May Wins/Losses

[sadlebred]

Whatcha got for May?

[niq]

W: We're selling our old car to our in-laws! It's low mileage and still runs fine, even if it has some ... cosmetic issues .

W/L: We're finally talking to architects and contractors about home renovations. IDK if we'll be able to get it done this summer at this point, but I'm looking forward to renovating our way into the house we want.

[chpmnk1015]

W: think i will have majority of money for DDs party saved this week; not the cash portion but the portion for the rental

L: gas and food keep going up up up

[quesyrah]

Win: we switched internet service providers and are getting faster internet for less money!

Loss: we’ll see what the month has in store for us

[flygirl]

I’ve got no wins so far, but losses really stink-we got a notice from the city that our water is running constantly and we can’t find the leak so now we have to get a plumber to come out. In the mean time we got a $300 bill today for water.
Then our dual oven decided to conk and we have someone coming for that tomorrow. They guess that it’s a certain part which is $350 plus the $199 service fee and however much labor.
Stuff just keeps falling apart in our house lately.

[quesyrah]

May 1, 2024 16:20:13 GMT -5 flygirl said:

I’ve got no wins so far, but losses really stink-we got a notice from the city that our water is running constantly and we can’t find the leak so now we have to get a plumber to come out. In the mean time we got a $300 bill today for water.
Then our dual oven decided to conk and we have someone coming for that tomorrow. They guess that it’s a certain part which is $350 plus the $199 service fee and however much labor.
Stuff just keeps falling apart in our house lately.

That stinks. Plumbing issues are the worst.

What is a normal water bill for you? I ask because $300+ is normal for us 😭

[cricketwife]

L: It’s only the first and our dishwasher broke today. Womp. Womp.

[ssmjlm]

L: new HVAC will be installed tomorrow and we'll owe our balance of about $4100 after a couple credits they're giving us

[flygirl]

quesyrah, is yours quarterly or monthly? Ours is monthly and usually this time of the year it’s about $100. It can be close to $250 in the summer.
I hate the type of issue where you have to start guessing and just paying someone to look. Hopefully it’s easier than I think.

[wildrice]

May 1, 2024 19:03:41 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

May 1, 2024 16:20:13 GMT -5 flygirl said:

I’ve got no wins so far, but losses really stink-we got a notice from the city that our water is running constantly and we can’t find the leak so now we have to get a plumber to come out. In the mean time we got a $300 bill today for water.
Then our dual oven decided to conk and we have someone coming for that tomorrow. They guess that it’s a certain part which is $350 plus the $199 service fee and however much labor.
Stuff just keeps falling apart in our house lately.

That stinks. Plumbing issues are the worst.

What is a normal water bill for you? I ask because $300+ is normal for us 😭

Whoa! Ours is about $115 quarterly. Do you have a pool or larger property that you have to water?

[midwestmama]

W: Our credit union significantly increased interest rates on money market accounts, so we had $125 (for the month of April) deposited yesterday. Before they increased interest rates, we were getting around $10-15 a month, based on the balance. I know we'll get taxed on it, but it's nice to have significantly better returns on this account.

[quesyrah]

May 2, 2024 11:56:01 GMT -5 wildrice said:

May 1, 2024 19:03:41 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

That stinks. Plumbing issues are the worst.

What is a normal water bill for you? I ask because $300+ is normal for us 😭

Whoa! Ours is about $115 quarterly. Do you have a pool or larger property that you have to water?

We do have a large property (especially for southern CA) and we’re in the process of converting both front and back to native low water landscaping.

We average $275-$350 a month

[quesyrah]

May 2, 2024 11:56:01 GMT -5 wildrice said:

May 1, 2024 19:03:41 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

That stinks. Plumbing issues are the worst.

What is a normal water bill for you? I ask because $300+ is normal for us 😭

Whoa! Ours is about $115 quarterly. Do you have a pool or larger property that you have to water?

Ours is billed every other month so the bill usually runs around $500-$600

[wildrice]

May 2, 2024 16:45:28 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

May 2, 2024 11:56:01 GMT -5 wildrice said:

Whoa! Ours is about $115 quarterly. Do you have a pool or larger property that you have to water?

