December Frugalistas 2020

[mommyoffive]

2020 is almost over!!  I have never been so happy for a year to be over.   

Any last minute things you are trying to do before the end of the year? 

Do you have any plans for 2021?  Goals?  Things to do? 

Looking back at 2020, how did the year go for you?  Things you accomplished?  

Edited November 30, 2020 by mommyoffive

[JustEm]

You know for all the crap that has happened in 2020 I sort of feel bad saying that for me personally and my family it has been a good year.  Probably the best in a long time.  But 2019 was really bad for us so we really needed a forced year at home to heal.  

Last minute things: not really.  until christmas it'll be relaxing and enjoying the calm of Advent.  Then comes the crazy fun of Christmas, not sure what it will look like this year yet. My parents aren't coming back home from their other house in AL so this will be the first time in my entire life that I'm not with them on Christmas.  We will be seeing family but most likely spread out throughout the whole month in small gatherings. Sadly, not every family member but we take what we can get.

2020 was great for us.  Financially, we are better than we ever have been.  For the first time in a long time I make frugal decisions because that is my nature and not because it is the only way to survive without me working.  Dh's career change came at the perfect time and he likes his job well enough.  He's already gotten one promotion and is on his way to another by then end of 2021 is my guess.   

I imagine at least the first half of 2021 will be a lot like 2020.  I have hope that the second half will see life returning to some sort of normal.  Financially, my goals are to max out both of our IRAs,  keep contributing 5% to dh's 401k since they match up to that much, and increase my income by 10%.  

My main non financial is to write another book.  Currently, I have no interest in trying to get published with what I've already written. But I may be interested with my idea for the current book.

What about you?

[Soror]

I'm sooo very ready for the new year too.

This was not a great year for us financially, mostly due to the uncertainty of dh's work and lots of medical bills. After a topsy turvy 2 yrs thinking dh might lose his job(and periods of dropped hours, pay and benefits) dh's company declared bankruptcy and was bought out. Things are looking much better with the new company in charge and they have a great track record of turning around companies so we are hopeful we will have some more stability here. 

We flushed $1900 down the drain for classes dh had to drop and may still yet have to pay $800-$1000 for another. He took on way too much for his schedule. We started the year with a endoscopy for dd2 and continued with stacks of medical bills throughout the year, a chunk due to COVID which meant we couldn't just go to the clinic for $5 and were delayed in getting to the dentist. We had 2-3 ER/Urgent care trips. WAY too many dental bills and various other medical bills.

We started using YNAB in October due to my frustration at still not getting sinking funds in order. I had a rather obvious aha moment. I am the one that does the budgeting I need to pick a system that works for me. Dh really prefers we do nothing much at all, cut back when things are tight and save as much as we can- just keep a big pile of money. YNAB lets me keep the money in our accounts like dh wants but track what we're saving for so I know what is accounted for and what is extra. When you aren't keeping track it can be easy to say, oh we have extra I'll spend it on xyz, not considering that we have abc coming up that will needed to be paid for. My brain can't keep up with that much and our income is not great enough that we can just sail through without some planning (especially when hit with income loss and so many bills). 

Positives:

-We stayed debt free (paying off the house all those years ago has really helped us out when things have gotten rough, otherwise we would not have fared nearly as well)

-we've paid all the medical bills and have funds for the ones upcoming this month

-kept 90% of our savings stash for a planned project- a shop for dh- still have that 10% to replenish- that will likely come out of income tax return as we aren't doing it until spring- unless we get ahead on all the sinking funds first.

-dh continues to move along with school, slow and steady

-We did a ton of home projects.

• Got a new roof (insurance paid due to hail)
• Painted the house (ourselves by hand)
• Moved the shed which turned out to be so much more involved than expected, costing way more than planned (isn't that the way house projects go).
• Did a lot of landscaping.

-bought ds-16yo a used car

-I'm feeling much happier with finances using something that works for me, instead of trying to do it dh's way which didn't work at all. Dh is finally seeing that more planning actually makes me less stressed and helps us work together towards our goals more easily. I feel renewed vigor at working towards our goals after feeling rather beaten down from this year.

Edited November 30, 2020 by Soror

[readinmom]

 

Despite the shutdown situation, things have been better this year than in the past.  We have spent money on the house in terms of landscaping the front yard, and the backyard is in progress with plans to be finished before Christmas.  I think things are better because I have really stressed to dh the concept of knowing where every dollar goes and its function.  We met with a financial planner and sometimes it is better hearing it out of someone else's mouth, even if you have been saying it for years.  

We need to fully fund a 401k for dh, as his work did not offer him much in terms of retirement.  We need to address this before the end of the year.  I am playing around with the idea of retirement and want to make sure that is a possibility within a few years.  

Ds2 is now old enough to qualify for his own financial aid (yippee) so he can now know the joys of paying for his own education.  We will help with books, etc., but he has to do the paperwork if he is to finish.  

The big expenditure on the horizon is dd's college, if she chooses to go next year.  Depending on Covid, she may take a gap year until things find a new level of normalcy.  She wants the whole dorm/college experience.  

Ultimately, as bad as this year has been for everyone, we have made it through together and I'm just looking forward to that calendar change on January 1.  

 

Edited November 30, 2020 by readinmom

[Soror]

16 hours ago, readinmom said:

 

Despite the shutdown situation, things have been better this year than in the past.  We have spent money on the house in terms of landscaping the front yard, and the backyard is in progress with plans to be finished before Christmas.  I think things are better because I have really stressed to dh the concept of knowing where every dollar goes and its function.  We met with a financial planner and sometimes it is better hearing it out of someone else's mouth, even if you have been saying it for years.  

We need to fully fund a 401k for dh, as his work did not offer him much in terms of retirement.  We need to address this before the end of the year.  I am playing around with the idea of retirement and want to make sure that is a possibility within a few years.  

Ds2 is now old enough to qualify for his own financial aid (yippee) so he can now know the joys of paying for his own education.  We will help with books, etc., but he has to do the paperwork if he is to finish.  

The big expenditure on the horizon is dd's college, if she chooses to go next year.  Depending on Covid, she may take a gap year until things find a new level of normalcy.  She wants the whole dorm/college experience.  

