June Win/Losses

[sadlebred]

Whatcha got?

[simpsongal]

Still recovering from an orgy of spending (dog chemo, radon mitigation, DD's unexpected dental work) and trying to pay down the reno. We're ok, but it's a bit of a lesson in unexpected expenses coming up and thinking you'll have more money than you do. Plus applying another income tax adjustment for extra withholding.

Losses: My credit score took a bit of a hit w/all the outstanding debt, but we'll pay it back. My score might take another hit from the card I closed (see below). We're spending over $4K/mo on debt for the reno...it's like carrying two mortgages.

Wins(?) The spending freeze is helping me focus on lingering projects that are a sunk cost. Painting, power washing, re-staining the porch, gardening (dividing plans, weeding etc.). I bought a couple swim suits to try on, they're not great so back they go and I'll just wear what I have.

Not sure if this is a win, but I just closed my chase sapphire preferred card. It was a go-to card and then realized a couple months ago I was largely getting 1% on my purchases, when I'd get 2% on my double cash. We're not really travelling or eating out much. I just got hit w/the annual fee, so I closed the card (they reversed it, super easy customer service). I'm planning to open a new travel card next year for the bonus points, hopefully after we pay off a lot of these expenses.

Just a PSA to review your cards and make sure they're still meeting your needs/a good deal.

[niq]

W: We're done paying for elementary school aftercare for The Fifth Grader!

L: Now we have a Sixth Grader who will probably have a zillion sports and activities that cost money.

I think we'll still come out ahead. We paid for an expensive aftercare that has lots of set activities, a tight adult-child ratio, and no screens. It was definitely worthwhile for the past two years.

W: We scaled back on summer camp a little -- for two weeks, V has a half day camp and can goof off with friends for the second half.

[chpmnk1015]

L: June is going to be spendy; Leave for Alaska, Searching for my dress for my daughters sweet 16 (ugh help lol); come back to her party and birthdays;

W: Cancelled our milk delivery the last 3 weeks of june and one house cleaning in June; not a lot but saves a little;

W: trying to find stuff to get rid of and sell on line; sold $20 in vases today that had cost us nothing.

[ssmjlm]

I don't know what's a win or a loss these days. We just seem to be bleeding money in some fashion.

We're going to schedule the exterior house painters, but that money is already set aside.

We leave for universal Sunday, but we're doing club level so a lot of food is included with that. I grabbed gift cards during Kroger's 4x fuel points to give the kid a budget on souvenirs. It's us and my parents as this is my kid's elementary graduation gift. (I got lunch out with friends, the grandkid gets a universal trip, ok mom!)

I'm just hoping there's no other surprise bills this month.

[dcn]

L: ds2 surprise needed glasses. I also needed contacts for the year.

L: we are going on a 2 week trip so deposits etc were due.

L and then w: I need a dress for a military ball and have 5 ordered. I’ll return the ones that don’t work but on top of all the stuff above it’s a lot

It’s also the start of summer break and my kids think I’m an atm lol.

[aprilsails]

@@@ mentions:

W: My second dividend cheque was higher than the first so that's good. I was able to calculate how much I would need to hold back for taxes next spring and I set aside some in a 6 month GIC. I then made a $12k payment against my business loan. And the prime rate should fall in Canada due to the .25 GC rate drop yesterday.

L: Paid for a couple of small long weekend trips with the kids this summer. Hotels are so expensive. Pulled DS out of a couple weeks of summer camp to send him to his old daycare instead. It's more expensive but we won't have to make lunch (lol!) which is a win for my sanity.

[aprilsails]

@@@ mentions:

W: My second dividend cheque was higher than the first so that's good. I was able to calculate how much I would need to hold back for taxes next spring and I set aside some in a 6 month GIC. I then made a $12k payment against my business loan. And the prime rate should fall in Canada due to the .25 GC rate drop yesterday.

L: Paid for a couple of small long weekend trips with the kids this summer. Hotels are so expensive. Pulled DS out of a couple weeks of summer camp to send him to his old daycare instead. It's more expensive but we won't have to make lunch (lol!) which is a win for my sanity.

