December MM Randoms

[sadlebred]

What do ya have so far?

I get to have open heart surgery again in Jan. That will be 2 weeks unpaid. I may be able to claim disability with my company's disability insurance. Thankfully the other 6 weeks will be at full pay/FMLA. This will be a hit.

Black Friday/Cyber Monday/Cyber Week was sort of a wash. I had some money set aside to buy gifts and some needed things for myself--sheets, cycling socks, and a few small things.

[dcn]

I feel like money is just flying out of our account right now. It’s all fine and budgeted for, we have the money. It’s just happening all at once!

[melmel4854]

Nothing much yet. I paid $91 at the hair salon today. No other money has been spent yet. I am getting my first prescription with my new health insurance tomorrow though, curious to see what the copay with the new insurance will be.

[jewel]

I just spent $208 on a 5 day dose of generic Tamiflu for my kid. We have a HDHP so I always expect to pay something, but almost every med I’ve ever gotten has been $15 or less. Geez!

[quesyrah]

We just found out DH is getting a bonus and it gets paid next week. No idea how much, but I’ll take anything

[quesyrah]

I don’t know how to tag, but I’m sorry to hear
You need surgery, Sadlebred.

[chpmnk1015]

Sadlebred sending you lots of vibes!!!

Ummm. I don't know how we are spending as much as we are right now. All needed stuff mostly but darn it's all at once. Oven broke so dh bought a 162 part which seems to be working now and I hope it continues.
Both kids outgrew winter coats and boots.
Daughter needed a dress for a sweet 16 and a holiday outfit. Both inexpensive but adds up.
Did only spend 78 on groceries this week because we are eating out of freezer.
Most Christmas gifts are done...
Just wish I could make more

[sadlebred]

chpmnk1015 I wish I could make more money, too. At least I have/had good health insurance!

[chpmnk1015]

Dec 2, 2023 19:50:27 GMT -5 sadlebred said:

chpmnk1015 I wish I could make more money, too. At least I have/had good health insurance!

Very happy you have good health insurance!

[dr.girlfriend]

sadlebred, Best wishes for a successful surgery and quick recovery!

Thankfully December is going to be quiet around here. We did a few things for the kiddo's birthday but he's 15 so he doesn't really want "stuff" anymore -- we took him to a comedy show and then a movie, and had pizza at home for a few of his friends for a party. Love this low-maintenance phase!

Christmas is going to be just ourselves, and so very low key. My husband's big Xmas present was a trip to Vegas to see U2 at The Sphere, but that was all paid when it was booked, so hopefully December will be a relatively calm month finance-wise! We will get a live tree and a few presents but no other major purchases as far as I know (please don't let me be jinxing myself -- my son's very pricey gaming computer that was his gift last year just got shipped back to the manufacturer for repair. We have an extended protection plan but here's hoping they make good on it because the process was certainly as difficult as possible!)

[bee20]

The only thing I got at Black Friday this year was some Zenni glasses at 25% off, and I'm pretty sure they run that sale regularly. I just needed glasses.

Looks like annual spending will come in flat or a little down from last year. After the period of inflation it's nice for things to level off for a bit.

[mainelyfoolish]

Both of my kids take Vyvanse for ADHD. This fall, the patent expired and a generic became available, so instead of a preferred drug $60 co-pay, I can get the generic for a $15 co-pay. Yay! Except the generic is in short supply. The last couple of months, we’ve had to call around to a few pharmacies to find one with the generic in stock. This month, H and I just spent two days calling every pharmacy in a 25 mile radius and no one has the generic in stock, so we ended up filling the prescriptions today with the brand name drug. And since there is (theoretically) a generic available, the brand name is no longer on my insurer’s formulary and the co-insurance for the brand name is $198, per child. I’m going to ration the pills by not letting them use their meds on weekends and over school vacation so we have a little bit of a buffer to get enough time to hopefully find a generic in stock when we need to do this all over again next month. I hate that I have to do that, but I can’t afford to pay $400 a month indefinitely for their meds. 

[fryjack2]

I hope surgery is uncomplicated and your recovery is smooth sadlebred.

This was an expensive month. After tax payment day, December is always our second biggest expensive. Between renewing yearly maintenance contracts, kids summer camps, kids sports, new kitchen appliances, install, and delivery, new running shoes for everyone ( those have gotten expensive!) and a large donation to charity to help Gaza, we spent many thousands .Looking forward to the day the kids don't need camp or childcare over the summer.

And its only Dec. 5th! We have a couple travel/ski weekends later this month and I have to buy gifts but keeping that spending lower than usual.

I did get a 4% raise ( this is amazing in my industry where we get 2% most years) and H moved up a title which comes with a raise, but we don't know what it will be yet. Plan is to just add the difference in pay directly into savings each month as if we didn't get them.

