May Frugalistas 2021

[mommyoffive]

April showers bring May Dollars!

 

[hjffkj]

May will be cha ching for us because dh starts his new position but keeps his current second shift hours for the month. So, he'll have the additional pay plus 8% more for working second shift.

I have no idea what our financial plans are for May.  It has been on autopilot.  We'll be opening the pool so that will cost a bit.  We'll finally replace our trampoline and I need to get my oldest some more summer clothes.  Other than that, hopefully just normal spending.  

Still waiting for our refund.

[Soror]

We're starting May off with a bang, replacing our washer. Dh is going tomorrow to pick one up. I called around and only 2 places within a 2 hr drive have them in stock. We'd hoped to be able to wait a few more months until I had my fund filled but that is the way it goes. I am pulling from some of my other sinking funds to cover the remainder of the cost and will have to readjust goals. 

May plans- a very spendy month!

1- buy washing machine (that just leaves the dishwasher since we had to do the hot water heater in Jan- my other appliances seem to have plenty of life left)

2- European Vaca '22  up to 70%

3-Small beach vaca at AirBnB-financed with income tax return

4-cash flow more medical bills

5-pay for concrete $$$$$$ for shop- likely we will not build this year as building materials are so increased right now (like 4x higher) but at least we'll get that step done

6-Finish buying summer clothes for family

7- inspection and tags for ds' car- this has already been set aside- just have to do it

7- HOPEFULLY get back tax refund and stimulus

Edited May 8, 2021 by Soror

[mommyoffive]

3 minutes ago, Soror said:

We're starting May off with a bang, replacing our washer. Dh is going tomorrow to pick one up. I called around and only 2 places within a 2 hr drive have them in stock. We'd hoped to be able to wait a few more months until I had my fund filled but that is the way it goes. I am pulling from some of my other sinking funds to cover the remainder of the cost and will have to readjust goals. 

May plans- a very spendy month!

1- buy washing machine (that just leaves the dishwasher since we had to do the hot water heater in Jan- my other appliances seem to have plenty of life left)

2- European Vaca '22  up to 70%

3-Small beach vaca at AirBnB- this will be financed with money I'd set aside for dh for college as the income tax I was going to use is not in yet and dh is going to be getting college reimbursement again

4-cash flow more medical bills

5-pay for concrete $$$$$$ for shop- likely we will not build this year as building materials are so increased right now (like 4x higher) but at least we'll get that step done

6-Finish buying summer clothes for family

7- inspection and tags for ds' car- this has already been set aside- just have to do it

7- HOPEFULLY get back tax refund and stimulus

1.  Boo the washing machine.  Glad to hear they had something in stock however.

2.  Yay!  That is so awesome.

3.  Great to hear he is getting the reimbursement.  Have fun on vacation.

4.  Sigh....   They don't stop do they?

5.  Good job saving, boo that things are increased so much right now.

6.  Something always needs buying with a big family.

I hope you get your refund and stimulus!!  That is so nuts

[historically accurate]

The next two weeks will be lower-than-normal paychecks because DH took off this week to visit MIL in hospital (she's home & awaiting further testing) and he's taking off Monday since he's going to Alabama to pick up DD this weekend. He gets PTO, but there won't be any overtime in those checks. 

Groceries will probably go up as DD is coming home. We've got grocery pickup at Walmart and Sam's Club tomorrow. Also, we'll be doing some exciting cleaning of the house. 

One nice finance thing that happens in May is one of DH's tuition reimbursements comes out of savings. We keep them in savings for a year since if he leaves the company within 12 months of receiving tuition reimbursement we have to give it back. We had been rolling them over to the next semester's tuition, but since he graduated in Dec, this one is ours to keep.  

[Soror]

And IRS says my refund will be there next week!!!! I was in shock to see it finally changed after it being the same for so long. My stimulus still doesn't show but I'm guessing it will take a bit for that to go through since my refund just went through. It is actually showing up as 7 more than we thought. I have a bit in state taxes to pay. I could have paid already but didn't want to have to shuffle the money. Then we'll figure out where to put the money since we've had several things change since our original plans. We'll be doing some savings and a couple of small projects we had planned.

