Thriftism

The process of leaving or separating from your previous employer is wrought with complexities and important decisions that can have major impacts down the road. Add to this the emotional baggage that may come from an involuntary departure and the situation can become overwhelming. I hope to make one of these components, 401k rollovers or retirement rollovers, a bit simpler with some basic advice based on my experience during this transaction.   Rules and Regulations It is important to understand the rules and regulation surrounding company sponsored retirement plans. As a general rule the IRS allows 60 days for you to rollover or transfer your retirement to an individual account (IRA) or even into another company's (your new employer) retirement plan. What happens after 60 days will vary by company, but will typically involve additional costs or tax penalties depending on the retirement account. My Experience For me, after 60 days, my company would allow my retirement fun...

When I think of fall recipes, I think of pumpkin pie, soups and apple crisp. Apple Crisp is so delicious and so simple to make that I've decided it will now be a year-round recipe. Just freeze some apples from your fall harvest to freeze or if you're buying apples anyway- enjoy whenever!  Apple Crisp is tasty, much more simple than pie - no rolling crusts, and a bit healthier than pie as well. Think of it as a form of crustless apple pie! While you may not want your children cutting up the apples for this one, all the remaining steps are super simple (and safe - beware of hot oven) that you kids can join in the baking fun! For a printable recipe, scroll to the bottom.  What You'll Need: Apples (Filling) 10 Cups Apple Slices (Use your favorite - we like granny smith or homegrown pie apples) 1 Cup Sugar 1-2 tsp Cinnamon 1 Tbsp Flour 1/4 Cup Water*** Topping (Crisp) 1 Cup Flour 1 Cup Pack Brown Sugar 1 Cup Oats 1/4 tsp Baking Soda 1/...

Happy May! With a new month rolling around, that means we need another budget update. For a quick reminder, we run our budget solely on my income of $2,400/month which gives us a gross income of $31,200. We do not include health insurance in our budget as ours is currently covered by our jobs, but if this was our household income we would also be taken care of by insurance subsidies. We do not include all discretionary spending such as traveling or major home renovations, but we do include all entertainment, grocery, dining out, and every day expenses. It is our essentials budget that we live on before adding in trips! If we can do it, so can you! The Budget Our goal budget is balanced with total income minus expenses equal to zero. Numbers in red are expenditures, while black is income. The green background indicates under budget. Red squares point out our overspending.  We did change up the budget a bit to reflect that the student loan is paid off. We split t...

Hard to believe we're already 1/3 through 2018 and that it's time for another Goals Report. Here is our update from April. Financial Goals Gain Employment (Race) 🗹 Done-Race started working in February.  Save 50% of our income We have been trying to stay on track with this one, but tax season was not favorable for us this year. Race's previous company had many mix-ups regarding tax withholding and also withheld money from his final check. So after months long battle, I think we are finally through with them. That being said, we didn't save as much in April, but we were still able to make extra payments on the mortgage. We are currently saving 52% with mortgage, 17% without, and are on track for 52% with mortgage and 6% without. We changed this goal slightly to be aimed at paying off the mortgage rather than putting money into an investment account.  Increase passive dividend income by 25% Right on track for 25% increase. Apri...