September Frugalistas 2021

[mommyoffive]

5 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

Ugh! dh has been back in the office for about a month.  Finally got around to looking at the cc he uses and the amount of money he spends on food there is ridiculous!  This has always been an issue but I was really enjoying not having to deal with it when he was working from home.  Time to sit down with him yet again and try to point out just how much money he wastes on getting food from a vending machine instead of simply telling me what he wants when I go grocery shopping.  He literally went grocery shopping with me this week and I even reminded him to grab things for work and he didn't.  Why are some people like this? ha. 

It isn't a real problem because we'll just agree on a certain weekly amount and then he'll carry that much cash but you'd think after 14 years together it wouldn't need to be discussed still.

 

I have one of those dh's too.  Sigh.  Sometimes he will go to the store and sometimes bring things from home.  But not all the time.   Sigh we have been married longer and it still like that.

[hjffkj]

8 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

I have one of those dh's too.  Sigh.  Sometimes he will go to the store and sometimes bring things from home.  But not all the time.   Sigh we have been married longer and it still like that.

Once in a while wouldn't bother me. I mean I got coffee on the way to dance yesterday instead of making it before I left.  But he has literally spend $65 on cafeteria and vending machine food since sept 1.  Not sustainable

[mommyoffive]

3 hours ago, hjffkj said:

Once in a while wouldn't bother me. I mean I got coffee on the way to dance yesterday instead of making it before I left.  But he has literally spend $65 on cafeteria and vending machine food since sept 1.  Not sustainable

Dh was like that before too.   And would go out to eat with coworkers too (before covid), but a lot of that was networking and on and on.  I do think that some of it is needed in the role(s) that dh has and does have.   Is your dh doing that? 

[Soror]

3 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

I have one of those dh's too.  Sigh.  Sometimes he will go to the store and sometimes bring things from home.  But not all the time.   Sigh we have been married longer and it still like that.

 

2 hours ago, hjffkj said:

Once in a while wouldn't bother me. I mean I got coffee on the way to dance yesterday instead of making it before I left.  But he has literally spend $65 on cafeteria and vending machine food since sept 1.  Not sustainable

What we settled on here is a certain amount of free money each month for each of us. I'd guess my dh spends a good chunk of his on work snacks, even though I buy him drinks and snacks and I think that is a stupid choice but I don't ask anymore. Currently that is around $100 for him and 50-75 for me. When the budget was tighter I didn't take any for 3 months and he got $50. That is all we spend each month on individual wants- ie any hobbies, personal fun things, individual going out to eat, bought a snack somewhere, any special personal goods etc. I often buy fitness things or random home goods I find (home good fund is currently only $15 so it doesn't cover much- usually goes towards needs- like replacing old pillows, things like that). Fitness is my only real hobby currently. I  tend to spend money in spurts. Like I don't spend anything for 3 months then buy something bigger. This summer I had bday money and bought a set of workout clothes and some new weights. I had a bit over a $100 saved up in my personal fund but with the car buying I put it towards that. 

Sometimes I have a entertainment budget for some fun family things (individual entertainment is personal money), but not always. This month it is $0 after buying a car that got wiped out. Eating out was $0 until a few months ago when we had our anniversary and I bumped it up to $50. So far this month that has been sno cones for the girls and the drive through for them one day for a treat(still off the value menu),drive through for dh when we ended up out and dh hadn't ate. We'll get ice cream out with the girls after their TKD testing. 

[hjffkj]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

Dh was like that before too.   And would go out to eat with coworkers too (before covid), but a lot of that was networking and on and on.  I do think that some of it is needed in the role(s) that dh has and does have.   Is your dh doing that? 

Nope. I wouldn't mind if it were networking. But dh has been really good with just networking while at work via being the person to cover people when they need it. It got him two promotions within the first year of him switching careers. He started this job right before covid and still things in the office are strict so none of those networking type lunches happen. 

