~~~~~~~~~~~~ June 2023 Frugalistas ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[mommyoffive]

I know some people like to get going early on these threads as they think and plan for the month ahead!

Summer is here, any fun plans?  

Halfway through the year, how are you doing on the goals?

Any plans or things you need to do this month?

[Brittany1116]

Still looking for a new (used) car to replace our totaled one. Trying not to go too far above the settlement. That is a big focus right now. 

We are also doing more cash purchasing because it does help us not overspend in certain categories. 

Edited May 30, 2023 by Brittany1116

[Soror]

Fun plans:

some little mini vaca family/couple-- haven't figured out any details yet

I'd love to take dd's (at least 2 and 3) to Universal Studios this fall for dd3's 11 th bday to visit Harry Potter World. Not sure if I can make that work in the schedule or budget.

Goals- 

done: Paid off heloc; Shop fund- will be done with my June check;

In progress- college savings; retirement; 

Will resume in July- adding to sinking funds; 25th-anniversary vaca (next year); increasing retirement

We've been throwing everything at the shop fund as we knew once dh finished the semester in May we would be resuming work on it and we wanted the funds ready. 

This month we will be working more on the shop. I expect that will take all summer with our pace and the fact that we don't want to push ourselves as hard as we did last year. 

Each month has been a little looser since Aprilish although it is still tighter than I would like with pushing so hard to finish the shop fund. I'll be glad to have that done. As it is with any building project you try to account for everything but stuff gets missed or a million other things. I budgeted 33% more than dh thought we needed. 

[prairiewindmomma]

In May we’ve been able to do our Canada trip, mulch for the landscaping ($400), dh’s new office chair ($300), blackout shades for the office and primary bedroom ($400), and wall shelves and baskets for the dining room/schoolroom ($100).
 

We’re back to saving again for June. We are hoping for no spending outside of the basics plus a little extra for gas money for June and July. We are still sorting out what we want to do for our primary closet remodel and we have bumped redoing our stairs (carpet to wood) to later in the year. It looks like cabinets for the laundry room are going to be pushed to next year, even though I have been trying to get that done for five years. It’s just not a high enough priority.

The little bit of extra for gas money will cover trips to the beach and a few local hiking adventures. Our trade off for crazy high living expenses is that we live in a vacation destination place so it’s easy to stay local for summer fun.

[mommyoffive]

$1500 at the dentist today all covered by insurance.  Yesterday was $400 again all covered.  I even had a credit.  Wahoooooooooooooooooo.

3 more apts to go.

Did some dance shopping for intensives. All on gift cards.  So $0 out of pocket.

 

 

[JustEm]

June is going to be as close to no spend for non-essentials as we can get it because May was so out of control. The only exception to that is if January 2024 flights get released. Then we'll be booking flights and our Airbnb for Puerto Rico 

[mommyoffive]

Spent 29.64 on gas to day.  3.11 a gallon

Haven't done a real grocery shopping trip this week so saved $ just eating out of pantry.

2 of my kids are attending an intensive that this year required a physical after Jan 1st.  Well my kids had gone in late August.  So we made an appointment and went there yesterday.   TODAY we get a email from the intensive that says that they will take a doctor's note saying that the kid is in good health. ARGHH.  So I wasted 3 hours, the miles, and gosh knows how much money taking them there.  I am so upset.  I did get 12 boxes of covid tests, but dang it.  This stuff frustrates me so much.

Regular dance year is ending tomorrow!!  Intensives start soon after. 

We are putting our old dog down next week.  I think we are getting the ashes and higher the bells and whistles.  

DS was offered yet another scholarship for an intensive. This place doesn't offer any scholarships to kids, he was told by the director.  I am pushing for him to go this one, even though we didn't plan on the travel for this one. For a variety of reasons, I think it is a good idea.  He is also being offered a possible job(s) in dance. 

ODD is going to go for new pointe shoes for summer next week.  $$$$

 

[prairiewindmomma]

Wow! Gas is so cheap for you! $4.40-4.50 at the local stations here, a bit less at Costco.

