Monday/Tuesday Accountability

als1982 · July 2016

1. How MM was your weekend?

2. Any progress toward your goals?

3. What financial blogs, podcasts or tv shows do you read, listen to or watch?

formerlyjessica490 · July 2016

1. $200 Home Depot, $5 Grocery Store, $63 Kayaking

2. Nothing, we get paid this week

3. I used to read Mr.Money Mustache and some of The Motley Fool but not so much anymore. Once in awhile I will catch Suze Orman on TV, and I've ready a bunch of her and Dave Ramseys' books in the past, but now I don't really read or listen to anything financial.

cbee817 · July 2016

1. How MM was your weekend? Good for being a 4 day weekend- groceries ($95), Home Depot ($96), new pedestal sink ($209), work boots for DH ($56)

2. Any progress toward your goals? No savings last week (not a pay week), but we did get an estimate for all of the bathroom plumbing and we're getting a second one today for good measure. DH is going to pick out the tub and toilet and hopefully we can get moving on the plumbing/new tub with the plumbers later this week/early next week. All of the drywall and wonderboard is purchased, we picked up the floor tile, and have 50% paid on the wall/shower tile and the built in linen closet. We'll pay the balance on those when we pick the tile up and the closet is installed respectively.

3. What financial blogs, podcasts or tv shows do you read, listen to or watch? I don't look at a ton, but I like frugalwoods and ourfreakingbudget. I'm also thinking about getting The Simply Path to Wealth by JL Collins- was hoping it was at our library, but it isn't yet.

Xstatic3333 · July 2016

1. How MM was your weekend?

Good! H just spent like $20 on various beers to contribute to various barbecues.

2. Any progress toward your goals?

No, and we hit an obstacle. Our annual car tax bill came in and both of our cars are valued much higher than I expected. Our quarterly payment is due in a few weeks and will be over $400, and valuation challenges are not allowed, so that money will come out of what we would have saved for the month. For the future quarterlies, we'll put aside more so we're ready without such a shock.

3. What financial blogs, podcasts or tv shows do you read, listen to or watch?

I haven't been reading too many lately, but in the past I've really liked Budgets are Sexy and Mr. Money Mustache. I find DR entertaining sometimes as well, even though we don't follow his plan. I like it because it's interesting to hear about other people's financial situations, but I tune out when he just rants.

Edit: On the progress front, we did return our recalled Ikea dresser. I encourage anyone who has a Malm dresser that they don't need to take advantage of this recall. Even though the dresser is a bit beat up, we got the full initial value of it back in cash. We planned to use this on a bench for our mudroom, but given the big tax bill decided to just hold onto the money for now instead.

csuave · July 2016

1. How MM was your weekend?

Not great but planned for. We traveled for H's high school reunion and to see family. $200 on the kennel (dogs are expensive---more than all other weekend expenses combined!); 2 nights lodging free with a friend and one night AirBnB $53; about $45 on gas; $18 on souvenirs; $60 on reunion tickets that included dinner Friday night; about $20 on food. H spent some of his fun money on beer.

2. Any progress toward your goals?

No

3. What financial blogs, podcasts or tv shows do you read, listen to or watch?
None

labro · July 2016

1. How MM was your weekend? Pretty good. Everything was on budget although Friday was an expensive day between spending an early birthday budget, a small Home Depot trip.

2. Any progress toward your goals? Normal, early, principal only payment towards my car loan. Getting closer but not there yet!

3. What financial blogs, podcasts or tv shows do you read, listen to or watch? Sometimes my dad sends me articles to read from Kiplinger, Sometimes if the columns seem interesting or relevant I read a couple personal finance columns in our Sunday paper.

brij2006 · July 2016

1. How MM was your weekend?

Everything was budgeted for.
$20 donation for fireworks
$1.50 on popcorn during the fireworks
$220 at Walmart for a ton of groceries, toiletries, stuff for 2 oil changes, a birthday present, and a few things for vacation
$145 at Aldi's for groceries

2. Any progress toward your goals?
Yes. We were able to cash flow purchasing a canopy for the boat. We'll also have enough in this months budget to cash flow vacation. So awesome! This used to be something we had to save for through the entire year.

