MM Wins and Losses July 2022

[ellipses84]

Revenge summer + inflation is not MM!

Share your MM Wins & Losses (and any other MM / Life Randoms)

[ellipses84]

I’ll share mine.

A few years ago I was looking forward to no more car payments as I was about to pay off my SUV when tropical storms intervened and we had 3 vehicles and 2 homes flood in 1.5 years… My MM win this month is that I finally have a paid off SUV (a little early)!

My MM loss is the very next day I was driving out of town and 2 miles down the freeway I got a flat tire. I ended up replacing 2 tires which cost more than a car payment. I replaced the other 2 a few months ago, so I should be good for a while. It all worked out for the best though. I was headed through the desert where it was like 115 degrees, alone, in the evening with stretches of no cell service on the highway so I’m glad it happened when I was still in my city with a tire place open and tow trucks nearby. 2 hours later I was back on the road and had a great weekend. Also my AAA membership has been a win this year because we’ve used it a lot.

Travel loss/win … I waited too long to buy my flights to my hometown for August because I was dealing with the airline to correct some missing credits. They did finally correct it so I got one ticket almost free but the other two cost way more than usual.

[midwestmama]

Can't think of any wins at the moment. I've heard rumblings that my company might do something for pay to help off-set inflation, but I don't know if it will be a pay adjustment yet this calendar year or a larger merit increase budget for March 2023 increases. If we get a pay adjustment yet this year, that would be a win.

MM loss... I took my car in for a routine oil change at the dealership, and they always do an inspection during the oil change. They quoted me almost $4k in maintenance and repairs. I need to take it to another shop for a second quote, but even then, I would guess their quote will be close to the dealership, assuming they agree that all the same things need to be done. Thankfully it seems nothing needs to be done immediately.

ellipses84, glad the flat tire didn't occur in a desolate area with no cell service! We had a flat tire on a rental van last year on a road trip headed out west. Thankfully, the flat tire happened in on I-94 Wisconsin, where it is a well-traveled road and reliable cell service. We drove stretches of nothingness and no cell service in Montana, and that was a bit nerve-wracking thinking how we would get help if need be.

[Susie]

Near loss:  I dropped a diamond earring down the master bath sink drain, while rinsing it off post-cleaning.  I'm usually really really careful to avoid doing exactly this, but I was cleaning too many things at once and it slipped.  $#@!

Win:  We recovered it from the p-trap, for only the $15-20 cost of replacing the p-trap.  It was PVC and had been put on with a wrench, so we weren't able to get it off without damaging it.

[heygrey]

Susie, I learned the hard way to put a wash cloth in the sink over the drain if I’m doing anything with small objects. It’s saved a few things that have slipped out of my fingers. The pearl earring I wore for my wedding is long gone though.

[quesyrah]

Win- we finally replaced my minivan! I got a brand new van of my dreams and we paid cash!!

Loss- it’s because both of my parents died within 3 months of each other 😭

[sadlebred]

Losses: (well, end of June) I had to replace a tire after running over something and part of the tread was coming off. Slight win was that the tire was still under warranty, and I got a 30% discount. I was out and on my way in an hour.

Bills seem to be going up and up. I've had $100+ increase in basic bills since the begnning of the year. My mortgage escrow went up by $25 for an increase in home owners. I don't want to see what it will be once they get this year's tax bill. Probably $150-250/month. Property values went up 20-40% in my county last year. No appeals are being granted from what I'm hearing. I'm still debating, since it only gets you a 1 year grace period before your taxes go up.

Wins: Not exactly MM, but I was able to schedule some surgery that was postponed from this winter. I had it on Wed. and will be recovering at home the next few days. It's totally out of pocket. The surgeon I picked was the cheapest, so that's a bonus. Of course, his credientials, liking the surgeon, liking the office/medical staff, talking to the other patients was more important, but I'll take savings of several thousand dollars.

I'm able to use my sick pay at 100% for at least the first 3 days. I may take a vacation day or two if I still am not up to working. (This has to do with having to provide HR documentation if you hit a week of being out. I had 2-3 vacation days budgeted for this surgery for this year.)

[laterz]

Win - we finally got around to starting our estate planning.
Loss - it's not cheap to do estate planning.

[jewel]

My H is getting a 10% raise. He’s a public employee, so this is FAR far beyond any non-leveled raise he’s ever gotten. It’s 6% COLA and 4% longevity incentive. It might break us even with current inflation, so I’m pretty happy with that. Lol.

[ellipses84]

[mention]susie [/mention] and [mention]heygrey [/mention] I was washing my hands with my brand new Christmas gift ear buds in and one fell right out of my ear and directly down the bathroom drain that doesn’t have a catch on it. I was able to get it out of the p-trap but it was sitting in water. After a week in a bag of rice it wasn’t working. I still used the other ear and left it in the rice. I randomly tried it again a few months later and it works!

[ellipses84]

[mention]quesyrah [/mention] I’m sorry for your loss.

[fernweh]

Win- I got a raise 7%. My third raise in less than a year.

Loss - long term loss I guess. I’m 99% sure I’ve only gotten so much in the last year because they were severely underpaying me for 5 years.

[melmel48]

Jul 21, 2022 17:06:05 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

Win- we finally replaced my minivan! I got a brand new van of my dreams and we paid cash!!

Loss- it’s because both of my parents died within 3 months of each other 😭

I liked this for the mini van; I am very sorry for your losses

[Pom]

quesyrah, I am so sorry for your losses.

[simpsongal]

I'm so sorry quesyrah

[Susie]

My condolences too, quesyrah, that sounds like a ton to process.

[savan]

quesyrah, I’m so sorry.

