Money Matters
formerlyjessica490
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.
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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
1. How MM was your weekend?
2. Any progress towards goals?
3. What are your highs and lows of the last few weeks or coming up?
Re: Monday Accountability
1. $23 Gas, $85 Walmart, $30 Chinese, $20 Lowe's
2. I think we are going to contribute $200 to our vacay account
3. Highs- I have a lot of time off until the end of the year. My grandma was sick but now she's better.
Lows- There are so many house projects that I want to do right now, but I don't want to spend the money while we are trying to save for vacation and get our fence done in the spring-time. The list is never-ending. We are saving as much as we can until April/May.
Saturday we had dinner out with our visiting cousins for $30. I had a $5 coupon that we couldn't use because it wasn't valid weekends.
Sunday $5 on parking to tailgate and $20 on online dog supplies.
So we spend a lot but did a good job of getting bargains when possible like parking far away so we only spend $5.
2. We are doing ok on spending. With continued diligence to cook more at home we should end the month in decent shape.
I opened my new personal credit card and will be on track to get the $150 spending bonus...which is mixed since it means I am spending but that was going to happen this time of the year anyway with my gym membership up for renewal and Christmas shopping so might as well do it on the new card.
3. high - We have seen some good friends and family the last couple of weeks and will see family for the holidays. This time of the year brings about that extra effort and good timing to see people that we don't often get together with. Low is frost on the car. Needed the scraper this AM!
1. How MM was your weekend? It was ok- groceries ($111), dinner with DH ($35), gas ($30), Hamilton/hotel/train ($1,900).
2. Any progress towards goals? $500 went to savings, bathroom is still being worked on (I will probably say this for the rest of 2016...)
3. What are your highs and lows of the last few weeks or coming up? Nothing MM related. Low for our family has been the election. We're worried for people we love and care for and the millions of people we don't know.. we hope everyone can feel safe and be who they are. High won't be here until the summer, but DH and I booked a 4 day trip to NYC to see Hamilton. We haven't been there since 2010 (prior to that, we went about 2x/year) so we're really looking forward to it. I also pre-planned 3 weeks off in August to spend with my family when they are all on summer break. Really looking forward to that.
2. This week is my check that pays the mortgage.
3. High is the week we're spending in Florida starting on Friday.
Low is most certainly the election. Over the weekend I attended a local Pantsuit Nation event that had probably 500+ attendees. That was a glimmer of hope. But we also had dinner last night with H's family. There were definitely some pro-Trump sympathies expressed, ironically in the home of my BIL, who is Mexican. My heart hurt for him knowing that he is likely fearful of his parents and siblings being deported and the prospect of being the only one with a Visa and the only family member who could stay to take care his nieces and nephews. He's also scared that should they be sent back that he won't even be allowed to send them money. Plus there's all our friends who are Muslim, LGBTQ and other minorities. It just absolutely disgusts me what's happening in our country.
2. I've been trying to stop buying breakfast and lunch out at work so much and it's getting better, although still room for improvement.
3. Telling my 3 best girlfriends I'm pregnant because they were over the moon! And we got a hilarious video of the needle-phobe giving me my PIO shot - I'm so proud of her for overcoming her fear! I'm sure the glass of wine helped her
1. How MM was your weekend? It was good! Friday - $20 for gas, $20 at Target, went to a quarter auction and spent about $25. Saturday - $6 at Chick Fil A. Sunday - $0.
2. Any progress towards goals? Threw money at my 0% interest credit card and started working on getting Christmas gifts which will be really light this year.
3. What are your highs and lows of the last few weeks or coming up?
High - I decided to "adopt" two seniors for this Christmas so I'm going to be giving them lots of goodies which makes me happy. I'm also helping the ILs with providing gifts for a child.
Low - I'm kind of at a cross roads with H right now and it's been hard to figure out what is best for us as individuals and as a couple.
2. Non-pay week, so nothing financial. NMMR, I got my first milestone weight loss goal. My next mini goal is to be down another 5 pounds by Thanksgiving. That's a stretch goal, but I'm going to give it my all.
3. We've been very middle of the road lately, nothing really high, nothing really low. Usually it puts a strain on our marriage when H is out of town so much. But this go-around, we're good. Maybe it's because we had a week off together in between trips this time. Things are good all around for us!
