expenses Archives - Page 2 of 6 - Northern Expenditure

December 2017 Plan Update (and 2018 Financial Goals!)

Ah… December. I do love the holidays with the kids home and Mr. T having so many days home as well. December was glorious. We really could have used more snow, but we did at least get a few good days of hoar frost where all of Anchorage was magical and white.

The Numbers:

Want to know how easy it is for us to write these every month? I literally just log into my Personal Capital and revel in all the numbers being in one place. Do you like checking numbers? Do you like graphics? Do you like playing with calculators like retirement calculators and how much your fees are costing you? Then, you should obviously use my affiliate link to Sign up here to help yours truly speed toward financial independence! (Also feel free to read my more in-depth review of Personal Capital.)

November 2017 Plan Update

By MaggieBanks

On December 4, 2017

In Plan Updates

November came and went in a flash. It included a stressful week at the office (which included the hotel giving Kate @ Goodnight Debt and I chlorine burns). It also included a weekend with my sister (post-stress workweek) that included binge-watching and many delicious desserts. At the home front, we’re in the thick of sledding and ice skating season. Mr. T has successfully shaped our driveway snowpile into a sledding track as usual and we’re all enjoying ourselves. Christmas decorations are up and we’re enjoying our holidays so far with food, warm drinks, and cozy blankets. My favorite way!

The Numbers:

Want to know how easy it is for us to write these every month? I literally just log into my Personal Capital and revel in all the numbers being in one place. Do you like checking numbers? Do you like graphics? Do you like playing with calculators like retirement calculators and how much your fees are costing you? Then, you should obviously use my affiliate link to Sign up here to help yours truly speed toward financial independence! (Also feel free to read my more in-depth review of Personal Capital.)

Plan Now for a Simpler Holiday

By MaggieBanks

On November 15, 2017

In Saving Money

You cannot decide to have a relaxing holiday season when you’re already in the midst of it. You have to plan now for a simpler holiday. Here’s how:

Make Two Holiday Lists

As you prepare for Thanksgiving next week, I want you to make two lists:

1) Make a list of things you want to get out of the holiday season:

October 2017 Plan Update

By MaggieBanks

On November 6, 2017

In Plan Updates

October saw Alaska’s first snow (which then quickly melted and the fog rolled in for a perfect foggy, 40-degree Halloween). Also in October, we celebrated PFD day, Alaska day, and went to #FinCon17 (a non-Twitter recap coming Wednesday).

The Numbers:

Want to know how easy it is for us to write these every month? I literally just log into my Personal Capital and revel in all the numbers being in one place. Do you like checking numbers? Do you like graphics? Do you like playing with calculators like retirement calculators and how much your fees are costing you? Then, you should obviously use my affiliate link to Sign up here to help yours truly speed toward financial independence! (Also feel free to read my more in-depth review of Personal Capital.)

The Great Banks Merch Challenge

By MaggieBanks

On October 11, 2017

In Self-Employment

On Monday, we shared an introduction to Merch by Amazon and tips for beginners. Today’s post is our personal Merch by Amazon experience.

Our Merch by Amazon Timeline

At the end of February, I heard about Merch and signed up. It sounded like the perfect platform for us (especially Mr. T – our local graphic designer that needs a creative outlet). It’s all about designing and researching (sound like a pair of people you know?!) and you don’t have to do any selling or customer service! At the beginning of June, Mr. T and I sat down to do our periodic financial date night. We talked about how our financial priorities for the next year were to get our kids to Europe and pay off our mortgage. The combined total of those was $40,000. We brainstormed how we could earn more money to make sure those things happened. Shortly after this discussion, we were accepted to Merch and threw ourselves into it. We uploaded our first shirt design on June 22 and sold our first shirt on June 27. We made a total of $7.07 in June (which showed up in our August plan update because of Amazon’s payment timeline).

