Frugalistas, are we still talking? Have I missed these threads?

[Soror]

mommyoffive 

I will have to study some of the blogs you mentioned as I am planning a Europe trip for us. I have enough points for 1 ticket for free but i don't know if I'll earn enough for 2. I wondered how it would work if I had 2 different cards w/ airline points would they both be useable for the same flight?

 

It has been going ok here, I have had some spending since getting back our taxes, for the most part it was needed. Ds tennis shoes were a year old and looking pretty rough. We went to the discount place so he got a nice pair for less(so they will hold up) I bought dd a pair as well since I don't get hand me downs anymore for her either. I did some clothes shopping for both at Goodwill. I found shoes for my younger two at Goodwill and scored new snow pants for dd1 for $5.

 

Dh will have an extra check this month and will be paid for part of his teaching(about half of his hours for this class), that will cover the rest of my yoga training($700) with about $1000 to spare I think. Some will go to savings but some will go to the work in the basement we have planned, hopefully, we can pocket $500 or so.

 

We are at about $7500 towards a goal of $10k. But we still has some major expenses we might not be able to bankroll. I need to do the math. On the plus side they want dh to teach at least 1 more class this semester, which should net around $2k, and who knows what else for the fall, which we had not expected. I am going to start doing some paid work with yoga BUT the pay is not much at all, I may get a decent sum this summer from running a camp but that is still in the early stages. On the downside we are going into the slower period for dh, he will not be working near as much, which is great or family time, but not so much for the pocket book, there won't be a lot extra in the reg paycheck for savings. He does get another bonus in August and extra weekly checks 4x a year, the first I already mentioned comes this month. Since we only budget for a 4 wk month those are just extra to hopefully be put into savings. As we have significantly cut back on activities this year (for other reasons mostly) it has immensely helped our budget as well. I need to keep with keeping it tight however so we can keep moving towards our goal and not backslide during the leaner times when it is considerably tighter.

 

 

Edited March 4, 2017 by soror

[mommyoffive]

Full time job.  I claim 0.  

 

It just depends on your salary, your deductions, etc.....we still have deductions that are more than our standard deduction, but our mortgage is only 2.7%, so it isn't nearly what it was back in the 5% days.

 

https://taxfoundation.org/2017-tax-brackets/

 

It just depends on what your income will be.

 

 

I never get taxes.   We have worked for years with our CPA to not get back anything and we always end up getting a huge refund. 

 

I am so surprised that you owe when you are claiming 0.   

 

I just don't get them.  That makes me think if I got a job we would owe.  Just something to have in mind.

[mommyoffive]

mommyoffive 

I will have to study some of the blogs you mentioned as I am planning a Europe trip for us. I have enough points for 1 ticket for free but i don't know if I'll earn enough for 2. I wondered how it would work if I had 2 different cards w/ airline points would they both be useable for the same flight?

 

It has been going ok here, I have had some spending since getting back our taxes, for the most part it was needed. Ds tennis shoes were a year old and looking pretty rough. We went to the discount place so he got a nice pair for less(so they will hold up) I bought dd a pair as well since I don't get hand me downs anymore for her either. I did some clothes shopping for both at Goodwill. I found shoes for my younger two at Goodwill and scored new snow pants for dd1 for $5.

 

Dh will have an extra check this month and will be paid for part of his teaching(about half of his hours for this class), that will cover the rest of my yoga training($700) with about $1000 to spare I think. Some will go to savings but some will go to the work in the basement we have planned, hopefully, we can pocket $500 or so.

 

We are at about $7500 towards a goal of $10k. But we still has some major expenses we might not be able to bankroll. I need to do the math. On the plus side they want dh to teach at least 1 more class this semester, which should net around $2k, and who knows what else for the fall, which we had not expected. I am going to start doing some paid work with yoga BUT the pay is not much at all, I may get a decent sum this summer from running a camp but that is still in the early stages. On the downside we are going into the slower period for dh, he will not be working near as much, which is great or family time, but not so much for the pocket book, there won't be a lot extra in the reg paycheck for savings. He does get another bonus in August and extra weekly checks 4x a year, the first I already mentioned comes this month. Since we only budget for a 4 wk month those are just extra to hopefully be put into savings. As we have significantly cut back on activities this year (for other reasons mostly) it has immensely helped our budget as well. I need to keep with keeping it tight however so we can keep moving towards our goal and not backslide during the leaner times when it is considerably tighter.

 

 

Yes look into those blogs.  They know so much more than I do.  I am just starting doing this hacking path.

There are so many things you can do.  Following these blogs will help you figure things out.

 

What card do you have now?  

Or what airline do you have your points on now?

 

That would help figure out where you could focus.  

 

Do you mean having 2 cards that are for the same airline?  Like two Delta cards?   But if you have 2 delta cards in your own name (they have different cards like Delta Gold and Delta Plantium) then you would be earning points all on one account. 

But you can also get cards in your name and then different cards for your dh.  So you are both earning bonuses.  That really helps you get miles fast. 

I am not sure if every airline lets you combine points with family.  Chase does.

But if they don't you could book one way tickets in your account and one way in your dh's account.  Or different airlines

 

I know that you can transfer your points to different airlines too.

With Chase I know that I can transfer my points to dh's card and vice versa.   You can transfer those points to their airline partners or use their travel booking site that uses all different airlines.  And other things like hotels. 

 

 

 

Good luck.

 

 

 

It sounds like you are doing awesome on your budget.  Almost 80% to your savings goal and so many extra earning earning chances.  That is what I want to explore.