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Nov 23, 2018    |      1 comment

Happy Black Friday!

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Hi friends!

I hope our U.S. friends had a great Thanksgiving yesterday. I’d mentioned in a previous post that it would be my first holiday solo, as the kids would be with their dad. I wasn’t sure how the day would go – I’d expected for it to be difficult. But I ended up doing better than I had expected!

My day started off with a 5k run (not an official Turkey Trot race – just my own personal jog on my favorite trail, and it was a great morning for running as LOTS of folks were out and everyone was feeling generous with smiles, hellos, and “have a happy thanksgiving” wishes).

Next, I came home and wrote up a GIANT To Do List to keep me occupied throughout the day. It contained everything from cleaning to work stuff, to household organization, etc. I get the girls back later this afternoon and am planning to do our “Thanksgiving” today so I also spent a good deal of time prepping for what I’ve called the “Friday Feast!” I made our dessert (a cheesecake instead of a more traditional pie option, just because I wanted it and I figured that’s a good enough reason to deviate from the norm). I also got the turkey fully thawed (it’s been in the fridge for a couple days, but was still pretty frozen so I did the ice bath until thawed), and prepped the side dishes.

It turned out to be an incredibly productive day! I blasted music while cleaning and organizing and had a bit of a dance party for one. Before I knew it, it was nighttime and I hadn’t had a single moment to feel sad or sorry for myself.

If anything, I really enjoyed having the full day to get so much “stuff” done – I went to bed feeling very accomplished and caught-up on work and life “stuff.”

Plus as a bonus of the situation, I’ll be spending all of today in the kitchen cooking, so I won’t be out shopping! Lord knows, I don’t need to be shopping right now, even with Black Friday promotions, etc. Actually, I’ve noticed in recent years that the “Black Friday” promotions have mostly turned into a full week-long thing. Unless there’s one specific rare item that has limited quantities, you can mostly find sale prices throughout then whole weekend so there’s no real time pressure to scoop up “X” item on Black Friday because the promotion, for the most part, continues.

Anyway, I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday with your loved ones.

Did anyone go out to do Black Friday shopping? Any specific item you were trying to find at a good deal?

Nov 21, 2018    |       3 comments

OnTrajectory Financial Forecasting

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Has anyone heard about the product OnTrajectory before?

It was recently introduced to me as a way to plan and make financial projections way further out than what I’m used to doing (which is to say…basically a month or two at a time).

But not only that – the software allows you to see how simple little lifestyle changes can amount to HUGE financial gains across time. Like that specialty coffee you may get a couple times a week? Let’s say it costs $5 three times a week for a total of $15/week. Across the course of one’s lifetime ($15 x 3536 weeks) = over $50 GRAND spent just on coffee! Multiply that by an assumed 3% inflation rate and you’re wasting over $100,000 on coffee!

costs

This intrigued me. What might the program say when I plug in all my financials?

I gave it a try through their 14-day free trial program and was pretty surprised when – right off the bat – it warned me of a potential shortfall when I get into my 80’s.

But they don’t just leave it at “oh, you’re screwed!” – there are realistic suggestions on how one might save more or reduce expenses to make sure you aren’t outliving the money you’ve saved.

This is of huge importance to me given everything I’ve seen and been through with my father’s dementia. So far, we’ve been able to support him on money he had earned in his lifetime. But his memory care facility costs $7,000/month. Yes. SEVEN THOUSAND A MONTH just for rent. It’s incredible the cost of high-quality memory care. And that’s a pretty competitive price for his area (Austin, TX). There are cheaper facilities, but if you’re looking for high quality care….that’s about the typical going rate.

I’ve always said – I don’t care if I have no inheritance, just as long as my parents are able to pay for their own end-of-life expenses, I’ll be happy.

I need to make sure I’m doing the same for my kids, too. And with On Trajectory…..well, I can see some changes need to be made. 😉

Thankfully, I’m young. I still have a lot of financial “what if’s” hanging out in the universe in relation to my marital separation. But once that chapter is closed and I move onto whatever lies ahead, it will be much easier to have a clear-cut picture of what monies I can save and invest, where I can potentially cut expenses, etc. Getting fully out of debt is a BIG part of that picture!

I will say, OnTrajectory seemed to have a steeper learning curve associated with it than some of the other financial products I’ve used (e.g., YNAB and Every Dollar), but they do send out helpful email tips and there’s a whole guided walk-through of the program that you can try out to make sure you understand how it works, etc. There is a huge difference between YNAB, Every Dollar, and OnTrajectory though. The latter two are focused on short-term planning while OnTrajectory is projecting your long-term finances, making the additional technological learning well worth it.

I’m curious if anyone else has heard about and/or used OnTrajectory? If so, let me know! I’m curious to hear about your experiences and whether it’s helped shape some of your own financial goals!

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