October Frugalistas

[hjffkj]

What are your frugal plans for the month of October?  We close on our refi tomorrow morning, lowering out mortgage payments by $300!  That $300 will go straight into our Roth IRAs each month to invest in the stock market.  I considered just keeping it going into our mortgage payments but the rate is so low I'd be throwing money away doing that instead of investing.  

We have zero big budget items to spend on unless I find good deals on Christmas gifts because those are the things on my mind right now.  I've set $100 aside for Halloween costumes and candy.  Other than that most of our money for the month is going into savings.  

Dh had his second interview for a new position today and thinks it went well.  I really hope they make a decision before the weekend.

One thing I'm trying to focus on this month is bringing our grocery bills down.  I've been doing a lot of convenience foods recently and they are expensive.  Oct is the time to get back to more homemade food.

[mommyoffive]

Sold some of our old bikes 

Saved some money as I was thinking of upgrading computers for my older 2.  They have school issued  ones .  But the school just sent out new ones to all the kids.  Score.

Got the paper work done for lessons requested for school. 

We will not be Trick or treating or passing out candy.   I think it should be canceled in our state and city. 

Hopefully finishing Christmas shopping. 

[Alicia64]

Love this thread. Been meaning to join forever.

I'm a terrible spendthrift so I'm keeping a daily log of my spending like this:

September 2020:

9-5 -- Gas, $10.

 

Eagle eyeing my spending really helps me be less dumb.

 

I shouldn't be amazed but am at all of the "opportunities" to buy things "I need." Like my shepherd, 9, is having a hard time jumping into our car. My thought, "I need to buy him stairs." But then I put together a good box set-up and he happily used it.

 

Being more creative means less spending.

 

Now, if I could only remember that.

W.

[prairiewindmomma]

Hangs head in shame.

On the first day of October I spent $3k on buying a new fridge because our old one (4 years, 11 months, 50 week old) failed after it’s third repair. I also bought an indoor air quality monitor and a ton of HEPA purifiers.

On the second day of October I bought desks from IKEA that they finally had in stock.

Pretty sure tomorrow is going to be another tremendous outflow of money.

[SereneHome]

10 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Hangs head in shame.

On the first day of October I spent $3k on buying a new fridge because our old one (4 years, 11 months, 50 week old) failed after it’s third repair. I also bought an indoor air quality monitor and a ton of HEPA purifiers.

On the second day of October I bought desks from IKEA that they finally had in stock.

Pretty sure tomorrow is going to be another tremendous outflow of money.

I can't remember if it was you who mentioned your fridge saga before, but we are on our 3rd fridge in less than 10 yrs and Best Buy changed their warranty from 5 yrs to 3 bc they seem to fail in their last year.....So now I am just putting money aside bc I have less than zero faith in our fridge, that took over 2 months to get last year....

[SereneHome]

On 10/1/2020 at 10:38 PM, hjffkj said:

What are your frugal plans for the month of October?  We close on our refi tomorrow morning, lowering out mortgage payments by $300!  That $300 will go straight into our Roth IRAs each month to invest in the stock market.  I considered just keeping it going into our mortgage payments but the rate is so low I'd be throwing money away doing that instead of investing.  

We have zero big budget items to spend on unless I find good deals on Christmas gifts because those are the things on my mind right now.  I've set $100 aside for Halloween costumes and candy.  Other than that most of our money for the month is going into savings.  

Dh had his second interview for a new position today and thinks it went well.  I really hope they make a decision before the weekend.

One thing I'm trying to focus on this month is bringing our grocery bills down.  I've been doing a lot of convenience foods recently and they are expensive.  Oct is the time to get back to more homemade food.

I always thought that it was eating out that killed our grocery budget. We haven't had any eating outs since March, but our grocery budget is out of control, it almost doubled!!!

I have been stocking up on things, but I need to get a grip on our spending!!

[Carrie12345]

I haven’t decided whether or not this counts, lol.  I have been wanting to get a cordless vacuum for months. Maybe lots of months. I am the queen of killing vacuums by running over their cords, and yet the most recent one has continued to survive me.  Which really stinks, because it’s a terrible vacuum that smacks me in the rear or falls over onto my back whenever I try to use attachments. It also doesn’t reach very high at all.

I finally pushed the button and got a $120 cordless, rather than splurging on the several hundred dollar brands I covet. I give it an 8 out of 10, whereas my regular vacuum gets a 4 or so from me.  That may lead me to the temptation of getting a more expensive one for downstairs and keep the new one for just upstairs, so I can’t say it will be frugal overall, but it sort of is for now?

I did put a LOT of pre-made-by-me meals in my new (used, free) freezer by purchasing a few extra items on sale and raiding my household stock, so my grocery bill should be very low for at least a few weeks.

Dh is out of state, wracking up lots of billable hours, which should be good come bonus time. 

 

[hjffkj]

7 hours ago, SereneHome said:

I always thought that it was eating out that killed our grocery budget. We haven't had any eating outs since March, but our grocery budget is out of control, it almost doubled!!!

