April MM Wins and Losses

[aprilsails]

Maybe one for the month?

MM Win: I have received my oversized tax return and I have paid off the remainder of my car loan. DH and I will be car payment free for the first time in 15 years (we did a series of leases for a while since our needs kept changing). I can’t believe it.

MM Loss: @@@ We’ve decided to register our kids for after school care two days per week next fall. I’m struggling to fit my workload into standard working hours and having two days a week I can work later and not have to do a rushed commute will make a big difference. DH is WFH so we’ve just been dealing with them after work but it results in him being flustered. Our costs will go from $1000/month full time daycare to about $320/month, so it’s still overall a win, however getting back $1000/month was going to be amazing.

[jewel]

Win: my H is getting a COLA and longevity increase this year. It’s not huge, but he’s a public employee so this’ll be his biggest jump in a single year ever.

Loss: basically everything else. But especially FOOD. I meal plan and we don’t waste food. My boys are 5 and 8 and go through so much fruit. Prices have gone up and I’m having to go to Costco or Sam’s twice a week now just for produce. Today I bought - plums, apples, nectarines, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and bananas. Now that I add that up in my head, it’s like 25 pounds of fruit and will *hopefully* get us to the weekend.

[wildrice]

jewel 25lbs of fruit is a LOT for only a couple of days, lol!

April wins:
- We got my H's bonus, and on Friday he'll get his first check with his new salary. Hard to say exactly what it will amount to per paycheck, but it was around a 30% raise so I'm looking forward to seeing that show up!
- Given this we put an extra 1k payment into his student loans, which means we've officially paid off a little more than 18k since January 1st 2022. I wish the interest pause would last forever. I don't love making such big payments every month but it's been really nice watching the balance go down.

Losses:
- We have to pay our taxes this week and that's around $2400, which will more than negate my H's raise in this paycheck!
- We also really need to hire someone to trim our tree and paint our shutters before the HOA does their spring inspections. I am pretty sure there would be no fines yet but it is probably better to do it before the inspection than after. We could of course paint the shutters ourselves but neither of us have the inclination to make the time. I'm pissed that we have to do it at all - apparently the color is wrong, but it's the color they were when we moved in and this wasn't mentioned the first 2 years we lived here, so why it's suddenly an issue I have no idea.

[jewel]

wildrice - let me tell you about our toilet paper bill… 🤣

I actually do have a cool MM win though, I forgot about. I downloaded an app called Too Good To Go and it helps local restaurants and stores eliminate food waste. They sell leftover, extra, day old, etc food for super cheap. You typically pay a flat rate for a mixed bag of stuff. I paid $4 yesterday for a bag of food leftover from the day at Pete’s Coffee. I got 8 items! Right now, it’s mostly places that sell baked goods, but I also see a bbq place that sells raw meat scraps, a catering place with extra plates, a food truck, popcorn store, and a coffee roaster. I’ve seen probably 15 places close by that participate, but I would LOVE to see this idea take off.

[midwestmama]

Wins:
-Merit increases are effective in our paychecks this month, so that is exciting. We are bumping up the extra amount we pay on the mortgage principal each month, plus adding a bit to the monthly 529 contribution for each kid.
-With the new car I got last Fall, I get 3 years of free oil changes + tire rotation.  I just took it in for the first oil change + tire rotation earlier this week, and with it being free, it saved us about $80.  The dealership is near Costco, so I was able to fill up on gas while I was there.  (This area of town is about 30 minutes from our house and not an area we need to go to regularly (e.g., for work, school, or kids' activities), so we don't get over there very often.)

Loss: We paid the $1100 we owed to the Feds for taxes, but at least it was less than what we owed the last few years.

[shaynaatl]

Win: Our raises kick in this month. It will give us about an extra $675 monthly net.

Loss: We unknowingly underpaid '22 fed payroll tax so had to send in a $15k payment. Ouch.

[Deleted]

Win: I paid off my car a few months early. And now I may get some of my GAP insurance back

Loss: I paid off my car when it was at %1.9 interest
Loss: Weddings are money pits, however most things are coming in way cheaper than expected. The one thing that shocked me was flowers. They are ridiculously expensive. Also, our wedding planner has paid for herself and more from all the things we are getting at better prices because she knows the industry!

[quesyrah]

Win: I booked a hotel for a wedding we are are attending/my kids are in out of town. Debated between 2 hotels but felt the one I really wanted (better location) was wildly overpriced for being smaller and older. Realized the other day that the website was showing me the TOTAL price for 2 nights and not the per night price. So I canceled my first reservation and booked my preferred hotel and am saving $385!

Loss: splurged on a final sale dress for said wedding and I while it’s a pretty dress I feel so self conscious and uncomfortable in it. I spent way more than I normally would.

