May Wins/Losses

[egishere]

W: DH got his quarterly bonus last week which was a nice sum
L: I paid May and June mortgage but accidentally paid it twice so four payments came out of our account and they applied the extra to our principal but we need that money lol! I called and they are going to send the extra payments back but said it will be 5-7 business days.

[jobae1234]

May 8, 2024 21:31:37 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

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

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.

Not yet, but we’re in a lawsuit with worker’s comp and we have a mediation date. They will replace a percentage of lost wages, which would make all the difference in floating us until he could work again. 80-90% of cases settle, and we have a strong case, so I’m holding out hope.

I’m pulling in good money. We’re not in danger of losing the house or anything. It’s quality of life, disposable income, ability to save, etc that are currently compromised.

[quesyrah]

May 9, 2024 15:16:40 GMT -5 jobae1234 said:

May 8, 2024 21:31:37 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

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.

Not yet, but we’re in a lawsuit with worker’s comp and we have a mediation date. They will replace a percentage of lost wages, which would make all the difference in floating us until he could work again. 80-90% of cases settle, and we have a strong case, so I’m holding out hope.

I’m pulling in good money. We’re not in danger of losing the house or anything. It’s quality of life, disposable income, ability to save, etc that are currently compromised.

I’m sorry you’re going through that. I can only imagine how stressful it is.

Lifestyle changes are still really hard even if you’re still financially stable.

[mlkgls]

W: Work has been an absolute cluster lately and I haven’t quit yet lol. In recognition of that, I received a small retention bonus yesterday. I won’t get the other half until next year, but it was a nice little addition to the paycheck. It will either go into savings or below. 

W/L: We haven’t fully decided yet, but it looks like we need to replace one of our attic fans and installing radiant barrier was also recommended by the same company. Summers are brutal and only appear to be getting warmer so it possibly makes sense. Bye bye bonus, and then some, if we do this. 

L: Summer camp starts at the end of the month, but at least I’ll be reimbursed from my dependent care account next month. 

L: I’m sure DS will have a great time at band camp, but it was a little more than I expected for several days of practicing for a few hours with a Saturday performance. 

[heygrey]

Win: my car has had a slow oil leak that we couldn't figure out. It had to go to the dealership for a recall repair and they realized its a valve gasket cover. $209 and she's all fixed up. This is far better than buying a new car which is what my anxiety told me we should do.

[midwestmama]

New W: We do the budget option for our natural gas utility. May is our settlement month, and we actually have an account credit of $107. Our new monthly amount is going to be $99 (down from $110), so we will get a full month of our gas bill paid for with the credit. Last fall/winter, we started turning down our heat 2 degrees at night over the winter (with a temp of 68* during the day), now that our kids are teenagers and fully capable of putting on an extra clothing layer or blanket if they are cold at night.

[sometimesrunner]

We are hemorrhaging money right now. Both of the kids birthdays, mother's day, DD's dance recital, short trip to NYC over memorial day weekend, and summer camps. And after reading the college savings post, I ran some calculations as to what the estimated cost will be when each the kids attend, and bumped up their contributions so that we will get to 80% of the estimated cost when they're done with HS. I would guess they'll get scholarships, so that will make up some of the shortfall, and the rest we'll cash flow.

[Susie]

We got a truly outrageous estimate for finishing our basement, so we're tabling the project entirely.  IDK if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it's a thing.

It was like $75-85k, and included excavating and opening up the foundation to add an egress window, which current code requires for any living space, not just bedrooms below grade.  They also included taking down the existing insulation + sheetrock (which isn't painted/finished) to put up new, because what we have isn't up to the thickness required by current code.  So much that I wasn't banking on having to do.  I just wanted a blackout ceiling, some sheetrock, some LVP floors, maybe some baseboard heat and call it good!

[Gato]

Loss: paid for Paris trip and pre-paid some for our stateside summer trip.

Loss: our 18-year-old biofuel car is on its last legs. If it can pass inspection this month without sinking too much into it, we'll keep it for one more year at least. If not, we've got to buy a new car this summer, and we'll probably pay cash. That'll basically wipe out our emergency fund, but I don't really want to be paying $500-plus a month while we're trying to put a kid through college.

Gain MAYBE: H is in the final round of interviews for a job that will increase his income by 30ish%. I hope I didn't just jinx this!

[chpmnk1015]

w: did half my roth ira contribution for the year; hoping i can do the full amount this year. Ly i did 1K. Did DHs already for the year

[pinkdutchtulips]

W: I used to lurk here quite a bit to pick up tips and tricks for when I was finally NOT living paycheck to paycheck ... well the time has come! Thanks to pay increases and inheritances from both my mom and gpa, I am FINALLY credit card, SL, and car debt free!! My credit score that at one point was sub 500 now sits in the low 700s!! I am no longer living paycheck to paycheck!

