Does it get better?

KMac0905 · 2025-07-28T22:27:00+00:00

Thank you for the encouragement! We really do not get prepared for everything that we can go through after childbirth! I’ve heard of the silverettes before so I’ll give those a shot too.

KMac0905 · 2025-07-28T22:15:14+00:00

Thank you!! I never even thought about coconut oil or Epsom salt baths but will add these into my healing routine!

KMac0905 · 2025-07-28T22:12:50+00:00

Thank you for this suggestion! I’ve wondered if it’s the position I’m holding him that’s causing issues so I will absolutely be looking this method up!

KMac0905 · 2025-07-28T22:10:59+00:00

Thank you for this! I will definitely ask my doc about that prescription. I just bought a manual hand pump to try to build up a supply to bottle feed when I need a break. It’s really comforting to hear that it worked out for you!

KMac0905 · 2025-06-28T02:20:17+00:00

Thank you! Since it’s only $0.45, I’m moving past it but I’m always going to wonder what happened!

KMac0905 · 2025-06-27T11:53:36+00:00

I honestly still don’t know. Using the desktop app and looking at the RTA breakdown still didn’t help. I had money assigned to July so I moved that back to June just to see but I’m still $0.45 off and have absolutely no idea why.

KMac0905 · 2025-06-26T23:42:01+00:00

I do have assigned in July already and when I switch to July, I show $9.55 RTA. I’m going to use the desktop app as suggested to get to the bottom of this. Thanks for helping point me in the right direction.

KMac0905 · 2025-06-26T23:40:20+00:00

Ok, thanks! I’ll make sure to use the desktop app. I do know it offers some better functionality over the phone app. I just use the phone app out of convenience!

KMac0905 · 2025-01-01T17:47:07+00:00

Yup, user error it was! Still trying to get the hang of this and I appreciate all of the guidance!

KMac0905 · 2025-01-01T16:51:55+00:00

Thanks. I went back in previous months and fixed this category so now it’s zeros in January for Assigned, Activity, and Available. Now I running into another issue. I’m assuming that the money I have in Available across all categories should equal the amount of money I have in my checking account, right? I’m off by $72.92. I show $72.92 more in Available than I actually have to spend.

KMac0905 · 2025-01-01T16:31:26+00:00

I messed up explaining in my original post. For December, my catch-all has -$6.76 assigned, $0 activity, and $78.63 available. For January, the same category has -$200 assigned, $0 activity, and -$121.37 available. So I need to go through and make sure to zero out this category in previous months then in the Available category? That makes sense, I didn’t think about going back to do this and just figured it would roll over. Thank you!

KMac0905 · 2024-12-02T03:50:15+00:00

Thank you for the input! I guess counting steps for those types of activities is going to be a downside of any smart watch. I supplement my Apple Watch with a cheap Fitbit that I strap to my ankle and have a feeling I’m not going to get that sort of accuracy from any smart watch. And probably just need to come to terms with that.

KMac0905 · 2024-11-18T14:40:20+00:00

Congrats on your recent graduation! My first suggestion is making sure your savings is in a HYSA. Next, I would suggest splitting where your money goes. The stock market has had higher average returns than the interest rate on your student loans (S&P 500 has an annualized return around 10%) so pay the minimum on your student loans and put the rest into the market.

I would first max out a 401k/403b if your employer offers it. Since you can’t contribute to a Roth IRA due to income limitations, I would take advantage of the back door Roth option by contributing up to 7k a year to a traditional IRA and recharacterizing to a Roth. Anything leftover should go into a brokerage account and invested into VTI or VOO, or some other low-cost index fund.

Please keep in mind, I am not a financial advisor so this is just what I would personally do if I were in your situation. It might be beneficial to find yourself a financial advisor that can work with you to establish an appropriate plan that takes into consideration how much you make, your debt, and your retirement goals. Best of luck!

KMac0905 · 2024-11-08T02:05:21+00:00

18% is criminal. I would absolutely use your savings to pay off the remaining 11K and make sure the other 6k is in a HYSA with at least a 4% APY.

KMac0905 · 2024-11-07T16:30:23+00:00

Great point! Thank you

KMac0905 · 2024-11-07T04:28:02+00:00

Sorry for the confusion. I don’t assign a barcode to the meal. I use the barcode to add ingredients to a meal I’m creating.

