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| Dancer Enjoys an Afternoon Nap! |
Sunday lived up to its name and was sunny! The house was cold when I woke up and I put the heater on until it warmed up the house to 65F. Then, I turned the heater off. By the time I started to feel cold, again, it had warmed up outside, so I was able to open the front door and some of the windows at the back to create some air flow and draw in the warmer air. It was a three layer day, today - two sweatshirts and a fleece jacket! I wore my knitted neck warmer instead of a scarf.
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I folded and put away the laundry I did yesterday, replied to blog comments, chatted with my daughter, continued to repair the quilt, and watched videos. One was a video about the spending habits of retirees and how to reduce that spending. According to the video, which cited figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the five biggest expenses, which added up to 80% of the funds spent by the average retired household, were housing (included mortgage, insurance, maintenance, utilities, etc.), medical (included copays, medications, supplemental medical insurance, etc.), food, transportation (included car payments, insurance, maintenance, fuel, etc.), and entertainment. The premise of the video was, if you can reduce spending in any of these five areas, it would have the biggest impact. I took notes while I watched that video! Another video was a sort of documentary done by one of the public television stations about various retirement funds, but, it was a program that had originally aired in 2013 and it is now nearly 10 years later, so, I don't know how applicable it is now.
Later, I watched news, called friend R and left her a message, video chatted with my daughter, and baked some banana nut muffins with the last two bananas that I didn't eat:
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| Banana Nut Muffins |
While they baked, I stayed in the warm kitchen and did the dishes and wiped down the counters, etc.
Brunch had been French toast. Dinner was pasta with the last of the spaghetti sauce I had kept in the fridge (there's more in the freezer). Afterwards, I ate two of the muffins.
Today, I am grateful for:
- A sunny and mild day (high was 67F)
- Working appliances
- Passive solar heating in the afternoons
- Internet access
- Freshly baked muffins warm from the oven
Today's joyful activity was baking. There is something almost magical about taking two riper than I like bananas and mixing them with some flour, sugar, baking powder, oil, milk, and an egg, putting it in the oven, and coming up with some delicious muffins!
Tomorrow (Monday) is Presidents Day and a holiday. It is supposed to be another warmer day with a high of 71F. I don't have any specific plans other than doing a meal plan and maybe some cooking. Soup will be on the menu this week as it is supposed to be cold and rainy mid week.
How was your Sunday? What are your plans for Monday?
There is nothing as enjoyable as a sunny warm day in winter. Dancer looks very content asleep in his sun puddle.
ReplyDeleteWe are having another spring-like day, today, before the big cool down later this week. Dancer is already in his spot on that chair, waiting for the sun to shine on him! :D
DeleteDancer knows how to find the warm spots in the house! :)
ReplyDeleteThat he does! He's just settled himself down in that chair, in anticipation of the sun shining on him in just a few minutes. :D
DeleteIt sounds like a wonderful, perfect Sunny Sunday for you. We have lots of snow coming here and I am going to be 'nesting' this week for sure. xo Diana
ReplyDeleteYesterday and today are beautiful sunny days. But, we are supposed to get a 20F drop in temperature on Wednesday with rain in the forecast! I'll be nesting, too, except I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday!
DeleteHow is Dancer taking the cold temperatures? I know he has a fur coat but he must prefer the warmer days. Maybe you could knit him a cosy little sweater!! 😻. Your muffins look wonderful. I made banana muffins a couple of weeks ago but yours look better!
ReplyDeleteWe have Family Day here but not everything is closed, the Federal government employees still have to work, and FD is only celebrated in some provinces. I can't remember if it is worth going for the mail or not!
Dancer seems to be doing OK. He can snuggle up to keep warm. It's in the summer, when it is so hot, that I worry about him. Ha, ha, I can't imagine he'd tolerate having to wear a sweater! I can't even get him to wear a collar!
