Thursday
Jul082010

Well, that's not good...

by AuthorJennifer | Comment1 Comment

I worry about money a lot more than Bill does.  I fret about balances and budgets and retirement planning.  I've been harping on him for months to re-initiate contact with our financial planner, who was supposed to follow up on disability insurance for me but never did.  I'm panicked about the second mortgage that still exists on the house that we sold last summer.  I lay awake at night thinking of ways to reduce the ungodly amount of money we pay on the mortgage each month.

(Note that I'm not more frugal than Bill, I just worry more.)

So today I came across the Choose To Save Ballpark Retirement Estimator.  It's pretty cool - you just put in a few numbers and it spits out how much of your salary you should be saving each month in order to have a specific income when you retire.  I took it for a whirl.

This is what it said:

Based on the assumptions you entered, you have now saved enough to allow you to replace 6 percent of your final wages (this includes income from Social Security).

The percentage of total salary you will need to save from now until retirement age to achieve your desired income replacement rate is 160 percent.

The dollar amount you will need to save this year is $80,107.

Well crap.  That's not good at all.  Either I need to work past 65 (at least part time until I DIE) or manage to live on less than $50,000 a year when I retire.  Or perhaps I just need to assume that inflation rates are going to drop below 3% and that my ROI on my retirement savings is more than 7% over the course of the next 30 years.  

Or maybe I just need to die sooner.

DateThursday, July 8, 2010 | in
Saturday
Jun262010

On My Own

by AuthorJennifer | Comment2 Comments

Last week Bill and I celebrated our wedding anniversary in Hawaii. It was a business trip for Bill (mixed in with a horrible, horrible incident of food poisoning for him) and I mostly just hung out in the hotel room in a working vacation that was more 'working” than “vacation”.

I came back yesterday while Bill left straight for Australia, where he will be for a week before going back to Hawaii for another week.  Basically, he won't be home until the middle of July.  That means I'm home alone!

So far, being home alone has meant watching 20 hours of HGTV episodes, letting the dogs sleep on the bed, and working outside in the garden.  My grand list of things to do (buying flooring for the basement, cleaning the obscene amount of dog fur off the carpet, finishing the office/mudroom switcheroo) is still totally unaccomplished, although I did make it halfway through preparing a super fancy dinner of stuffed squash before being distracted by frozen ravioli.

I still have tomorrow, I suppose.  Or really -- I suppose I have the next two weeks to get my act together.  But for now, I think it's time for an NCIS marathon.  

DateSaturday, June 26, 2010 | in
Monday
Jun142010

The $364 (Per Minute) Question

by AuthorJennifer | Comment2 Comments

Today I went to the doctor for a hysterosalpingogram.  The whole thing lasted exactly 11 minutes, including the time it took to change into a gown, the procedure itself, and changing back into my clothes.  It also cost $4000.

Our insurance covered 90% of it, which meant I only had to pay $400.  ONLY FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!  And that’s what we’ve come to…anything under a thousand dollars is chump change in the world of infertility.  And ironically, our health insurance (the super-expensive, high-coverage option) doesn’t cover ANY of the fertility treatment – just the testing.  So from here on out, we’ll bear the entire cost of any option we pursue.

My latte budget is in jeopardy, people.  This is serious -- I might never get to buy another Starbucks again...

DateMonday, June 14, 2010 | in
Tuesday
Jun082010

Oil Spill Reaction

by AuthorJennifer | CommentPost a Comment

I have mixed feelings about BP and the oil spill.  On the one hand, my heartstrings are pulled when pictures of oil-drenched birds (yes, I’m even sorry for the birds) and turtles and other wildlife are splashed all over the news.  I have followed the press conferences and daily reports and the live web feed of the ocean floor.  I’m sickened and disheartened – just like the rest of America. 

If the oil spill started at my house, here is the area that would be affected. Courtesy of www.ifitwasmyhome.com

On the other hand…I’m feeling a downright angry about the hypocrisy involved by just about everyone who is reacting to the oil spill with disbelief and blame and pointing fingers and poorly designed posters.  Really, people -- you’re shocked and angry that this happened?  I assume that you live in an off-grid house and use a bicycle to commute to work, and that your life is completely petroleum free (that means no plastics).  It’s not like your way of life had ANYTHING to do with creating a system where offshore drilling is an option and where companies like BP keep the very lifeblood of our economy going.

I’m not saying that BP was blameless, or that offshore drilling is a so-terrible-it-shouldn’t-be-considered idea.  Oh no, I’m staying out of the Drill, Baby, Drill vs. Spill, Baby, Spill debate completely.  I’m just saying that the surprise, hurt, and shock that everyone is displaying is a little disingenuous. If I see another government official (I’m looking at YOU, Senators) proclaim outrage not 10 minutes after stepping out of their town car, I’m going to vomit.

Whew.  I feel better now.

DateTuesday, June 8, 2010 | in
Monday
Jun072010

Things I Am Happy About

by AuthorJennifer | Comment2 Comments

Before I go on a week-long bender of prescription pill-fueled emotional hijinks, hysterical crying, and morbid ice cream consumption, I thought I would take a minute to list a few things that are going right in my life.

  1. Finding better work/life balance.  I’ve been working with a small business coach and the process has been really amazing.  I’ve gotten much clearer on what needs to be done, what is extraneous, and how to measure success.  The greatest result is that I find myself working a lot less.  I’m even trying an experiment where I take Fridays completely off.  (It turned out that I was getting nothing done on Fridays anyway…now I’ve just given myself permission not to sit at my desk the whole day, pretending to work.)
  2. Our garden is AMAZING.  The extraordinary hot weather and daily thunderstorm is the perfect recipe for lush vegetables and herbs.  We picked our first squash today, and there are tomatoes popping up everywhere (although they won’t be ripe for another couple weeks.)  We had a bunch of Swiss chard from the garden tonight in our pasta, and I’m going to be overrun with basil in a day or two.  The cayenne pepper plant is already shooting off peppers larger than the plant itself, making Bill VERY excited indeed.
  3. A very happy birthday.  I have been single for almost all of my birthdays, and Bill’s been away on business the past three years.  But this year he made up for it by planning and perfectly executing a weekend trip to Charlottesville.  We dropped the puppies off at their “grandparents”, stayed in a charming B&B, ate cake from our favorite bakery before and after each meal (and sometimes in between), listened to live music, got caught in a thunderstorm, had a picnic at a local winery, and generally had an amazing time.  I even got a Kindle from Bill (including a “Bindle” – that’s short for a “Bill-built Kindle”), a cookbook for vegetables from Bill’s parents, a spa gift certificate from my sister, and a kimono stand from my parents.  Very, very satisfactory.
  4. Books!  Since Bill got me the Kindle for my birthday, I’ve been reading up a storm.  I also discovered that I can download audiobooks to my iPod from the library, which has opened up a whole new world of options.  I forgot how much I enjoy reading – and how lovely it is to meet with my girlfriends every few weeks to chat about them.

And though I hesitate to write it down lest I ruin the trend, the dogs have been behaving themselves for the most part.  Yes, I’ve had Maya at the vet SIX times in the last two weeks for her hurt paw, they have been playing very nicely together and not destroying anything more valuable than a used Kleenex.

DateMonday, June 7, 2010 | in
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