Adulting - what have you done lately?

[wanderingback]

So proud of myself!
A few months ago I signed up for supplemental disability insurance. This week I opened a 529 for our daughter and today got the process rolling for life insurance.

I think only other big thing need to do is a will. Been dragging my feet on that, but I guess now I’m feeling extra motivated

What have you done lately?

[bbdoll]

Switched to monthly grocery shopping to help bring our grocery budget down. Plan a month's worth of meals, figure out shopping list, price out everything on Walmart's app. Then I go to our discount grocery store, Aldi and Sam's first. If I beat the price, I buy it there. Otherwise, I buy at Walmart. It's about two hours of planning and about 3-4 hours of shopping, but then I'm done for the month. Plus, it reduced our grocery bill by about 40%.

[wanderingback]

Oct 1, 2024 13:59:57 GMT -5 bbdoll said:

Switched to monthly grocery shopping to help bring our grocery budget down. Plan a month's worth of meals, figure out shopping list, price out everything on Walmart's app. Then I go to our discount grocery store, Aldi and Sam's first. If I beat the price, I buy it there. Otherwise, I buy at Walmart. It's about two hours of planning and about 3-4 hours of shopping, but then I'm done for the month. Plus, it reduced our grocery bill by about 40%.

Wow! This is super impressive and the exact opposite of what we do haha. We go multiple times a week. But we also don’t have a car so can’t get a ton at once. What do you do about fresh produce?

[bbdoll]

Oct 1, 2024 14:10:33 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Oct 1, 2024 13:59:57 GMT -5 bbdoll said:

Switched to monthly grocery shopping to help bring our grocery budget down. Plan a month's worth of meals, figure out shopping list, price out everything on Walmart's app. Then I go to our discount grocery store, Aldi and Sam's first. If I beat the price, I buy it there. Otherwise, I buy at Walmart. It's about two hours of planning and about 3-4 hours of shopping, but then I'm done for the month. Plus, it reduced our grocery bill by about 40%.

Wow! This is super impressive and the exact opposite of what we do haha. We go multiple times a week. But we also don’t have a car so can’t get a ton at once. What do you do about fresh produce?

I buy long lasting produce.  Potatoes, apples, pears, etc.  Shorter shelf life items like berries, bananas, etc. are eaten in the first week or so.  We do a lot of canned and frozen veggies/fruit as well.

[sarahsays]

I scheduled tree removal and septic tank replacement. Not very fun but very necessary.

[pierogigirl]

I increased my life insurance. Edit - and increased my 403b contribution.

Today I had my mammogram. Tomorrow I have my first skin check, and later this week we're all getting covid vax and flu shot, if available - they only let me schedule 1 vax at a time, but said we could ask for others.

[Susie]

I paid my Q3 estimated taxes (9/15) and my 2024 school taxes (9/30).  School taxes represent about 75-80% of our annual real estate taxes, so it's real money.  On one hand paying taxes is like bare minimum adulting.  OTOH, having those two hit in the same month and being completely prepared for it requires a reasonable level of adulting on a permanently ongoing basis.  That was like $30k in taxes out the door in two weeks!

[noodleoo]

I feel like all I do is adulting lately. My brain is constantly going through the to do lists and just trying to knock of as many things as possible in the time available. The list never ends.

Recent accomplishment was cleaning out my spice cabinet and tossing stuff that was more than 10 years past the expiration date. That was long overdue. 🤐

[sdlaura]

I am trying to tackle one declutterring task every WFH day, sort of offsetting my commuting/chatting time. We have six people in a 2100-square foot house, so there’s a ton of work to be done. But today I decluttered both the kitchen junk drawer and the pantry. Woohoo!

[sadlebred]

I applied for the unemployment I will get denied in my state (if you get a severance package, no UI for you til the end of the severance period). I've been spending 2-3 hours/day scouring websites for jobs. I've gone to a women's IT career fair, been networking more than ever, and still trying to live my life

I got all of my health appointments done except for hand therapy. Thank goodness COBRA is retroactive.

[jobae1234]

I called and found out how much was on my old HSA card. Then I put the amount on a post it and wrapped the post it around the card.

