Monday Accountability Post

Ducktale

Happy Monday morning to all!

 

1.  How MM was your Christmas/weekend?.

 

2.  Any progress toward your goals?  

3.  NMMR: What was the best and/or worst gift you received? Or gave?

Ducktale

1.  How MM was your Christmas/weekend?.It would have been just fine...until I decided to get a new phone/phone plan. This was something we knew I was going to do eventually (my phone is 5 years old and not smart) but I just didn't plan well for it. So I spent $200 on the phone, plus $30 on a case. And I'm on my MIL's plan now, so in the next week or so we'll prepay her for the years so we don't have to deal with it. We'll start setting aside money each month now for next year, but we'll just have to eat the cost for now, which was not budgeted for, so that means less towards savings this month for us.

 

2.  Any progress toward your goals?  Some. I started researching wills, which is all new territory for me (thanks for answers to my post!). We met with our financial planner and opened MY OWN Roth IRA, using the money from my 401(k) rollover and then contributing monthly. We also discussed life insurance, but we have more to discuss/research on that.

3.  NMMR: What was the best and/or worst gift you received? Or gave? Best gift: Probably Settlers of Catan game. I love games, and this one is awesome. Worst: $150 purse. I know some poeple would love it, but I don't get into purses so this was just a waste of money to me. Generous and thoughtful, but entirely not practical and not me.

hoffse

Nice

1) Ours was pretty MM but we knew it was going to be.  I ended up going out to eat with three different friends because our schedules couldn't line up to all go out at once.  I was able to use a gift card for one meal, but the other two came out of pocket.  H and I also did two mini road trips over the holidays, so we spent a lot in gas and on fast food on the road.  Both of us crave fast food on road trips.

2) I'm getting things lined up for my very long 2014 resolution list.  I officially accepted that job offer this morning, and I was finally given a timeline as to when I'll be able to move over, so I've been able to finally budget a bit better.  That's a relief.

3) Best gift I gave was the masonic Bible to my H.  He was so surprised and absolutely love it.  Apparently he's been looking for it for years (I had no idea), so it was even better for that reason.  Worst gift - probably all the huge amounts of food we received.  I love food, but we got a ton this year, and absolutely none of it was healthy.  It was almost exclusively candy, cookies, and other baked goods.  H and I went through it over the weekend, and I brought in a big basket to the office this morning just to get it out of the house.

brij2006

1. How MM was your Christmas/weekend?. Ours was MM friendly. Only spent on items that were budgeted, and did not go over.  We also budgeted $400 for Christmas, and came in at $387.  So I was very pleased with that.

2. Any progress toward your goals?  Just sent off the email to cancel our custom whole life policies. I know it's part of our investment plan, and is a "safe" investment.  But it's $200/month that can help pay off debt.

3. NMMR: What was the best and/or worst gift you received? Or gave?  Best: I received an ornament from my Secret Santa on the Getting Pregnant board. It's for the loss of our baby, and H and I both cried when I opened it.

Worst: It wasn't a bad gift, but SMIL bought be a sweater 3 sizes too small.  She buys me clothes normally for Christmas, and I always give her what sizes I wear in certain brands since they all fit so differently. Guess she didn't get the memo on this one.

SmrBrd2012

1.  How MM was your Christmas/weekend?
It was both good and bad like always! H and I decided to splurge on ourselves after all and we each got a big ticket item for Christmas. I got a nice camera I had been wanting for years (I've had NO hobbies because of trying to be MM...not that that's a good excuse but I'm still trying to reason with myself). He got a golf club. We also didn't travel to see my relatives this year so we saved some $ that way. We ended up both getting sick from Thurs-Sunday so we didn't spend much $ during the weekend either.

2.  Any progress toward your goals?
Once H gets paid at the end of the month, we'll have saved a little over 1k this month even with all the Christmas stuff, so that's not too bad. H also paid down part of his highest interest and lowest balance SL so hopefully we can knock it out completely within the next 2 months.
 

3.  NMMR: What was the best and/or worst gift you received? Or gave?
Hmmm..I didn't really have any problems with the gifts I received. The in laws splurged on us more than I felt was necessary but they weren't bad gifts. I guess the best gift was my camera! The worst gift I gave? The sis in law is in college and just wanted food gift cards so we got her one for a pizza place. I felt like this was such a crappy gift but the H said to just go along with it and she was happy to get them so...oh well!

smbenevides1989

1.  How MM was your Christmas/weekend?
The couple of days before Christmas... I don't even want to talk about it. Spent way more on a few different areas than my intention. This weekend, though, was alright. I only spent $24 more than I anticipated. But because of my extra spending, not much will be going into savings. But I guess $3 is better than nothing.

2.  Any progress toward your goals? 
I was able to pay off 4 CCs this month, but I will be paying off 2 more this week, so overall, paying off has been amazing.
 