3. What financial blogs, podcasts or tv shows do you read, listen to or watch?

I listen to Dave Ramsey's radio show in the afternoons. I also like Entreleadership, Chris Brown's True Stewarship, Chris Hogan.

I listen to podcasts more than music.

LillibetteV · July 2016

1. How MM was your weekend? Not too bad considering we went out of town and had a birthday party. $15 on snacks/iced coffees, $50 on beer/wine (for parties and for the house), $5 on medicine, $8 on underwear because DH forgot to pack ANY and had to run to Marshalls lol, and then $80 on Ubers/cabs yesterday (MUCH higher than normal since Uber was surge pricing due to the Boston fireworks and so we ended up taking a regular cab home. harumph. but yay for not drinking and driving!)

2. Any progress toward your goals? Just still chugging along. I took advantage of the Brexit market drop and shoved more money into our index fund while it was low and it's already come back up so I was pretty pleased with that move.

3. What financial blogs, podcasts or tv shows do you read, listen to or watch? Frugalwoods! I seriously love her. I also have Mr. Money Mustache and The Simple Dollar in my RSS feed, but TSD has gone a bit downhill since they added more writers - I skip over any of them that aren't written by Trent (the original blogger) because the rest are pretty stupid.

hoffse · July 2016

1) Just got back from Venice late yesterday evening and drove into Bham at 6:15 this morning (and still encountered Atlanta traffic... seriously). We spent $11 on breakfast at Chick-Fil-A, but otherwise everything else was dedicated vacation-fund money.

2) My parents insisted on picking up the tab for food and entrance fees most of the trip, so we spent way less than we intended - we came out about $950 under budget. I'll post a MM trip report in a little bit.

3) I used to read Mr. Money Mustache, but decided he has taken the whole FI thing a little too far for my tastes. I saw a few threads where he got into it with readers where he pretty much insisted that you couldn't be happy in a corporate career, and that's why you have to be "mustachian" (I hate that phrase) so that you can leave the race. I think that's too much of a blanket statement and FI should instead be focused on having the financial freedom to do what you want to do, even if it means keeping your corporate job. I used to like Suzy Orman, but she pretty much went off the deep end after the financial crisis. These days I still read Get Rich Slowly now and then, and I read Forbes and Money. I also read the Economist when I can get my hands on their magazines for cheap (it's an expensive subscription).

Mustard76 · July 2016

1. Holy cow, did I spend a lot of money this weekend, most of it unplanned. We've been planning on updating the light fixtures in our kitchen since we moved into our house, but not with any real timeline. Well, I decided this was the weekend to do it. So $400 on new fixtures and bulbs for our kitchen. $60 on switch plates to coordinate. $100 on groceries, and $50 on pizza and snacks to feed my parents after my dad spent all day helping me with the electrical part of our new lighting. The good news? I LOVE both of the new fixtures. $200 down on the desk that we're having built for our new office. (That deposit came out of a different bucket, but I still spent it this weekend.) I also spent $12 on some coffee and donuts for my staff on Saturday.

2. $600 to our home renovation account. We're still in process of repairing the drywall in the basement from a leak a few weeks ago, so we're going to need that money soon. After the plumber comes and the drywall is fixed, we're moving on to paint. Sheesh!

3. I used to watch Suze Orman. I tend to disagree with a lot of what she advised, and I don't like any advice that paints with such a broad brush, but I found her fascinating. As of late, I don't read or watch much relating to personal finance. I read a lot of industry news, though.

brij2006 · July 2016

@hoffse How do you get the Economist for cheap? My splurge used to be an annual subscription, but we cut that out. I seriously love reading it, but I'm definitely a money nerd.

vlagrl35 · July 2016

1 - dinner out with family on Friday night - $50, Saturday gas in DH's car - $23 and Big Lots - $5, Sunday got fireworks for $60, Monday went to the movies - $21 and got a bday gift for MIL - $25

2 - No progress this week, most of our bills are due the first week of the month which kinda sucks.