It is strictly a, the food is there and I can swipe my credit card problem. With how much he eats out of a vending machine you'd think he has a weight problem but the man has been 162 our entire marriage, give or take a few pounds. I wish I could eat out of a vending machine like him

Edited September 16, 2021 by hjffkj

[hjffkj]

1 hour ago, Soror said:

 

What we settled on here is a certain amount of free money each month for each of us. I'd guess my dh spends a good chunk of his on work snacks, even though I buy him drinks and snacks and I think that is a stupid choice but I don't ask anymore. Currently that is around $100 for him and 50-75 for me. When the budget was tighter I didn't take any for 3 months and he got $50. That is all we spend each month on individual wants- ie any hobbies, personal fun things, individual going out to eat, bought a snack somewhere, any special personal goods etc. I often buy fitness things or random home goods I find (home good fund is currently only $15 so it doesn't cover much- usually goes towards needs- like replacing old pillows, things like that). Fitness is my only real hobby currently. I  tend to spend money in spurts. Like I don't spend anything for 3 months then buy something bigger. This summer I had bday money and bought a set of workout clothes and some new weights. I had a bit over a $100 saved up in my personal fund but with the car buying I put it towards that. 

Sometimes I have a entertainment budget for some fun family things (individual entertainment is personal money), but not always. This month it is $0 after buying a car that got wiped out. Eating out was $0 until a few months ago when we had our anniversary and I bumped it up to $50. So far this month that has been sno cones for the girls and the drive through for them one day for a treat(still off the value menu),drive through for dh when we ended up out and dh hadn't ate. We'll get ice cream out with the girls after their TKD testing. 

 

We used to have a budget per month for each of us but we haven't budgeted like that in about a year since we've both been pretty sensible with our spending. We'll talk tonight to see if we need to reinstate it.

[Soror]

53 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

 

We used to have a budget per month for each of us but we haven't budgeted like that in about a year since we've both been pretty sensible with our spending. We'll talk tonight to see if we need to reinstate it.

Always smart to discuss it to see what will work best for you as a couple.

Here is why we budget for free money. Neither of us are big spenders and don't typically have expensive tastes. Dh's only hobby is playing a computer game we already own. He's too busy for anything else. He doesnt' care about clothes, gadgets/toys, sports or anything like that. We instituted (more me as CFO here) because I couldn't make an accurate budget without having a number on that as we do zero based budgeting.  It made me feel controlling without having it budgeted because charges would go through and I'd have to ask him what it was so I'd be able to put it in the budget appropriately. And I really hated to ask him about transactions- it made me feel like his Mom. Now he has a fund and I have a fund and if an ATM charge goes through- I just sort it as his personal money and move on. If he has any charges that are family items he tells me what they are, amount, and account so I know I dont' take anything out of his spending money that is really a family expense. On the other hand I often will spend a chunk on something and then don't buy anything whatsoever for 2 or 3 months. I like to let it build up so it helps me keep track of that too as it could be easy to forget how much I have spent because I do things so sporadically. 

[hjffkj]

58 minutes ago, Soror said:

Always smart to discuss it to see what will work best for you as a couple.

Here is why we budget for free money. Neither of us are big spenders and don't typically have expensive tastes. Dh's only hobby is playing a computer game we already own. He's too busy for anything else. He doesnt' care about clothes, gadgets/toys, sports or anything like that. We instituted (more me as CFO here) because I couldn't make an accurate budget without having a number on that as we do zero based budgeting.  It made me feel controlling without having it budgeted because charges would go through and I'd have to ask him what it was so I'd be able to put it in the budget appropriately. And I really hated to ask him about transactions- it made me feel like his Mom. Now he has a fund and I have a fund and if an ATM charge goes through- I just sort it as his personal money and move on. If he has any charges that are family items he tells me what they are, amount, and account so I know I dont' take anything out of his spending money that is really a family expense. On the other hand I often will spend a chunk on something and then don't buy anything whatsoever for 2 or 3 months. I like to let it build up so it helps me keep track of that too as it could be easy to forget how much I have spent because I do things so sporadically. 

I can so relate to this.  I no longer ask about his transactions but certainly did when we were on a much more strict budget.  

