Back to school shopping

Today I went to the Goodwill Outlet store - also called the 'pound' store because everything is sold by-the-pound. Customers pick through waist high rolling bins of material: clothing, books, toys, linens and bedding all mixed together. When you find something you like, you take it to the checkout, they weigh it, and you pay by-the-pound. Today's haul: 4 shirts (2 for me, 2 for Son3) Total: $4.89.

After the pound-store, I went to my favorite Value Village on Capital Hill where the selection is very good. On the front door, I noticed a sign that said:
"Labor Day - Sept. 1st - All clothing, furniture (etc) 50% off marked prices".
So I looked around, found a couple of shirts that looked interesting, and a pair of pants or two. I was all ready to carry them down to the checkout... but eventually put them back on the rack. Tomorrow at 10am I'll go back and try to find those items - if possible I'll even take son3 with me - it's so hard to do any real back-to-school shopping without the student in-tow.

Speaking of son3, his phone was in a state of limbo for while - we received the unlock code from T-Mobile, but he wasn't around sit still long enough to follow the instructions in the 'unlock steps' email. Once I got my hands on the phone, I backed it up, swaped to the new SIM, and now we're both on Airvoice. It was a really simple process.

And back to the original purpose of this blog - the oxymoron "on-line dating" - a new profile was born: FIRE_Weirdness.

More discussion of FIRE_Weirdness, and how that came to be in a later post.

Airvoice Wireless results - Day 2

Yesterday's switch to Airvoice was seamless and painless for my phone because my iPhone was not 'carrier locked'. Son3's phone was still locked by our previous carrier, and after a call to their customer support to get it unlocked, I'm waiting for an email with instructions (it's supposed to be in my inbox within 72 hours).

Son3's phone has been a bit tricky. TIP: before you do this, back up ALL your smartphones (not just yours).

Airvoice's customer service has been phenomenal to deal with - for a $10/month cell plan company, I was a little surprised... but the folks on the phone really know their stuff.

I've sent only two (2x) text messages via SMS, and after each, the phone shows me a popup that shows me my remaining balance from the $10 plan. Same for phone calls - had 1 call to T-Mobile customer service about my sons locked phone, and another to my son. Remaining balance after initial setup calls/texts: $9.44

I purchased the FreedomPop Photon hotspot device from eBay for under $30 - it should be here any day. There were also FreedomPop Platinum Photon 4G hotspots for sale for only a little more. From what I've read from other users, the FreedomPop service *IS FREE*, BUT... you have to put up with their attempts to get you to upgrade to a paid service.

But for half-a-gigabyte of FREE CELLULAR DATA each month, I can put up with the attempts (and fend them off).

After making all these monthly service changes in August, I re-ran my Financial Independence spreadsheet, and see the monthly budget is not only lower, but it means I'll have enough in my FU 'stache' to be FI in only 3 years (2 years sooner than planned)!

Now I'm looking into the IRA to Roth-IRA conversion ladder plan - annually convert some amount of my rollover IRA into my tax-advantaged Roth-IRA each year (paying any tax on the IRA earnings during the conversion). In 5 years, the amount of that converted capital can be withdrawn from the Roth-IRA (BEFORE I turn 59-1/2) with no penalty, and no tax. If I do this for the next few years, I'll be able to withdraw my living expenses from the Roth before turning 59-1/2, then after 59-1/2 withdraw normally from both the Roth and standard IRA accounts.

Today: Sounders match in the light rain. Call time 10:30am... Go Sounders!!

FIRE Weirdness

Work, playing musical gigs, successful investment moves, finding ways to save $$, and socking away as much as possible from the full summer months have kept me really busy. None of the people I met in March returned my emails... assuming that's a bad thing. Recently I emailed someone who I really REALLY hope replies - she seems like a really good match. Up to AND INCLUDING the quote about "Weirdness" attributed (incorrectly) to Dr. Suess (actually Robert Fulghum) that really speaks to me:

We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love—true love.

And I didn't discover that quote in her profile until AFTER I messaged... but it's been several days. She could be on vacation, but that would be someone else's luck. Right?

Luck to me is when preparation meets opportunity - or with investments, putting my money on business's I know / understand, or believe are game changers. I'm invested in Medical Marijuana for that reason - as well as Facebook (smart company that treats their employees like partners), Google (smart phones - will rule the smart phone space, and they also treat their employees like partners), and Twitter (okay, I don't understand their 'business model', but I see so many interesting Tweets... and tweets are the frontline in the news of things that really matter: world events, etc). But I'm still putting the BULK of my assets in: VTI - the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF. (More on that in another post)

Comcast changed my bill amount this summer, so I called to see if I could move back to 'internet only' from their 'bundled temporary pricing'. When the changes were all more expensive than the original $69 internet only I'd signed up for in 2010 with NO increase in service level, I pulled the plug, returned their unused standard definition "cable-tv-box", and signed up for CenturyLink DSL for $39/month. (and my new wireless network is called "Suck_This,Comcast!") Savings: $46/month - $552/year.

Cellular service: In July, I did an experiment where I turned OFF 'cellular data' for my iPhone, and used mostly wifi - at home, and at work... 90+% of my usage. I found I really only turn on cellular data when I *need* it, and that's usually in the car for Google maps. July data usage: Son1-1Gb. Son3-2.Gb. Me-44Mb. Total bill (unlimited talk/text and 3G data): $124/month

Experimental switch #1: I'm moving to Airvoice Wireless and their 250 Minute plan: $10/month 250 talk minutes or 500 texts.

The plan is the hardest to find on Airvoice's website, but I've heard good things about (prices as of 8/28/2014 - as with anything, check their website for the latest rates):

For Son1 - he will pay for HIS OWN ACCOUNT, again with Airvoice. I paid for his SIM, and explained the 'how-to-use-your-device'. He said (paraphrased)

'I got by with NO data for years. I'm sure I can get by with only using data at home and wherever there's wifi.' [what a great son, right?!]

For Son3 - he's a real data hog, and that will be hard to fight, but I think he's on board. I'm buying a cell-phone-sized FreedomPop wifi-hotspot that includes 500Mb free monthly data (provided by Clearwire/Sprint).

For me - the above Airvoice plan, data only at home and work, plus 'emergency' cellular data usage in the car. I *might* get another FreedomPop hotspot for myself if it works out for Son3. Estimated costs: $350 - $300 to pay off Son3's iPhone, $29.98 for the FreedomPop Spot Photon 4G wireless hotspot. Estimated savings: $94/month - $1128/year(!). That's estimating $15/month for Son3 and I (at above rates) $30/month total vs $124/month today.

So not only did I pay off my upcoming November trip 'back east', and ALL credit card debt, but was also able to sock away more than $3800 in savings this month, AND I set the ground work to save an additional $140/month in recurring costs!

Playing in a rockin' SKA band. Spending $500/month travelling. Bike commuting to work 3x/week. Not a bad way to spend the summer!