I was looking over my end of May numbers and see that I've spent a gross/reportable $29,420 year-to-date. So in terms of keeping my traditional IRA distributions and annuity distributions state tax-free, I'm doing fine; you need to be under $75,000 gross for state tax-free retirement income.

My other goal is to actually stay under $50,400 so as to stay in the 12% tax bracket. That $29,420 I've spent represents 58% of what I can safely spend this year and we are not yet halfway through 2026. I withdrew a lot of $$ this month to pay for my new kitchen appliances ($3400 including incidental cabinet modification, delivery, tips and trim for the rear of stove) and upcoming property taxes ($3,900, which is half the annual payment).

I have one or two more projects that would be great to do this year: one is fairly certain to happen, back door replacement, and the other is really optional but would love to do. It involves removing an old door at the top of my stairs and redoing the trim for that door and my adjacent office so it's more uniform. I can't think of any reason to have the door and honestly it takes up a good 6 inches of space if you're ever moving stuff up or downstairs. Right now the trim for the door at top of stairs is built out a good 6" just to accommodate the door, and with the entry to my office immediately adjacent that lacks that buildup of trim, it just takes up space and is unattractive. 

The bluebirds definitely have fledglings to feed; they are visiting the feeder and stuffing as many freeze-dried worms in their mouths as they can, then taking off. They used to just eat for themselves.