March Frugalistas

[Baseball mom]

It's a new month!  We can do this!!

[Kidlit]

I have a couple of  things to share: 

Publix shoppers, do y’all know about Stocking Spree? It’s a rebate program for certain brands.  I just submitted enough receipted items for my third $10 Publix gift card of 2019! I generally don’t intentionally buy things just for the rebate, but there are several brands that I regularly purchase anyway. 

Kohl’s is offering $15 in Kohl’s Cash for every $50 spent this weekend.  I’m going to take my girls shopping tonight. 

I spent about $204 on groceries last night. 😱😅. To be fair to myself, that was some larger stock-up items:  a big bag of dog food, $10 worth of my coffee creamer that was on sale, etc.  

[BarbecueMom]

February was... meh.  There wasn't really any mindless spending (other than the WoW subscription DH forgot to cancel before it renewed!), but a lot of necessary expenses shoved into the smallest month of the year.  Sports fees are mostly paid now until fall, but I have summer camps and next fall's curriculum to buy still.  I'll probably focus on camps for this month and wait until April to buy books.

I spent ~$100 at the store yesterday for groceries, but that included everyone's "treats" for the month, and there were Ibotta rebates for most of them.  No birthdays or food-related holidays for us this month, but my Aldi is closing for a week in the middle of the month to finish a remodel.  It's going to be so awesome when it's done, but I'm not looking forward to paying so much for produce when they are closed (or the crowds on the days before and after the closing, when everyone is trying to stock up).

March Meal Planning, so far:

Friday 3/1 - Leftovers
Saturday 3/2 - Junk Food Night (normally Friday, but I have plans and won't be home)
Sunday 3/3 - Chicken Adobo, Rice, Veggies
Monday 3/4 - Garlic Parmesan Pasta with Kale and Chicken, Salad
Tuesday 3/5 - Taco Tuesday
Wednesday 3/6 - Garden Veggie Quinoa Stew, Breadsticks/Cheese Balls, Salad
Thursday 3/7 - Lentil Shepherd's Pie, Breadsticks/Cheese Balls
Friday 3/8 - Junk Food Night
Saturday 3/9 - BBQ Pulled Pork Roast, Potato Wedges, Veggies

Other than that one nice day we went on a bike ride, the weather has been awful and it's really making me cranky about everything, including frugality.  I don't want to spend money, but I don't want to not spend money either.  I'm just grumpy.  March is coming in like a yeti, and we'll be trudging through 6" of snow tomorrow.  Boo.

 

[Kidlit]

I made granola today and used up a bunch of nuts languishing in the pantry. That feels frugal!

I also made baked oatmeal muffins using some very overripe bananas (instead of adding them to the dozen or so already in the freezer 😋🍌) and some PB that’s been in the refrigerator for . . . a while. 

[HomeAgain]

We stayed in today. 🙂  I swung by the library yesterday to pick up a hold for the kid and grabbed a few more for myself.
On the menu this week:
3/1 - herbed fettuccine with truffle-infused alfredo sauce, grilled chicken, salad, bread, and giant chocolate chip cookies for dessert (dh cooked)
3/2 - breakfast for dinner
3/3 - vegetarian stir fry over rice
3/4 - hoisin glazed pork, roasted potatoes, snow peas (Blue Apron)
3/5 - Mexican chicken & zucchini rice (Blue Apron)
3/6 - pork ragu (Blue Apron)
3/7 - dh will cook..something. Or leftover night
3/8 - dinner out.  DS has a presentation and the family is invited to a meal beforehand.

[mommyoffive]

Budget was going fine until today.

36 buying books for the kids

120 new dance clothes.  I have lots more to buy too. 

Audition photos 4

My older 2 have an audition for a summer intensive on Sunday.  This summer could get really expensive if they get in!  Fingers crossed. 

They have one show this month.   Tickets and dvids will be around $100

One family birthday this month.   We might go big for it since we are not doing the usual thing of a trip some place domestic or international. 

Spending tons on gas.   

Oh I really like only shopping once every 2 weeks.  I have tons of food left.  Maybe I will have to get some milk and bread.   We eat so much bread out and about now since we rarely eat home on any night. 

The kids got free pizza last night. 

I am going to work more on selling things around the house.   Having some luck with it. 

 

[itsheresomewhere]

February was test the dental and eye insurance month.  March will be hopefully be recover from February.  We bought a cow in January so I have plenty of beef and some staples were on sale.  I am hoping to put more away this month instead of spending much.  DD needs a few thing and has a few 4H shows coming up.  Got to buy a few things for that but they will be used for quite a few years.    

[Baseball mom]

We have 3 family/friend birthdays this month.  I was feeling kinda stressed over it until I realized I had 2 of the gifts already bought.  YAY  

 

 

[mommyoffive]

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[Kidlit]

Hello, fellow Frugalistas.  I have a question.  If you all use a cash-based budget envelope system, how do you handle multiple stops at the grocery store (or elsewhere) made by more than one person?  For example, what if I hit one store for the main grocery run, but DH stops by the Wal-Mart near his office on the way home from work?  How do you keep up with the cash in this situation?  It's often the case for us that DH will need to stop by for something unexpectedly.  Does everyone who might shop always carry some grocery cash on his or her person?  

