Monday Accountability Post

smbenevides1989 · February 2014

Well, Tuesday.. but you get the idea!

1. How MM was your weekend?

2. Any progress towards your goals?

3. If you could buy one thing right now, what would it be?

smbenevides1989 · February 2014

1. Not too bad, minus Valentine's Day. We did spend a little more than planned, but that's because we went to Dave and Busters and bought enough coins to last us two trips. My DD was sick all weekend so DH and I went grocery shopping and spent $5 on something to snack on and $93 on groceries. I'm trying to spend $100 every other week, with $20 in between for milk, eggs, etc.

2. We were able to pay off a credit card I was racking up last month, and pay down a good amount of the next credit card. Even though we are trying our hardest to not use them, there's always that one thing that comes up that we need to buy. Other than that, I was able to budget a repayment of the state taxes we owe. Also knowing our tax return will be here before the end of the month, I was able to rebudget our gas expense for the anticipation of DH's car (for next month). I did still budget a bit higher on the gas, but I know I will definitely save money with the newer car than with the gas guzzler we have now.

3. If I could buy anything right now, I would buy a house in cash. I can't wait to have our own home, so this is a big one for us.

CuriousKiddosMama · February 2014

1. How MM was your weekend? not too bad for a change. My sister and I had a garage sale and I ended up making over $400 so that was great, and we got rid of a ton of stuff. Saturday we went for a late Valentine's day dinner, but we actually had a gift card for part of it, so it cost us under $20. Sunday we went out again and that one was more expensive because we took my sister- so that was $50, but that was all we spent this weekend, so it was okay.

2. Any progress towards your goals? Yes! DH just got a raise, and back pay through the beginning of January, so we officially finished paying our savings account back for my car on Friday.

3. If you could buy one thing right now, what would it be? Is another baby an option?!? Mine is growing up too quick, so I'm getting baby on the brain and starting to think about another one. So far as actually buying anything, it would probably be travel related because I cant think of anything I want/need at the moment.

jessica490 · February 2014

How MM was your weekend?

It was crappy and I feel really guilty! I took my allowance ($100) and did some shopping with it. I spent all my cash and charged some. I didn't mean to spend it all but it was for winter sweaters and tops that I needed. Ugg. Then that screwed me because I forgot it was my aunts and sisters birthday, so I ended up using money that was supposed to go to H's college semester bill and spent it on small gifts. We do have the money aside for his school but I wanted to take it from leftovers from our paychecks..luckily we have plenty to cover most of it without tapping into our savings account. We probably spent about $150-$200 mostly unplanned for, but I am taking out less spending money this week to cover what I charged for clothes. I'm so disapointed in myself, I hardly EVER do this...not a good feeling. Sorry for the ramble....

Any progress towards goals?

Well as I just said, I screwed up a little on H's payment but we have the money so it's fine. But I feel like we are falling behind on savings/house DP because of these school payments ( it was divided into 3 and we are just about to pay the second one). One more to go for this semester.

What would you buy right now?

I would buy a house. I'm sick of living in a condo complex where people don't know how to pick up their dog poop. With all this stinkin snow, there is NO room for my small dog to go potty and everywhere I turn there is dog crap from people who can't pick it up!

I am on a roll this morning...hoping I don't sound too nasty, it's just the week I'm having...

abrewer5 · February 2014

1. How MM was your weekend? Not too bad. I did have to put groceries on a credit card because it was an unexpected expense $137 because my FI is supposed to be buying them but has been dragging his feet. I finally got fed up of not having food and did it myself. Hopefully he'll pay me back soon for them. Other than that I bought gas $33 and breakfast one morning $12.

2. Any progress towards your goals? Not last week. Hopefully my next paycheck will show my raise and back pay though so I can pay off some of my credit cards! I'm also waiting to hear back from my previous tax guy which is impacting my current tax lady from being able to process our paperwork, it's pretty frustrating. I'm hoping I get back enough to pay off my big credit card though.

3. If you could buy one thing right now, what would it be? I would buy our granite countertops. We went and picked out what we want this weekend now it's a matter of saving for them. Hopefully in a few months!

SmrBrd2012 · February 2014

1) Not good! We went out for Vday even though we were originally planning on a low key night. I also had to buy RT commuter rail tickets to meet my husband for an open house that ended up being canceled and we went out on Sunday because it was his only day off. We also ordered some necessary stuff from Amazon including a $200 text book for his final class needed for his degree. It came out to over $400.

2) We finally did our taxes and we're surprisingly getting over 1k back. Didn't think it would be so high since H finally got a good FT job and switched to school PT. I don't think we'll be as lucky this time next year though.

3) A house. Hands down. I have nothing else to add, lol.

emily1004 · February 2014

1. A big NO! We bought a new Macbook Pro this week. We also took MIL out for her birthday and we need to pick up a few groceries. $1500+ When I add it up, Yikes!

2. The good news is H got a promotion. He started his new job today. Still looking for that perfect house but inventory is SO low.

