November Frugalistas 2020

[mommyoffive]

Here we go a new month 

54 days until Christmas 

Our spending will probably be high because of more Christmas shopping.   I have started,  but haven't finished yet.

[historically accurate]

**LALALALALA** I can't hear you! I choose to be in denial regarding Christmas. I started adding things to my Gifts board on Pinterest to look at later, but I haven't started shopping. It's going to be a little Christmas for us. 

My oldest will be coming home from college this month, so that's our first big expense - hotels & gas to get her from Alabama. 

 

[Ethel Mertz]

Big bills this month: car repair $500 deductible, new tires desperately needed, medical bills (always with us), big utility bills, and something I seem to be blocking. Grocery shopping limited to one shopping trip to Aldi's, sale items at our local grocery outlet, sale items at our chain grocery store. Hoping to hold groceries down to $200-300 for the next month (we keep a stocked pantry).

[hjffkj]

Well it got cold enough yesterday to turn the heat on and we discovered the furnace will not stay on.  It turns on and then turns off immediately 😞 Here's hoping dh can fix this like he seems to think he can. 

November and December are my favorite months!  Thanksgiving, Advent, and Christmas bring me so much joy. I've done a bit of shopping but still have a good deal more.  Thankfully, I have no mortgage payment this month so that will be the Christmas gift budget this month.  For the first time in ages I didn't budget for Christmas throughout the year.  It was sort of just an oversight.

 

 

[mommyoffive]

51 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

Well it got cold enough yesterday to turn the heat on and we discovered the furnace will not stay on.  It turns on and then turns off immediately 😞 Here's hoping dh can fix this like he seems to think he can. 

November and December are my favorite months!  Thanksgiving, Advent, and Christmas bring me so much joy. I've done a bit of shopping but still have a good deal more.  Thankfully, I have no mortgage payment this month so that will be the Christmas gift budget this month.  For the first time in ages I didn't budget for Christmas throughout the year.  It was sort of just an oversight.

 

 

I hope your dh can fix the furnace.   At least you found it out before it got really cold.

I am glad the no mortgage payment covered the Christmas found.   We are just starting that process.   What rate did you get?  How many years did you refinance into?  How much fees did you have?

[hjffkj]

41 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

I hope your dh can fix the furnace.   At least you found it out before it got really cold.

I am glad the no mortgage payment covered the Christmas found.   We are just starting that process.   What rate did you get?  How many years did you refinance into?  How much fees did you have?

yeah, it would suck to get it to the coldest nights and then learn the heat was broken.  If it got too bad and we couldn't get it fixed right away we'd just have everyone sleep in our room because our room is an addition to the house and has baseboard electric heating.  So, at least one room in the house can be warm right now!

 

New rate is 2.875% 30 years.  We considered a 15 year but the rates were not much lower surprisingly and at such a low rate I'd rather just pay it off more slowly and invest the difference.  The yields in the stock market will be much more significant than paying off the loan sooner. Fees were just under $3000. That didn't include the amount to go into escrow because we don't escrow

[popmom]

3 hours ago, hjffkj said:

 

 

New rate is 2.875% 30 years.  We considered a 15 year but the rates were not much lower surprisingly and at such a low rate I'd rather just pay it off more slowly and invest the difference.  The yields in the stock market will be much more significant than paying off the loan sooner. Fees were just under $3000. That didn't include the amount to go into escrow because we don't escrow

We have never been disciplined enough to invest the difference! lol So we have a 15 yr. 

I am joining in the Frugalistas because we have a goal for early retirement for dh. This means paying off all debt--one car loan, one credit card with a sizeable balance, and the mortgage. My husband has been offered a pension buyout, from a company he used to work for. We are taking the lump sum and sending it in on the mortgage. The bank will recast the loan. The terms stay the same, but our payment will go down dramatically. We will now HAVE to be disciplined to use the difference to pay off the car and cc. Then we will finish off the mortgage. We plan to be completely debt free in 3-4 years. 

I'm not sure my husband will actually want to retire early. He just mainly wants that F-You money, so he has options. His job can be very stressful at times. 

Our frugal plans for Nov: we ripped up the 25 yr old carpet upstairs last month. DH will be laying vinyl plank flooring up there that matches our hardwood downstairs. DD and I are stripping the 25 year old wall paper in our master bath. That's the start of our DIY bathroom update. 

I HAVE to rein in the grocery spending. 

Oh! Our big expense in the next month is a car for our dd who is a grad student. She just totaled hers 2 days ago. 😞 We don't know yet how much the insurance company will give us. The car was paid for. We are still recovering from having 3 kids in college at once last year, so it's going to be painful.

Edited November 1, 2020 by popmom

[hjffkj]

23 minutes ago, popmom said:

We have never been disciplined enough to invest the difference! lol So we have a 15 yr. 

I am joining in the Frugalistas because we have a goal for early retirement for dh. This means paying off all debt--one car loan, one credit card with a sizeable balance, and the mortgage. My husband has been offered a pension buyout, from a company he used to work for. We are taking the lump sum and sending it in on the mortgage. The bank will recast the loan. The terms stay the same, but our payment will go down dramatically. We will now HAVE to be disciplined to use the difference to pay off the car and cc. Then we will finish off the mortgage. We plan to be completely debt free in 3-4 years. 