We really need to get back to a cash-based system, but I can't figure out how to make it work.

[HomeAgain]

11 hours ago, hopeistheword said:

Hello, fellow Frugalistas.  I have a question.  If you all use a cash-based budget envelope system, how do you handle multiple stops at the grocery store (or elsewhere) made by more than one person?  For example, what if I hit one store for the main grocery run, but DH stops by the Wal-Mart near his office on the way home from work?  How do you keep up with the cash in this situation?  It's often the case for us that DH will need to stop by for something unexpectedly.  Does everyone who might shop always carry some grocery cash on his or her person?  

We really need to get back to a cash-based system, but I can't figure out how to make it work.

We used to split it into two envelopes for the week.  DH would often be picking up small things, while I (or both) would be doing the main grocery shopping.  In that case he carried about 25% of our budget and I carried the rest.


I had to scratch my whole meal plan almost.  We got a storm on Saturday that kept our Blue Apron box from arriving.  And since Fed Ex doesn't deliver on Sunday....I am not eating anything in that box.  Nope.  I also decided against the vegetarian stir fry last night because we were getting another storm.  I found a pound of ground meat in the freezer, leftover peppers, a couple tomatoes that needed to go, and all sorts of other stone soup scrounging happened in my kitchen to make a large pot of chili appeared on my stove instead.  It was definitely welcomed by all, and there's enough for leftovers today.  I'm hoping we get a refund on the BA box that I can use for groceries for the next two meals. 
Roofers are supposed to be here this morning.  They haven't called out yet, but given the state of the roads and, well, our roof, I don't see them appearing any time soon.
 

[Kidlit]

7 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

We used to split it into two envelopes for the week.  DH would often be picking up small things, while I (or both) would be doing the main grocery shopping.  In that case he carried about 25% of our budget and I carried the rest.

 

Thanks!  That helps me begin to wrap my head around it.

[HomeAgain]

And for the next few days I am forced to use my credit card. *sigh*  I went to take cash out of the ATM today.  It took my card and shredded it instead of letting me put in my PIN and get money.  And the bank it was at just shrugged. 

On the upside, I get cash back with the credit card.  But I didn't really want to have to use it!

[Condessa]

Last month I worked really hard at frugal meal planning and cooking from scratch.  Even though I fell off of doing as well at this by the end of the month (still cooking, but not all from scratch so not as frugally) we totaled just over $400 for the month for groceries and cleaning supplies for a family of 6.  I really should keep it up, but man, I am so cooked out!  So right now, I am maintaining the meal planning and cooking, but allowing myself to use prepared ingredients.

This past week I went to the bakery outlet store and scored.  They always have better prices there than the grocery stores for bread and bagels, but that day they had organic bagels for 50 cents each, and they weren’t even nearly to their sell-by dates, yet.  I spent $20 and got 9 dozen bagels, 8 loaves of bread plus 3 more from their rewards program, and 4 dozen hawaiian rolls.  And 4 little packs of cookies free for the kids, which is why they love going to the bread store.  I double bag the bread and bagels and freeze them, so the bagels will last us a good while.

I decided to use my earnings from selling Goodwill items on eBay to attempt a project I’ve been thinking about for a few years: making and selling a kit for BFSU.  I would love it if I could just buy an all-inclusive kit with everything ready to go instead of having to build my own, and  thought maybe there’s a market for that.  I guess only time will tell if this turns out to be a fiscally wise move, or if my kids are going to wind up with more science project supplies than they know what to do with.

[Kidlit]

13 minutes ago, Michelle Conde said:

 

I decided to use my earnings from selling Goodwill items on eBay to attempt a project I’ve been thinking about for a few years: making and selling a kit for BFSU.  I would love it if I could just buy an all-inclusive kit with everything ready to go instead of having to build my own, and  thought maybe there’s a market for that.  I guess only time will tell if this turns out to be a fiscally wise move, or if my kids are going to wind up with more science project supplies than they know what to do with.

The BFSU kit is a great idea!  I have tried to use it several times and just couldn’t make it happen here.  I think having the stuff prepared would solve part of my problem.   (The other part is that I don’t possess the background to talk naturally about science myself.)

[Condessa]

11 minutes ago, hopeistheword said:

The BFSU kit is a great idea!  I have tried to use it several times and just couldn’t make it happen here.  I think having the stuff prepared would solve part of my problem.   (The other part is that I don’t possess the background to talk naturally about science myself.)

Yeah, I love BFSU and think it works great for my kids, but I’ve found through experience that the only way I manage to get it done consistently is if I premake kits for myself the summer before so that everything is on hand.