We do have a large property (especially for southern CA) and we’re in the process of converting both front and back to native low water landscaping.

We average $275-$350 a month

Ah, being in SC makes sense that water would cost more. I'm so sorry! We don't have your good weather but we do have a lot of water here in Maryland.

[quesyrah]

May 2, 2024 17:51:33 GMT -5 wildrice said:

May 2, 2024 16:45:28 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

We do have a large property (especially for southern CA) and we’re in the process of converting both front and back to native low water landscaping.

We average $275-$350 a month

Ah, being in SC makes sense that water would cost more. I'm so sorry! We don't have your food weather but we do have a lot of water here in Maryland.

I wish we had the money to pay a landscaper to just do the yard for us. We can’t let the yard get too dry because of fire season so we keep watering it just enough as we work in parts of the yard.

[ny96]

All losses so far. H bought a Tesla in September and we applied for a clean energy rebate. After eight months they finally processed the application and reviewed our tax returns and we don’t qualify. I’m not going to cry too hard over this one. When we applied the paperwork said they reviewed 2021 tax returns, after that I knew we were over income but thought it’s worth a shot.

The IRS is telling us we owe them $1500 because for some reason they have us listed as only being eligible for a $2500 child tax credit, even though we have two dependents and make under $400k. I have sent lots of correspondence and spent countless hours on the phone and I’ve gotten nowhere.

[simpsongal]

All losses so far….

Last month found out our pup has lymphoma, so we’re paying for treatments and it’s $$$$

Also just found out dd(7) needs dental work - crowding and whatnot - to the tune of $800-900 out of pocket. Not bad for something that’s like orthodontic work and requires 7-8 visits. But still…

For the above reasons our house project payments are not as big as we hoped and I had to delay some tie-it-together decor purchases( which is why I haven’t posted pics).

Dd is also moving up in ballet, which is going to get pricier.

ETA: Our county approved a rate increase for property taxes despite a lot of opposition.  Our taxes have more than doubled in 10 years

ETA2: Another L - got our radon test back.  After 10+ years and 3 tests it keeps going up, so we're going to pay for a remediation system.

[sadlebred]

W: I sold something that needed to go for $100. I took a small loss, but that's ok.
L: I'm still waiting on a $400 refund from something. If I don't see it by midweek, I'm disputing the charge. The merchant assured me they would reverse the charge, but they haven't yet. Thankfully I have text messages saying so. Ya'll know the dark cloud that hangs over me. I'm sure something else L will happen.

[brooke77]

W: FedEx drove over our lawn right when we moved in and caused some pretty bad damage. We reported it and finally got the check for repairs.

L: We took a side, dirt road and apparently drove over a nail. We needed new tires anyway, so we decided to replace all 4 of our tires. Well, replacing the tires turned into brakes and an unexpected $1,700 car repair bill.

[mainelyfoolish]

L: My oldest turns 16 today and we expect them to work a summer job, so we needed to buy a third car. We purchased a new to us 2021 Venza on Saturday that I get to drive and the teen will have use of our 2012 Sienna. So that was a large chunk of money, especially after unexpectedly having had to replace a 2010 Corolla two months ago.

W: We were able to negotiate the price down a little bit and the dealer put on a new set of good quality all season tires, plus we got to keep the lightly used studded snow tires the car had on it when the leaseholder turned it in. Those two sets of tires alone would have probably cost us nearly $2k.

[sadlebred]

W: I got the $400 refund.
L: I'm sure something will happen that I have to spend the $ on in the next week.

[chpmnk1015]

W: CH has been busy so decent funds coming in
L: had to order 2 new windows for sons room.. both broke and wont stay up anymore.. was in the long term plans and we will cash flow and DH can put them in but still $1300 i didnt want to spend right now

[EvieEthelGarland]

W: we started our kitchen remodel. We saved for years, then stalled a few years and now we're finally doing it. The estimated cost makes me feel lightheaded, but if you told 2004 me who was worried about replacing laminate countertops that I'd get a full custom designed by an architect kitchen, I wouldn't believe you, so I'm taking the W.


