More Mysteries of Banking

 I spent hours taking a couple of things apart last night, finished a load of laundry I'd started a day or so before, with cold water just to see how well it works. I also practiced about an hour and thought about ways to sneak more practice into my daily routine. 

After going to Marukai Market I did some calculations and it looked like I'd overspent and would only be keeping $83 or so in the bank this week. But I re-did the numbers and I'm keeping $183 or so in the bank. I'd taken out money for cash-saving and spent $50-odd in Marukai, and then, thinking I'd overspent, told myself to not spend any more until my next pay. This is why I didn't go out and do anything yesterday. 

Some of this was possible because I'd stocked up a bit early last week, thinking that with jury duty I'd not have time to shop. But mainly it was just being careful.  According to Google, the $200 a month I was able to save back in the 1980s, taking 1985 as the reference year, is about $565 today. That's like being able to save 6 or 7 grand a year. About what I'm able to save now. I'm only able to save it now because I'm living like I did as a young adult in Hawaii - no car, don't smoke or drink, cook a lot of my own food and eat a lot of "ethnic" food, my main entertainment being very cheap things like books. 

The thing is, my check is $350, I normally take out $250, $150 of which I spend on myself, $100 goes into cash savings, and $100 of course stays in the bank. It's really not mysterious, I'd taken out a total of $180-odd, not $280-odd, out in total so rather than being behind things I put myself nicely ahead. 

I had the place cleaned up, things put away, etc., when Ken came by. I got my check and we did the usual bull session. He gave me a piece of mail; a sort of accounting statement the Social Security Administration sends out to people every 10 years, showing how much I'll get if I retire at this age and that age etc. It increments up each year I wait to college, but by weird amounts rather than a set amount each year. Of course they're extrapolating into a future that may not turn out as anticipated. 

I plan to hit Hawaii able to do nothing for a year, just loll around, practice shakuhachi and shinobue a lot, and not spend much more than whatever's needed for rent. That can put me a year past age 62, then depending on what I find to do, I can go some years past that. I just won't know until I'm there. I'm not trying to get back in contact with my older sister or anyone. The two friends back there are turning out to be very disappointing, actually, and it's hard to do much in the way of communicating with friends without being there in person.