Money Matters
labro
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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
Re: Monday Accountability
Goal Progress? Like I said on Friday, we both hit our 401k maximum contribution for 2016! Now on to maxing out my IRA and one for DH. I'm thinking of opening a traditional IRA though because I feel like we're near the Roth limit and I'm too dumb to figure out our AGI right now. I might just wait until the last paycheck of the year comes through and see if I can calculate it all out.
Bonus: Favorite holiday tradition? We always do a traditional Bavarian dinner on Christmas Eve. Schnitzel, spatzle, brown gravy or mushroom gravy, dill cucumber salad, red cabbage, all the stuff. I think this is my favorite meal all year.
2) H's bonus posted, but mine has not yet (boo). We did a big clean/reorganization of our basement and have a pile of stuff to donate before the end of the year. We are going to call a couple people to give us bids on spraying our basement bathroom tile white. Then we will re-install the sink down there and get the stairwell back in order. We need to figure out how to change a light fixture in the stairwell without leaning a ladder on the stairs... this is going to be interesting.
3) Holiday Tradition - Whenever we go to my parents house for Christmas (which is happening this year), H and I get roped into playing music at church for several masses on Christmas Eve. It's a lot of fun, but totally disorganized, and we both end up sight-reading, and my poor H ends up sight-transposing (he plays clarinet). For the non-music folks on the board this means he has to play different notes than what is actually written on the page. Anyway, every year we say we are going to come up with a plan, and every year the plan either does not come together or gets scrapped at the last minute. It's a new tradition for my H, but this has happened to me for at least 15 Christmases at this point. I refuse to let it stress me out anymore. Usually the sight-reading/sight-transposing ends up working out, and people think we practiced. The truth is we swoop in day-of and just come up with something on the fly.
A tradition I really enjoy is Christmas breakfast. My mom makes homemade cinnamon rolls, and my H's family does true Belgian waffles (Brussels style). After we got married we started doing both. It's kind of a strange combination, but really fun!
Goal Progress? DH contacted our wine subscription and they allowed us to put our account on hold until July since the wine drinker is pregnant. I immediately increased our weekly savings transfer by the amount of the subscription so that we actually save that savings. I don't want to have to take money out of investments to comfortably afford the unpaid portion of my (hopefully 6 month) maternity leave so my goal is to have $40k liquid cash in our savings account by then. We're looking good to make that goal and still do a few house repairs that are getting pretty urgent (like our falling apart front stairs). General life milestone is that I had my last progesterone shot last night! My husband has stabbed me with one or more needles every day for the past 11 weeks and we are both SO HAPPY to be done lol.
Bonus: Favorite holiday tradition? My mom and I are so sick of Christmasy stuff by Christmas morning that we watch Independence Day while opening our gifts. My husband thinks it's bizarre but we love it lol. I can recite Bill Pullman's entire speech by heart at this point hahahaha
Goal Progress? I feel like we're in a state of limbo. This year we had a bad case of lifestyle creep, impulse buying and thinking 'we have the money to afford it.' Well yeah, just because we can afford it doesn't mean we should buy it. That money could go toward something else more important. We're regretting a couple $$ things and need to learn from our mistakes and keep spending in check going forward.
Bonus: Favorite holiday tradition? My family does wigilia, the traditional Polish Christmas Eve, prior to Shepherd's Mass. We've been doing this for the majority of my life and it is Christmas to me. Also, growing up my Dad would wake the family up on Christmas morning by playing koledy (Polish carols) on the cd player. I've continued this tradition in our home and luckily my H loves it, too.
- $250 to the house account, but nothing to savings. We probably won't add to savings until the first of the year. We're building the house account back up so we can hire our painter back in January for another round of painting.
- My family Christmas has changed so much in the last 10 years, we no longer have any real family traditions. H and I do something really silly though. On Christmas Eve, we go to the bar for a beer (or two), we go home and each open one gift. Then we put on Grinch PJs, drink hot chocolate, and watch "The Santa Clause" and "Home Alone." Yes, we're over 30 and still wear Grinch jammies on Christmas Eve.
Goal Progress? Put deposit down for exterior renovation project. Meeting with the bank over Christmas break. Also hung up pictures in the bathroom and put the last coat of paint on the door trim! Our door needs to be cut down a tiny bit to accommodate the tile (instead of vinyl) floors so we'll be doing that on Saturday.
Bonus: Favorite holiday tradition? DH and I started this when we had DD#1. We are home together all day and we just go DH's parents' house at night with his family. If anyone wants to visit us, they know where we are. My family is not religious, so Christmas doesn't hold a great significance- we usually get together the following weekend so it gives each family on my side the day to spend how they want.
Frugalwoods looks like an awesome blog, thanks the recommendation. I'll have to check it out.
H lost his wallet right after I gave him about $100 to pay for some things while he is home alone (I'm with my parents this week while he is at home before joining us for Christmas).
I more or less love all holiday traditions except for gift receiving. Cookie baking is definitely a favorite, especially when done with mom and dad. Also the newer tradition of going to Christmas Eve service just H and I at a church we found in FL for the years we are with his family.
2. We'll add some money to savings today, but I'm being a little conservative since I always under-budget Christmas week expenditures (cooking, hostess gifts, etc.). I'm not sure the full amount yet but it should be $300-$400, which will be enough to complete our medical bill savings goal. Not that we'll stop until we know the final number, of course!
3. I always loved Christmas morning at home, waking up and opening presents and then having a fun breakfast. Last year we moved the tradition to our home, where it will stay long-term with the blessing of all parents and in-laws. Score!
Not really. Plus yesterday we had a plumber come video our pipes because we've been having sewage backups in the basement every few months. Estimated repair cost came in at $4,200. Ouch.
As a child, I loved Christmas on my grandparents farm. Now as an adult in a family with no kids it's just not as much fun.
How was your weekend?
Restful, especially since I took a vacation day yesterday. I spent $24 on take-out lunch Friday...but it was multi-meals. $26 at Dollar General on Sat. That was it.
Goal Progress?
Stocked up my cash fund to $700. I like to keep it at $1,000. It had dropped to $0 with paying day laborers, but we're done with that now, and I'm glad to be 70% back up. Paying my HELOC down $1350 today.
Bonus: Favorite holiday tradition?
My traditions are slightly different now than they were when I was a kid. As a kid, we would open our stockings on Christmas Eve and ONE present. Then, Christmas morning, we would open presents followed by an awesome multi-course breakfast my mom had prepared. Though breakfast wasn't always the same thing.
As an adult, my H and I don't always decorate. We didn't this year. As such, we don't always have stockings. One tradition with us that I have started is I always make a "fiesta" breakfast casserole. It's basically Rotel, eggs, cheese, and ham. It's easy and fast to make, but also extra delicious.
One tradition I like that is unique, quirky, and has carried over to my adulthood is a "can of olives" present, lol. When I was little, I noticed on tv shows/cartoons/books that kids often had an orange in their stocking. I asked my mom about this. She told me it was a traditional item in a stocking and asked if I wanted an orange in mine for that year. I told her, that would be nice, but could we make it a can of olives instead (because I LOVED olives). From that year forward, I always had a can of olives in my stocking. My sister got a can of garbanzo beans, because that is what she wanted, lol.
I told my H about this tradition when we were first dating. And he snuck a can of olives into my stocking that year. Even in years we don't have a stocking, he always gives me a can of olives. Wrapped up and everything, lol.