The reason why we stopped the zero based budget was because we were easily socking away 40% of his income into investments, so as long as a rough amount is being spent after bills happens we don't need to track everything down to the dollar.  But with him spending at work this way it means we have to change that or adjust our spending elsewhere to make it so we can keep avoiding the zero budget thing again, which I hate.  So, a good compromise with be to simply budget our personal spending amount and let the rest be on our current system.  we just have to figure out that number.

when i brought the issue up to dh today he said he'd try to communicate what he needed from the store better and that he'd just stop bringing the credit card to work!! Not a solution at all because I'd hate for him to have no access to money if he needs it.

 

[Soror]

23 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

I can so relate to this.  I no longer ask about his transactions but certainly did when we were on a much more strict budget.  

The reason why we stopped the zero based budget was because we were easily socking away 40% of his income into investments, so as long as a rough amount is being spent after bills happens we don't need to track everything down to the dollar.  But with him spending at work this way it means we have to change that or adjust our spending elsewhere to make it so we can keep avoiding the zero budget thing again, which I hate.  So, a good compromise with be to simply budget our personal spending amount and let the rest be on our current system.  we just have to figure out that number.

when i brought the issue up to dh today he said he'd try to communicate what he needed from the store better and that he'd just stop bringing the credit card to work!! Not a solution at all because I'd hate for him to have no access to money if he needs it.

 

Ya, I agree with you I wouldn't want him to be going without any money or way to buy things but giving you a heads up on what he wants is good. I wonder if you could look back at the months before Covid to see how much he was spending to get a ballpark number to start with? It is hard to guess numbers when things change. 

[hjffkj]

@mommyoffive You have more experience churning credit cards.  If you have done the Chase Sapphire Preferred do you have a sense of how long it takes for sign on bonus points to hit your account once you've completed the requirements.  I assumed when you got your first statement after completing the requirements but that didn't happen.  Just hoping to use my rewards to book a hotel.  not a big deal if I can't since we have other hotel stays coming up

[hjffkj]

20 hours ago, Soror said:

Ya, I agree with you I wouldn't want him to be going without any money or way to buy things but giving you a heads up on what he wants is good. I wonder if you could look back at the months before Covid to see how much he was spending to get a ballpark number to start with? It is hard to guess numbers when things change. 

yeah, we'll look at what we were doing before and figure out what works best for him.  It is just so ridiculous.  I saw what he packed for himself today and told him it likely wasn't enough. 

[Soror]

14 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

@mommyoffive You have more experience churning credit cards.  If you have done the Chase Sapphire Preferred do you have a sense of how long it takes for sign on bonus points to hit your account once you've completed the requirements.  I assumed when you got your first statement after completing the requirements but that didn't happen.  Just hoping to use my rewards to book a hotel.  not a big deal if I can't since we have other hotel stays coming up

Does it show you have meet the requirements on the app? I don't remember it being tied to billing cycle just a bit after meeting requirements. I think within 2 weeks or less. This year I've got chase checking and chase freedom flex rewards and they were within a week.

Edited September 17, 2021 by Soror

[hjffkj]

4 minutes ago, Soror said:

Does it show you have meet the requirements on the app? I don't remember it being tied to billing cycle just a bit after meeting requirements. I think within 2 weeks or less. This year I've got chase checking and chase freedom flex rewards and they were within a week.

I don't have the ap and when I sign online there is no mention of the sign on bonus.  will download ap and see what it says. thanks

[hjffkj]

@Soror thank you for mentioning the ap,  it does mention my bonus.  Apparently, one transaction is still pending and that is what keep me below reaching the requirement.  So, hopefully by within the next few weeks I'll have them and be able to book the hotel

[Soror]

11 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

I don't have the ap and when I sign online there is no mention of the sign on bonus.  will download ap and see what it says. thanks

Ya, online doesn't show it like the app. Glad you found the info.

[hjffkj]

Spent an impromptu $40 going to a  karaoke bar with one of dh's coworkers and a couple of his friends. Completely worth it even though I really hate karaoke. Stepped out of my comfort zone on that one and somehow managed to do a few songs with complete strangers.

[Soror]

7 hours ago, hjffkj said:

Spent an impromptu $40 going to a  karaoke bar with one of dh's coworkers and a couple of his friends. Completely worth it even though I really hate karaoke. Stepped out of my comfort zone on that one and somehow managed to do a few songs with complete strangers.