Edited May 1, 2021 by Soror

[historically accurate]

4 minutes ago, Soror said:

And IRS says my refund will be there next week!!!! I was in shock to see it finally changed after it being the same for so long. My stimulus still doesn't show but I'm guessing it will take a bit for that to go through since my refund just went through. It is actually showing up as 7 more than we thought. I have a bit in state taxes to pay. I could have paid already but didn't want to have to shuffle the money. Then we'll figure out where to put the money since we've had several things change since our original plans. We'll be doing some savings and a couple of small projects we had planned.

Yay! I'm so glad you're finally getting it. 

[mommyoffive]

41 minutes ago, Soror said:

And IRS says my refund will be there next week!!!! I was in shock to see it finally changed after it being the same for so long. My stimulus still doesn't show but I'm guessing it will take a bit for that to go through since my refund just went through. It is actually showing up as 7 more than we thought. I have a bit in state taxes to pay. I could have paid already but didn't want to have to shuffle the money. Then we'll figure out where to put the money since we've had several things change since our original plans. We'll be doing some savings and a couple of small projects we had planned.

Yay!  That is great news!  Finally.   I hope the stimulus shows up right after.

[hjffkj]

1 hour ago, Soror said:

And IRS says my refund will be there next week!!!! I was in shock to see it finally changed after it being the same for so long. My stimulus still doesn't show but I'm guessing it will take a bit for that to go through since my refund just went through. It is actually showing up as 7 more than we thought. I have a bit in state taxes to pay. I could have paid already but didn't want to have to shuffle the money. Then we'll figure out where to put the money since we've had several things change since our original plans. We'll be doing some savings and a couple of small projects we had planned.

I am doing a happy dance for you that you're finally getting your refund!!  when did you file, do you remember.  I'm holding out hope that I'll get our refund in May

[Soror]

31 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

I am doing a happy dance for you that you're finally getting your refund!!  when did you file, do you remember.  I'm holding out hope that I'll get our refund in May

I filed Feb 12.

[hjffkj]

5 minutes ago, Soror said:

I filed Feb 12.

maybe they'll be done with mine soon,  I file feb 17th

[hjffkj]

scratch that!  They updated the info for me too.  I should have my refund by May 10.  They changed my refund amount though because they say someone who was trying to claim the stimulus was not eligible.  I'm really confused by that statement.  So, basically my youngest isn't getting the stimulus money that she is owed.  I'll wait until I get my refund and then I will call them to try to figure it out

[mommyoffive]

3 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

scratch that!  They updated the info for me too.  I should have my refund by May 10.  They changed my refund amount though because they say someone who was trying to claim the stimulus was not eligible.  I'm really confused by that statement.  So, basically my youngest isn't getting the stimulus money that she is owed.  I'll wait until I get my refund and then I will call them to try to figure it out

Glad you are getting your refund finally. 

I hope you get the stimulus worked out.

[Soror]

Dh got my new washer. Ya!

We discussed spending needs and goals and have a preliminary plan for income tax money. I am going to get a new bathroom cabinet that I've wanted for 3 yrs. When we did the basement bathroom cash was tight and we got the smallest and cheapest model. It is way too small for the space and not in great shape, besides the fact that I could really use the storage of a bigger cabinet. We're going ahead and buying passports for the kids. Anything else left will be put towards sinking funds for medical, vehicle, home, and electronics. 

It is funny when I was going over dh various accounts and funds and what is incoming etc I asked him if he could think of anything he wants or needs. He says well looking at it we can't really afford much. We are doing better financially than ever but we are working hard to embrace true expenses and make sure we save up for things ahead of times (like all those funds for vehicle, medical, home, electronics and the yearly expenses- Christmas, taxes, subscriptions, tags, etc) and when you really look at all those things we have far less than it looks like because all the dollars in my accounts have jobs and future jobs. I love YNAB, even more today than when we started. I wish I'd started it many years ago, we would be much further ahead. Even though we've been entirely debt free for 8 yrs now that is just a part of it. We could be further ahead with less stress.

I've got to be more on the ball with meal planning this month. Last month I didn't do so great. We've had some big stressors and some things slipped but I need to more focused. I stayed on budget last month but I ended the month with my pantry far more empty than I'd like. 

