Monday Accountability

simplyelise · August 2015

Happy Monday folks!

1. How MM was your weekend?

2. Any progress towards your goals?

3. What's the best free/cheap activity in your town?

simplyelise · August 2015

1. How MM was your weekend?

Being sick helped... We pushed back date night. DH had a golf tourney Saturday ($75) that he saved up and paid for with blow money and craigslist sales. I made my first pillow slipcover with my new sewing machine! $10 on fabric and thread from my blow money. We spent about $50 on groceries.

2. Any progress towards your goals?

Nothing this week.

3. What's the best free/cheap activity in your town?

We have an amazing park system with many trails that are great for walking or biking and tons of cool free park events with movies and festivals. Next year we're probably going to do a 30ish mile bike ride on the Katy Trail.

hoffse · August 2015

1) Not so bad. H went to a bachelor party but the groom's dad covered everything! So he only spent $22 all weekend (gas).

I spent $80 on groceries and $30 on gas. We also have guests coming next weekend who will be using both guest beds, so I had to buy some emergency king-sized bedding for our second guest bed (which has just been sitting in our basement for the last 8 months). That ran about $100 for king-sized pillows, a nice blanket, and a mattress pad.

2) We're on track for our goals. No extra progress though.

3) Our art museum is free and so are the city's botanical gardens. Both are great! We also have quite a lot of hiking trails and several big parks because the city is surrounded by small mountains. The city is also putting in a huge greenway through downtown. It's going to be several miles of pedestrian-only parks, walking trails, etc. when it's completed.

Mustard76 · August 2015

1. How MM was your weekend?
- Okay. We ended up going to a movie on Friday night. $46 for tickets and snacks. $38 for groceries on Saturday.

2. Any progress towards your goals?
- $600 in our move money account.

3. What's the best free/cheap activity in your town?
- We haven't really done much in the year that we spent here, but the St. Louis zoo is free. We've had a couple good afternoons there.

als1982 · August 2015

1. Good. We had a reasonably cheap date night to celebrate our dating anniversary. $20 for burgers and then a soccer game paid for out of H's mad money. Sunday I got my hair cut ($25) and then stocked up on cleaning supplies and groceries ($160).

2. We finally decided to move some of our 'bathroom buffer' money over so we sent $900 to student loans.

3. We live in a really quaint neighborhood, so we just enjoy walking to look at houses and then to stroll through whatever events are happening in the village center.

short+sassy · August 2015

1. How MM was your weekend?

Personal expenses were good, I only spent $35 at Walmart for groceries. I'm overbudget for plumbing and electrical repairs on the duplex I am repairing, but nothing too horrible. Long story short, it could have been a lot worse.

2. Any progress towards your goals?

Alas, no. I still don't have the other side of my house rented out, though I sent a lease to a prospective tenant today. I don't know, though. I just have a bad feeling she is going to back out. I don't know why I feel that way. I also haven't had the interest I usually get when my rental is up for lease. It's been so tough this time around. I even lowered the monthly rent and I'm still not getting many bites. Grrrr!

3. What's the best free/cheap activity in your town?

There is a lot of free/cheap stuff to do in NOLA. There is a free passenger ferry that takes people from the West/East banks of the Mississippi River.

There is a lot of unique and cool architecture in both the French Quarter and Uptown areas. Fun areas to walk around in. There are also fairly cheap walking tours people can take to learn more about the histories.

City Park is an enormous, beautiful park dotted with old Live Oak trees. At Christmas time, they have a walking path with dozens of lighted displays. Though there is a small cost for that.

jessica490 · August 2015

1. $27 Gas, $44 Chilie's, $143 Lowe's, $11 Ocean State and I think that's it

2. nothing this week, just hoping to close on our house later in the week!

3. Like Simplyelsie, we have an awesome paved trail system that goes through the state that we LOVE to ride our bikes on

vlagrl29 · August 2015

1 - great - $38 on dinner saturday night and $28 at the grocery store yesterday.

2 - $60 in efund - $60 in IRA. not much but hey its something

3 - we have parks and library programs for kids, art galleries and museums for adults, and acroyoga meet ups for me

blondie42107 · August 2015

1. How MM was your weekend?
Good! $80 on groceries, $50 at Target, $6 on ice cream

2. Any progress towards your goals?
Just the same, nothing new.

3. What's the best free/cheap activity in your town?
We have a huge Gardens nearby. Great walking trails, children's garden, barn for events, butterfly house, etc. $10 for an annual pass, kids under 6 are free, all students $1/visit. The children's garden has fruits and veggies the kids can water, pick, etc. They love it!

