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Archive for July, 2016

Financial and personal updates

July 26th, 2016 at 02:14 pm

Hi all

I am contacting my accountant and the Mutual Fund store guy to see if I can reverse out of 'having him manage' my money for 1.5%. I do like the Vanguard 3 fund model and ahve been doing ok with that. Anyway. nothing major new on the rental front. all smooth (which is nice)

No word (at all) on that guy who moved out. I still feel sad.. actually it is sortof getting worse.. Today is his birthday. I know there were issues but to be sortof left with no word makes me feel very bad. I actually came back here yesterday and to some other notes I kept to remind myself of the issues we were having..I have joined a few hiking groups (which are really fun) been catching up with stuff around the house and with me and am contemplating joining the Y for their classes which sounds really fun and I do not have to sign a long term contract so ok to just try it out

About it for now.

I need a new exciting goal or exciting stuff in my life to get my mind off of this personal situation

Best rental month so far

July 20th, 2016 at 02:19 am

Guys

These are the much anticipated #s (at least by me)

MY NET this month (after taxes, insurance, repairs, utilities, lawn care) is..$10274.45!!!

It is really true. told you it was unbelievable. Crazy numbers

Again i do not pull from the homes at all right now. All that went towards mortgages, repaying back the emergency fund (done!! and adding to it towards my goal of a $25k emergency fund.

I do not have any renewals until I think October and everyone seems pretty happy so hoping to stay at similar heights the next 3 months.. 3 months at least.. more if we have no turn over and just renter renewals.

Also this month was a LOW repair month but WOW

My budgetted forecast is $8000 (taking into account a 5% vacancy forecast and approx $800 per month in repairs).. obviously this month I did not have any of those costs

Still working excessive hours and just got back from Wisconsin (work day trip) so going to walk on my treadmill and go to bed.. but WOW!!!

No word at ALL from that guy.. crazy. hard to understand just sortof walking out.. no communication at all.It still makes me feel very sad and often down. i am still investigating groups, activities and looking to make new friends. Last weekend did not go to church (had a delivery) this week will go to church and hopefully get back involved w that

feel SO MUCH healthier and alive w these Dr Amen supplments.

AMAZING change

I got a coupon for a reduced cost dental exam and xrays..$65.. I have always had good teeth so never really went to the dentist (I am 45, had not been since I was a kid). i went and the person said I had 'moderate bone loss' so recommended some 'deep cleaning' where they numb your mouth and do a scrape and polish or something,. I do not have dental insurance . their cash charge was $800 for all. Crazy. I thought about calling around for prices before having it done (my friend works at a dental office) but I was THERE and motivated to get it over with so I put the entire thing on my card (to be paid off next month no interest)N but had NO IDEA dental work cost so much. apparently though (they did the entire mouth in one sitting, apparently the norm is a few sittings.. I asked to just get it over with) but apparently if I take care of my teeth which I will I will not have to have that serious cleaning done again.. just maintenance cleanings

I am trying to get a hold of my friend to get her opinion on the cost of the procedure and good dental practices.. etc

it feels good to take care of myself!

Lots of updates, me and personal and financial doings

July 15th, 2016 at 01:35 am

Hi all

I will do a separate post on Dr Amen and my brain scan but in short I was VERY IMPRESSED< AMAZED, SHOCKED and I think doing that test will be life changing. you can actually peer into the brain and figure out why you are the eway you are in some respects, personality wise, mental agility wise, very informative. I got some supplements from the clinic.. and immediately (like THAT DAY felt much better.. shockingly so).. more on that later. I did NOT have early signs or any signs of alzheimers. Whew!

Other news. I still have not heard from that guy. very sad.. lonely .. downer. angry. sad.. upset.. stressed.. (less so w taking care of me and my brain) but really a downer. I want to find and have a good relationship.

In the meantime it really brings up how little social activity I have. I had said that before.. but with him goone. wow! I am joining back up in church, went out to the movies w girlfriends (first in a long time) last weekend, joined some meetups and am considering taking some classes. I also want to go to work and see if I can work there and if people are there. Currently I work at home all the time which adds stress to home and makes me feel stir crazy.. I left working at work in part because EVVERYONE worked at home so I would come in but turn on and off the lights and sit in a huge room alone. Hopefuly more people work there now I miss work friends. church friends etc.. My boyfriend and I did not attend church regularly. Conflict w that.. or disinterest on his part and I let it slide. another thing

I REALLY like going to church.. leading small groups. being involved etc.

Anyway..my main goal right now is to work on ME, my health , my brain health, stress level and level of social engagement.. ie build my own life before I find someone else and then not drop it.

I DO feel stronger with my personal situation but shocking that to have no contact at all. makes me feel stupid and undesirable

Anyway.. I am swamped at work so I asked for HELP to lower my stress level. I do not need 60 hours a week I want a LIFE too.

On the financial side

$450 left to fund the 401k in full for the year. It will fund tomorrow
Renewal at work for next year seems very likely
19 months to go to pay off the 3 units and and then 2 months after that the 2 flat will be paid off which will be everything! (except my personal house)
Networth OVER $1MM but w only $253k in investments. the rest in real estate
Biggest month so far in real estate coming up (or so I think) #s come out this weekend and I will report.. too good to share ahead of time

I looked into Mutual Fund Store adviser services, spoke w someone for a free report etc etc, then decided to go w them then half way through filling out forms I had doubts. so 1-2 weeks go by and I thought I had to fill out ALL the forms for this to start but turns out only key forms are needed so $50k was withdrawn from Vanguard and put w the Mutual Fund store at Schwab. Withdrawal happened to come at a high point and then was invested back at a low point so I made a quick $3k. Fee is 1.5%. I decided since it was already moved I will leave it there for 3-6 months and evaluate. I do like the Bogle Heads model so will do the rest like that.