3. We just bought a new computer and my thread above shows I'm in the market for a new phone. I would also like a new mattress. Preferably king sized.

cbee817 · February 2014

1. How MM was your weekend? It was good- usual groceries and gas. I took today off and DH (he's off for February break) and I went shopping while the girls were at day care. Bought them a lot of clothes for the summer and 4T stuff for DD#1.

2. Any progress towards your goals? Yes. We opened our vacation savings account today at a credit union- $2,500 and it gets .75% interest, which is much better than our bank. We have our appt for our wills Friday afternoon. We filed our taxes on Saturday- should get $558 from Feds and state. Our Roths for 2013 are all set- $5,500 each.We'll revisit 2014 contributions in a month or 2 once things settle down. I'm probably going to up my 401K contribution to 10% (from 9%) once I get a raise in April as well.

3. If you could buy one thing right now, what would it be? A newer Subaru Forester for DH- it would be awesome for the family. Hopefully in Fall 2015 when DD#1 is out of day care.

mana8503 · February 2014

1. How MM was your weekend? Pretty good. H brought me home flowers Friday which was nice. ($40). $20 at michaels to make my stepkids Thing 1 and Thing 2 shirts to tell them we are expecting. $120 walmart for groceries, shirts for the kids, onsies, pet food etc. $25 IHOP

2. Any progress towards your goals? Just chugging along with our budget. I love end of the month and I can start doing next month's budget! I'm a freak I know. I rolled part of our snowball into SL, not all because I wanted to see how our trip to NC faired next weekend. Sometimes we eat out more than I budget, so I want to make sure we're ok being end of the month.

3. If you could buy one thing right now, what would it be? I really want a tablet. I should start saving for one.

Xstatic3333 · February 2014

1. How MM was your weekend?

We went a way and did spend about $200, but I'm actually very proud of us for staying within our budget. We like to travel, but sticking to our budget goals is going to be important if we want to continue to do it!

2. Any progress towards your goals?

Some money to short and long term savings. Not much, just $50 here and there, but I'll take it. We also researched mortgage options.

3. If you could buy one thing right now, what would it be?

Count me in the house crowd! A great place in our projected future price range just hit the market in our favorite town. It's killing me not to throw caution to the wind and apply for an FHA loan with 3.5% down, but I know it's our best decision to wait and get a bigger DP together.

@smbenevides1989, you mentioned you owe state taxes, and I know from prior threads that we owe the same state:) They have asked me to start paying estimated taxes this year-is that something you or your H has looked into at all? I've started throwing 3% of my check into savings to prepare, but I don't even know where to start with figuring out what I'll actually owe. For anyone else reading, the state where I work has a lower tax rate than the state where I live currently.

@mana8503 I love doing each month's budget too. I think H is pretty sure I've gone off the deep end!

vlagrl29 · February 2014

1- not that great. We stayed at a new bed and breakfast downtown on friday night which was my surprise for DH (it was budgeted for, $92 was the remaining payment), went to dinner and only paid $16 because we had a gift card for the restaurant. Saturday we ate lunch out ($20) and got take out chinese for dinner ($20). Sunday we went to macy's to take advantage of extra 70% off clearance. DH had a gift card to appy to it, but we still spent $150. I needed new sheets for our king bed ($89). Busy Busy weekend and most of it was budgeted for. It was so nice to have a night without the little one. Much needed!

2- sold a printer on craigslist for $60. Putting that in emergency fund plus an extra $64 from a gig I booked. We applied for new health insurance last week and it will save us an extra $135/month PLUS we dropped dental that was costing $62/month. Gonna sign up for a new dental plan that will cost about $20/month.

3 - I would buy a new iphone. Mine is a few years old and is running slow at times. I can't upgrade software because it was hacked before tmobile started carrying iphones.

VadersValkyrie · February 2014

1. Thank God this is a pay week! I put museum admission and lunch on my credit card this weekend, as we had my stepson and wanted to do some fun things with him that didn't involve him sitting in front of the television. We also found a free farm visit, so that was delightful. We got to see a newborn calf!

2. We had our taxes done on Monday and though we owe the state, we'll be getting back a pretty good chunk of change. Some of that will go to pay off one of my credit cards, some goes to savings, and then we are going to get my husband his passport, his pistol permit, and finish paying off the wedding ring he REALLY wanted when we got married.

3. A vacation some place warm! Alternately, new pants for work.

HoneyBee973 · February 2014

1. How MM was your weekend? Not good at all, as it seems to be a common answer this week. I never realized how many birthdays we have in February. Gifts, get together, etc tec, we spent a lot more than I wanted to. And add all the usual, groceries, gas. 2. Any progress towards your goals? Going back on a strict budget. March we are planning on doing a little game, where we are not allowed to spend any money on take out, no matter how small the purchase might be. We try to do this every couple months. Its amazing how much money gets 'wasted' on a coffee here, a soda there. 3. If you could buy one thing right now, what would it be? A house. Living in a townhouse is starting to get a little old.