[HomeAgain]

Some of those are more serious than others.  I would put them into two categories, Heart.  The toilets would be a want, ceiling repair a must, window locks would have to be looked at to determine what could be done.  But that should be specified in the email to housing.

I finally got a new debit card.  Last week felt like a mess.  I was carefully controlling my spending more, which is good, but not being able to have that financial freedom was a frustration in itself.  And then there were the other irritations like not having the meal box I paid for (they refunded us) and getting my car stuck...blech.

On the upside: we took some time to look around for ds's activities next year.  Switching him to a different group will save us about a third of his current sports cost next school year.  We got the roof fixed and there were no surprises - plus they took 15% off the cost when we didn't respond to their initial offer and looked around (everyone was comparable or more).  I found a great set of science curriculum at the library (unit studies with lesson plans and printouts and everything), so I picked up one to try out.  Right now we're just holding steady, I guess.

[mommyoffive]

Taxes are done and we are getting a lot more back this year.   Even though are income was higher.   We need to figure out how we are going to divide that up. 

This month of dance is less than normal.  Take it.

I have a lot of bills to pay so that always makes being an adult so much fun.  I am kidding.  I hate it. 

Dh is still waiting on bonus and raise info.  Hopefully that will happen in the next 2 months. 

Trying to figure out what our summer is going to entail.  The older 2 got into a long and expensive intensive.  I had wanted to travel because we didn't do it over spring break because of school and dance.  

I need to get on selling stuff from the house and donating.  Now that it isn't insanely cold I will get to it.   Yay spring.  

Oh the going shopping every 2 weeks totally worked.  We still have tons of food and it is over 2 weeks at this point.  I am going to do it more often.    It is so nice to have it off your list as something to do. 

 

[HomeAgain]

2 hours ago, heartlikealion said:

I viewed toilets as a want as well but Dh is 6’5.5” so I don’t think low toilets will be practical at all. He has back issues too.

I just meant when it came to getting housing to do something. Housing isn't obligated to change a fixture to suit a person.  They are obligated to follow state law and make sure it is habitable, in working condition, and reasonably clean.

[mommyoffive]

Grocery $300 out of $800

[BarbecueMom]

We're at $492 for the month for groceries, but I shouldn't need to go to the store again until next week.  Aldi closed this week to finish renovations, so I stocked up.  We have enough on hand to plan meals (minus produce and milk) until the end of the month.  I'm also trying to use up what we have before vacation, lest the ants decide to invade and host a party in my pantry like wild teenagers.

After vacation, I'm considering a personal "frugal farmer's market" challenge.  Plan each weekend's meals using only ingredients obtained at the farmer's market on Saturday morning.  I don't think I can extend the challenge into the entire week, especially during the spring when we have flooding, strange weather, and limited in-season produce, but I think I can get enough for a few meals.

Other than kids stuff (and going to see Captain Marvel), we really aren't spending money.  Between an extended family emergency last weekend, lingering February blahs, and only getting nice, spring temperatures when it's cloudy and windy, I just want to hide under a blanket.  Which is free.

Edited March 12, 2019 by BarbecueMom

[Baseball mom]

Dh sold a car he has been working on (it needed minor repairs).   Car wasn't worth a whole lot so not like mega bucks here.  But the sale allowed us to pay a bill and dh go to the eye dr and get new glasses & contacts (no eye insurance).  He was way behind on eye visit.

Filed taxes, not getting back as much as I hoped.  But I always hope for more lol.

Dh offered last night to stop and pick up supper on the way home (using some money left from eye dr).   He was trying to be nice saying I deserved a break.   At 1st I said ok because I didn't have a plan for supper.  Then I thought of an easy to put together casserole that everyone likes.  So I text him backing saying "save that money I have supper covered".    Cooking cost us 1/2 what would have cost dh to buy supper and we had some leftovers.

Mostly been staying home.  Reading free books, decluttering house and working on projects I already have the supplies for.  Mostly just reading but it has been so blah I don't feel like doing anything else.   

[HomeAgain]

This moved to the third page! 😮 How's everyone doing?

We are reaching the end of our week and brighter weather!  I went out and gardened this morning, the youngest played outside, and I burned a bunch of sticks downed from the wind.  I'll go get dirt and seeds later this weekend, and I need to look up our brand/model of lawnmower so I can order a new carburetor for it and see if I can get it running again.  I really don't want to buy a new machine.

We are meeting most of our spending goals (new insurance plan put us over budget at the dentist) and doing pretty okay.  I found out our utilities bills are insanely low for our area, and I'm not sure if that's due to the fantastic construction of this house or our habits.  I'd like to think a little of both, lol.  But I'm hoping it stays that way. 

[mommyoffive]

Still doing good.  Paying bills and the such. 

A bit of spending on a birthday. 

I get to stop renting another violin, the teacher had one we can use.  Yay.   That will save me $240 a year. 

Refund hit the account.  

