Mm wins and losses for aug

[ohgillian]

Wins:

- We had our very first Airbnb guest! I mean the $ was small but we worked a lot to get to this point.
- I updated our Vanguard financial profile -- H's 401k contribution wasn't right and my HSA contribution wasn't right, updating those increased our "likelihood of success" scores.


Losses:
- We don't have a good cushion right now b/c we used most of our non-invested savings on the house. And we didn't add to it this month. So it's not a loss exactly but not great either.

[niq]

Sept 10, 2022 13:00:18 GMT -5 Poppy said:

Sept 9, 2022 15:39:09 GMT -5 niq said:

Loss: the estimates on adding A/C or a heat pump keep getting higher and higher.

Dare I ask what they are? This is top of our list...

We have a 2000 sqft, 2 story home in Seattle.

The cheap quote is $16K for A/C, $18K for a heat pump. The expensive quote is $25K but ... includes more? I'm not exactly sure? msniq is in charge of getting bids.

[ny96]

Sept 10, 2022 13:00:18 GMT -5 Poppy said:

Sept 9, 2022 15:39:09 GMT -5 niq said:

Loss: the estimates on adding A/C or a heat pump keep getting higher and higher.

Dare I ask what they are? This is top of our list...

We just put a central heating and air conditioning system in this spring. We have 1500sqft and the system costs us around 25k.

[sadlebred]

Sept 10, 2022 13:00:18 GMT -5 Poppy said:

Sept 9, 2022 15:39:09 GMT -5 niq said:

Loss: the estimates on adding A/C or a heat pump keep getting higher and higher.

Dare I ask what they are? This is top of our list...

Some of it depends on the side of your house, if you already have ducts in place, if you'll need more than one AC unit.

It's been 13 years or so, but my last one was about $10,000. It included Zoning for the upstairs and downstairs+den/basement. It also included a variable speed furnace. I am not looking forward to replacing it when it dies. Prices are so much higher now. One thing to remember about a whole house HVAC system is to have it serviced twice/year. The AC in the spring and the furnace in the fall. You will find and/or prevent problems as the system ages. I've averted a disaster or two when my long time technician has found parts that needed to be replaced. $250 now is $700 saved later. The company I use will replace parts for free with no service call charge if you do it during your tune up if you have a yearly contract.

[quesyrah]

Sept 10, 2022 15:03:39 GMT -5 niq said:

Sept 10, 2022 13:00:18 GMT -5 Poppy said:

Dare I ask what they are? This is top of our list...

We have a 2000 sqft, 2 story home in Seattle.

The cheap quote is $16K for A/C, $18K for a heat pump. The expensive quote is $25K but ... includes more? I'm not exactly sure? msniq is in charge of getting bids.

These numbers match what we were quoted for a 1600 sq ft. single story in Southern CA.

We ended up doing ductless mini splits. 1 in each of the 3 bedrooms and 1 in our family room.

[sadlebred]

Sept 10, 2022 20:18:26 GMT -5 sadlebred said:

Sept 10, 2022 13:00:18 GMT -5 Poppy said:

Dare I ask what they are? This is top of our list...

Some of it depends on the side of your house, if you already have ducts in place, if you'll need more than one AC unit.

It's been 13 years or so, but my last one was about $10,000. It included Zoning for the upstairs and downstairs+den/basement. It also included a variable speed furnace. I am not looking forward to replacing it when it dies. Prices are so much higher now. One thing to remember about a whole house HVAC system is to have it serviced twice/year. The AC in the spring and the furnace in the fall. You will find and/or prevent problems as the system ages. I've averted a disaster or two when my long time technician has found parts that needed to be replaced. $250 now is $700 saved later. The company I use will replace parts for free with no service call charge if you do it during your tune up if you have a yearly contract.

This was for a 2250 3 level square foot house.

[mlkgls]

Mine are technically August Losses & September wins.

Losses: It has been an expensive summer to be a homeowner! My Efund has taken a hit between the bathroom remodel, an additional large, unexpected home repair in the midst of it, and several small, but expensive plumbing repairs.

Wins: I’m getting a pretty decent off-cycle raise and the 2nd half of a retention bonus this month. After increasing my retirement contribution, I’m 95% sure I’ll be able to max out for the first time ever this year! Any tips on how to calculate the exact % next year so that I won’t over contribute?

[midwestmama]

mlkgls, congrats on the off-cycle raise and retention bonus! For retirement contribution, check with your employer to see if the system will automatically stop contributions once they hit the IRS limit. If the system doesn't do that, you might want to consider switching to a $ amount for the remainder of the year so that you don't accidentally go over the max.

