought of everything and if your plan will really work. At the end of the day you have to just take the plunge and have the courage to follow the plan. So I retired at 47. I’ve been retired for less than 2 weeks now so it remains to be seen if it will work out long term. But I have faith that I can adjust for whatever comes my way and I will make this work.

There is a grocery store in the next town that has really good loss-leaders each week but since they are 40 miles away, round-trip, I never go there. Lately I started taking their ads to WalMart and getting the price-match. This is so cool. I went to WalMart for grocery shopping yesterday morning. It was pretty slow, which is what I'm looking for in a grocery shopping/Errands day. So Monday may become my grocery day.

I got 6 8 oz cans of Hunts Tomato sauce for .33 cents each. WalMart regular price is .46 cents so saved .13 cents per/can or 28%

I got 2 pint sizes of Ben and Jerry's ice cream for $1. Regular price 2.98. Saved 33%

I got 3 18 oz jars of Peter Pan peanut butter for 1.50. Regular price was $2.68 55% saving. I had 3 $1 coupons so ended up paying .50 cents per jar.

I also bought the rest of my groceries which included another 8 15 oz cans of the Muir Glen organic tomatoes for .34 cents each after the $1 coupons.

Good mail day too. I got a $10 GC from Kohl's. A free sample of Dove shampoo. I got several very good coupons from Krogers and I got my gas bill. I do budget billing and the bill went from $34 a month to $14 a month for the next year. I have a $200 credit which is why it went down so much. That means last year I used $200 less energy than the year before even though the price went up.

I tried a new recipe that I'm not going to keep in my repetoire. Cauliflower mashed potatoes. I used Yukon Gold potatoes for the first time and I really like them. I will reuse them. I steamed them for 6 min in the microwave - new process and I liked that. I used buttermilk and no butter to mash. I really liked this and plan to do that again. However, the part where I steamed cauliflower and mashed it in with the potatoes will not be redone. It wasn't that bad, but the texture was funny in some spots and you could tell it was cauliflower. I didn't care for it.

Today I am cooking pinto beans with onions, celery, beef bouillion, garlic, salt and pepper. I will add some smoked sausage latter on. This isn't a new recipe, just a good one. The house smells terrific.

Finished reading the library book The complete idiot's guide to type 2 diabetes by Davidson, Mayer B. Health. Ok nothing really new.

Finished reading my book The Shadow fo the Lion by Mercedes Lacky, Eric Flint an Dave Freer. Alternative history. Very good. Huge book over 900 pages but quite interesting.

My spaghetti sauce turned out wonderful. Just the way I like it. Very chunky and lots of flavor.

Here's the recipe. I started with one from Recipezaar, but made several changes and I made a huge double batch to freeze.

Chunky Spaghetti sauce - serves 20

Ingredients
3 (14 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
1 lbs ground beef
1 lbs Italian Sausage
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (8 ounce) can mushrooms, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
4 teaspoons oregano
4 teaspoons basil
2 teaspoons salt
1 tsp pepper
grated parmesan cheese


Directions

1 Pour crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, mushrooms and tomato paste into large crock pot and put on low.

2 While sauce simmers, brown meat and drain fat. Season meat with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

3 Add meat to sauce.

4 Chop onion, celery, garlic and add to pot.

5 Add oregano, basil, salt, and pepper.

6 Simmer all ingredients at least 2 hours before serving over favorite pasta and topped with parmesan.

Finished reading the library book With Every Breath by Lynn Kurland. Time travel romance. Very good.

I went shopping with mom yesterday. Target was first where I got a free trial size bar of Dove soap and a free trail size of All laundry soap. I also picked up 6 25ct packages of Ziploc bags for .50 cents each. I had 3 $1/2 coupons.

Next was Walgreens where I got 4 boxes of Special K cereal for .50 cents

They had 4/$10 and I had a BOGO coupon and 2 $1 coupons so that made the price $5.50 and then they gave me a $5 register rollover coupon - final price 4 boxes for .50 cents.

I also got 3 18 oz jars Jif peanut butter for $4. On sale 3/$5 and I had a $1 coupon.

Next was Borders where I'm still using my free American Express Spring Fling Gift Cards. I got 3 books for free and used 2 25% off coupons on 2 of them.

We had a one day pass to SAMs and when we went in the lady at the door gave me a stack of free samples they were giving out. When I got home I opened them and each one had a free Ziploc storage bag inside. I got 8 of them. I also picked up 6 lbs of Walnuts. They were more than $1 lb cheaper at SAMs than at WalMert. I got 1 book for 30% off and 2 large jars of beef boullion and chicken boullion

Last stop was Whole Foods. I'd never been there before and don't expect to go back. I can't figure out how people can afford to feed there familes from there. Garlic and cauliflower were both 2.99/lb everything was hugely overpriced.

One of my retirement goals is to cook more and become a better cook. Today I am practicing making a spaghetti sauce. I like a chunky sauce with mushrooms, celery, garlic and tomato pieces visible in the sauce. I'm making a huge batch so will have some to share with parents and plenty to freeze. If I like the final result I'll post the recipe later.

I've been working on a jigsaw puzzle on and off all week and finished it today. Last night I sat down and was just planning to do a few pieces but I got on a roll and stayed up an extra hour. Oh well that's what retirement is for to continue doing something you are enjoying for as long as you want to.

I'm already much more relaxed and feel so free. I love this.