3.  NMMR: What was the best and/or worst gift you received? Or gave?
The best gift I got was the Nightmare Before Christmas watch that I will be receiving. Poor DH had to give me a printout of the gift because it didn't come in in time. On the other hand, I got nothing from my ILs, which I expected since they don't like me, but DH was pretty upset over that. 

vlagrl29

1)  we went out to dinner with friends on saturday.  saw a movie on sunday and went out to dinner sunday night.  Dinner last night was $39 and DH had a gift card for the movies so we didn't spend any $$ on that.  I'm not sure how much dinner was on saturday because DH took care of it with another gift card and cash.

2)  This weekend I put $225 in the emergency fund

3)  My fav gift was my coach wallet from DH and a carpet steam cleaner from my Mom.  I liked all my gifts so I don't have a least fav.  DH surprised DD with sesame street live tickets and I was excited about it too.

vlagrl29

brij2006 said:

1. How MM was your Christmas/weekend?. Ours was MM friendly. Only spent on items that were budgeted, and did not go over.  We also budgeted $400 for Christmas, and came in at $387.  So I was very pleased with that.

2. Any progress toward your goals?  Just sent off the email to cancel our custom whole life policies. I know it's part of our investment plan, and is a "safe" investment.  But it's $200/month that can help pay off debt.

3. NMMR: What was the best and/or worst gift you received? Or gave?  Best: I received an ornament from my Secret Santa on the Getting Pregnant board. It's for the loss of our baby, and H and I both cried when I opened it.

Worst: It wasn't a bad gift, but SMIL bought be a sweater 3 sizes too small.  She buys me clothes normally for Christmas, and I always give her what sizes I wear in certain brands since they all fit so differently. Guess she didn't get the memo on this one.

I love that ornament!  How thoughtful.

Belthil

 1. How MM was your Christmas/weekend?.

 

H and I have been wanting to get snowshoes for a while and H needed a new helmet for hockey. We used some gift cards but still ended up having to pay $250 out of pocket. Overall Christmas was good MM-wise. We budgeted $500 and ended up spending around $480.

2.  Any progress toward your goals?  

We paid off one SL and transffered the balance of the one with the highest interest rate to one with the lowest interest rate. If I take 10 years to pay it off I'll have saved around $2000 in interest.

I also got my exam results back and I passed so that means I get to move one step closer to starting my dream job. I just need my province to approve my application, hopefully it'll happen in the next week or so and then I can start. I already have a job lined up. This will mean my income should at least double. All the extra income is going to go straight into paying off my remaining SLs.

3.  NMMR: What was the best and/or worst gift you received? Or gave?

Best gift: H got me planters that hang from the ceiling for our kitchen so I can grow fresh herbs. I'm super stoked.

Worst gift: I gave in and bought H an Xbox game. He was thrilled but I hate how long he can sit there playing games while the house is a mess. Luckily he's gotten a lot better and its much rarer for that to happen

Xstatic3333

1.  Christmas is never a MM time for us, but we did stay within our budget this year which I'll call a success.  I budgeted $100 for "fun" (I tend to have a lot of OOT friends to see around Christmas), had to dig into it for higher than expected shipping charges, and still came out okay.

2.  We received $300 in monetary gifts that we put in our DP fund.  I did take a $50 birthday gift and use it on a Groupon for Zumba classes, but this will help my fitness goals so I don't feel too badly about it.  Another great step that happened this week is that H took a sudden interest in our budgeting.  He budgeted out his own paychecks through the end of January, and voluntarily put $50 of football pool winnings in the house fund.  He's getting excited to see his car balance dropping faster, and I am sooo excited to have him on board with our budgeting.  

3.  My favorite gift that I gave was a big piece of SCUBA gear (a BCD for anyone else that dives) that I gave to my husband.  We have a trip coming up in May and are hoping he will have his own gear by then (nothing dive related is MM at all, but it is a big part of our lives that is worth the sacrifice to us).  My favorite gift that I received was the pasta maker attachment for my stand mixer, which we registered for but didn't receive.  I live for fresh pasta, and am so excited to try making it myself.  I was also excited to get a gift card to one of our favorite restaurants, so we can go out to eat without guilt.  

mana8503

1. How MM was your Christmas/weekend?.

We went a little over on Christmas... I think we tried to make up for having to skimp in the years before.

We're in nc with ILs, so not really spending a lot.

2. Any progress toward your goals?

Nothing this week. Been busy With traveling.

3. NMMR: What was the best and/or worst gift you received? Or gave?

I'm very excited to use my wii active games H got me. I hate the gym the first 3 weeks in January.

