September Frugalistas

[JustEm]

Anyone still out there? August ended well I suppose.  I sorta stopped paying attention to finances for that month, just so much else going on.

 

September is looking to be a spendy month. $3000 in property taxes got paid yesterday but we had been setting money aside so not an issue.  The girls ballet tuition is due soon which will put us back about $1600, which wasn't expected. Our oldest phased out of parks and rec ballet and decided she wanted to continue so we signed her a her sister up at the local school associated with a good dance company. The expense is doable we just hadn't already put money aside for it so it'll go on our credit card and be paid off before accruing interest. 

Other than that I don't think we have any big expenses for September. We will have an influx of cash coming in next paycheck, which will go right into savings.  Our refinance should be done by the end of the month, which will free up over $300/month.  That money will go into investments since our 2.875% mortgage rate is so low it would be financially silly to not go for higher gains in the market. And I'm still eagerly awaiting the sale of my parents' house since that is when they'll start paying us rent.  That is still a few months away though. Pray the housing market doesn't crash before that.

Dh applied for a new position in his department, which as two openings.  It will be great for his career if he gets it and he enjoys the position a lot as he's been working in it on a temporary basis since the beginning of August.

[prairiewindmomma]

We spent a bit of August buying things to increase home functionality—a standing desk for Dh as he is working from home indefinitely, etc.

I used my amazon points to buy a Brannock device (foot measuring thingie) because my kids all decided to grow a lot this year. We can now order shoes in correct sizes from home.

Frugal wins:

1. Handed down ds’s nearly new hiking sandals down to dd, and she handed up her spare rain jacket to him. (They are like twins right now in height and weight.)

2. Reorganized the boys’ room and spent no money to give them a better layout

3. Used my fridge warranty with one more month remaining to trigger a service call (scheduled for tomorrow—cross your fingers and hope they can fix it for us, please)

4. Did a lot of other home maintenance ourselves

5. used camelcamelcamel to save about $50 on necessary amazon purchases

6. Sale shopped for necessary winter wardrobe purchases...saved $$$ that way between family members

Struck out:

1. Ds’s books from spring and summer term have no market value for book buyback on the ‘net, local campus bookstore remains closed

2. Got takeout three times this month, and I don’t feel guilty about that

3. Bought a spendy want to supposedly save money versus ongoing expense of premium thing, but likely wouldn’t have paid for the premium thing anyway.....and I don’t feel guilty about that either

I have Covid fatigue, I think. If I am stuck at home I want some creature comforts.

[prairiewindmomma]

When you replace your pillows, buy allergic covers also. 

[Ethel Mertz]

Frugal score: We bought an upright freezer, in excellent condition, at our local Habitat for Humanity ReStore, for $160.

[JustEm]

26 minutes ago, Ethel Mertz said:

Frugal score: We bought an upright freezer, in excellent condition, at our local Habitat for Humanity ReStore, for $160.

 

Nice!  I love the restore!  Your comment reminded me that because of my sil's ridiculousness I got a second fridge for free. Well someone paid for it but it wasn't me and it will live in our basement, which is awesome because with ten people in the house a second fridge is helpful

[JustEm]

I went to Once Upon a Child with the girls today looking for ballet shoes and Halloween costume pieces.  We found no shoes but did find the pieces for dd11's costume and a dress for dd5's costume.  In total spent $25. More than I would have liked but the pieces they needed were pretty specific and it was amazing we found them to begin with.

[JustEm]

So, how has September been treating everyone.  We had to pay for dance for the two girls so that was $1600 for the year! Paying for all of it at once seemed overwhelming but when I realized dd10 is taking three hour and a half long classes a week it put things into perspective.

Other than that our spending has been pretty normal.  Nothing out of the ordinary. Our refinance closes next Friday which will free up $300/month!  That will immediately go into investments.  No point paying the mortgage off early when the interest rate is so low.  That money is better spend in the market or possibly being used to purchase our first rental property or a house to flip.  But that isn't a project to start until my parents' house is sold. My brother's house went under contract with 24 hours of being on the market so now the reno on my parents' house can begin!

Dh had his first interview for the position he is hoping to get yesterday.  He thinks it went really well.  Now he waits to hear from his big boss to schedule an interview with her.  It is probably a good thing that I don't know what the pay would be since I can't start thinking where it will go until he actually has the job.

[Ethel Mertz]

Too many bills, too little money! We're down about $2K in monthly income and will be for the foreseeable future.  + Medical bills. DS is applying to colleges.