I feel like I have nothing to say

[petmoosie]

After all, I'm trying the post every day technique.

My car is back from repairs. The battery is weak and needs to be replaced. T thinks it is under warrenty.

We have to plan our vacation and figure out which days we'll go to which local attractions (the days at the airport are already determined). We will not overlap with ashtalet (and he will be working when he goes anyway). Suzi (from NU, ISP, GR and Windycons of the late 1980s) will be celebrating a significant birthday while we are nearby and we have to not conflict with the party her local friends and coworkers are throwing.

Since T's job does not seem to be at risk (and our mortgage seems to be just fine), we are making sure to put money into our retirement funds and Emily's college fund (Still not enough yet to max out the state tax deduction). While leaving some cushion for major problems with the house, the car or finding out that we are wrong about the job, we are investing in mutual funds. Individual stocks have rarely done well for us. Although I was raised to believe that it is impolite to talk about money, I think it is useful for people to have some idea of what other people in similar situations are doing. I would hate to think that someone wasn't saving or investing because that person was too polite to ask or learn about it from peers. So even though it is gauche, I will mention money (saving, investing, spending or earning) in my livejournal.

Comments

[ashtalet.livejournal.com]

Does the above mean you'll be in SoCal sometime when I'm not? That's too bad. I'd be highly amused by the idea of us traveling a combined 5000+ miles to meet up. :-)

It's interesting how talking about money is gauche, particularly regarding talking to other people in your workplace about how your salaries compare. As far as retirement funds go, I'm also in the mutual funds and not individual stocks. It's been an ... interesting year for all of that.

[petmoosie.livejournal.com]

Yes, we'll be in So Cal, but not at the same time. I believe you are going in the middle or end of January and we are going in the end of Dec/beginning of Jan. when Emily is set free from school.

Yes, our mutual funds have shrunk this year. I'm not super prone to panic as a normal thing, but sometime soon, panic may strike.

[ashtalet.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm now scheduled for 14-25 January, so I guess I won't see you there. Say hi to Suzi for me; I seem to keep missing her.

[starstraf.livejournal.com]

Mentioning money.
Our mortgage is great (fixed rate of 5% - owe less then $60,000)
My job is secure , Pooch's is temporary and the job search is taking much longer then we expected.
We have about $5,000 emergency money set aside
Credit card debt sucks - I had hoped by now that he would have a full time job and that would be being paid back more now
my retirement account has gone down about 30% in the last 6 months and that concerns me

[petmoosie.livejournal.com]

Our mortgage rate is 5.5% 30-year-fixed. Total balance---$183,000. ACK.

No permanent credit debt (paid in full every month), but there is a balance of $3,000 to pay THIS month. Most of that is plane tickets and "just" requires a transfer from one account to another. However, I don't have the passcode to *DO* the transfer.

We've got a emergency fund of $20,000, but $2,500 of that goes to the feds and state when we file, and $8000-$9000 of that is supposed to be fixing our bathroom.

[starstraf.livejournal.com]

when the rates dropped after we had the house for 2 or 3 years we refinanced on a 15 year and have been making an extra $100 principle each payment since we started.

I was out of credit card debt but the last 5 years have been tough with one income and was longer then I tought it would be so the budget got all screwed up