Sam Squared

      Photo at Pexel.com      By end of tomorrow, January will be half over. All the lead up to Christmas and the new year is old news. My daughter's birthday is over, Happy 24th. The fact that all my children are now older than when I became a parent is amazing to me. I honestly thought by now I'd have a much larger family, instead, my family has gotten smaller. I have no say in other people's lives and choices, but it's a circumstance to me that I can't say doesn't make me a bit wistful. That being said, I need to concentrate on building my own sense of purpose with my life and with my family.       On New Year's Day I shared hopes for the coming year. With extending my work life past the first quarter, I didn't want to delay efforts, even though #1 will take longer.  Here's the list and a few things I've done to start making progress.  1. Successful transition to retirement:  Update my budget in light of delayed timelin...

           Please first let me share my sympathies for our dear blog friend Spo at the loss of his father. He recently spent time with his dad, and like usual, Spo has honored his father through his post.       I've struggled in so many areas, but I am figuring out things too. Not overworking and saving money are two areas I am focusing on, particularly as both my retirement date was deferred, but is still on the horizon. Too many things are out of my control, so I'm trying to better develop the mindset to go with the flow in those circumstances, and prepare and master the areas I can control.       Friday I almost logged into work. I had an external request for an end of year report and it needed approval before releasing. I didn't have that approval as of 5:30 Thursday. I got pegged again wondering when it's coming, and getting impatient. That person was notified I can't release yet, and will check in once I can- n...

          With the new retirement date, it feels a little daunting financially. I am disappointed as this week should be the 8 week countdown and now it's back to 13. I'm not taking my eye off the prize though with thoughts towards three of my 2025 hopes: successfully transition to retirement, losing weight and improving health,  and living more sustainable. Financial well being connects to these. This sort of spending recap is for self accountability on how intentional I've been the last week and if I can find flaws that might help me make fiscally better decisions in the future.  This is my summary from Friday, January 3rd to Thursday, January 9th.  Avoiding Spending/ Saving on Needs My daughter missed her cat so came down Friday. I stretched dinner by adding more rice and a bit more turkey and broth to a hot dish. All three of us ate for lunch on Saturday too.  She had a college friends get together and was to bring cookies. Rather th...

      Don't I wish I was so organized. Photo from Pexel.com free downloads.      This is I guess a recurring theme for Wednesdays built from a seminar I took on retirement that emphasized the need to not only plan fiscally, but also for a change in lifestyle. One thing I am looking forward to is more time to have to plan and prepare meals. Now with just being myself, with occasional meals with my siblings or adult kids when they are here, pretty much everything is batch cooking because cooking for one results in extras. One of my hopes for weight loss and better health is linked to this post.       My son is still living with me-likely well into 2025, but things are in motion. His schedule also is varied, so modified batch cooking and having easy meals he or I can grab and reheat if we are on different schedules is useful. A few Saturdays ago when I was gone all day, he made chicken, mushroom wild rice soup, enough to feed an army, so I ...

      I thought things are getting normalized schedule wise this week...until they're not. I mentioned in a sort of passing way that my retirement may be delayed. I logged into work Thursday morning with a staff resignation effective for all intents and purposes for January 14. This is a position that is quite technical and oversees our data system. Guess who's the only other person knowledgeable enough on the system for complete management? Getting back up was one thing on my retirement "to do" list.      Not sticking around creates such a massive hole; I had a panic attack over it. My boss and I tried problem solving together. We reached a compromise to keep my retirement plans moving while not letting the system fall apart. The plan is I'll take roughly 26 hours of vacation/ comp time every two weeks, plus my every other Friday flex day starting January 8th (average 23 working hours per week), then increase vacation accrual usage from March 5th to April ...

         I officially typed 2025 within a date. New year, new opportunity to save, or dig myself a financial hole. I'm getting downright nervous as I see my three year average earnings dip lower and lower on my retirement account. I have no faith that the economy will rebound, so it's my duty to figure out how to be more responsible for my financial health. This sort of spending recap is for self accountability on how intentional I've been the last week and if I can find flaws that might help me make fiscally better decisions in the future.  This is my summary from Friday, December 27 to Thursday, January 2nd. It was a bumpy week to say the least.  Avoiding Spending/ Saving on Needs See below and the need to meal plan from pantry and freezer is evident. I got nothing for groceries for the house but fresh stuff we ran out of. I'm setting a target of under $50 a week for groceries and household the rest of January. My pantry is packed plus son will be go...