Introduction

nfp147

Hi all. I've been lurking, learning, and semi-stalking you all for months and thought maybe it was time for an introduction. This is my first time posting on this board, but I was quite active on the Getting Pregnant board and recognize a couple of you from over there (hello again!). A bit about me: I'm 42, childless, married to a super-great guy. We LOVE to travel. We have a 7 year old female chocolate lab named Boomer, and two male cats, 9 and 6, named Gaius and Fergus. Money matters related: we both work for the Canadian government and have excellent pensions (70% of our best five years' salary), plus DH is in the Army reserves and has a small pension there (he describes it as "a case a beer a month"). Being Canadian, we don't have to worry about health insurance or health savings. So, retirement savings aren't a concern for us, but I do want to be better at saving overall just to have a good cushion, and to allow us as much travel as possible. We own a home in the suburbs, we have one vehicle that is 8 months from being paid off. Our extravagances are travel and nice meals out. I'm hoping to be more active on this board and to absorb some good money saving ideas. I'm happy to answer questions!

short+sassy

Hi and welcome!  I'm glad you came out of "stalker status", lol.

I'm also 42, childless, and married to a super-great guy!  We have a Manx cat named Nip.  She was born without a tail, as many Manxes are.  And a Terrier-Extraordinaire named Izzy.  She looks like a longer haired Boston Terrier, but we got her from the pound, so we don't really know what mix of breeds she is, other than she is some type of terrier.

I work in multiple departments for an engineering firm, but mainly Procurement.  I also have a regular p/t gig taking pictures of hotel event boards.  I also invest in real estate and currently own two duplexes and one single family house, plus my own home is a duplex.  I'm a bit of an oddball on the MM side in that I don't put aside money for retirement.  Cash flow from my rentals is going to be my retirement, so I focus my funds on that.

That's awesome both you and your H have pensions!  That's one of the best things in working for the government.  My coworker's aunt retired a few years ago from working for the State of Louisiana.  She's only in her 50s, but is pretty set.  She also hoarded her vacation and ended up having almost of a year of vacation time when she retired.  So her last day of work was about a year before her official "last day of work", lol.

Medical insurance speaking, it's also awesome to be Canadian (sigh).  Between my portion of my medical insurance and my out-of-pocket (ie everything), I spend about $5K/year.

I LOVE to travel and have really tried to make that more of a priority in recent years.  We also love to go out to eat.  My H and I are definitely more about experiences than things.  My home is already overflowing with clutter.  I don't have room for more "things", lol.

nfp147

Nice to "meet" you I see you are from NOLA (from my stalking days); we visited in 2013 and LOVED it. We'll certainly be back.

als1982

Welcome!  We're so glad you're here!!    

I'm sort of the opposite, been posting here for years but really only lurked on Getting Pregnant...

We're 34/35 and no kids yet (will likely wait until we're financially independent and then adopt an older child or set of siblings).  I work at a children's hospital and my husband just started his own business in February.  We like to travel, but life's been a little crazy and we haven't been able to get away lately as much as I'd like!  What have been your favorite vacation destinations?

vlagrl35

Hi and welcome!  I was on Getting Pregnant the last several months but then gave up on it lol.  If it's meant to be it will be is my motto.  We have a 6 year old DD and a 9 year old mini schnauzer named Gabby.  I'm jealous you have no health insurance worries - they seem to get worse every year here in the US.  Just today I found out the marketplace took DD off of our policy saying she was possibly able to get on medicaid but I know she doesn't qualify.  So going into blue cross tomorrow to fix it.  I swear our Govt is a joke.  I'm 36 and DH is 41 and we are both self employed musician and photographer.

abrewer5

Welcome! This is a great board. 

I am 26 and DH is 27. We have no kids and are not planning on having any, but we do have an awesome dog named Fairlee (chihuahua, pug, jack russell mix)  and a new kitty named Mr. Kitty (super original I know). I work for the government also! Unfortunately for me my pension is not that great, so saving for retirement is high priority. 

nfp147

als1982 said:

Welcome!  We're so glad you're here!!    