[mommyoffive]

Saved a few thousand dollars now because school funds will pick it up closer to the year.  

[Condessa]

We finally heard back on our taxes from the accountant.  More of a refund than we thought, and the kids still qualify for the secondary state insurance through this year, so time to plan ahead and save up before we have to pay that deductible!  Dh’s work is going very well, so we should be able to do that.

We have the plan for the yard irrigation and have ordered the supplies for the front half.  We will be putting them in ourselves, so wish us luck!

The car had some issues and needed the struts, brakes, and rotors replaced.  That took about $2500.

 I made my own laundry detergent and dishwasher soap.  It was really easy.  I think probably my clothes and definitely my dishes are coming out looking cleaner than they did before.  I have the mixes in quart jars, but I found some half-gallon jars for a good price so next time I will make double batches.

 I have been working on a comprehensive emergency preparedness plan for my family.  The plan includes a short-term emergency/evacuation kit, complete 3-month food storage we rotate through constantly, and a 1-year supply of long term bulk food storage items.  It would cost a ton to do everything all at once, but I figure if every month I get a few items from my plan that I can find for a good price at that time, I will get there eventually.  This month I got a first aid kit, canning jars, 5 gallon mylar bags for bulk food storage, an extra gallon of cooking oil, extra bottles of Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce, and 6 lbs of yeast.

Strawberries are $0.98 a pound at Winco right now.  

Edited June 3, 2023 by Condessa

[Condessa]

I just learned that our friends are selling their shaved ice trailer now that their youngest is going off to college.  Their kids all worked summers selling shaved ice to pay for their educations.  I keep wondering if we could somehow come up with the funds to buy it.  I don’t know just how much it would be, maybe 20k?  I don’t know how that would be possible.  But I would love for my kids to be able to do that.

[mommyoffive]

1 hour ago, Condessa said:

I just learned that our friends are selling their shaved ice trailer now that their youngest is going off to college.  Their kids all worked summers selling shaved ice to pay for their educations.  I keep wondering if we could somehow come up with the funds to buy it.  I don’t know just how much it would be, maybe 20k?  I don’t know how that would be possible.  But I would love for my kids to be able to do that.

I thought of doing that years ago.   There is a tourist destination close to us that I thought would be perfect for it in the summer. 

[mommyoffive]

Dh was paid out bonus.  I always forget about it.  Nice surprise today.

[prairiewindmomma]

2 hours ago, Condessa said:

I just learned that our friends are selling their shaved ice trailer now that their youngest is going off to college.  Their kids all worked summers selling shaved ice to pay for their educations.  I keep wondering if we could somehow come up with the funds to buy it.  I don’t know just how much it would be, maybe 20k?  I don’t know how that would be possible.  But I would love for my kids to be able to do that.

There are websites for buying used food trucks. You might find good pricing info there in comparing sizes and features.

[mommyoffive]

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[JustEm]

We will potentially have someone moving into our spare room in August, which will mean them and my parents' rent will cover our mortgage!

[mommyoffive]

5 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

We will potentially have someone moving into our spare room in August, which will mean them and my parents' rent will cover our mortgage!

OH wow.  I hope it works out.  Is it someone you know?  Mortgage free would be awesome.  Do you have any plans if that happens?

[JustEm]

4 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

OH wow.  I hope it works out.  Is it someone you know?  Mortgage free would be awesome.  Do you have any plans if that happens?

Yes, we know him pretty well. It is my sister's-in-law (who lives across the street) cousin. He is one of the professional dancers at the company associated with the dance school, so we see him plenty there but he also comes to Sunday dinner every week at our house. So, I randomly joked that we had a room for him when he was complaining about rental costs. Then he told us today his rent was going up by $200 so I seriously offered him the room.

[historically accurate]

I've been bleeding money over here. Lots of doctor appointments and traveling for said appointments. 

However, on the frugal side, last weekend since it was a 3 day weekend, I freezer cooked. I ended up with breakfasts, snacks, and 26 dinners! I shared some with my next door neighbors as she is in bad health. This weekend I filled in the holes with a couple more meals. 

