What did you do today? 2016 version

[NW-Bound]

Just made my 1st IRA withdrawal ever. No more Roth conversion. I need spending money, and do not want to draw down my after-tax money too much.

I wanted to withdraw in-kind stocks from a Schwab IRA to a Schwab brokerage, but they have no online tool for me to do it. They had it for Roth conversion though.

So, had to do it through a chat session, and the agent did it for me in seconds. The amount reported to the IRS is real-time value of the stocks, right as she hits her <enter> button. And the stocks now appear in my after-tax account, to sell for cash whenever I need some money for food (and travel).

I guess real-time stock valuation was used for my DIY past Roth conversion too, but I was not paying attention.

[Walt34]

Gym day with DW, then picked up her car at the shop where we dropped it off yesterday. It needed an oil change, annual state inspection, wiper blades, and load test on the battery. I was glad I asked for that last one even though the car is only three years old - the battery was marginal. The shop owner knows us and he runs an honest shop so he just replaced the battery. He knows I value reliability and wouldn't want DW driving around with a marginal battery.

[Souschef]

Got a haircut, picked up some MR11 halogen bulbs to fix out fiber optic Xmas tree, bought 2 one pound 2 inch thick filet mignons for DW birthday.
I had planned to take her out to dinner, but she said she would rather go out to lunch at a place on the shore, and cook the filets for dinner. It makes sense, she would rather have a daylight view of the ocean.

[travelover]

We are giving away a bunch of furniture on Freecycle in preparation to moving. I can't believe the people that respond. "Can you deliver it?" "Will you load it for me?"(heavy couch bed). "Will it fit in my Prius?" (entertainment center). Give me two husky good ole boys with a pickup truck any day.

Glad when this is over.

[Souschef]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover We are giving away a bunch of furniture on Freecycle in preparation to moving. I can't believe the people that respond. "Can you deliver it?" "Will you load it for me?"(heavy couch bed). "Will it fit in my Prius?" (entertainment center). Give me two husky good ole boys with a pickup truck any day. Glad when this is over.

We can relate. We had listed a desk on CL free. A lady calls and starts asking my wife all kinds of questions about it. In exasperation, my wife finally said," Lady, how much cheaper than free do you want it?"

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Just made my 1st IRA withdrawal ever. No more Roth conversion. I need spending money, and do not want to draw down my after-tax money too much.

Congratulations! This is great because you saved all that retirement account money for retirement, which is right now. Very timely.

[W2R]

The Parish (=County) re-did some concrete work for me a few days ago because of a water leakage that they felt undermined it, and that was their responsibility. They replaced my driveway near the street, and my sidewalk near to where it meets the driveway. All this was free and it looks very, very good now, better than ever.

The traffic here has become INSANE, as it always does the week before Christmas. Somehow I seem to forget that from year to year. Maybe this crazy traffic happens because we live within walking distance of the busiest mall in New Orleans. Anyway, we went out to lunch, I was driving, and the traffic afterwards was so terrifying that I just came straight home and thanked my lucky stars that I got there in one piece.

Spent the rest of the afternoon happily hibernating, while browsing/buying on Amazon here in the safety of my home.

[harley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover We are giving away a bunch of furniture on Freecycle in preparation to moving. I can't believe the people that respond. "Can you deliver it?" "Will you load it for me?"(heavy couch bed). "Will it fit in my Prius?" (entertainment center). Give me two husky good ole boys with a pickup truck any day. Glad when this is over.

Yay! I finally got rid of my old Bowflex. Had a couple of guys over working on fixing a leak on our back wall (the one that faces the Nor'easters), and one of them took it for his teenage kid. Been meaning to get rid of it for years, but this year since we're storing a car in the garage for the winter I needed to do it to clear out the space. Now my only problem is where to put all the hats.

[braumeister]

Got the dreaded reminder call and made an appointment for a colonoscopy. Those seven years went by fast!

[Walt34]

On almost a whim, I made a bid on eBay for a camera strobe light and to my complete astonishment I won! There are/were several of these strobes up for bids and all have bids at significantly higher prices than what I paid, but for some reason no one else bid on that one.

Auctions are funny that way sometimes.

I will now have four of these strobes and can put them out to reflect off the ceiling/walls and really light up a room evenly. When I get it right (which is not all the time) you cannot tell that the photo was lighted by strobes. And just in time for the large family Christmas gathering.

[MRG]

Went for a two mile walk, first time since I fell. We got a couple pairs of Yaktrax and they are great. Expecially since the plows came through and took snow pack and polished it into a glaze of ice. We could have ice skated the entire walk. But no falls!

[Music Lover]

Shoveled a few inches of snow in the driveway and off the decks. Also learned 2 songs that I've always wanted to know how to play..."Chain Gang" by the Pretenders and "London Calling" by the Clash.

[Hermit]

My propane tank was placed and the furnace hooked up. Now I have heat in the house. That will make it much nicer for working through the winter.

The guy that set the tank has one for sale and I told him I would buy it from him. He will bring it up and take the rental one. This way I don't have to worry about how much propane I use. The propane company likes you to use 800 gallons a year on their rental tanks.

[street]

I took a nice walk in the country. It was a great day the snow was melting some and not much wind. No snow shoes yet and hope we don't get that much so I have to use them. Days are going to get longer starting tomorrow.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hermit The guy that set the tank has one for sale and I told him I would buy it from him. He will bring it up and take the rental one. This way I don't have to worry about how much propane I use. The propane company likes you to use 800 gallons a year on their rental tanks.

Sounds like a very good move. When we lived in a home with propane heat (rural Ohio), we typically used 700-800 gallons a year, and we didn't have the wood-burning stove that you're going to use.

[Philliefan33]

Went to the airport to pick up my youngest and her boyfriend. She's currently sleeping on the couch, but I forgive her because she worked night shift last night and has been up for 24 hours.

It's just good to have my baby in the house!

[Khan]

Drove off island to get a crown reglued. I thanked dentist for squeezing me in before regular hours, especially since he is going on vacation tonight until Jan 2.

[Ronstar]

A perfect day. Went shopping for beer, woodworking supplies, and supplies to start photo framing.

[Souschef]

Took my wife out to lunch for her birthday at a restaurant near the ocean with her son and granddaughter.
The granddaughter is studying nursing, and needs $$ for tuition, I am going to take my RMD and give her half and divide the rest among our sons.

[ElizabethT]

Put my house back together for the fourth time in as many weeks. Started with replacing our entry tile with marble, then our carpeting with wood flooring, than having the marble sealed and our bathroom tile cleaned and resealed. Finally, this last week, we had our old wood flooring refinished to match the new flooring. Today I put that room back together.

Otherwise, DH and I watched It's A Wonderful Life, an annual Christmas tradition, and I'm now making salmon, rice and vegs for dinner. After we clean up we'll go for a stroll to enjoy the holiday lights (again).

Tomorrow we're off to see family for the upcoming holiday week.