1. How MM was your weekend? It was pretty decent. $40 on dinner out Friday night. $65 on mulch and medium-large river rocks to finish our dry river bed. $70 on groceries (including our Thanksgiving turkey).
2. Any progress towards goals? Not really, other than I may be able to put some money into savings after this paycheck. We're still in a holding pattern until January.
3. What are your highs and lows of the last few weeks or coming up?
Lows - I don't have much vacation since we're trying to save up for our Norway trip next year which means I can't really take any time off for the holidays. I'm just ready for a break so thank goodness I get Thursday and Friday off next week and a four day weekend for Christmas!
Highs - I love this time of year since it means time with friends and family. DH's company Christmas party is masquerade themed so a few other wives and I are all going to wear floor-length dresses and get all dolled up.
1. How MM was your weekend? It was decent. $42 on a hockey game, $25 on beer and mediocre food at the game (definitely not our most MM decision ever...), $20 church offering, $68 on groceries for the week.
2. Any progress towards goals? Financially we're in a holding pattern, just trying to add as much as possible to savings while making smart spending decisions with the holidays coming up. This week we have a lot of evening plans and I thought we would have to eat out a couple times, but instead I decided to be responsible and grocery shop for crockpot meals so we can come home and eat quick. I'm proud of not taking the easy/lazy road on this one.
3. What are your highs and lows of the last few weeks or coming up? Low is definitely the election, as well as personal indecision regarding my job/career & family planning. High is that I think H and I finally have decided when to start TTC, and this decision has stuck for more than a day or two so that's a good sign. Also, we are hosting my in-laws for Thanksgiving and so far there's no drama...fingers crossed there will be none!
2. Not this week, not a paycheck week.
3. Election was definitely a low. Also I'm having some internal struggles about a few things that I'm trying to work through. Highs, my mom gets here on Saturday and will be here for over a week, my brother will be here Monday-Friday, and my stepdad Wednesday-Sunday, so nice to have a distraction with them. I'm also hosting Thanksgiving so that'll be a nice distraction, I love cooking for a group of people. My new job is also going well.
1. Here was my "not so MM" decision, lol. I accepted a valet parking mystery shop because it had a $20 fee! It was near where I do my p/t pic job, so I figured I'd use the time to complete that. I had to wait at least 45 minutes before picking the car back up, so I did the route walking. I left from work (half day) and realized, I really should eat some lunch first if I am walking for an hour...$11. I realized, too late, I took too much insulin at lunch considering I'd be walking for an hour. Sure enough, I felt my blood sugar dropping toward the end of my route. Stopped for a hot apple cider...$4. So, with my otherwise unnecessary purchases, that $20 fee really turned into $5. Ugh!
I picked up some grocery store gigs and completed 4/5 of those on Fri., the 5th one I did last weekend. That will be an extra $80 for all. Spent $71 on groceries, so my fee almost paid for that, lol. But it's all stuff I would have bought anyway.
2. Paid down some 'cc debt by $600. All new windows are going into my latest duplex tomorrow. We thought it would take longer, so I told my H it is time to HIGHTAIL the rest of the repairs so we can get it rented out. I'm a bit annoyed because I had a discussion with him a few weeks ago, when the progress was not going nearly as fast as I expected, if it was time to bring in some help. He told me "no", he had it under control, it would be finished up about when the windows arrived. A lot of prep work has been done for the interior painting, but the actual painting hasn't even started yet.
3. I'll start with the highs. There aren't many
. I was chosen to be in an all day focus group on Wed. It pays $240. I'll have to take a day off work, but I have a lot of vacation time. I need to start taking more vacation days anyway. It might be the only way I will get through the end of the project. Next week is a short week with TG. I am very excited about that.
A lot of lows. I've mentioned on other posts my job is ending around the end of the year. Another negative side effect is now I really hate being here. I've suddenly been given more work that is largely dumb, petty stuff. Which is hard when I'm already resentful and unmotivated.
The election. I'm sickened we elected a man who brags about sexually assaulting and harassing women. I'm sickened that assaults/prejudice against minorities, Muslims, and the LGBT community seem to have immediately increased after the election. To be clear, I'm not bashing anyone who voted for Trump. I respect we all have our own views.
