Sept. MM Randoms

[sadlebred]

What's new? Whatcha got?

[chpmnk1015]

Really trying to reign in spending this month...but already the grocery bill is out of control. And have to go to bjs this week still.
Wishing I could find a part time/second job w flexibility.. doing one photo thing but it's like $10 for certain jobs and semi feeling it's not worth my time bit at least it something.
Water bill was crazy because we had a leak in pool
Dh has not had any work the last couple weeks so that stinks.

[wildrice]

August was hella expensive, so this month we'll be trying to cut back. We have a few planned things already (a couple of concerts and sporting events that we already have tickets for) and I am trying to cut back on takeout/going out when I'm too disorganized to put together a decent dinner. I've been doing more meal prep stuff in the last couple of weeks, but I've been using recipes that call for additional ingredients that I don't have in my normal rotation, so I've spent a bit more on groceries than usual.

Crossing my fingers that nothing comes up unexpectedly that costs a lot and we can catch up a bit with the money pulled from savings last month!

[simpsongal]

Our kid activities have gotten so expensive - someone once warned me that it rivals daycare (plus when you add in more food and other things they need). It's not that bad but DS's swimming is $3K for the cool months... and piano for both kids is $440/mo. At this point we've paid for a fair amount of those activities through the end of the year, so I'm hoping that frees up money for other things in Q4.

We might open another point-earning credit card, though the bonuses are just 'meh' right now. I'm also toying w/the idea of opening a 0% interest card for my renovation items. I think we're in a wait and see posture there.

DH and I are determined to pay off our HELOC before the start of our next project. Balance is about $10K (started at $36K at the beginning of the year). The construction lead times are far more reasonable now, so that's helpful - we won't have to float expenses as crazy far in advance this time around.

[mae0111]

It’s been a spendy summer. I really want to try and get ahold of spending, but I feel totally unprepared for the school year. No freezer meals done, and I think that both kids are going to need more clothes. They start at a new school tomorrow after 5 years at a school that required uniforms. Now no uniforms, but they go dressed in athletic attire during sports seasons. I think we have some things to figure out there…

The activities really ramp up next week. Both kids have sports immediately after school, then dd2 has soccer Tues-Wed-Thurs evenings. That will make dinner time tough. So I imagine our takeout bill will stink until I can wrap my arms around that.

The good news is that we paid off my car and some other small consumer debt today, freeing up a good amount of funds monthly. That feels good!

[Roc A Bee]

DH and I are being more mindful of our spending to cut down some debt he’s accrued. Actually it’s paid off, but we are building back up our savings. It’s going to take a year, but it will feel good.

This is the first month we are being more mindful, and I’m excited to see how much I can cut back on eating out and general shopping - although our groceries budget will probably need to be increased.

We are getting a 8% COLA this month, so that will be good!

[ssmjlm]

I was afraid I over estimated our FSA based on new dental insurance, but with all my medical stuff going on right now, I'm not sure what will or will not be covered, so I guess that's one less worry.

Otherwise, I've shifted around some auto payments to put more toward DH's truck and less over payment on the mortgage. The rates are the same, but would rather have the truck payment done so we can start funneling that to my next car's DP.

[flygirl]

Well we had to drop $14k for a new ac and furnace in August so this is going to be a spend very little September. When stuff like that happens, I really wish I wasn’t married to a spender. I tell him that we need to save and not spend a lot and literally an hour later he comes with a list of things he *needs.* He’s obsessed with our lawn and wanted to spend $150 on some treatment and I put the kibosh on it so he’s pouting. We already have fertilizer with a weed treatment we bought this spring so that’s all he’s getting.

[niq]

We apparently need to have a "we are just straight up spending too much money" talk but I'm putting it off another month.

It's probably fixable by cancelling some of the subscriptions/memberships, switching aftercare from 5 days to 3 once activities start, and "just shop less". Sigh.

[dragon's breath]

Between last month and this week, I've paid off 85% of my 8/1/2023 mortgage balance. I'd rather not cash out some I bonds yet, or touch any investments, so I'm waiting for a couple more pay checks to come in and then I will pay the final 15% next month.

For several reasons, I never refinanced when rates were low (20/20 vision looking back, I wish I would have). With a mortgage rate near 6%, and other financial stuff I had saved cash for not panning out still, I've decided to at least make some progress and be 100% debt free. (I use CCs as tools, but pay the balance off each month.)

I've always had a plan to "reward" myself with something for other financial goals I meet, but this one was not ever going to be a goal or event (was hoping to move years ago), so I never promised myself anything for working to pay it off. I guess the 100% debt-free event will be enough of a reward. And then I'll continue to save like made for the next goal.

[flygirl]

dragon's breath, that’s awesome!

[fryjack2]

This is the month I reach out to an investing team referred to me by someone on here and actually start investing outside of retirement accounts.

My kids want to start investing, so that may be the kick I need after about 10 years of talking about it.