Planning for short vaca today(scheduled for end of the month). I think we can do it for $x dh thinks it will take more. I told him let's look at what we actually need before we go and decide to spend more. 

We've all but decided that we are holding off on the shop for now. It is funny as a few months back I told dh it would take $x and he said no, it won't be that much. And yesterday he realized I was right at the prices now it would for sure be that much and he doesn't want to spend that much. 

 

[Carrie12345]

2 hours ago, Soror said:

It is funny as a few months back I told dh it would take $x and he said no, it won't be that much

Someone tell me I’m not the only one with a dirty mind.

[Carrie12345]

Totally procrastinating on looking at a detailed overview of the month.

Still haven’t received a scheduled closing date. That means we’ve been sitting in final underwriting for an entire business week.

Dd got her application accepted for an apartment!  I want to get her plenty of “get started” stuff so she’s not overwhelmed. I’m overwhelmed just thinking about it, lol.  Her birthday is at the end of the month, and she’s old enough that I shouldn’t feel bad about considering stocking her apartment a birthday gift, and yet here I am.

We need to do roof work (“we”= dh and friends) this month, but I can picture that getting pushed off to next month.  Not that it should be.

My now-14yo really needs more than one pair of shoes that fit, so there’s that.

Some preventative care appointments are scheduled, so no co-pay, thank goodness.

I need to find a way to push myself to finally list a bunch of books in our homeschool group. I think the only way I can manage it is to go name your own price. Not particularly lucrative, but I need the job done and a few extra bucks is more than no bucks and stacks of bins.

[hjffkj]

Frugal score of the day,  ds12 needed shorts and t-shirts, dh needed some new shirts, and I needed a few things so we went to Old Navy.  Got some great stuff from the clearance for $3 each and a few $8 shirts for ds.  But the real win here is that when they asked if I wanted to sign up for their store card I said no before she said how much I'd save.  Then she said 50% and I was immediately signed up.  I usually don't get store cards unless the sign up bonus is 40% which is rare.  But I've never seen a 50% deal.  I would have been dumb not to sign up since I was spending over $200.  The best part, she didn't even put my charge on the new card.  She rang it up on a card I already have so I'll get my reward points and not have to worry about figuring out how to pay off the ON card.

I do not recommend store credit cards unless you have a really solid handle over credit card spending and paying off.  Once the card comes I'll just cut it up and close the account when I feel like it.  

[saraha]

12 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

Dd got her application accepted for an apartment!  I want to get her plenty of “get started” stuff so she’s not overwhelmed. I’m overwhelmed just thinking about it, lol.  Her birthday is at the end of the month, and she’s old enough that I shouldn’t feel bad about considering stocking her apartment a birthday gift, and yet here I am.

Congratulations!

We moved ds21 into his first apartment this weekend! Our big spending was meals out as it’s an hour away from our home and there was plenty of cousins along too to help out. Little ceasers for the win! He has been planning this since he graduated last spring so he had been saving up. I’m sure the neighbors were worried when all 8 of us plus a few cousins showed up to move done boxes, a bedroom suite and some soccer chairs in, haha!

he still needs a couch and table and chairs, but he wants to take his time  and invest in good things. He plans to be there a while 

Edited May 3, 2021 by saraha
Quoted @Carrie12345 but forgot to say congratulations!

[mommyoffive]

5 minutes ago, saraha said:

We moved ds21 into his first apartment this weekend! Our big spending was meals out as it’s an hour away from our home and there was plenty of cousins along too to help out. Little ceasers for the win! He has been planning this since he graduated last spring so he had been saving up. I’m sure the neighbors were worried when all 8 of us plus a few cousins showed up to move done boxes, a bedroom suite and some soccer chairs in, haha!

he still needs a couch and table and chairs, but he wants to take his time  and invest in good things. He plans to be there a while 

AWWWWW congrats to your DS and to you too!

[saraha]

@Carrie12345 I quoted you and forgot to say congratulations to your dd!

[Carrie12345]

48 minutes ago, saraha said:

@Carrie12345 I quoted you and forgot to say congratulations to your dd!

Same to your ds!  I hope you’re handling it better than I am, lol. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very excited for her. I still don’t like it. 😉 

[Soror]

 

10 hours ago, saraha said:

Congratulations!