Sounds like a fun and scary night to me!

[Soror]

-after doing pictures for dd for homecoming dh and I did a little short date- bbq sandwiches (no bun for me) and drinks at an outside place- $13. They had this very neat eating area- all these tables kind of in the middle of the forest. We were the only ones there. 

-Bed and coat did sell. 

-$74 short of my September goal- weekend goal is to find more to list for sell.

I have that much listed but I'm doubtful about half of that selling and priced the other bit high. After my table sold so quickly I priced all of these things higher as I can always come down in price. The bed and jacket I got full price. 

Found some solid leads on online jobs (why I couldn't find any of these before I don't know). I have to do some prep for these and plan to hopefully get that done this weekend (I'm off until Wednesday after today's classes). I have a video to make and a training to do (paid $15 on groupon). I have a bit of hope now that I'll be able to keep working. I'm hoping to get something lined up by the beginning of the year but will keep working VIPKID until it ends or I find something that pays more (those jobs are much fewer). The thought of a new/different job is stressing me out so I'm trying not to think about it. I hate change.

Kept grocery budget $40 under budget-to potentially make up for not meeting Sep goal. Still $34 short but hoping I sell things and can go ahead and not to have to use it.

[mommyoffive]

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[historically accurate]

Everybody was shopping on ebay and FB marketplace this weekend! I am down to 2 items listed on ebay and a lot of books on FB. Sold a bed frame (lady who wanted the mattress got lost - she wants someone to drive her here tomorrow (we'll see if that happens) - I had 2 people contact me simultaneously about wanting part of the bed so I split it - if mattress lady shows tomorrow, I'll get more than I had it listed for since they each offered over half to take just a part), a baby doll, some American Girl books, a Dunkin Donuts tumbler, and DH sold a plunge router all within the last 30ish hours. I have several boxes on my kitchen island to drop at the post office tomorrow. Money will go toward our portion of the MRI bill. 

My mom came up to visit me (first time I've seen her since Christmas 2019), and she brought me new sheets and a comforter for a belated birthday present. She also gave DH his birthday present early - a whole bunch of new work shirts. I'm happy because I noticed his were starting to look worn. 

Found some items to purchase for the kids for Christmas - just have to turn in some of my Walmart card's rewards to cash and order. 

In between packaging sales LOL, I menu planned and meal prepped for the week. Hopefully, I have a good start on it. 

[hjffkj]

5 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

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i should really look through this for Christmas but I just don't have the energy, ha.

 

[mommyoffive]

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[mommyoffive]

7 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

i should really look through this for Christmas but I just don't have the energy, ha.

 

Me too. I just woke up from a nap.  We had a really busy week.  Activities back face to face, dh traveling for work, birthday, and we all my kids opened in the first show our pro company has put on face to face in 18 months.  So tech week and shows.  So tiring because the shows start at 7:30 based on the mood of the ballet.  Mom is not meant to go to bed after midnight for 3 days in a row.

[Soror]

16 hours ago, historically accurate said:

Everybody was shopping on ebay and FB marketplace this weekend! I am down to 2 items listed on ebay and a lot of books on FB. Sold a bed frame (lady who wanted the mattress got lost - she wants someone to drive her here tomorrow (we'll see if that happens) - I had 2 people contact me simultaneously about wanting part of the bed so I split it - if mattress lady shows tomorrow, I'll get more than I had it listed for since they each offered over half to take just a part), a baby doll, some American Girl books, a Dunkin Donuts tumbler, and DH sold a plunge router all within the last 30ish hours. I have several boxes on my kitchen island to drop at the post office tomorrow. Money will go toward our portion of the MRI bill. 

My mom came up to visit me (first time I've seen her since Christmas 2019), and she brought me new sheets and a comforter for a belated birthday present. She also gave DH his birthday present early - a whole bunch of new work shirts. I'm happy because I noticed his were starting to look worn. 

Found some items to purchase for the kids for Christmas - just have to turn in some of my Walmart card's rewards to cash and order. 

In between packaging sales LOL, I menu planned and meal prepped for the week. Hopefully, I have a good start on it. 