How to Save Money on Healthcare

By MaggieBanks

On September 20, 2017

In Saving Money

It’s not easy to save money on healthcare in the United States. The status of healthcare is up in the air and the functionality of the healthcare system is abysmal. It makes no sense and keeps costing more money. For a really good overview of all the problems and possible solutions, I highly recommend Elisabeth Rosenthal’s book, An American Sickness. It uses many, many real life examples and ends with a plan of action on how to solve the problem with many tips on things you can do. Some of the ideas listed in this post are from there, others are ones I’ve encountered in my own research.

Save Money on Healthcare

Here are some actionable things you can do to try to help keep your health bills down:

Healthcare Costs: The Wild Card

By MaggieBanks

On September 18, 2017

In Personal Finance

I know you’ve probably read a million posts on this topic lately since the future of healthcare in the United States is so uncertain, but healthcare is a big topic in the preparation for retirement, so let’s look at our situation:

Retirement Healthcare Cost Estimates

A recent Fidelity analysis estimates that healthcare will cost $275,000 per couple. This estimate only includes ages 65-88 at the latest. That averages out to $11,957 a year! Say you retire at 40 and live until 100 and spend the same amount of money annually, you’re looking at a whopping estimate of $717,420! Do I think this is reality? No idea. The answer is that we have LITERALLY NO IDEA what healthcare will look like in the United States until we die. That makes planning for it in calculations really, really hard.

July 2017 Plan Update

By MaggieBanks

On August 2, 2017

In Plan Updates

Another July has come and gone. Isn’t summer glorious?

We caught 21 salmon despite there being very few fish in the water and we got rained on (inside our tent!). Full dipnetting adventure story coming in the fall. (I know, you can’t wait!).

Guess where we are right now! DisneyLand! I know. Living the magic. Seriously.

Also this month, my parents received a mission call to Leeds, England. They’ll be leaving in November for a year and a half, so we’re taking the kids to Europe next summer! I can’t explain how excited about this I am. Dream come true. For reals. I’ll be talking lots about our preparations come fall/winter.

June 2017 Plan Update

By MaggieBanks

On July 2, 2017

In Plan Updates

June was awesome and a great leap into summer. It kicked off with our first vacation. We headed to Portland for a few days and dropped the kids off with my parents while Tom and I headed to Utah for a business trip. Though we both spent most of the trip working, we were able to see some sites and enjoy ourselves. As soon as we returned, I helped run a 4-day camp-out for 16 teenage girls from church. We camped by the bay, saw whales, fished all night, hiked to old World War II sites, cooked delicious food in dutch ovens, ate a million S’mores, found some awesome shells, avoided bears, and had absolutely perfect weather. Overall successful.

The second half of the month, we just enjoyed summer. I delivered lunch to the kiddos outside nearly every day it wasn’t raining. Mr. T finished planting a few more things in the garden (zucchini and pumpkins) and started replacing the countertop and backsplash in the master bathroom. Lui is working on figuring out his new balance bike (a free hand-me-down from a friend). It’s been a tremendous month.

May 2017 Plan Update

By MaggieBanks

On June 5, 2017

In Plan Updates

Man, 2017 isn’t even half over and it’s been a crazy year. There’s been so much happening. With this in mind, I’ve decided that I will only be doing monthly plan updates on the blog until the beginning of September and then I’ll be back full force. I will, however, be sharing exclusive content in my weekly email newsletter all summer long, so sign up to find out all the happenings!

I’m also working on some stuff related to my totally awesome survey. If you haven’t taken it yet, go do it now! We have over 600 responses now. (Also, I would LOVE to get another 500+ responses from a non-PF-geek population. If you have any great ideas on how to do that, PLEASE SHARE!).

Tag: expenses Page 2 of 6

The Numbers:

The Numbers:

Make Two Holiday Lists

1) Make a list of things you want to get out of the holiday season:

The Numbers:

Our Merch by Amazon Timeline

Save Money on Healthcare

Retirement Healthcare Cost Estimates