It’s been awhile since I’ve done a numbers blog (where I write about numbers). In the past when I wrote one, my friend Danielle would always email me one word: “Boring!”
But I couldn’t help it, I like numbers and how they rattle around in my brain. So at the risk of boring your socks off, I just need to get these recent digits out of my head if that’s okay.
1. My monthly healthcare premium dropped in price in 2023, from $185.65 a month to $151.77. That’s a savings of $34.00, woo-hoo!
2. What’s that old saying, ‘The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away’? I just got my lease from Steiner Realty yesterday and my rent is increasing $30 this April, from $810.00 to $840.
Oh well, I can’t really complain… they included a letter explaining precisely why it’s increasing, and unlike my last apartment in the city, my heat/AC and water/sewage is included in my rent here.
3. On January 5, the day of my colonoscopy, my blood pressure was taken twice (before and after the procedure). 127 over 73 before, 123 over 70 after.
4. Two of my favorite people on this planet turned 60 on January 10, my mailman Jim C and my long-time friend Kimberly H. Another favorite, my sister Shawn will turn 60 later this year.
(This is a photo of Shawn from Christmas, we’re less than 2 years apart in age so why isn’t she aging like I am?)
5. As of January 12, 2023 my retirement portfolio is down $122,677 from this date in 2022. Ouch! But that loss is in my stocks value, I still have the same number of shares.
It will most likely rebound. In a couple years, I hope.
6. On a happier note, my Federal Reserve Money Market account (where I keep 3 years of living expenses) only earned 43.00 a month in 2022, but is now earning $221.00 per month. And that is real cash.
7. Speaking of cash, in 290 days I will be eligible to collect social security. I don’t plan on signing up just yet (hoping to hold out a couple more years) but just the fact I can… it’s difficult to fathom. If anything says you’re getting old, this sure does.
8. And finally, speaking of days—in 75 days Pittsburgh will be saying goodbye to plastic bags for good. I use Kuhn’s supermarket bags for my small kitchen & bathroom wastecans. I’ve been hoarding them for years, and know precisely how many I have without having to count them.
Each Kuhn’s bag holds 30 scrunched up bags. I’ve got 33 ‘bags of 30’ stuffed into a large leaf trashbag in my apartment’s storage locker. Since I change my kitchen trash 5 days a week and my bathroom trash once a week, each saved bag lasts a month. I’ll have enough to last me 3 years.
When Opal asked me around Christmas if I’d heard about the upcoming bag-ban, I said yes and I’ve been hoarding them in anticipation of it. She laughed and said “I bet I’ve got 100 under my sink, you’re talking to a REAL hoarder here!”
Opal… you have no idea.
ahh, kind of you to post my age. Reminds me of when Sophia was in pre-K and would tell the cashier "my Mom is 46!!" Thanks kid. By the way, I can get you 4000 mini garbage bags for $30 anytime you want. No need to be competing with Opal~
ReplyDeleteThanks Shawn but I already found a place to buy plastic grocery bags (which I prefer to mini-trash bags). Sorry for sharing your age, I didn't know it was a secret :^)
DeleteHi Doug, I enjoy a number post anytime!
ReplyDeleteYay for your health care premium falling , foo on your rent going up.
Your blood pressure numbers are great.
With the interest rate hike’s lately it is wonderful to have money earning so much more. We put a good chunk of our savings away and it is earning an incredible amount of interest each month.
I understand how Shawn feels. Chuck very kindly told everyone at his shop it was my birthday yesterday and that I was 59. Thank you Chuck!
I love that you have all those plastic bags saved. We don’t have an outright ban on plastic yet but for many years we have been charged a nickel or dime for each one. A couple grocery stores only have paper bags.