I have been stocking up on things, but I need to get a grip on our spending!!

 

Yeah, usually groceries isn't an issue for us but we have just been letting in those food items that kill our budget. Mostly snack food and convenience foods.  Those aren't things I EVER purchase so realizing how much they change a grocery budget is shocking.

[hjffkj]

16 minutes ago, Carrie12345 said:

I haven’t decided whether or not this counts, lol.  I have been wanting to get a cordless vacuum for months. Maybe lots of months. I am the queen of killing vacuums by running over their cords, and yet the most recent one has continued to survive me.  Which really stinks, because it’s a terrible vacuum that smacks me in the rear or falls over onto my back whenever I try to use attachments. It also doesn’t reach very high at all.

I finally pushed the button and got a $120 cordless, rather than splurging on the several hundred dollar brands I covet. I give it an 8 out of 10, whereas my regular vacuum gets a 4 or so from me.  That may lead me to the temptation of getting a more expensive one for downstairs and keep the new one for just upstairs, so I can’t say it will be frugal overall, but it sort of is for now?

I did put a LOT of pre-made-by-me meals in my new (used, free) freezer by purchasing a few extra items on sale and raiding my household stock, so my grocery bill should be very low for at least a few weeks.

Dh is out of state, wracking up lots of billable hours, which should be good come bonus time. 

 

Some times it isn't about frugal.  It is about making life easier.  I am currently eyeing a Roomba for our downstairs.  I had one when we first bought our house in 2019 but  the one I got was defective so I returned it instead of replacing because I was worried it was just going to happen again.  But now I really miss how clean it kept things.  Everyone picked things up regularly when we had Roomba.  Now no one notices the things on the floor so it has to get picked up before I can vacuum.

[SereneHome]

17 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

 

Yeah, usually groceries isn't an issue for us but we have just been letting in those food items that kill our budget. Mostly snack food and convenience foods.  Those aren't things I EVER purchase so realizing how much they change a grocery budget is shocking.

I felt so bad that we weren't getting food out, that I started buying all kinds of snacks for the kids and like you, that was something I never bought before.

Also, bc I am totally freaking out about what will happen this winter with food, I have been stocking up and not just buying what's on sale, so that added to the expense as well.

I am so so determined to stick to our food budget this month!!! Which is about half of what we have been spending, so this should be an adventure, for sure lol

[mommyoffive]

19 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Hangs head in shame.

On the first day of October I spent $3k on buying a new fridge because our old one (4 years, 11 months, 50 week old) failed after it’s third repair. I also bought an indoor air quality monitor and a ton of HEPA purifiers.

On the second day of October I bought desks from IKEA that they finally had in stock.

Pretty sure tomorrow is going to be another tremendous outflow of money.

Oh my that sucks about the fridge.   4 years?  That isn't right at all.   What brand was it?

Did IKEA have the desks instore or online?

[prairiewindmomma]

My “lemon” fridge is a Samsung. I switched brands with my new fridge. Most fridges were not even orderable when I went shopping—there was no defined delivery date. The appliance salespeople said this was true across all appliances. 
 

I have been trying to get a desk for months. Dh’s standing desk STILL hasn’t been delivered. IKEA has a store near me—I have been checking their inventory regularly since March. They finally got a shipment of desks—again, not the exact one I wanted, but something....so we got two. (Dd has been using the floor, oldest had a folding table...) 

IKEA’s inventory in the kitchen section—-over half empty. Furniture was also really low. Not sure what is causing their supply issues...but it felt really off.

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, hjffkj said:

 

Yeah, usually groceries isn't an issue for us but we have just been letting in those food items that kill our budget. Mostly snack food and convenience foods.  Those aren't things I EVER purchase so realizing how much they change a grocery budget is shocking.

Ours is about the same.   We always bought snacks and conceive foods.  The only added thing is beer for dh.  We are also keeping up our stockpile of things at the house.   But I don't think it is really costing us more.   I built up a big stockpile of things in February.   Then we had just shopped normally.   So our spending is normal. 

I always go back and think our grocery bill is the same as before we had any kids.  But we bought everything premade, because we didn't know how to cook.   We haven't had any restaurant food since March. 

 

Got the new water bill after the new rate increase and it wasn't as bad as I was fearing.   So relieved. 

[mommyoffive]

Just now, prairiewindmomma said:

My “lemon” fridge is a Samsung. I switched brands with my new fridge. Most fridges were not even orderable when I went shopping—there was no defined delivery date. The appliance salespeople said this was true across all appliances. 
 

I have been trying to get a desk for months. Dh’s standing desk STILL hasn’t been delivered. IKEA has a store near me—I have been checking their inventory regularly since March. They finally got a shipment of desks—again, not the exact one I wanted, but something....so we got two. (Dd has been using the floor, oldest had a folding table...) 

IKEA’s inventory in the kitchen section—-over half empty. Furniture was also really low. Not sure what is causing their supply issues...but it felt really off.

The appliance shortage really worries me.  Our fridge is 14 years old as is our dryer.   Everything else has been replaced.   But really anything could die at anytime.    I am so sorry about your fridge. 