Ultimately, as bad as this year has been for everyone, we have made it through together and I'm just looking forward to that calendar change on January 1.  

 

Yes every dollar has to have a use! That is what I stressed to dh. He went overbudget on a category as he had a light go out in his truck. He said well, I had to have it so whatever. Yes, you had to have it but that money has to come from somewhere so it has to be pulled from another category!

Best wishes on that retirement, that is very exciting! 

I've always wanted dh to retire a bit early, he's always thought that was impossible but looking at things we should certainly retire way before he'd thought as retirement savings are on track. I always have to nudge him though. 

 

[Soror]

My meatloaf was beloved as ever and no one knew that I used my old whole grain and millet gf breadcrumbs in there. 

I had another $26 charge go through from Kohl's, so it is still short about $18, so weird. I'm supposed to have packages arriving today.

I need to call the dental insurance to see if they got in the last fillings claims to know what those were.

Budget is already rolled out for the month as I worked on it this weekend.

Grocery shopping today, list is done.

This month's plan is moving past this stack of bills and expenses and putting that focus towards sinking funds and savings. The last thing to tackle is truck maintenance ($800-900), there will be some college expenses but we don't know how much yet. 

I put my VIPKID check towards savings and instead of saving for my next car and vaca at the same time I decided I'm going to focus on the vaca first. It is really a semantics thing but it will be more motivating to me to see that number climb higher faster. AFter my paycheck this month I'll be at 19.5% (hoping to squeeze that last .5% out of dh's second monthly check. I guess it is like Dave Ramsey's snowball in reverse 🙂

I think I finished Christmas shopping yesterday, woot, woot!!! 

I am however missing a little gift I bought dd3 it was in my closet, but I can't find it. I'll use Crowdtap giftcards to replace it if it doesn't show up. It was a small gift (less than $10) so not a huge deal, thankfully and I still have time to look for it. My closet isn't that big (5x5) so I just don't know how I can't find it, unless I moved it and forgot.

Tonight I'm switching to my Turkey white bean chili as I wasn't thinking when I made my menu, I'm buying chicken at the store, I'll make the chili before I leave. I've already got white beans made, turkey and broth in the freezer from the last turkey I cooked.

eta: grocery budget of $600 again but aiming to just spend 500 so I can bank $100 for the cow we're getting in Feb, Jan we'll pay feed costs of around $200.

Edited December 1, 2020 by Soror

[mommyoffive]

Did a bit of shopping last night.

Signed up all the kids for Kiwico, got 22.5% cash back

Got everyone stockings from LL bean.   They were on sale for 13.50 with free personalization.  Plus 14% cash back

Shopped at Kohls .   Got cash back and $100 kohls cash.  Saved with the 20% and then I put in a bunch of discount codes that I found online and saved another $100

 

 

 

Edited December 1, 2020 by mommyoffive

[mommyoffive]

Through December 12th, Target is offering a one-time use Circle offer to score 10% off your entire purchase that can be used either in-store or online – limit one per customer!

Even better, you can use your Target Redcard and save an additional 5% off your purchases! Yes, these offers WILL stack for huge savings!

[JustEm]

7 hours ago, Soror said:

Yes every dollar has to have a use! That is what I stressed to dh. He went overbudget on a category as he had a light go out in his truck. He said well, I had to have it so whatever. Yes, you had to have it but that money has to come from somewhere so it has to be pulled from another category!

Best wishes on that retirement, that is very exciting! 

I've always wanted dh to retire a bit early, he's always thought that was impossible but looking at things we should certainly retire way before he'd thought as retirement savings are on track. I always have to nudge him though. 

 

One of the biggest reasons I grind with the frugal living is so dh can retire early.  We are a bit behind on the retirement savings and that is why this year has been so heavily focused on putting into retirement.  I haven't calculated the percentage that went into retirement yet but my rough estimate is 30% this year.  I'm hoping to increase that next year a bit and for the next few years while we catch up and then lower it if we need to allocate money elsewhere.

[JustEm]

@Soror I really love you detailed updates!  They are so encouraging to me. 

 

I sucked it up and went to the grocery store this morning since Walmart keeps failing me.  It was a bit more expensive because we needed dog food and wipes. Total was $200.  Our freezer and pantry were already pretty filled and we're picking up the food from the school on weds , so I'm hoping to not need to go to the store again for a big trip for a week and a half.

[mommyoffive]

For a limited time, Amazon is offering Buy 2, Get 1 Free on select toys! No promo code needed.

 

Get 3 for the price of 2. (amazon.com)

[mommyoffive]

On 11/30/2020 at 10:06 AM, hjffkj said:

You know for all the crap that has happened in 2020 I sort of feel bad saying that for me personally and my family it has been a good year.  Probably the best in a long time.  But 2019 was really bad for us so we really needed a forced year at home to heal.  

Last minute things: not really.  until christmas it'll be relaxing and enjoying the calm of Advent.  Then comes the crazy fun of Christmas, not sure what it will look like this year yet. My parents aren't coming back home from their other house in AL so this will be the first time in my entire life that I'm not with them on Christmas.  We will be seeing family but most likely spread out throughout the whole month in small gatherings. Sadly, not every family member but we take what we can get.

2020 was great for us.  Financially, we are better than we ever have been.  For the first time in a long time I make frugal decisions because that is my nature and not because it is the only way to survive without me working.  Dh's career change came at the perfect time and he likes his job well enough.  He's already gotten one promotion and is on his way to another by then end of 2021 is my guess.   

I imagine at least the first half of 2021 will be a lot like 2020.  I have hope that the second half will see life returning to some sort of normal.  Financially, my goals are to max out both of our IRAs,  keep contributing 5% to dh's 401k since they match up to that much, and increase my income by 10%.  

My main non financial is to write another book.  Currently, I have no interest in trying to get published with what I've already written. But I may be interested with my idea for the current book.

What about you?

I am glad that you had a great year despite everything going on.  Congrats to your dh.  What does he do now?  So cool that you wrote a book.  What is it about?  Are you still pet sitting? 

Last minute things. 

It will be pay property taxes when the bill comes in.   We already have our escrow check, just waiting on the city to send the bill. 

Possible big 529 deposit

We max out all our retirement space automatically.  So that will be done by the 31st.  Dh gets a big match from work so that is good. 