[ellipses84]

I can write a long list of all the MM things we are doing right this year, but due to our bucket list family vacation in June that ended up being more $$$ than planned/unpaid time off for that and cost of living/ inflation, we are definitely having to tighten our belts and my checking account is lower than I’d like it to be. I have to remind myself that a lot is being routed to other places like investments and 401k (unfortunately not doing great), kids college, savings, etc. and we’ve eliminated some monthly expenses.

DH had the slowest season ever at work, but he’s heard rumors he’s a top contender for a new job in the Spring that would be amazing for MM and life. Initially I was making a lot consulting but this has been my least profitable year and I’m basically working full time at my part time job to make ends meet, without the benefits of FTE. I decided to officially go full time and consult a little on top of that, but I’m waiting for a formal offer. Fingers crossed for both of our job prospects!

We went out of town for the long weekend for our anniversary, but we stayed with family with a pool who offered to babysit, so it really only cost gas money and dinner. DH did splurge for a Starbucks surprise for me a couple times that week and we were shocked that my typical medium drink cost $1.30 more in their Low-MCOL city/state compared to the HCOL place we live. Grocery store prices there seem to have skyrocketed since we last visited in March, too.

Student loan payments are resuming, but most of mine and all of DH’s are gone. What I have left is only around $3,500 but I was lucky enough to graduate while interest rates were a low 2.4%, so I’m going with a low payment for a while until I’m more comfortable with our finances again. I got conflicting notices, one saying my October payment would be $50/month and one that said it would be $450/ month, so make sure you check this month if you have student loans! I logged in and ended up changing it to a different plan and payment because it seemed like the $450 was what they were going to charge me.

[chpmnk1015]

And just had to buy myself a new pc...got a decent deal but 500 I did not want to spend right now.

[midwestmama]

As others have said, trying to reign in spending this fall. (Although grocery costs are so high, that is a hard expense to reign in. I don't know how the inflation rate isn't higher, because I feel like I'm spending 50%-100% more on groceries than 1-2 years ago.) We always spend more in the summer with trips, eating out more, and baseball tournaments, so we try to reign it in in the fall. (Although I am heading to Poland tomorrow for a week-long work trip and do plan to hit the mall there and also buy souvenir sweatshirts for the family, so I guess "reigning in" will wait one more week.)

DH switched our cable to streaming and a limited number of channels, so that is going to save $50/month.

[aprilsails]

@@@ We are done paying for daycare!!! However, we gave her a large thank you cheque since she was awesome, so it's more like we're done paying for daycare mid-month.

I am trying to rein in spending as well, but back to school shopping has taken a small toll on the accounts. I think we are pretty well sorted out now.

[noodleoo]

Sept 7, 2023 10:25:52 GMT -5 aprilsails said:

@@@ We are done paying for daycare!!! However, we gave her a large thank you cheque since she was awesome, so it's more like we're done paying for daycare mid-month.

I am trying to rein in spending as well, but back to school shopping has taken a small toll on the accounts. I think we are pretty well sorted out now.

Wahoo!!! Congrats! I cannot wait. DD2 misses the cutoff by a month (sob!) and I'm counting it down. 11 more checks to go...

[jewel]

I am bleeding $ from every single direction.

Insurance in CA has gotten rough. A lot of HO companies are pulling out of the state. I just got a non-renewal on a rental property, which was tricky to insure to start with. So far, I’ve found only one company who can cover and it’s 50% higher than I paid last year. My mortgage company sent me a letter threatening to get their own coverage if I don’t provide new proof and I’m half tempted to see if they can find something better.

I’m still on the waitlist for a new fence from storms from last winter, and we’re coming up this month, which will be another $5k or so.

All the rest is money I’m choosing to bleed. Lol.

[trissie18]

Add me to the bleeding money category. This month will continue to be spendy but really need to reign it in starting in October. Our biggest expense this month is a much needed water system at the tune of $4600. It is an expected expense so we have the cash to pay for it but still hurts.

[pierogigirl]

Carry over from last month. The dryer repair person didn't have/bring all the parts so we have to wait for them to come in. The repair will still be free, but drying my clothes on a rack and outside on the line has been hard with the humidity and all the rain we've been having.

[wise_rita]

Sept 6, 2023 14:44:21 GMT -5 ellipses84 said:

Student loan payments are resuming, but most of mine and all of DH’s are gone. What I have left is only around $3,500 but I was lucky enough to graduate while interest rates were a low 2.4%, so I’m going with a low payment for a while until I’m more comfortable with our finances again. I got conflicting notices, one saying my October payment would be $50/month and one that said it would be $450/ month, so make sure you check this month if you have student loans! I logged in and ended up changing it to a different plan and payment because it seemed like the $450 was what they were going to charge me.

Thanks for the reminder!  Looks like my repayment is exactly where it was before (my provider has changed since the interest has been paused).  My interest rate is over 6% so I am extra pissed at the Supreme Court sucking donkey balls.

Last month people were talking about Social Security, which reminds me: I have 39 Social Security credits, and in order to be able to claim benefits you need 40.  I moved out of the USA 16 years ago and haven't worked there since, and the income required to earn a credit is pretty low, so I want to cross that hurdle sooner than later!