L: The $$$$ for cabinets doesn't phase me, but having to spend $200 for a cheap microwave and induction cooktop is annoying me.


(I am married to said architect, so that helps a lot cost-wise)

[sadlebred]

I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU!

L: My 10 year old Shark stick vac that has been repaired more times than I can count instead of being replaced has finally given up the ghost. The battery won't even hold a charge right off the charger as of this morning. I made it last as long as I could. Since I have all hardwoods, LVP, and tile I bought a Dyson V8. It has a soft brush for hard floors. $349, but at least I got 15% back with Rakuten so about $298 + tax. In the meantime I'll lug the big Shark upstairs to vacuum the area rug.

[jobae1234]

W: My husband has been out of work since January and somehow our emergency fund has remained untouched. I mean we’ve touched it, but then we got a tax return and it got replaced. The same amount remains in there. Also in general the fact that we are pulling this off financially baffles me.

L: There is no sign of him working again any time soon. We’re paying $1500/mo in marketplace medical and dental (need a good plan because of his medical issue). I stopped retirement savings when we lost his income, but I’m thinking we may need to tighten our budget even more somehow in order to make this work longer term. I don’t really know how. It’s too soon to make a major decision like downsizing our house. Our house is perfectly nice but not huge or luxurious, so we’d have to downsize quite a lot to make a big enough dent in the budget to overcome the change in interest rates. We’re sub 3%.

Both/neither: It’s an expensive season, having a high school senior. Prom, graduation gift, graduation party, and 18th bday all stack in a row over here. Then college starts. So it’s a time of celebration AND major cost.

[sadlebred]

jobae1234 Do you have a budget? Do you know where your money goes every month? MM does good budget reviews! You can also post anonymously. Quick ways to save money: cancel streaming services, no haircuts/spa/mani-pedis, tell the kids to get a job for spending $ for the summer, buying store brand at the supermarket, etc. Lots of small ways! With a sub 3% mortgage, I'd be hesitant to move.

[quesyrah]

Another win.

We needed to get homeowners insurance and I’ve heard nightmare stories that in CA it’s hard to get and insanely expensive. Some companies are not writing new policies and some have pulled out of CA altogether.

We have our auto and renters through AAA and were able to get a policy through them and the premium seems reasonable to me.

[jobae1234]

May 8, 2024 8:06:46 GMT -5 sadlebred said:

jobae1234 Do you have a budget? Do you know where your money goes every month? MM does good budget reviews! You can also post anonymously. Quick ways to save money: cancel streaming services, no haircuts/spa/mani-pedis, tell the kids to get a job for spending $ for the summer, buying store brand at the supermarket, etc. Lots of small ways! With a sub 3% mortgage, I'd be hesitant to move.

Tight budget, everything extra canceled, every dollar tracked.

I’m thinking of trying Mint Mobile, if anyone has any info on if they’re good or not.

[quesyrah]

May 8, 2024 19:44:04 GMT -5 jobae1234 said:

May 8, 2024 8:06:46 GMT -5 sadlebred said:

jobae1234 Do you have a budget? Do you know where your money goes every month? MM does good budget reviews! You can also post anonymously. Quick ways to save money: cancel streaming services, no haircuts/spa/mani-pedis, tell the kids to get a job for spending $ for the summer, buying store brand at the supermarket, etc. Lots of small ways! With a sub 3% mortgage, I'd be hesitant to move.

Tight budget, everything extra canceled, every dollar tracked.

I’m thinking of trying Mint Mobile, if anyone has any info on if they’re good or not.

Would he qualify for SSDI? I may be off base but it sounds like he’s not working due to his health? Might be worth looking into.

[bee20]

L: I got my escrow statement, my insurance has 10x'd in 10 years. I pay as much for insurance as I do for the public schools. Seems messed up.
W: I bought long enough ago that even with the new charge my costs are below average for housing in this area. No idea what the newer buyers are supposed to do.