Get the refi done

Dh had a great income year.  Not sure if this was his highest.  I only look once a year when we have our taxes done. 

We haven't set down to come up with goals for next year yet.  

Once the refi closes we will have over 1k of monthly bills we paid off.  We had car payments with 0% so we just choose to keep them going.  I know it isn't what most people suggest, but we like new cars.   We don't really budget anymore.  Even after maxing everything we have more money left over than our bills.  We just let our life get really fluffy.  

When things get better next year, our expenses will go up.  Lots of doctor visits.  A lot of kids to put braces on.   And when life is really back to normal trips will be a spend too.  Even though we have lots of miles and hotel points. 

We have saved a ton of money this year.  We don't have a defined plan for it, so kind of need to figure it out.   Currently it is just sitting with our efund.  But it is way to much to have as an efund.  We need to decide if we want to buy land and build or not.  Traveling was always our focus instead of moving. Then Covid. 

We did a lot of spending since covid happened too.  Tons of house upgrades, new mountain bikes for everyone, fixing things, adding a dance studio to the house, huge chicken coop, new sectional, chickens, new kitchen table and chairs, desks for kids, new puppy, surgery, tvs, laptop, dance classes and ballet intensives.   It made all this time at home a little better.  We had put off spending on the house for years, because due to dance we were hardly ever here.  

We are spending a lot on Christmas, but this year it is ok.  Normally we spend a heck of a lot more since we gift the kids an international trip and presents.  

Early retirement.  We are ahead on retirement, even though dh started late.  A few years of putting away a lot of money plus amazing gains are effective.  I honestly don't think dh will want to retire early.  He loves what he does and likes to be busy.  So it isn't our "plan", but we max things anyway when could save a to less and be on track.  I just worry about life happening and being forced into it, so I don't think I could scale back our savings unless we had to.   We are ahead on retirement, carry no debt but our mortgage, and have a large e-fund.  We have come a long way in the last 14 years.  

So currently we have no real plans for next year.   Just keep on the same track.  

Edited December 1, 2020 by mommyoffive

[JustEm]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

I am glad that you had a great year despite everything going on.  Congrats to your dh.  What does he do now?  So cool that you wrote a book.  What is it about?  Are you still pet sitting? 

Last minute things. 

It will be pay property taxes when the bill comes in.   We already have our escrow check, just waiting on the city to send the bill. 

Possible big 529 deposit

We max out all our retirement space automatically.  So that will be done by the 31st.  Dh gets a big match from work so that is good. 

Get the refi done

Dh had a great income year.  Not sure if this was his highest.  I only look once a year when we have our taxes done. 

We haven't set down to come up with goals for next year yet.  

Once the refi closes we will have over 1k of monthly bills we paid off.  We had car payments with 0% so we just choose to keep them going.  I know it isn't what most people suggest, but we like new cars.   We don't really budget anymore.  Even after maxing everything we have more money left over than our bills.  We just let our life get really fluffy.  

When things get better next year, our expenses will go up.  Lots of doctor visits.  A lot of kids to put braces on.   And when life is really back to normal trips will be a spend too.  Even though we have lots of miles and hotel points. 

We have saved a ton of money this year.  We don't have a defined plan for it, so kind of need to figure it out.   Currently it is just sitting with our efund.  But it is way to much to have as an efund.  We need to decide if we want to buy land and build or not.  Traveling was always our focus instead of moving. Then Covid. 

We did a lot of spending since covid happened too.  Tons of house upgrades, new mountain bikes for everyone, fixing things, adding a dance studio to the house, huge chicken coop, new sectional, chickens, new kitchen table and chairs, desks for kids, new puppy, surgery, tvs, laptop, dance classes and ballet intensives.   It made all this time at home a little better.  We had put off spending on the house for years, because due to dance we were hardly ever here.  

We are spending a lot on Christmas, but this year it is ok.  Normally we spend a heck of a lot more since we gift the kids an international trip and presents.  

Early retirement.  We are ahead on retirement, even though dh started late.  A few years of putting away a lot of money plus amazing gains are effective.  I honestly don't think dh will want to retire early.  He loves what he does and likes to be busy.  So it isn't our "plan", but we max things anyway when could save a to less and be on track.  I just worry about life happening and being forced into it, so I don't think I could scale back our savings unless we had to.   We are ahead on retirement, carry no debt but our mortgage, and have a large e-fund.  We have come a long way in the last 14 years.  

So currently we have no real plans for next year.   Just keep on the same track.  

Sounds like 2020 was a good year for you,  hopefully 2021 is even better.  My dh likely doesn't want to retire early entirely but working part-time in a different field, likely martial arts, is more the plan.  Dh's new position is basically the person you get when you call the bank and ask for a manager.  He's not the actual manager, more of a support person for the customer service reps.  He likes it because he isn't on the phone nearly as much and he can help people out more without needing to have someone else authorize it.

It is a children's book about a little girl who sets up play restaurant in her house and when all her family members are too busy to play with her Greek gods start showing up at the restaurant.  The illustrations show that she's getting the ideas from overhearing her mom help her brother with a school project. 

The book I am currently working on is the story behind our Christmas tree last year, if you remember what the kids did for me during dh's underemployment. 

 

[mommyoffive]

3 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

Sounds like 2020 was a good year for you,  hopefully 2021 is even better.  My dh likely doesn't want to retire early entirely but working part-time in a different field, likely martial arts, is more the plan.  Dh's new position is basically the person you get when you call the bank and ask for a manager.  He's not the actual manager, more of a support person for the customer service reps.  He likes it because he isn't on the phone nearly as much and he can help people out more without needing to have someone else authorize it.

It is a children's book about a little girl who sets up play restaurant in her house and when all her family members are too busy to play with her Greek gods start showing up at the restaurant.  The illustrations show that she's getting the ideas from overhearing her mom help her brother with a school project. 

The book I am currently working on is the story behind our Christmas tree last year, if you remember what the kids did for me during dh's underemployment. 

 

Oh how neat.  Are you doing the illustrations yourself too?  That would be so neat for your kids to have that story from the Christmas tree last  year turned into a book they can read as adults.  So neat.  

[mommyoffive]

Oh this looks super cute.  Saw it on hip2save

Head on over to Chatbooks where you can score a Free Personalized Postcard from Santa!