Only losses here 😭. Tomorrow we are taking our dog to an orthopedic surgeon. I’m certain he is going to recommend at least one total hip replacement, if not both. This is a complete surprise as we didn’t realize anything was amiss until he popped his hip out of joint on the 4th. We don’t have pet insurance.

DS turns 16 soon and we are going to need a 3rd car. Gone are the days of buying a cheap used one. I don’t want to spend $15k on a 10 year old car with 100k miles on it.

Teenagers are expensive. Period.

[midwestmama]

quesyrah, I'm so sorry. That's incredibly hard to lose both your parents so close in time. My grandparents on my mom's side passed away about 2 weeks apart, and I know it was a really hard time for my mom, but my grandparents were in their early 90s so they had lived full and long lives. I hope you are able to find peace and comfort as you process/work through your grief.

[quesyrah]

Thanks everyone. Sorry to be a downer!

[simpsongal]

Jul 22, 2022 10:01:30 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

Thanks everyone. Sorry to be a downer!

Not at all!  And there's nothing wrong w/seeing good things from bad, I'm sure your folks would be happy you used their inheritance responsibly. 


My father's death was the thing that finally got my brother into an in patient rehab  If my father hadn't died, my brother would either still be using or dead himself.  It truly feels like we traded one life for another.  More so since the childhood friend that crashed at our house for a night while we were home for the funeral died/OD'ed a few months ago.  Now who's the downer?.....

[brooke77]

Hugs quesyrah

Wins: I FINALLY sold my old engagement ring and wedding band. I’ve been divorced for 6 years.

Losses: We moved from MA to GA. It has been so expensive! And we haven’t sold our house yet, so we are paying mortgage and rent.

[shaynaatl]

Win: DH got an unexpected $5k bonus due to a stressful and big work project he's been wrapped up in.

Loss: We need to renew our natural gas plan, and the rate has doubled in the past year. So we'll be doubling our natural gas budget. Also, our car insurance went up 10%.

[shaynaatl]

Jul 22, 2022 12:02:45 GMT -5 brooke77 said:

Hugs quesyrah

Wins: I FINALLY sold my old engagement ring and wedding band. I’ve been divorced for 6 years.

Losses: We moved from MA to GA. It has been so expensive! And we haven’t sold our house yet, so we are paying mortgage and rent.

Welcome! I also made the MA to GA move, though it was many years ago. 

[sadlebred]

quesyrah I am very sorry for your loss.

[sadlebred]

Ok, I think a few of us are in GA. I'm in metro Atlanta. shaynaatl and brooke77 are you in the metro area (if you are comfortable sharing that. Feel free to PM if if you'd prefer. I'm just curious.)

[janegold]

I'm so sorry quesyrah.

We bought a beach house (cottage) a few weeks ago, which I feel has been both a win and a loss.

On the win side, the cottage is a GEM and we managed to get an amazing rate with a local bank - 3.5%! I think it will be a good investment - it's in a very hot vacation market and will do well if/when we decide to rent it. In the meantime, we are loving using it ourselves. It kind of fell into our lap: it was a house we had been dreaming of buying for years and we couldn't say no when the sellers (who we know) approached us to buy it.

On the loss side, buying a vacation house wasn't in our plans, and we were in the midst of starting to plan a big reno in our primary house. The cottage was not cheap, so I don't know how/when we'll be able to proceed with our reno. We manage/own the cottage right behind our new one (it was my IL's, now in trust for my husband), and I REALLY want to sell it because the thought of keeping up with THREE houses is totally overwhelming to me and because it would be really nice to put those proceeds to the new cottage and free up some debt for the reno. But my MIL seems to have feelings about us doing that and my H wants to keep it to rent out. He's being slow as molasses to get it ready to rent, and I just see this being more stress than it's worth.

[quesyrah]

Jul 22, 2022 11:44:04 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Jul 22, 2022 10:01:30 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

Thanks everyone. Sorry to be a downer!

Not at all!  And there's nothing wrong w/seeing good things from bad, I'm sure your folks would be happy you used their inheritance responsibly. 


My father's death was the thing that finally got my brother into an in patient rehab  If my father hadn't died, my brother would either still be using or dead himself.  It truly feels like we traded one life for another.  More so since the childhood friend that crashed at our house for a night while we were home for the funeral died/OD'ed a few months ago.  Now who's the downer?.....

You are absolutely right about that.

My dad would be thrilled to know that they were the reason I got my van.

We are also planning quite a bit of travel with a chunk of the money which I know they would love. My parents traveled all over the world and took me on several really fun trips growing up.

[niq]

Win: I got a fake mid-year bonus in the form of an ESPP refund!

Loss: I got it because the stock went down.

[Pom]

Wins: Mr. P got a new local job with a 35% raise. Great hours, zero overnight travel. They love him and he finds his new position enough of a challenge not to be bored. I can see him riding this one to the finish line. We are able to live in our desired (read semi-remote location) and in our new primary residence that is a year round vacation home. And for the first time in 18 years, we only have one home to upkeep. That alone feels amazing.

Losses: Between the stock market and for the past year, money is flowing out to renovate like water, but I refuse to complain. New house and boat on the river is a fantastic way to suffer. I feel tremendously grateful to start living our semi-retirement at 51/52. Absolutely thrilled.

[minzy]

I’m sorry to those with struggles right now.

Win - my performance review was yesterday, and I’m being promoted with a 10% raise

Unrealized win - I saw my neighbor today and he mentioned that a house behind us just sold for about 180% of what we paid for our very similar one 5 years ago. That is bonkers to me! I feel like we could just go blow some cash as a result (I should put the damn pollinator garden in already and maybe repaint the inside and epoxy the garage floor and have a designer make our living room look cuter) but that feeling will undoubtedly pass in a day, and I’ll be straight back to our frugal ways.

No big losses recently, though we just paid the property taxes and I have no idea what’s happening with investments.