@kkrish I saw your response and then started researching so didn't get chance to reply. Sorry about that. I'm continuing my learning in investing . Actually I found some no penalty cd plans which seems to be good place to start.
Ok. No need for apologies at all. I seem to be the confused person. That's great you are learning about investing. All women should know about investing. Wishing you great success which I am sure you will be.
@kkrish thanks yes this time I want to learn and do things right way. I'm actually 40+ so better late than never
@mangaii Yesterday Fed slashed down the interest rates thanks to covid19. You will see that the APY on many CDs have gone down. Yet, it is a good idea to earn whatever interest we can.
Why don't you try a meal plan for a week? I use a simple excel spread sheet. Account for when you want to eat out, what kids will take for lunch and weekly lunch boxes and dinners. I plan and then add 1 or 2 things extra as a back up. So if that is left over at the end of the week, I will start the meal plan for next week with the left over stuff. It gets easier when you get the hang of it. I pick up my groceries on friday evening after work. So I save 2 hrs of shopping time on weekends. Here is a sample sheet I use for planning. We eat out very rarely, because I am a cooking freak. One down side to the meal planning is that, If I am sick on before I plan this we wont have much stuff leftover in fridge. But then we can always eat out.
Unfortunately with a teenager who is foodie it is so hard to come up with meal plan . She becomes crazy if she doesn’t get what she wants . On days I work late it is not possible for me to plan and make food for next day . I’m fine with that expense since i also get bored eating my own food seven days a week . Once my older one leaves for college things might be easier . It is so hard to plan anything around her .
Thanks to OP for starting this thread, I have been tracking our Monthly expenses for the past 10months and learned very important lesson of life!!! I use CC as my debit card, i shop with my CC which give me perks like cash back, but make the payment right after the balance hits, this way, I wont keep any outstanding balance on the card and gets the cash back. Once the cash back reached 100$, i check that out and deposit in our vacation fund. I budget (mostly me at our home because I am saver and DH is spender) every category 10 days before the month starts in a excel sheet and automate track them in Mint/Personal Capital which gives me bigger picture with historical data comparing past 6 months!! I do maintain Sinking funds for upcoming expenses like summer camps, back-to-school shopping, family celebrations, car maintenance, Vacation categories which I deposit certain amount on each pay period (automated). Currently building emergency fund and 1 month ahead of expenses also contributing to retirement savings. The past 10months i can see major change in myself, that I dont impulse shop on Macys/Amazon/Wayfair/Overstock, but just budget them and buy intentionally which actually making me guilt free!!! Edit- You can try cash back on online shopping as well with Ebates on site/Fetch Rewards(app)!!
@sravanitenali While finishing registration for mint the site mentioned the details will be shared with third party. Did you have any concerns about that statement ?
