The hub wanted me to create a written record of our financials in case anything happens to me.  Until now, he primarily has made the money, and I have managed it.  I have a fairly detailed process, but everything is on my computer - he prefers a notebook that we can keep in our safe.  I decided this was a GREAT opportunity to get him more involved with how finances work so that we can hopefully dial in the monthly budget a little more. I found a budget book with pages for listing our accounts, log in information, monthly budget and a register to show how money is being spent and which bucket the money is pulled from.  June is our starting month.  The reason this is so timely is that, just as I had a 5 year plan in place before I retired, the hub is now coming up on his final 5 years for working at his current job.  I want to make sure we are both savvy on the ebbs and flows of our finances and that we are dialed in and able to live within the anticipated monthly budget.

My hope is that this will alleviate those unanticipated wants being an expectation each month.  I will update progress as we go!  Fingers crossed.

Since I will be focused on tracking and explaining expenses, I plan to reduce our food costs as much as possible.  This past week, I used both the hubs and my rewards memberships at our two local grocers to purchase steaks that were discounted.  Each membership also included a $5 discount on top of the digital coupons used.  We got ribeye and tbones to last through the summer for about $60.  😀  Our freezer is stocked with chicken and pork already.  I make our bread, so much of our budget will be juices, fruits, veggies and spices.  I went shopping today and picked up several generic brands to see if there was much of a quality or taste difference.  So far, so good.

I receive my first social security check in August.  I am fortunate in that I have started working very pt for a company that provides care for the disabled and my "clients" are two of my daughters foster sons.  So my work is in her home, helping her care for them about 15 hours a week, which is just under the maximum I will be able to make and draw my social security.  Honestly, this doesnt feel like 'work' at all.  And, this augments the income nicely.  All of my pt earnings go into a vacation fund so that we can still splurge on occasional travel.  Since we have been living within a budget that includes only the hubs paychecks, the SS payments will start paying down our remaining mortgage faster, which will help pay it off by the time the hub retires.

The hub is continuing to contribute to his 401k until he retires.

And that's where we are currently at.  Hope all is well with everyone here!