To score this awesome freebie, head here, enter in your kiddos information including their name, a chore they perform and something they are wanting for Christmas. Santa will send them a personalized postcard with a letter letting them know he’s checking in on them!

These adorable postcards ship absolutely free and they will be sent out around the third week of December.

[historically accurate]

2020 came out to be a wash. We are almost exactly where we were financially when we went in to 2020. Hopefully, we can make some traction in 2021; I feel like the past few years has been just a holding pattern. When we get some $, it seems something comes up that takes it.  

Medical for this year: 3 hospitalizations and one 6 week stretch of daily therapy, 3 months of 2x week therapy. One root canal. 3 cavities. Finished paying for 2nd kid's braces although removal has been delayed.

Medical for next year: We're being hit with some doozies of medical bills right now even though our kid with the most medical bills is in the "free zone" (max out of pocket for 2020). My youngest is having migraines again; I remembered she has not been to the eye doctor this year, so she has an appointment tomorrow. She is ready for braces now. Appointment is set for January. I did contact the hospital for assistance with my CT scan. I have an x-ray tomorrow, hoping they will decide the kidney stones can just live in there for a while. But we'll see. 

School for this year: DD graduated high school/comm college & started college. A couple of road trips for college decisions and then taking/bringing her back from first semester. One very expensive laptop. Books and fees and tuition, oh, my! Dropped out of co-op, but added an online course. 

School for next year: same old, same old.

Cars for this year: a couple of minor repairs, but nothing major. Gas was a savings for the year, although with the road trips for colleges and daily therapy 1 hour away for over a month, it wasn't as great as it could've been.

Cars for next year: DH will need a new car soon, so that is probably where tax refund will go. College DD wants a car, but that would be on her to provide. 

Debt, retirement, savings: all are close to plan if not exactly where I hoped we would be. 

VIPKid was a wipeout with the pandemic. DH took my space over, and I literally have no where to do it in this house. I have only opened slots when they offer me an incentive to do so. I haven't taught a class in well over 8 months. I have made almost $100 doing just those incentive slots, so not horrible. DH didn't lose his job, although overtime was cut for a while, so I am thankful for that. 

 

Almost finished Christmas shopping today. I have MIL left, but DH hasn't any ideas, and MIL has given one idea to everyone in the family, so I would have to check with everyone to see if anyone else bought it. I also have neighbors left, but I am clueless on what to get them. 

[JustEm]

24 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Oh how neat.  Are you doing the illustrations yourself too?  That would be so neat for your kids to have that story from the Christmas tree last  year turned into a book they can read as adults.  So neat.  

No, I can't do the illustrations.  For the Christmas one, which I have a goal of self publishing this year, I have a few relatives and friends I'd like to pick from assuming someone wants to make some money doing it.  Dh is a possible option, as he is a good artist, but I need a range of samples to decide what pictures fit the story.

[popmom]

I'm hoping 2021 will be my year to be frugal by choice like @hjffkj. 🙂 A lot is up in the air right now. We are not sure if dd19 will be going back to college for spring semester or continuing her gap year. If she stays here, we will sell the college town condo and find alternate housing for next fall. And if the condo sells, we can pay off the house. Next we pay down debt. Dh is on that Runzheimer program for work, so he is required to buy a brand new truck every 3 years. He has to have a truck. I have always been grateful for the extra money in the check, but it doesn't (((feel))) like extra money if that makes sense. I would love to get the truck paid off, and make that car payment to ourselves. And pay cash for the next truck. But man...how painful to spend that chuck of change when the time comes. I'm currently driving a 2009 Toyota hatchback with 180,000 miles. It's on its second engine lol. I will drive it until the wheels fall off!

We are in the process of updating our home. We are contemplating selling this house and moving further out. We want some land. I'm not sure we'll go through with it, but we want the house to be in tip top shape so that if the right property comes along, we can put ours on the market. Sorry for the run on sentence. 😉 It's a struggle to decide how much money to put in this house. The carpet upstairs HAS to be replaced. If I was 100% sure we were selling, I would just put in more carpet. But if we end up staying, I'd want hardwood up there. The other "must do" is the cracked cultured marble in our master bath. We will probably put in quartz or granite. We managed to get all the wallpaper off in there. Now we have to prime and make some repairs to the drywall. That won't happen till after Christmas. The third "must do" is the deck. Sigh. It's getting dangerous. Our first 2 estimates were both right at $5000. I'm going to get at least 2 more estimates. 

We always do this. We buy a big time fixer upper, take 5-10 years getting it fixed up just the way we like it, then we move. Not by choice in previous years--job changes. This time we have a choice. 

 

[mommyoffive]

Through December 5th, head on over to Target.com where they are offering $5 off $20+ Book purchase both in-store and online – no promo code needed as the discount will automatically apply at checkout.

from hip2save

[mommyoffive]

Another Target deal from hip2save

On Saturday, December 5th only, head to Target where they will be offering a Buy 2, Get 1 Free sale on movies and games – available in-store and online. The freebie will apply to the item of equal or lesser value – video games are excluded from this promotion.

Plus, you can score an even better deal when you stack this sale with the one-time-use Circle offer that is available through December 12th to score 10% off your entire purchase which is also valid in-store or online.

This is a great opportunity to cross any remaining movies or games off your shopping list while saving a nice chunk of change!

Here are a few deal ideas…

Buy 3 Kids Books as low as $1.50 each
Total = $4.50
Less buy 2, get 1 free sale
Use the 10% off your entire purchase Circle offer
Final cost $2.70 total – as low as 90¢ each!

Buy 3 Movies from $3.50 each
Total = $10.50
Less buy 2, get 1 free sale
Use the 10% off your entire purchase Circle offer
Final cost $6.30 total – as low as $2.10 each!

Buy 3 Board Games from $4.99 each
Total = $14.97
Less buy 2, get 1 free sale
Use the 10% off your entire purchase Circle offer
Final cost $8.98 total – as low as $2.99 per game!

[cjzimmer1]

5 hours ago, popmom said:

e. The other "must do" is the cracked cultured marble in our master bath. We will probably put in quartz or granite.

