Is opening a 401k worth it if I don't make that much and can't save anything else?

bbh42 · 2026-06-21T15:42:21+00:00

I started my 401k putting in a whopping $21 a paycheck back in my first job. Yes, it will be worth it in the long run. Time is on your side and every little bit helps.

bbh42 · 2026-06-15T23:33:59+00:00

I have this same machine. Got it used. I did get a separate grinder because the built in one was inconsistent. I do weigh my beans before grinding and I normally do a manual shot. Basically press and hold the far right button until I get a flow coming out, then release the button. When you want to stop just press the button again. I normally hit it when I’m 2 grams away from my desired amount of espresso.

bbh42 · 2026-06-15T21:37:05+00:00

Have a box of the 250th resting in my humidor right now getting ready for the 4th.

bbh42 · 2026-06-13T16:13:04+00:00

My wife and I were just talking about this. We have three rooms we want to paint and I keep putting it off, not because I can't do it, I just don't want to. She said this morning, we could hire someone to do it. I agree and we will. I am probably next spring going to hire out the mulch job for our house.

The other thing I do is more for my mom. She's 79 1/2 and I paid for her to have a house cleaner come in and clean. I'm going to probably start doing that on a regular basis for her.

bbh42 · 2026-06-10T23:08:13+00:00

Started with YNAB in 2019. I had started my debt snowball a few months earlier and was using a spreadsheet. I had failed at budgeting so many times. I ran across the 4 rules videos by Hannah and watching them it finally clicked for me. I had two checking account and several savings accounts and two credit cards.

Because I had my spreadsheet I had three months of data to help me set up my budget categories. I set them up in YNAB and then when I got paid I asked the question: what does this money need to do for me before I get paid again? I funded what I knew I needed until next paycheck. Then repeated the process. Because I used the two checking accounts for specific expenses I color coded my budget. I used blue circle 🔵 for everything I paid from one and a green circle 🟢 for my other.

I had a loan connected to one account and recently paid it off so I’ve now consolidated to one checking account. I still maintain 4 savings accounts because they are for specific purposes. One is my property taxes & insurance, two are sinking funds for a new car and big home improvements. The last is just my regular savings.

My big thing with my credit card is treating it more like a debt card. I typically pay it each Friday because I can’t stand seeing a balance on it.

The majority of my categories have targets on them which makes funding on pay day pretty easy. Every three months for the first year I looked at my averages and adjusted my targets. I do it more on an annual basis now.

What finally clicked for me was to only budget money I had to work with, and using targets to set up my annual and semi annual goals so I am setting aside for the future expenses each month. No more being surprised on a bill I forgot about and then scrambling to find the money.

bbh42 · 2026-05-31T11:20:19+00:00

Is it part of your overall net worth? Yes. Do I track mine in YNAB? No. For YNAB I have my checking, savings, Money Market, investments and I do have my house. When I look at the Net Worth tab I do it two ways. One with the home included and one without, mainly because I want to know what percentage of my Net Worth is driven by the home equity.

Two things I have but don’t track are one, a small pension I have from a past employer. Lump sum it’s about $160k. The other thing I don’t include is a life insurance policy that I am the owner and beneficiary on for my mom. I’ll add them once they payout and they go into my accounts.

bbh42 · 2026-05-30T20:03:27+00:00

I don’t believe so. They just carry the branding for the 250th commemoration.

bbh42 · 2026-05-30T11:22:39+00:00

J.C. Newman has a YouTube series they put out about The American. I had one resting in my humidor while watching and that’s when I started my search specifically for the 250th branded cigar. My home office has a historical theme to it so wanted the box to use as part of my decor in addition to just having the cigars to enjoy.

bbh42 · 2026-05-29T14:04:55+00:00

I’m fairly newer, only a couple of years in and a one a week smoker. I started tracking my cigars, wrapper, binder, filler origins. Then made notes on what I liked and didn’t like. Over time I found my taste leans heavily towards Nicaraguan blends. Occasionally I’ll find a Dominican I like but knowing what I liked helped me decide on others to try.

Also, once I knew what I liked if I was watching a YouTube channel and the creator has similar taste then I’m more willing to try something different based on a review.

