Monday Accountability

formerlyjessica490

1. How MM was your weekend?

2. Any progress towards goals?

3. What is your favorite summer fruit and veggie to eat?

formerlyjessica490

1. $59 Pet grooming/tip, $22 Gas, $12 Father's Day Cake. Sold an air conditioner on Craigslist and made $80

2.  Nothing, we get paid this week

3. I love red watermelon and green/yellow squash

smetter04

1. How MM was your weekend? About $100 at Polish Fest on Saturday, which covered mostly food and drink, and was budgeted. We had both lunch and dinner there. $20 donation to church on Sunday. $25 for my Godfather's Father's day gift, and $15 on cologne for my Dad, which was over 50% off after the coupons and rewards I added on (score!).

2. Any progress towards goals? Financially, none this week.

3. What is your favorite summer fruit and veggie to eat? Cucumber. I love, love, love cucumber salad with dill. For fruit, I enjoy cantaloupe.

Edit: Forgot to include Father's day gifts.

cbee817

1. How MM was your weekend? Not bad- groceries ($150), gas ($30), Father's Day brunch was already paid for.

2. Any progress towards goals? Yes- we closed out DH's checking account so we now have 1 joint account, we ordered the floor tile for the bathroom, and put 50% down for the built in linen cabinet from California closets with the balance that DH had left in his closed checking account. DH is going to call a few other companies to get estimates for the outside work and we'll be getting a formal estimate from the first company when we meet with them again Saturday morning. 

3. What is your favorite summer fruit and veggie to eat? I love salads in the summer- especially ones with strawberries or blueberries in it. Corn on the cob and fresh tomatoes with salt and pepper are another favorite. 

labro

1. How MM was your weekend? Not the worst but not the best either. Technically everything was in budget, it was just a spend heavy Saturday. Took my dad out for donuts, bought my mom's birthday present, bought some new clothes that were much needed, and $80 on groceries on Friday.

2. Any progress towards goals? Last week I made an extra payment on top of the already extra payments I'm making to pay my car off. If I can make another payment like this next month then I should be able to get the whole thing paid off in September!!!

3. What is your favorite summer fruit and veggie to eat? Tomatoes for my favorite "fruit" and also blueberries from my yard! For veggies - yellow squash and zucchini from my garden.

als1982

1. Good! We had our biggest fundraiser of the year on Friday/Saturday, so most of my meals were eaten there. I did buy a new outfit, so I spent about $220 on that. Otherwise, no other big expenses. The weekend brought in just under $1.4M and will be featured on the Today Show sometime this week, which will hopefully bring that total even higher! 

 2. $1,600 to H's student loan. We're starting to get some momentum again after a month of not pay any extra!

3.  Tomatoes.  Homegrown and peeled with salt and pepper.  They're so amazing they count for both fruit and veggie!

LillibetteV

1. How MM was your weekend? Not too terrible - we resisted the urge to get takeout one night which was a big win for us lately. Spent about $300 at Costco on a big stock up plus food for a father's day BBQ we hosted. ETA: I forgot I sold some chairs on Craigslist! $15 whole dollars for 4 old ikea chairs lol.

2. Any progress towards goals? Same old same old - automatic transfers kept doing their thing. Although DH and I went on a walk and discussed saving up for a rental property and how exactly we would do that which was great to see him in the saving mindset (he's our spender, but honestly he's not too bad). 

3. What is your favorite summer fruit and veggie to eat? Corn on the cob and fresh tomatoes. I could eat summer fresh tomatoes for every meal.

Xstatic3333

1.  Very bad.  $160 expenses related to BFF's shower, $60 for going out to eat with my cousin and his wife, $8 for beer for H to bring to a BBQ.  Additionally, I received a couple of medical bills but I'm pretty sure both were billed out wrong so I'm fighting with insurance a bit before I pay them.  It looks like the fact that H's job is in MA and my midwife is in RI is going to cause a whole host of headaches.  So silly when these states are ridiculously tiny compared to most of the country. 

2.  Making savings contributions this morning.  Going to start planning on a bit more for medical bills.

3.  My favorite vegetable is eggplant.  Sadly, our garden eggplants are looking pretty bad this year.  My favorite local summer veggies are watermelon and cantaloupe.  

Mustard76

1. Quite spendy. We spent $15 on takeout Friday night. I was really disappointed that we didn't make it to my niece's baseball game, so we didn't go out at all. We spent $150 at the street fair with our friends on Saturday. We ate two meals down there and we spent quite a bit in the beer tent. Then yesterday, we took an impromptu trip to he city and spent $20 on lunch with my uncles and $200 at Costco on the way home. We didn't get much in the way of groceries, but we're set on paper products for the next 6 months.

2. We added to our emergency fund, our house account, and to our cash pile this week. I hate the months that H and I have the same pay periods. It's so much easier for me when one of us gets paid every week. Thankfully, July is kind of back to normal, June was wonky with our pay days being the same (or one day apart.)

3. All the veggies and pretty much all the fruit. I like pretty much everything except melons. I may have gone a little nutty at the farmers market last week, but I love fresh, local produce.

short+sassy

Mustard76 said:

1. Quite spendy. We spent $15 on takeout Friday night. I was really disappointed that we didn't make it to my niece's baseball game, so we didn't go out at all. We spent $150 at the street fair with our friends on Saturday. We ate two meals down there and we spent quite a bit in the beer tent. Then yesterday, we took an impromptu trip to he city and spent $20 on lunch with my uncles and $200 at Costco on the way home. We didn't get much in the way of groceries, but we're set on paper products for the next 6 months.

