As part of rationalizing all my streaming services, I canceled Apple TV+ a while back and seeing the announcement today that Apple is jacking up rates 30% from $9.99/month to $12.99/month I am glad I did. I actually canceled most of the streaming services but ironically, I ended up getting some of them back as…
Category: Money Management
Update On Municipal Bond Portfolio: $60K
Last year I had accumulated $30k in municipal bonds in my taxable brokerage account as part of my tax strategy to earn tax free income and I’m happy to report that now a little over a year later I have $60k in munis earning a blended return of 5 percent. This is the tax free…
Inflation At Costco
I went on a recent trip to Costco and was floored by the cost of stuff. I spent $215 on 13 items and these were normal every day items not electronics or jewelry. I had an inflation category on my old blog where I would periodically track the cost of a cart of groceries but…
Insurance Inflation Is Insane!
I got an email notice from my insurance company that they will now start charging a $5 fee for using credit card to pay my insurance premiums which I do because the whole thing is automated and I don’t want to write checks or pay bills online. They even charge $5 for using a debit…
Got My Severance Payment
I got my severance package payment today. It actually came a bit faster than I was expecting but I’m not going to complain. It came at the perfect time, I’m getting ready to head out for the summer on holiday. This reminds me that I may not be posting frequently given I will be visiting…
My Genius Tax Plan Has Snared Me
Do you remember the old Wild E Coyote vs Road Runner cartoons? The series of cartoons featured a coyote intent on capturing the road runner with endlessly elaborate traps, tricks and tactics and sadly, he was never successful, the road runner always got the best of the coyote. I feel like that coyote. A few…
Restaurant Inflation Insane
As a kid in middle school, I remember my dad taking me to a diner downtown before dropping me off at school. It was a diner where everyone seemed to know him. A breakfast plate of food that included eggs, bacon, and biscuits was $1.99. My dad would go there for breakfast often but the…
Everything At The Grocery Store Is Now $8+
I may be aging myself but I noticed this past weekend when I went to the grocery store that most items now have a starting price of $8 and it kinda blew me away. I remember a time $2 was the starting point for most items. Let’s take a look at my recent grocery bill…
Sold My SPY PUTs For Profits
Back in October, I wrote a post about buying puts on SPY as the market made new all time highs. Back then it was all about the irrational market but I held on and as the election happened and a new administration won and would be coming in, I figured the market would not like…
Tariff Warnings: Laptop Prices Going Up 10% In March
It looks like my strategy hoarding electronics was prudent and timely. According to TomsHardware, the price of laptops are expected to rise 10% in March due to the new administration’s tariff scheme. Acer Laptop prices in the U.S. are set to rise by 10% from March 2025, commented CEO Jason Chen in an interview with The…