We moved ds21 into his first apartment this weekend! Our big spending was meals out as it’s an hour away from our home and there was plenty of cousins along too to help out. Little ceasers for the win! He has been planning this since he graduated last spring so he had been saving up. I’m sure the neighbors were worried when all 8 of us plus a few cousins showed up to move done boxes, a bedroom suite and some soccer chairs in, haha!

he still needs a couch and table and chairs, but he wants to take his time  and invest in good things. He plans to be there a while 

Many congratulations to your son!

23 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

Totally procrastinating on looking at a detailed overview of the month.

Still haven’t received a scheduled closing date. That means we’ve been sitting in final underwriting for an entire business week.

Dd got her application accepted for an apartment!  I want to get her plenty of “get started” stuff so she’s not overwhelmed. I’m overwhelmed just thinking about it, lol.  Her birthday is at the end of the month, and she’s old enough that I shouldn’t feel bad about considering stocking her apartment a birthday gift, and yet here I am.

We need to do roof work (“we”= dh and friends) this month, but I can picture that getting pushed off to next month.  Not that it should be.

My now-14yo really needs more than one pair of shoes that fit, so there’s that.

Some preventative care appointments are scheduled, so no co-pay, thank goodness.

I need to find a way to push myself to finally list a bunch of books in our homeschool group. I think the only way I can manage it is to go name your own price. Not particularly lucrative, but I need the job done and a few extra bucks is more than no bucks and stacks of bins.

Congratulations to your daughter!!!

I hear you on listing things for sale, sometimes it is a total pain and some money is better than no money.

Edited May 3, 2021 by Soror

[Soror]

18 hours ago, hjffkj said:

Frugal score of the day,  ds12 needed shorts and t-shirts, dh needed some new shirts, and I needed a few things so we went to Old Navy.  Got some great stuff from the clearance for $3 each and a few $8 shirts for ds.  But the real win here is that when they asked if I wanted to sign up for their store card I said no before she said how much I'd save.  Then she said 50% and I was immediately signed up.  I usually don't get store cards unless the sign up bonus is 40% which is rare.  But I've never seen a 50% deal.  I would have been dumb not to sign up since I was spending over $200.  The best part, she didn't even put my charge on the new card.  She rang it up on a card I already have so I'll get my reward points and not have to worry about figuring out how to pay off the ON card.

I do not recommend store credit cards unless you have a really solid handle over credit card spending and paying off.  Once the card comes I'll just cut it up and close the account when I feel like it.  

Nice discount!

[Soror]

I have started my grocery list but have to finish my menu for today.

Reconciled accounts again last night.

Will probably book a boat for our little vaca. It is more than I wanted to do but a compromise. Dh likes to fill days with way more things than I do while vacationing. So we'll be doing more than I planned but less than he wants.

[historically accurate]

DH and DD made it home last night - DH said he didn't want to pay for another hotel night. It doesn't appear that he spent as much as I had budgeted, so we should have a buffer for taking her back in August.

College DD got a payment from the university. We were trying to figure out what it was for. We finally did - the school paid her to beta test a personal finance online class. She wanted to do it not only for the cash but also the knowledge. We think that the school should pay her for all her classes LOL! 

Discover Card offered us $25 in rewards for adding an authorized user. We had been thinking about adding college DD so she has a credit card at school for emergencies as well as starting to build her credit, so bonus on the money back. 

We had a slew of medical bills go through insurance on Saturday that had been held up, so I'm now expecting a large bill from the provider. Ugh. I hadn't expected it to be as much as it was, and they're from last year, so it'll hit our budget directly as I can't use the FSA. Double Ugh. 

Signed middle DD up for driver's ed. $150 for deposit, $300 when the classes start. Why is Driver's Ed so pricey? I figured out that how much that is out of each paycheck from here until mid-September when she starts, and I adjusted our budget accordingly. I thought about it a little, and I think I might be able to claim the $450 on my state taxes as tuition. It's not listed at all, either for or against, in the IRS booklet. 

Our electricity bill was super low this past month - I have no idea why, but I will take it!

Picking up school meals this morning, working this afternoon, and taking my brother to the doctor this evening. So busy day today. 