[Susie]

Homeowner's insurance is up 12% over last year, and auto is up a similar amount.  No claims, no tickets, no accidents, and our covered cars are each a year older.  Ugh.

I know others are seeing even more, but it still sucks.  

[ssmjlm]

Jun 6, 2024 13:05:25 GMT -5 Susie said:

Homeowner's insurance is up 12% over last year, and auto is up a similar amount.  No claims, no tickets, no accidents, and our covered cars are each a year older.  Ugh.

I know others are seeing even more, but it still sucks.  

I'm hearing a lot of people are being dropped for no reason. Our vacation house received a notice that the roof needs to be replaced or we'll be dropped. I guess silver lining is that one, the roof isn't huge based on the shape or the house and two, after couple falls with storms, my dad was already planning to replace it, was just hoping to do it in the off season.

[ny96]

Jun 6, 2024 15:34:13 GMT -5 ssmjlm said:

Jun 6, 2024 13:05:25 GMT -5 Susie said:

Homeowner's insurance is up 12% over last year, and auto is up a similar amount.  No claims, no tickets, no accidents, and our covered cars are each a year older.  Ugh.

I know others are seeing even more, but it still sucks.  

I'm hearing a lot of people are being dropped for no reason. Our vacation house received a notice that the roof needs to be replaced or we'll be dropped. I guess silver lining is that one, the roof isn't huge based on the shape or the house and two, after couple falls with storms, my dad was already planning to replace it, was just hoping to do it in the off season.

This is timely. My H has been ignoring a defensive space certification letter that we need to send back by next week for our fire insurance policy. We just realized last night that they are asking us to remove combustible fencing and the like that is within 5 feet of our property. We may need to make some radical changes and I’m so annoyed that we are racing to do this last minute rather than 3 months ago when the letter was sent.

[heygrey]

L: We are spending $2500 to replace a section of fence this weekend. If we're lucky the absentee landlord next door will split the cost with us, but I'm not holding my breath. The posts are rotten, it is leaning heavily, and could fall completely at any time. It effects the safety and aesthetics of our yard and I just want it done.

[mainelyfoolish]

L: The local health conglomerate double charged me for an “office surgery” which triggered an extra $150 bill for an extra co-pay.

W: I challenged it with my insurer and the billing office and it actually got corrected. Sad that this feels like a win, but anyone else who has ever had a medical billing error can relate, I’m sure.

L: I just paid a little over $2000 for the “financial physical” we had with a CFP.

W: We did our “financial physical” and got advice about what to do with our money (savings, investments, insurance, spending, etc.). I consider my self above-average financially savvy and I feel like the process was worth it; we got investment recommendations and advice on some things I hadn’t thought about. I don’t feel the need to repeat this annually, but we may return for an update in 4 or 5 years (or if we win PowerBall LOL). He did tell us that we can spend more money, so maybe I will remodel the bathrooms I’ve been wanting to do for 11 years!

[heygrey]

Jun 6, 2024 23:28:08 GMT -5 heygrey said:

L: We are spending $2500 to replace a section of fence this weekend. If we're lucky the absentee landlord next door will split the cost with us, but I'm not holding my breath. The posts are rotten, it is leaning heavily, and could fall completely at any time. It effects the safety and aesthetics of our yard and I just want it done.

The fence is going in, but our contractor found a drainage pipe (connected to our eaves) that runs right under the fence line. WhoTF put a drainage pipe right on the property line where a fence would go?!?! It was damaged when the fence was originally installed. Digging it up to replace/move it closer to the house where it should have been is a DIY job for H and I, so the financial impact shouldn't be too significant, but I'm still really really annoyed. The only reason we haven't had major water issues with our house (this thing is essentially draining 3 feet from our foundation!) is because we live in a desert. We might lose our house to a wildfire, but water damage from rain runoff is pretty unlikely. 

Thankfully our contractor was able to go ahead with the rest of the fence install. He'll just have to circle back to cement one post after H moves the pipe. 