Edited March 18, 2019 by mommyoffive

[mommyoffive]

No idea on adding a bathroom.  

You live in university housing right?   Meaning it isn't your home that you own.  I would not spend money to fix that up.  I would think that would run in the thousands.   No way would I do that for something that they could have me leave in a year or whatever.   A friend of mine has a family of 7 in a house with one bathroom.  Her she has 4 teens.  They make it work.    Are there other houses that you could be moved to? 

[Baseball mom]

I wouldn't spend your money to fix up house owned by someone else.  Like previous poster said they could tell you to move right after.  Also even if you don't use the door going outside for it to be a rental they may be required to keep a 2nd escape route out of house. Hope something becomes available for you soon!

Was doing ok on spending but spent some money to eat out with friends.  Also bought dss each a shirt.  And made a couple extra trips to grocery for forgotten items which means I didn't just buy those items ugh. It has been a rather spendy few days.

[mommyoffive]

2 hours ago, heartlikealion said:

I know some people can make it work. My family has proven they cannot. Kids have urinated in the bathtub because they couldn’t wait on the person occupying the toilet. TMI but my reality. I’ve tried to make people use better timing and planning but at the end of the day things happen I can’t necessarily control. 

The school granted us permission to move onto the former drama teacher’s home when he retired... but Dh goofed and thought it had more bedrooms than it did. And it wasn’t in as good of condition as another time he’d visited. We didn’t move. 

This home with the sagging ceiling and some other concerns like location, was offered to us. We aren’t getting things addressed like we were told so have given up desire to move there. We are probably going to be blacklisted now. No one is going to offer us another home on campus and they are mostly not any better than ours, anyway. Some are small duplexes. We live in a single family house. It’s not very often that people move in/out of the houses anyhow. My whole street minus one house is owned by the school and occupied by adult faculty members. Two families live around me but they have been here longer than us and don’t have young children. Hardly anyone with young children lives in campus. They commute and send their kids to better schools. 

Yeah I think I’m just going to have to find a job in the city and slowly earn enough to move my family into more expensive housing. The rent will drastically jump up. 

 

Is the on campus housing free?   

Did you consider Vipkids?  I am not sure if you talked about it or not.  

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, Baseball mom said:

I wouldn't spend your money to fix up house owned by someone else.  Like previous poster said they could tell you to move right after.  Also even if you don't use the door going outside for it to be a rental they may be required to keep a 2nd escape route out of house. Hope something becomes available for you soon!

Was doing ok on spending but spent some money to eat out with friends.  Also bought dss each a shirt.  And made a couple extra trips to grocery for forgotten items which means I didn't just buy those items ugh. It has been a rather spendy few days.

 

Me too.  Then I just got back and found out the dog's leash is broken.   Other than the 9 bucks I spent on Yogurt drinks for the kids, it is normal stuff and we will eat.  Just a bigger stock pile of food. 

Grocery $500 out of $800

[mommyoffive]

2 hours ago, heartlikealion said:

Not free but significantly lower than anywhere else. 

I didn’t try VIPKID because of the hours and dd being home. 

I drove to drop off my resumé to the advertising agency today (my major was advertising). They are not hiring but said they’d keep it on file. 

On the way back from there I got a phone call from the school district. I have a job interview on Tuesday (for real this time) for a full-time ESL tutor. 

 

Yay.  Good luck.   Would you put both kids in PS if you got this? 

[mommyoffive]

21 minutes ago, heartlikealion said:

Dd is 4 and most of the schools in our county don’t offer K4. She’d go to the private school K4 most likely. I think she’d thrive there but the transportation would be an obstacle and the tuition may or may not be justified based o salary, my gas consumption to drive to the city, etc. Dh would want both kids in the private. I don’t know how I feel. I’m kinda leaning toward that as well but again only if it was financially possible and I’d make some profit, not just break even. 

The local sitter wouldn’t be a good option for full time imo. Most kids are younger than dd there and some go home early. When my flat was being fixed I left here there and she complained I left her there too long. It was around 4 hrs or so? 

 

I hope it all works out the way you want it to. 

[mommyoffive]

https://hip2save.com/2019/03/24/free-8x10-photo-print-at-walgreens-free-in-store-pickup/

Free 8 by 10

 

[Baseball mom]

22 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

https://hip2save.com/2019/03/24/free-8x10-photo-print-at-walgreens-free-in-store-pickup/

Free 8 by 10

 

Ooooh thank you!  I have a nice picture of my stepmom and her sisters.  I think I will use this and surprise my stepmom

[Baseball mom]

This weekend was fun but 😲    Some things we could have done differently (cheaper) but we really enjoyed the day.   So I will try to not stress over that money.   Also we picked up some needed items.  Cost a bit at the time but cheaper where we were than at home.  So that will count as a win.  But it is time to tighten the belt again. 

[mommyoffive]

How is everyone doing?  

This week will be a bit lower spend.  The kids are on spring break from dance so no 2 hours of drive time everyday. 