[mommyoffive]

On 5/2/2021 at 4:44 AM, Soror said:

Dh got my new washer. Ya!

We discussed spending needs and goals and have a preliminary plan for income tax money. I am going to get a new bathroom cabinet that I've wanted for 3 yrs. When we did the basement bathroom cash was tight and we got the smallest and cheapest model. It is way too small for the space and not in great shape, besides the fact that I could really use the storage of a bigger cabinet. We're going ahead and buying passports for the kids. Anything else left will be put towards sinking funds for medical, vehicle, home, and electronics. 

It is funny when I was going over dh various accounts and funds and what is incoming etc I asked him if he could think of anything he wants or needs. He says well looking at it we can't really afford much. We are doing better financially than ever but we are working hard to embrace true expenses and make sure we save up for things ahead of times (like all those funds for vehicle, medical, home, electronics and the yearly expenses- Christmas, taxes, subscriptions, tags, etc) and when you really look at all those things we have far less than it looks like because all the dollars in my accounts have jobs and future jobs. I love YNAB, even more today than when we started. I wish I'd started it many years ago, we would be much further ahead. Even though we've been entirely debt free for 8 yrs now that is just a part of it. We could be further ahead with less stress.

I've got to be more on the ball with meal planning this month. Last month I didn't do so great. We've had some big stressors and some things slipped but I need to more focused. I stayed on budget last month but I ended the month with my pantry far more empty than I'd like. 

Planning for short vaca today(scheduled for end of the month). I think we can do it for $x dh thinks it will take more. I told him let's look at what we actually need before we go and decide to spend more. 

We've all but decided that we are holding off on the shop for now. It is funny as a few months back I told dh it would take $x and he said no, it won't be that much. And yesterday he realized I was right at the prices now it would for sure be that much and he doesn't want to spend that much. 

 

Yay for the new washer.  I am glad you were able to find one and it isn't something out of stock.

Nice to have a plan for the income tax money.  If you are going summer 2022, I would probably wait for passports for awhile.  Our kids passports expire this summer and if not for Covid we would have gotten 2-3 more international trips.  That burns me because it is  a cost to get them again.  😞 But those passports expire fast for the younger kids.   And for a lot of countries you have to have a passport that is valid for 6 months plus past the date of your travel.  

I am glad you like YNAB and it helps you.  We used to budget really strictly, but we don't budget anymore.  A lot of our expenses are just the same as when we did. Like our grocery we are just used to keeping it at a certain level. We have only expanded in kid activities and travel.  It has really helped my stress level not having a budget.

Yay for the vacation coming soon.  I hope prices drop sometime so you can do the shop.  For sure great idea to wait to save money.

[mommyoffive]

On 5/2/2021 at 7:03 AM, Carrie12345 said:

Totally procrastinating on looking at a detailed overview of the month.

Still haven’t received a scheduled closing date. That means we’ve been sitting in final underwriting for an entire business week.

Dd got her application accepted for an apartment!  I want to get her plenty of “get started” stuff so she’s not overwhelmed. I’m overwhelmed just thinking about it, lol.  Her birthday is at the end of the month, and she’s old enough that I shouldn’t feel bad about considering stocking her apartment a birthday gift, and yet here I am.

We need to do roof work (“we”= dh and friends) this month, but I can picture that getting pushed off to next month.  Not that it should be.

My now-14yo really needs more than one pair of shoes that fit, so there’s that.

Some preventative care appointments are scheduled, so no co-pay, thank goodness.

I need to find a way to push myself to finally list a bunch of books in our homeschool group. I think the only way I can manage it is to go name your own price. Not particularly lucrative, but I need the job done and a few extra bucks is more than no bucks and stacks of bins.

Awww congrats to your DD.  Congrats to you too.  Is she moving out of your city? 

That is great your dh can do the roof.  A big savings!  I hope you can easily sell some books.  I always struggle with that too.  You know there is some value to your stuff, but don't want to waste to much time doing it. 

[saraha]

11 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

Same to your ds!  I hope you’re handling it better than I am, lol. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very excited for her. I still don’t like it. 😉 

Ugly cried way too much about it, haha 

1 hour ago, historically accurate said:

College DD got a payment from the university. We were trying to figure out what it was for. We finally did - the school paid her to beta test a personal finance online class. She wanted to do it not only for the cash but also the knowledge. We think that the school should pay her for all her classes LOL! 

