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Showing posts with the label Personal Finance

Gratitude while FIRE'd

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Another year has come and gone. Last November while watching the sumo tournament, Asanoyama said something that caught my attention. He's been gone from the very top division for sometime and I was happy to see him back. He did well and when he was interviewed after getting a winning record, he said: A lot has happened a long the way, the tournament isn't over yet. So I want to say focused, keep my gratitude in mind and continue giving my best. That is a good attitude to cultivate - an attitude of gratitude.  Last Monday, I stopped at a counter to do a pickup and I realized that people get up each day to show up to work. Later during the week, I stopped by the store to look for replacement bulbs and on my way back to the garage, I saw a worker helping a customer with loading their car and what I felt was gratitude to God. God has been good to me.  I think that sometimes, it's easy to forget the good we have but I think it is important to focus on the good we have, on the bl...
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Time Value of Money (Inflation? Or the "T" word?)

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 I went to IKEA last weekend. I had a coupon that was going to expire and because I knew I wasn't going to get the chance to go on Sunday, I stopped by after going to the Japanese Festival . I almost went to Greekfest after but most of us decided to go home. I  decided I'd like to use the coupon now than have it wasted since IKEA was less than a couple miles away and on the way home. I spent $0.75 with tax for a set of dishes and a serving bowl . The dishes were $0.79. I got 11 of them and one serving bowl because I had already purchased one to try out. I wanted to try it out because it is white and I wanted to see if it will stain. It doesn't. So I went back to complete the set. I added the serving bowl because the coupon was $10 off a $10 or more purchase. The serving bowl was $1.99. I got the small bowl-like instead of the small plates because I thought that would be of more use to me. They look like the small plates but with the curve so I felt they would still work f...
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7 Retirement Savings Mistakes Nurses Make

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 I got the idea for this post because I remembered one older nurse. When I recalled that older nurse, I recalled another nurse and others and some attitudes I've come across working with other nurses. My hope is that this post will encourage you to start contributing to your employers retirement plan if you don't already. If you do, I hope you will look at increasing your contributions.  The first nurse had not set up a work 401k. Actually,  she's not the only one I have encountered who didn't have one. Oh...wait...She isn't. I encountered another one years later who also hadn't set one up. Dear Nurses in the US, not signing up for your employers 401k is giving away free money. Free Money!  In the past four or so years, I've helped a colleague sign up for one.  She is a nurse - RN. There are people I've helped set up their work 401k at work simply because it comes up and I tell them that they are missing out on free money. There was one lady I worked wit...
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TD Banks Incoming Wire Fee (A look at Fees)

 I had thought to write a one year update but here we are and time has passed by. I hope to do that soon, hopefully 😉. I've been living. What is interesting is that the year before switching to part-time, I read a lot of books and then when I went part-time, I read less and then when I FIRE'd? You guessed right - less than part-time BUT I had to deal with a major life event not too long after I FIRE'd so I've been reading more this year...maybe not in the last couple of months but I started out strong and hope to exceed my reading goal.  I had Incoming Wire sent to TD Bank and when I checked the update, I saw that the wire was incoming and alongside it was a $15 fee. WHAT?!   A fee for the privilege of having money deposited into your account via wire transfer? That's absurd! I completely understand the fee charged for an outgoing wire (BTW, there are cheaper and FREE ways to send a wire transfer). The other aspect of it is how hypocritical it seems and feels. Ther...
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Beware of Insurance Peddled as Investment

 I got a text inviting from another nurse I used to work with inviting me to a business launch on Zoom. To show support, I planned on attending. Considering the tagline mentioned health, I thought the person was starting a healthcare business. However, something this morning had me wonder if it was something else. And so I looked at the flyer again and the people on there, besides the nurse, had MBA and other titles. I don't want to disclose too much. I still planned to show up. Although I was busy watching Sumo and too excited after. I got a text  later with the link and I joined. My camera on my is off anyway. The nurse was talking about her background. The little bit I heard was about how they weren't of means when she was younger. I then had someone introduce the "Guest Speaker". That's when I muted the sound and did some reading on my Kindle app. Therefore I didn't hear the sales pitch. But I saw it was a sales pitch from a mile away. Sometime this mornin...
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Should you take a sign-on bonus in Nursing?

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 It depends...on how desperate you are (a bit of joke here😜). Seriously, It depends on your goals and needs. And in some cases, whether you're up for what they indicate in terms of the potential perils of the unit or hospital you may be working in.  I don't think they are bad. However, in some, if not most cases, they indicate a situation where the hospital or unit cannot keep staff.  And most of these units are not easy to work on. The patient acuity is high, it may have a toxic culture or  it's a toxic environment.  Think of a  mercenary going to fight a war. He knows he could be injured or die. But considering he's being paid a huge sum of money that will set his family up, he takes the risk. I suggest you think of a sign-on bonus in those terms. There is no free lunch. What will you be really  sacrificing in exchange for that money. And I'm not talking about the time spent working there. They make it seem like you are trading your time but is that...
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Time Value of Money (Inflation? Or the "T" word?)

Image
 I went to IKEA last weekend. I had a coupon that was going to expire and because I knew I wasn't going to get the chance to go on Sunday, I stopped by after going to the Japanese Festival . I almost went to Greekfest after but most of us decided to go home. I  decided I'd like to use the coupon now than have it wasted since IKEA was less than a couple miles away and on the way home. I spent $0.75 with tax for a set of dishes and a serving bowl . The dishes were $0.79. I got 11 of them and one serving bowl because I had already purchased one to try out. I wanted to try it out because it is white and I wanted to see if it will stain. It doesn't. So I went back to complete the set. I added the serving bowl because the coupon was $10 off a $10 or more purchase. The serving bowl was $1.99. I got the small bowl-like instead of the small plates because I thought that would be of more use to me. They look like the small plates but with the curve so I felt they would still work f...
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A Week In The FI/RE'd LIfe: Wednesday - Saturday

 Okay, my goal was to write for each day but I think I'm going to combine the rest of the week. I just didn't have the time for this.  Wednesday: my goal was to prime some walls. However, I spent so much time in the morning trying to tape up stuff that closer to the afternoon, I had to put that on hold for an appliance delivery. They got here early with the new stove and took the old one away. Then I was debating on getting a sprayer. So I researched a few, debated and eventually went to the store. I looked a few there but decided the prep of the sprayer and cleaning it was something I didn't want to deal with this time. So I didn't start painting until after 6 p.m. I did until 9 p.m. Okay, there were other things in between like a phone call and other stuff. The thing is that I only ended up doing half of it. Had I started earlier instead of debating on the sprayer, I would've finished the whole thing.  Thursday: I finished my coat of primer. I may have been out la...
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A Week In The FI/RE'd LIfe: Tuesday

My plan was to visit a particular city, see their downtown area and have a meal. I thought it was an 1.5hrs away but it was a bit farther and I took the longer route so it turned out to be 2 hours. The issue is that I didn't leave home early. I left closer to 1 and the restaurant I was going to was going to be closed when I got there but would reopen at 4 🙄 With that discovery, I decided to detour to another town and see what it's like there. When I got there, I saw they had Long John Silvers. I haven't seen those around here and it had been a while since I ate at one. I decided to order an old favorite. Big Mistake! I feel like they took all the salt in Utah and dumped it into the batter. The hush puppies were good, the Coleslaw was good and the fries were good. The shrimp and fish were hot but it was so salty. I tasted the corn and trashed it with the rest of the fish. For me to throw food away, it means it was bad. All I really wanted was the shrimp which I ate.  The la...
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