[mommyoffive]

9 hours ago, SereneHome said:

I can't remember if it was you who mentioned your fridge saga before, but we are on our 3rd fridge in less than 10 yrs and Best Buy changed their warranty from 5 yrs to 3 bc they seem to fail in their last year.....So now I am just putting money aside bc I have less than zero faith in our fridge, that took over 2 months to get last year....

That is just horrible.  I am sorry.   I hate that they are building such bad appliances that don't last.  That is horrible for the environment 

 

[historically accurate]

It's going to be an expensive month.

I applied for a job at the library, but my hours available did not match up with what they wanted. Bummer. DH took over my VIPKid area, so I haven't taught in a long time, but because of that the company is sending "incentives" to open slots. So I've been paid $30 in the last two months to do nothing but open 3 slots. Not too bad for no work. 

One car needs new tires, so we're working on finding the cash to do that right now. The oven is on the blink, but it is still working if the vent fan is on (it gets too hot otherwise). I'm keeping an eye on FB Marketplace for a replacement. I assume about $100-$200 will get us a decent-ish enough unit. Saving for the second semester of online class for my high schooler and revamping her curriculum is putting a strain on my school resources right now. One child was hospitalized last month, which means a large medical bill coming this month. 

Doing well on food budget. The school continued free (USDA paid) breakfast/lunch until the end of the year, so I'm getting those for my 2 at-home kids. I'm also driving my unemployed family member through the food pantry as they come up (they're doing pop up pantries rather than shopping in the pantry location). He often gets too much of an item, so I'm taking the stuff he won't or can't eat. EG: last one had a dairy box added in as we have a dairy here in town that donated. He would not use 2 gallons of milk before they went bad because he's a single guy, so we took one. 

 

 

[prairiewindmomma]

We had to head to the hardware store for another repair (I am seriously over 2020) and was able to return the water filters 2pk I had purchased for our now-broken fridge even though I had lost the receipt. $55 return. I'll take whatever "wins" I can right now.

We are also getting the USDA meals. The bus drives to our neighborhood.  We could totally feed our own kids, but the USDA funds the reimbursements to the school district per meal used, and those funds are keeping the bus drivers and cafeteria workers employed, so I'm counting this as a win-win-win-win.  The farmer is helped by the food being purchased through the districts. The school district is helped by the USDA funds. We have additional cash saved that we can continue to flow back into the economy. Keeping that cash flowing allows taxes to be collected which is a return back to the government.

[Hunter]

I cannot budget in so many of the ways that I did in the past. I need to survive in this new world where things are different. I need to "waste" money on fees and have enough accounts open that it is "complicated" just so I can shift money to where it is being demanded in the demanded digital type.

If we get another stim check, and none of the attempted identity theft attempts is entirely successful, I will be able to pay all my debt back to zero and have some leftover. If we don't, I am alive and not yet so deeply buried that I cannot crawl out if I get full-blown primal.

I walked a 4 mile round trip to buy 8 cans of my favorite Progresso soup while it is on sale. I'll try and make another run before the sale is over. I have been mapping out all the cheapest places to shop in a 2 mile radius and am trying to only buy things where they are cheapest. And I am trying to keep the distance I cover about 4-8 miles a day.

Today I wasted 2 miles of walking through the desert just trying to deposit cash into the account that I need to shift from to yet another account, because that is what is being given as my only option for that. Everything is closed or "down". No one seems to be responsible except for me, to make this all happen. They all get to say, "because of Covid," and I am supposed to make that work for them. But so far, I am making it happen, and I am alive. 

Budgeting is important, but today, as something went down, I decided not to worry about some fees that are really adding up on something that is down less often than this other cheaper option is down. I am alive. I have shelter and food and more. Yeh, as I said, I am alive.

I think I am going to go buy an icecream cone from the dollar store, but that is another mile round trip, and I have already walked about 7 miles and am not done for the day yet. I might need to skip that. It is in the foodstamp budget, but not the walking budget. LOL. Yup, I have a walking budget. If I get a stress injury, I am mucked.

[Soror]

Hola ladies, I've not been here in forever and need to be. We've had umpteen months in a row with so many expenses and then reduced income. Car, medical, house projects. I'm so over it. 

After some contemplation and a thread here for ideas I'm changing things up. I've always preferred to track things much more detailed than dh. I've been the primary one in charge of money here for many years but had tried at times to change things up to bring him more on board but no matter how we have tried to do it he doesn't get that involved and now with college he doesn't have the time, so no use pretending that I just need to find some magic way of doing things that he will be all interested. We don't have enough room between expenses and income to be as loose as dh wants, especially with adding on so much in college expenses for this year and periods of pay cuts. I'm not preparing enough for irregular and variable expenses and it is causing me stress. I realized as the one that has the responsibility of doing it I have to do it in a way that works for me.

So, I'm trialing YNAB to see if it helps me better track these variable and irregular expenses that my brain just can't keep up with anymore. I had wanted to do multiple accounts for years to track sinking funds, dh has been opposed to that and so is YNAB so maybe it will be a good compromise as it will track those sinking funds within my account.

