I definitely waited for the last paycheck of the month before putting this month's snapshot together because I've already paid up September's rent and paid down a 4-digit bill for the start of the Dental Bills (deep breath).

The expense account took a hit for quite a number of reasons  and as we gear up for the fall, I've got a ton going on, so it's only going to get worse.  The medical bills are going to almost immediately drain the rest of the Parental Medical Fund so the balance will have to come out of the Expense fund.  Remember, I use that to pay all bills and try to keep a few months' worth in there at any given time so I'm not living paycheck to paycheck. I still worry quite easily when that number drops drastically, though.

A really old pension account finally rolled over into my Vanguard account, that huge uptick in retirement accounts has nothing to do with gains in the market.

I'm going to be traveling for a three day weekend in September, and I've got a ton of guests in town another weekend of the same month.  PiC will be traveling yet another weekend, and then I've got to prep for a business trip in October.  Before you know it, November and December are lined up right behind that with their thumbs out for a lift of multiple birthdays and holidays. Whoo! This is why planning is so very important.  

As for generating extra income, I've been rather dismal at that. Any number of excuses really, but regardless, the end result is feeling (quite) a bit pinched after Hometown Expenses are paid, to the tune of 70-80% of my income.  This most certainly needs to change!

I have been talking about second jobs (part-time or freelance) but I always get the evil eye from PiC who thinks I already work too hard. That may be, but I've still got bills to pay, and savings to pile up!  Truthfully, there has to be a way to generate more income without unduly stressing my own health. I ought to have learned that lesson by now.

In the meantime, I'm reverting to an old method of keeping calm:  noting everything financial in a notebook.  That'll help me keep track of reimbursements and other "hidden" money moving around in my system.

How goes the month for you, friends?

I actually wasn't interested in participating in Funny About Money's Half Off Diet for the purpose of weight loss, but I do want to share how my version of it is a money-saver.

As a kid, the only time we ate out was, ironically enough, at Vietnamese restaurants.

My parents were great cooks but there are a couple things that were always more economical in a time v. money aspect to eat out: beef noodles (pho) and the 7 courses of beef.  Go figure, the typically expensive red meat, right? 

The interesting thing about Vietnamese food is that it's really so cheap and easy to prepare most foods that it would seem like you'd always save money by eating in. That hasn't been the case for many years, though.  A bowl of good noodle soup cost less than $5, and it was hard to make the argument that it was worth your time making that broth from scratch and preparing all the side veggies and thinly sliced beef to save, basically, a few cents.

So if you were truly in the mood for pho, it wasn't that costly a splurge. And honestly, we never ate out so that was definitely a special occasion for us kids.

These days, though, the price of a bowl has me staggering.  In the Bay Area, a single regular sized bowl runs you between $6.50 and $7.50.  That's a 50% increase!

I can still afford it as take out, though. Always make sure to ask them not to cook the noodles, and order a single bowl to go: that single bowl can serve both PiC and me two meals - and we are big eaters!

PiC claims it's because I order in the mother tongue, but I sincerely doubt it.  Let me know if you think that's the case, though, and I'll be happy to call in your order for you! ;)


My thanks .....

to Crystal for hosting this week's Carnival of Personal Finance.  Be sure to submit to next week's Carnival!

Last Day .... 

to win one of two $60 CSN gift certificates!

Test!

So "all that cash" I've been sitting on?  It's time for what I imagine as a huge origami ship of money to set sail.

Between both my parents and a denture-happy dentist, I'm warming up the credit card for a massive spend in the next few weeks.  It's sooner than I expected, but the fact is, holding off on treatment just to save up isn't a good enough reason. I can afford to pay off any charges accrued now, and they will benefit by having earlier care.

I've asked my dad to schedule my mom's evaluations and get her treatment started. He nervously asked, "What's your limit?"  As though it might melt the card.


"Trust me, it'll be fine."  That's all I'll say.

It's weird that I didn't really want to say "nearly $20 grand" as if that was the equivalent of saying I have that much money. He won't abuse it. He hates that he has to use my money for basic necessities like food and gas, but oddly enough, even though I know all the money I've saved is for their care, for emergencies, and for the family, I'm still loathe to share any details whatsoever.

Call it force of habit.