We also have a Downtown Music by the River on Thursdays. Free and fun.

There have also been free outdoor movies.

cbee817 · August 2015

1. How MM was your weekend? Groceries ($142), gas ($40), membership renewal to the children's museum ($119 - pays for itself in 2 visits and we usually go 4-5 times per year). DD#1 turned 5, got $255 for her bank account, some clothes for school, a ton of books and art supplies, a new baby doll and Snow White (from me, DH, and DD#2), and most importantly, she had a great birthday! Can't believe she's 5 already- time flies.

2. Any progress towards your goals? No change for August- we'll be back on track for September. We did take our 1 year CD that was up this month and turn it into a 1-5 year ladder.. the lady at the credit union thought I was nuts but it only took like 10 minutes to set up and there was no one else at the branch. The rates range from 1.15% - 2.3% and I like that the $ is somewhat available if we need it.

3. What's the best free/cheap activity in your town? We have a really nice waterfront that's finally being developed with lots of activities, playground, boardwalk.. it's really nice and the girls love going down there and running around. We also have a gazebo by our municipal building with a piano in it for anyone to play- we take walks there after dinner and the girls play the piano.. they're pretty easy to entertain!

SmrBrd2012 · August 2015

1. How MM was your weekend?

Friday = $0
Saturday = $21 for beer for a friend's birthday party
Sunday = $120 for groceries

2. Any progress towards your goals?

I restarted a file with all monthly expenses to get an idea of what's going on with our finances again. Trying to get H on board with attacking our smallest car loan. He still wants to attack our PMI first...

3. What's the best free/cheap activity in your town?
There's a really nice park nearby that's nice to walk around. And we have a bunch of cafes so grabbing a cheap cup o coffee and taking a stroll is pretty much our go-to.

kelshaws1311 · August 2015

1. How MM was your weekend?
It was okay. Groceries/dog food/diapers and back to school supplies ended up being $135. Gas was $25. $40 at the local fair (budgeted from date night $)

2. Any progress towards your goals?

Paid an extra $200 to a credit card, and H sold his TV he won in a raffle so that will be an extra $240 to pay to the credit card on Wednesday.

3. What's the best free/cheap activity in your town?

Our town is extremely small, they do movies in the park once a month and it never fails it is always a weekend that we have something planned. We have a small splash pad and a few parks that are decent. Not much going on for free in this town

CuriousKiddosMama · August 2015

@simplyelise are you in the Houston area?
Weekend was ok. Dh and I went out for a date Saturday night and spent $60. Saturday morning we went out for breakfast for $15. Sunday we stayed home. We are spending way too much going out lately, but it totally don't refer this weekend.
2. No real progress financially. On the patio front the electrician came back and fixed his mistakes, so it's finally complete!!! I need to send them a check today.
3. Lately our community pool and splash pad. In the fall the parks and playgrounds. Moving to this community has given me and ds so many more options for things to do for 'free' (still pay Hoa dues). We are going on a free cruise of the ship channel on Friday and that should be a lot of fun.

simplyelise · August 2015

CuriousKiddosMama said:

@simplyelise are you in the Houston area? Weekend was ok. Dh and I went out for a date Saturday night and spent $60. Saturday morning we went out for breakfast for $15. Sunday we stayed home. We are spending way too much going out lately, but it totally don't refer this weekend. 2. No real progress financially. On the patio front the electrician came back and fixed his mistakes, so it's finally complete!!! I need to send them a check today. 3. Lately our community pool and splash pad. In the fall the parks and playgrounds. Moving to this community has given me and ds so many more options for things to do for 'free' (still pay Hoa dues). We are going on a free cruise of the ship channel on Friday and that should be a lot of fun.

Nope! I'm in Columbia, MO. We're like this random little Portland-ish oasis in the middle of rural Missouri. Sales tax is 8-9%, but the benefits are nice!

