Lottery Dreaming

Posted on January 20, 2020 by Holly

I’ve done one or two posts on the lottery before. It’s a little guilty pleasure of mine. I live frugally; I don’t smoke, rarely drink, and I don’t have a shoe or handbag fetish like so many women. So throwing $2 a week down on the Powerball or Mega Millions or the occasional scratch-off ticket comes out of my entertainment expenses on my budget. It’s fun to dream about winning the big one and being able to contact David Bromstadt to help me find my new Lottery Dream home, am I right?

My last post on this was about 4 years ago when the Powerball was insanely large.  Wednesday night’s drawing will be approximately $343 million.

The nerdy accountant/dreamer in me has a great time thinking about what I would do if I won though. Cash option for Wednesday’s drawing is $233.3 million, assuming a deduction of about 40% for various taxes taken off the top, that would leave around $140 million. Disclaimer, I’ve never won the lottery so I’m just doing some educated guesses. Please don’t send me comments correcting my figures; go write your own blog post if you want exact numbers, I’m just daydreaming here.

Holy Cow!! What would I do with that much money? Continue reading →

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Living Your Ideal Life

Posted on January 16, 2020 by Holly

I guess I’m still in that Hey, it’s January, let’s change our whole life for the better rush that I get every year. That’s just me, I can’t help it. And honestly, I’m always looking for ways to improve myself/my life. That doesn’t mean I’m not happy with my life or even myself, I just feel like there’s always room for improvement. So I’ve jumped on the Rachel Hollis train over the last few months (last year it was the Jen Sincero train). Most of the time I really like Rachel’s message and her motivation and enthusiasm.  Some days I’m like…let’s dial it back a thousand, chic. Continue reading →

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Stop the Bleeding!

Posted on January 6, 2020 by Holly

Stop the bleeding! This is a favorite expression of mine. In years past, when my boys were younger and wilder, I used it often. One kid in particular loved to bang himself up, enough so that our favorite immediate care knew us by name. Today though I’m using it in a different context. I’m using January to jumpstart my efforts to stop the bleeding in my budget.

I’m going to take a wild guess that I’m not the only one who tends to overspend, especially this time of year. Maybe some of you need to stop the bleeding as well with your finances. If this applies to you then read on! I’m going to detail a few steps I’m taking this month to get back on track with my finances. Continue reading →

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New Year-New Goals!

Posted on January 1, 2020 by Holly

2020 is officially here!! January is my favorite time of year (well, except the part where I’m always flat broke from overspending at Christmas). I absolutely LOVE the idea of a brand new year full of opportunities. Do you have to wait until January each year to set goals or decide to stop a bad habit? Of course not; you should always be working on being the best you that you can be. A new year beginning to me is a great point to check in and see how I did last year and re-evaluate on what I want to achieve in the new year.

I am anticipating that 2020 is going to be full of exciting changes for our family. Michael is slated to graduate from Bellarmine in May. He’s applying for internships as we speak and soon he’ll be doing his final graduation walk.

Nick has three semesters left before he graduates from WKU. He’s already working on a business plan with a friend and I’m sure he’ll have his own company one day.

I am determined to carve out a writing career for myself this year. I don’t have any plans to leave my current job, especially while we all still need health insurance, but writing is my passion. Now is a great time to focus on my love of writing and hopefully it will become another income source for us. The boys are on the cusp of embarking on their new lives and it’s time for me to re-focus on my dreams. Continue reading →

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2020 is almost here!

Posted on December 30, 2019 by Holly

Holy Cow! How is it almost 2020?? It feels like we should be riding around on spaceships or something…of course, there is such a thing as self-driving cars so maybe we’re not that far off.

This year has flown by. The biggest thing I was involved in this year was my new job. I left my former job in December of 2018 so 2019 was busy spent trying to figure out everything in my new position. I just had my one year anniversary and I still feel like there is so much to learn. Continue reading →

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No-show November

Posted on December 4, 2019 by Holly

I know, I know, I’m sure my 13 loyal readers were probably very worried about me in November. Don’t worry, I’m back and motivated to get busy working on this blog and a product I’ve got in development.

So where was I? Well, work was a tad bit busy and there was that holiday thrown in there but mostly I was busy writing like a mad woman. Um…Holly…we just discussed the fact that you didn’t post one single time in November. That’s correct and that’s because I was busy writing 50,000 words towards a novel. Continue reading →

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Why Is She Writing a Personal Finance Blog??

Posted on October 28, 2019 by Holly

I know that’s what you’re thinking!! And it’s okay…it’s a legit question. I do have an accounting degree but I am not a finance professional or offering financial advice in any professional capacity. (That’s my disclaimer in case you missed it!)

Current situation:

45 years old, single (widowed actually), two kids in college, still paying off my own student loans, and too much credit card debt.

Wait, wait, wait, don’t give up on me and click on Dave Ramsey or some other expert that has their financial stuff all figured out. It’s true, if you’re looking for someone that can give you financial advice on what to do with your millions of dollars just sitting around, then you’ve stumbled on the wrong site (but hey, we can still be friends!) Continue reading →

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Take It or Leave It and Advice I Agree With

Posted on October 17, 2019 by Holly

 

There are a lot of personal finance experts out there. Some are popular and some are not. I’m a definite money nerd, I love to read anything regarding personal finance. As with most things in life though I rarely agree with anything or anyone 100 percent. I prefer to evaluate the “experts” stance and decide for myself what knowledge or advice they offer that will apply to my situation. Below are some of the more popular personal finance gurus and the advice they offer that I believe in. Continue reading →

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Stop With The Excuses!

Posted on September 19, 2019 by Holly

 

lady on computer wasting time

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

I’ve been lazy lately. Okay, maybe not lazy. I go to work every day, I also try to always be available when friends and family need me for something, and I keep my son’s cat alive while he’s away at school. Guess what I’ve not been doing? I’ve not been working on what’s important to me, which is my writing.

I’ve got plenty of excuses though…

Continue reading →

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My Spending Fast Isn’t As Cool As Anna’s…

Posted on August 26, 2019 by Holly

cat with the Debt Free Living book

It’s been an expensive few weeks in our household. And when I say expensive, I mean we’re about to hemorrhage some money. Let me just give you the highlights. Continue reading →

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