 

If your vanity isn't huge, look into getting a remnant. We redid our bathroom last year and it turned out that we could get a remnant piece of quartz installed for only $150 more than the materials cost for a new cultured marble (I don't know what the labor would have been because we would have had to hire that part out separately).  Our place had tons of pieces and sizes and they were all the same price.  You just needed to pick a piece that was big enough for your project.  I was curious about the quartz so we went and looked and I had no idea how affordable the remnants would be.

[mommyoffive]

Target is having 10% off gift cards this weekend.  Both Saturday and Sunday.  Max of $50 discount

You have to be a member of the free loyalty program called Target Circle.  The discount can only be used once on Target.com or at Target per Target Circle Account. 

[Soror]

Frugal habits today:

- make gf bread for me, I made some lentil soup yesterday for my lunch for the week but it isn't the same without bread

-make yogurt

Yesterday- I finally listed a keyboard for sale, not much but it is just sitting here. We barely used it but decided we didn't want it too long after the return window.

I need to post some bookshelves for sale but they are not in as good of shape as I thought after moving them. I think I can still get something out of them but I'm not sure what to ask. Maybe I can earn that extra .5% toward the vaca fund selling things 🙂

I also dropped off the masks to the UPS store to be returned, the smaller size is coming in the mail already.

Aldi's had some extra lean ground beef marked $1 off so I bought 3 packages, that put me over on my planned spending for this week by $6 (they didn't have the boston butt I wanted so that offset it some) but that is ok it will save me money the rest of the month. We are getting 1/2 beef but that won't be done at the butcher until sometime in Feb so I need to get deals when I can but not stock up too  much.

Still waiting on charges to go through on my card, I'm unreasonably annoyed at it because it looks like my balance is off from my records. I have a $34 charge from Target that still hasn't went through and $18 or so from Kohl's.

And on the plus side it is looking like dh will not any big commute for college this spring, that will be a big help to the budget. This is likely the last semester that will happen but we'll take it.

Edited December 2, 2020 by Soror

[Soror]

15 hours ago, historically accurate said:

2020 came out to be a wash. We are almost exactly where we were financially when we went in to 2020. Hopefully, we can make some traction in 2021; I feel like the past few years has been just a holding pattern. When we get some $, it seems something comes up that takes it.  

Medical for this year: 3 hospitalizations and one 6 week stretch of daily therapy, 3 months of 2x week therapy. One root canal. 3 cavities. Finished paying for 2nd kid's braces although removal has been delayed.

Medical for next year: We're being hit with some doozies of medical bills right now even though our kid with the most medical bills is in the "free zone" (max out of pocket for 2020). My youngest is having migraines again; I remembered she has not been to the eye doctor this year, so she has an appointment tomorrow. She is ready for braces now. Appointment is set for January. I did contact the hospital for assistance with my CT scan. I have an x-ray tomorrow, hoping they will decide the kidney stones can just live in there for a while. But we'll see. 

School for this year: DD graduated high school/comm college & started college. A couple of road trips for college decisions and then taking/bringing her back from first semester. One very expensive laptop. Books and fees and tuition, oh, my! Dropped out of co-op, but added an online course. 

School for next year: same old, same old.

Cars for this year: a couple of minor repairs, but nothing major. Gas was a savings for the year, although with the road trips for colleges and daily therapy 1 hour away for over a month, it wasn't as great as it could've been.

Cars for next year: DH will need a new car soon, so that is probably where tax refund will go. College DD wants a car, but that would be on her to provide. 

Debt, retirement, savings: all are close to plan if not exactly where I hoped we would be. 

VIPKid was a wipeout with the pandemic. DH took my space over, and I literally have no where to do it in this house. I have only opened slots when they offer me an incentive to do so. I haven't taught a class in well over 8 months. I have made almost $100 doing just those incentive slots, so not horrible. DH didn't lose his job, although overtime was cut for a while, so I am thankful for that. 

 

Almost finished Christmas shopping today. I have MIL left, but DH hasn't any ideas, and MIL has given one idea to everyone in the family, so I would have to check with everyone to see if anyone else bought it. I also have neighbors left, but I am clueless on what to get them. 

Mercy, the OOP max, that hurts! Here's hoping 2021 is a year of much less medical bills for the both of us! I'm sorry to hear about the migraines 😞

I teach VIPKID too. I'm in our basement and that works pretty well. I've had some slumps this year with so many teachers teaching and the crazyness in China but it could be much worse. 

Kudos to you for staying to plan even with so much going on.

 

18 hours ago, hjffkj said:

One of the biggest reasons I grind with the frugal living is so dh can retire early.  We are a bit behind on the retirement savings and that is why this year has been so heavily focused on putting into retirement.  I haven't calculated the percentage that went into retirement yet but my rough estimate is 30% this year.  I'm hoping to increase that next year a bit and for the next few years while we catch up and then lower it if we need to allocate money elsewhere.

Good for you! Dh started saving very early and always hit the company match, after we paid off the house we put in even more and are doing well for our income level, although we could always do better. When I sit and look at it there is only so much we can squeeze out, we don't live extravagantly but the money only goes so far.

22 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Did a bit of shopping last night.

Signed up all the kids for Kiwico, got 22.5% cash back

Got everyone stockings from LL bean.   They were on sale for 13.50 with free personalization.  Plus 14% cash back

Shopped at Kohls .   Got cash back and $100 kohls cash.  Saved with the 20% and then I put in a bunch of discount codes that I found online and saved another $100

You were working those Cyber Monday deals!

14 hours ago, popmom said:

I'm hoping 2021 will be my year to be frugal by choice like @hjffkj. 🙂 A lot is up in the air right now. We are not sure if dd19 will be going back to college for spring semester or continuing her gap year. If she stays here, we will sell the college town condo and find alternate housing for next fall. And if the condo sells, we can pay off the house. Next we pay down debt. Dh is on that Runzheimer program for work, so he is required to buy a brand new truck every 3 years. He has to have a truck. I have always been grateful for the extra money in the check, but it doesn't (((feel))) like extra money if that makes sense. I would love to get the truck paid off, and make that car payment to ourselves. And pay cash for the next truck. But man...how painful to spend that chuck of change when the time comes. I'm currently driving a 2009 Toyota hatchback with 180,000 miles. It's on its second engine lol. I will drive it until the wheels fall off!