I verified with him again our money goals and showed him the plans towards those goals after knocking out the last big chunk of medical and car maint/repair bills. 

Month goal:

-Stay on budget- trying to really keep groceries down this month- I've been buying more snacks too and haven't been as diligent about food wastes as I need to be at times. 

-put aside $500-$800 in savings depending on OT dh gets (he can't get any now working from home but will hopefully get some when he goes back)

-$200 towards long term goals (big family vaca and replacement vehicle for me- those are 1.5-2.5 yrs out)

- after quarantine do a couple of family (outdoor) outings and maybe get take out (I think I still have a coupon that will cover most of our meal)

Spending-

$19 for gas at the start of this, we should be saving a ton on gas this month, hallelujah.

Edited October 3, 2020 by Soror

[Hunter]

Appliances: when I buy them, I have to factor in the price of their disposal and how likely that is almost immediately. I cannot have delivered what I cannot get right back out of here.

I am going to continue to hand wash my clothes in a bucket, and ordered just a plain centrifuge to spin off the excess water. With less parts, that shouldn't break as fast. And it is small enough to fit in the dumpster out back, even though that is not allowed. I will sneak it out in the dark, when it does break. I've done this before. They last about a year.

[Soror]

re: appliances

I was just telling dh that we are probably due to have to replace something any time. My washer gets error codes and my dishwasher is not in great shape at all.

Yesterday, my garbage disposal just stopped. Dh thinks it might be dead but he is going to look into it more today to see if it is possible to fix. I do have some Menard's gift cards to put towards replacing it to lesson the blow. I'd hope to use the cards to build stairs for our shed but that might have to wait.

[prairiewindmomma]

Amazon Prime announced Prime Days (13th & 14th?). Target and other have started to announce sales for those same dates.

I am working on a triaged list of needs and wants—household items, holiday gifts, etc. If the sale is right, I may buy ahead on some items. 

 

[mommyoffive]

2 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Amazon Prime announced Prime Days (13th & 14th?). Target and other have started to announce sales for those same dates.

I am working on a triaged list of needs and wants—household items, holiday gifts, etc. If the sale is right, I may buy ahead on some items. 

 

I saw that.  I would love to know the deals if anyone sees them listed.

[Hunter]

40 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Amazon Prime announced Prime Days (13th & 14th?). Target and other have started to announce sales for those same dates.

I am working on a triaged list of needs and wants—household items, holiday gifts, etc. If the sale is right, I may buy ahead on some items. 

 

That needs to be part of the budget. And Black Friday. These are new times and shipping might be more of a problem this winter than ability to shift money digitally.

I am trying to be wise, and wisdom is not always to spend as little as possible in the present. It never was ALWAYS the best plan, and now it is even more infrequent. Nothing is as simple as it was. So far, looking back, I have no regrets. Some things I cannot know how might have gone differently if I had spent differently. But I have no definite regrets or desire for a do over. I am in remarkably good shape, compared to what could have happened. I stand here grateful, and tired but smiling.

I got the icecream cone. I really really REALLY wanted it. LOL.

Edited October 4, 2020 by Hunter

[Soror]

10 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Amazon Prime announced Prime Days (13th & 14th?). Target and other have started to announce sales for those same dates.

I am working on a triaged list of needs and wants—household items, holiday gifts, etc. If the sale is right, I may buy ahead on some items. 

 

I need to do this as well. I have 2 girls with bdays in November too. A food processor is on my wish list, mine died years ago. A friend gave me a hand me down that was half broke that I limped for another year. Now, I'd really like to get another good one. I don't use a lot of gadgets but that would get heavy use. Right now I find myself using my blender for whatever I can and then doing things by hand that I can't and just skipping some recipes because neither will work.

@Hunter ya for treats! Spending as little as possible isn't always the best but of course there is always the battle of finding the best you can afford because there are no end to upgrades and sometimes the extra you spend doesn't give the same amount of use back. I was raised to be much more cheap as my family didn't make as much. Dh came from the mindset to buy the more expensive item because it is worth it. It has been interesting melding those together, I think we've both learned there is a time and place for each philosophy. Some things it doesn't matter and some things cost more just because the name. Sometimes you just don't have the money for the nicer thing. We just got to do the best we can in the moment.

[Soror]

Yesterday- I used up my nearly expired cottage cheese to make a triple batch of pumpkin pancakes. I have 2 batches in the frig for my breakfast this week and 1 in the freezer. I immediately put the rest of the can of pumpkin in the freezer so it doesn't go bad. 

I cooked up a pack of ground beef and used half for chili, adding extra beans so there would be some for lunch today. The other half went to the frig for upcoming tacos.

I need to do a frig inventory today, I'm sure there is more in there that needs to be used (or that I've already missed and has gone bad). I need to start next week's pick-up order list so I need to see what we have in stock. 