I'm not sure my husband will actually want to retire early. He just mainly wants that F-You money, so he has options. His job can be very stressful at times. 

Our frugal plans for Nov: we ripped up the 25 yr old carpet upstairs last month. DH will be laying vinyl plank flooring up there that matches our hardwood downstairs. DD and I are stripping the 25 year old wall paper in our master bath. That's the start of our DIY bathroom update. 

I HAVE to rein in the grocery spending. 

Oh! Our big expense in the next month is a car for our dd who is a grad student. She just totaled hers 2 days ago. 😞 We don't know yet how much the insurance company will give us. The car was paid for. We are still recovering from having 3 kids in college at once last year, so it's going to be painful.

The second we closed on the refi I set up the almost $300 we're no longer spending on the mortgage to go into my RothIRA, so that money just doesn't exist for spending in my mind.  So, it is like nothing has changed. The mortgage is our only debt so I think eventually we might start paying it down faster.  But for now the extra money is better served growing in the stock market.

Hope the insurance company gives you a fair amount for the car.

[kbutton]

5 hours ago, hjffkj said:

Well it got cold enough yesterday to turn the heat on and we discovered the furnace will not stay on.  It turns on and then turns off immediately 😞 Here's hoping dh can fix this like he seems to think he can. 

I bet he can. Our furnace in our old house did this. We had parts that would get gunky from time to time and have to be cleaned. I think the technician called them "limits," and he told us we could clean them ourselves. Eventually, we had to have a fairly insignificant part replaced, but this was the bulk of the problem for several years, and cleaning would fix it.

We are at the time of year that we have the most expenses (even if Christmas weren't a thing), and my DH is losing his job in December. He has a new job, but due to the credentialing process he has to jump through, he won't likely start until at least March.

We're trying to hold fast on some areas of spending, but other areas, we're trying to figure out what we can do about stocking up before the paycheck is gone and we're trying to pay COBRA too. We've never applied for unemployment under these circumstances either--I am hoping this weird setup doesn't make unemployment harder to navigate.

Any ideas on what we should sink some money into now are appreciated--maintenance stuff that might head off a bigger ticket problem later is what I have in mind. We have been trying to stay on top of our pantry in case we have to quarantine, but it makes sense to us to keep the freezer full and the pantry stocked while we have income. 

We're spending less on clothing since we're at home, but we will probably replace some needed items with Christmas sales or put them on our Christmas list. General household goods are fine. 

We backed off a bit on retirement savings to build up cash (we were maxing out the 401k), and we also paid a lot of medical expenses out of pocket this year, saving our HSA for COBRA. We actually have quite a bit in the HSA, but COBRA is insane. 

I am less interested in money saving options of the small variety because we're relatively--we have food allergies to work around, medical issues, etc. that aren't conducive to saving much. We have good savings for emergencies, it's just kind of stinky to have them evaporate, and we're likely to need a new to us vehicle sooner than later since DH's new job will be a bit of a commute (he was working within biking distance, and if we had a car emergency, I could work out a way to take him). 

[Soror]

November Goals:

-Keep focused on watching the budget and spending

-work as much as I can for extra money-I'm up to 7 days a week with some evening weekend slots (usually I do 6 with no evenings) and will probably stay there through November, maybe December depending on how things go (same for dh for OT- as much as he can and keep up with schooling)

-finish up hiring process for Gogokid- I have completed all but 1 step and am doing that tonight- did an intro video, quiz, and paperwork today

-stay mindful of grocery spending I'm increasing budget to $600 this month with an eye to increasing stock of various things- I've already placed an order for some staples and will be keeping an eye out for sales. 

-finish funding for upcoming property tax, technically we have the money but it is earmarked for another project and spending from there just means it will have to be saved again- I am annoyed that I didn't get this done already, this year has flew past me and has been so much going on (expense after expense and pay cuts). We paid off the house years ago so there is no escrow account and that has caused me to get lazy at times, especially when times are harder.

-if any is left after saving for property tax it goes towards Christmas

-my check will go towards family vaca and "new" to me car fund (vaca in 1.5 yrs and car 2.5), I will have about $150 left (YNAB figures out how much I need to save each month to stay on tracK

- that might end up towards upcoming dental bills or other savings, depends on how long until bills come in and how much they are

-cash check from consigned homeschool books to set aside for next years books

- look for things around the house to sell- not a lot but maybe a couple of things that we could put towards savings

 

[mommyoffive]

I meant to Christmas shop, buy didn't buy anything.   Bought dh some new running shoes and 2 cheap desks for more work areas for people. 

[Soror]

1 hour ago, kbutton said:

I bet he can. Our furnace in our old house did this. We had parts that would get gunky from time to time and have to be cleaned. I think the technician called them "limits," and he told us we could clean them ourselves. Eventually, we had to have a fairly insignificant part replaced, but this was the bulk of the problem for several years, and cleaning would fix it.