Paid for online classes for the kiddos but since I waited til the end of the "early registration" they were both waitlisted for foreign language - ugh. And they still have my money, which I think is a ripoff since I don't know if they will get the class, but I have no money to see if other places have openings. 

 

[JustEm]

As well as plans if that happens. We'll probably just divert that money to some future savings goals. Maybe a replacement car because both of ours our older so when one does die for good in a few years I'd love to pay cash for a new one

[prairiewindmomma]

Great job stashing the freezer, historically!

[prairiewindmomma]

I have been diversifying my grocery shopping more, trying to catch more sales. Meat prices at Costco have finally gone down for chicken so I stocked quite a bit and am back to a full freezer!  It had started to become pretty bare, so I am very relieved to be able to fill it again.

Does anyone else repair a lot of clothing? I have always done a bit, but I am starting to learn more about knit repair. I finally bought a darning mushroom and a knit pick and some nice Japanese wool thread so that I can do some repairs. A lot of the wool socks I have been wearing for five years year-round are due for some reinforcement and repair. I also have a couple of sweaters to work on. I am really grateful for YouTube—I have been watching scotch darning and Swiss darning videos this weekend.

I caught an Amazon sale on the particular n95 mask ds wears. Amazon is the seller, but the algorithm followed a weird dip by a third party seller and I ended up getting ds’s masks for $15/box instead of the usual $30-32ish. There was a limit of 5 boxes, but I had planned to restock this week and was happy to save $75. Keeping everyone in n95s or kf94s for the past three years has been pricey—-but both times someone in our family has caught COVID it’s been because someone was unmasked to eat. I really believe masks work, so we continue to shell out money for them. I am really looking forward to summer break so we can get a couple of months off from buying so many masks!! 

[JustEm]

Had a small pet sitting job this weekend. I'll put that money into my personal savings to go towards gardening stuff if I want more in a few months.  

Dh and I are going over the June budget tonight since we've been too busy to do it prior.  I have to remind myself that money feels tight because we upped dh's 401k contribution because we're catching up on not being able to contribute anything for many years.  So, when it feels like we have no wiggle room it is because we're being aggressive about making sure we're covered in our old age.  

I think I'm officially done reselling.  I really do enjoy it but I get more joy out of dedicating that time to other hobbies and since the money isn't necessary I just think it is time to end that chapter.  I do want my hobbies to generate money though so I'm working on figuring that out

[mommyoffive]

8 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I have been diversifying my grocery shopping more, trying to catch more sales. Meat prices at Costco have finally gone down for chicken so I stocked quite a bit and am back to a full freezer!  It had started to become pretty bare, so I am very relieved to be able to fill it again.

Does anyone else repair a lot of clothing? I have always done a bit, but I am starting to learn more about knit repair. I finally bought a darning mushroom and a knit pick and some nice Japanese wool thread so that I can do some repairs. A lot of the wool socks I have been wearing for five years year-round are due for some reinforcement and repair. I also have a couple of sweaters to work on. I am really grateful for YouTube—I have been watching scotch darning and Swiss darning videos this weekend.

I caught an Amazon sale on the particular n95 mask ds wears. Amazon is the seller, but the algorithm followed a weird dip by a third party seller and I ended up getting ds’s masks for $15/box instead of the usual $30-32ish. There was a limit of 5 boxes, but I had planned to restock this week and was happy to save $75. Keeping everyone in n95s or kf94s for the past three years has been pricey—-but both times someone in our family has caught COVID it’s been because someone was unmasked to eat. I really believe masks work, so we continue to shell out money for them. I am really looking forward to summer break so we can get a couple of months off from buying so many masks!! 

Are you guys masking everywhere?  We had been until this April.  Of course about a month after not making my kids mask at dance they all got sick.  Just a cold as we had to test for covid each time one of them got sick.  But still it made the rounds in our house to everyone. Even my 2 older kids who masked anytime they were not in their rooms and ate away from the sick kids got it.  We are still going to be wearing them in certain places.  I am looking into nasal spray or sanitizer. 

[mommyoffive]

15 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

Had a small pet sitting job this weekend. I'll put that money into my personal savings to go towards gardening stuff if I want more in a few months.  