Have a good day!❤️
Hi Robin, thanks for the chuckle! (Or should I be thanking Chuck, haha.. what is it with us men giving out ages?) Anyway, I very much enjoyed this feedback my friend, thank you--and interesting about your own plastic situation. :^)
DeleteShawn looks so pretty. And happy. Good for her. Glad your rent is low and includes heat/AC. Your BP is great. What can I say, your numbers are excellent.
ReplyDeleteThank you Gigi you're very kind! As for my rent, I'm sure that looks low from your Hawaiian perspective, but here in Pittsburgh it's on the higher side. But I have no complaints :^)
DeleteShawn is beautiful. Your rent is very low compared to FL. My son lives in England and he takes a bagful of bags back with him every year and thanks to you I now know how many that is, lol! As preppers say, never show anyone your stash! Joyce
ReplyDeleteThanks for the compliment about my sister, Joyce :^) As for my rent, I guess I'm lucky I retired in Pittsburgh--and speaking of locales, how cool that your son lives in England! As for my stash, I was tempted to show Opal but I wised up at the last minute :^)
DeleteMany years ago, my mother said, "Never ask/reveal a woman's age, weight or salary/income." I've held to this. Shawn must be in the know! You seem like a guy that is prepared for whatever (including trash bags) this old world throws at us. Overall, your numbers are looking good. Now we know there is no contest between you and Opal. She'd be shocked.
ReplyDeleteThanks Susan, and you're right about the revealing. The older I get, the more I seem to misplace my head! As for being a preparer, thank you my friend that is quite a compliment. I'm very big on being ahead in the game! 👍🙂
DeleteI like numbers blogs like this, personally. And I sure wish I had your rent. Ours has increased since we moved here so that we're paying twice the rent from a decade and a half ago. Plus electricity is separate and quite high in the winter months (we have electric heating).
ReplyDeleteDJan, thank you my friend. Your first sentence alone meant a lot. Believe it or not, I was thinking about you yesterday when I got my new lease. Because we both live in apartments, and because you've mentioned before how high yours has gotten over the years. I'm guessing because you live in such a sought after part of the country. My electric is separate too, but it's never gone above $45. There I am, sharing numbers again! 🙂
DeleteNever above $45?? Here in Australia our electricity prices are astronomical. I pay more than ten times that for winter heating and cooking.
DeleteAgain, I'm astonished at how low your rent is, Doug. In Ottawa, it's closer to three times more than your's. And your blood pressure is wonderful! Well done! Shawn certainly looks much younger than her years. When she hits 100, she'll likely only look like sixty. Ha!!
ReplyDeleteFlorence, thank you and you are too funny - - I've often told my sister that of us six kids, she's going to outlive us all. More and more that's looking right. And thank you for the BP congrats, it has been years since I've had numbers that low. And I'm sorry prices in Canada are so high, I wonder why that is?
DeleteBoy, Dug, you really are a numbers guy. Your rent is less than we're paying for utilities these days... unbelievable. Your sister looks great. And as for plastic bags, obviously I'm not the only one that saves them... but probably don't have the numbers you do. And we've lost a lot in retirement savings too, but I guess everyone has, so I won't complain. Good post!
ReplyDeleteRian, thanks so much. I feel terrible that people are paying so much for their housing! At the same time, I must admit it makes me feel a little better about my own rent increase. Thank you for the kind words about my sister, and for saying my boring numbers post was a good one! 🙂
DeleteShawn looks like she's 40! She is also beautiful. Your rent is way less than it is here. Younger Daughter pays $1,400 for a one-bedroom apartment, not fancy or anything. I would recommend holding off on your SS as long as you can. I'm still taking my late husband's and will wait until 70 to use my own which will be substantially more. We went from free shoddy plastic bags to nicer ones that cost 8 cents a piece. I'm happy to pay that to line my garbage cans. (and clean the litterbox)
ReplyDeleteThank you Margaret, and omigosh--$1400! But you guys do live in beautiful Washington state, I can't imagine having that mountain view. As for my SS, I was thinking I'd sign up when I was eligible for Medicare... and what's this about nicer plastic bags? Will you share them on your own blog sometime? I'm very curious what markets here are going to do....