You've been busy! Congrats on the sales. Ya for the new sheets, comforter, and shirts. 

[Soror]

I sold a jacket yesterday. Posted another item and will list 1 or 2 more today (1 will have to be on eBay). I just need to sell 1 more thing to meet my monthly goal. 

Bought oil change supplies and hygiene products.

Just put in one teaching application. I plan to finish 1 more by tomorrow since I'm off from VIPKID until Wednesday.

I will be grocery shopping Tuesday this week as the kids have TKD testing on Thursday. I do need to make a new menu as my current one is just through Tuesday.

[mommyoffive]

50 minutes ago, Soror said:

I sold a jacket yesterday. Posted another item and will list 1 or 2 more today (1 will have to be on eBay). I just need to sell 1 more thing to meet my monthly goal. 

Bought oil change supplies and hygiene products.

Just put in one teaching application. I plan to finish 1 more by tomorrow since I'm off from VIPKID until Wednesday.

I will be grocery shopping Tuesday this week as the kids have TKD testing on Thursday. I do need to make a new menu as my current one is just through Tuesday.

Good for you for selling all that stuff.  I hope you meet your goal.

Good luck on the applications.  Are they online teaching?

[mommyoffive]

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[Soror]

16 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Good for you for selling all that stuff.  I hope you meet your goal.

Good luck on the applications.  Are they online teaching?

Yes, they are. Of course there are a lot of applicants right now with all the companies shutting down. I expect I will have to put in several applications and maybe do 2 or more jobs to make up for VipKid. If I get lucky and get some jobs I'm going to work around VipKid hours until it is over.

 

[Soror]

-Applied for another teaching job- pay isn't the best but I'm looking at it as a possible fill in until I get something better or for hours I can't teach at other places

-dh got a message about the car- they say they are coming Saturday with cash- $500 more than I hoped for- we shall see! That would be good for my funds

[Soror]

5 hours ago, Soror said:

-Applied for another teaching job- pay isn't the best but I'm looking at it as a possible fill in until I get something better or for hours I can't teach at other places

-dh got a message about the car- they say they are coming Saturday with cash- $500 more than I hoped for- we shall see! That would be good for my funds

Heard back from the job already and they say they are very interested. I've got to call them. Fingers crossed 🤞 it works out it as a supplement or until something higher paying comes (this is $12.60).

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, Soror said:

Heard back from the job already and they say they are very interested. I've got to call them. Fingers crossed 🤞 it works out it as a supplement or until something higher paying comes (this is $12.60).

Sending some good luck your way.

[mommyoffive]

Went shopping at one store and got a ton of great markdowns.  High priced vitamins that I normally don't buy because they were 50% off.   I ended up leaving the grapes I bought on the counter.  Oh man.  I bothered by it.    I had to go back in because something didn't scan right.

Picked up groceries too. 

I have to return a phone to the store.

 

Another show week this week.  So a bit of extra spending for that.

 

[Soror]

I got the job. Orientation is tomorrow. I'll be teaching South Korean adults. I will likely not be very busy at least to start as I have to teach later times to accommodate my VipKid schedule but it is a start.

7 hours ago, Soror said:

-Applied for another teaching job- pay isn't the best but Ioking at it as a possible fill in until I get something better or for hours I can't teach at other places

 

[mommyoffive]

19 minutes ago, Soror said:

I got the job. Orientation is tomorrow. I'll be teaching South Korean adults. I will likely not be very busy at least to start as I have to teach later times to accommodate my VipKid schedule but it is a start.

 

Congrats!  I am sure that takes a bit of pressure off.  

[hjffkj]

I think I was a little ambition in starting my reselling again.  Apparently, I just am not ready to venture into that.  So, I've put that on a halt until I'm done getting my house in order.  It is just too chaotic trying to make time for listing, sourcing, and shipping while also trying to cross off some major house projects that got put on the back burner because of working on my parents' house. So, I've put a hold on that.

Still waiting for my reward points to post so I can book that hotel room. 