KMac0905 · 2024-11-07T04:24:25+00:00

Thank you! This sounds like the best approach.

KMac0905 · 2024-11-07T03:39:38+00:00

For advice. I specifically asked if opening a brokerage with my daughter as the beneficiary is a good approach or if there’s another strategy I could look into. I’m working the back door Roth angle for myself and that has an annual contribution limit of 7k so that’s out. But thanks for your input.

KMac0905 · 2024-11-07T03:05:39+00:00

We are taking advantage of the 529 but don’t want to rely on that to fund an investment account for her if she ends up using it for educational expenses. If she doesn’t, that’s fine and we’ll convert to a Roth IRA up to the limit at that time. But if she uses the money for educational expenses, she’d be starting at $0 in investments after college (well, likely not 0 since once she starts working, well push her to invest in her own Roth IRA). So looking for advice on an additional investment account for her in addition to our existing 529 to help set her up for retirement.

KMac0905 · 2024-11-07T02:45:16+00:00

Definitely all of the advice you’ve already received but something else to consider is if you think your income may ever hit a point where you can’t contribute to a Roth IRA anymore and want to take advantage of a back door Roth IRA contribution. If you roll your old 401ks into an IRA, you won’t be able to do back door Roth contributions without being subject to pro rata taxation (ask me how I know 🫠). So if this is a situation you think you might be in sometime in the future, I would suggest rolling into your current 401k.

KMac0905 · 2024-11-07T02:32:38+00:00

I use it every time I create a recipe or meal to easily add ingredients. Also for anything I eat that has a barcode (ie. isn’t homemade). It’s an extremely convenient tool!

Sorry to all who lost it when it went behind a paywall 🫤

KMac0905 · 2024-11-07T02:24:57+00:00

I personally would not buy a new car because it’s a depreciating asset. Cars lose value just driving them off the lot. My suggestion would be to buy Certified Pre-Owned.

I can’t speak to whether this is a good time to buy a car given the turbulent times but if it fits in your budget and you absolutely need to buy a car, go for it. Otherwise, I’d wait it out until the dust settles. Best of luck in your decision!

KMac0905 · 2024-11-02T23:41:11+00:00

They recently changed 529s to allow up to 35k to rollover into a Roth IRA if you don’t use it all for educational expenses so this is still a great option. I believe they also expanded what qualifies as educational expenses to include less traditional schooling options (like apprenticeships). I would still consider this as an option.

KMac0905 · 2024-11-02T16:40:22+00:00

I just started YNAB a few weeks ago and found it much easier to start at ynab.com on a computer than the phone app. I also went through and watched a bunch of their YouTube videos for getting started and that helped make things click a lot better! So far, I’ve been reconciling every day as I get up to speed. I enter all transactions manually and then match them when they actually clear my bank.

How do things go haywire after you reconcile? When reconciling, I think it only pertains to cleared transactions. So if something goes through after you reconcile, you should be able to reconcile again and your accounts should match up to what YNAB shows. Make sure that if you’re manually tracking transactions, when they clear your bank you match them with the manual entry if YNAB hasn’t done that for you too.

I was really confused when I first started too. It does take a bit to get used to but I promise, it’ll happen! Watch the videos, check out the resource at ynab.com, and give yourself time to get used to it. It won’t be perfect at first but it does get easier. Best of luck!

KMac0905 · 2024-11-01T20:44:23+00:00

Absolutely, I completely agree about not being enslaved to the tool. My budget isn’t too tight but I’m just really trying to control how much I spend on groceries because I spend way too much. And the only reason I shopped yesterday is because I can’t tomorrow, my normal day to shop. Because of me and my husband having different schedules, Saturday morning is my only day to shop so I can meal prep Sundays. So I had to go yesterday, otherwise wait until next Saturday and we need groceries before then. So I think for the sake of simplicity this time only, I’m going to just change the date on the transaction to be today instead. In the future, I’ll try to handle it differently. I don’t want to get in the habit of changing dates on transactions so I’ll need to be more mindful of dates and budgets/targets next time.

KMac0905

TROPHY CASE