[dutchgirl678]

Apr 13, 2023 13:16:27 GMT -5 @lemonlover said:

Win: I paid off my car a few months early. And now I may get some of my GAP insurance back

Loss: I paid off my car when it was at %1.9 interest
Loss: Weddings are money pits, however most things are coming in way cheaper than expected. The one thing that shocked me was flowers. They are ridiculously expensive. Also, our wedding planner has paid for herself and more from all the things we are getting at better prices because she knows the industry!

I got married 16 years ago and I was appalled with the prices of flowers. We ended up ordering a big box of tulips from Holland for under $500 and made our own table arrangements and bouquets with them.

[midwestmama]

Apr 13, 2023 16:34:11 GMT -5 dutchgirl678 said:

Apr 13, 2023 13:16:27 GMT -5 @lemonlover said:

Win: I paid off my car a few months early. And now I may get some of my GAP insurance back

Loss: I paid off my car when it was at %1.9 interest
Loss: Weddings are money pits, however most things are coming in way cheaper than expected. The one thing that shocked me was flowers. They are ridiculously expensive. Also, our wedding planner has paid for herself and more from all the things we are getting at better prices because she knows the industry!

I got married 16 years ago and I was appalled with the prices of flowers. We ended up ordering a big box of tulips from Holland for under $500 and made our own table arrangements and bouquets with them.

dutchgirl678 , I bet those tulips were gorgeous, what a great idea!

Oh yes, wedding flowers are so expensive.  I got married almost 17 years ago, and only got the bare minimum for flowers - bouquets and boutonnieres (ETA: I think it was around $500 just for those).  I would have like to have had flowers as centerpieces, but DH and I were on a tight budget and couldn't afford them.  We ended up doing cake centerpieces because they were something like $18 each and that $18 paid for two things - centerpiece and cake for the guests at the table.

[ssmjlm]

Win: We are done paying for all the big things from the pool and associated construction, landscaping/fence, etc. So now savings can just build back up.

Loss: we still have to buy all the little accessories crap and we need some sort of storage box, which aren't cheap if you don't want crap. Gah, why are things so expensive?

Trying to price flights between Thanksgiving and Christmas (like, not traveling during the holidays at all) is proving to be a lot more than I really estimated. I was hoping to be about $1k round trip for the 2 of us, but that seems like a pipe dream based on flight tracking.

[chpmnk1015]

W. Made 111 in scrap metal this week. Lol. Other than that really bo wins

[mlkgls]

MM Win: My annual merit increase was effective this paycheck and I raised my 401k contribution enough to max out this year, for the first time ever. Technically, I probably could have done this sooner, but I’ve been afraid of having all my funds wrapped up into retirement. 

MM Losses

• I have a squirrel in my attic and the exclusion repair was not cheap. Home repairs and renovations are all drawn from the same sinking fund, so in theory it pushes my guest bathroom remodel timeline back slightly. (I realize this is a privileged complaint. The bathroom hasn’t been touched in 30 years, other than paint, and feels old and dingy no matter what I do.)
• @@ The summer camp payment was due this month. 

[mlkgls]

Apr 14, 2023 9:03:09 GMT -5 ssmjlm said:

Win: We are done paying for all the big things from the pool and associated construction, landscaping/fence, etc. So now savings can just build back up.

Loss: we still have to buy all the little accessories crap and we need some sort of storage box, which aren't cheap if you don't want crap. Gah, why are things so expensive?

Trying to price flights between Thanksgiving and Christmas (like, not traveling during the holidays at all) is proving to be a lot more than I really estimated. I was hoping to be about $1k round trip for the 2 of us, but that seems like a pipe dream based on flight tracking.

I was in the same boat 3 years ago and those little random extras add up! We ended up finding our large storage box at either Costco or Sam’s and it’s held up well. 

[sadlebred]

MM Win: I had a bit of leftover money from March b/c I was sick with COVID and pneumonia for 3 weeks. Other than work and sleep I barely did anything. I had a friend that is redoing his landscaping give me 4 new azaleas that won't grow more than 4' tall. The company his wife ordered from sent the wrong ones and told her to keep them. Said friend didn't want them. I'm finally done spending money on my yard beds this spring-the new azaleas are planted. The half dead 45+ year old ones are gone. Some additional bushes I bought or sourced for free were planted. Pine straw is down. I'm done paying my yard service to do extra stuff.

Loss: My pay raise was so tiny that it's something like $20/paycheck after tax. No increasing retirement contributions or anything for me this year. $20 doesn't even cover the rise of some costs with inflation.

[aspentosh]

W: Got both a federal and state refund that we are able to funnel right into investments. Love when windfalls like that don't need to go to repairs/annoying things.

W: With selling my car we get back a prorated portion of our warranty so just waiting on that check (three weeks and counting, sigh).

W: Our 10 day trip to OR/WA was within budget (even with a splurge at a glassblowing shop).

L: It's the time of year when I start buying my veggie and annual plants so that's adding up. Hoping to support local nurseries instead of ordering online, too.

L: I have a list of a few things I'd like to purchase (couch, laundry room cabinet, and DIY an outdoor trash can storage solution) that will add up over the next couple weeks.