OH, I cancelled Hulu and will be cancelling DisneyPlus after this month (when the next season of Mandalorian comes out. Dh had fought me forever on these but we started DisneyPlus during lockdown, watched the Mandalorian and then have rarely used it. Hulu we tend to watch a few shows on but just finished AGT and don't have any other that we've been following. AFter dh saw the numbers for everything and realized this money could go towards other things he seen the light.

Edited October 4, 2020 by Soror

[historically accurate]

10 hours ago, Hunter said:

That needs to be part of the budget. And Black Friday. These are new times and shipping might be more of a problem this winter than ability to shift money digitally.

I am trying to be wise, and wisdom is not always to spend as little as possible in the present. It never was ALWAYS the best plan, and now it is even more infrequent. Nothing is as simple as it was. So far, looking back, I have no regrets. Some things I cannot know how might have gone differently if I had spent differently. But I have no definite regrets or desire for a do over. I am in remarkably good shape, compared to what could have happened. I stand here grateful, and tired but smiling.

I got the icecream cone. I really really REALLY wanted it. LOL.

I'm so glad you got the ice cream cone. Sometimes you just have to do it. One day in June, when we were still in pretty hard lockdown, all 3 of my kids had a meltdown. We piled everyone in the car and got Culver's frozen custard through the drivethrough. It just was the day when no one could go any further without some sort of treat. 

Today, my goal is to inventory my food. I've put some meals up in the freezer back in May-ish, so I need to see what is still in there. I have no clue what is in the inside freezer (I have a side by side, and that freezer is where things go to die it seems). My pantry is kind of a mess too.  

[mommyoffive]

21 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Amazon Prime announced Prime Days (13th & 14th?). Target and other have started to announce sales for those same dates.

I am working on a triaged list of needs and wants—household items, holiday gifts, etc. If the sale is right, I may buy ahead on some items. 

 

Walmart just announced they are having a sale like this too starting on October 11.

[prairiewindmomma]

JoAnn Etc has two 50% off coupons that expire tonight. These don’t have as many brand exclusions as they usually do. You can stack these with the $/minimum purchase coupons also. They are also running a $1.99 shipping coupon if you want to shop from home. The only hang up I bumped into is that the items you use the 50% off coupon for don’t count towards your $/minimum purchase coupon. I saved $$ overall but wasn’t able to hit the minimum purchase amount to use those additional coupons.

 

[Soror]

Placed pick-up order for Wal-Mart; $134- $22 (cleaning and paper goods- big pack TP, big box dishwasher tabs, and vinegar)- $112 groceries

I have until tomorrow am to add/change and might still think of some things but I don't think I forgot anything big.

I'm trying to keep each week grocery spending to $125 this month.

I cut back on snacks although they are still getting some. It was weird this morning logging onto the bank and having no transactions go through, usually something goes through from the weekend. The last thing we spent money on was gas on the 1st. We haven't even bought anything online.

I did go ahead and cancel DisneyPlus. The big thing dh wanted to see was Mandalorian S2, our current subscription goes until Oct 29, it comes out on the 30th. If we cancel and add it back a week later we can push our 30 days to catch Mulan coming out on Dec 4, otherwise we'd have to pay 2 more months to catch both.

I am planning another bonfire this coming week and doing hotdogs. I have some uncured beef dogs in the freezer to use up and roasting them over a fire will be more appealing to all and considerably cheaper than burgers.

I watched a few videos on YNAB to get me initiated to there system and feel I have a pretty good grasp on it now. I've not looked at doing CC through them (we use and pay off each month) but wanted to ease into it. I also found out that we can get 1 yr free with dh being a college student so I'm excited about that. I'll wait until our trial is closing before putting that through.

[hjffkj]

Trying to catch up on posts.  Didn't expect the thread to be so popular this month!

On 10/2/2020 at 3:38 PM, prairiewindmomma said:

Hangs head in shame.

On the first day of October I spent $3k on buying a new fridge because our old one (4 years, 11 months, 50 week old) failed after it’s third repair. I also bought an indoor air quality monitor and a ton of HEPA purifiers.

On the second day of October I bought desks from IKEA that they finally had in stock.

Pretty sure tomorrow is going to be another tremendous outflow of money.

No need to hang your head in shame.  Expensive months happen.  

On 10/3/2020 at 11:22 AM, mommyoffive said:

Ours is about the same.   We always bought snacks and conceive foods.  The only added thing is beer for dh.  We are also keeping up our stockpile of things at the house.   But I don't think it is really costing us more.   I built up a big stockpile of things in February.   Then we had just shopped normally.   So our spending is normal. 

I always go back and think our grocery bill is the same as before we had any kids.  But we bought everything premade, because we didn't know how to cook.   We haven't had any restaurant food since March. 

 

Got the new water bill after the new rate increase and it wasn't as bad as I was fearing.   So relieved. 

ha, our grocery bill wasn't as big when we didn't have kids but it certainly was high compared to the way I shop now.

On 10/3/2020 at 1:29 PM, historically accurate said:

It's going to be an expensive month.

I applied for a job at the library, but my hours available did not match up with what they wanted. Bummer. DH took over my VIPKid area, so I haven't taught in a long time, but because of that the company is sending "incentives" to open slots. So I've been paid $30 in the last two months to do nothing but open 3 slots. Not too bad for no work. 