We are at the time of year that we have the most expenses (even if Christmas weren't a thing), and my DH is losing his job in December. He has a new job, but due to the credentialing process he has to jump through, he won't likely start until at least March.

We're trying to hold fast on some areas of spending, but other areas, we're trying to figure out what we can do about stocking up before the paycheck is gone and we're trying to pay COBRA too. We've never applied for unemployment under these circumstances either--I am hoping this weird setup doesn't make unemployment harder to navigate.

Any ideas on what we should sink some money into now are appreciated--maintenance stuff that might head off a bigger ticket problem later is what I have in mind. We have been trying to stay on top of our pantry in case we have to quarantine, but it makes sense to us to keep the freezer full and the pantry stocked while we have income. 

We're spending less on clothing since we're at home, but we will probably replace some needed items with Christmas sales or put them on our Christmas list. General household goods are fine. 

We backed off a bit on retirement savings to build up cash (we were maxing out the 401k), and we also paid a lot of medical expenses out of pocket this year, saving our HSA for COBRA. We actually have quite a bit in the HSA, but COBRA is insane. 

I am less interested in money saving options of the small variety because we're relatively--we have food allergies to work around, medical issues, etc. that aren't conducive to saving much. We have good savings for emergencies, it's just kind of stinky to have them evaporate, and we're likely to need a new to us vehicle sooner than later since DH's new job will be a bit of a commute (he was working within biking distance, and if we had a car emergency, I could work out a way to take him). 

Thank goodness your dh has another job lined up, I am certain the in between time will be stressful. Cobra is outrageous. I am not an expert on the home and car maintenance, dh keeps up with all of that and does it. It might be prudent to look around and consider what appliances might need replacing soon. Saving as much as you can of course prepares for any scenario. I hear you on groceries, we had an entirely gluten free house for 10.5 yrs, 1.5 yrs ago we trailed gluten for the kids and now our house is split but I still cook many things GF. We've done a variety of elimination diets, dairy free along with the gluten free for years. I was Paleo for a decade. It def. costs more, even when you make everything yourself. I try to buy in bulk and deal hunt but my gf oats and flour are still 4x+ more expensive than the regular. Groceries are our biggest line item though and when things get tight it gets cut.

2 hours ago, popmom said:

We have never been disciplined enough to invest the difference! lol So we have a 15 yr. 

I am joining in the Frugalistas because we have a goal for early retirement for dh. This means paying off all debt--one car loan, one credit card with a sizeable balance, and the mortgage. My husband has been offered a pension buyout, from a company he used to work for. We are taking the lump sum and sending it in on the mortgage. The bank will recast the loan. The terms stay the same, but our payment will go down dramatically. We will now HAVE to be disciplined to use the difference to pay off the car and cc. Then we will finish off the mortgage. We plan to be completely debt free in 3-4 years. 

I'm not sure my husband will actually want to retire early. He just mainly wants that F-You money, so he has options. His job can be very stressful at times. 

Our frugal plans for Nov: we ripped up the 25 yr old carpet upstairs last month. DH will be laying vinyl plank flooring up there that matches our hardwood downstairs. DD and I are stripping the 25 year old wall paper in our master bath. That's the start of our DIY bathroom update. 

I HAVE to rein in the grocery spending. 

Oh! Our big expense in the next month is a car for our dd who is a grad student. She just totaled hers 2 days ago. 😞 We don't know yet how much the insurance company will give us. The car was paid for. We are still recovering from having 3 kids in college at once last year, so it's going to be painful.

Hope the insurance company comes through. Have you looked up the value to get an idea? We had a van totaled from a deer once and they paid more than we expected from selling it (we were replacing it anyway). We put vinyl plank in the basement and it went very easy and smoothly. Best wishes w/ your early retirement goals. 

9 hours ago, historically accurate said:

**LALALALALA** I can't hear you! I choose to be in denial regarding Christmas. I started adding things to my Gifts board on Pinterest to look at later, but I haven't started shopping. It's going to be a little Christmas for us. 

My oldest will be coming home from college this month, so that's our first big expense - hotels & gas to get her from Alabama. 

 

I'm in denial too, too many irons in the fire. I've got as far as telling the kids to make Christmas lists. I have 2 kids w/ birthdays this month, so we'll deal with that first.

[Soror]

Finished our 34 day free trial from YNAB and emailed them with dh's college info and now have a 1 yr free account.

woot!

 

ETA:

Also, I'm getting deer meat this week. My brother's kids (3) all got deer and my mom is processing it now. That will be a big help to my budget and hopefully will stretch things until I get 1/2 a beef in Feb. I'll be paying my brother for the tags, my Mom is refusing payment for the processing and didn't want my help.

Edited November 1, 2020 by Soror

[popmom]

2 hours ago, hjffkj said:

The second we closed on the refi I set up the almost $300 we're no longer spending on the mortgage to go into my RothIRA, so that money just doesn't exist for spending in my mind.  So, it is like nothing has changed. The mortgage is our only debt so I think eventually we might start paying it down faster.  But for now the extra money is better served growing in the stock market.