Cool!

1 hour ago, historically accurate said:

Our electricity bill was super low this past month - I have no idea why, but I will take it!

Ooh, be careful, we had a ridiculous electric bill back in December, like twice what it should have been. when dh finally got a real person to talk to him, they said it was so high because there were two months over the summer that they estimated our usage instead of reading the meter and I guess they under estimated and billed the difference in December. 🤦‍♀️ I hope that’s not the case for you, and you just had a good month!

[historically accurate]

1 minute ago, saraha said:

Ugly cried way too much about it, haha 

Cool!

Ooh, be careful, we had a ridiculous electric bill back in December, like twice what it should have been. when dh finally got a real person to talk to him, they said it was so high because there were two months over the summer that they estimated our usage instead of reading the meter and I guess they under estimated and billed the difference in December. 🤦‍♀️ I hope that’s not the case for you, and you just had a good month!

My bill says Actual, not Estimated. We used to be on the Estimated/Actual schedule, and I hated it because they did the super low estimate/hit you with a high month like every other cycle! They installed smart meters last year, so they don't have to send people out to read now, so every month is now actual. I don't have any idea why we used so much less last month - it's our lowest usage all year. Highest kWh usage was over 1600; this month? barely 900. 

[saraha]

9 minutes ago, historically accurate said:

My bill says Actual, not Estimated. We used to be on the Estimated/Actual schedule, and I hated it because they did the super low estimate/hit you with a high month like every other cycle! They installed smart meters last year, so they don't have to send people out to read now, so every month is now actual. I don't have any idea why we used so much less last month - it's our lowest usage all year. Highest kWh usage was over 1600; this month? barely 900. 

Oh! That’s good! 

[clementine]

Our youngest will be moving to a new city this summer, so we're currently looking at apartments online & will have to start the qualifying/application process soon.  It's so hard when you don't live in the area you're looking in!  Any tips or advice you have would be appreciated!  We've slowly collected things to get her place furnished - it's actually been a good reason for me to purge & simplify our home, ha!  

[saraha]

15 minutes ago, clementine said:

Our youngest will be moving to a new city this summer, so we're currently looking at apartments online & will have to start the qualifying/application process soon.  It's so hard when you don't live in the area you're looking in!  Any tips or advice you have would be appreciated!  We've slowly collected things to get her place furnished - it's actually been a good reason for me to purge & simplify our home, ha!  

We had a terrible time trying to find apartments online and ended up traveling there to look. Worked out great though and we had fun

[clementine]

15 minutes ago, saraha said:

We had a terrible time trying to find apartments online and ended up traveling there to look. Worked out great though and we had fun

Yes, we'll be traveling there too - setting up showings & having all of our ducks in a row before going.  It's a lot to wrap my head around 😉

 

[Soror]

31 minutes ago, historically accurate said:

My bill says Actual, not Estimated. We used to be on the Estimated/Actual schedule, and I hated it because they did the super low estimate/hit you with a high month like every other cycle! They installed smart meters last year, so they don't have to send people out to read now, so every month is now actual. I don't have any idea why we used so much less last month - it's our lowest usage all year. Highest kWh usage was over 1600; this month? barely 900. 

My bill is always lower this time of year, and in the fall too. The winter is the highest months for me even though it gets plenty hot here. WE have budget billing and it just reaverages every month. I don't ever have a really high bill.

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

Yay for the new washer.  I am glad you were able to find one and it isn't something out of stock.

Nice to have a plan for the income tax money.  If you are going summer 2022, I would probably wait for passports for awhile.  Our kids passports expire this summer and if not for Covid we would have gotten 2-3 more international trips.  That burns me because it is  a cost to get them again.  😞 But those passports expire fast for the younger kids.   And for a lot of countries you have to have a passport that is valid for 6 months plus past the date of your travel.  

I am glad you like YNAB and it helps you.  We used to budget really strictly, but we don't budget anymore.  A lot of our expenses are just the same as when we did. Like our grocery we are just used to keeping it at a certain level. We have only expanded in kid activities and travel.  It has really helped my stress level not having a budget.