Anyhow, I got the call that a few of Dad's bridges are in now and rang up at a total cost of $1200. He's got more coming, but he actually tried to decline treatment on the basis of cost!  You know I shut that down immediately.  Feels vaguely awkward, but I instructed him, no questions asked, to make his next appointment before he left that office.  One would think I'd be used to playing parent by now, but it never really fits properly.

As for Mom, the news is ... bad.  She's been hiding her problems so long that it's now going to cost her 6-8 months of painful treatment, possibly more, to start repairing the worst of the damage.  Talking to the dentist about the recommendations was hearing like a dental student's boot camp final exam:

Multiple extractions with a 2 month healing period after each one,
Bridges to replace each extracted tooth,
Root canals for severe dental decay,
Fillings for all other teeth with moderate or mild dental decay.

At this point, leaving aside our ridiculously good fortune that this dentist is giving us most everything at cost because it turns out that his mom is a very old family friend, I'm just really worried about how rough this will be for her. For them both, really.

Friends, please take good care of your teeth. The pain and discomfort of this whole ordeal, never mind all the time she kept hiding it from us, is almost entirely preventable.  In her case, maybe less so because much of it was a side effect of the many medications she's been on for years, but for the rest of us it's critical to brush and floss twice a day to ward off this kind of problem.

On the money side, I did look into whether my FSA would accommodate these costs but the Dependent Care Assistance portion of the FSA is only limited to day care and educational costs.  Back to out of pocket for me.

I wrote about my Blahs recently, and I'm glad to say I'm on my way out. I hate being disorganized and muddled, and even more than feeling behind, I hate the feeling that I'm not doing something.  Stagnation bites.

After some reflection, it occurred to me whence this bout of stagnation hailed.

A big part of my sense of home stems from dedicated personal space.  Don't get me wrong, PiC and I have plenty of room, and share well for the most part, but I still need a corner with all the accoutrements of office space: desk space, a printer/scanner, a home for the laptop, somewhere I can put my feet up when I'm writing.  I'm a nester, I don't need a lot of stuff, but I do need a comfortable cubbyhole. Like a pup and its kennel, I'm happiest when I have a writing (bill-paying/internetting) cave.

When I first moved in, I spent several hours fussing with the dang Epson trying to get it to work but failed miserably.  Then I was caught up in the whirlwind of a new job.

Days, weeks and months passed.  New investments, new mail, new accounts spawned paperwork which just piled up.  And piled higher.  And higher.

*shudder*

I can't believe it took me this long but I got back on the horse and did the one thing ostensibly under my control: I wrassled with the printer/scanner for hours until it's pretty much installed on both laptops wirelessly.  "Pretty much" because the scanner's still not working on my computer but still, it's two steps ahead of where I was before.  With any luck, at least I'll be able to scan to PiC's laptop.   

Step two will be scanning and shredding or recycling all the documents that are just collecting dust.  I have a feeling that I'll breathe much more easily once that's been accomplished.


My thanks .....

to Paul for hosting this week's Carnival of Personal Finance and including my post: Shopping for the single life.

Be sure to submit to next week's Carnival!

There will be no more waste.

Life's been rather chaotic with the odd unexpected meal out, travel that comes up faster than expected, and a few weeks of poor meal timing led to a day when fridge clear-up was more than throwing out scraps gone off before we could eat them.  We're blessed with good food and the good fortune of never wondering where our next meal is coming from, I can't stomach the thought of taking that for granted and wasting any more food through carelessness. 

We're now being much more careful about eating up leftovers within a day or two and stretching the ends of each batch of food creatively, not just by starting up a whole new meal.

There's a chicken roasting in the oven now only because it was defrosted before weekend and before we brought home unexpected bounty from a BBQ on Saturday. The rest of this week, we'll polish off the fresh roast bird and broccoli slaw mix, a variant on Smitten Kitchen's recipe.

I'm planning more creative meals as well, to stoke appetites and make eating as fun as it used to be when we experimented more.

On the grocery front, I spent $50 today, stocking up on sale fish, which PiC is this very moment dealing out into smaller portions and freezing for later.  I'm dating everything that goes into the freezer so we can easily rotate protein into the meal plans regularly.  We also now have what would be a year's supply of cereal, if he weren't such a cereal glutton, for PiC, plenty of frozen veggies for the end of the week when we tend to run out of fresh, and a back-up chicken for roasting. We're set for the next few weeks in a way that won't have us throwing out heaps of wilted or food gone off.