2. We added to our emergency fund, our house account, and to our cash pile this week. I hate the months that H and I have the same pay periods. It's so much easier for me when one of us gets paid every week. Thankfully, July is kind of back to normal, June was wonky with our pay days being the same (or one day apart.)

3. All the veggies and pretty much all the fruit. I like pretty much everything except melons. I may have gone a little nutty at the farmers market last week, but I love fresh, local produce.

I hear that!  For my f/t job, I get paid on the same dates each month.  But my p/t job is every other Friday.  So about half the year I get my paydays the same week and half the year they stagger.  It's so much more psychologically pleasing to be getting some kind of money each week!

1.  I had a spendy weekend on Amazon, lol.  Mostly unnecessary items, but things I really wanted and I rarely treat myself.

2.  Paid $800 off on my HELOC.

3.  My favorite all-time fruit is cherries.  But I think that is more Fall.  My favorite summer fruit is watermelon.  My favorite all-time veggie is cucumbers.  Great in summer, great any time. 

hoffse

1 & 2) Ours was really spendy, but we ended up accomplishing a lot.  We started the prep work on our patio on Saturday.  That was planned and not bad - $80 for a compactor rental, because the gravel and sand was delivered the previous weekend.  It ended up going so quickly that H decided to try to finish the rest of the patio this weekend.

Sooooo.... on Saturday afternoon we ordered the stones from Lowe's for in-store pick-up (got $60 back from TopCashBack!), rented a truck from the Uhaul place down the street, picked up the stones, and got them unloaded and the truck returned Saturday night.  For 120 retaining wall stones, 500 patio stones, and 50 fire pit blocks it was about $1040.  By the way, I'm really glad we rented a truck instead of borrowing a friend's.  The stones were so heavy the truck sank about 18 inches... and we had to make 3 trips because of the weight.  The truck was a $40 rental, and worth every penny.  

Then Sunday happened.  H got the retaining wall and pavers done while I took an exam.  Then we did another Lowes run for a diamond blade, some inexpensive plastic chairs, a fire pit insert, and polymeric sand  to set the pavers.  That was about $300 for everything.  After we were done, we had a bunch of pavers left over (side note: ordering 10% extra was way too much).  So we added a walkway at the last minute.  We ran out of sand and had one last $50 trip to Lowes to finish the walkway.  But it used almost all of our pavers, and we really like how it turned out.

Pictures below!  It ended up being a very expensive weekend, but we had the money already set aside for this project.  We just didn't think we would get so far with it this weekend.  We still need to back-fill the retaining wall and spread some grass seed, but we are THRILLED that we got this much done before our trip!

3) I love tomatoes and corn.  We make tomato salad frequently.  B'ham has finally gotten hot chicken, so exotic peppers are getting more popular.  I love it.

I don't think mint is a fruit, but I would like to put in a plug for mint anyway.  We use it for mojitos all summer, and it's so refreshing.

vlagrl35

Xstatic3333 said:

1.  Very bad.  $160 expenses related to BFF's shower, $60 for going out to eat with my cousin and his wife, $8 for beer for H to bring to a BBQ.  Additionally, I received a couple of medical bills but I'm pretty sure both were billed out wrong so I'm fighting with insurance a bit before I pay them.  It looks like the fact that H's job is in MA and my midwife is in RI is going to cause a whole host of headaches.  So silly when these states are ridiculously tiny compared to most of the country. 

2.  Making savings contributions this morning.  Going to start planning on a bit more for medical bills.

3.  My favorite vegetable is eggplant.  Sadly, our garden eggplants are looking pretty bad this year.  My favorite local summer veggies are watermelon and cantaloupe.  

That sucks about your insurance - I hate dealing with them.  it's always such a major headache and there is always insurance headaches throughout the pregnancy.  Hopefully we won't have any issues with ours.  We live in MO and I will see an OB in KS - she is in network.  I interviewed her back in November and insurance just paid them last month - can you believe that?

vlagrl35

1 - Not bad. Spent $20 for dinner on Friday at the pool, $8 at dollar general, $30 at Target, $8 JCP, $18 at the pool on Sunday, $25 at Hyvee, $20 on gas for my car.

2 - no goals met this week

3 - My favorite fruit is watermelon .  I craved it so much when I was pregnant with DD we had to buy a whole watermelon every 3 days for all 9 months.  My favorite veggie is cucumber.

Xstatic3333

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

1.  Very bad.  $160 expenses related to BFF's shower, $60 for going out to eat with my cousin and his wife, $8 for beer for H to bring to a BBQ.  Additionally, I received a couple of medical bills but I'm pretty sure both were billed out wrong so I'm fighting with insurance a bit before I pay them.  It looks like the fact that H's job is in MA and my midwife is in RI is going to cause a whole host of headaches.  So silly when these states are ridiculously tiny compared to most of the country. 

2.  Making savings contributions this morning.  Going to start planning on a bit more for medical bills.

3.  My favorite vegetable is eggplant.  Sadly, our garden eggplants are looking pretty bad this year.  My favorite local summer veggies are watermelon and cantaloupe.  