I need to go get a new license.  $35

Returning 2 violins.  I will get 1 from a different store with better violins.  

Last week was spring break from their school.  It was nice to just stay home.  

I am trying to plan our summer.  The kids threw me for a loop and wanted to do things that they haven't brought up in the last 2 months.  ARGH.  So I have to find a new plan. Trying to figure out our budget for the whole summer.   They want to try some more things and go back to other ones.    More $$

Dh did get a raise.  Now we are just waiting to hear on bonus.  We talked $ a bit to figure out what we want to do.   I think we are still going to keep maxing savings.  I went through numbers and realized we are saving 36% for retirement.  Calculators so that we will have double what we need.  Sometimes I want to pull back and spend more now.  But with all the unknowns I think I most likely will keep this up.   Who knows how much healthcare will be, how long dh will work, if we will be able to max accounts going forward.    But man would I love to spend that 36%.   

Anyway it was good to finally figure all the budget stuff out.  

I am still thinking of getting a job.   I would like to do it, more for my own self than the money.   I need to stop being scared and do it. 

Grocery still at $500 out of $800

We are thinking of getting a lot of a new furniture.  We haven't bought anything in 12 years and most of it was hand me downs.  We need a kitchen table that we can sit at as my youngest is almost down with the high chair.    $$$      It is time though.  I am going to wait until it gets a bit warmer so I can have the windows open to off gas them better. 

 

[Baseball mom]

Yesterday didn't go as I was planned and we got home late.  I also didn't plan for supper.  We were out of bread and anything easy to fix (and I just did NOT feel like cooking and cleaning something big as late as it was).  So I ran to the close grocery and bought bread, buns & hot dogs.  Not the best supper but  cheaper than fast food. 

Tonight I have a plan for supper.  

[HomeAgain]

DS is sick.  That means none of us are really eating properly.  I don't want to deal with food after dealing with ds and his issues.  I have 3 meals ready to go in the fridge and I may pull one out tonight to cook if he can tolerate it.  Otherwise, he gets one of the juice drinks I got on sale (like the Naked smoothies, but it's the Simply brand).  Dh has gotten to eat supermarket salads for work.  I don't want to know what our grocery budget looks like right now because everything is haphazard.

I do know that we returned to a zero-based budget this year, and this month we have about a $600 surplus from where we thought we would be.  That'll go extra on the mortgage on the 30th.

We did get our seeds planted already. 🙂  I know y'all in the sunny south are laughing but it snowed as recently as this week. And we did it for mostly free. DS gets an advent calendar every year, usually from my sister.  This one had cardboard inserts which made it even easier to turn into a planting tray (usually I drill holes in the bottom of the plastic ones).  I set it on a waterproof packaging bag and ds and I planted all sorts of veggies that I had saved seeds for.  The oldest kid cleaned out the previous owner's shed and found me a treasure trove of planters, both starters and more permanent, plus tools and bags of dirt.  So I have all sorts of things started upstairs under the skylights, getting ready for being able to go out in the garden and window boxes. 🙂

[mommyoffive]

17 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

DS is sick.  That means none of us are really eating properly.  I don't want to deal with food after dealing with ds and his issues.  I have 3 meals ready to go in the fridge and I may pull one out tonight to cook if he can tolerate it.  Otherwise, he gets one of the juice drinks I got on sale (like the Naked smoothies, but it's the Simply brand).  Dh has gotten to eat supermarket salads for work.  I don't want to know what our grocery budget looks like right now because everything is haphazard.

I do know that we returned to a zero-based budget this year, and this month we have about a $600 surplus from where we thought we would be.  That'll go extra on the mortgage on the 30th.

We did get our seeds planted already. 🙂  I know y'all in the sunny south are laughing but it snowed as recently as this week. And we did it for mostly free. DS gets an advent calendar every year, usually from my sister.  This one had cardboard inserts which made it even easier to turn into a planting tray (usually I drill holes in the bottom of the plastic ones).  I set it on a waterproof packaging bag and ds and I planted all sorts of veggies that I had saved seeds for.  The oldest kid cleaned out the previous owner's shed and found me a treasure trove of planters, both starters and more permanent, plus tools and bags of dirt.  So I have all sorts of things started upstairs under the skylights, getting ready for being able to go out in the garden and window boxes. 🙂

 

Awesome.   I know a lot of people that are paying extra on their mortgage.   It will be so awesome to have that payed.  Sometimes I wish we were doing that.  And we could, but I guess it isn't one of our goals.  I guess our goals are maxing retirement and traveling now.   But I always wonder if we are doing the right thing.   Where is my crystal ball?   I think there are so many paths to a good future, so for me it is hard to decide which one to go on. 

[HomeAgain]

22 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

 

Awesome.   I know a lot of people that are paying extra on their mortgage.   It will be so awesome to have that payed.  Sometimes I wish we were doing that.  And we could, but I guess it isn't one of our goals.  I guess our goals are maxing retirement and traveling now.   But I always wonder if we are doing the right thing.   Where is my crystal ball?   I think there are so many paths to a good future, so for me it is hard to decide which one to go on. 