Dh and I are going over the June budget tonight since we've been too busy to do it prior.  I have to remind myself that money feels tight because we upped dh's 401k contribution because we're catching up on not being able to contribute anything for many years.  So, when it feels like we have no wiggle room it is because we're being aggressive about making sure we're covered in our old age.  

I think I'm officially done reselling.  I really do enjoy it but I get more joy out of dedicating that time to other hobbies and since the money isn't necessary I just think it is time to end that chapter.  I do want my hobbies to generate money though so I'm working on figuring that out

Oh wow.  That is great that you are in the situation that you don't need it.  Especially if you get that renter.  An easy enough thing to pick back up if you ever need it again.

[prairiewindmomma]

13 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Are you guys masking everywhere?  We had been until this April.  

We are still masking in indoor situations or very crowded outdoor ones. I am still (and will always be) medically high risk. 
 

We had a kid get covid a few weeks ago. They unmask for lunch and sat next to a friend who had been out sick from school but was feeling better. Thankfully there was no household spread for us. My kid still is dealing with issues from being sick, so 😔.

 

[mommyoffive]

10 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

We are still masking in indoor situations or very crowded outdoor ones. I am still (and will always be) medically high risk. 
 

We had a kid get covid a few weeks ago. They unmask for lunch and sat next to a friend who had been out sick from school but was feeling better. Thankfully there was no household spread for us. My kid still is dealing with issues from being sick, so 😔.

 

Oh I am sorry your kid got covid.  I hope the issues get better.  We spent last week doing dental and doctor visits and nobody had a mask on.  The dentist and hygienist put one on when they did the exam but that was it.  We masked both places.  I was surprised.  If those were my jobs I would be masking 100% there even if I didn't mask anywhere else.

[prairiewindmomma]

Our state dropped required medical masking on April 3. Rheumatology, hematology, and a few other specialties I go to in our hospital system are still requiring masking, but it’s been dropped nearly everywhere else. I book out the entire dentist’s office (there are six of us, so I can fill all of the chairs) and I pick appointments for first thing in the morning to limit my risk. Our orthodontist still runs air scrubbers and I am down to one in braces.

 

[Brittany1116]

We found a car under budget! 10 years newer and 33k miles fewer than what was lost. So happy to have that done. 

We also really wanted a used mini fridge for the garage for our kids and neighbor kids. We happened to mention it to someone who had the EXACT ONE I wanted and they offered it for $20. Sold! My budget was 50. Sooo happy. God is good. 

[Shoeless]

Found a copy of The Lively Art of Writing, Perrine's Literature, a recent  astronomy textbook, and Brave New World for 7.50 total at Goodwill. 

I feel like, if I bide my time, I will eventually find every other book on my list. 

Edited June 6, 2023 by Shoeless

[Brittany1116]

Now that I have the car and mini fridge off my mental list, I need to register one kid for fall sports, and I need to pay our dues for a co-op we are joining. I also realized I need to buy 3, maybe 4, more books for the upcoming year.

I need to decide on a dumb phone and plan for the kids, and I am putting money away for a Ninja Creami for my husband. 

Later this year, we need to do significant work on a fence, and our 3 year plan is a new roof. Trying to fund all the buckets. 

[Shoeless]

Hit a bunch of markdowns at the grocery: 2 lbs of Wagyu beef, 3 gallons of organic milk, 6 blueberry bagels, 2 bananas, a bottle of hot sauce, and a bag of carrots for $22. Normal price would have been $45.

The thrift store was kind, too. Classic lit paperbacks were 50 cents each, (which is really the only price point that could convince me to buy Moby Dick), molecular model kit for $6, Usborne Physics reference for $1.50, and copies of the Illustrated Guides to Home Biology, Chemistry, and Forensic Science in the free box.   

Found the QSL Earth Science kit I wanted for 50% off on ebay, including shipping/tax. 

I also picked up two pairs of fancy Lucchese and M.L. Leddy cowboy boots to flip. I already sold one pair, which covers the QSL kit. When I sell the other pair, it will cover all the books I've bought for next year's homeschooling. 