That sucks about your insurance - I hate dealing with them.  it's always such a major headache and there is always insurance headaches throughout the pregnancy.  Hopefully we won't have any issues with ours.  We live in MO and I will see an OB in KS - she is in network.  I interviewed her back in November and insurance just paid them last month - can you believe that?

Thanks.  Part of it is my bad for not doing more research going in, but it looks like we'll have the choice between paying out of network costs to stay with my RI provider who delivers at an amazing hospital 10 minutes from home with a state of the art NICU for if things go badly and an amazing birth center for if they don't, or receiving in-network coverage to drive 30 minutes to MA for each appointment and then delivering at a tiny hospital with a poor reputation.  This isn't really a choice-we're going to suck it up and pay-but you bet I'll make sure they don't bill a penny more than they're entitled to.  

So glad your insurance is more flexible about the state lines situation!  We have still priced out our options and this remains the best plan of the three available to us, but man it's frustrating.  I'll have a copay every time I see a provider in the state of RI even for routine care.  

moneymom

hoffse said:

1 & 2) Ours was really spendy, but we ended up accomplishing a lot.  We started the prep work on our patio on Saturday.  That was planned and not bad - $80 for a compactor rental, because the gravel and sand was delivered the previous weekend.  It ended up going so quickly that H decided to try to finish the rest of the patio this weekend.

Sooooo.... on Saturday afternoon we ordered the stones from Lowe's for in-store pick-up (got $60 back from TopCashBack!), rented a truck from the Uhaul place down the street, picked up the stones, and got them unloaded and the truck returned Saturday night.  For 120 retaining wall stones, 500 patio stones, and 50 fire pit blocks it was about $1040.  By the way, I'm really glad we rented a truck instead of borrowing a friend's.  The stones were so heavy the truck sank about 18 inches... and we had to make 3 trips because of the weight.  The truck was a $40 rental, and worth every penny.  

Then Sunday happened.  H got the retaining wall and pavers done while I took an exam.  Then we did another Lowes run for a diamond blade, some inexpensive plastic chairs, a fire pit insert, and polymeric sand  to set the pavers.  That was about $300 for everything.  After we were done, we had a bunch of pavers left over (side note: ordering 10% extra was way too much).  So we added a walkway at the last minute.  We ran out of sand and had one last $50 trip to Lowes to finish the walkway.  But it used almost all of our pavers, and we really like how it turned out.

Pictures below!  It ended up being a very expensive weekend, but we had the money already set aside for this project.  We just didn't think we would get so far with it this weekend.  We still need to back-fill the retaining wall and spread some grass seed, but we are THRILLED that we got this much done before our trip!

3) I love tomatoes and corn.  We make tomato salad frequently.  B'ham has finally gotten hot chicken, so exotic peppers are getting more popular.  I love it.

I don't think mint is a fruit, but I would like to put in a plug for mint anyway.  We use it for mojitos all summer, and it's so refreshing.

What was the cost of the whole patio?

Did your dh do the whole thing?  It looks so good!

moneymom

what is TopCashback?

vlagrl35

Xstatic3333 said:

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

1.  Very bad.  $160 expenses related to BFF's shower, $60 for going out to eat with my cousin and his wife, $8 for beer for H to bring to a BBQ.  Additionally, I received a couple of medical bills but I'm pretty sure both were billed out wrong so I'm fighting with insurance a bit before I pay them.  It looks like the fact that H's job is in MA and my midwife is in RI is going to cause a whole host of headaches.  So silly when these states are ridiculously tiny compared to most of the country. 

2.  Making savings contributions this morning.  Going to start planning on a bit more for medical bills.

3.  My favorite vegetable is eggplant.  Sadly, our garden eggplants are looking pretty bad this year.  My favorite local summer veggies are watermelon and cantaloupe.  

That sucks about your insurance - I hate dealing with them.  it's always such a major headache and there is always insurance headaches throughout the pregnancy.  Hopefully we won't have any issues with ours.  We live in MO and I will see an OB in KS - she is in network.  I interviewed her back in November and insurance just paid them last month - can you believe that?

Thanks.  Part of it is my bad for not doing more research going in, but it looks like we'll have the choice between paying out of network costs to stay with my RI provider who delivers at an amazing hospital 10 minutes from home with a state of the art NICU for if things go badly and an amazing birth center for if they don't, or receiving in-network coverage to drive 30 minutes to MA for each appointment and then delivering at a tiny hospital with a poor reputation.  This isn't really a choice-we're going to suck it up and pay-but you bet I'll make sure they don't bill a penny more than they're entitled to.  

So glad your insurance is more flexible about the state lines situation!  We have still priced out our options and this remains the best plan of the three available to us, but man it's frustrating.  I'll have a copay every time I see a provider in the state of RI even for routine care.  

so you'll pay out of network prices?  We will be driving 30 minutes to the OB and hospital I want to deliver at the 2nd time.  So worth the drive.  I'm glad your place is so close to home.  DH is worried about the 30 minute drive, but lets not forget that I was induced with DD and by the time she was born 16 hours had passed.  I don't think we need to be worried about a car birth. lol

hoffse

@Moneymom the entire patio was about $1500 when you include the tool rentals and gravel/sand delivery from last weekend.  Yes, my DH did the entire thing.  I helped some, but it was about 75% him, 25% me.