We are in the process of updating our home. We are contemplating selling this house and moving further out. We want some land. I'm not sure we'll go through with it, but we want the house to be in tip top shape so that if the right property comes along, we can put ours on the market. Sorry for the run on sentence. 😉 It's a struggle to decide how much money to put in this house. The carpet upstairs HAS to be replaced. If I was 100% sure we were selling, I would just put in more carpet. But if we end up staying, I'd want hardwood up there. The other "must do" is the cracked cultured marble in our master bath. We will probably put in quartz or granite. We managed to get all the wallpaper off in there. Now we have to prime and make some repairs to the drywall. That won't happen till after Christmas. The third "must do" is the deck. Sigh. It's getting dangerous. Our first 2 estimates were both right at $5000. I'm going to get at least 2 more estimates. 

We always do this. We buy a big time fixer upper, take 5-10 years getting it fixed up just the way we like it, then we move. Not by choice in previous years--job changes. This time we have a choice. 

 

I've never heard of the Runzheimer program. I have a 2005 Toyota Sienna, I've not had to replace the engine in it, mechanically I've not had much to do I think my mileage is just 140k. The guy I bought it from had not put many miles on it. It looks horrible though, it is somewhat embarrassing 🙂  but like you I plan on driving until the wheels fall off. I'm planning on having the funds for a replacement when dd turns 16 (in 2.5 yrs) but I told dh I might just keep driving it if it is still doing ok and let the interest build up on my funds instead, we'll see.

You are a better women than me, I do not enjoy home improvement enough to do it just for fun, over and over!

[mommyoffive]

Did a little more shopping last night.  Dh bought the kids a new trampoline.  Bought some hot chocolate bombs and advent cals at Walgreens.  Got 30% off and 10% cash back. 

I need to use the Kohls cash today since the 20% off expires today.  Not sure what I am getting there.  oh I just saw this on hip2save

Check Your Inbox for up to 40% Off Your Entire Kohl’s Purchase | Today Only

Check your inbox as you may have received an email from Kohl’s that contains a new single-use coupon worth up to 40% off your entire Kohl’s purchase – valid today 12/2 only!

Look for an email with the subject line: “Your Cyber mystery offer is here … spin it to win it!” coming from the email address “Kohls@am.kohls.com“.

If anyone gets one that doesn't want it let me know.   Off to check. 

Paid for some ballet.  School is paying ballet for another kiddo.  Think I will switch the younger too to use up their funds.  Need to sign up for some master classes this weekend for the 3 oldest. 

 

[JustEm]

9 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Did a little more shopping last night.  Dh bought the kids a new trampoline.  Bought some hot chocolate bombs and advent cals at Walgreens.  Got 30% off and 10% cash back. 

I need to use the Kohls cash today since the 20% off expires today.  Not sure what I am getting there.  oh I just saw this on hip2save

Check Your Inbox for up to 40% Off Your Entire Kohl’s Purchase | Today Only

Check your inbox as you may have received an email from Kohl’s that contains a new single-use coupon worth up to 40% off your entire Kohl’s purchase – valid today 12/2 only!

Look for an email with the subject line: “Your Cyber mystery offer is here … spin it to win it!” coming from the email address “Kohls@am.kohls.com“.

If anyone gets one that doesn't want it let me know.   Off to check. 

Paid for some ballet.  School is paying ballet for another kiddo.  Think I will switch the younger too to use up their funds.  Need to sign up for some master classes this weekend for the 3 oldest. 

 

I have one I won't use. I'll pm you the code

[mommyoffive]

4 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

I have one I won't use. I'll pm you the code

Oh my gosh, thank you so much!

[JustEm]

1 minute ago, mommyoffive said:

Oh my gosh, thank you so much!

you're welcome

[Soror]

Hmm, I don't see any email at all. I'll be keeping an eye out for the 2 kids that need socks.

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, Soror said:

Frugal habits today:

- make gf bread for me, I made some lentil soup yesterday for my lunch for the week but it isn't the same without bread

-make yogurt

Yesterday- I finally listed a keyboard for sale, not much but it is just sitting here. We barely used it but decided we didn't want it too long after the return window.

I need to post some bookshelves for sale but they are not in as good of shape as I thought after moving them. I think I can still get something out of them but I'm not sure what to ask. Maybe I can earn that extra .5% toward the vaca fund selling things 🙂

I also dropped off the masks to the UPS store to be returned, the smaller size is coming in the mail already.

Aldi's had some extra lean ground beef marked $1 off so I bought 3 packages, that put me over on my planned spending for this week by $6 (they didn't have the boston butt I wanted so that offset it some) but that is ok it will save me money the rest of the month. We are getting 1/2 beef but that won't be done at the butcher until sometime in Feb so I need to get deals when I can but not stock up too  much.

Still waiting on charges to go through on my card, I'm unreasonably annoyed at it because it looks like my balance is off from my records. I have a $34 charge from Target that still hasn't went through and $18 or so from Kohl's.

And on the plus side it is looking like dh will not any big commute for college this spring, that will be a big help to the budget. This is likely the last semester that will happen but we'll take it.

I listed a few things for sale yesterday too.  The clothes if they don't sell in a week I am just going to donate.  I need to get rid of stuff.  I have taken 6 big bags of donations already.  I have so much more in the garage I need to drop off.  

So frustrating on the charges.  

We have saved so much $ on not commuting.  In normal times dh went to the office 5 days a week which is an hour plus each way.  We commuted to a ballet school 6 or 7 days a week that was 2.5 hours round trip everyday.  

[JustEm]

I picked up the lunches and there is even more milk this week!! ha.  We haven't even used up last weeks milk. Ds made home made pudding today with some of it.  It was a good first attempt. Not perfect but edible.  He is excited to be able to try again soon.