Of course I tried to use it to pay a bill and it got declined, so now I need to call back tomorrow, but that’s adulting for you. Fucking thankless.

[heygrey]

Is this adulting? H and I bought a 10 punch pass to a climbing gym in 2019. Covid stopped us from going and then we forgot about it. I just called and found out we have 5 left and they never expire. DS isn't free anymore, but a kids drop in is $12, so he and H will use those up this winter.

I have also been budgeting like its 2009 and we're really poor again. Tracking every expense, hardcore meal planning based on grocery sales, no spending except on necessities. We saved $600 in September from our regular expenses. I won't do it forever, but it's nice to put some extra into savings for a couple months.

[lust2hart]

Oct 1, 2024 20:45:56 GMT -5 jobae1234 said:

but that’s adulting for you. Fucking thankless.

Ain’t that the truth.

[babsbunny]

We are doing a small bathroom reno (re-tile a shower) so the house is more ready to sell. Contractor took off 20 tiles and pointed out my water damaged studs and the termite damage (the house was treated for termites 20+ years ago so I am pretty sure that is old damage).

I am adulting by spending money on things I don't want to spend money on...and this unexpected stuff is going to cost me (no idea how much yet, which is nerve racking).

ETA: Only $675 more. Thank goodness!!!

[noodleoo]

Oct 1, 2024 21:24:17 GMT -5 lust2hart said:

Oct 1, 2024 20:45:56 GMT -5 jobae1234 said:

but that’s adulting for you. Fucking thankless.

Ain’t that the truth.

FUCK.  I placed 2 big online orders last week for winter clothes for my kids.  So happy to get that off the list.  It arrived and it is all too big.  So now I have to reorder but the sale ended so it is going to cost me more.  It is so frustrating that nothing is available in store so we can just try on and buy (our local stores closed).  I also have to decide whether to store the big clothes now and remember I have them for next year (50:50 whether that works) or return them.

I hate adulting.  I feel like every time it is one step forward, 2 steps back.

[EvieEthelGarland]

I funded our Roths for the year, am on track to close out my MIL's estate before the end of the year, and am currently adding my new driver to insurance.

In adult milestones, we went over $1M in investments as of 9/30, not including home equity or MIL's estate. Neither one of us has broken into six figures yet, but somehow this has happened?

[bbdoll]

Oct 2, 2024 9:52:02 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Oct 1, 2024 21:24:17 GMT -5 lust2hart said:

Ain’t that the truth.

FUCK.  I placed 2 big online orders last week for winter clothes for my kids.  So happy to get that off the list.  It arrived and it is all too big.  So now I have to reorder but the sale ended so it is going to cost me more.  It is so frustrating that nothing is available in store so we can just try on and buy (our local stores closed).  I also have to decide whether to store the big clothes now and remember I have them for next year (50:50 whether that works) or return them.

I hate adulting.  I feel like every time it is one step forward, 2 steps back.

Can you exchange them and keep the same pricing?

[simpsongal]

SO MUCH ADULTING lately.

Constantly checking our withholding, escrow adjustment, whether we have adequate homeownership's insurance.
Paying down debts, closing and managing credit, funding 529s where we can, tracking credit score
Took a TSP seminar
Getting flu shot & covid shots for the whole family (almost done).
Dermatologist for me and DS next week.
Taking the kids to pedi well checks.
scheduled parent teacher conferences
TONS of house projects - DIY and non
e.g., replaced our hose spigot w/a winterized one, fixed the interior valve too
lots of mulching, plants, edging, etc. (DIY)
scheduled an HVAC inspection and learned (again) we need a new one - joy....getting quotes.
painted the upstairs hallway, organizing the garage, picking up a new ottoman, bought a FB marketplace console, disposing of old console, putting a rug pad under new area rug, building a shelf, buying roman shades and coordinating install, hanging pictures

I've have a crazy 2 page to-do list in anticipation of a family visit the 3rd week of October.

[noodleoo]

Oct 2, 2024 13:45:49 GMT -5 bbdoll said:

Oct 2, 2024 9:52:02 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

FUCK.  I placed 2 big online orders last week for winter clothes for my kids.  So happy to get that off the list.  It arrived and it is all too big.  So now I have to reorder but the sale ended so it is going to cost me more.  It is so frustrating that nothing is available in store so we can just try on and buy (our local stores closed).  I also have to decide whether to store the big clothes now and remember I have them for next year (50:50 whether that works) or return them.