One car needs new tires, so we're working on finding the cash to do that right now. The oven is on the blink, but it is still working if the vent fan is on (it gets too hot otherwise). I'm keeping an eye on FB Marketplace for a replacement. I assume about $100-$200 will get us a decent-ish enough unit. Saving for the second semester of online class for my high schooler and revamping her curriculum is putting a strain on my school resources right now. One child was hospitalized last month, which means a large medical bill coming this month. 

Doing well on food budget. The school continued free (USDA paid) breakfast/lunch until the end of the year, so I'm getting those for my 2 at-home kids. I'm also driving my unemployed family member through the food pantry as they come up (they're doing pop up pantries rather than shopping in the pantry location). He often gets too much of an item, so I'm taking the stuff he won't or can't eat. EG: last one had a dairy box added in as we have a dairy here in town that donated. He would not use 2 gallons of milk before they went bad because he's a single guy, so we took one. 

 

 

Sorry to hear the library job didn't work out.  but getting paid for nothing sounds great!  Sounds like it is going to be an expensive month, hope that isn't too stressful for you guys. 

 

On 10/3/2020 at 5:13 PM, prairiewindmomma said:

We had to head to the hardware store for another repair (I am seriously over 2020) and was able to return the water filters 2pk I had purchased for our now-broken fridge even though I had lost the receipt. $55 return. I'll take whatever "wins" I can right now.

We are also getting the USDA meals. The bus drives to our neighborhood.  We could totally feed our own kids, but the USDA funds the reimbursements to the school district per meal used, and those funds are keeping the bus drivers and cafeteria workers employed, so I'm counting this as a win-win-win-win.  The farmer is helped by the food being purchased through the districts. The school district is helped by the USDA funds. We have additional cash saved that we can continue to flow back into the economy. Keeping that cash flowing allows taxes to be collected which is a return back to the government.

 

I really want to do the USDA meals, mainly to support it but I don't know how to.  All the schools only provide them to the enrolled kids. And no where else is supplying them anymore.  

On 10/3/2020 at 5:54 PM, Hunter said:

I cannot budget in so many of the ways that I did in the past. I need to survive in this new world where things are different. I need to "waste" money on fees and have enough accounts open that it is "complicated" just so I can shift money to where it is being demanded in the demanded digital type.

If we get another stim check, and none of the attempted identity theft attempts is entirely successful, I will be able to pay all my debt back to zero and have some leftover. If we don't, I am alive and not yet so deeply buried that I cannot crawl out if I get full-blown primal.

I walked a 4 mile round trip to buy 8 cans of my favorite Progresso soup while it is on sale. I'll try and make another run before the sale is over. I have been mapping out all the cheapest places to shop in a 2 mile radius and am trying to only buy things where they are cheapest. And I am trying to keep the distance I cover about 4-8 miles a day.

Today I wasted 2 miles of walking through the desert just trying to deposit cash into the account that I need to shift from to yet another account, because that is what is being given as my only option for that. Everything is closed or "down". No one seems to be responsible except for me, to make this all happen. They all get to say, "because of Covid," and I am supposed to make that work for them. But so far, I am making it happen, and I am alive. 

Budgeting is important, but today, as something went down, I decided not to worry about some fees that are really adding up on something that is down less often than this other cheaper option is down. I am alive. I have shelter and food and more. Yeh, as I said, I am alive.

I think I am going to go buy an icecream cone from the dollar store, but that is another mile round trip, and I have already walked about 7 miles and am not done for the day yet. I might need to skip that. It is in the foodstamp budget, but not the walking budget. LOL. Yup, I have a walking budget. If I get a stress injury, I am mucked.

Yeah, budgeting certainly isn't everything or even the most important thing.   Hope the icecream cone was enjoyable.

On 10/3/2020 at 5:59 PM, Soror said:

Hola ladies, I've not been here in forever and need to be. We've had umpteen months in a row with so many expenses and then reduced income. Car, medical, house projects. I'm so over it. 

After some contemplation and a thread here for ideas I'm changing things up. I've always preferred to track things much more detailed than dh. I've been the primary one in charge of money here for many years but had tried at times to change things up to bring him more on board but no matter how we have tried to do it he doesn't get that involved and now with college he doesn't have the time, so no use pretending that I just need to find some magic way of doing things that he will be all interested. We don't have enough room between expenses and income to be as loose as dh wants, especially with adding on so much in college expenses for this year and periods of pay cuts. I'm not preparing enough for irregular and variable expenses and it is causing me stress. I realized as the one that has the responsibility of doing it I have to do it in a way that works for me.

So, I'm trialing YNAB to see if it helps me better track these variable and irregular expenses that my brain just can't keep up with anymore. I had wanted to do multiple accounts for years to track sinking funds, dh has been opposed to that and so is YNAB so maybe it will be a good compromise as it will track those sinking funds within my account.

I verified with him again our money goals and showed him the plans towards those goals after knocking out the last big chunk of medical and car maint/repair bills. 