TopCashBack is like ebates, but their payout rate is usually higher.  I got 6% back on my Lowes order by ordering online for in-store pick-up.

Xstatic3333

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

1.  Very bad.  $160 expenses related to BFF's shower, $60 for going out to eat with my cousin and his wife, $8 for beer for H to bring to a BBQ.  Additionally, I received a couple of medical bills but I'm pretty sure both were billed out wrong so I'm fighting with insurance a bit before I pay them.  It looks like the fact that H's job is in MA and my midwife is in RI is going to cause a whole host of headaches.  So silly when these states are ridiculously tiny compared to most of the country. 

2.  Making savings contributions this morning.  Going to start planning on a bit more for medical bills.

3.  My favorite vegetable is eggplant.  Sadly, our garden eggplants are looking pretty bad this year.  My favorite local summer veggies are watermelon and cantaloupe.  

That sucks about your insurance - I hate dealing with them.  it's always such a major headache and there is always insurance headaches throughout the pregnancy.  Hopefully we won't have any issues with ours.  We live in MO and I will see an OB in KS - she is in network.  I interviewed her back in November and insurance just paid them last month - can you believe that?

Thanks.  Part of it is my bad for not doing more research going in, but it looks like we'll have the choice between paying out of network costs to stay with my RI provider who delivers at an amazing hospital 10 minutes from home with a state of the art NICU for if things go badly and an amazing birth center for if they don't, or receiving in-network coverage to drive 30 minutes to MA for each appointment and then delivering at a tiny hospital with a poor reputation.  This isn't really a choice-we're going to suck it up and pay-but you bet I'll make sure they don't bill a penny more than they're entitled to.  

So glad your insurance is more flexible about the state lines situation!  We have still priced out our options and this remains the best plan of the three available to us, but man it's frustrating.  I'll have a copay every time I see a provider in the state of RI even for routine care.  

so you'll pay out of network prices?  We will be driving 30 minutes to the OB and hospital I want to deliver at the 2nd time.  So worth the drive.  I'm glad your place is so close to home.  DH is worried about the 30 minute drive, but lets not forget that I was induced with DD and by the time she was born 16 hours had passed.  I don't think we need to be worried about a car birth. lol

Yes, we're going to pay out of network prices, which apply to anyone out of state.  Our plan is in theory pretty good to start, so out of network prices will pretty much just bring us down to "average insurance plan" level.  If we were in shooting distance of the great hospitals in Boston or Worcester I'd consider finding a practice in MA to see, but I don't want to have to drive 45 minutes to an hour with a midwinter due date.  30 minutes I could deal with, but I figure if there is one thing in this life to pay a bit more for for safety's sake and comfort's sake, this is it.  

als1982

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

1.  Very bad.  $160 expenses related to BFF's shower, $60 for going out to eat with my cousin and his wife, $8 for beer for H to bring to a BBQ.  Additionally, I received a couple of medical bills but I'm pretty sure both were billed out wrong so I'm fighting with insurance a bit before I pay them.  It looks like the fact that H's job is in MA and my midwife is in RI is going to cause a whole host of headaches.  So silly when these states are ridiculously tiny compared to most of the country. 

2.  Making savings contributions this morning.  Going to start planning on a bit more for medical bills.

3.  My favorite vegetable is eggplant.  Sadly, our garden eggplants are looking pretty bad this year.  My favorite local summer veggies are watermelon and cantaloupe.  

That sucks about your insurance - I hate dealing with them.  it's always such a major headache and there is always insurance headaches throughout the pregnancy.  Hopefully we won't have any issues with ours.  We live in MO and I will see an OB in KS - she is in network.  I interviewed her back in November and insurance just paid them last month - can you believe that?

Thanks.  Part of it is my bad for not doing more research going in, but it looks like we'll have the choice between paying out of network costs to stay with my RI provider who delivers at an amazing hospital 10 minutes from home with a state of the art NICU for if things go badly and an amazing birth center for if they don't, or receiving in-network coverage to drive 30 minutes to MA for each appointment and then delivering at a tiny hospital with a poor reputation.  This isn't really a choice-we're going to suck it up and pay-but you bet I'll make sure they don't bill a penny more than they're entitled to.  

So glad your insurance is more flexible about the state lines situation!  We have still priced out our options and this remains the best plan of the three available to us, but man it's frustrating.  I'll have a copay every time I see a provider in the state of RI even for routine care.  

so you'll pay out of network prices?  We will be driving 30 minutes to the OB and hospital I want to deliver at the 2nd time.  So worth the drive.  I'm glad your place is so close to home.  DH is worried about the 30 minute drive, but lets not forget that I was induced with DD and by the time she was born 16 hours had passed.  I don't think we need to be worried about a car birth. lol

Are you planning on delivering at Shawnee Mission Med?

vlagrl35

als1982 said:

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

1.  Very bad.  $160 expenses related to BFF's shower, $60 for going out to eat with my cousin and his wife, $8 for beer for H to bring to a BBQ.  Additionally, I received a couple of medical bills but I'm pretty sure both were billed out wrong so I'm fighting with insurance a bit before I pay them.  It looks like the fact that H's job is in MA and my midwife is in RI is going to cause a whole host of headaches.  So silly when these states are ridiculously tiny compared to most of the country. 

