My Tireless Retirement - Week 144

 

Happy New Year Everyone!  I want to begin this post by saying Thank You to each and every one of you who follow along with me, read my blog, leave such kind comments, Buy Me A Coffee from time to time, exchange happy mail and send me lovely and wonderful emails, cards and letters.  I am so blessed to know you and even more so that you want to spend your time with me.  A huge and heartfelt hug with loads of gratitude goes out to you.  Thank you so much.

 

Once again I began the new year debt free.  All of my bills were paid in full, I had no balances on any credit cards or my PayPal account and in 2024 I paid $0 in interest on my credit card or to PayPal.  My emergency fund remains intact and untouched, I added money to my savings account and my retirement accounts are still earning money.  I’m feeling pretty darn good about where I am at financially and more than confident I can handle whatever may come my way.

 

It was a fun week for me.  I worked all day on Friday and a few hours on Monday and Tuesday.  We got a ton of rain on Friday (super grateful it wasn’t snow) so I ended up driving to work that day.  The rain continued throughout the weekend but after that I was able to walk and ride the bus to and from work on Monday and Tuesday.  In fact, we got some much appreciated sunshine which I happily soaked up as I walked.

 

Bummer - But, Penn State played a good game 🏈

After work on Tuesday, New Year’s Eve, I met friends at a neighborhood bar and restaurant to watch Boise State take on Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl.  We didn’t win, but we had a good time anyway.  Maybe we’ll have better luck next year.

 

It has been fun & tasty testing it all out! 😋

As far as my new meal plan I’ve been working on goes, I’ve tested it out and come to the conclusion that as it stands right now it’s a no go.  It makes too much food for one or even two people and it is way too much work.  So back to the drawing board I will be going to streamline and simplify.  I know a lot of you have expressed interest so I will continue to work out the kinks and keep you posted.

 

New Years Day we got snow! 😁

New Years Day and the day after were quiet and restful.  After putting away all the Christmas décor I tackled a few household chores - washed the bedding in the guest room, collected all the trash and recycling and got the big wheelie bins out to the curb for collection, dusted and vacuumed the downstairs and then I got all of the tile floors mopped.  After that I felt caught up and ready to tackle whatever comes next.

 

Nice view out my living room window watching snow fall ❆

I’m starting something new this year.  I’m assigning myself a weekly challenge for the month of January, simply as a way to enhance my quality of life.  I will share these challenges with you and let you know how I do.  I would love it if you would like to join me and share how you’ve been doing, either with your own challenge or you can use some of mine.  No pressure, of course, but it is always more fun when you can do these things with friends.

 

I had way too much fun out there ⛄

My Weekly Challenge – Take a walk outdoors three different times regardless of the weather. 

How Did I Do?  Nailed it! No problem. On New Years Day I took a long walk through my neighborhood in a snowstorm and I loved it so much.  I need to go outside and play in the snow more often.

 

I purged a tree stand & some icicle ornaments this year🎄
After 25 years I hadn't used that tree stand once & the
icicle ornaments are too big for my new smaller Christmas tree

How did your week go?  Did you celebrate on New Years Eve, stay up till midnight or did you head off to bed early?  Anyone starting to declutter around their house yet?

 

My 2025 Grocery Budget Plan

 

Last year my monthly grocery budget was extreme.  Especially when you consider the astronomical rise in prices we’ve seen lately it wouldn’t seem like reducing one’s grocery budget would be prudent or even possible, but I did it!  And I’m so pleased with how well I did it and that I was able to be successful in achieving that goal.  So what do I have planned for this year?  Well, let me tell you.

 

After much thought I’ve decided to go back to my regular grocery budget of $100 a month for food and $20 a month for the nonfood household items like soaps, paper products, laundry and cleaning supplies, as well as items for food storage like Ziploc bags and wraps.  I know this probably seems pretty extreme once again, however this is the budget I’ve had and been working with for many, many, many years while I was raising my family and it worked.

 

Because of the way I shop and how I take advantage of sales cycles, coupons, rewards offers and points, markdowns and clearance items I know that this is all I really need right now to continue to feed myself and keep my pantry, freezer and even the long term food storage shelves well stocked.  It also helps a lot that I typically don’t purchase pre-made or pre-prepared items.

 

Homemade Taco Soup & Quesadillas

Now I’m a household of one, but I also enjoy having people over to eat and I like to share food with others so I don’t want to budget those options away.  Additionally, I want to up my game a bit and improve the quality of the things I’m buying as well as treat myself to things I wouldn’t usually buy because of the cost of those items, like better cuts of meat, better produce or occasionally a premade dessert.  Sometimes I just want to buy something simply because I want it.  After a lifetime of hard work, scrimping and saving, and taking good care of my family for all of those years, I feel I’ve earned it.

 

I set my nonfood budget too low last year so that was a bit of a fail.  However, I didn’t miss it by too much so I’m really not disappointed in myself at all.  I feel it was a valiant attempt.  The $20 per month budget seems to be much better for me and while it too may seem a bit extreme, again it is a budget I’ve worked with for as long as my $100 a month grocery budget so I’m quite comfortable with that.

 

Interestingly enough the SNAP benefit for one person is nearly triple my
monthly budget.  I honestly do not think I can eat that much food. 👩

As I did last year I do plan to roll over any unspent budget amounts onto the next month because I do feel that it is important that I spend this money.  I don’t want to cut my budget to the point that it becomes unsustainable.  Having a well stocked home is very important to me as well as to my peace of mind so my goal moving forward is to maintain that as well as feeding myself good nutritious foods on a daily basis.  I’m feeling really good about this plan.

 

Happy New Year 2025!