[Gato]

I got a great job that's starting Monday after staying at home for 15 years. I was so excited about all the extra money!

Then I actually re-did our budget. My H took a dream job this spring that paid 25K less than his last job, so part of my salary just gets us back to our old baseline. Then I set aside the aggressive savings we'll need to catch up our kids' college funds, which we barely contributed to, for one reason or another, for almost five years. Then I factored in catching up my retirement fund, because it was really bothering me that I had such a small one compared to my H. 

Guess what? No more extra money!   It's all good, I know we are lucky to be able to save so much, but dang! I thought I could at least take a little spa trip or something.

[sadlebred]

It's the little things sometimes for MM, right?

I did a ride with some friends today (gravel bike ride). We had a great time and decided to get food afterwards. Nearly $30 for lunch. Ouch. Then I decided I wanted to try the new ice cream place and got an overpriced $7.99 milkshake. It was HUGE. As in there was no Earthly way one person could have it all. The 4th time or so I picked it up in the car to drink it, the lid flew off, and more than half the milkshake spilled into my console. I had to stop at the gas station and buy an overpriced $3 roll of paper towels to get it out. Thankfully I had plenty of water in the car to use to help get it up. So nearly $45 plus the gas....and I spent $50 over budget at the grocery store this week.

[EvieEthelGarland]

Sept 10, 2023 16:40:42 GMT -5 sadlebred said:

 got an overpriced $7.99 milkshake. It was HUGE. As in there was no Earthly way one person could have it all. 

I somehow bought 3 $9.79 soft-serve milkshakes at a fly fishing shop in the middle of nowhere Idaho. They were not huge.  All I could think of was Vincent Vega and his $5 milkshake.  And that was indicative of how pricey our labor day getaway was. We spent as such on a 5 day roadtrip staying at Best Westerns as we have on a week in Hawaii in the past. 

[cherry1111]

H has been informed he will be laid off by the end of the year. He earns about 65% of our household income. This came just a month after I had a layoff scare at my job. We have never dealt with unemployment before and I’m worried about several things. We have a lot of savings thanks in part to never upgrading out of our home we bought when we earned 1/3 what we do now, but I’d rather not need to dig into it for this. The job market is not looking great at the moment for his field and everything is just feeling so damn expensive these days. I hope my marriage withstands this stress and uncertainty.

[noodleoo]

Ugh, sorry cherry1111. Fingers crossed he can find something soon and gets a decent severance.

[sadlebred]

cherry1111 I'm really sorry!

My company has announced there will be "massive" layoffs before Q1 next year. I'm not super worried, but Oct. 1 I go back into savings mode.

[ohgillian]

Bad: Dishwasher died

Good: I filed a bunch of reimbursement claims for some stuff and all the money (about 2k) is starting to come in

[ellipses84]

I still need to change my car insurance provider but I decided I’m going to wait until next month. I was checking my current insurance website and seeing if I changed anything, how much we could save. The coverage differences for minor things weren’t worth the savings. However, I realized they now let you change the mileage online really easily without putting in your current odometer (Just average miles per year without printing and mailing a paper form). I’ve driven less each year due to WFH so that went down again and was a decent savings. So this is your reminder to check on that!

I also got expensive dental insurance this year because I thought it would cover DS’ braces at a good orthodontist (we had a terrible experience at an HMO ortho last year). Turns out there was tiny fine print about it being medically necessary which I think he’s borderline on but we would have lost the battle fighting it with insurance. Anyway the new ortho is great and OOP charges less for all phases than the other Ortho was charging after insurance for the first phase alone. I also found out I can downgrade our insurance instead of waiting until open enrollment which is 1/3rd of the cost!

I never received my car title last year and finally called around to several state dmvs and financial institutions to track it down and also make sure my other car title will be sent to my correct address. The title was sent to the house that flooded in Hurricane Harvey and I had to send a $2 check to get a new one, which is pretty funny to do in this day and age. Shockingly the longest I waited on hold was 10 minutes! In the aftermath, DH and my car stayed there and me and the kids went to stay at my parents where I had to buy a car to replace his flooded car and commute to work at my office near their city. Their state DMV had my current city for an address but it was still an old address. 6 years later and still dealing with the aftermath of flooding 😩 The only thing DH needs to do now is replace his destroyed DD214 which I’ve been nagging him to do for years (he can use it to show he is a Veteran and get things like a free National Park pass).

We never paid off his car early because it’s a low interest rate and since we don’t have a mortgage, having a car payment actually helps our credit score, which I find super annoying.

[chpmnk1015]

Sept 11, 2023 22:45:34 GMT -5 cherry1111 said:

H has been informed he will be laid off by the end of the year. He earns about 65% of our household income. This came just a month after I had a layoff scare at my job. We have never dealt with unemployment before and I’m worried about several things. We have a lot of savings thanks in part to never upgrading out of our home we bought when we earned 1/3 what we do now, but I’d rather not need to dig into it for this. The job market is not looking great at the moment for his field and everything is just feeling so damn expensive these days. I hope my marriage withstands this stress and uncertainty.

lots of vibes.. hoping it works out ok