Everyone told me that high school would be expensive, but this is ending up the cheapest year yet! 🤣

Edited June 8, 2023 by Shoeless

[HomeAgain]

Jumping in this month....

Last night's dinner was a hit, and it was all made using leftovers and what we had in the house: curried lentils with coconut milk, kale, and roasted root vegetables over rice.  I did the math, and it worked out to approximately $2/serving, when all said and done.  Plus it was pretty filling.

I scored at the thrift store.  For $25, I walked away with two brand new pairs of shorts for ds, several French books, and a few of the novels he needed for summer reading.

Our goal for this month is to keep most expenses low.  DS needed just about everything new for summer camp next month, which took a huge bite out of the budget.  One we had prepared for, but it's still sickening to pay that much at once.  The kid working with us at the store must have thought it was his lucky day, though.

We have one more big purchase coming up this summer: a new dehumidifier for the house.  Ours is pretty old, and it's on its last leg.  It may make it one more summer but we don't want to have to count on that.

[historically accurate]

I hit the thrift stores yesterday as well. I needed jeans as we can wear them for the summer at work since we have a lot of programs outside this year. I owned 1 pair that fit and 1 pair that slid down my hips every time I walked. I walked out with 3 pairs of pants and 1 pair of capris, which still had the tag, and a brand new Cuisinart knife set. Middle DD bought a purse and a dress. All in - $50. 

My mother is going to buy roller skates for kiddo doing derby, so yay! I can use the money I have set aside for those for something else.

[mommyoffive]

@Brittany1116 Congratulations on the new car!  I am glad that is finally settled. 

@Shoeless  Great scores at the thrift store.  That is awesome you are finding so much school stuff. 

@HomeAgain Is your ds going to a camp for hockey?  It does hurt to spend all that money at once.

@historically accurate More thrift store scores awesome!  Oh wow your have roller derby by you?  How neat. 

[mommyoffive]

Spending so far this week

We put our older dog down on Monday.  

Grocery order yesterday.

More ballet intensive ordering was done 2 days ago.

New pointe shoe shopping tomorrow which will be $$$. 

Got a dentist and some ortho apts done this week too. 

[Brittany1116]

53 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Spending so far this week

We put our older dog down on Monday.  

Grocery order yesterday.

More ballet intensive ordering was done 2 days ago.

New pointe shoe shopping tomorrow which will be $$$. 

Got a dentist and some ortho apts done this week too. 

Sorry to hear about your dog. 

[HomeAgain]

56 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

 

@HomeAgain Is your ds going to a camp for hockey?  It does hurt to spend all that money at once.

He is. Otherwise we would have held off, but his things were really too small except for his shorts.  Hopefully this will last until Christmas. 

 

[mommyoffive]

7 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

He is. Otherwise we would have held off, but his things were really too small except for his shorts.  Hopefully this will last until Christmas. 

 

Darn these growing teenagers!!  It is so expensive because they grow out of everything so fast.

[JustEm]

Welp, dh is going back to college to get his degree. It is something he first mentioned in the fall and it got put on the back burner while he got used to his new role at work. I've been researching extensively on how to do it as fast as possible while working full-time but still having a life and I think we've come up with a good game plan.  His job will pay for $7500 of the education per year, so we'll be plotting out how many courses that is per year and then spread that out over the whole year so he isn't forced to take too many courses at the same time.  Gen Ed courses will be coming from a site called Sophia or testing out with CLEP so he can knock those out fast.  It won't be entirely free for us since those two avenues cost money but it should be pretty cheap.

[mommyoffive]

Just now, hjffkj said:

Welp, dh is going back to college to get his degree. It is something he first mentioned in the fall and it got put on the back burner while he got used to his new role at work. I've been researching extensively on how to do it as fast as possible while working full-time but still having a life and I think we've come up with a good game plan.  His job will pay for $7500 of the education per year, so we'll be plotting out how many courses that is per year and then spread that out over the whole year so he isn't forced to take too many courses at the same time.  Gen Ed courses will be coming from a site called Sophia or testing out with CLEP so he can knock those out fast.  It won't be entirely free for us since those two avenues cost money but it should be pretty cheap.

