Money Matters
blondie42107
member
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Monday Accountability
I didn't see a post for this yet.
1. How MM was your weekend?
2. Any progress towards goals?
3. With many people posting about home renos, if budget was not an issue, what is one reno project you would do?
1. How MM was your weekend?
2. Any progress towards goals?
3. With many people posting about home renos, if budget was not an issue, what is one reno project you would do?
Re: Monday Accountability
2. Good! Sent $125 extra to mortgage principle and $600 to student loans. Since starting H's student loan payoff in June, we've paid off more than $4,450!!
3. We're in the midst of remodeling our only bathroom. If I had an unlimited budget of someone else's money, I'd add on a second master bath with walk in closet. We have the back yard to do it, but I'm not sure it makes sense for resale value in our current neighborhood so it wouldn't be something we would ever pay for.
2. Any progress towards goals? We will be fully funding 2015 Roth contributions today (total balance $6,000 between 2 accounts) and we set up monthly withdrawls for the girls' 529 plans ($350/month between the 2). DH bought new wood for the front siding repair ($255) and we're in the middle of pricing out the new porch and railings (using trex- seems like it's going to end up being over $3,000). DH and I also went to a few open houses- the houses were train wrecks and one was $286,500 and the other was $299,900. It actually made us feel better that they weren't in good shape because we didn't fall in love with anything.
3. With many people posting about home renos, if budget was not an issue, what is one reno project you would do? The upstairs bathroom with a small addition/roof line change on that side of the house to allow us to have a window (with sinks on either side) in the upstairs bathroom and still have a walk in closet in the girls' room. Basketweave tile on the floor (just like downstairs but with marble inserts), big shower with subway tile and niches for soap, shampoo (some sort of marble detail in there), new toilet, double sink vanity with marble top, new faucets, new lighting, new vent, built in storage unit (like downstairs too). Dream bathroom! For the girls' closet, reconfigure, paint, refinish the hardwoods in there, and make sure their dresser still fits nicely (currently no space in their bedroom for the dresser- 6 drawers total, but it's long so they each get a side of 3 and their clothes are tiny for now).
1. How MM was your weekend? Not terrible. McDonald's for breakfast on Saturday because I procrastinated grocery shopping. Bought the rest of the plants for our landscaping project, which was spendy but budgeted. Purchasing mulch this week and then it'll finally be done!
2. Any progress towards goals? Finally decided on what to plant in our front yard! Purchased & planted - major progress to me. Financially, we're continuing our higher payments towards H's SLs, car loan, and our entry doors. The months are feeling tight because of this, which I know is beneficial in the long run but makes me nervous to see less going to savings.
3. With many people posting about home renos, if budget was not an issue, what is one reno project you would do? If we had all the money in the world...we'd redo both bathrooms, kitchen, and the bedrooms. Realistically, we're planning on the full bath & the bedrooms in 2017. But I would just love a new kitchen and I know that's many years down the line.
2. Any progress towards goals? $1270 to SLs and $100 to car replacement fund. Down to just under 32,100 on SL balance, and we can't wait to be under 30k in 4 weeks. Up to $700 in the car replacement fund.
3. With many people posting about home renos, if budget was not an issue, what is one reno project you would do? We rent an apartment, so obviously not much to add here. The one thing I probably wish for the most is a decent sized tub. I love baths, but it's so hard to enjoy them when you have to cross your legs to fit in the tub.
Spent about $90 on groceries which included convenience items for our upcoming weekend getaway (renting a cabin). $100 at Target since I was able to use the cartwheel app and save an additional 20% off clearance toys and clearance toddler/kids clothing. Also has some regular items to get. $50 on some bathroom remodeling items (drywall, cabinet refinishing kit, etc).
2. Any progress towards goals?
$200 in savings while cash flowing the bathroom project. Less than $3000.00 on H's car loan!!
3. With many people posting about home renos, if budget was not an issue, what is one reno project you would do?
I would love to completely redo our main bathroom. Currently we have a raised whirlpool tub with tile surround. It's a tub only, no shower/shower curtain. On the other side of the bathroom we have a round corner shower. Our vanity/cabinets are starting to show some wear. Our REA has encouraged us not to do too much in our bathroom because we really won't see much financial gain, if any, when we (hopefully) sell next year.
Not Bad. It was tech week for the show I'm in last week, so to be completely honest I probably spent a little more on eating out last week than usual (probably $30 throughout the week) I was in rehearsal 5pm-11pm everyday after work so cooking dinner didn't happen...and consequently there were no leftovers for lunch. besides that...$90 on groceries, $15 on a pack 'n play at a moving sale.
2. Any progress towards goals?
I'm not sure, my tracking has gone to the wayside the last few weeks, I think we're on track to pue about $1000 in savings this month.
3. With many people posting about home renos, if budget was not an issue, what is one reno project you would do?
1. $30 Kayaking, $30Gas $28 Booze
2. Haven't transferred yet, but $3500 to house fund
3. Love everything about our up-coming new house, but I would love to change the kitchen to white cabinets even though they are new wood cabinets
1. How MM was your weekend? Pretty good. Spent $45 on gas, $35 for a new valve/sensor for my car, $16 on Chipotle and $80 on a shuttle and food/drinks for a music festival. All budgeted for.