Month goal:

-Stay on budget- trying to really keep groceries down this month- I've been buying more snacks too and haven't been as diligent about food wastes as I need to be at times. 

-put aside $500-$800 in savings depending on OT dh gets (he can't get any now working from home but will hopefully get some when he goes back)

-$200 towards long term goals (big family vaca and replacement vehicle for me- those are 1.5-2.5 yrs out)

- after quarantine do a couple of family (outdoor) outings and maybe get take out (I think I still have a coupon that will cover most of our meal)

Spending-

$19 for gas at the start of this, we should be saving a ton on gas this month, hallelujah.

I hope YNAB works for you.  I have tried so many different things and just haven't found anything better than good old pen and paper for me.  I think the way my brain works is that when I write it down it has a deeper impact. 

I am still trying to figure out how to get dh more involved with finances.  He has basically just allowed me to set his monthly budget for him and then he sometimes sticks to it and sometimes doesn't without noticing.  He's slowly coming on board with being involved since I've been talking more about how the money we save is growing nicely in the stock market.  I'm waiting to hear if he gets the job he applied for recently to sit down with him and hammer out our goals for the next few years and long term.

I love your goals and wish you luck sticking to them.

[hjffkj]

If Prime sales and other store sales are coming up I've gotta spend some time making lists of gifts to keep an eye out for.  I purchased my first Christmas gift yesterday!  It was a 25 cent book about spies for my nephew who is into all things spies.  That was at Goodwill.  Then dh and I found a used Dragonball Z game at the local game store for $5.  It'll be a great gift for one of our kids. Dh was so excited to find a gift  used in good condition since I'm usually the one who does all the Christmas shopping in order to save money.  He always has input but usually I'm the one to find the deals.

 

 

[hjffkj]

Here is a date night frugal win for us. My brother took our kids minus the baby for an overnight.  Usually what we would do is go out for dinner and then come home and play some board games.  Well this time we decided to skip dinner out since we had plenty of leftovers at home and instead spent $5 on a 1000 piece puzzle and work on it at home while watching horror movies.  It was really enjoyable because I love doing puzzles and watching horror films!  Plus, it was a $5 date instead of a $50+ date.

[Soror]

Big win here. Dh tore into the garbage disposal to see if there was any hope, no it is entirely dead. Then he checked and sure enough it is still under warranty. A phone call later we have a new garbage disposal coming to us free of charge!

$59.75 on medication- I was dissapointed to find that my compound scrip is not under my insurance deductible. This one I only need to fill every 6 months though. I have my other meds coming through Express Scripts and it should be timed that I'll be able to get another 90 day order right before the end of the year when my deductible is met so they are much cheaper. So, I won't have any scrips for nearly the first 3 months of the year.

Going to pick up grocery pick-up today, did not add on to my order. 

[prairiewindmomma]

We were craving something cold and sweet tonight (ac is off/windows are open!) so I blended up a quart sized bag of frozen strawberries, three boxes of school milk (3c.?) and a bit of sugar. Delicious! Not as creamy as icecream, but not $4.50 for a box of it either!

[hjffkj]

Dh got the job he interviewed for!!  The increased pay will go straight towards retirement seeing as there is no current need for it.

[historically accurate]

3 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

Dh got the job he interviewed for!!  The increased pay will go straight towards retirement seeing as there is no current need for it.

Awesome!

[mommyoffive]

3 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

Dh got the job he interviewed for!!  The increased pay will go straight towards retirement seeing as there is no current need for it.

Congratulations!

[prairiewindmomma]

5 hours ago, hjffkj said:

Dh got the job he interviewed for!!  The increased pay will go straight towards retirement seeing as there is no current need for it.

YAYYY!!!!!!

[prairiewindmomma]

I'm painting the guest room that we've been also using as an office.  Wish me luck.  Dh's standing desk is due in in a few weeks, so we've moved his stuff over early so I can get in and get some cleaning done.  Unfortunately, it's part of a greater cleanup in that room.  Dd was ill in there this week and so we've also purchased a carpet cleaner for home use.  After 20 years of kid messes and renting rug doctors every few months, I'm just over hauling carpet cleaners home, lugging them about, and then returning them in a short window of time. This should pay off in about 18 months or so based on rental fees of $50/pop and quarterly cleanings.

[Soror]

13 hours ago, hjffkj said:

Dh got the job he interviewed for!!  The increased pay will go straight towards retirement seeing as there is no current need for it.

Many congratulations!

8 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I'm painting the guest room that we've been also using as an office.  Wish me luck.  Dh's standing desk is due in in a few weeks, so we've moved his stuff over early so I can get in and get some cleaning done.  Unfortunately, it's part of a greater cleanup in that room.  Dd was ill in there this week and so we've also purchased a carpet cleaner for home use.  After 20 years of kid messes and renting rug doctors every few months, I'm just over hauling carpet cleaners home, lugging them about, and then returning them in a short window of time. This should pay off in about 18 months or so based on rental fees of $50/pop and quarterly cleanings.

UGH, sounds fun!!!