Hope the insurance company gives you a fair amount for the car.

You are wise to do that. Smart move.

@Soror we have looked the car up on KBB, so we do have an idea. I just can't remember if our deductible is 500 or 1000. I'm assuming they'll give us an amount less the deductible. It's been a long time since we've been through anything like this so I can't remember.

[hjffkj]

So, now that I am more awake than earlier (yesterday was a LONG but fun day.)  Here is hope I hope for November.

Goals:

1. No eating out at all, not even things like a quick trip to dunkin for coffee.  I plan to accomplish this by ordering enough groceries for two weeks(to be delivered tomorrow or Tues.)  My hope is that with two weeks of groceries we'll be prepared for any ingredients running out before the next trip and just avoid those impulse buys that come with quick trips.

2. Meal plan for two weeks to go with the grocery shopping.  The menu will be a loose menu that I will accept may change but those changes won't result in eating out or the grocery store.

3. Finish my Christmas shopping before Advent starts so I can enjoy that season without the stress of Christmas shopping.

4. Not take money out of savings to fund Christmas and also not put it on a credit card.  This will be difficult because I didn't set up a savings budget per month for Christmas at the beginning of the year, which I usually do.  This year it will have to be fully funded with October, November, and December money. I'm up for the challenge!

[popmom]

14 minutes ago, Soror said:

Finished our 34 day free trial from YNAB and emailed them with dh's college info and now have a 1 yr free account.

woot!

I would love to use some kind of budgeting software like this, but I've never been able to make it work because my dh gets paid biweekly. I've tried to make it work, but it always gets too complicated. Maybe one of them has improved by now to make it work for biweekly paychecks. I'll have to look in to this. It's been at least 8 years since I gave up on Mvelopes. Then I tried to make Everydollar work, but it wasn't any better.

[Soror]

5 minutes ago, popmom said:

I would love to use some kind of budgeting software like this, but I've never been able to make it work because my dh gets paid biweekly. I've tried to make it work, but it always gets too complicated. Maybe one of them has improved by now to make it work for biweekly paychecks. I'll have to look in to this. It's been at least 8 years since I gave up on Mvelopes. Then I tried to make Everydollar work, but it wasn't any better.

My husband gets paid twice a month, it shouldn't make a difference. You just fund half of the budget with each check. YNAB only lets you budget what money you have, not what you are going to get but I set up my regular bills with the due date noted and know which I need to take care of first. Right 

13 minutes ago, popmom said:

You are wise to do that. Smart move.

@Soror we have looked the car up on KBB, so we do have an idea. I just can't remember if our deductible is 500 or 1000. I'm assuming they'll give us an amount less the deductible. It's been a long time since we've been through anything like this so I can't remember.

That is how it worked for us, except their valuation was higher than we'd seen online. Your policy forms should have your deductible on there, I know it is hard to remember it all sometimes.

[cjzimmer1]

23 minutes ago, popmom said:

I would love to use some kind of budgeting software like this, but I've never been able to make it work because my dh gets paid biweekly. I've tried to make it work, but it always gets too complicated. Maybe one of them has improved by now to make it work for biweekly paychecks. I'll have to look in to this. It's been at least 8 years since I gave up on Mvelopes. Then I tried to make Everydollar work, but it wasn't any better.

DH has always been paid bi-weekly.  We've just always budgeted off 2 checks a month.  Then for those 2 extra checks each year, we use those to fund some extra expense/account.  So right now we've got a bunch of house projects we are dealing with and tackle as that fund builds enough to do the next thing.  When that extra check comes, I will just put the net amount into the house project fund.  I don't build my monthly budget on those checks.  I use quicken and it lets me adjust each month so twice a year I just override the preset default budget.  I would imagine other software would also let you do this.

[popmom]

1 hour ago, cjzimmer1 said:

DH has always been paid bi-weekly.  We've just always budgeted off 2 checks a month.  Then for those 2 extra checks each year, we use those to fund some extra expense/account.  So right now we've got a bunch of house projects we are dealing with and tackle as that fund builds enough to do the next thing.  When that extra check comes, I will just put the net amount into the house project fund.  I don't build my monthly budget on those checks.  I use quicken and it lets me adjust each month so twice a year I just override the preset default budget.  I would imagine other software would also let you do this.

We do this, too. Those 2 extra paychecks go into savings. And we make a principle payment on our mortgage each time. Only I'm working off of paper. I can't remember exactly why it got so confusing using the software. 

Edited November 2, 2020 by popmom

[prairiewindmomma]

4 hours ago, kbutton said:

Any ideas on what we should sink some money into now are appreciated--maintenance stuff that might head off a bigger ticket problem later is what I have in mind.  

This usually looks like medical for us (dentist visits, keeping up on exercising, keeping running shoes replaced) or fluids in a vehicle. If you haven’t kept up with your big maintwnsnce in your vehicle (coolant, belts, etc) it comes to bite you in the end. Beyond that, vacuum the back of your refrigerator, make sure you don’t have rot in your window trim or siding, and check the shingles along the ridge line of your house and your gutters from time to time.