2. Any progress towards goals? We contributed $2000 to savings for our house DP fund and $1000 to our short-term savings for H's new truck. Feeling really good about the saving for H's new truck since his old one is still working well. Hoping that we can save up enough to buy it outright (and not feel the effects elsewhere in our budget) when the time comes.
3. With many people posting about home renos, if budget was not an issue, what is one reno project you would do? We're also only renting right now but if we did own our house I would definitely add on a master bathroom. We currently have 3 bedrooms and 1 bath. Not bad since it is only H and I but the bathroom is tiny and it would be so nice to have a second, plus there's great space to put one. I'll keep dreaming via Pinterest and HGTV until we buy.
- Great! $14 for dinner on Friday night. $24 for dinner on Saturday night. H left for work out of town again this morning, so we spent the weekend together. That usually means going out instead if cooking at home. The good news is that's all we spent.
2. Any progress towards goals?
- Non-pay week for both of us, so no.
3. With many people posting about home renos, if budget was not an issue, what is one reno project you would do?
- We're still renting for the next month or so, so nothing planned. Hopefully we find a house that has all of our must-haves and we'll work on any want-to-haves over time.
-We did pretty good this weekend. I bought a small drink at Starbucks while I was studying, and we spent about $25 on groceries. I tried taking some clothes to a consignment store, but they didn't take any of them. FI got a job, so that will help us out a lot! And Mini customer service told me they couldn't do anything about my tires that I posted about a while ago, but when I talked to the service manager from the dealership where I got it, he got ahold of a local rep who decided to replace them for me for free!
2. Any progress towards goals?
-We're right on track for our budget for the month, and I was paid $40 to do a mystery shop, which will go directly to CC debt.
3. With many people posting about home renos, if budget was not an issue, what is one reno project you would do?
2. Any progress towards goals? Definitely not after the vet visit. We were wanting to save another $1800 for our porch project, but that's shot. We are going to try to secure additional financing for the porch so hopefully we will get that straightened out this week.
3. With many people posting about home renos, if budget was not an issue, what is one reno project you would do? Well....we are financing our porch and should start construction in August! So there is that....if budget was not an issue I would hire someone to come redesign and renovate our kitchen. It's a big space, but it's old and not very user-friendly. We plan to redo it eventually.
2. Not this week, just normal retirement.
3. Our dream project, which we're likely around 10 years out from, is fully finishing our basement and adding a second bathroom. The plumbing is all there, which is great news for this project. Our next project that should happen soon is power washing and repainting our aluminum siding. We're starting to think about siding colors, which is fun but tough! Such a big decision.
@dragonstarjk glad your pup will be ok! That's super scary.
@lbonga1 hooray for a job for H! That's great news.
Amazing! We received the life insurance checks.
2. Any progress towards goals?
Once the 2 business day hold is off the checks, we will be paying every single debt off, and fully funding our 9 month emergency fund.
3. With many people posting about home renos, if budget was not an issue, what is one reno project you would do?
TTC since 1/13 DX:PCOS 5/13 (long, anovulatory cycles)
Clomid 50mg 9/13 = BFP! EDD 6/7/14 M/C 5w6d Found 11/4/13
1/14 PCOS / Gluten Free Diet to hopefully regulate my system.
Chemical Pregnancy 03/14
Surprise BFP 6/14, Beta #1: 126 Beta #2: 340 Stick baby, stick! EDD 2/17/15
Riley Elaine born 2/16/15
TTC 2.0 6/15
Chemical Pregnancy 9/15
Chemical Pregnancy 6/16
BFP 9/16 EDD 6/3/17
Beta #1: 145 Beta #2: 376 Beta #3: 2,225 Beta #4: 4,548
www.5yearstonever.blogspot.com
2. Any progress towards goals?
3. With many people posting about home renos, if budget was not an issue, what is one reno project you would do?
1. How MM was your weekend?
Mine was ok! I got my newspapers as usual ($4), picked up vitamins to help with milk supply ($21.88), a little bit of grocery shopping including Costco ($67.79), and found some toys on a good clrx and cartwheel deal for LO ($22.50). The toys will be for her birthday or Christmas.
2. Any progress towards goals?
I was able to put an extra $34 in savings plus the pay from my second job!
3. With many people posting about home renos, if budget was not an issue, what is one reno project you would do?
We are still renting an apartment. When we do eventually buy a house the most important things are the size of the kitchen, cabinet space, and closets. I would like a rather big pantry or separate room for my stockpile so it can be better organized.
Ah! That is so scary! I'm glad she is doing all right, though definitely an unexpected blow to the budget.
1. How MM was your weekend?
Pretty good. $75 for groceries on Thursday. It was my H's birthday and I got him an enormous chocolate cake from Costco. It was a sight to behold, lol. Delicious and only $17.
2. Any progress towards goals?
$1500 toward my HELOC balance.
3. With many people posting about home renos, if budget was not an issue, what is one reno project you would do?
I actually plan to do this reno at some point anyway, but budget is definitely holding me back from anytime soon. I have a bit of a weird layout to my house where, instead of the exterior wall running straight down, there is about a 50 sq ft. square "cut" into the end of the kitchen. This is where the backdoor used to be...and there still is a door...but an addition was built past that cut-out (probably back in the '60s).
I want to get rid of that "cut out" and add the space into my kitchen! Basically, push the exterior wall to line up with the rest of the house. Right now, my kitchen is a bit small and an awkward layout. But adding in that extra space, plus having a straight wall instead of a door will give me so many more possibilities.