June 19, 2021

Things To Do When Bored

Eyeglasses and Book on desk
Photo by Darius Sankowski – Pixabay

You know you sometimes just get in a funk.  I mean you don’t feel like doing anything.  Pushing the power button on the TV remote seems like a chore and you really don’t feel like watching TV anyway!  You are BORED, for lack of a better term to describe the phenomena.

Well, the obvious cure is to start doing something, anything!  It seems like once the wheels start turning you can keep them turning.  You need to start something.  Here are 25 ideas to hopefully get you started.

Read something.

Read anything, a book, a magazine, a poem.

Watch a really old movie. – I’m talking an old 50s Sci Fi or Western.  Maybe a Humphrey Bogart classic.

Send an email to someone you haven’t talked to in a while.

Send an email to an old business acquaintance or friend.

Clean up your computer of old files and software.  It is amazing how cluttered your computer gets with old programs, bookmarks, and useless files.  Get rid of some of them.

After you get rid of the computer junk above start organizing what is left.

Make sure you have a good computer backup program in place.  Everyone knows they should do this, but it has a way of being pushed back until disaster strikes.

Find an online course to take.

There are so many free and low-cost choices out there.  There is no excuse not to keep educating yourself for your entire life.

Write something.

Write anything.  Make a journal entry (or start a journal.)  Write an article or start a book.

Read your bible or meditate in whatever spiritual way you choose.  It will do you a lot of good and if you’re really in a funk it might help to get you out of it.

Organize your photos – computer or printed.  You have hundreds or thousands – do something with them.

Take a walk.  This could be a walk around the block or an all-day hike.

Take a drive to nowhere in particular.

See what is new in the next town over.  Or maybe drive in a different direction than you ordinarily go.

Organize your Christmas decorations.  Good to do even if it’s not near the holidays.  Do it while you are not exhausted and rushed.

Clean out a drawer.

Drawers have a way of getting full of all kinds of junk.  You might even find some loose change (see below.)

Clean out a closet.  Pick a closet, any closet.  Who knows what treasures you might find.  Maybe donate some stuff you find or sell on Craigslist or Ebay for some extra cash.

Review your books and find some to donate to a library or second hand shop.  I just did this just recently.  I read a lot and rarely do I reread a novel twice.  So, if it’s not a classic why not donate it.

Organize your music.  If your music is scattered all over different devices and locations why not consolidate.  You may have more than you think.

Find a new band or musician to listen to.  The Internet and YouTube is great for this.  Find something new or try a new style of music.

Listen to a podcast.  Maybe listen to something different than you usually do.

Wash and wax your car.  You and your car will feel better and it will help it last longer.

Clean out the garage.  You know it needs it!

Clean out the basement.  You know it really needs it!

Search around for loose change.  And then if you don’t really need it donate it to a worthy cause.

Organize your desk to be more efficient.  You know you are much more productive if you start with a clean organized working space.

Go to the dollar store and find 10 unusual $1 items.  It’s amazing what you will find if you go up and down the aisles.  And you can walk out with a haul of stuff for not much cash.

Now. why don’t you come up with more ideas!

Filed Under: Health, Learning, Things To Do Leave a Comment
March 26, 2021

Great Retirement Quotes

Chairs overlooking beach
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Every once in a while we hear a meaningful or funny retirement quote.  I dug around online and below, and in no particular order, are some I found interesting.

Retirement is a blank sheet of paper. It is a chance to redesign your life into something new and different. Patrick Foley

I can’t wait to retire so I can get up at 6 o’clock in the morning and go drive around really slow and make everybody late for work.” — Unknown

Except for an occasional heart attack I feel as young as I ever did. Robert Benchley

Retirement is like a long vacation in Las Vegas. The goal is to enjoy it the fullest, but not so fully that you run out of money.” — Jonathan Clements

Retirement at sixty-five is ridiculous. When I was sixty-five I still had pimples. George Burns

“Retirement: It’s nice to get out of the rat race, but you have to learn to get along with less cheese.” –Gene Perret

I always likened retirement to falling off a cliff, and then you have to kind of brush yourself off. Steve Young

Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save. Will Rogers

I need to retire from retirement. Sandra Day O’Connor

You have to put off being young until you can retire. Unknown

If you look at what you have in life, you’ll always have more. If you look at what you don’t have in life, you’ll never have enough. Oprah Winfrey

The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money. Anonymous

There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want.” –Bill Waterson

I advise you to go on living solely to enrage those who are paying your annuities. It is the only pleasure I have left. Voltaire

Retirement: When you stop lying about your age and start lying around the house.” –Unknown

Cessation of work is not accompanied by cessation of expenses. Cato

Retirement is not the end of the road. It is the beginning of the open highway. Unknown

Spend your free time the way you like, not the way you think you’re supposed to. Susan Cain

The best time to start thinking about your retirement is before the boss does. Author Unknown

Don’t think of retiring from the world until the world will be sorry that you retire. I hate a fellow whom pride or cowardice or laziness drive into a corner, and who does nothing when he is there but sit and growl. Let him come out as I do, and bark. Samuel Johnson

A retired husband is often a wife’s full-time job. Ella Harris

It’s paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn’t appeal to anyone. Andy Rooney

Often when you are at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else. Fred Rogers

“I enjoy waking up and not having to go to work. So I do it three or four times a day.” –Gene Perret

There are some who start their retirement long before they stop working.” — Robert Half

“Retirement: World’s longest coffee break.” — Unknown

Need more quotes?  Find lots of inspirational and funny quotes online!

Filed Under: General, Health, Personal Development Leave a Comment
March 5, 2021

Emergency Information Document

Ambulance
Photo by Scott Evans on Unsplash

Do You Have an Emergency Instructions Document?


If not, you should! Most of us have someone we care about that will have to step in if we suddenly leave this world or become incapacitated. Put yourself in that person’s place. You want to make everything as easy as possible at that stressful time.


In many households one person handles the bills and financial affairs. If that is the case this document is doubly important. The other person may not be familiar with what accounts even exist or what steps to take, both in the short and long term.


What Information Should Be in the Document?


Bank Accounts
List each account with the name of the institution, the account number, and phone number.


Brokerage Accounts
List each account with the name of the institution, the account number, and phone number.


CDs
List each certificate with the name of the institution, the account number, and phone number. You may want to add the Interest Rate and Maturity Date.


Life Insurance Policy Info
List each policy by Institution, policy number and amount. And by the way, make sure your beneficiary information is up to date.


Mortgage and Tax Info
List each mortgage with the account number and phone number. If taxes are paid separately list to who, with contact information.


Loans
List each account with the name of the institution, the account number, and phone number.


Credit Cards
List each account with the name of the institution, the account number, and phone number.


Safe Deposit Boxes
This is one I learned the hard way. You need to do some preparation ahead of time and make sure anyone who needs access to the box is an authorized signer. Otherwise, if the only signer is not around the rules can vary widely depending on the state and policy of the institution.


Collections and Anything Valuable
If you have anything special and valuable like coins or gun collections, information should be provided here.


Wills and Living Wills
It is a given that you should have a will and Living Will. Check legal advice here, especially if your situation is complicated.


People and Phone Numbers
The people left behind might not be thinking too clearly. Why not include a list of people, phone numbers and email addresses to make things just a little easier?


Passwords to Online Accounts
This one is tricky. You probably don’t want to include those in this doc in case it is stolen. But you do need to make sure someone has them safely available.


General What To Do Information
You want to put the person reading the document at ease. Put some short term and long term information here. What immediate cash do they have access to? What bills need to be paid regularly and right away. If you have investments, you might want to include some guidance. Which ones are long term and can be reviewed later and which ones need to be watched and maybe even liquidated? Do you have advisors that you trust and want to recommend?


There is probably much more that could be added depending upon your individual situation. But start with something simple rather than put it off and add to it over time. Place the document in an envelope in a safe place that people you trust know about.


Disclaimer – I’m certainly not an attorney or financial advisor and can’t give professional advice. What I suggest I have learned from research and life experience.

Filed Under: Budgets, General, Health, Things To Do Leave a Comment