Well-Heeled asked me a while back how I managed home-cooking so often but it was down to better planning and dedicating most of at least one weekend day to cooking more than any special Suzy Homemaker ability.

I'm also very lucky to have PiC who is generally fully capable and willing to do the Costco and other grocery runs with or without me, sous chefs happily, and puts up with any number of odd kitchen stocking requests.  A full partner is invaluable in managing a kitchen and household!

Intellectual boredom and a steady trickle of cash

Unlike Q2, which was characterized by steady spending, punctuated with a steady stream of irregularly sized freelance income, Q3 remains unpunctuated by any additional income. It's just all outflow and that makes me antsy.  Point of fact, this close to the fall and winter spending seasons, it makes me downright itchy.

Then too, everything is moving pretty normally in my finances and there's nothing much for me to be done there, so that's just boring.

Work is not so Zen because my six month review is pending and I intend to ask for a raise so I'm examining my list of accomplishments and performance. 

The combination is doing nothing good for my state of mind.

The usual pastimes, reading, writing, cooking, plotting new menus, planning travel, chattering with online buds, browsing deals or tinkering with my finances are seriously lacking in color and verve, I'm lacking spice and verve. Even hosting giveaways isn't entertaining me much. 

Has the higher frequency of visits, company, friends in town, and going out inured me to the usual humdrum homebody life that I normally love?  Do you s'pose I'm singing the flu blues?  Or is it time for a really big shake-up?

And what kind of shake up should that be so as not to waste/spend money?

In an inspired moment, vh of Funny about Money discovered that cutting back to half-rations was not only not a bad thing, it was actually an excellent idea!  She's now hosting The Half Off Challenge at her new blog:

Funny about Money announces the start-up of a new blog, The Half-Off Diet. The site's main raison d'être is a challenge: Can you lose weight if you cut the amount you normally eat and drink by 50 percent? There will be weekly challenge updates for everyone who wants to participate. The Half-Off Diet is intended to be a community effort. Funny hopes readers will share recipes, stories of their success (how did you do it? and what challenges did you overcome?), and anecdotes about their dieting adventures. Guest posts are invited!

I hope you'll find some inspiration there and join in the new community! 

I'm pleased to announce my next giveaway: sponsored by the CSN Stores, I'm looking forward to sharing a pair of $60 gift certificates!  And by share, I really mean, give away because I can't enter my own giveaway.  

Take a spin 'round their site, perhaps have a peek where I've been poking around looking at bedroom furniture sets and come back here to enter if you're interested.

Two lucky winners will be selected at the end of this month. 


To Enter:

1.  MANDATORY first entry: Check out the store and leave a comment here (with your name and email) about what you might use your GC for. (1 entry)
2.  Tweet about this giveaway, include my handle so I can track your entries: "RT this to win a $60 CSN gift certificate from @revancheGS: http://bit.ly/bG0uZR!" (@revancheGS, 1 entry per day)
3.  Blog about it and leave a comment with your link. (2 entries)
4.  Bonus entry: Referring another entrant who will credit you for the tip!  That entrant has to leave your name in a comment. 

The Rules:
1.  Enter by Monday August 30th, 11:59 PM PDT.
2.  Winner will be chosen by random.org and must respond within 48 hours or I'll choose another winner. All decisions are final.
3.  Prize fulfillment is solely the responsibility of the CSN Network. 
4.  Open to US and Canadian residents. Please note shipping charges may apply for Canadian readers.

is Red!

The Season?  No, probably not. In Calvin And Hobbesesque logic, I haven't had a summer yet so it's not allowed to become fall or winter. Nevertheless, Christmas and the associated gift-giving season (it's preceded by a number of birthdays, mine included) is nearly upon us.

It's already mid-August and I'm trying to decide if I've adequately covered Christmas gifts for the year.  A couple weeks ago, the outlook seemed good because I was at Con and Con is where all Christmas shopping happens!

But now that I take a second look at the gifts I bought, that's actually not the case.

I've got a good start on Comic BFF's Christmas and birthday gifts, but still need about 4-6 more comics.
PiC's birthday gift is set, but I still don't have a fab Christmas gift yet. (Perhaps it'll be a Making Greece Happen next spring by not taking any more days off between now and then?)

That's pretty much it. Amazing how shopping over 4.5 days made me feel like I'd accomplished a ton - I've still got at least 4-5 more people to buy for, probably.