2.  Making savings contributions this morning.  Going to start planning on a bit more for medical bills.

3.  My favorite vegetable is eggplant.  Sadly, our garden eggplants are looking pretty bad this year.  My favorite local summer veggies are watermelon and cantaloupe.  

That sucks about your insurance - I hate dealing with them.  it's always such a major headache and there is always insurance headaches throughout the pregnancy.  Hopefully we won't have any issues with ours.  We live in MO and I will see an OB in KS - she is in network.  I interviewed her back in November and insurance just paid them last month - can you believe that?

Thanks.  Part of it is my bad for not doing more research going in, but it looks like we'll have the choice between paying out of network costs to stay with my RI provider who delivers at an amazing hospital 10 minutes from home with a state of the art NICU for if things go badly and an amazing birth center for if they don't, or receiving in-network coverage to drive 30 minutes to MA for each appointment and then delivering at a tiny hospital with a poor reputation.  This isn't really a choice-we're going to suck it up and pay-but you bet I'll make sure they don't bill a penny more than they're entitled to.  

So glad your insurance is more flexible about the state lines situation!  We have still priced out our options and this remains the best plan of the three available to us, but man it's frustrating.  I'll have a copay every time I see a provider in the state of RI even for routine care.  

so you'll pay out of network prices?  We will be driving 30 minutes to the OB and hospital I want to deliver at the 2nd time.  So worth the drive.  I'm glad your place is so close to home.  DH is worried about the 30 minute drive, but lets not forget that I was induced with DD and by the time she was born 16 hours had passed.  I don't think we need to be worried about a car birth. lol

Are you planning on delivering at Shawnee Mission Med?

Yes with Dr. Proverbs - she is apparently the VBAC queen in the KC Metro Area.  We live near the KCI Airport.  Liberty does VBACs also but I've heard bad things about them so I didn't want to chance it.

vlagrl35

Xstatic3333 said:

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

1.  Very bad.  $160 expenses related to BFF's shower, $60 for going out to eat with my cousin and his wife, $8 for beer for H to bring to a BBQ.  Additionally, I received a couple of medical bills but I'm pretty sure both were billed out wrong so I'm fighting with insurance a bit before I pay them.  It looks like the fact that H's job is in MA and my midwife is in RI is going to cause a whole host of headaches.  So silly when these states are ridiculously tiny compared to most of the country. 

2.  Making savings contributions this morning.  Going to start planning on a bit more for medical bills.

3.  My favorite vegetable is eggplant.  Sadly, our garden eggplants are looking pretty bad this year.  My favorite local summer veggies are watermelon and cantaloupe.  

That sucks about your insurance - I hate dealing with them.  it's always such a major headache and there is always insurance headaches throughout the pregnancy.  Hopefully we won't have any issues with ours.  We live in MO and I will see an OB in KS - she is in network.  I interviewed her back in November and insurance just paid them last month - can you believe that?

Thanks.  Part of it is my bad for not doing more research going in, but it looks like we'll have the choice between paying out of network costs to stay with my RI provider who delivers at an amazing hospital 10 minutes from home with a state of the art NICU for if things go badly and an amazing birth center for if they don't, or receiving in-network coverage to drive 30 minutes to MA for each appointment and then delivering at a tiny hospital with a poor reputation.  This isn't really a choice-we're going to suck it up and pay-but you bet I'll make sure they don't bill a penny more than they're entitled to.  

So glad your insurance is more flexible about the state lines situation!  We have still priced out our options and this remains the best plan of the three available to us, but man it's frustrating.  I'll have a copay every time I see a provider in the state of RI even for routine care.  

so you'll pay out of network prices?  We will be driving 30 minutes to the OB and hospital I want to deliver at the 2nd time.  So worth the drive.  I'm glad your place is so close to home.  DH is worried about the 30 minute drive, but lets not forget that I was induced with DD and by the time she was born 16 hours had passed.  I don't think we need to be worried about a car birth. lol

Yes, we're going to pay out of network prices, which apply to anyone out of state.  Our plan is in theory pretty good to start, so out of network prices will pretty much just bring us down to "average insurance plan" level.  If we were in shooting distance of the great hospitals in Boston or Worcester I'd consider finding a practice in MA to see, but I don't want to have to drive 45 minutes to an hour with a midwinter due date.  30 minutes I could deal with, but I figure if there is one thing in this life to pay a bit more for for safety's sake and comfort's sake, this is it.  

Yes you don't want any regrets - its worth it to pay a bit extra.  I want a doula with our next birth and we are willing to pay extra for that.  I think I still need to sell the idea to DH  How are your pregnancy symptoms - do you have any yet?  I'm so nervous still about having horrible symptoms like last time.  I figure I'm not pregnant yet because I feel like my normal self with current energy levels.

moneymom

hoffse said:

@Moneymom the entire patio was about $1500 when you include the tool rentals and gravel/sand delivery from last weekend.  Yes, my DH did the entire thing.  I helped some, but it was about 75% him, 25% me.

TopCashBack is like ebates, but their payout rate is usually higher.  I got 6% back on my Lowes order by ordering online for in-store pick-up.

Wow, that is so cheap for what it looks like.  You guys did amazing work.  Have either of you done anything like that before? I am wondering if 2 people with no experience could do it.

Do you have a referral for TopCashBack?  

Do they have travel sites like Hotels.com on there?

hoffse

Somebody might have a referral in the TopCashBack referral thread.  They do have hotels.com on there.  I think it's like 6% too.