[fryjack2]

jewel and mainelyfoolish I'm sorry about the cost of meds. Its ridiculous and changes need to be made so that they aren't as insanely expensive

[scm1011]

We discovered last week that we (DH) left the fireplace flu partly open last winter and mold grew inside our chimney. Someone came out to remedy yesterday to the tune of $1300. Ugh.

[shaynaatl]

We just hit a milestone net worth amount, so that was nice to see (though a bear market would negate that).

[dr.girlfriend]

mainelyfoolish , That is so frustrating! [edited out personal info].

[simpsongal]

Haha, we're in the midst of a major addition/renovation - the sum total will be over $200K.

I feel like I'm spending and doing things w/credit that would give most of us pause....I maxed out a 0% credit card for reno expenses and I just applied for another card. Not sure if I'll be approved. The renovation expenses are such a shell game at the moment. Like I swipe my regular card for the cabinet down payment, transfer my TSP loan from my savings to pay that off. For now we're keeping the HELOC low and earmarking that for the major payments due out to the contractor ($58K left for him). I'm keeping close track of everything but it's....something.

We've paid out about $117K so far in labor and materials, and have a little over....$90K left to pay. We have a decent amount in our regular budget to bankroll some of this, but again, it's a bit of a borrowing peter to pay paul situation. The windows were $15K, we paid half 7 weeks ago, and paid them off last week. Cabinets were $24K, we paid half, and the other half is due upon delivery. And by "paid" it's a mix of funding sources from cc/heloc/tsp debt to savings/income.

I feel like the 'rules' re borrowing for renovations are all different than they used to be, in part thanks to taxes and higher interest rates. I don't think we can deduct HELOC interest since we're likely filing std. deduction this year (right on the edge, the itemized threshold is so high though...like $28K?). The TSP loan seems to have worked out well. I took a 5 yr loan for $50K, it comes out of my paycheck. Since the payback hit when I maxed the social security contribution I barely noticed the payment (and I won't notice in January b/c we shoudl get a 4-5% COLA). A lot of folks probably would have taken a 7% home equity loan and called it a day, but if I can fund a fair amount of this at 0% and be incentivized to pay it ASAP, I'm ok w/that.

So we're making it happen.... [breathes into paper bag]. I hope that next card goes through b/c re haven't bought a range and they're $$$, I'd love to just buy one w/a zero percent card and pay it off throughout 2024.

Other random MM - DH has a fair amount of a particular stock and has been able to engage in some lucrative securities lending. It's been quite the nice income stream. I know folks are generally pro index funds and other approaches, but this is not a benefit of individual stock I would have considered. It's netting us like $800/mo....taxable as ordinary income but still nice.

[simpsongal]

Dec 1, 2023 20:18:57 GMT -5 jewel said:

I just spent $208 on a 5 day dose of generic Tamiflu for my kid. We have a HDHP so I always expect to pay something, but almost every med I’ve ever gotten has been $15 or less. Geez!

yikes - did your kiddo tolerate it? I came down w/the flu after DD (both vaccinated) and I couldn't keep the tamiflu down after day 2...

[dr.girlfriend]

Dec 8, 2023 15:23:43 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Haha, we're in the midst of a major addition/renovation - the sum total will be over $200K.

It is definitely very scary but we spent about as much on our renovation in 2019 and are SO happy we did.  I don't think anything gives me as much joy per dollar as a home renovation (but then again I'm a homebody).

[simpsongal]

Dec 8, 2023 16:46:34 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Dec 8, 2023 15:23:43 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Haha, we're in the midst of a major addition/renovation - the sum total will be over $200K.

It is definitely very scary but we spent about as much on our renovation in 2019 and are SO happy we did.  I don't think anything gives me as much joy per dollar as a home renovation (but then again I'm a homebody).

I totally thought of you as I was writing my post - thank you!! I feel pretty good about it all, but I’m ready to turn off the extra expenses tap. We’re $25k over budget and probably going to have more costs. Eg - our house is clad in what can only be deemed compressed cardboard? So boom $2500 for plywood so they can hang cement siding.

[jewel]

Dec 8, 2023 15:25:03 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Dec 1, 2023 20:18:57 GMT -5 jewel said:

I just spent $208 on a 5 day dose of generic Tamiflu for my kid. We have a HDHP so I always expect to pay something, but almost every med I’ve ever gotten has been $15 or less. Geez!

yikes - did your kiddo tolerate it? I came down w/the flu after DD (both vaccinated) and I couldn't keep the tamiflu down after day 2...