And, taking a lesson from last year, I'm going to insist PiC hand over his Christmas list by the end of the month because I'm not having a repeat of the post-Christmas shop fiasco wherein we were shopping the night of his gift exchange.

Is anyone else thinking about this yet?

I'm now the proud owner of the Vanguard Star Fund.

The first two years of investing 2% of my paltry entry level salary on my behalf by my previous employer was, as expected, not highly lucrative.  The grand total didn't even reach Vanguard's $3000 minimum on the majority of their Rollover IRA options so I had to go with the Star Fund for the immediate rollover.

Now I'm thinking of rolling the money from the 401(a) and 403(b) into the same IRA and reallocating.  The allocation's gotten a bit messy over the years:

Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund
Mid-Cap Growth Fund
Small-Cap Index Fund
Total Stock Market Index Fund
Vanguard International Value Fund
Target Retirement 2045 Fund
STAR Fund
And in the ROTH: Long-Term Treasury Fund

Overall, it's crept over to 82% stocks and 18% bonds. 

This brings me within squeaking distance of hitting the $40K mark in the retirement  funds. Despite my previous resolution not to, I've started making contributions to the employer-sponsored retirement plan in order to get the maximum match.  It's not a lot, but I couldn't stand going any longer without some savings dedicated to retirement. Once I streamline the three accounts above, and pick a new allocation, I should only have 3 accounts, instead of 5.

That is an absolutely normal size, average, run of the mill pen.  That is a zucchini. Surprisingly, not on 'roids.  Grown in someone's backyard, visiting friends brought three of those monstrosities to me and insisted I take them.  1/4 of the fat end made 4 servings of this:


I'm gonna be eating free zucchini for a week. Quick zucchini saute recipe courtesy of Smitten Kitchen.

While washing dishes, or really just scrubbing at the balsamic vinegar charcoal that PiC managed to burn into my new Corningware Simply Lite, I ruminated on the differences in our buying habits.  This was prompted by the new tiny bottle of dishwashing liquid he set out last week to replace the last bottle of three he'd purchased while moving into his last abode more than 4 years ago.

I remember, faintly, taking him to the store and teaching him about doubling and stacking coupons, those many years ago.  We bought those three small bottles for pennies on the dollar and I proudly sent him on his way with newfound knowledge of coupon clipping. I had no clue that, as a basically single person (we were LD at the time), he would not finish the stash until I moved up years later.

In total contrast, I've always shopped in bulk for household goods. Toilet tissue, any kind of cleaning supplies, detergents, Q-tips: anything that could be used up had to be bought in bulk because 4 people would go through the stash like nobody's business.  I reflexively calculate how many coupons I can gather before a grocery or household run, and figure out how to store it later.

The mentality was that if I was out of something, I had to buy enough for the whole household - never just that I had to replace my own.  Besides, anyone with siblings knows that once the irresponsible sibling runs out of stuff, your stuff is toast.  It was some form of self-preservation.  (So was my well developed habit of hoarding and hiding the stashes so that said sibling couldn't use it up when I wasn't looking. MY root beer, dammit!) 

It's a bit disconcerting now when I shop with PiC.  In a full-size household, I thought, you buy whenever the prices are excellent because you will need and use it.  In a this-size household, I'm having to hold back a bit** and realize that we actually might not use three tubs of detergent before Christmas and that it's not actually necessary to stock up quite as much as I used to.

**Except when it comes to canned tomatos and cereal. The man consumes as much cereal in a week as I do regular food.  If he keeps eating at a 1 (my) bowl to 1 (his) box ratio, I'm going to have to start hiding a stash!

Just another oddity of this stage of my life!  Watch, when I finally adjust, we'll add more mouths to feed. Furry, slobbery, doggery mouths.

My high school service award was a $500 savings bond for college.

Our lovely Kiwanians, however, hadn't really looked carefully at the terms of the bond, or the kind of bond they were buying, and 10 years later, the Series EE bond has only appreciated to a grand total of $374.  It's the sort of bond that takes thirty years to accrue to full value, you see, and so was probably the worst choice for a college fund.

I can't really decide if it's worth waiting another 20 years for that bond to mature. Why not cash it out at $374 now and invest it or just put it toward one of my mid-term savings goals?




My thanks .....

to Miss Thrifty for hosting this week's Carnival of Personal Finance and including my post: I almost lost 22K Starpoints!