[mactastic]

Things seem to be swinging wildly back and forth for our household these past few months!
-
WIN: Came within $19 of our budget for our 10 year anniversary trip, which I'm counting as a major win. It's the first trip we've taken in four years, and i don't regret a single splurge. 

LOSS: The quote for the patio project we requested turned into news that we would absolutely need to replace our retaining wall before we embark on a patio, taking a 5-7k project into the 15-17k range. So that's on hold. 

LOSS: I rear ended a car the other week, and despite going less than 10 miles per hour, they had a hitch means my car has been deemed a total loss. 

WIN: Insurance is giving us MUCH more than I anticipated for my car, and we found out that because my husband had ONE pell grant back in the day, the amount of student loans he's getting forgiven doubles, leaving us with just about 10k to pay off. I hate to trade one debt for another, but less student loans makes me more comfortable with an unplanned car loan

WIN: The ultimate win is that I quit my job at the beginning of the year with nothing lined up. COMPLETELY out of character for me, and a major leap of faith. I landed my dream job two months after quitting but it's taken awhile to build up my hours. As of this pay period, I am now making more than I made at my last job, and working about 15 hours a week instead of 40. I hope to settle somewhere in the 20-25 hour per week range, and I'm constantly pinching myself that it worked out as well as it has. 

[chpmnk1015]

Sept 20, 2022 17:35:45 GMT -5 mactastic said:

Things seem to be swinging wildly back and forth for our household these past few months!
-
WIN: Came within $19 of our budget for our 10 year anniversary trip, which I'm counting as a major win. It's the first trip we've taken in four years, and i don't regret a single splurge. 

LOSS: The quote for the patio project we requested turned into news that we would absolutely need to replace our retaining wall before we embark on a patio, taking a 5-7k project into the 15-17k range. So that's on hold. 

LOSS: I rear ended a car the other week, and despite going less than 10 miles per hour, they had a hitch means my car has been deemed a total loss. 

WIN: Insurance is giving us MUCH more than I anticipated for my car, and we found out that because my husband had ONE pell grant back in the day, the amount of student loans he's getting forgiven doubles, leaving us with just about 10k to pay off. I hate to trade one debt for another, but less student loans makes me more comfortable with an unplanned car loan

WIN: The ultimate win is that I quit my job at the beginning of the year with nothing lined up. COMPLETELY out of character for me, and a major leap of faith. I landed my dream job two months after quitting but it's taken awhile to build up my hours. As of this pay period, I am now making more than I made at my last job, and working about 15 hours a week instead of 40. I hope to settle somewhere in the 20-25 hour per week range, and I'm constantly pinching myself that it worked out as well as it has. 


Congrats on the job!  thats great!

[mactastic]

Sept 20, 2022 20:31:05 GMT -5 chpmnk1015 said:

Sept 20, 2022 17:35:45 GMT -5 mactastic said:

Things seem to be swinging wildly back and forth for our household these past few months!
-
WIN: Came within $19 of our budget for our 10 year anniversary trip, which I'm counting as a major win. It's the first trip we've taken in four years, and i don't regret a single splurge. 

LOSS: The quote for the patio project we requested turned into news that we would absolutely need to replace our retaining wall before we embark on a patio, taking a 5-7k project into the 15-17k range. So that's on hold. 

LOSS: I rear ended a car the other week, and despite going less than 10 miles per hour, they had a hitch means my car has been deemed a total loss. 

WIN: Insurance is giving us MUCH more than I anticipated for my car, and we found out that because my husband had ONE pell grant back in the day, the amount of student loans he's getting forgiven doubles, leaving us with just about 10k to pay off. I hate to trade one debt for another, but less student loans makes me more comfortable with an unplanned car loan

WIN: The ultimate win is that I quit my job at the beginning of the year with nothing lined up. COMPLETELY out of character for me, and a major leap of faith. I landed my dream job two months after quitting but it's taken awhile to build up my hours. As of this pay period, I am now making more than I made at my last job, and working about 15 hours a week instead of 40. I hope to settle somewhere in the 20-25 hour per week range, and I'm constantly pinching myself that it worked out as well as it has. 


Congrats on the job!  thats great!

Thank you!!

[rooster222]

Sept 5, 2022 8:29:00 GMT -5 rooster222 said:

Losses- Have not been able to successfully sell my car yet and I've had a new one for over a month. Would really like it gone!

Wins- Went from working 3/days week to full-time along with a substantial raise. But what is really a big win is that I pitched this position and my school created it for me. I thought it was a total longshot but I'm so proud of myself for trying and super thankful for the people that supported me.

Update-sold my car today and got more than double what CarMax type places were offering! Good to start to the month!