Yay for the vacation coming soon.  I hope prices drop sometime so you can do the shop.  For sure great idea to wait to save money.

Passports for under 16 last 5 yrs, right? We're not in a huge rush but want to make sure we have plenty of time as I've heard of delays. We're going next year so they won't be expiring anytime close to that. 

Having YNAB is less stressful for me because I don't have to keep mental track of everything. My brain has a hard time remembering everything it used to!

[saraha]

17 minutes ago, clementine said:

Yes, we'll be traveling there too - setting up showings & having all of our ducks in a row before going.  It's a lot to wrap my head around 😉

 

We ended up finding him a great little apartment not listed online 3 blocks from where he works and next to a doughnut shop! We did a combination of looking through the paper and driving around different neighborhoods he’d like to live in. The only things we could find online for his city were expensive apartments in complexes. 
Good luck, how exciting!

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, clementine said:

Our youngest will be moving to a new city this summer, so we're currently looking at apartments online & will have to start the qualifying/application process soon.  It's so hard when you don't live in the area you're looking in!  Any tips or advice you have would be appreciated!  We've slowly collected things to get her place furnished - it's actually been a good reason for me to purge & simplify our home, ha!  

Is she moving for school or work?  If so reach out to those places to see if they know or recommend areas? 

Realtor.com has a place you can look for rentals

Congrats to her!  What a big exciting step.

Edited May 3, 2021 by mommyoffive

[mommyoffive]

48 minutes ago, Soror said:

My bill is always lower this time of year, and in the fall too. The winter is the highest months for me even though it gets plenty hot here. WE have budget billing and it just reaverages every month. I don't ever have a really high bill.

Passports for under 16 last 5 yrs, right? We're not in a huge rush but want to make sure we have plenty of time as I've heard of delays. We're going next year so they won't be expiring anytime close to that. 

Having YNAB is less stressful for me because I don't have to keep mental track of everything. My brain has a hard time remembering everything it used to!

There probably is more of a delay now than in normal times.  It is just if you get the passport now and you are not going until next summer you are using up a year or so of the passport, instead of waiting to later.  I know that it won't affect this trip, but could on your next one or something like that.  Just something to think about as they are not cheap especially when you are getting them for a big family.  

[Carrie12345]

3 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Awww congrats to your DD.  Congrats to you too.  Is she moving out of your city? 

That is great your dh can do the roof.  A big savings!  I hope you can easily sell some books.  I always struggle with that too.  You know there is some value to your stuff, but don't want to waste to much time doing it. 

She’ll be about 40 minutes away. That’s the equivalent of running to Target, but in the opposite direction.
My youngest isn’t thrilled. He wants to be able to bike to her.  That’s a tall order for our area, lol.

[clementine]

3 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

Is she moving for school or work?  If so reach out to those places to see if they know or recommend areas? 

Realtor.com has a place you can look for rentals

Congrats to her!  What a big exciting step.

She's graduating from college & will be moving for work.   Further away from home, but she's so excited!  So....I'm trying hard not to be sad for me 😬

[Soror]

4 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

There probably is more of a delay now than in normal times.  It is just if you get the passport now and you are not going until next summer you are using up a year or so of the passport, instead of waiting to later.  I know that it won't affect this trip, but could on your next one or something like that.  Just something to think about as they are not cheap especially when you are getting them for a big family.  

Yes, good point. I need to look into it again and see how long they are taking. I honestly can't remember but I know I read that there were issues. I want to make sure we have plenty of time over however long the delays are expected to be.

[hjffkj]

 I bought a bathing suit from Land's End for roughly $100.  I generally don't spend that much but I really needed something with good support up top so I decided to take a gamble and order without trying on.  It came today and it fits perfectly!! I'm so excited.  I usually have the hardest time finding something that will support my large chest but this is perfect.  Money well spent

[saraha]

3 hours ago, hjffkj said:

 I bought a bathing suit from Land's End for roughly $100.  I generally don't spend that much but I really needed something with good support up top so I decided to take a gamble and order without trying on.  It came today and it fits perfectly!! I'm so excited.  I usually have the hardest time finding something that will support my large chest but this is perfect.  Money well spent

Could you share which one you like?

