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Not much spending, and bonds

January 23rd, 2007 at 03:17 pm

Still plugging away over here, doing pretty well with the budget and basically having days and days where I don't spend any money outside of paying for planned expenses/bills. Our credit card cycle closes today, and even with the $700 or so on there for tile, the overall bill is still lower than usual. This is one of those months where none of us goes to the doctor or dentist, and none of the pets go to the vet.

I was reading through the last chapter of Your Money or Your Life last night, learning about their stance on bonds. It also clued me into a way to add investment income to my spreadsheet, so I'm going to fiddle around with that again this week. (Basically, I'm going to look at how much we have put away for retirement and figure out what the interest income would be today if it were in a liquid account. This isn't exactly right on, but it's close enough to give me some numbers to play with.)

Not much else to add, really

Posted in Savings, General Musings, Retirement | 9 Comments »

9 Responses to “Not much spending, and bonds”

  1. Aleta Says:
    January 23rd, 2007 at 04:28 pm 1169569704
    1169569704

    I'm reading this book for the first time and am on the 3rd. chapter. It gives you a whole new way to look at money and your life. So far, I'm just reading and plan to do the work after I read it. I got it from the library and will buy it later if I find it will be a good reference book. What do you think of it so far?

  2. DivaJen Says:
    January 23rd, 2007 at 04:46 pm 1169570792
    1169570792

    I first read this book when I borrowed it from the library; I liked it so well that I bought myself a (used) copy of it. I agree that it is an entirely different approach to money and how one can view spending, earning and saving. I use this book as inspiration and/or affirmation, depending on my needs at the moment.

  3. Amber Says:
    January 24th, 2007 at 03:45 am 1169610349
    1169610349

    Way to go on keeping the cc debt down.

  4. baselle Says:
    January 24th, 2007 at 04:29 am 1169612947
    1169612947

    What kind of bonds are you looking at?

  5. DivaJen Says:
    January 24th, 2007 at 04:36 am 1169613381
    1169613381

    In the book they talk about US Treasury Bonds. The book is somewhat dated, though, so I don't know if Ms. Robin (co-author) would give the same advice today or not.

  6. baselle Says:
    January 24th, 2007 at 04:46 am 1169613978
    1169613978

    I'm having a good time "playing" with Treasury bills, which are bonds with a short term maturity. Bills = 4 wks to 6 months, notes = 1 yr to 20 yrs, bonds = 30 yrs. I shouldn't really say playing, although I'm an experiential learner. I have to be in it to see how it works. Big Grin

  7. DivaJen Says:
    January 24th, 2007 at 04:54 am 1169614452
    1169614452

    Do you buy them directly from the Treasury Direct site?
    http://www.savingsbonds.gov/indiv/indiv.htm

    I feel like this is the next area for me to dabble in.

  8. baselle Says:
    January 25th, 2007 at 03:49 am 1169696975
    1169696975

    Yep, although the web address I use is this:

    http://www.treasurydirect.gov/tdhome.htm

    Have savings bonds, T-bills, and my grandpa's converted bonds in there.

  9. Aleta Says:
    January 25th, 2007 at 03:12 pm 1169737952
    1169737952

    I like savings bonds because you can invest in smaller denominations and it grows tax deferred until you cash them in. I saved them for my kids wnen they were younger but, could not have bought them if the investment output would have been higher.

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