[prairiewindmomma]

We are apparently still in the “everything is breaking” phase. We have winter tuition coming up also, so it’s a tight month for us on top of holidays and property taxes and everything else going on.

 

[hjffkj]

@kbutton do you work also or is your dh's paycheck your only source of income?  How I respond to your question will change depending on if you are working or not.  My dh lost his job the day before Thanksgiving last year.  Well originally he lost it but then he talked them into keeping him part time (long story.)  But his pay was cut about 70% so we had a huge shock on our hands right before the holiday season.  It sucked and was really hard but we made it through.  Dh ended up finding full time work and started it in January. 

[mum]

5 hours ago, kbutton said:

We backed off a bit on retirement savings to build up cash (we were maxing out the 401k), and we also paid a lot of medical expenses out of pocket this year, saving our HSA for COBRA. We actually have quite a bit in the HSA, but COBRA is insane. 

Have you looked at health insurance through the healthcare marketplace? We did that last year when my husband was between jobs and it was very affordable. We were thankful

[Soror]

14 hours ago, popmom said:

We do this, too. Those 2 extra paychecks go into savings. And we make a principle payment on our mortgage each time. Only I'm working off of paper. I can't remember exactly why it got so confusing using the software. 

When dh got paid every week we had 4 extra checks a year, I loved that. Now, with the twice a month pay it is a bit added on the longer months, it doesn't add up so nicely.

13 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

We are apparently still in the “everything is breaking” phase. We have winter tuition coming up also, so it’s a tight month for us on top of holidays and property taxes and everything else going on.

 

I'm sorry, btdt, it stinks.

[Soror]

Finished my mock class last night, waiting for the outcome, I couldn't find much info about this, I don't know if it is pass/fail or just for training purposes. I did ok (IMO) not perfect (is it ever) but I think it should hopefully be good enough to pass if it is graded. 

Not so good news, I don't know if I'll qualify for the $300 bonus from Gogokid, I missed the part about having to open so many slots. I don't want to take away slots that book from VIPKID to open there when they are not likely to book as the bonus pay is much less per hour than what I'd earn from VIPKID with a booked class. I might try to work extra on the weekends to try and make up for it to see if I can get enough slots at Gogo to make it, IDK if it will be worthwhile or not.

I signed up for 2 of the survey sites that @mommyoffive mentioned (thanks) we'll see if I can get some gift cards for Christmas.

We received a $10 gift card from a review dh made that is going towards the girl's bday present.

[mommyoffive]

Benefits week is this week.   I will be going through that.  Hoping that health insurance didn't go up dramatically.   

Did anyone have an increase in health insurance?

[kbutton]

13 hours ago, hjffkj said:

@kbutton do you work also or is your dh's paycheck your only source of income?  How I respond to your question will change depending on if you are working or not.  My dh lost his job the day before Thanksgiving last year.  Well originally he lost it but then he talked them into keeping him part time (long story.)  But his pay was cut about 70% so we had a huge shock on our hands right before the holiday season.  It sucked and was really hard but we made it through.  Dh ended up finding full time work and started it in January. 

He is the only one that works, and his hours have been cut on and off for the last couple of years.

12 hours ago, mum said:

Have you looked at health insurance through the healthcare marketplace? We did that last year when my husband was between jobs and it was very affordable. We were thankful

I wasn't sure if it would be worth it. We have a son with a genetic diagnosis that requires extensive yearly testing, and I am guessing I would be rated quite high as well. We had a private pay plan years ago before the ACA, and it was a decent deal. When we tried to go back to having a private plan (pre-ACA, but everyone knew it was coming), the rates had skyrocketed, and they had reinterpreted our medical histories in a way that had to be unethical somehow. Since then, there have been ADHD and ASD diagnoses, and even though we don't need insurance to cover anything other than meds for that, I bet that will be used to rate us high as well.

I don't even know how to start looking or know what the marketplace actually is. 

If anyone wants to share thoughts on the likelihood of this working or not, or where to start, I am all ears, but if it's going to require a bunch of doctor visits and such to get a health history, I won't be able to accomplish that. I don't really have a family doc. I sort of do, but she's terrible (and the third one I've tried). It generally takes months to get into a new family doctor here. 

[hjffkj]

@kbutton  So, last year when dh's work hours were cut drastically it actually would have been easier if he had just been let go entirely because then at least he'd get unemployment. But this is basically how it played out. I signed up for SNAP, Medicaid, utility bill assistance, and cash assistance. The only thing we didn't get was cash assistance. The SNAP covered out grocery food budget entirely, which was a huge relief because it left us fed without needing to figure out where we were getting money,  The Medicaid covers everything 100% and there is no premium so all medical and dental was free during this time. Having our electric bill partially paid for was another huge relief in terms of making the money we did have stretch farther.