I'm sort of the opposite, been posting here for years but really only lurked on Getting Pregnant...

We're 34/35 and no kids yet (will likely wait until we're financially independent and then adopt an older child or set of siblings).  I work at a children's hospital and my husband just started his own business in February.  We like to travel, but life's been a little crazy and we haven't been able to get away lately as much as I'd like!  What have been your favorite vacation destinations?

I love traveling so much that everywhere I go is my new favourite! Internationally, I think London was my favourite. We have such similar histories. We just came back from Paris on Wednesday and absolutely loved that too. On this continent, we are NYC junkies. We also love Boston, and had an awesome time in NOLA a few years ago.

als1982

nfp147 said:

als1982 said:

Welcome!  We're so glad you're here!!    

I'm sort of the opposite, been posting here for years but really only lurked on Getting Pregnant...

We're 34/35 and no kids yet (will likely wait until we're financially independent and then adopt an older child or set of siblings).  I work at a children's hospital and my husband just started his own business in February.  We like to travel, but life's been a little crazy and we haven't been able to get away lately as much as I'd like!  What have been your favorite vacation destinations?

I love traveling so much that everywhere I go is my new favourite! Internationally, I think London was my favourite. We have such similar histories. We just came back from Paris on Wednesday and absolutely loved that too. On this continent, we are NYC junkies. We also love Boston, and had an awesome time in NOLA a few years ago.

Yes!  Boston is def one of my favorite US cities.  Where in Canada would you recommend?  I actually skipped a chance to go to Calgary next week for work, because didn't think the conference was the best use of my org's resources, but I'm now regretting it!

cbee817

Welcome to the board! We're right over the border in NY- about 2 hours from Toronto. We're 34/35 with 2 girls (4 and 6- rapidly approaching 5 and 7). We have pensions too. DH will be getting 60% of his top 3 years, I'll be getting about 40% of my top 3 years with the combined benefit being 1.2x DH's top salary. We're still maxing out retirement though with 401k, 403b, and Roth IRA accounts ($47K per year). Our medical/dental insurance is great through my employer so we just contribute a small amount (DH gets $1,000 for waiving insurance) and then have copays to worry about. If mine were to dramatically increase, we would move to DH's that also has small contributions. We have 529 plans set up for the girls too. We like traveling and hope to take the girls all over as they get older- list includes Disney, DC, NYC, Hawaii, Montreal, Seattle/Portland/Vancouver, x-country winnebago trip to hit a bunch of national parks, London.

labro

Welcome! I guess we're also opposites since my primary financial goal right now is saving for retirement. We're hoping to retire early if things go well, if not, at least we should be able to retire comfortably/afford healthcare. I'm 29 and my DH is 31. We're in the process of buying a new home and selling our current one. Going for a 15 year mortgage as part of that whole retiring early thing...but ugh...the payments are painful to think about right now. I'll probably feel better after I create a new budget. We also love to travel - we have a 2 1/2 week trip planned to Norway in August (thanks for your response regarding CDG!!). No kids but we're talking about trying later this year, especially now that we have a bigger house on the horizon. Gotta fill up those bedrooms! Our only "kid" right now is our dog, Cinders. She's the one in my user image. She's a 4 year old lab/border collie mix.

LillibetteV

Welcome! I have to agree with you all - Boston is the best  

My husband and I are both 32, living in Boston, and have our first baby due in July. I'm a paralegal and he's a civil engineer for the state. I think the combo of my private salary/401k and his state benefits works out perfectly for us in the finances department. Particularly health insurance because my firm pays $200/month if you don't take their insurance, and our family plan is increasing to about $360/month this year so we really make out (and it's excellent coverage - it even paid for IVF!).  Retirement will be a combo of pension and our own savings, and hopefully an income property. We have a few big dream goals we're currently saving for and until we can decide which ones take priority we're just hoarding money away. We also love to travel and we did our last big Europe trip for a while last spring. And this morning DH booked us a little cabin in VT for Memorial Day weekend so we can have a little relaxing babymoon! 