2) H has pretty much gotten to the point where he knows he will hit the hours he needs for high bonus. So we are starting to plan for that. We have decided to offer some cash for a 529 for our new niece for Christmas this year. It won't pay for everything, but it will be enough to make a good dent if it's invested correctly. We came up with a number that we are comfortable duplicating if/when we have more nieces and nephews in the future.
3) Lows - my parents' house is about 10 miles from one of the many forest fires ravaging the Southeast right now. They haven't been given evacuation orders yet, but they are preparing for it just in case. They have good insurance and finances aren't an issue, but it makes me stressed and sad for them that they are having to worry about this. They built their house when I was 3, and they plan to retire there. Hopefully the firefighters will get the fire contained before it reaches more homes.
Highs - heading to Amsterdam next week, and I am excited about that! I also broke out the holiday music a few weeks early, and I have had fun practicing piano again now that it's stuff I really like.
The entire drive was this haze of smoke.
Otherwise $160 on groceries, $7 on a car wash, and $10 on eating out. DD and I went to my favorite breakfast place before running errands on Saturday. Something my mom and I used to do. I loved every minute of doing that with her, even though she doesn't get it yet. Just that she gets pancakes. So we got out of there for $10 including tip.
2. We very well may actually entirely fund the rest of Hawaii this month! H is working a couple of Saturdays we hadn't planned on, and our budget categories have been pretty spot on so far. So I paid all of our bills for the month and we still have $3,300 in income to come in and only about $1,500 to go out for daycare, gas, eating out, tithe, etc. Woot!
3. High: Interviewing for the position at Dave Ramsey's. I'm still so shocked that I am even talking seriously with them and this is a position I'm highly qualified for. Interview #2 is tomorrow morning.
Low: Tensions have been high in our house lately and I just want to not feel smothered for 2 seconds. The possibility of a move, getting things ready to have another baby, H's foot/ankle issues costing a lot of money, trying to fit in all of our appointments lately with work, and the fact that I'm swamped at work and training a new girl who is only here 1 day/week. I know it is all a means to an end, but I've unfortunately been taking a lot of it out on H. Oops.
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 - Less than week I got a last minute request for a wedding so I scored $250
3 - I'm feeling much re-energized after last week. I had taken a week off yoga and got back into it yesterday. I needed it bad. I also had no idea how much stress TTC was putting on myself until I finally let go last week. I'm getting so much more productive in everything its amazing and I'm feeling so much happier. I should of let go of that awhile ago. Leaving it in gods hands for the moment. I even put off blood testing this month and will do it in December. I just don't even want to track my cycle anymore. I have no fertility benefits but my chiro can do all the blood tests for $192 vs the over $1k if I went thru insurance. TMI but DH's and I's sex life has improved so much since I've let go.
1. I spent about $40 at target but also worked my second job there this weekend. So it will almost even out. We do need to go grocery shopping though.
2. I paid off my last credit card last week! I have had a balance on this card for almost 12 years. It is finally paid off!
3. Paying off my last CC is definitely a high for me. DH and I have also agreed on TFAS soon.
The lows are that I finally received a bill for my chiropractic care over the last 3 months. The bill was only for about a month and over $200 after insurance. So I am sure I will have a few more bills around that much.
The other low has been this election. I was shocked, stunned, angry, and worried at first. Now I just want to be active but don't know how to get involved.
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
Thank you! I appreciate the positive vibes
1. How MM was your weekend? It was fine. About $50 out for dinner and drinks with friends on Friday night, a little under $100 for groceries on Saturday and then about$30 at Target for toiletries.
2. Any progress towards goals? No, not much going on right now other than regular stuff.
3. What are your highs and lows of the last few weeks or coming up? Well, the election is one of the lowest lows I've felt in a long time. I don't see my outlook improving very rapidly anytime soon. I guess coming up I am looking forward to spending some quality time with family and friends for the holidays. And superficially, Gilmore Girls next Friday.
2. Standard scheduled contributions to various savings pots and Roth IRA. Put some money aside for hosting Thanksgiving and Black Friday deals.
3. Our weekend at Comic Con was a high. It was so nice to spend time together, do different things, and have some great meals out in the area near the convention center. The election was a huge low. I try to stay positive and action-oriented, but it's tough when so much racial discrimination is suddenly going on and Trump supporters refuse to acknowledge it as a problem. I want to do something but feel so helpless.