[Soror]

22 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

I think I was a little ambition in starting my reselling again.  Apparently, I just am not ready to venture into that.  So, I've put that on a halt until I'm done getting my house in order.  It is just too chaotic trying to make time for listing, sourcing, and shipping while also trying to cross off some major house projects that got put on the back burner because of working on my parents' house. So, I've put a hold on that.

Still waiting for my reward points to post so I can book that hotel room. 

I can understand that, it is hard to focus too much on one thing at a time.

____________

Orientation this am and I finished the process for another company, crap pay but I can do it anytime and it is no prep.

[saraha]

12 hours ago, Soror said:

I got the job. Orientation is tomorrow. I'll be teaching South Korean adults. I will likely not be very busy at least to start as I have to teach later times to accommodate my VipKid schedule but it is a start.

 

Hurray!!!

[mommyoffive]

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[EmilyGF]

We're chugging away. It isn't sexy to enter all the purchases on a spreadsheet, but we're keeping up with it. We planned to meet weekly, but it hasn't happened yet. Sigh. I think we need to name the night and time, and that is trickier. We both have been more careful about spending because of writing it down.

I applied for a tutoring job. We had a fairly big hit to our income this past summer (DH didn't work for 6 weeks this summer.) Things are just tighter than normal. I'm not sure if it'll come to anything, and it looks like more hours than I'd like, but it seems useful just to start applying and thinking about things.

DH has started exploring a new side business opportunity. It is rather interesting to see him work on it; he'd talked about it for years, but when I started to apply for a job, he started setting up meetings about his business venture. (His employer offers business launching support so he's been going through them. They have been pretty positive and helpful.)

Emily

[Soror]

24 minutes ago, EmilyGF said:

We're chugging away. It isn't sexy to enter all the purchases on a spreadsheet, but we're keeping up with it. We planned to meet weekly, but it hasn't happened yet. Sigh. I think we need to name the night and time, and that is trickier. We both have been more careful about spending because of writing it down.

I applied for a tutoring job. We had a fairly big hit to our income this past summer (DH didn't work for 6 weeks this summer.) Things are just tighter than normal. I'm not sure if it'll come to anything, and it looks like more hours than I'd like, but it seems useful just to start applying and thinking about things.

DH has started exploring a new side business opportunity. It is rather interesting to see him work on it; he'd talked about it for years, but when I started to apply for a job, he started setting up meetings about his business venture. (His employer offers business launching support so he's been going through them. They have been pretty positive and helpful.)

Emily

It is not sexy but worth it! Best wishes to you on the tutoring job and your dh on his venture.

_____________

Finished my orientation and will start Monday. I'll have a total of 4 days on my September check, will be comically small. Job doesn't seem too bad but I'm nervous. I still am hoping that I can find something that pays more and will continue searching. 

Went grocery shopping and made menu- stayed on budget. Dh bought ant killer (I don't know why were suddenly having an issue).

No hits on my items up for sale and I still have a couple of things to list. Dh has at least 1 thing up for sale. 

Dh sold something. A good little chunk of change that along with selling the car will get our car repair fund topped off again. The guy buying the car messaged again- seems he is serious. He's supposed to be here Saturday. 

So if all goes as planned we'll just have the health fund and home fund to get filled back up after this month. 

 

[mommyoffive]

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[Soror]

I got accepted to another job I applied for- again not good pay but it is very flexible so I can sign in when I have time. That leaves 1 application still out there but they put out a letter that they had more applicants than positions so I will not likely hear back from them. I have some intro stuff to read on the other job, which I'm hoping to do this weekend but with starting the other new job next week in addition to VIPKID I might not try to open slots until Oct 1 when I'm off of VIPKID. 

[mommyoffive]

4 hours ago, Soror said:

I got accepted to another job I applied for- again not good pay but it is very flexible so I can sign in when I have time. That leaves 1 application still out there but they put out a letter that they had more applicants than positions so I will not likely hear back from them. I have some intro stuff to read on the other job, which I'm hoping to do this weekend but with starting the other new job next week in addition to VIPKID I might not try to open slots until Oct 1 when I'm off of VIPKID. 

Yay, congrats on another job!   Are you off Vipkid in October for a vacation or is that the end of it?  What are the other companies you got hired with? 