HoneyBee973 · February 2014

I don't know what happened to my paragraphs! I'm sorry it looks like a hot mess.

lifeonthehill · February 2014

1. How MM was your weekend?
BAD! We booked a last minute cruise! We used or saving which is despicable but we are so excited to finally have a honeymoon/ vacation my parents don't take us on. Haha. First time flying alone together!

2. Any progress towards your goals?
We paid $1,250 on his SLs. We went backwards on the savings so we have to start building it up again.

3. If you could buy one thing right now, what would it be?
A copy of our marriage certificate for this vacation! I have to wait a few weeks to get it.

hoffse · February 2014

1) Ours was pretty good - H came to town this past weekend and surprised me by picking up some nice steaks for Valentine's dinner. That was about $25, but I was ok with that. We ate out for lunch on Saturday ($15) and also had a $15 grocery run. H also had to buy gas to get him back to school ($40). I'll be so glad when he finally graduates - we're like 2 1/2 months away...

2) No real progress, though I got my HSA set up, and I saw that the contributions are getting routed into that account correctly. We also got our federal refund and paid our state taxes. One more state we need to file a return for, but we are netting $0 with that. I just need to mail the return on Saturday and then we'll be completely done with taxes.

3) I would probably buy that awesome house that went on the market yesterday.... like xstatic, I'm trying to hold strong. We will have 20% ready by the end of the year, and I really do want to know that H passed the bar before we tie ourselves to a house. We will get his results at the end of September. I have full faith that he will pass, but still. There's a cart and there's a horse. But heck if I had the cash to buy that house and just live there? That would totally happen.

smbenevides1989 · February 2014

@Xstatic3333 I filed my taxes online, and I know there is a way you can figure it out, but I decided to a change to my W-4s. My H already has MA taken out of his paycheck on a weekly basis. He claims M-0. I decided to do the same. I changed my Federal to M-2 (I originally had it as M-0) and started up MA as M-0. This way I can take those taxes out and hopefully be able to up my 401-K to 5% matching and having my paycheck balance out to what it was before.

I'm just hoping that my thinking will work out and I won't owe. If we owe next year, we will reevaluate and start saving up differently. Also, my H didn't have health insurance for 2 months when he was in between jobs, so we were also hit with a penalty. Now that he has my insurance, we shouldn't have to worry about it.

ashleyjesse1112 · February 2014

Oh fun! I want to participate in this accountability!

1. How MM was your weekend?

I think it went okay. We spent more than usual with Valentine's Day. We really didn't go over our budget by much though so that's good!

2. Any progress towards your goals?

We have been able to put more money into our savings. I think we put in almost 1k into savings last week!

3. If you could buy one thing right now, what would it be?

A house! Seriously!

We are saving every week to buy a house. We are waiting until we have 20% down, so each week we calculate how much house we can buy. Right now, we could buy a 40k house! We are hoping that buy this summer we can afford a 100k house. We are trying to buy a really cheap starter house and pay it off as fast as possible. Then in like 10 years have enough to buy something a lot nicer. We change our plans constantly, but it doesn't matter. The only thing we can do right now is save.

Wulfgar · February 2014

1) Really good, I gave MW my debit card again the weekend before so every thing I did was cash out of our accounts. We went to the local Home and Garden show using our misc. money.

2) Found out that our RE is costing us $200 a month that MW is covering so our extra money for paying off SLs are going towards this. This will be our second month of doing clomid and a shot. We will take next month off since her cycle this time will be for a child around Thanksgiving. Next month would be Christmas. We already have her sister and mother around Christmas so we are going to plan our attempts around this.

3) I would say the money to fix up my almost 100 year old house so it was like new with new electrical etc.

lfk2013 · February 2014

1. How MM was your weekend?

Not just the weekend...the past week or so has been bad. DH has to pay OOP for a lot of his work expenses and since he switched jobs, he didn't get a paycheck when he should have gotten one. We had to dip into savings to pay for things. I'm putting off paying a few bills until tomorrow (thank goodness it's payday for both of us!), which should put us back on track. I hate that all our big bills come due at the beginning of the month.

2. Any progress towards your goals?

No...we went backwards in savings because of the job thing.

3. If you could buy one thing right now, what would it be?
Whatever is wrong with my car. I'm not looking forward to taking it in Saturday to see how much it's going to cost to fix.

KatieCutie05 · February 2014

1. How MM was your weekend?

Not too bad... we spent less on Valentines Day but then we went shopping on Sunday and ate lunch out so we probably evened out. I hope we're still under budget but i don't think we are.

2. Any progress towards your goals?

No waiting to get paid in a few days to make the next credit card payment. DH's check is gonna be less then we thought so probably not gonna get it paid off til next month.

3. If you could buy one thing right now, what would it be?

Real Furniture. Really getting sick of our walmart furniture. I'm 25 years old i just wanna grow up but furniture is expensive and its totally a want so its hard to reason when we need to pay off our debt. Maybe craigslist or upgrade to target quality. lol

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