Christmas was different that year.  We basically had to sit the kids down and explain that we couldn't spend needlessly at all until dh had a job again.  I reassured them that we would celebrate but it would just look different.  We'd use the decorations we had. Since we weren't going to get a tree the kids decided to use the lights we use for the tree outside.  It was the first year we hung lights up outside.  It was nice.  We did end up getting a tree because my kids asked my dad if they could have their gift from him early (he gives each of them $40) so they could surprise me with a tree.  He obliged and took them out to buy me a tree. It was the sweetest thing ever.

As for Christmas itself.  The kids got food treats that I'd normally never buy for them.  This worked well because we could use the SNAP.  They also got books and toys i found cheap at the thrift store.  Also a foosball table someone was giving away for free on facebook marketplace (I would browse marketplace regularly to try to pick up good deals on things the kids would like.)  All told, I spent maybe $100 total out of pocket on the 5 kids. Dh and I didn't exchange gifts.

The last thing we did that really eased my mind was to get a credit card that that had a 0% interest rate for a year.  That way, if something came up while he was not fully employed we could put it on the card and not be wracking up interest on it.  In total we probably put $4000 on it between December 2019 and Feb 2020 when he got his first paycheck. It is at zero percent until dec 2020, so the plan was to just pay it off slowly throughout the year while we also replenished out savings.  But we got it paid off entirely in July because of the stimulus and overtime he was getting because so many people were out for covid reasons.  We felt the credit card was a better option than taking from retirement accounts and even savings.  It ended up working out well for us.

Hopefully, you guys fair well during this time of unemployment.  It is certainly a scary and stressful time

[kbutton]

@hjffkj, thanks! DH's hours haven't been cut that much, but this is useful information for when he's on unemployment. It looks like we'll be close to the line while on unemployment, but we won't know for sure until all the numbers are done and dusted. 

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, hjffkj said:

@kbutton  So, last year when dh's work hours were cut drastically it actually would have been easier if he had just been let go entirely because then at least he'd get unemployment. But this is basically how it played out. I signed up for SNAP, Medicaid, utility bill assistance, and cash assistance. The only thing we didn't get was cash assistance. The SNAP covered out grocery food budget entirely, which was a huge relief because it left us fed without needing to figure out where we were getting money,  The Medicaid covers everything 100% and there is no premium so all medical and dental was free during this time. Having our electric bill partially paid for was another huge relief in terms of making the money we did have stretch farther.

Christmas was different that year.  We basically had to sit the kids down and explain that we couldn't spend needlessly at all until dh had a job again.  I reassured them that we would celebrate but it would just look different.  We'd use the decorations we had. Since we weren't going to get a tree the kids decided to use the lights we use for the tree outside.  It was the first year we hung lights up outside.  It was nice.  We did end up getting a tree because my kids asked my dad if they could have their gift from him early (he gives each of them $40) so they could surprise me with a tree.  He obliged and took them out to buy me a tree. It was the sweetest thing ever.

As for Christmas itself.  The kids got food treats that I'd normally never buy for them.  This worked well because we could use the SNAP.  They also got books and toys i found cheap at the thrift store.  Also a foosball table someone was giving away for free on facebook marketplace (I would browse marketplace regularly to try to pick up good deals on things the kids would like.)  All told, I spent maybe $100 total out of pocket on the 5 kids. Dh and I didn't exchange gifts.

The last thing we did that really eased my mind was to get a credit card that that had a 0% interest rate for a year.  That way, if something came up while he was not fully employed we could put it on the card and not be wracking up interest on it.  In total we probably put $4000 on it between December 2019 and Feb 2020 when he got his first paycheck. It is at zero percent until dec 2020, so the plan was to just pay it off slowly throughout the year while we also replenished out savings.  But we got it paid off entirely in July because of the stimulus and overtime he was getting because so many people were out for covid reasons.  We felt the credit card was a better option than taking from retirement accounts and even savings.  It ended up working out well for us.

Hopefully, you guys fair well during this time of unemployment.  It is certainly a scary and stressful time

Was it easy to get a credit card when your dh was unemployed?  I like this as a backup idea to our emergency fund.

[hjffkj]

Just now, mommyoffive said:

Was it easy to get a credit card when your dh was unemployed?  I like this as a backup idea to our emergency fund.

He was underemployed actually but only working about 10 hours a week so not making much.  But I imagine it would have been easy even if unemployed since our credit is fantastic and we have tons of assets.   Plus, we signed up for it before his hours were officially reduced, so while we knew his pay would be decreasing they hadn't yet so we weren't lying about his current pay when we signed up for it

[mommyoffive]

There is a 10 off 20 purchase on select Amazon accounts if you download the app and click on a link on hip2save

[mommyoffive]

5 hours ago, Soror said:

Finished my mock class last night, waiting for the outcome, I couldn't find much info about this, I don't know if it is pass/fail or just for training purposes. I did ok (IMO) not perfect (is it ever) but I think it should hopefully be good enough to pass if it is graded. 

Not so good news, I don't know if I'll qualify for the $300 bonus from Gogokid, I missed the part about having to open so many slots. I don't want to take away slots that book from VIPKID to open there when they are not likely to book as the bonus pay is much less per hour than what I'd earn from VIPKID with a booked class. I might try to work extra on the weekends to try and make up for it to see if I can get enough slots at Gogo to make it, IDK if it will be worthwhile or not.