Xstatic3333

Welcome! This is a helpful board; I've been here for a while but don't get on as much as I used to. We're 31 and 37, live in RI, and just welcomed our first child. We love to travel too, and our last big trip was to Amsterdam last year. This year we're adjusting to a new budgetary normal so we're doing a low key week on Cape Cod, but hopefully will go international again in 2018! My H is a state employee with a pension, and even though his state is pretty stable we try to save quite a bit extra since so many pension systems have gone belly up around here lately! I'm with @LillibetteV though, the benefits have been fabulous! Our priorities right now are retirement, emergency savings, and just adjusting to our new normal. 

nfp147

als1982 said:

nfp147 said:

als1982 said:

Welcome!  We're so glad you're here!!    

I'm sort of the opposite, been posting here for years but really only lurked on Getting Pregnant...

We're 34/35 and no kids yet (will likely wait until we're financially independent and then adopt an older child or set of siblings).  I work at a children's hospital and my husband just started his own business in February.  We like to travel, but life's been a little crazy and we haven't been able to get away lately as much as I'd like!  What have been your favorite vacation destinations?

I love traveling so much that everywhere I go is my new favourite! Internationally, I think London was my favourite. We have such similar histories. We just came back from Paris on Wednesday and absolutely loved that too. On this continent, we are NYC junkies. We also love Boston, and had an awesome time in NOLA a few years ago.

Yes!  Boston is def one of my favorite US cities.  Where in Canada would you recommend?  I actually skipped a chance to go to Calgary next week for work, because didn't think the conference was the best use of my org's resources, but I'm now regretting it!

There are so many great places to go in Canada. East to West...the Maritime provinces are beautiful; Halifax is a great city; Quebec City is beautiful; Montreal is fun; I live in Ottawa and think it's awesome to visit. Calgary is okay, I'd rather just fly into it and then drive to the mountains  The Rocky Mountains along the BC/Alberta border are amazing.  Vancouver and Vancouver Island are also really great. 

nfp147

cbee817 said:

Welcome to the board! We're right over the border in NY- about 2 hours from Toronto. We're 34/35 with 2 girls (4 and 6- rapidly approaching 5 and 7). We have pensions too. DH will be getting 60% of his top 3 years, I'll be getting about 40% of my top 3 years with the combined benefit being 1.2x DH's top salary. We're still maxing out retirement though with 401k, 403b, and Roth IRA accounts ($47K per year). Our medical/dental insurance is great through both of our employers so we just contribute a small amount and then have copays to worry about. We have 529 plans set up for the girls too. We like traveling and hope to take the girls all over as they get older- list includes Disney, DC, NYC, Hawaii, Montreal, Seattle/Portland/Vancouver, x-country winnebago trip to hit a bunch of national parks, London.

If Montreal is on your list, I would highly recommend adding Ottawa. 

nfp147

LillibetteV said:

Welcome! I have to agree with you all - Boston is the best  

My husband and I are both 32, living in Boston, and have our first baby due in July. I'm a paralegal and he's a civil engineer for the state. I think the combo of my private salary/401k and his state benefits works out perfectly for us in the finances department. Particularly health insurance because my firm pays $200/month if you don't take their insurance, and our family plan is increasing to about $360/month this year so we really make out (and it's excellent coverage - it even paid for IVF!).  Retirement will be a combo of pension and our own savings, and hopefully an income property. We have a few big dream goals we're currently saving for and until we can decide which ones take priority we're just hoarding money away. We also love to travel and we did our last big Europe trip for a while last spring. And this morning DH booked us a little cabin in VT for Memorial Day weekend so we can have a little relaxing babymoon! 

I love Vermont! It's so pretty.

smetter04

Welcome! I've been participating on this board for a couple years now and have learned so much, not only 'details' like specifics on taxes, but also how to think about money & budgeting. DH and I are in our mid-late twenties, live in the upper Midwest and don't have kids yet, but just received our BFP a couple days ago So now we're prepping ourselves mentally & financially for the changes to come, as well as financing some required pre-baby house updates and hopefully a vacation/babymoon. We have been eyeing up Canada for our vacation this year, so I also appreciate your recommendations!

labro

@smetter04 Congrats!! Sending you sticky baby vibes! My sister had a BFP for #2 a couple of weeks ago and her u/s is scheduled for next week so your due dates will be fairly close together!

smetter04

nfp147 said:

als1982 said:

nfp147 said:

als1982 said:

Welcome!  We're so glad you're here!!    