I am busy cleaning up and doing deferred items around the house. This guy was ultra handy so intimidating to have to do things myself but so far doing and proud of it. and some items like 'yard work' are fun for me

I want to lose 20lbs and was going to go on a dating site..dating site in a few weeks . I want to build my independent life first

Considering taking courses.. yoga or something fun. .not sure if that is fun but just trying things out

If all works well (STILL have not worked out how to get out from under this personal home mortgage) but if all other stuff works well I will have replaced my income (actaully with MORE than I net now) at this high paying job in full by 4/2018 and will have options for what I want to do

I am raising my personal emergency fund to 5 months costs this month
I am raising my rental emergency fund to $25k by year end (that is my goal)

I really want a social physical job. giving tours outside or something or teaching stuff I enjoy sounds really exciting

We shall see.

Rachael

Bad news on personal side

July 3rd, 2016 at 05:37 pm

HI all

I had hinted at relationship issues before but never really talked about it... because I was upset and embarrassed and STRESSED OUT OF MY MIND. I figured I would share the news as I know some others have shared similar stories. My boyfriend of 3 years moved out Tuesday. He moved in last year.. so approx a year later he moved out. I never really felt good with him moving in as I was never really clear where this was going and I do not like the idea of 'living with someone' unless you are married or about to be and we never felt like a 'we'. . Anyway I have been unhappy for some time and stressed, criticized, and frustrated and feeling STALLED and like I was shrinking. I asked him to move out short term a month ago for a 'break' after an 'incident where he shoved me in an aggressive manner, threatened me, called me very bad names, actually SCREAMED them in my face (totally out of control) and was aggressive and VERY SCARY'. I was literally shaking. He said he 'paid money so had just as much right to the house as I did' and sortof blamed that incident on me.. did not say he was sorry and would seek help or anything like that...classic abusive sortof excuse.. anyway I was too stressed to just force it so let it go. There were other issues.. no communication, constant criticisms, I was like the butt of every joke.. in front of others too, he got home every day and watched TV for the rest of the night (NOT making this up).. was derogatory about my '5 year goal'.. did not believe I could do it. cheap...I have 3 cats (they do not pee on the carpet) and he puts his shoes on in the living room so the carpet was getting dirty. He never wore shoes in his own apartment by the way due to concerns it would dirty the carpet. I wanted to clean the carpet mainly due to that...so I asked him to pay 1/2 he was like 'well there are 5 of us here..'(meaning the cats). I iwll pay 1/5 and you pay 4/5'..I just did it myself.. sstuff like that.. very renter like in his actions and attitudes, he felt since I get the 'equity in the house' he should pay less. sortof I was responsible for everything and he sat around and watched TV and woudl do something when he felt like it. no interest in planning anything. no future talks, easy to let him anger escalate to scary, says 'he lives day by day and likes that'. I could go on and on. But never had that 'we/team' feeling or like we were in a close relationship that I could count on him or trust him or 'rely on him'. I am really PROUD of my 5 year goal and am focusing on it quite a bit. he was derogatory towards it and negative and critical.


So I attempted to talk to him last Saturday and he responded with nothing (no words.. really.. can not make this up) so I asked him what he was doing for htat day. You should not have to ask the person you are supposedly in a relationship with what they are doing for the weekend. Anyway I did ask. and he said 'he was looking for an apartment'.. so he did, signed a lease and moved out Tuesday.

There were obviously signs the relationship was not good from before. I let it go. I am now moving forward, rebuilding MYSELF and my self esteem again and determined not let my self esteem etc get so low or tied up in someone else or 'stall' my life and interests.

Financially as this is a financial forum. he used to pay $1700 a month.. this helped save more money last year.. I have lost that but it just means I save less.. I am not in trouble or anything. did not depend on that income.

I also tossed my guest room furniture and basement sofa set when he moved in. I need to replace

I have already done so.. Pottery Barn has a 25% off sales so I am getting some from there and some other items from Target etc .. trying to put together a cohesive look. I understand Pottery Barn is expensive but with the 25% off I am actually in line with what I would pay getting lower grade furniture at Value City

This also means I will mow my own lawn and need to have someone fix stuff (if stuff comes up). Of course, after he moved in. it seemed he helped LESS around the house..

So how am I doing.. struggling still. feel alone. sad. angry. bad .. upset.. down. I gained weight the last 6 months likely due to stress. and was not working out anymore. so gradually going back to who I was and wondering why I did not do it sooner.

Thanks for listening

This month appears it may be such a record month w the homes I can not believe it myself so will wait to share when rents come in (they are sent the 15th) to report

I have %500 left to fund the 401k

I am doing a SPECT scan (brain scan) in Georgia Tuesday_Wednesday at the Amen clinics (to evaluate my brain in general and for alzheimers. I set this up as a precaution and because I have an interest in medical stuff and want to live LONG and be healthy). I am driving out and love road trips. I am trying to meet a friend Wednesday who I have not seem for a while. I was very involved w the National Stuttering Association years ago and their convention this year is in Atlanta. I miss being involved in things like this. I used to give the job search workshop at the convention. I stutter by the way. This brain scan was set up last Friday before the announcement of him moving out.

I continue to save $ but my investments have not grown at all. they go up and down.. disappointing

Somehow who runs a financial blog wants to feature me> I expect it to come out this month. will send a link

ONWARD to a better, brighter and MORE FUN future.



Rachael