[trissie18]

L: We leave for our 11 day family vacation trip to Montana and Wyoming. It is going to be $$$$ but we are so excited to cross these two states off our goal of visiting all 50 states with DSs. My mom has done all of the planning and we are white water rafting, horseback riding, boating, four wheeling, hiking, and driving. 

[brooke77]

No real wins for June.

L: We are moving our septic field (?). This will ultimately make our home more valuable, IMO, but it is going to cost us $$ to move it and grade/seed the land. As background, we built our house and have a bit over an acre of land. Our builder put our field in the middle of our plot, which is super inconvenient. So we are moving it to the edge, so we have more usable land closer to our house. I’m really excited for the final result.

L: I’ve been spending a lot on unnecessary stuff lately - clothes for vacation and summer. I need to really reign it in.

[chpmnk1015]

L: kids cavities and fillings.. ugh...

[ellipses84]

W/L: We still have not received our federal tax return. It’s about equal to what we paid for state and the estimate for receiving it was the first week of May. I’m annoyed but we’ll get it eventually…

I was able to buy cheap tickets and use airline miles for one way for our annual summer trip to visit my family, which is a cheap vacation since we have a free place to stay.

W: We took a 5 hour road trip to stay with DH’s family for the week. We aren’t really doing much aside from hanging by the pool, so it’s only costing gas and groceries (which we’d be spending money on at home). I’m working remotely but it’s a vaca for the rest of the fam! We met up with some relatives for dinner and they paid, then a friend gave DS1 and DH free tix to a baseball game.

Due to all the travel, I cancelled a couple weeks of camp for DS2 so that saved $600+. They are applying my deposit to the weeks he is attending.

L: DH’s last paycheck was $0. His work has been so slow and apparently he didn’t work at all that pay period and then his work was closed for maintenance (hence the road trip). He is waiting to hear back on another job which would be amazing but it’s a new position and union so the process is taking months longer than expected. We need to figure out a plan B!

[sadlebred]

W: There are never any wins.
L: $700+ car repair today.

[mommin]

We have a lot going on right now. We just moved 1500 miles, bought and sold homes, and all that this entails.

W- Overall, we lost money on the sale of our home BUT we sold for $20k over asking and the appraisal for the home we bought came in $100k over our purchase price. When all that is added up, we did well.
W- We moved to a lower COL area and gas alone is saving us a ton. $2.62 per gallon vs. $4.35 (at Costco), yes please! Plus, there are a ton of free activities around here, which helps.

L- Setting up utilities, buying new furniture or shelving for different places in the house, needing to hire someone to mow until we get a mower (3 acres here vs. 7,000 sq. ft. in NV), etc. is all tough to stomach.
L- Moving is $$$, even if you try to do most of the loading and unloading yourself.

[chpmnk1015]

L: Need to replace half the AC unit at our rental. $6k. ouch. havent had the rental long enough that we have enough saved from renting the house so coming oout of our regular savings

W: we will hit the minimum for DDs sweet 16 so i dont feel like we are wasting anything.

[niq]

L: like sadlebred I have a giant car repair
W: it's the last one, then we're getting rid of it! (Selling to in laws who just need a low cost ride)

[sadlebred]

niq Trust me, I'd love to have a new car, but $$. There is nothing wrong with this car (Ok, sort of), but this is just maintenance really. Stuff happens. It's still cheaper than 1.5 months of a new car payment. (full synthetic oil change, tire rotation, alignment, 3 swollen nuts--yep, but it's a corrosion thing, 2 or 3 broken/stripped axle thingies, and one other maintenance thing). I will never ever go to the tire place that caused the damage. Only the dealership for this from now on. 2nd time I had to fix things after a "free" tire rotation at the tire chain shop.)

[mlkgls]

Well June now feels like the black hole of money, some of it intentional, but still unpleasant. 

L: We had insulation and an a/c return vent added, along with tweaking the ductwork to make two of the bedrooms more comfortable in the summer. Time will tell if it was a worthwhile investment, but I’m having a touch of buyers remorse after the sticker shock of the bill below. 

L: My home insurance bill is due this month and it has almost tripled in the last three years. Taxes and insurance are now equal to my mortgage. At least we’re still covered, but 40% increases every year isn’t sustainable. I've only made one claim (for hail) in my entire history, but every year we get hammered my hail storms and severe weather. Oh, and now freezes too I guess. 