Well now that you say that, I do feel a little bad that I wasn’t super tolerant of his hatred of the medicine. He’s VERY dramatic about any liquid med, which this was, and it was a huge ordeal every time. His flu symptoms went away so fast, like within 24 hours, but he was nauseous and just generally sick-feeling for 3-4 more days. Our whole household had flu shots and he was the only one that ended up sick, but I didn’t realize that Tamiflu was generally hard to handle. Maybe I should have just skipped it…

[simpsongal]

jewel seems like a pick your poison situation. If your Lo handled it without tossing the meds, probably the right move. Reddit rabbit holes took me to info about another antiviral I’ll ask about next time. It’s one dose and apparently better than tamiflu?

Glad y’all are healthy now. I’m largely battling cold like symptoms now (day5) but totally over being sick.

[quesyrah]

DH’s bonus was deposited today. Did not
know that nearly half of it goes to taxes 🫠

[ohgillian]

H agreed that we can’t afford a vacation this coming spring (by which I mean “can’t afford it along with all of our other money priorities”) which is good because it has been stressing me out. We decided to do a big trip next Christmas. I’m excited!

[quesyrah]

Dec 11, 2023 13:51:06 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

H agreed that we can’t afford a vacation this coming spring (by which I mean “can’t afford it along with all of our other money priorities”) which is good because it has been stressing me out. We decided to do a big trip next Christmas. I’m excited!

How fun! Where are you thinking of going?

We did a small trip over Christmas last year and decided this year that we might want to do that every year.

[dr.girlfriend]

Dec 11, 2023 11:08:16 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

DH’s bonus was deposited today. Did not
know that nearly half of it goes to taxes 🫠

Remember, about half of it is WITHHELD for taxes, but the difference between that and your effective tax rate will be credited back to you when you file taxes for that year, so you may get a nice refund!

For example, if the bonus was $10k and they withheld 50% ($5k) for taxes.  If your effective tax rate is 20% (mine prints out on the front page of my taxes every year in whatever program my accountant uses -- I think TurboTax used to have the same) you'll get $3k of that $5k withheld back (e.g., you actually owed $2k, or 20%, and so you'll get the remaining $3k, or 30% that was withheld back), assuming everything else is equal and you don't owe elsewhere.

[quesyrah]

Dec 12, 2023 15:05:31 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Dec 11, 2023 11:08:16 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

DH’s bonus was deposited today. Did not
know that nearly half of it goes to taxes 🫠

Remember, about half of it is WITHHELD for taxes, but the difference between that and your effective tax rate will be credited back to you when you file taxes for that year, so you may get a nice refund!

For example, if the bonus was $10k and they withheld 50% ($5k) for taxes.  If your effective tax rate is 20% (mine prints out on the front page of my taxes every year in whatever program my accountant uses -- I think TurboTax used to have the same) you'll get $3k of that $5k withheld back (e.g., you actually owed $2k, or 20%, and so you'll get the remaining $3k, or 30% that was withheld back), assuming everything else is equal and you don't owe elsewhere.

Ohhh this is good to know! Thank you.

[midwestmama]

Dec 12, 2023 17:03:38 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

Dec 12, 2023 15:05:31 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Remember, about half of it is WITHHELD for taxes, but the difference between that and your effective tax rate will be credited back to you when you file taxes for that year, so you may get a nice refund!

For example, if the bonus was $10k and they withheld 50% ($5k) for taxes.  If your effective tax rate is 20% (mine prints out on the front page of my taxes every year in whatever program my accountant uses -- I think TurboTax used to have the same) you'll get $3k of that $5k withheld back (e.g., you actually owed $2k, or 20%, and so you'll get the remaining $3k, or 30% that was withheld back), assuming everything else is equal and you don't owe elsewhere.

Ohhh this is good to know! Thank you.

There is a Federal flat tax (25%, I think) for supplemental wages (e.g., bonuses), which is applied in addition to regular taxes.  The rest is as dr.girlfriend said.

[wanderingback]

Dec 4, 2023 11:45:21 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

sadlebred, Best wishes for a successful surgery and quick recovery!

Thankfully December is going to be quiet around here. We did a few things for the kiddo's birthday but he's 15 so he doesn't really want "stuff" anymore -- we took him to a comedy show and then a movie, and had pizza at home for a few of his friends for a party. Love this low-maintenance phase!

Christmas is going to be just ourselves, and so very low key. My husband's big Xmas present was a trip to Vegas to see U2 at The Sphere, but that was all paid when it was booked, so hopefully December will be a relatively calm month finance-wise! We will get a live tree and a few presents but no other major purchases as far as I know (please don't let me be jinxing myself -- my son's very pricey gaming computer that was his gift last year just got shipped back to the manufacturer for repair. We have an extended protection plan but here's hoping they make good on it because the process was certainly as difficult as possible!)

I’m just commenting cause your kid is 15?! Omg.
I can’t remember when I came over for your movie party but I think he was just a toddler!