Dh and I really wanted a 15 year mortgage but couldn't swing the numbers.  Instead we just round up the payment to the next even $50 amount (so about $32 extra each month) and then pay extra when we can.  We have our savings goal on track, our vacation for next year looking to be planned by Sept, and he's already retired with a second retirement account being maxed out for us. 
We figured out that our usual extra each month is saving us about $14,000 over time in just interest.  That takes a full year off for the price of a night at the movies for dh and I.  We'd like to also add an extra full payment each year so that we're sitting at about a 20-22 year mortgage.  It's slow and steady, but our goal is to be able to use this place as a summer rental unit in our old age and use it to pay for our travels later.

[mommyoffive]

38 minutes ago, Plum said:

Had to share this. I got one for every sink in the house after testing one for over a month. My kids were going through way too much soap when they wash their hands and I got tired of refilling it. These suckers only require a tiny bit of regular liquid hand soap and the rest gets filled with water. After a few priming pumps, we have foam soap. One bottle has lasted over a month. They are going to save me a bunch of money and reduce our plastic, so I consider it an investment. 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Better-Homes-Gardens-12-Ounce-White-Foaming-Soap-Dispenser-Pump-1-Each/55456563?selected=true

 

Oh wow.  What a great idea.  I think I need 4

[mommyoffive]

59 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

Dh and I really wanted a 15 year mortgage but couldn't swing the numbers.  Instead we just round up the payment to the next even $50 amount (so about $32 extra each month) and then pay extra when we can.  We have our savings goal on track, our vacation for next year looking to be planned by Sept, and he's already retired with a second retirement account being maxed out for us. 
We figured out that our usual extra each month is saving us about $14,000 over time in just interest.  That takes a full year off for the price of a night at the movies for dh and I.  We'd like to also add an extra full payment each year so that we're sitting at about a 20-22 year mortgage.  It's slow and steady, but our goal is to be able to use this place as a summer rental unit in our old age and use it to pay for our travels later.

 

Wow, you guys are really on track.  Your dh is already retired?   Amazing.  And another account being maxed for you?  That is so lucky.  Congrats    And you have next years vacation planned?  Amazing.  I marvel at people who can plan vacations that far in advance. Where are you going?  Decide and not go back and forth.  Yep I am bad at decision making. 

Hmm.  you are getting me thinking about spending extra to the Mortgage.  That little bit sure does add up fast. 

Edited March 26, 2019 by mommyoffive

[HomeAgain]

3 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

 

Wow, you guys are really on track.  Your dh is already retired?   Amazing.  And another account being maxed for you?  That is so lucky.  Congrats    And you have next years vacation planned?  Amazing.  I marvel at people who can plan vacations that far in advance. Where are you going?  Decide and not go back and forth.  Yep I am bad at decision making. 

Hmm.  you are getting me thinking about spending extra to the Mortgage.  That little bit sure does add up fast. 

Dh retired from the military. 🙂 It's some, but not as much as we would like for the future. 

I should admit that our planning is WDW.  Once we finish one trip we start planning another. 😄  They're about 5 years between, and dh really wanted to go this year but we had other priorities first.  He had already done all the research, though, and we're rolling with those numbers to start to plan our next one.

2021 we have planned, too, but that one to a different country.  We don't often take two big vacations in a row but we really want to do this as soon as we can.  Usually we take small trips like a local theme park or camping or hit up state museums.

That little amount really does add up. I figure the less we spend on interest, the better, and goodness knows we'll have better places to spend that money than to line someone's pockets!

[mommyoffive]

12 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

Dh retired from the military. 🙂 It's some, but not as much as we would like for the future. 

I should admit that our planning is WDW.  Once we finish one trip we start planning another. 😄  They're about 5 years between, and dh really wanted to go this year but we had other priorities first.  He had already done all the research, though, and we're rolling with those numbers to start to plan our next one.

2021 we have planned, too, but that one to a different country.  We don't often take two big vacations in a row but we really want to do this as soon as we can.  Usually we take small trips like a local theme park or camping or hit up state museums.

That little amount really does add up. I figure the less we spend on interest, the better, and goodness knows we'll have better places to spend that money than to line someone's pockets!

 

I am thanking you right now about the mortgage advice.  I am going to set that up.   It really isn't my goal to pay it off early.  I am more with the advice that says your money is better of being invested.  And with the mortgage % deduction.  I am not sure that applies anymore.  Does it?    Anyway we could pay a little extra on it even though that isn't my goal.  It would be nice.  I think I had read so much of people paying an extra 2k or more on it every month.  We could do that too, but I would rather spend some on life right now.   I am going to call and get that figured out. 

Again you guys are awesome for having things planned so far ahead of time.   I wish I was able to do that.  I see why so many people go back to WDW over and over.   Where are you going in 2021? 