Be sure to submit to next week's Carnival!

I brought this purse back from my last visit with Grandma three years ago always intending it for a gift.  But it never quite seemed to fit the personality of the gals I know.  (I was going to give away the Southwest drink coupons too, but I have no idea where they went.  If enough people mention they'd like them in their comments, I'll try to find them.)

P'raps you'd like to help it find a new home?  P'raps you would like to welcome this purse into your home?

To Enter:
1.  Leave a comment with your name and email address, and who you'd like the purse for.  (1 entry)
2.  Tweet about this giveaway, include my handle so I can track your entries: "Win a tiny purse from @RevancheGS: http://bit.ly/9SnS2L" (1 entry per day)
3.  Blog about it and leave a comment with your link. (2 entries)
4.  Bonus entry: Referring another entrant who will credit you for the tip!  That entrant has to leave your name in a comment. 

The Rules:
1.  Enter by Monday, August 16th, 11:59 PM PDT.
2.  Winner will be chosen by randomnumber.org and all decisions are final.
3.  Winner must respond to my contact email within 48 hours or I'll choose another winner.
4.  Open to U.S. and Canadian readers.

I know you all love the Old Spice commercial (you do, don't you??). 

Evidently he's gone on to do a few more silly such vids:



And an NYU student's parody....

"They" always say not to save credit card or rewards points, and once again, "they" are right.  

Somehow, I lost track of my various hotel loyalty programs and let one of the more valuable programs lapse.

It's possible I wouldn't have noticed it even today except I was browsing a lot of online sales and after fussing over a lot of clothes I'd like to order BUT didn't want to pay shipping for, I came to my senses. If I'm going to spend on clothes, that can't come out of my regular cash funds!  They're already stretched so it was time to go hunting for some point redemption for the next good sale.

That's when the brilliant idea to cash in those long hoarded Starpoints flashed through my mind: Starpoints usually redeem at a 1:1 ratio and offer some premium stores like Nordstrom.  Blissfully ignorant, I popped into the SPG website and tried to log in. After several failed attempts, I called the customer service number inquiring about my account.

Oh. It had been inactivated.  

22,000 points, gone.

It's been over 18 months since my last account activity and that meant it was fair game for deactivation. In fact, my Starpoints account had gone inactive back in April but I've been a little busy not staying in hotels or vacationing, sadly. 

!!!  I was really ticked at myself for letting that happen, so carefully asked about having the account reactivated which was surprisingly easy. The rep even volunteered the next happy bit of news: I haven't permanently lost my points yet. They'll reinstate those points in about 3-5 days.

My hoarding was with the best of intentions: I thought I'd find a way to earn a few more points to maximize my redemptions for up to $250 in gift certificates since I no longer travel and stay in Starwood hotels for work.  Regardless of intentions, though, the result was that I almost lost a hefty redemption of $200 in gift certificates simply because I got greedy.  

Don't let your points get stale, redeem them if you're not earning any more!

aka The Poor Hostess.

We had friends over the other weekend.  By "we" I mean, PiC said they could come stay for the weekend and then took off on a previously planned trip. I kid, we both agreed it'd be great to see them but he had plans he couldn't change on the same weekend so that left me with them.  And I was fine with that, they're great fun.  But I realized that I'm not only a less than social creature, I'm not a great hostess.

I have this personal definition or image of a good host: you always have fresh linens on the bed, you have all kinds of goodies in the fridge, cook every meal and clear up afterwards letting your guests be entertained at their leisure. Kind of like the best dinner party slash sleepover ever, right?

But realistically, how on earth does a single person DO all that?

I definitely presided over the cooking/kitchen, there were certainly clean linens for the air mattress, fresh towels in a newly cleaned bathroom and I set it up for them but they helped me with the dishes, used their own towels, and fought with me over every bill.

2 to 1, I was bound to lose some of those fights. And let's be honest, I'm not really comfortable with the predominantly Asian contact sport known as Give-Me-The-Bill-Or-I'll-Throw-An-Elbow on a number of levels.

Looking at it from the other side, my cousins, for example, have hosted me (I'm nearly the youngest in that grouping) and they paid for everything, took care of everything, and chased me away from the dishes in the long ago past. That's where I imprinted the idea of good hosting.  Then again, when I've stayed with friends, I've done their dishes (and their roommates'), cleared up any messes, and chipped in for meals and household supplies that I used.