3 - I don't really follow any financial shows or podcasts.

short+sassy · July 2016

1. How MM was your weekend?

Spectacular! I stopped by Harrahs on my home from work Thurs. (4 day weekend) because I had $20 in slot play to use and hit a $4,000 jackpot!!!

MMing and gambling do not normally go hand in hand, to say the least, lol. But every once in awhile.

2. Any progress toward your goals?

I am putting every cent of my jackpot toward paying down my HELOC, plus my normal $1500 pay down I do at the beginning of the month.

3. What financial blogs, podcasts or tv shows do you read, listen to or watch?

I don't regularly follow anything, but I've been reading the other answers and will check some of those sites out.

hoffse · July 2016

brij2006 said:

@hoffse How do you get the Economist for cheap? My splurge used to be an annual subscription, but we cut that out. I seriously love reading it, but I'm definitely a money nerd.

Eh it's usually borrowing it from friends/family who subscribe. We have subscribed a couple times when I can get a good price on the subscription, but they tend to be kind of short, like 3-6 months at a time. Then it goes up to the normal rate, and we cut it.

My H really loves it, and I'm thinking of giving him a year-long subscription for Christmas this year (and then renewing it each year). It would be an easy thing to give him each year, and he would probably like it more than getting stuff.

brij2006 · July 2016

hoffse said:

brij2006 said:

@hoffse How do you get the Economist for cheap? My splurge used to be an annual subscription, but we cut that out. I seriously love reading it, but I'm definitely a money nerd.

Eh it's usually borrowing it from friends/family who subscribe. We have subscribed a couple times when I can get a good price on the subscription, but they tend to be kind of short, like 3-6 months at a time. Then it goes up to the normal rate, and we cut it.

My H really loves it, and I'm thinking of giving him a year-long subscription for Christmas this year (and then renewing it each year). It would be an easy thing to give him each year, and he would probably like it more than getting stuff.

Yeah, that's when I usually tried to grab it too. I've received some of their offers to renew it, but it still isn't very cheap or it's only for 1 month.

Wish I knew someone who subscribed to it so I could get it from them. In college I would just read it at the library. That was perfect.

smerka · July 2016

short+sassy said:

1. How MM was your weekend?
Spectacular! I stopped by Harrahs on my home from work Thurs. (4 day weekend) because I had $20 in slot play to use and hit a $4,000 jackpot!!!
MMing and gambling do not normally go hand in hand, to say the least, lol. But every once in awhile.

2. Any progress toward your goals?

I am putting every cent of my jackpot toward paying down my HELOC, plus my normal $1500 pay down I do at the beginning of the month.

3. What financial blogs, podcasts or tv shows do you read, listen to or watch?

I don't regularly follow anything, but I've been reading the other answers and will check some of those sites out.

Congrats on the win! Set some money aside for taxes before paying off the HELOC. If you gamble more this year, save the receipts of any loses you have. You can offset your winnings with the loses (but not more than your winnings)

smerka · July 2016

We finally bit the bullet and got a new car. 2016 Honda Odyssey. I think we got a pretty good deal because when I went to try to sell my old car at Carmax, they had a 2015 with 8,000 miles on it for $2,000 more than the new one. We managed to put about half down, but now we have a car payment, which I've never had to do. We debated new vs used but the Odysseys around here just aren't a good deal for the used. So my goals are to now pay it off as quickly as possible and figure out how to plug the huge hole in our food budget. My husband has been off for the summer and it has been brutal on our schedule/eating habits. I used to read Frugal Dad but that was years ago. I sometimes listen to Dave Ramsey and Clark Howard in the car.

Monday/Tuesday Accountability

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