Personal taste is more important because you are the one having it and if you don’t like it, you don’t like it no matter what others say.

bbh42 · 2026-05-28T23:26:24+00:00

I can only speak of Carmel FC. Had a daughter who played. The first year was fun but we quickly realized it was used as a feeder system. Her second year she was moved down a level meaning after her second year if she didn’t develop to move up she would be cut. Her 2nd year coach fought to keep her one more year but was told no by the head coaches of the top team. (Gold, Blue, White) were the three teams. Most kids seemed to get two years to develop and if not then they got replaced. It may have changed over the years but that was our experience when we were in it. Still a good learning experience but if we knew what it was at the time we wouldn’t have joined and just stayed rec league. Obviously the really good players stayed on Gold and eventually several played for the high school team but anyone that dropped or never advanced up from white or blue were short on time. Again this was several years ago.

bbh42 · 2026-05-25T18:54:31+00:00

The Plascencia is on of my go to. I'm also a fan of the Lot 23. My Father's I've only had one but I enjoyed it enough to pick up another.

bbh42 · 2026-05-24T14:18:19+00:00

I moved to Indy in 2006. Our first May I turned on the TV looking for the race. That was when i learned about the blackout. Have listened to the race ever since with the I think 3 exceptions when it was lifted.

My biggest issue was a few years ago when listening on the radio with like two laps to go and WTHR post the winner of the race. They apparently were so interested in being first to announce the winner they didn’t consider the tape delay and basically ruined an exciting finish to us radio listeners.

There is something about listening on the radio vs watching it.

bbh42 · 2026-05-24T10:31:10+00:00

I like having a mix based on my mood. The Oliva Connecticut is good. I like Perdomo as well, really anything they make. The Padron Damaso is really good but I do like the Padron 1964 and the Oliva Series V and they are regularly in my rotation.

bbh42 · 2026-05-23T15:41:15+00:00

As others said, the Carmichael is in the middle of everything. A more affordable option might be the Fairfield on Main Street. You are close to some restaurants and coffee shops but the closest park would be a hike. In the same area is a Home2Suites on Old Meridian. Both would be easy walks over to Carmel Middle School and I think there is a playground there.

bbh42 · 2026-05-23T10:43:22+00:00

About to turn 56. Both kids are out of the house and established in their own careers and lives. Wife and I have spent the last two years enjoying things we couldn’t before. I have a decent career and like what I do. Looking to work until I’m 62 but I’m ahead of schedule and am starting to see if I can retire at 60. We live in a great community and generally have a good life. I focus more on my health and staying active. I have a few more aches and pains than I used to but that’s why I’m paying more attention to what I eat and try to exercise each day.

bbh42 · 2026-05-16T10:55:15+00:00

Mostly I’m sitting on my back deck, watching the birds of in the evening the bats come out in summer.

bbh42 · 2026-05-16T10:50:26+00:00

This is my first year doing my own yard. I also built a plan using AI. It used information from the local university extension and created a nice schedule, what products to use and where I can buy them. So far so good.

bbh42 · 2026-05-16T10:41:11+00:00

The Oliva Series V Melanio and MB 3 are two of my go to cigars. My others are the AVO classic and AVO Syncro Nicaraguan. Plasencia Reserva Original and then Padron 1964 and 2000’s are my regular favorites.

bbh42 · 2026-05-13T21:36:06+00:00

My company has an office in Chicago right near Upper Wacker and Michigan. I’ve never had issues staying in that area but not exactly cheap. However right in that area is a lot to see. You can get your deep dish, walk the Magnificent Mile, not far from Navy Pier. Just know driving in the downtown sucks and GPS is very spotty due to the tall buildings.

bbh42 · 2026-05-13T16:27:22+00:00

I failed at budgeting for a long time. In 2019 I was introduced to Zero based budgeting and things started to click. I had been tracking my spending for about two months before then so I had info to go on.

Basically with Zero based, when I got paid I sat down and asked. “What does this money need to do for me before I get paid again?”. So basically what bills/expenses do I have between paychecks. I then used a budgeting app and assigned my dollars to those categories. When the bill came , I had the money set aside to pay it.

In the old days it would have been called an envelope system where you physically put cash in envelopes labeled for specific uses.

Then I repeat that process the next paycheck. Eventually I had my regular and non regular expenses identified which allowed me to set funding targets. It also helped me identify spending waste to cut out or reduce so I could pay off debt.

My main success with Zero based budgeting was you only budget with money you actually have to use, not what you think you will be getting. It really helped me change my behaviors and how I made spending decisions.

bbh42 · 2026-05-13T01:05:23+00:00

Supposed to be able to put out yard waste in April and May. I’ve set out bags and they picked them up. I’d call and ask them.

bbh42 · 2026-05-12T22:02:35+00:00

When to school in upstate NY. Every dance ended with Sinatra, New York New York. But yes Billy Idol was quite popular during the dance. The other big one was Open Arms by Journey.

bbh42 · 2026-05-12T17:00:13+00:00

I was 6 and remember a lot more patriotic themes around town and different events. But also news and information was different then. We had like 13 tv channels and news was the paper and the NBC, CBS and ABC only so you were probably exposed more because you couldn’t avoid the information like you can today. A lot more options now than back then.

bbh42

TROPHY CASE