I just received my 2025 rate increase notice from State Farm Insurance.
Continue readingWelcome to the blog
I’ve seen a few articles on the Internet lately trying to determine how much money we need for early retirement. A lot of it has to do with your lifestyle. If you are someone who likes to travel, eat out, or go to shows, you may need more money to
Continue readingHome Insurance Up 17.8%
I just received my 2025 rate increase notice from State Farm Insurance. Effective July 15, 2025, my new rate will be $148.46 per month on a home valued at $360k. That is a 17.8% increase over the previous monthly rate of $125.98. That comes out to an extra $269.76 per
Continue readingShorting the Nasdaq
On May 3rd I bought 100 shares of SQQQ (ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ). SQQQ is an ETF which holds 100 of the largest non-financial companies in the Nasdaq. My goal is to hedge the long positions in my brokerage account. Of course, as of today I’m down 16.50% on SQQQ.
Continue readingWaiting For Month End
The only downside to having a monthly budget is if you reach your spending limit before the end of the month. That is always the case for me during the months that I have car insurance payments due. I have two vehicles that have insurance due every six months. I
Continue readingApril Ebay Sales Update
My last Ebay sale was on March 29th. I have two gray/blue controllers listed, but no one seems to be interested in that color combination. Maybe it is because I set the price above $30. It seemed like Xbox One controllers were selling too quickly when the price was under
Continue readingTariffs Tank Stocks
After losing over $30,000 in the stock market last week, I sit here and wonder why I didn’t act on the clear warning signs. Trump basically told us what he was going to do well in advance of April 2nd. Investors who are smarter than me shorted the market on
Continue reading2024 Taxes Done
I just finished my 2024 tax return. This year the standard deduction for a single filer was $14,600. My reportable income was $14,2XX on federal form 1040. That means zero taxes due. The State form shows that I owe $72. This was because they added tax-exempt municipal bond fund income
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