I got 4 tomatoes from my tomato plant today. The first ones and one cherry tomato. The cherry tomato was delicious. Will have some of the others tomorrow. I have a bunch more coming along. The netting I put around them is helping keep the birds away. I basically just stapled the fabric to itself around the tomato cage.

Finished reading the library book One Bite Stand by Nina Bangs. Supernatural. Good

Finished reading the library book Cash-rich retirement : use the investing techniques of the mega-wealthy to secure your retirement future by Schlagheck, Jim. Finance. Wasn't real impressed.

One of the downsides of retirement and having no set schedule is I am a night person. Going with my natural body rhythms means I stay up later and later each night and wake up later each morning. Now that isn't necessarily a bad thing except for when I want to do things with the rest of the world

For example, last night I went to bed at midnight - deliberatly early so I would be able to get up by 8. However I've had a bad heat rash on my legs driving me crazy and not letting me sleep well so it was almost 9:30 when i actually got up. I was wanting to get up by around 8:30 because then I would be able to go to bed and to sleep tonight at midnight again. I need to get up at 8 tomorrow because my mom and I are going in town to shop. Oh well, I guess I will have to rely on the alarm.

What usually happens when I have a lot of unstructured time is I stay up till 2 - 3 in the morning reading and sleep till 10:00 - 11:00, but I'm hoping to keep a fairly normal schedule so would like to keep a 12 - 1 sleep time and get up 8 - 9 each morning. This is much better than work though when it was a 7 hour sleep cycle. Now I can have 8 or more hours depending on how I'm feeling.

I went to the grocery store yesterday morning. I'm trying to figure out what's a good time to go. I normally went on Sunday morning while working since it was the least busy. I had read where the fewest people grocery shopped on Tuesdays so thought I would try that. I guess no one else in this area read that. It was pretty busy with customers but no cashiers. By the time I was ready to check out there were 8 people ahead of me with overflowing carts. What a pain. So I'm going to try Friday or Monday to see if those days are better. I may end up going back to my pre-retirement time since it was always pretty light.

Finished reading the library book One Bite Stand by Nina Bangs. Paranormal. Cute.

Finished reading the library book The Joy of Not Working by Ernie J. Zelinski. This was very good - thought provoking.

Friday was my last day at work and I am now officially retired. This morning is when I really felt retired since I stayed up reading till almost 2 last night and got up around 10 this morning. Leisurly morning breakfast and blogging so far.

One of the problems I'm facing is I have all this time and all these things I want to do it's hard to pick one and do it

I have 3 tomatoes that are super close to being ready to pick. I bought some netting at WalMart yesterday and need to get out there and protect them from the birds

I finished reading my book The Hunted by William Johnson. Adventure. Very good.

I finished the library book Health Care on Less that you think by Fred Brock. Financial. Very good. Lot's of good information.

King Soopers was having their Mega Event sale and I saved 71% on groceries this week.

The following were free

2 packages Betty Crocker cookie mix
3 bottles Cattleman BBQ sauce - gave 2 to parents and 1 to brother
1 bottle French's hot sauce

Plus I got Cottonelle TP for 1/2 price
2 Betty Crocker warm desserts for .50 cents each

Colorado Corn on the Cob was on sale 5/$1 so I got 10 and froze them. That's probably going to be the best price I see this year.

Total after all sales/coupons was $12.35

Went to Texas Roadhouse for lunch - used a $5 off coupon.

Finished reading the library book The Bountiful Kitchen by Barry Bluestein. This book tells about how these guys planted fruit trees and vegetables on the terrace of their 19th floor condo in Chicago and then preserved the harvest. Really interesting. I'm putting this one on my list of books to buy sometime. I'm going to check their other book out of the library. Homemade in the Kitchen

I got up early and walked with mom since it was cloudy. There was a garage sale along the route and we stopped on the way back. I got a brand new Braun emersion blender for $5. They had a brand new bread maker that I was tempted by for $10 since I want to try making bread when I retire. My mom said I should just use hers since she never uses it. So that's what I'll do when I'm ready.

We went to the Farmer's market and I got 10 lbs of Pinto Beans for $6. That's a very good price. The cheapest I've found them was at WalMart for .75 cents a lb. this is so that's a 20% savings.

Corn on the cob was on sale 4/$1 I got 2 ears. Mom got peaches, canteloupe, corn and tomatoes.

Finished reading my book Pandora's Curse by Jack Du Brul. Adventure. Very good. Similar to Clive Cussler type books.

My oldest niece will be a senior this year and they 'have' to get their school pictures done by a professional. Cost $500 - 1500. Unreal. My sister opted for the cheapest package at $500. My niece was complaining because she bought the cheap package. I cannot believe this. $500 for pictures... for a year book. This is insane. My niece wanted my sister to pay another $80 to add her baby pictures. How do parents afford this crap and why do they do it? Why do they allow the schools to dictate these expensive extras?

I had a good mail week. Free sample of Dove deodorant plus 4 $1.00 off coupons on Dove products

Discover sent me a coupon for $10 off at Red Lobster when I spend $20. First time I've gotten something like that from them. But that's cool since I eat there quite often.

Vocalpoint sent me 5 $1.00 off Coke 12-pack coupons

I got my Staples reward check from months ago for $10+

I finished reading the library book Blue Smoke and Murder by Elizabeth Lowell. Mystery. Very good

I also finished reading the library book Live it up without outliving your money! : 10 steps to a perfect retirement portfolio by Paul Merriman. Finance. Very good. Good information on various asset types and how to invest in them.

I sent my two weeks notice this morning. Last day is August 1st. So far no comment from boss....