[BarbecueMom]

I know the debate over prepaying mortgages vs. investing gets heated at times, and I understand the math, but I grew up with housing insecurity (foreclosures, evictions, etc) and still struggle with the anxiety and after-effects of all that.  I think we're going to move forward with paying off the house early for my own peace of mind.  We have a smaller-but-adequate house in a working-class neighborhood with really low property taxes and a very affordable payment, but I still live in fear of lost paperwork or a clerical error.

Still tracking expenses here this month, but I haven't added them up yet.  LOTS of kid-related expenses, and although I have a list of non-consumable things we need to buy in the next couple months, I haven't spent any money outside of food, activity fees, a few books for the kids, and cough drops (I go through big bags of them, because allergies and reflux).  We're working on eating everything in the freezer and pantry before vacation, so hopefully the upcoming food bills won't be as painful.

[Soror]

24 minutes ago, BarbecueMom said:

I know the debate over prepaying mortgages vs. investing gets heated at times, and I understand the math, but I grew up with housing insecurity (foreclosures, evictions, etc) and still struggle with the anxiety and after-effects of all that.  I think we're going to move forward with paying off the house early for my own peace of mind.  We have a smaller-but-adequate house in a working-class neighborhood with really low property taxes and a very affordable payment, but I still live in fear of lost paperwork or a clerical error.

Still tracking expenses here this month, but I haven't added them up yet.  LOTS of kid-related expenses, and although I have a list of non-consumable things we need to buy in the next couple months, I haven't spent any money outside of food, activity fees, a few books for the kids, and cough drops (I go through big bags of them, because allergies and reflux).  We're working on eating everything in the freezer and pantry before vacation, so hopefully the upcoming food bills won't be as painful.

This was our thoughts, if our income was drastically reduced we wanted less bills so staying where we are was not so much of a concern and with worries over the years w/ employment I'm glad to be debt free but everyone's situation is of course different.

I've not been here in forever! Sorry ladies, not keeping up with everything. We're off school this week and then 2 more weeks and we are out for the summer, yipee! Maybe I can finally get caught up. As I posted elsewhere we are going to Europe this spring but are working to do it on a budget.

BUT we found out Monday that dh is being cut back to 4 day weeks until July, is off the week of Memorial day and 2 wks in June or July (I forget which). These will be just with unemployment pay, which is of course a fraction of regular pay. Again, we're hoping to not touch savings if at all possible and squeeze the budget down. It is just 3 months, we've squeezed tight for longer, thinking good thoughts and trying to focus. 

We have a nice chunk in savings now and hope to keep as much of that saved as possible. I know I'll have to pull out some next month, but hoping that it is only 1500 or so and leave the rest alone. I'm ok if we need to use bits of my checks to help pay vaca and bills when he is on some unemployment but want to keep it as little as we can. Dh would still like to build a shop this year and if we can keep our savings up we'll have more than enough for that but I think we'll probably sit on that a bit with all our vacation planning and him finishing the spring semester of classes there is not a lot of brain energy to devote to the plans. 

Anyway, I just paid bills and worked on the budget. Next, I need to clean and work on the grocery list, my grocery spending has been a bit up and down but must put more focus into it. As I said, thankfully, we are nearly done with school, that will make it much easier to focus on saving money. 

Today I have to take the girls to get a bday present. I also need to buy some underwear for 2 kids and me (I have 3 pairs!). They want Easter dresses but I think only dd1 needs one, I need to review closets.

On the plus side, I also have most of my school supplies for next year bought.

[HomeAgain]

4 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

 

I am thanking you right now about the mortgage advice.  I am going to set that up.   It really isn't my goal to pay it off early.  I am more with the advice that says your money is better of being invested.  And with the mortgage % deduction.  I am not sure that applies anymore.  Does it?    Anyway we could pay a little extra on it even though that isn't my goal.  It would be nice.  I think I had read so much of people paying an extra 2k or more on it every month.  We could do that too, but I would rather spend some on life right now.   I am going to call and get that figured out. 

Again you guys are awesome for having things planned so far ahead of time.   I wish I was able to do that.  I see why so many people go back to WDW over and over.   Where are you going in 2021? 

We actually weighed it against the deduction.  The thing is, though, it's a deduction, not a credit.  It can adjust the amount owed, but not enough to off set the cumulative payments.  A 4% interest rate on a mortgage can add up to about 3/4 of the purchase price over the years.

And I only wish we were awesome. 😄 Sometimes our life looks better on paper than in our account.  But dh and I started a commitment to changing fiscal habits about 12 years ago, when we were underwater on a car loan and couldn't even meet all our expenses each month.  We moved to a place were we were forced to reexamine our habits and started celebrating little goals: a car paid off in 2 years instead of 6.  No credit card payments*.  A real emergency fund that was actually used for an emergency and we didn't have to stress...some years we do great, some years we don't.  Some of our decisions don't always make a whole lot of sense but we try to keep the risks minimal now.