[cjzimmer1]

After hearing so many talk about school lunches, I decided to give mine a try if for no other reason that it would be something different for me kids and honestly they were very excited to try it.  I'm still not entirely sure if I was eligible.  The overview for the program says for all students 18 and under but another page says for all students enrolled in (my school district name).  So I live in the district but my kids aren't enrolled.  But I signed up just to see what would happen (they did say you could just show up but it helps them to ensure they have enough if you register).  So I enter kids names and then the pickup was today.  I go to pickup site with kids.  They ask how many, they put that many boxes on the table and I load up.  They never ask my name or my kids name so they have no idea if the people picking up food are actually the people who requested food.  I'm questioning if I "should be" because it did say enrolled students but since they never asked who we were they don't know and I really didn't get to ask questions.  But the kids were pretty happy  for their box of "junk" food.  No way the food was enough for 5 breakfasts and five lunches for my kids (even my 7 year old eats more food than that) but they were excited to have chocolate milk, string cheese and they each ate 2-3 of the lunches today.  But the boxes are pretty big and with everything being packaged individually, it takes up a ton of space in the fridge.  We had to take them out of the boxes and remove anything that didn't need refrigeration just to get the critical stuff in.  They all want to go back next week and even if they only get 2 days out of them that is still that much less I have to buy.

[cjzimmer1]

4 hours ago, hjffkj said:

I picked up the lunches and there is even more milk this week!! ha.  We haven't even used up last weeks milk. Ds made home made pudding today with some of it.  It was a good first attempt. Not perfect but edible.  He is excited to be able to try again soon.

a couple of my kids love custard so our plan is to make a pan of that to use up a bunch of those boxes(some of my kids don't drink cows milk but can consume it fine in other ways).  We got 40 today and they take up so much room, I encouraged the one who could to drink extra today just so we could get everything in.

[mommyoffive]

17 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

After hearing so many talk about school lunches, I decided to give mine a try if for no other reason that it would be something different for me kids and honestly they were very excited to try it.  I'm still not entirely sure if I was eligible.  The overview for the program says for all students 18 and under but another page says for all students enrolled in (my school district name).  So I live in the district but my kids aren't enrolled.  But I signed up just to see what would happen (they did say you could just show up but it helps them to ensure they have enough if you register).  So I enter kids names and then the pickup was today.  I go to pickup site with kids.  They ask how many, they put that many boxes on the table and I load up.  They never ask my name or my kids name so they have no idea if the people picking up food are actually the people who requested food.  I'm questioning if I "should be" because it did say enrolled students but since they never asked who we were they don't know and I really didn't get to ask questions.  But the kids were pretty happy  for their box of "junk" food.  No way the food was enough for 5 breakfasts and five lunches for my kids (even my 7 year old eats more food than that) but they were excited to have chocolate milk, string cheese and they each ate 2-3 of the lunches today.  But the boxes are pretty big and with everything being packaged individually, it takes up a ton of space in the fridge.  We had to take them out of the boxes and remove anything that didn't need refrigeration just to get the critical stuff in.  They all want to go back next week and even if they only get 2 days out of them that is still that much less I have to buy.

Everything that I have read says that is for all children 18 and under, not enrolled students.  We are not enrolled in the district in our city either, never a question. It is so hard to store the stuff, when you pick up for a big group of children for the week.  The hardest was on weeks where every part of the lunch had to be frozen and our freezer was full already.  It was just hard to know one week to the next.  It would be better if you shopped after you picked up the lunches so your fridge and freezer would be down from the week already.   I should probably go back to doing lunches.   

[JustEm]

In regards to the free lunches. Federal funding for them was part of the stimulus packages and that funding is meant to be for ALL children 18 and under.  The program is currently funded through Dec 31, but I suspect they will extend it.  So, if the district is using federal funds, which they most likely are, they can not actually put stipulations on it other than the meals are for 18 or younger.

This is how I handle the packages. Whole fruit goes straight the the basket of fruit for whoever wants it to grab,  Individually wrapped veggies that the kids won't eat like raw broc gets put into one ziploc bag together and I use it in a meal later.  All the snack foods intended for breakfast go into a large ziploc bag labelled with the kids name on it.  Those are their snack foods until they are gone.   Lunches fit right into the freezer in the basement nicely because ours is currently not completely filled. None of my kids drink milk so that goes into the freezer until we know what to do with it.  They will dirnk the chocolate milk, orange juice, and apple juices though.  It is more juice and chocolate milk than I'd normally allow since we don't actually keep that stuff in our house normally but they are happy for the change after a long 2020 so I'm good with it staying that way for a bit.

We just picked our lunches up for the second time and it is a great supplement for one meal a day, no way could it replace breakfast and lunch.  But it helps us stretch the grocery budget a bit so I'm happy with it, even if it isn't the healthiest of foods.  But overall it isn't terrible

[mommyoffive]

20 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

In regards to the free lunches. Federal funding for them was part of the stimulus packages and that funding is meant to be for ALL children 18 and under.  The program is currently funded through Dec 31, but I suspect they will extend it.  So, if the district is using federal funds, which they most likely are, they can not actually put stipulations on it other than the meals are for 18 or younger.

This is how I handle the packages. Whole fruit goes straight the the basket of fruit for whoever wants it to grab,  Individually wrapped veggies that the kids won't eat like raw broc gets put into one ziploc bag together and I use it in a meal later.  All the snack foods intended for breakfast go into a large ziploc bag labelled with the kids name on it.  Those are their snack foods until they are gone.   Lunches fit right into the freezer in the basement nicely because ours is currently not completely filled. None of my kids drink milk so that goes into the freezer until we know what to do with it.  They will dirnk the chocolate milk, orange juice, and apple juices though.  It is more juice and chocolate milk than I'd normally allow since we don't actually keep that stuff in our house normally but they are happy for the change after a long 2020 so I'm good with it staying that way for a bit.

We just picked our lunches up for the second time and it is a great supplement for one meal a day, no way could it replace breakfast and lunch.  But it helps us stretch the grocery budget a bit so I'm happy with it, even if it isn't the healthiest of foods.  But overall it isn't terrible

Wow, I am surprised that your meals only get you one meal a day.  Ours are full 2 meals a day.   Sometimes a lot more than that because of the sides they give you.  

Did Kohls shopping last night.  

Picked up the Walgreens order.  Those cheap advent calendars are always a hit with my kids.  

I need to come up with some ideas for my family to give to the kids.  I think doing a subscription box for them would be awesome.  We got them a Kiwico one, but there are so many.  Having something like that to look forward to each month would be so fun especially now.  I don't know if they would be into it. 

Still working on the refi.  

I listed some stuff for sale yesterday.  I want to just get rid of a bunch of things, to make room for the new things.  