I signed up for 2 of the survey sites that @mommyoffive mentioned (thanks) we'll see if I can get some gift cards for Christmas.

We received a $10 gift card from a review dh made that is going towards the girl's bday present.

Are you using Fetch, Ibotta, and Field Agent?  Maybe that would be a good way of stretching the food budget?

E poll is another survey site.  

[Soror]

14 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

There is a 10 off 20 purchase on select Amazon accounts if you download the app and click on a link on hip2save

Sweet! That worked for me and I used it towards the girl's birthday presents, that is $10 more towards savings.

13 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Are you using Fetch, Ibotta, and Field Agent?  Maybe that would be a good way of stretching the food budget?

E poll is another survey site.  

when I tried using the shopping sites it never worked because I primarily shop at Aldi's.

[Soror]

I am still not sure if I passed my Mock Video class but I got a bunch of profile suggiestions. I have to change some pics and redo my video. The picture for my profile is the one I use for VIPKID no problem. My video I also just uploaded to VIPKID without issue, they evidently are very picky. I do see their point about the video, I wasn't looking in the right place, I recorded it on a different camera than I used before, so I'll do that this morning after I wake up some more and get some makeup on.

[Soror]

https://www.youneedabudget.com/the-dangers-of-forecasting-with-money-you-dont-have-yet-p3/

 

I really enjoyed this article. I am bad about forecasting, dh does this too in other ways. It is a good reminder to focus on the present, make goals and keep moving forward. 

[mum]

@kbuttonThere are no questions about pre-existing health conditions under the affordable care act. That is law. So you cannot be charged more than anyone else. In my state, what you pay is based on your income. The less you make, the less you pay.

I'd google 'affordable care act in _____________' (insert your state). Here we have insurance agents that will help with the application, for no charge.

Healthcare.gov is also a good place to start. Some states are better than others about what they offer. I hope that you are in a place that has good offerings.

Edited November 3, 2020 by mum

[kbutton]

1 hour ago, mum said:

@kbuttonThere are no questions about pre-existing health conditions under the affordable care act. That is law. So you cannot be charged more than anyone else. In my state, what you pay is based on your income. The less you make, the less you pay.

I'd google 'affordable care act in _____________' (insert your state). Here we have insurance agents that will help with the application, for no charge.

Healthcare.gov is also a good place to start. Some states are better than others about what they offer. I hope that you are in a place that has good offerings.

I knew they were covered, but I thought there were still differing rates to some extent. Thank you!

[popmom]

On 11/2/2020 at 9:03 AM, mommyoffive said:

Benefits week is this week.   I will be going through that.  Hoping that health insurance didn't go up dramatically.   

Did anyone have an increase in health insurance?

Ours did not increase--thankfully.

[Soror]

Finished grocery shopping, need to add it all up and put it into budget. Yesterday I spent $60 at Aldi's and $26 at Kroger. I stocked up on butter as it was on sale.

eta: looks like my total was $204- which included a fair amount of stocking up, the rest of the month will be regular trips. So, I have around 130 a week for the remaining weeks.

Went to dentist- long story short ds has to go to the endodontist 1.5 hrs away- that can't be good.

Did filling for dd3 and ds, they had me pay some there, if it only does end up that much I'll be pleased but until I know for sure I'm very nervous (they said the insurance was expected to pay the rest but never going there before I don't know if they usually get that right or if they just have you pay some and then I'm getting another bill later). Dh has to go back for a filling, ds for another, and dd1 has some as well.

I am majorly stressed about all the dental stuff. The money and the appointments, I hate going to doctors for me or the kids. And I still need to schedule a mammogram for me and eye appointments for 4 of us. So much logistics when there are many people.

 

eta: I signed my contract for Gogokid this am and have some slots open starting Friday.

Edited November 4, 2020 by Soror

[mommyoffive]

2 hours ago, Soror said:

Finished grocery shopping, need to add it all up and put it into budget. Yesterday I spent $60 at Aldi's and $26 at Kroger. I stocked up on butter as it was on sale.

eta: looks like my total was $204- which included a fair amount of stocking up, the rest of the month will be regular trips. So, I have around 130 a week for the remaining weeks.

Went to dentist- long story short ds has to go to the endodontist 1.5 hrs away- that can't be good.

Did filling for dd3 and ds, they had me pay some there, if it only does end up that much I'll be pleased but until I know for sure I'm very nervous (they said the insurance was expected to pay the rest but never going there before I don't know if they usually get that right or if they just have you pay some and then I'm getting another bill later). Dh has to go back for a filling, ds for another, and dd1 has some as well.

I am majorly stressed about all the dental stuff. The money and the appointments, I hate going to doctors for me or the kids. And I still need to schedule a mammogram for me and eye appointments for 4 of us. So much logistics when there are many people.

 

eta: I signed my contract for Gogokid this am and have some slots open starting Friday.

Congratulations on signing the contract. 