I hate adulting.  I feel like every time it is one step forward, 2 steps back.

Can you exchange them and keep the same pricing?

I could in store, but one store isn't local to me so that's out. The other store (Kohls) is local, but the shirts aren't available in the size I need in store. I just placed another order online before they sell out of the ones DD1 likes. It is just money, I need to stop caring so much about the price and just get things done.

[Wallflower]

I made an appointment with a lawyer to talk wills and powers of attorney and I'm working to collect all information someone would need if something should happen to me.

Remember being a kid and fantasizing that being an adult meant something FUN???

[gt7301b]

Scheduling all my doctors appointments/ well checks before the end of the year and our insurance changes.

[womet]

We replaced our garage doors, are having the trees in our yard trimmed, hired a new cleaning company, paid our yearly contract with the HVAC company. Still need to do a bunch of weeding and mulching.

[womet]

simpsongal, which TSP seminar did you take? Would you recommend it?

[trissie18]

We updated our wills to change guardians and set up a trust and also refreshed our power of attorneys and healthcare proxies. I updated our life insurance beneficiaries with one company so it pays to the trust instead of directly to our teenage children.

[niq]

I finally did all of the "get rid of my old car" adulting. Now I just have to wait on the title paperwork.

The schools jogathon fundraiser is on track? I sometimes think I'm the least organized person on the planet but maybe I'm not?

msniq did all of the fence repair adulting. We have our driveway back!

[simpsongal]

Oct 3, 2024 8:23:40 GMT -5 womet said:

simpsongal, which TSP seminar did you take? Would you recommend it?

nah - it was presented by someone from tsp (frtib). I can send you the power point slides via email if you like. It was for early to mid career but I knew most of the info. Only new info was the ability to invest in individual mutual funds. I’m not really interested in that though.

[cjcouple]

Oct 1, 2024 13:59:57 GMT -5 bbdoll said:

Switched to monthly grocery shopping to help bring our grocery budget down. Plan a month's worth of meals, figure out shopping list, price out everything on Walmart's app. Then I go to our discount grocery store, Aldi and Sam's first. If I beat the price, I buy it there. Otherwise, I buy at Walmart. It's about two hours of planning and about 3-4 hours of shopping, but then I'm done for the month. Plus, it reduced our grocery bill by about 40%.

this is awesome. What do you do about perishables? do you find you need to fill in gaps?

I struggle to even weekly shop

[konapoppy]

I got the gutters cleaned for the third year in a row before any major rain. I just added it as an item on my holiday planning list so I don’t forget 🙃

[bbdoll]

Oct 3, 2024 16:13:34 GMT -5 cjcouple said:

Oct 1, 2024 13:59:57 GMT -5 bbdoll said:

Switched to monthly grocery shopping to help bring our grocery budget down. Plan a month's worth of meals, figure out shopping list, price out everything on Walmart's app. Then I go to our discount grocery store, Aldi and Sam's first. If I beat the price, I buy it there. Otherwise, I buy at Walmart. It's about two hours of planning and about 3-4 hours of shopping, but then I'm done for the month. Plus, it reduced our grocery bill by about 40%.

this is awesome. What do you do about perishables? do you find you need to fill in gaps?

I struggle to even weekly shop

I do have to fill in with small things like bread and milk.  Eggs, I purchase from Sam's in the 7.5 dozen box, so we are good for the month.

[womet]

Oct 3, 2024 13:50:06 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Oct 3, 2024 8:23:40 GMT -5 womet said:

simpsongal , which TSP seminar did you take? Would you recommend it?

nah - it was presented by someone from tsp (frtib). I can send you the power point slides via email if you like. It was for early to mid career but I knew most of the info. Only new info was the ability to invest in individual mutual funds. I’m not really interested in that though.

Okay, thanks. I'll pass on the slides, but appreciate the offer. I've been following a group on FB on TSP, and I've done incredibly well (up nearly 50% in the past 2 years).