We've done various kinds of DIY, and my H has gotten pretty good with power tools.  But no, we've never done anything like that before.  The only step where experience was good was cutting the pavers.  H just used his circular saw for it, and we bought a diamond blade to cut through the stone.  But once he did a couple, they were pretty easy, and he was cutting all sorts of shapes.

It actually wasn't that hard to figure out.  We followed some bloggers instructions and kind of modified them to fit our yard.  It was just a TON of labor.  We spent nearly 2 days just excavating out the yard because we had to dig down to make it flat.  We really should have rented a bobcat, but we didn't because we don't have a trailer.  We rented the biggest tiller that would fit in my CRV, but it wasn't quite strong enough. 

In retrospect, I wish I had rented a truck, trailer, and bobcat for the excavation.  It would have added a couple hundred dollars to the project, but it would have been money well-spent.  It probably would have saved us 8-10 hours of work in the Alabama heat.

I think the key is not to skip the prep work and to be willing to rent some power tools and buy the supplies to do it right. Then make sure to budget for the kinds of stones you want.  I'm cheap and bought pretty cheap stones - but not the very cheapest.  It's a pretty permanent thing, and you want to like what you install.

bmo88

1. How MM was your weekend?

• Considering I only left my house for a total of 1 hour to go to Joann Fabrics ($11) and Target ($6.85), it was very MM!
• Next weekend will not be very MM though, as we are leaving for our East Coast trip

2. Any progress towards goals?

• Paid down some student loan debt: $1,150
• Just plugging away at saving money, no real goals there

3. What is your favorite summer fruit and veggie to eat?

• WATERMELON!!!!!! I love a delicious ripe watermelon with salt sprinkled on it.

Xstatic3333

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

1.  Very bad.  $160 expenses related to BFF's shower, $60 for going out to eat with my cousin and his wife, $8 for beer for H to bring to a BBQ.  Additionally, I received a couple of medical bills but I'm pretty sure both were billed out wrong so I'm fighting with insurance a bit before I pay them.  It looks like the fact that H's job is in MA and my midwife is in RI is going to cause a whole host of headaches.  So silly when these states are ridiculously tiny compared to most of the country. 

2.  Making savings contributions this morning.  Going to start planning on a bit more for medical bills.

3.  My favorite vegetable is eggplant.  Sadly, our garden eggplants are looking pretty bad this year.  My favorite local summer veggies are watermelon and cantaloupe.  

That sucks about your insurance - I hate dealing with them.  it's always such a major headache and there is always insurance headaches throughout the pregnancy.  Hopefully we won't have any issues with ours.  We live in MO and I will see an OB in KS - she is in network.  I interviewed her back in November and insurance just paid them last month - can you believe that?

Thanks.  Part of it is my bad for not doing more research going in, but it looks like we'll have the choice between paying out of network costs to stay with my RI provider who delivers at an amazing hospital 10 minutes from home with a state of the art NICU for if things go badly and an amazing birth center for if they don't, or receiving in-network coverage to drive 30 minutes to MA for each appointment and then delivering at a tiny hospital with a poor reputation.  This isn't really a choice-we're going to suck it up and pay-but you bet I'll make sure they don't bill a penny more than they're entitled to.  

So glad your insurance is more flexible about the state lines situation!  We have still priced out our options and this remains the best plan of the three available to us, but man it's frustrating.  I'll have a copay every time I see a provider in the state of RI even for routine care.  

so you'll pay out of network prices?  We will be driving 30 minutes to the OB and hospital I want to deliver at the 2nd time.  So worth the drive.  I'm glad your place is so close to home.  DH is worried about the 30 minute drive, but lets not forget that I was induced with DD and by the time she was born 16 hours had passed.  I don't think we need to be worried about a car birth. lol

Yes, we're going to pay out of network prices, which apply to anyone out of state.  Our plan is in theory pretty good to start, so out of network prices will pretty much just bring us down to "average insurance plan" level.  If we were in shooting distance of the great hospitals in Boston or Worcester I'd consider finding a practice in MA to see, but I don't want to have to drive 45 minutes to an hour with a midwinter due date.  30 minutes I could deal with, but I figure if there is one thing in this life to pay a bit more for for safety's sake and comfort's sake, this is it.  

Yes you don't want any regrets - its worth it to pay a bit extra.  I want a doula with our next birth and we are willing to pay extra for that.  I think I still need to sell the idea to DH  How are your pregnancy symptoms - do you have any yet?  I'm so nervous still about having horrible symptoms like last time.  I figure I'm not pregnant yet because I feel like my normal self with current energy levels.

They are annoying, but I know I'm better off than many women. I'm nauseous all the time, but don't really throw up and can still eat most normal food. Eating actually helps. Over 7 weeks now so I'm hoping this is my peak and it'll pass for Second Tri. I really have nothing to complain about. Hopefully you'll have a totally different experience this time! It seems to be that way for many on my BMB.

vlagrl35

Xstatic3333 said:

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

1.  Very bad.  $160 expenses related to BFF's shower, $60 for going out to eat with my cousin and his wife, $8 for beer for H to bring to a BBQ.  Additionally, I received a couple of medical bills but I'm pretty sure both were billed out wrong so I'm fighting with insurance a bit before I pay them.  It looks like the fact that H's job is in MA and my midwife is in RI is going to cause a whole host of headaches.  So silly when these states are ridiculously tiny compared to most of the country. 