CuriousKiddosMama · August 2015

simplyelise said:

CuriousKiddosMama said:

@simplyelise are you in the Houston area?
Weekend was ok. Dh and I went out for a date Saturday night and spent $60. Saturday morning we went out for breakfast for $15. Sunday we stayed home. We are spending way too much going out lately, but it totally don't refer this weekend.
2. No real progress financially. On the patio front the electrician came back and fixed his mistakes, so it's finally complete!!! I need to send them a check today.
3. Lately our community pool and splash pad. In the fall the parks and playgrounds. Moving to this community has given me and ds so many more options for things to do for 'free' (still pay Hoa dues). We are going on a free cruise of the ship channel on Friday and that should be a lot of fun.

Nope! I'm in Columbia, MO. We're like this random little Portland-ish oasis in the middle of rural Missouri. Sales tax is 8-9%, but the benefits are nice!

Bummer! I was hoping there was an awesome trail system just a couple towns over. (There is a Katy that is a suburb of Houston, which is why I asked)

Xstatic3333 · August 2015

1. Ok. We went a little over budget on our trip by deciding to eat one lunch out instead of eating all meals at the rental house. Lobster rolls by the water were just too much to resist! We spent a lot on gas but it was budgeted.

2. Not really, except we got a $100 anniversary gift from my parents and a $246 refund check from our escrow account. These will be used to help cash flow recent unexpected expenses (two new tires for me and a necessary work clothes purchase for H), so no real progress but no damage done.

3. This will completely give away where I live, but we have an amazing public event called Water Fire monthly during the spring, summer, and fall. They light big bonfires in the middle of the Providence River, and local food and art vendors come to make it like a big festival throughout the city. It's very, very cool, and I'm not sure I'm describing it well.

hoffse · August 2015

Xstatic3333 said:

1. Ok. We went a little over budget on our trip by deciding to eat one lunch out instead of eating all meals at the rental house. Lobster rolls by the water were just too much to resist! We spent a lot on gas but it was budgeted.

2. Not really, except we got a $100 anniversary gift from my parents and a $246 refund check from our escrow account. These will be used to help cash flow recent unexpected expenses (two new tires for me and a necessary work clothes purchase for H), so no real progress but no damage done.

3. This will completely give away where I live, but we have an amazing public event called Water Fire monthly during the spring, summer, and fall. They light big bonfires in the middle of the Providence River, and local food and art vendors come to make it like a big festival throughout the city. It's very, very cool, and I'm not sure I'm describing it well.

Water Fire is on my list of things to see one day! It looks so cool. H and I have talked about combining it with a visit to several of the New England states we've never visited one fall.

Xstatic3333 · August 2015

hoffse said:

Xstatic3333 said:

1. Ok. We went a little over budget on our trip by deciding to eat one lunch out instead of eating all meals at the rental house. Lobster rolls by the water were just too much to resist! We spent a lot on gas but it was budgeted.

2. Not really, except we got a $100 anniversary gift from my parents and a $246 refund check from our escrow account. These will be used to help cash flow recent unexpected expenses (two new tires for me and a necessary work clothes purchase for H), so no real progress but no damage done.

3. This will completely give away where I live, but we have an amazing public event called Water Fire monthly during the spring, summer, and fall. They light big bonfires in the middle of the Providence River, and local food and art vendors come to make it like a big festival throughout the city. It's very, very cool, and I'm not sure I'm describing it well.

Water Fire is on my list of things to see one day! It looks so cool. H and I have talked about combining it with a visit to several of the New England states we've never visited one fall.

Nice! It is definitely as cool as advertised. Make sure to pick a month where there is a "full lighting" to make the most of your trip. There's all lots of New England fall fun like apple picking and corn mazes within a 20 minute drive.

formerlyGDaisy09 · August 2015

1. not too bad, it was my birthday weekend so it was a little more expensive than most, but not unexpected. $120 on groceries, $35 at Joann's, $30 on take-out on sunday. $30 on lunch out on my birthday, $100 at Target (an adorable shelf/cart/organizer thingy for the nursury intended to go next to the glider, but we paid an extra $10 for casters so it can be easily moved about...and I finally splurged ($12) on a full-sized ironing board)

2. no progress

3. lots of free events in the local park. but we'll be taking full advantage of the municipal pool next summer...kids under 5 are free, adult residents are $1 for a day pass. they offer a season's pass, $60 for a family of 3, but they're only open for 9 weeks, so I need to realistically weigh which option is better, I think the seasons pass only is a better deal if both H and I are at the pool at least 3 days a week.

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