So is this a generational thing?  Or am I taking advantage of free labor?

What do you consider good hosting habits?

If you're not in the mood for something super savory, or don't have time to cook up a full meal, I've put together a quick and easy recipe that only takes about twenty minutes from concept to sitting down at the table. No photos this time because the pasta never makes it to the table in time for a photo shoot!

Pick your pasta: I love mezze penne and I love al dente: 7-9 minutes.
1/2 c sweet peas: 3 minutes or less in the microwave. I use frozen peas with pearl onions. The steam in a bag type is a total cheat, but they still taste quite good.
1/2 tomato, diced
2 handfuls of finely shredded cheese per bowl.
Olive oil

After cooking the pasta, toss with some olive oil, the peas, and half the tomatoes.  While the pasta's still hot, start adding the shredded cheese so that it gets webby, but add with a light hand.  I'm normally the kind to pile on cheese like there's no tomorrow but this dish is best with just enough cheese to bind the pasta lightly.  Top with the remaining diced tomatoes and serve.

I'm pretty sure this pasta would be great with asparagus as well, but I almost always have peas on hand and asparagus has been selling for $3/lb these days.

Next time, I'll finely dice mozzarella with fresh basil to top the pasta as a caprese salad garnish.

Con was pretty fab and so were the geek-celeb sightings.  The regular celeb sightings weren't nearly so interesting; I didn't even recognize Michael Cera, Brandon Routh or the other Scott Pilgrim stars. That might be more of a commentary on my social awareness than anything to do with them, though. ;)

One of my favorite things about Con is the opportunity to see and support some of my favorite artists and performers like Felicia Day and The Guild.  If you've never seen The Guild before, you really ought to.  Even PiC who is by no means geeky (yeah, how did that happen?) enjoys watching the web series Felicia Day created and wrote. I love the series because it's so delightfully geeky, the characters are hilariously flawed and frankly, Felicia Day is just adorable.

You should definitely watch the music videos they've created in addition to the episodes.


Do You Wanna Date My Avatar?



and the newest one: Game on!








My thanks .....

to Mrs. Money of Ultimate Money Blog for hosting this week's Carnival of Personal Finance and including my post: A horrifying question.

Be sure to submit to next week's Carnival!

Katamari Accounting: I think it's time to roll as many accounts into one as possible.

1. 1. The Retirement Funds are now spawning a 4th account due to the rollover I initiated a couple days ago.  Let's make that one Roth and one "massive" IRA. 
2. 2. The e-fund is spread across CDs, and savings accounts in two different banks. I'd like to have two big honkin' CDs: One is already a $15K 5-year term CD, the other might well encompass the rest of the cash as well as the soon-to-mature Prosperish Loan. 
3. 3. Pin Money, Moving and School just can't make up their minds what they really want to be so they should just become Parental Medical Funds. 

Financial Planning: Once I reorganize my finances, I need to help a friend structure some investments from an inheritance.  We're talking multiples of what I have personally, but not so much more I couldn't create a cohesive plan.

Progress:  It's been a niggling thing in the back of my head that I haven't been paying my fair share OR saving.  This month's increase, even after I paid a great deal of credit card bills off, is both surprising and puzzling.  I've now redirected a small chunk of the direct deposit, previously all toward the expense account, to actual savings starting this month.   Which brings me to ....

Urges and Splurges: In the spirit of absolute honesty, seeing my number go up when I don't have a specific account that looks like it's going begging makes me want want want. But ........

Spending: As usual, binging and purging.  By which I mean, I don't get nice new clothes, underthings, hair ties, new phone, new anything that's not strictly necessary so that I can spend several thousand dollars on my parents.  They have both woefully neglected their dental care and I had no idea how bad it was until recently.  I knew my dad needed dentures soon but just found out that many of his teeth are bad and so are Mom's.  I estimate that the costs will start around $10,000 for basic care.

Freelancing: If I want any extras in my life, I'm gonna have to work for it!  Time to go hunting for more work.

Reality Check: Beyond that, in less than five years, I'm sure that Mom will need more assistance than Dad can provide.  Heck, in two years, she could require a full scale assisted living situation and I don't have anything near enough saved for that. Looking above, a whole $107K looks like a really tidy start until you realize that I may soon have to spend $60K/year on assisted living for my parent(s).  Then I'm nowhere near ready for the future.