Our next trip is probably Europe.  We want to take the youngest when he is old enough to remember and comfortable with the languages but young enough to not be bogged down by teen commitments.


*we spent a long time avoiding credit cards because we knew our habits and responsibility level.  Now we use one for gas and pay it off weekly, and it did come in handy when the atm ate my card.

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, soror said:

This was our thoughts, if our income was drastically reduced we wanted less bills so staying where we are was not so much of a concern and with worries over the years w/ employment I'm glad to be debt free but everyone's situation is of course different.

I've not been here in forever! Sorry ladies, not keeping up with everything. We're off school this week and then 2 more weeks and we are out for the summer, yipee! Maybe I can finally get caught up. As I posted elsewhere we are going to Europe this spring but are working to do it on a budget.

BUT we found out Monday that dh is being cut back to 4 day weeks until July, is off the week of Memorial day and 2 wks in June or July (I forget which). These will be just with unemployment pay, which is of course a fraction of regular pay. Again, we're hoping to not touch savings if at all possible and squeeze the budget down. It is just 3 months, we've squeezed tight for longer, thinking good thoughts and trying to focus. 

We have a nice chunk in savings now and hope to keep as much of that saved as possible. I know I'll have to pull out some next month, but hoping that it is only 1500 or so and leave the rest alone. I'm ok if we need to use bits of my checks to help pay vaca and bills when he is on some unemployment but want to keep it as little as we can. Dh would still like to build a shop this year and if we can keep our savings up we'll have more than enough for that but I think we'll probably sit on that a bit with all our vacation planning and him finishing the spring semester of classes there is not a lot of brain energy to devote to the plans. 

Anyway, I just paid bills and worked on the budget. Next, I need to clean and work on the grocery list, my grocery spending has been a bit up and down but must put more focus into it. As I said, thankfully, we are nearly done with school, that will make it much easier to focus on saving money. 

Today I have to take the girls to get a bday present. I also need to buy some underwear for 2 kids and me (I have 3 pairs!). They want Easter dresses but I think only dd1 needs one, I need to review closets.

On the plus side, I also have most of my school supplies for next year bought.

 

You guys are totally debt free?   Amazing.  Congrats

How do you guys get out for summer in 2 weeks?  When do they start?  I haven't ever heard of anyone getting out in Mid April.  Is it year round school.  

Bummer to hear about dh's job.   I am glad they let you know so far ahead of time and that you have a plan.  

[Soror]

2 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

 

You guys are totally debt free?   Amazing.  Congrats

How do you guys get out for summer in 2 weeks?  When do they start?  I haven't ever heard of anyone getting out in Mid April.  Is it year round school.  

Bummer to hear about dh's job.   I am glad they let you know so far ahead of time and that you have a plan.  

Yes, totally debt free, we paid the house off 5 yrs ago I think.

We started in early July.

Yes, at least there was notice. Word is that the cutbacks will likely continue off and on. Rumor is that one of the other plants is gonna close, it is between dh's plant and this one and it looks like it will be the other. That will be horrible for them but good for us but nothing is guaranteed until the chips fall. Dh is trucking along with school trying to increase employability and maybe even a promotion at his current job, but who knows. I'm of course keeping my job, putting money towards savings, projects and extra expenses, or the general budget if we have to.

[mommyoffive]

4 minutes ago, soror said:

Yes, totally debt free, we paid the house off 5 yrs ago I think.

We started in early July.

Yes, at least there was notice. Word is that the cutbacks will likely continue off and on. Rumor is that one of the other plants is gonna close, it is between dh's plant and this one and it looks like it will be the other. That will be horrible for them but good for us but nothing is guaranteed until the chips fall. Dh is trucking along with school trying to increase employability and maybe even a promotion at his current job, but who knows. I'm of course keeping my job, putting money towards savings, projects and extra expenses, or the general budget if we have to.

 

Holy smokes you guys are amazing.   How did you do it?   You guys are so crazy far ahead of the game.  That has to feel so good. 

Are you guys in the south?  That seems so crazy to me to start in early July.  Wow. 

 

[Soror]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

 

Holy smokes you guys are amazing.   How did you do it?   You guys are so crazy far ahead of the game.  That has to feel so good. 

Are you guys in the south?  That seems so crazy to me to start in early July.  Wow. 

 

Midwest but it is HOT (90+) in July so we might as well start. I'd rather have off when I actually want to be outside!

Re: house - small house and loan to begin with, we had a fire and were under insured but put the money we did get to infrastructure and making house bigger. We then finished the house as we could afford it over a few yrs time with dh doing all the finishing work. We had a twenty year loan but paid it as a 15. 

[mommyoffive]

How did the month end up for everyone?

$500 out of $800 for grocery

Dh's raise took effect and it is better than I estimated.  So that was a nice surprise.

We haven't spent any money on summer plans or travel yet.