I feel you on the stress of getting the whole family to appointments.   I feel as soon as I get everyone to one type of appointment it just starts over with another doctor.   It takes me 3 days to get the kids to the pediatrician because of their rules.  And I have yet to add in the tons of orthodontist appointments my kids will need. 

[hjffkj]

The stress from family issues and PMS caused me to order pizza for dinner last night.  I just didn't care and couldn't mentally get myself on board with cooking.  Oh well.  I'm not really upset about that.  I'm more upset that my dh has to pick up the slack this morning because I couldn't get my crap together yesterday. He's a wonderful man who would never be upset over me not getting things done but I can still beat myself up over it. today i'll do better.

[Soror]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

Congratulations on signing the contract. 

I feel you on the stress of getting the whole family to appointments.   I feel as soon as I get everyone to one type of appointment it just starts over with another doctor.   It takes me 3 days to get the kids to the pediatrician because of their rules.  And I have yet to add in the tons of orthodontist appointments my kids will need. 

Yes, one thing after another and it is getting harder to put it away from school which messes up my whole week.

21 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

The stress from family issues and PMS caused me to order pizza for dinner last night.  I just didn't care and couldn't mentally get myself on board with cooking.  Oh well.  I'm not really upset about that.  I'm more upset that my dh has to pick up the slack this morning because I couldn't get my crap together yesterday. He's a wonderful man who would never be upset over me not getting things done but I can still beat myself up over it. today i'll do better.

I hear you. I did frozen pizza that was planned for Thursday last night, we were supposed to have leftovers but didn't have enough so I've got to shuffle the menu.

[hjffkj]

12 minutes ago, Soror said:

Yes, one thing after another and it is getting harder to put it away from school which messes up my whole week.

I hear you. I did frozen pizza that was planned for Thursday last night, we were supposed to have leftovers but didn't have enough so I've got to shuffle the menu.

 

My biggest problem with the ordering pizza instead of pulling something from the freezer that would have been an easy, throw it in the oven meal for a bad day like yesterday, was that I forgot to complete my online grocery order.  I thought I had and that things were coming yesterday but in my state  didn't actually submit the order.

[prairiewindmomma]

2 hours ago, hjffkj said:

The stress from family issues and PMS caused me to order pizza for dinner last night.  I just didn't care and couldn't mentally get myself on board with cooking.  Oh well.  I'm not really upset about that.  I'm more upset that my dh has to pick up the slack this morning because I couldn't get my crap together yesterday. He's a wonderful man who would never be upset over me not getting things done but I can still beat myself up over it. today i'll do better.

Don't beat yourself up over this.  I think it's completely unrealistic to think someone is going to cook regular meals, every single day, without fail, and without hiccups.  People ate. Move on. 🙂

 

[prairiewindmomma]

We went out grocery shopping Monday night.  While we were out, I picked up some necessary clothes for dd from Costco and Target, who is changing sizes again.  She's on the border of needing women's talls--which will move me into specialized clothing prices, but I was able to find some things that worked, and that are less expensive than ordering online.  I suspect she is going to keep growing, so I purchased things that will hand down well to her sister in a few years.  

I bought a Brannock device last month with my amazon points, so I can accurately measure shoe sizes from home and order reliably.  

[Soror]

6 hours ago, hjffkj said:

 

My biggest problem with the ordering pizza instead of pulling something from the freezer that would have been an easy, throw it in the oven meal for a bad day like yesterday, was that I forgot to complete my online grocery order.  I thought I had and that things were coming yesterday but in my state  didn't actually submit the order.

 

4 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Don't beat yourself up over this.  I think it's completely unrealistic to think someone is going to cook regular meals, every single day, without fail, and without hiccups.  People ate. Move on. 🙂

 

Yes, things happen sometimes.

4 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

We went out grocery shopping Monday night.  While we were out, I picked up some necessary clothes for dd from Costco and Target, who is changing sizes again.  She's on the border of needing women's talls--which will move me into specialized clothing prices, but I was able to find some things that worked, and that are less expensive than ordering online.  I suspect she is going to keep growing, so I purchased things that will hand down well to her sister in a few years.  

I bought a Brannock device last month with my amazon points, so I can accurately measure shoe sizes from home and order reliably.  

It is so hard when they are in between sizes, very lucky that you could find something that works for now.

[Soror]

Very good news- I heard back from the endodontist and the insurance covers 80% there and it is going to be $343, so much less than I expected. They said the crown should be done next year and we'll have some on our HSA then, that will be covered 50%. 

[mommyoffive]

The desks came and I think they are decent for what we payed.

Doing some black Friday shopping at the Walmart sale tonight.   So easy.

Kids got invited to a special dance intensive from a place they attended this summer for this month.  Payed to do that .

Grocery pickup yesterday.  $190

[Soror]

7 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

The desks came and I think they are decent for what we payed.

Doing some black Friday shopping at the Walmart sale tonight.   So easy.

Kids got invited to a special dance intensive from a place they attended this summer for this month.  Payed to do that .

Grocery pickup yesterday.  $190

Nice. My kids are working on lists, I need them to get in gear so I can see if I can find good deals anywhere.