2.  Making savings contributions this morning.  Going to start planning on a bit more for medical bills.

3.  My favorite vegetable is eggplant.  Sadly, our garden eggplants are looking pretty bad this year.  My favorite local summer veggies are watermelon and cantaloupe.  

That sucks about your insurance - I hate dealing with them.  it's always such a major headache and there is always insurance headaches throughout the pregnancy.  Hopefully we won't have any issues with ours.  We live in MO and I will see an OB in KS - she is in network.  I interviewed her back in November and insurance just paid them last month - can you believe that?

Thanks.  Part of it is my bad for not doing more research going in, but it looks like we'll have the choice between paying out of network costs to stay with my RI provider who delivers at an amazing hospital 10 minutes from home with a state of the art NICU for if things go badly and an amazing birth center for if they don't, or receiving in-network coverage to drive 30 minutes to MA for each appointment and then delivering at a tiny hospital with a poor reputation.  This isn't really a choice-we're going to suck it up and pay-but you bet I'll make sure they don't bill a penny more than they're entitled to.  

So glad your insurance is more flexible about the state lines situation!  We have still priced out our options and this remains the best plan of the three available to us, but man it's frustrating.  I'll have a copay every time I see a provider in the state of RI even for routine care.  

so you'll pay out of network prices?  We will be driving 30 minutes to the OB and hospital I want to deliver at the 2nd time.  So worth the drive.  I'm glad your place is so close to home.  DH is worried about the 30 minute drive, but lets not forget that I was induced with DD and by the time she was born 16 hours had passed.  I don't think we need to be worried about a car birth. lol

Yes, we're going to pay out of network prices, which apply to anyone out of state.  Our plan is in theory pretty good to start, so out of network prices will pretty much just bring us down to "average insurance plan" level.  If we were in shooting distance of the great hospitals in Boston or Worcester I'd consider finding a practice in MA to see, but I don't want to have to drive 45 minutes to an hour with a midwinter due date.  30 minutes I could deal with, but I figure if there is one thing in this life to pay a bit more for for safety's sake and comfort's sake, this is it.  

Yes you don't want any regrets - its worth it to pay a bit extra.  I want a doula with our next birth and we are willing to pay extra for that.  I think I still need to sell the idea to DH  How are your pregnancy symptoms - do you have any yet?  I'm so nervous still about having horrible symptoms like last time.  I figure I'm not pregnant yet because I feel like my normal self with current energy levels.

They are annoying, but I know I'm better off than many women. I'm nauseous all the time, but don't really throw up and can still eat most normal food. Eating actually helps. Over 7 weeks now so I'm hoping this is my peak and it'll pass for Second Tri. I really have nothing to complain about. Hopefully you'll have a totally different experience this time! It seems to be that way for many on my BMB.

yeah that's not too bad - try smelling some lavender oil - it kills nausea.  Also chewing some ginger gum - you can find it at CVS.  I had to take zofran the entire 9 months.

Xstatic3333

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

1.  Very bad.  $160 expenses related to BFF's shower, $60 for going out to eat with my cousin and his wife, $8 for beer for H to bring to a BBQ.  Additionally, I received a couple of medical bills but I'm pretty sure both were billed out wrong so I'm fighting with insurance a bit before I pay them.  It looks like the fact that H's job is in MA and my midwife is in RI is going to cause a whole host of headaches.  So silly when these states are ridiculously tiny compared to most of the country. 

2.  Making savings contributions this morning.  Going to start planning on a bit more for medical bills.

3.  My favorite vegetable is eggplant.  Sadly, our garden eggplants are looking pretty bad this year.  My favorite local summer veggies are watermelon and cantaloupe.  

That sucks about your insurance - I hate dealing with them.  it's always such a major headache and there is always insurance headaches throughout the pregnancy.  Hopefully we won't have any issues with ours.  We live in MO and I will see an OB in KS - she is in network.  I interviewed her back in November and insurance just paid them last month - can you believe that?

Thanks.  Part of it is my bad for not doing more research going in, but it looks like we'll have the choice between paying out of network costs to stay with my RI provider who delivers at an amazing hospital 10 minutes from home with a state of the art NICU for if things go badly and an amazing birth center for if they don't, or receiving in-network coverage to drive 30 minutes to MA for each appointment and then delivering at a tiny hospital with a poor reputation.  This isn't really a choice-we're going to suck it up and pay-but you bet I'll make sure they don't bill a penny more than they're entitled to.  

So glad your insurance is more flexible about the state lines situation!  We have still priced out our options and this remains the best plan of the three available to us, but man it's frustrating.  I'll have a copay every time I see a provider in the state of RI even for routine care.  

so you'll pay out of network prices?  We will be driving 30 minutes to the OB and hospital I want to deliver at the 2nd time.  So worth the drive.  I'm glad your place is so close to home.  DH is worried about the 30 minute drive, but lets not forget that I was induced with DD and by the time she was born 16 hours had passed.  I don't think we need to be worried about a car birth. lol

Yes, we're going to pay out of network prices, which apply to anyone out of state.  Our plan is in theory pretty good to start, so out of network prices will pretty much just bring us down to "average insurance plan" level.  If we were in shooting distance of the great hospitals in Boston or Worcester I'd consider finding a practice in MA to see, but I don't want to have to drive 45 minutes to an hour with a midwinter due date.  30 minutes I could deal with, but I figure if there is one thing in this life to pay a bit more for for safety's sake and comfort's sake, this is it.  

