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I can't believe it has already been a year since we retired. Retirement is awesome, but the time has passed so quickly. The first six months were sort of our "honeymoon" phase, with lots of outings locally and a couple of road trips. Great times! Once winter set in we mostly just hung around...

I was looking over our home insurance policy and saw they had assigned a "personal property" value of $238K. I'm not sure how they came up with that number, but it made me curious how many personal items we really have and what they are worth. So, I went through every single item in every room...

I know I'm probably gonna be on the losing end of this one, but I need to vent anyway... So feel free to send the "suck it up buttercup" comments my way... For the last year I had been planning a couple of vacations for my wife and I to take this summer. Like usual, I put a lot of time and...

Our well pump quit working Tuesday night (Feb 13th). My wife turned on a faucet and nothing came out. I checked a few simple things and didn't see anything obvious, so we called a well company to come track down the cause. A technician showed up the next day (Happy Valentines Day) and confirmed...

I spent most of the day Sunday up on my 12 foot step ladder cleaning moss and fir needles off our garage roof with a rake. I've always been comfortable working on ladders and didn't give it much thought. Later that same day we got a message that my brother-in-law was in the hospital with six...

A few weeks ago we went for a mid-week date in our home town to grab lunch and see a movie. We have one "main" street and most of the businesses are within a 4 to 5 block section of that street. Typical small town. We have always parked in the same spot a couple blocks up the hill away from...

I have been thinking about getting an air fryer, but I'm debating how much we would actually use it. We rarely eat fried food, but I've seen videos and recipes for fish, chicken, vegetables, and some desserts that look quick and easy. Still, I'm not sure if it would be any faster or more...

I recently set up an old laptop as a basic NAS so my wife and I could share files easily. Everything seems to work well and it backs up nightly to an external hard drive. However, my current network is all 1Gbs, routers, switches, etc. That's fine for most things, but it is a little slow for...

We have a high yield savings account at Discover that currently pays 4.35% interest. We pay all bills and purchases with our cash back credit card, then autopay that every month from our savings account. Otherwise we never really make any withdrawals from that account. Our main checking account...

My wife and I have rented ebikes on a few occasions while traveling and really had a great time riding them. So we are thinking about picking up a couple inexpensive ($500-700 range) ebikes of our own. It would save money in the long run, avoid the rental time restrictions, and explore areas...

When I was growing up, I don't recall either side of my family ever having a family reunion. We would visit individual aunts and uncles periodically, but never an organized group gathering. My wife's family has two family reunions every year, one for each side of the family. To make matters...

We just signed up on an ACA plan and need to choose new doctors. I've had a PA (physicians assistant) at Kaiser for many years and have been happy with him. But I'm not sure how all the different designations rank when searching for a new doc. MD seems the obvious choice, but I haven't seen...

After 35+ years with Kaiser through my wife's employer, we are now on an ACA health plan (Regence Legacy Cascade Silver). I feel a little lost now having to find a new doctor, pharmacy, etc. I realize how ignorant I am of the healthcare system outside of Kaiser. Question 1: Can I fill a...

We went grocery shopping a few days ago. With the high cost of food these days I've been watching for items that are on sale, applying digital coupons, etc. But I never really paid much attention to the receipt when we got back home. I just happened to look at our receipt and noticed we were...

We are switching to an ACA health plan now, and I briefly looked at the dental plans offered. A few had premiums of $100 or more, but had a maximum payout of $1000. Why would anyone pay $1200 a year for $1000 of coverage? That makes no sense to me. What am I missing?

I started getting PAC's (premature atrial contractions) in 2021. After an ambulance ride to the ER, many blood tests, numerous EKG's, a heart stress test, and twice wearing a heart monitor for three days, I was told all was fine. My heart was in good physical condition, perfectly normal, nothing...

I didn't start taking "low dose" aspirin till I was 58, and doc said then "only till you're 60". I'll be turning 60 next month, and it seems current recommendations are to NOT take the daily aspirin unless you are at risk of a heart attack. So I will most likely stop taking it once my current...

I'm still five years from Medicare, but was watching some videos yesterday and was surprised by the related costs. $170 for part B, $200 for medigap G, $20 for drug coverage. That's almost $400 month, a lot more than I was expecting for Medicare. I did some quick browsing on the medicare.gov...

My wife's last day of work was April 28, 2023. While I am technically still self employed, I haven't done any real work since then other than answering a few emails and taking care of some finances. Despite that, I still have a few hundred dollars trickle in each month, which helps provide a...

Yesterday marked one week since my wife officially retired from her job. Our first week flew by quickly, and we're still trying to adjust to the realization that we're not just on vacation. So far, other than healthcare hurdles, everything has gone smoothly. We find that we're sleeping till 7am...

It was supposed to be easy... My wife's employer healthcare would end, and we would sign up with a new plan through the ACA marketplace. I researched more than a year in advance so I would be prepared when the time came. Of course, nothing ever goes as planned. As per the Washington health plan...

Theft at retail stores is getting out of hand around here. People will walk into a store, grab arm loads of stuff, and just walk out the door with it. Employees are being told not to try stopping them for safety reasons. It's all caught on camera, and with limited police enforcement it's a crime...

Our 18 year old Whirlpool refrigerator served us well, but the defrost drain line kept freezing over and causing water to build up inside the fridge. I replaced the defrost timer twice, as well as the thermostat, fans, switches, etc. So we decided to buy a new fridge rather than keep throwing...

I have been addicted to carbonated soft drinks since I was a teenager. Horrible stuff, rots my teeth and God knows what else. But I couldn't tolerate any of the alternatives more than a day or two. Last December I started having premature heart beats for the first time. I attributed it to the...

My blood pressure got up above 140/90 a couple years ago so I finally started taking medicine for it. Unfortunately, I have had really bad problems with side effects which has made the last two years rather stressful and uncomfortable. Doc started me on Lisinopril 10mg, but it left me dizzy...