L: It’s the last year I’ll have to pay it, but weekly summer camp tuition is in full swing. 

Almost W: the NBA playoffs are nearly over so we should be able to cancel the tv service we have solely so my H can watch basketball. 

[Pom]

L= finishing home projects, although small ones, still eat away at our more careful budget. $300-$400 already mid month.

L/W= the $140 dental repair for H's cracked tooth is holding, so better than a $3k+ root canal repair. (for now)

L/W= get your skin cancer checks people! H had to have a biopsy ($205 incl his skin check) but I did not so only $75 for me. It seems like one of us always needs extra $ at derm. We experienced a ton of sun damage as kids and while living in Texas when we were outside in brutal sun.

W= We are doing a low spend June since we have lots of company, etc in July, Aug, Sept plus our 20th anniversary coming up. We've mostly eaten at home all month, we are only spending on project materials, medical appts to wrap up and groceries. We hosted some kids and parents from our volunteer gig to come over on free fishing weekend. We did make food for that, but it wasn't too bad. They had fun. We meet 2x per month, so we always host snacks for at least one meeting. H spent a TON on flowers and plants in May (also part of his birthday). But we are getting things done around the house, yard, garden. Worth it! We also haven't spent money on gas like normal, although I just remembered we filled up the boat at a marina in early June and that was $155. It wasn't even on empty. FWP.

[EvieEthelGarland]

W: My mom was talking nonsense about spending DS's college fund on cruises if he pursues a trade, so my dad transferred ownership to me. I doubt she'd do anything with it, but now she can't. (we're not qualifying for any aid, so it not being in grandparents name is not a concern)

We need a new couch for the basement and I was starting to shop when my neighbor asked if I wanted her old one. It's not my top pick in color but it's high quality and was $0. She even offered to have it cleaned! Its for a teen game room and her golden retriever's fur will just be covered up by our lab's fur.

[heygrey]

W: I took my car to the garage today and a very nice tech drove around with me for 20 minutes to listen to the myriad of noises my car makes. When we got back I went to pay and he told me no charge. Was expecting $150 for diagnostic fees.

Major L: He told me to trade my 8 year old Hyundai Elantra and cut my losses. It has engine issues that aren't covered under Hyundai's extended warranty (of course).


I am big mad that I just paid the Hyundai dealership $2,000 for valve gasket covers, new spark plugs, and new brakes/rotors. Hyundai assured me that it's a great car and will drive for years still. My gut feeling for a while is that this car has issues so I'm glad I got an opinion from an independent mechanic. I just wish I would have done it before trusting Hyundai and spending the money there.

[sadlebred]

Win/Loss: Oops! It jumped into my cart last night (new e-gravel bike)-Specialized Turbo Creo in size munchin. They don't come in stock! They were last night....and gone by the time I checked out.

Win: I'm prepping 3 bikes to sell to make room in the bike storage and to help pay for it. With my health I never know if I'll be struck down and unable to do what I love. So, FOMO.

[heygrey]

Jun 6, 2024 23:28:08 GMT -5 heygrey said:

L: We are spending $2500 to replace a section of fence this weekend. If we're lucky the absentee landlord next door will split the cost with us, but I'm not holding my breath. The posts are rotten, it is leaning heavily, and could fall completely at any time. It effects the safety and aesthetics of our yard and I just want it done.

Win: The landlord paid and the money is in my account!!! I complete wrote that money off so now I feel like I can spend $1250 on something frivolous. (I won’t, but I want to.)

[ellipses84]

Update: We still haven’t received our direct deposit $2k+ 2023 tax refund. Checking the status it says is still being processed. Then we got a joint check in the mail for like $200+. Looks like it’s from 2022 with interest. We paid a lot in 2022, so I’m guessing there was an error they corrected. The next day we get separate letters saying this is a replacement check because we haven’t cashed the first check in over a year. I don’t remember ever receiving a first check and if we did I would have deposited it, so I need to double check my bank records today.