[JustEm]

40 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Wow, I am surprised that your meals only get you one meal a day.  Ours are full 2 meals a day.   Sometimes a lot more than that because of the sides they give you.  

 

The kids would likely eat the breakfast foods at breakfast and be fine with it as a meal but I do not want them eating those things for breakfast every morning.  So, dh still makes a hot protein heavy breakfast every morning and then they eat the breakfast items (muffin, cereal bar, mini pancakes, etc.) as a midmorning snack or along side of their lunch. I also use a lot of the components for parts of another meal.  For example, this week every kid got 5 rolls so we served some with our beef stew last night and the rest will be served with our creamy chicken and mushroom soup tonight.  

So maybe it is more like a meal and a half and a snack.  Or two meals sometimes with a few additions on my part to make it more of a balanced meal.  It certainly is a lot of food.  I'm really interest to see how getting it weekly for the rest of the month will change our grocery bill.  The $200 I spent on Dec 1 should get us to the 14th with the food from the school in theory. we'll see.

[JustEm]

I thought I was done Christmas shopping and then remembered I had money sitting in my paypal account from my sister as part of a joint gift for my brother.  He is the only one I usually buy for because he is very much a present person and he's always at my house on Christmas morning so I like him having things under the tree.  Plus, he's the brother who sent the kids his left over full candy bars from handing out candy at halloween.  They loved that surprise package. So, $80 is gifts he really wants/needs. 

[mommyoffive]

I just put in an order for the lunches.  I have avoided it since summer due to surge.  I am hoping they have it set up safely.   Mine is an order online and a menu online.  I love that.  

[mommyoffive]

4 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

I thought I was done Christmas shopping and then remembered I had money sitting in my paypal account from my sister as part of a joint gift for my brother.  He is the only one I usually buy for because he is very much a present person and he's always at my house on Christmas morning so I like him having things under the tree.  Plus, he's the brother who sent the kids his left over full candy bars from handing out candy at halloween.  They loved that surprise package. So, $80 is gifts he really wants/needs. 

Good reminder.  I have some in Paypal too, a credit on a credit card, and then Rakuten.  All the little credits add up.  

[JustEm]

8 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

I just put in an order for the lunches.  I have avoided it since summer due to surge.  I am hoping they have it set up safely.   Mine is an order online and a menu online.  I love that.  

Here they just load it into you trunk and then you go. Safe and easy.  So when you say menu online do you mean you know what you are getting or you can customize it a bit?

[mommyoffive]

4 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

Here they just load it into you trunk and then you go. Safe and easy.  So when you say menu online do you mean you know what you are getting or you can customize it a bit?

It is a menu online that you can see what they are serving everyday of the month.  Over summer they didn't have that.  You would pick up the meals and then they had a menu on paper inside so you knew how to cook things or what have you. 

I wish they just put it in your trunk.  I will have to see.  I didn't like how they did it in the summer, so when our numbers were crazy (still are) I just stopped doing it.  Plus my kids were tired of the food.    During summer they put it on a table and people just went to get it.  But the people giving out the food 2 our of the 3 never had masks on.  We will see how they do it now, it doesn't mention it at all.  

[JustEm]

3 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

It is a menu online that you can see what they are serving everyday of the month.  Over summer they didn't have that.  You would pick up the meals and then they had a menu on paper inside so you knew how to cook things or what have you. 

I wish they just put it in your trunk.  I will have to see.  I didn't like how they did it in the summer, so when our numbers were crazy (still are) I just stopped doing it.  Plus my kids were tired of the food.    During summer they put it on a table and people just went to get it.  But the people giving out the food 2 our of the 3 never had masks on.  We will see how they do it now, it doesn't mention it at all.  

I hope they handle it in a safer way now.  That is neat that you get a menu.  We don't even get one in the boxes

[saraha]

Aaaaand now our furnace is out. Dh did everything he could but it ended up needing a new motor, $400. Grateful the guy could fix it since it is over 40 years old! But still just one more thing. Dh has fixed and/or replaced so many things this year, I am just weary. 

[prairiewindmomma]

The meals are actually funded through end of school year/June 30. USDA extended back in October(?).

[prairiewindmomma]

Medical bills are bad again. We’ve had about $30k in dental/orthodontia/jaw issues alone. The medical end of things isn’t as bad due to better insurance, but it’s bad.

Heads up, if you aren’t pushing 50 yet, your adult teeth start to fail around then in catastrophic ways. It will hit when your kids need braces. 

[mommyoffive]

2 hours ago, saraha said:

Aaaaand now our furnace is out. Dh did everything he could but it ended up needing a new motor, $400. Grateful the guy could fix it since it is over 40 years old! But still just one more thing. Dh has fixed and/or replaced so many things this year, I am just weary. 

Oh man.  I am sorry.  I am so glad they had a part with it being that old.   

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Medical bills are bad again. We’ve had about $30k in dental/orthodontia/jaw issues alone. The medical end of things isn’t as bad due to better insurance, but it’s bad.

Heads up, if you aren’t pushing 50 yet, your adult teeth start to fail around then in catastrophic ways. It will hit when your kids need braces. 

Oh my gosh, I am so sorry.  Was that all from this year?  What bad timing.  I totally get why your teeth would start falling apart at 50 years old.  I could totally use braces again. I am sure I won't do it, because I have 5 kids who probably are going to need them.  Top 3 do, the oldest was put off due to Covid.  So hopefully next year.  It is going to be so much $, I am choosing not to add up the totals in my head.    I am seeing lots of issues already in my teeth.  Ugh.  

[saraha]

49 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Oh man.  I am sorry.  I am so glad they had a part with it being that old.   

Thanks, I wondered about that too, but they put some kind of new motor in it, I guess the good thing about it being so old is that it is super simple, no electronics, computers, etc, so they just had to find something that would match I guess. My dh buys the belt for it at Autozone every year!

[saraha]

2 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Medical bills are bad again. We’ve had about $30k in dental/orthodontia/jaw issues alone. The medical end of things isn’t as bad due to better insurance, but it’s bad.

Heads up, if you aren’t pushing 50 yet, your adult teeth start to fail around then in catastrophic ways. It will hit when your kids need braces. 

I'm sorry for this. That has to be so demoralizing.