DeleteThank you, Bushlady; very kind of you to say so. :) The muffins turned out well. I had two for my brunch, today. :D
Presidents Day is a federal holiday, here, but, shops, etc., are open, of course and lots of sales going on!
Suday was a lovely family time before they returned to London. Today I have been buying ingredients for tomorrow nights Pancake Party. But all our supermarkets are very low on eggs
ReplyDeleteGlad you got to enjoy family time on Sunday, Angela. I hope you are able to buy all the eggs you need for the pancakes. If not, there are some eggless pancake recipes on the internet. Maybe it's time to experiment?
DeleteThat picture of Dancer is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThose categories of spending are interesting. Not all of them can be easily reduced.
Thank you, Lyssa. :)
DeleteThe person doing the video had some suggestions how to reduce some of the spending. Some of them made a lot of sense and are things a lot of us already do (entertain at home instead of eating out and take turns hosting the gatherings, buy store brand instead of name brand, bundle your car and home insurance policies, downsize, etc.) but, others weren't that easy (relocate to an area - another city, another state, another country - with lower costs of living, give up your car and rent a vehicle when needed, for example).
That neckwarmer looks so much more convenient than a scarf, and so nice! The muffins look delicious!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lyssa. :)
DeleteI love your knitted neck warmer! It looks lovely.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the retirement costs. We have a few years until retirement, but I worry that our largest will be medical. I think that's part of the reason people don't retire sometimes. They are too worried about medical insurance. We will have paid our house off well before retirement so that will be good for us. I know there are associated costs with houses, but hopefully the big chunk (the mortgage) will be all done!
Thank you, Sharon; the neck warmer can be worn as a headband/ear warmer, too, and I've done that on occasion!
DeleteAccording to the video I watched, most people think that medical will be their biggest expense, but, it is actually housing! Having the mortgage paid off is a big plus, I think. I paid off my mortgage before I retired.
I really do like your neck warmer. I had one that Mom made me years ago, unfortunately she always liked things snug so she made one with a button closure. I felt like I was being choked while wearing it. Yours looks comfortable
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anne. This neck warmer is a bit on the loose side and it stretches a bit after being worn. But, it is comfortable to wear. :)
DeleteDancer looks very comfortable in the sunshine! Cats always know where to find it. Those muffins look lovely! My baking skills involve opening a box:). I've been very busy with work, so haven't commented much. Now I'm catching up. It's a joy to snuggle into a warm bed and read! I hope you are staying warm.
ReplyDeleteDancer enjoyed his nap in the sunshine!
DeleteThank you! The muffins turned out well. I open a fair number of boxes when I bake, too! :D Especially cakes! But, muffins are usually made from scratch.
I hope you got to enjoy a nice holiday and work won't be too crazy busy during the week.
Yes, I'm staying warm, thank you; hope you are too! I heard on the news that another winter storm is headed that way!
Oh, to be a cat, sleeping on a chair in the sunshine!
ReplyDeleteThey do have it made, don't they? :D
DeleteYour neck warmer is lovely and Dancer likes to find a sunny spot as does Tilly. Interesting about retirement costs but not so much applies to us certainly not 80% of income. I suppose it's just the usual running of the house expenses and it's maintenance, the car, TV and broadband subscription. We are fortunate that we don't have to worry about a mortgage or medical expenses thanks to our NHS. The weather has warmed up here and we have sunshine, it's lovely.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Eileen; I am using the neck warmer so much that I am considering making a second one. There's nothing as nice as having a nap in a sunny spot in the winter, is there?
DeleteYes, the retirement expenses will differ from country to country. I haven't run the numbers to see how I compare with the "average" retirement household. It will be interesting to see. :)
That's an interesting video you watched. I am drawn to videos like that as well. Lately home maintenance has been getting a big chunk of our money as I'm getting some things taken care of that have been on my list for a while.
ReplyDeleteDancer knows how to live a good life doesn't he?
Yes, I love budgeting related videos! Housing is my biggest expense, too, especially when heating bills go up to nearly $700! Dancer has it made! :D
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