I got my mom a printer with an auto feed scanner so she can get the old pictures on the computer and make photo books for everyone. She's so excited!

lifeonthehill

1.  How MM was your Christmas/weekend? We spent SO much on gifts. We got a lot of free food while traveling to visit family though because they wont let us pay for anything. Also. We got over $1000 in cash and gift cards. We were blown away and so thankful. We got to spend some great time with all four families. 

 

2.  Any progress toward your goals? We were supposed to put away $1,500 this month for our savings and between some extra hours at work and the generosity of our families we will be putting away $2,500! I am ecstatic.

3.  NMMR: What was the best and/or worst gift you received? Or gave?
Worst: I got a stone cat small enough for our kitten to swallow as a gift from H mom. Like tiny. It is still in its box.
Best: My mom got me Ariel the Little Mermaid on DVD. She knows I have been trying to build my own collection and just knowing she pays attention means so much to me.
Worst: We gave H cousin a scented candle and bath and body works hand soap. Haha. We didn't know they were traveling out for Christmas and we couldn't just give her booze like her parents! We scraped it together. She seemed happy.
Best: Gift card to get a facial peel that my mom REALLY thinks she need. She was all giddy about it. Haha.

jamieallyn24

1.  How MM was your Christmas/weekend?.

Overall, pretty good. We spent way less than we have in years past. We told our families beforehand that it would be a light Christmas for us. We're aggressively paying off debt and expecting our first child, so gifts just couldn't be a priority this year.

2.  Any progress toward your goals?  

Yes! We received ~$1600 in gift money. We split it between savings and debt payoff. Also, my dad gifted us with Roth IRAs. He put $2500 each for H and me. After years of being financially irresponsible, H and I are really getting our shit together so the cash and retirement accounts are huge accomplishments.

3.  NMMR: What was the best and/or worst gift you received? Or gave?

Best given: Clothes for my mom. I shopped Old Navy clearance and bought her a nice coat and a few sweaters. She never shops for herself, so it was something she really loved, and she looks super cute!

Best received: Aside from the IRAs, I got a spa certificate I'm really looking forward to using.

Wulfgar

1. Not good, I had to buy some new clothes and a new winter jacket.  I am heavy so trying to shop for clothes makes me depressed.

2. Not this month, still racking up medical bills.

3. Best received: toss up between a Franco Harris shirt and Ticket to Ride, Europe.
    Worse given: was late getting my niece a gift so after talking with my parents, I bought her War and Peace and The Magic of Recluse as gifts.  She is almost 15.

jessica490

Christmas was good. Spent under $100 in gifts for h and parents. For our goals we ditched the high car payments and will be saving $200 per month. We switched insurance companies and will be saving about $1500 a year. The best xmas gift I got was nintendo wii u

cbee817

1.  How MM was your Christmas/weekend?
It was good. Everyone seemed to listen to us this year with regards to gifts for the girls. We were able to put $250 into each of their bank accounts and they didn't get a lot of toys. DH and I did some returns and finished going through all of our clothing/cleaned out closets. It was a great break.

 

2.  Any progress toward your goals?  We're going to talk to a few lawyers for the will over DH's February break. Our automatic transfer to savings is all set for my paycheck and DH is going to contribute more to his 403b this year.

 

3.  NMMR: What was the best and/or worst gift you received? Or gave? The best gift I gave was telling DH that DD#1 was on her way in 2009. I found out I was pregnant with her just 1 week before Christmas. We got to tell all of the soon-to-be grandparents on Christmas Day too.

Erikan73

1. How MM was your Christmas/weekend?. Christmas was bad, didn't plan well for it because we just got serious about living within our means & realizing what that means about a month ago. But the weekend was good. We did go out a few times but hubby has been on vacation so had extra money from his allowance since he hasn't been going out to eat so he treated us.

2. Any progress toward your goals?  Yes, budget set up, system on how to divide money up figured out, so already in better place

3. NMMR: What was the best and/or worst gift you received? Or gave? Best gift received was probably the pearls from my husband. Worst gift received, have to say they were all pretty good. Best gift I gave, a side table that my husband and I made for my parents. The table top is from the floor that my father retired from that is no longer open.

Smonet

1.  How MM was your Christmas/weekend?.

I went over on Christmas gifts, plus DH and I went pretty big this year. His little ice fishing gift kept growing. However, I budgeted very low and was happy to see I come in not too much higher. I'm making strides one at a time on this MM thing.

 

2.  Any progress toward your goals?  

Nothing huge. Was able to put aside almost my whole budgeted amount into savings for December. DH stopped using my GoodBudget envelope tracking software so I want to get him back on that for 2014. It really helps.

3.  NMMR: What was the best and/or worst gift you received? Or gave?

My foodsaver from my parents and yoga mat from DH were awesome. Can't say there were any bad ones. So thankful to be able to spend time with my family over the holidays, even though we combated the stomach flu for the first time with our LO and the rest of us. Needless to say we will be celebrating a postponed Christmas this weekend with DH's family.