I've got an e-fund and contribute to match on my 401k as I can't do the max yet (SF Bay Area living y'all) but I've come a long way!

[cricketwife]

May 22, 2024 13:56:11 GMT -5 pinkdutchtulips said:

W: I used to lurk here quite a bit to pick up tips and tricks for when I was finally NOT living paycheck to paycheck ... well the time has come! Thanks to pay increases and inheritances from both my mom and gpa, I am FINALLY credit card, SL, and car debt free!! My credit score that at one point was sub 500 now sits in the low 700s!! I am no longer living paycheck to paycheck!

I've got an e-fund and contribute to match on my 401k as I can't do the max yet (SF Bay Area living y'all) but I've come a long way!

Good for you!  That’s really awesome!

[quesyrah]

May 22, 2024 13:56:11 GMT -5 pinkdutchtulips said:

W: I used to lurk here quite a bit to pick up tips and tricks for when I was finally NOT living paycheck to paycheck ... well the time has come! Thanks to pay increases and inheritances from both my mom and gpa, I am FINALLY credit card, SL, and car debt free!! My credit score that at one point was sub 500 now sits in the low 700s!! I am no longer living paycheck to paycheck!

I've got an e-fund and contribute to match on my 401k as I can't do the max yet (SF Bay Area living y'all) but I've come a long way!

Congrats!!! That is a huge accomplishment

[ssmjlm]

May 2, 2024 9:44:24 GMT -5 ssmjlm said:

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

Oh Hi, let's pile on here:
-While getting paint quotes for outside and inside, wood rot was discovered around our screen porch, so that will be fun and a this year project to a now project.
-Car's AC went out yesterday - I'm sure it's going to be expensive and I already knew brakes were on the horizon.

[midwestmama]

May 22, 2024 13:56:11 GMT -5 pinkdutchtulips said:

W: I used to lurk here quite a bit to pick up tips and tricks for when I was finally NOT living paycheck to paycheck ... well the time has come! Thanks to pay increases and inheritances from both my mom and gpa, I am FINALLY credit card, SL, and car debt free!! My credit score that at one point was sub 500 now sits in the low 700s!! I am no longer living paycheck to paycheck!

I've got an e-fund and contribute to match on my 401k as I can't do the max yet (SF Bay Area living y'all) but I've come a long way!

Congrats!!  It can be hard, but it is rewarding in the end to use a disciplined approach to using additional $$ to get out of debt/get yourself in a good position financially.  So happy for you!

[minzy]

Not an actualized “loss” yet, thankfully (my dad has terminal cancer) but this week I made some suggestions to him about tweaking beneficiaries in a few of his accounts which will result in less money to me. I consider these “wins” though.

He and his second wife had a prenup and she came into the marriage in a stronger position. His situation has since changed and now he has more money. They have always kept finances separate. They both always intended to have everything pass to their respective kids; she in particular was very clear about that. However, he amended his will several years ago to add her to his real property, though he left all other accounts just to my sister and me as beneficiaries. Well now that he is looking quickly at the end, and his wife hopefully has many more years, I suggested he include her on his cash, too. Who knows, she could need it with long term care. He agreed that made sense, so I helped him get it done. She had no idea this was happening and was so tearful and grateful when he told her he had made the adjustment.

I also suggested he take my sister and me off another account and instead list the seven grandchildren (three his, four hers). He really liked that idea so we got that done, too.

We also added me as a joint owner on his checking. My aunt and I did that only a few months before she suddenly died, and having that already in place was SO useful when I became executor for her estate. And my dad happens to use the same bank my aunt did, so they already had me in the system. It was super easy.

[heygrey]

minzy, I'm sorry you are in this position, but I'm glad your dad is receptive to these conversations and changes.

[heygrey]

I am ready for May to be done. We are over budget and it's been death by a thousand paper cuts. No one big thing just lots of small things costing a little bit more than expected.

[ssmjlm]

I give up. My 10yo car needs $4k worth of work.

It’s worth at least double that and I plan to drive it for at least another four years, but it just seems like we’re bleeding money.

[midwestmama]

ssmjlm, I will join you in misery on car repairs. We bought DS a used car, and took it to have an oil change, full inspection, and 90k mile service. While doing the 90k mile service, the mechanic found a hairline crack in the rear differential, so that has to be replaced. (The mechanic will sell us a used one that comes with a warranty, so cheaper than new, but still $1400 for the used rear diff and labor.) The maintenance/repair in total is $3k, and the car itself was $10k. We had money set aside for the car, but not the repairs. At least the car came with new brakes & rotors and tires, so we know those are good for a while.