DeleteFun blog! Great BP!
ReplyDeleteThank you Bobi! 🙂♥️
DeleteI am BAD with numbers. That's why I married an engineer. I wrote a blog post about our plastic bag ban. https://travelerswife.blogspot.com/2012/02/hawaii-plastic-bag-law.html
ReplyDeleteI fold my bags up into little triangles so they are nice and neat.
Thanks Kay, I look forward to reading your own blog about it--little triangles? I almost wish you hadn't said that, I have a thing about neatness! :^)
DeleteHmmm... I just looked at that old post again. I'm going to have to redo that photo so it's easier to see the folding process...
DeleteKay, I began folding bags in my most recent "bag of 30" and stopped after 5-6 of them. I thought "I have 660 of these this is crazy"! I wish I had told you about my hoard 5 years ago cuz it's too late now 😄
DeleteI am holding off on my ss as well. Tim will collect his first check next month.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Debby.. this is when it pays to be married. :^)
DeleteSure does.
Delete3 years is not a long time, it will be gone before you know it. Perhaps you could save bags by emptying your kitchen one once a week (2 extra days) and emptying the bathroom one into the kitchen one before tying it off?
ReplyDeleteI like numbers too, but don't have them rattling around in my head. I just do silly things like counting the stairs when I go up or down, counting the biscuits (cookies) in a pack and dividing to get an even number each day. Stuff like that.
River you read my mind, that's exactly what I'm doing with the bathroom can. That one bag can just stay put. But I also found a site on Amazon that sells the same type of plastic grocery bag, I've already ordered 300 of them. 🙂👍
DeleteWith those great blood-pressure numbers you're probably going to live a long time, so it's better to wait as long as you can to collect Social Security.
ReplyDeleteThank you Tom, I like your logic here very much. :^)
DeleteOooooo, a head filled with numbers. That’s what I like: prime numbers, perfect numbers, irrational numbers, imaginary numbers: e, π, sqrt(-1) and so on.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, it’s just adding up type numbers. Oh well.
Peter I was 10 seconds away from turning off my tablet and going to sleep when your comment here appeared. Now my day is complete. 👍👍🙂
DeleteOk, that's a lot of data with numbers on different stuff. Most midwest rents are $1200 to $1500 with no utilities paid for a 1-bedroom, and no place for your car except outside in the parking lot. Shaun looks younger because she didn't get caught with an overnight guest at your parent's place. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteLinda that's surprising about your high rent numbers, I thought the Midwest would be similar to here. As for your theory about my sister's aging compared to my own.. you are too funny! 😄
DeleteOh my gosh! You are hilarious Doug... so funny! I always have numbers in my head too but never thought to publish them... and I don't know what Danielle is thinking, you made them interesting. Seems like you missed one though. How many bags can you obtain in 75 days? As for your sister Shawn, she's still beautiful! It's definitely the Morris genes. Lucky us!
ReplyDeleteEmily, you just made my day! Thank you so much, as for funny you just made ME laugh out loud, I love a kindred spirit (and I can't wait to show this to Danielle)! Also, you're absolutely right about the '75 days of bags', I am doing an upcoming blog on this, in fact. And thank you for the kind words about Shawn, I've always thought all the Morris girls were beautiful. As for the guys... that's another story ;^)
Deletewow your rent is very reasonable. In Texas rent on a one bedroom is anywhere from 1500 to 1700 and up. It used to be reasonable until all the Californians moved here .Also your sister does not look 60 at all. Peace , Sherry
ReplyDeleteWow, I actually did hear that about Californians migrating to Texas because of the high prices in CA and a out of control homeless situation. I am sorry Sherry, but thank you for the nice words about my sister and for making me feel better about my own rent - posting these numbers has been more helpful than I thought it'd be 🙂👍
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