[Soror]

10 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Yay, congrats on another job!   Are you off Vipkid in October for a vacation or is that the end of it?  What are the other companies you got hired with? 

The first week of October is national holiday for them so no classes. There are some rumors we won't go back after that but there were lots of rumors that it would be over after summer break too. No official word so who knows. I don't *think* it is the end yet but I'm not going to bet on that. 

I am hired at Cambly and Apple Pie English(South Korean) right now. Plan on working on training to do Cambly Kids this weekend. I started the process at Engoo (Japan) but haven't finished it. It doesn't pay well but is another I could fill in slots with until I hopefully find a better gig.

I did some reading at Cambly and think I'll open some priority slots this weekend. 

-------_----------

Dh got a check from the college- Covid money. That lessens the sting of the gas bill. That went towards the house repairs/maintenance fund- currently at 55% (with extra to cover for the HVAC part and supplies to finish the basement bathroom).

I got paid by VipKid- car fund is- 45.6%.

Edited September 23, 2021 by Soror

[hjffkj]

3 of my children changed their Halloween costume idea and I'm so thankful because it is super simple and cheap.  They all want to be glow stick men, so just some black clothes and a bunch of glow sticks.  It'll save tons from our Halloween budget. I think I'll take that money and sock it into savings since we haven't been putting much away into short term savings lately and I realized that recently.

[Soror]

Put an email to another company. Great pay but it is a start up and they are of course swamped with applications. It is a long shot but I got nothing to lose.  

90%-crowdtap Christmas goal- 

 

 

[EmilyGF]

10 hours ago, hjffkj said:

3 of my children changed their Halloween costume idea and I'm so thankful because it is super simple and cheap.  They all want to be glow stick men, so just some black clothes and a bunch of glow sticks.  It'll save tons from our Halloween budget. I think I'll take that money and sock it into savings since we haven't been putting much away into short term savings lately and I realized that recently.

DD5 loves dressing up as a turtle for fun by putting on a rounded green bike helmet on her back. Everyone instantly recognizes her as a turtle, so I assumed that was her Halloween plan. Nope, she told me she wants to be a rocket ship. I think I've talked her back into being the turtle. 

[hjffkj]

2 hours ago, EmilyGF said:

DD5 loves dressing up as a turtle for fun by putting on a rounded green bike helmet on her back. Everyone instantly recognizes her as a turtle, so I assumed that was her Halloween plan. Nope, she told me she wants to be a rocket ship. I think I've talked her back into being the turtle. 

Kids are so odd sometimes

[hjffkj]

Well September just got a lot more expensive!! I got my hands on a PlayStation 5 at retail price. It'll be dh's Christmas gift, which is by far the most I've ever spent on a single gift. But he's worth it. We already had the money saved for it thankfully. We set it aside when he got his first promotion at his new job and we were caught up from the time he was part-time and we were paying for things with a credit card

[Soror]

13 hours ago, hjffkj said:

Well September just got a lot more expensive!! I got my hands on a PlayStation 5 at retail price. It'll be dh's Christmas gift, which is by far the most I've ever spent on a single gift. But he's worth it. We already had the money saved for it thankfully. We set it aside when he got his first promotion at his new job and we were caught up from the time he was part-time and we were paying for things with a credit card

You guys were very patient. Congrats on finally finding it.

___________________

So... after some thought I decided to not put all the extra funds(selling things, Covid pay out, etc) from this week to the home fund. We're going to do a few splurges. I think dh and I will go out and also take the younger girls to do something. I've been so focused on saving up that it is hard for me to switch modes but there needs to be some money set aside for some treats/fun things- here and there- thinking like $100 total. Dh is working his butt off and would like to be able to do some things. I have a hard time switching gears. But there will always thing that come up and always things we need to buy.

We need to have another pow wow and re-evaluate 1 yr into YNABing. When we get extra funds how much do we want to put to various goals- go over again to make sure we are on the same page for priority of goals. When there are extra funds- what % do we feel comfortable to putting towards extras/fun/treats? 

When I get a goal I can become a bit um obsessed. It is good and bad. Throw into that the uncertainty with my job and then the unplanned car purchase it has had me more stressed out than I should be with where we are at financially.