 

[Soror]

I had a dream I was buying half a lamb and realized I hadn't budgeted for it.

I did an inventory yesterday of cleaning supplies and made a list for next month.

My Express Scripts order went through and shipped and it already has the refill ready on 2 of the 3 meds, showing it will be processed on 12/7. 3 months at $29. Before deductible that is $125.

[hjffkj]

11 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I'm painting the guest room that we've been also using as an office.  Wish me luck.  Dh's standing desk is due in in a few weeks, so we've moved his stuff over early so I can get in and get some cleaning done.  Unfortunately, it's part of a greater cleanup in that room.  Dd was ill in there this week and so we've also purchased a carpet cleaner for home use.  After 20 years of kid messes and renting rug doctors every few months, I'm just over hauling carpet cleaners home, lugging them about, and then returning them in a short window of time. This should pay off in about 18 months or so based on rental fees of $50/pop and quarterly cleanings.

I've actually been contemplating buying a heavy duty carpet cleaner.  or really going in on one with my brother who is moving across the street from us hopefully in Nov.  We desperately need to clean our carpets upstairs because one of our senior dogs has been losing control of her bladder and has decided that my dd's room and one of the landings upstairs is her new pee spot.  No matter how much we try to keep her downstairs and in my sights she sneaks up there.

[hjffkj]

So, the Christmas list making has begun, mainly because Prime Day is soon and my mil is going to want to have ideas so she can shop that day. We have decided that we are getting the kids another gaming computer and everything that goes with that so I've got to start researching and hunting down things for that. So, if you see good deals on keyboards, headsets, etc. let me know please!

[Soror]

On 10/9/2020 at 8:59 AM, hjffkj said:

So, the Christmas list making has begun, mainly because Prime Day is soon and my mil is going to want to have ideas so she can shop that day. We have decided that we are getting the kids another gaming computer and everything that goes with that so I've got to start researching and hunting down things for that. So, if you see good deals on keyboards, headsets, etc. let me know please!

I've not seen any deals as of yet. Fwiw we have these headphones-- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SAYCXWG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I use it for teaching in the morning, dh uses it for college, and both dh and ds use it for gaming. It gets heavy use, they are comfy and work well. (good reviews to back that) Our last ones (same brand) lasted 4 yrs with many hours put on them.

[Soror]

I've been making my grocery list. Budget this week is at $125, I have a $49 pick-up order ds is picking up today and have a list and menu for Aldi's . My current Aldi's list is about $72. I've been working on the list for a few days as I notice things I need, so hopefully I don't forget something.

Menu:

Monday: Cajun Chicken Pasta and baked eggplant

Tuesday: Homemade Stromboli (regular- thestayathomechef and gluten free-using easy vegan gf recipe and Wal-Mart gf flour mix)

Wednesday: Easy Chicken Alfredo + broccoli (simply recipes)

Thursday: Stir fry w/ rice (using frozen stir fry veggies)

FRiday: Baked fish, mac n cheese (reg and GF), salad

Saturday: One pot chili pasta (budget bytes)

We usually do not do so much pasta but the kids take turns cooking and all want to make pasta.

I don't plan breakfasts usually. Dh often will eat cereal before work. DD1 and Ds usually don't eat breakfast except on weekends when they can eat it later (neither like eating early). Me and the girls take turns cooking breakfast. I often will premake some oatmeal, healthy muffins, or pancakes for myself. I cook eggs on Monday and Oatmeal/Porridge on Wed; let everyone eat cereal a day or 2. Make a bigger breakfast on Sundays (today was oatmeal bake). The girls will often make pancakes or muffins.

For lunch Dh and I eat leftovers. Dh takes leftover dinner. I eat leftover dinner or will make myself a dish for the week (lots of beans, veggies, etc that are healthier and not as well liked by the family). DD1 packs a sandwich and snacks for lunch. Ds eats school lunch. Dd2 and DD3 eat a random assortment- quick things, sandwiches, leftovers etc.

Edited October 11, 2020 by Soror

[mommyoffive]

Target has some sales now

Buy 2 get one free on books,  movies, and music 

Spend $50 on toys get $10 off

Spend $100 on toys get $20 off

[mommyoffive]

Walmart's big save event is live right now. 

[prairiewindmomma]

I looked at my budget today and was reminded of the line from Harry Potter that was something like, "I'll be in my bedroom, making no noise, pretending I'm not there." 

After looking at my budget, I'll be sitting at home, spending no money, pretending there are no sales going on. 🙂

[prairiewindmomma]

Confession: I bought a pair of Olukai slippers today (the Ku'una).  I buy myself new slippers every other year---about when the wear takes 1/4" off of the heel and I have to replace them. (I have foot issues, this is on professional medical guidance for shoe replacement.) I really love them--they are on my feet already, and I'll probably wear them daily around the house through May, so no regrets on spending that money.

The painting and carpet cleaning went well.  I took down the heavy blinds in that room, but we're keeping the curtains we inherited when we bought the house a few years ago. I'll upgrade them into blackout curtains at some point, but it's low on the budget triage list.