Yes you don't want any regrets - its worth it to pay a bit extra.  I want a doula with our next birth and we are willing to pay extra for that.  I think I still need to sell the idea to DH  How are your pregnancy symptoms - do you have any yet?  I'm so nervous still about having horrible symptoms like last time.  I figure I'm not pregnant yet because I feel like my normal self with current energy levels.

They are annoying, but I know I'm better off than many women. I'm nauseous all the time, but don't really throw up and can still eat most normal food. Eating actually helps. Over 7 weeks now so I'm hoping this is my peak and it'll pass for Second Tri. I really have nothing to complain about. Hopefully you'll have a totally different experience this time! It seems to be that way for many on my BMB.

yeah that's not too bad - try smelling some lavender oil - it kills nausea.  Also chewing some ginger gum - you can find it at CVS.  I had to take zofran the entire 9 months.

Ooo I like the lavender oil idea!  Thanks for the tips.

vlagrl35

Xstatic3333 said:

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

vlagrl35 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

1.  Very bad.  $160 expenses related to BFF's shower, $60 for going out to eat with my cousin and his wife, $8 for beer for H to bring to a BBQ.  Additionally, I received a couple of medical bills but I'm pretty sure both were billed out wrong so I'm fighting with insurance a bit before I pay them.  It looks like the fact that H's job is in MA and my midwife is in RI is going to cause a whole host of headaches.  So silly when these states are ridiculously tiny compared to most of the country. 

2.  Making savings contributions this morning.  Going to start planning on a bit more for medical bills.

3.  My favorite vegetable is eggplant.  Sadly, our garden eggplants are looking pretty bad this year.  My favorite local summer veggies are watermelon and cantaloupe.  

That sucks about your insurance - I hate dealing with them.  it's always such a major headache and there is always insurance headaches throughout the pregnancy.  Hopefully we won't have any issues with ours.  We live in MO and I will see an OB in KS - she is in network.  I interviewed her back in November and insurance just paid them last month - can you believe that?

Thanks.  Part of it is my bad for not doing more research going in, but it looks like we'll have the choice between paying out of network costs to stay with my RI provider who delivers at an amazing hospital 10 minutes from home with a state of the art NICU for if things go badly and an amazing birth center for if they don't, or receiving in-network coverage to drive 30 minutes to MA for each appointment and then delivering at a tiny hospital with a poor reputation.  This isn't really a choice-we're going to suck it up and pay-but you bet I'll make sure they don't bill a penny more than they're entitled to.  

So glad your insurance is more flexible about the state lines situation!  We have still priced out our options and this remains the best plan of the three available to us, but man it's frustrating.  I'll have a copay every time I see a provider in the state of RI even for routine care.  

so you'll pay out of network prices?  We will be driving 30 minutes to the OB and hospital I want to deliver at the 2nd time.  So worth the drive.  I'm glad your place is so close to home.  DH is worried about the 30 minute drive, but lets not forget that I was induced with DD and by the time she was born 16 hours had passed.  I don't think we need to be worried about a car birth. lol

Yes, we're going to pay out of network prices, which apply to anyone out of state.  Our plan is in theory pretty good to start, so out of network prices will pretty much just bring us down to "average insurance plan" level.  If we were in shooting distance of the great hospitals in Boston or Worcester I'd consider finding a practice in MA to see, but I don't want to have to drive 45 minutes to an hour with a midwinter due date.  30 minutes I could deal with, but I figure if there is one thing in this life to pay a bit more for for safety's sake and comfort's sake, this is it.  

Yes you don't want any regrets - its worth it to pay a bit extra.  I want a doula with our next birth and we are willing to pay extra for that.  I think I still need to sell the idea to DH  How are your pregnancy symptoms - do you have any yet?  I'm so nervous still about having horrible symptoms like last time.  I figure I'm not pregnant yet because I feel like my normal self with current energy levels.

They are annoying, but I know I'm better off than many women. I'm nauseous all the time, but don't really throw up and can still eat most normal food. Eating actually helps. Over 7 weeks now so I'm hoping this is my peak and it'll pass for Second Tri. I really have nothing to complain about. Hopefully you'll have a totally different experience this time! It seems to be that way for many on my BMB.

yeah that's not too bad - try smelling some lavender oil - it kills nausea.  Also chewing some ginger gum - you can find it at CVS.  I had to take zofran the entire 9 months.

Ooo I like the lavender oil idea!  Thanks for the tips.

it needs to be the pure stuff - like the essential oils

splotch716

1) Ours was pretty expensive and I don't have final numbers yet, I'm too scared to look. We went down to Portland for an arena football game. I took advantage of no sales tax and purchased baby proofing things and curtains for our new apartment. DH couldn't help decide on the color so we got what we needed in each color and will return what we don't use.

2) We moved into a 2 bedroom apartment on Friday. We had been on the wait list for 2 years at our complex! No mm progress towards goals. Still holding onto extra cash as we see how my paychecks at my new job look. I am having dependent care fsa taken out. My next paycheck will show what I should get.

3) I love berries and corn on the cob! Yum!