[hjffkj]

9 minutes ago, saraha said:

Could you share which one you like?

I got this top https://www.landsend.com/products/womens-plus-size-chlorine-resistant-square-neck-underwire-tankini-top-swimsuit-adjustable-straps/id_352908?attributes=8867,14593,43307,43325,44094,44256,44454,44623,44966

And this bottom https://www.landsend.com/products/womens-plus-size-chlorine-resistant-high-waisted-6-bike-swim-shorts-with-upf-50-sun-protection/id_352989?attributes=8867,13774,43307,43325,44256,44966

[Soror]

- Must finish grocery list and menu TODAY- shopping this evening

-dh says he doesn't know if he'll get reimbursement for college this semester as it says on the form it has to be turned in at the start of the semester but he was told at the start of the semester that they weren't doing it. I told him he needs to be fighting this. I'm very pissed about that. Worthless HR. So, money from vaca fund back to college fund.

-tax refund showed up today(effective date tomorrow) I worked on giving all those dollars jobs (obviously I can't spend it yet but it is being saved for now so I sent ahead and disbursed it in the budget)- Money to this year's vaca fund, med ded fund, electronics fund, house ren/rep, vehicle repairs, passport, and state taxes.

-stimulus still says unavailable

-I should be getting paid any day and will have cash back from CC's in a few days- vaca fund to 70% here I come!!!

-hoping I get a call back for a survey. I qualified but don't know if I'll be picked. It is for $125 and would be put towards vaca fund. This week bookings are slower due to holiday and I'm taking off a few days at the end of the month. I'm going to have to put in some Sundays unless I get some other money somewhere and I don't want to work Sundays. Maybe I can find a few things to sale around here. 

-need to deposit check from books at homeschool consignment shop- another $10.5- could put it towards vaca as I have money already allocated to hs....hmmm...

-got a testing date for the girls for TKD BUT I started putting aside extra for testing every month and already have it covered

-pay state taxes

[hjffkj]

I hit the pet sitting jackpot you guys.  An old client who I haven't pet sat for in 2 years(one covid and two because of them crashing their boat and not needing me until they replaced it) got in touch with me last week.  She wants me to pet sit every weekend I'm available because they can't take one of their dogs on the boat.  

Well i pet sat for her this weekend and while she is known to always pay me double what I charge, this weekend she she went way over that.  Basically, she paid me $57/ half hour - hour to take care of her dogs. And I'm watching her dogs again this weekend.  So, basically we'll be bringing in a significant amount of money this summer that wasn't expected at all.  This will fund our next Universal studios trip once things are back to normal

[hjffkj]

@mommyoffive your post about hard to find things scared me in regards to chlorine for our pool so today I spent a ton of money on enough pool chemicals to get us through july most likely.  I couldn't buy more because Home Depot has limits on the amounts you can buy.  Once the pool is open next week dh and I will have to reevaluate how much we'll need for the whole season

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, hjffkj said:

@mommyoffive your post about hard to find things scared me in regards to chlorine for our pool so today I spent a ton of money on enough pool chemicals to get us through july most likely.  I couldn't buy more because Home Depot has limits on the amounts you can buy.  Once the pool is open next week dh and I will have to reevaluate how much we'll need for the whole season

Glad you were able to stock up.  Man that thread and the news is kind of freaking me out.  It feels like I need to stock up on so many things because things are hard to get. 

[Carrie12345]

My boys nearly drove me to drinking before noon today. Instead, I decided to go food shopping at Aldi with only a rough list. I figured I’d come home with overflowing bags of junk food to soothe my nerves. But they were out of most of the junk I felt drawn to, so I walked out spending just $113 out of our normal $200 budget.  It was weird, but I’ll take it!

[hjffkj]

Got our refund, which was indeed missing dd1's first 2 stimulus amounts so I'll have to call them eventually.  Oddly enough though,  her 3rd stimulus money was deposited into our account today separately from the refund.

[historically accurate]

3 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

Got our refund, which was indeed missing dd1's first 2 stimulus amounts so I'll have to call them eventually.  Oddly enough though,  her 3rd stimulus money was deposited into our account today separately from the refund.

That's super weird.