I'm sort of the opposite, been posting here for years but really only lurked on Getting Pregnant...

We're 34/35 and no kids yet (will likely wait until we're financially independent and then adopt an older child or set of siblings).  I work at a children's hospital and my husband just started his own business in February.  We like to travel, but life's been a little crazy and we haven't been able to get away lately as much as I'd like!  What have been your favorite vacation destinations?

I love traveling so much that everywhere I go is my new favourite! Internationally, I think London was my favourite. We have such similar histories. We just came back from Paris on Wednesday and absolutely loved that too. On this continent, we are NYC junkies. We also love Boston, and had an awesome time in NOLA a few years ago.

Yes!  Boston is def one of my favorite US cities.  Where in Canada would you recommend?  I actually skipped a chance to go to Calgary next week for work, because didn't think the conference was the best use of my org's resources, but I'm now regretting it!

There are so many great places to go in Canada. East to West...the Maritime provinces are beautiful; Halifax is a great city; Quebec City is beautiful; Montreal is fun; I live in Ottawa and think it's awesome to visit. Calgary is okay, I'd rather just fly into it and then drive to the mountains  The Rocky Mountains along the BC/Alberta border are amazing.  Vancouver and Vancouver Island are also really great. 

I know I didn't originally ask for the Canada travel recommendations, but I appreciate them! We'd love to see the mountains but would also love to see the cities...decisions.

LillibetteV

@smetter04 congrats momma!!!! 

brij2006

Hi @nfp147 Long time no see!

Well you know about me from GP, but it's nice to see you over here!

vlagrl35

congrats @smetter04 - these will be exciting times for your growing family.

julieanne912

Welcome!  I'm probably one of the least MM posters here in terms of spending habits etc. so I won't go into that, but I like to read everything  I work in software but my background is in real estate, H is in IT.  He just got a huge raise so we've decided to work on being debt free other than the house, and he will also be maxing out his 401k once the credit cards (from doing our house landscaping) are paid off.  We will also be looking at other investment ventures once the credit cards are done, since it's likely we'll need some help with our taxable income. He's 34 tomorrow, I'll be 35 in May. Working on having one kid.  

nfp147

brij2006 said:

Hi @nfp147 Long time no see!

Well you know about me from GP, but it's nice to see you over here!

Hello!  Nice to see you here and congrats on baby #2! 

nfp147

smetter04 said:

Welcome! I've been participating on this board for a couple years now and have learned so much, not only 'details' like specifics on taxes, but also how to think about money & budgeting. DH and I are in our mid-late twenties, live in the upper Midwest and don't have kids yet, but just received our BFP a couple days ago So now we're prepping ourselves mentally & financially for the changes to come, as well as financing some required pre-baby house updates and hopefully a vacation/babymoon. We have been eyeing up Canada for our vacation this year, so I also appreciate your recommendations!

Congrats!  

I'm happy to talk about Canada if you have any questions.  I've visited much of it.

MommyLiberty5013

Welcome! This is a great board...for a variety of reasons.

csuave

Welcome!  I'm 38 and H is 43.  We'll be married 4 years in Sept.  I've always been a saver but since getting married I've started budgeting for the first time and thinking about how to position both of us for the future.  Right now the goal is for both of us to retire in 16 years.  

I'm a cat person at heart but married into a Terrier and she has won me over.  I've done a lot of traveling.  H and I went to Morocco a couple of years ago and now he has the travel bug too.  We are excited about a trip to Spain later this year.

One thing this board has taught me is about side hustles.  We currently list our guest rooms on AirBnB, mystery shop for free dinners and when H was unemployed he did some Uber driving.

AprilZ81

Welcome!