Smart move.  Is he getting his bachelors or masters?  What degree is he getting?  That is an awesome benefit.

[JustEm]

Just now, mommyoffive said:

Smart move.  Is he getting his bachelors or masters?  What degree is he getting?  That is an awesome benefit.

Bachelors and will then likely go on for his masters.  It'll be a business degree.  I think in Human Resources Management/Organizational Management. Mainly because his current position, which he really likes, is in human resources and I can't imagine him wanting to stray far from what he's doing.  Just going up in the same area of work. But he is going to finalize what type of business degree tonight.

[Condessa]

I recently heard about azure standard for the first time, and just got an order from them.  I was able to get some items from them for cheaper than I can buy them locally.  The wheat and corn I bought are even organic for cheaper than I can get non-organic locally.  

[Soror]

55 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

Welp, dh is going back to college to get his degree. It is something he first mentioned in the fall and it got put on the back burner while he got used to his new role at work. I've been researching extensively on how to do it as fast as possible while working full-time but still having a life and I think we've come up with a good game plan.  His job will pay for $7500 of the education per year, so we'll be plotting out how many courses that is per year and then spread that out over the whole year so he isn't forced to take too many courses at the same time.  Gen Ed courses will be coming from a site called Sophia or testing out with CLEP so he can knock those out fast.  It won't be entirely free for us since those two avenues cost money but it should be pretty cheap.

Best wishes to your dh and you!

I know locally you can actually get a business degrees (bachelor and master's) at the CC through a 4- yr college. Lots of people go that route. It seems to be pretty economical and less time intensive. So much depends on what's available to you. Dh would have liked to have done the same but it wasn't an option for his degree. He did do what he could through the CC which did save a lot. Most of the time he's done 3/4 time (9 hrs)., then 12 hrs one semester and 14 another. The FT semesters were too much but that's the way things fell and it couldn't be helped. He will just have 5 classes left after he finishes his internship this summer. He's ready to be done. It's very good you are researching. Dh found that I'd he dishes would have ended up taking a lot of classes he didn't need/wouldn't transfer or he would have taken even longer as the sequence is made for those doing FT and classes would only be offered every 2 yrs. 

[JustEm]

@Soror how long has he been going for his degree? I'm not sure what a realistic timeline is for dh, there are so many factors. He does work 40 hour but his job is so stress free and he used to work a very stressful 50-60 hours/week job that he may be able to push himself quite a bit if he chooses.  The current plan is to knock roughly 60- 80 hours worth of credits out over the next few months using the many test out and online pass/fail options available. Then he'll stagger more difficult courses with easier ones and just go at a pace comfortable for him and that keeps us within his employers tuition voucher amount per year

 

[Condessa]

And I finally got around to fixing the one damaged chair that came with our dining set.  I am very pleased with the result.

[Soror]

1 hour ago, hjffkj said:

@Soror how long has he been going for his degree? I'm not sure what a realistic timeline is for dh, there are so many factors. He does work 40 hour but his job is so stress free and he used to work a very stressful 50-60 hours/week job that he may be able to push himself quite a bit if he chooses.  The current plan is to knock roughly 60- 80 hours worth of credits out over the next few months using the many test out and online pass/fail options available. Then he'll stagger more difficult courses with easier ones and just go at a pace comfortable for him and that keeps us within his employers tuition voucher amount per year

 

Yes, there a lot of factors. A compounding factor here is that dh has to commute 3 hrs round trip for his classes at this point. He ran out of online and local classes he could take to transfer. Thankfully his boss is flexible with when he works so that is ok but it adds more time and stress. If course it also gets harder as he gets in the upper level classes. 

He's been at it 5 yrs and has 1 more to go. He had one class/3 hrs to start. Bachelor degrees typically have 120 hrs. He had a few waived/alternative requirements accepted but only a few. He wasn't comfortable trying to just test out of classes with as long as it had been- he started back at 42. His college only allows 30 hrs at most anyway. 

[JustEm]

1 hour ago, Soror said:

Yes, there a lot of factors. A compounding factor here is that dh has to commute 3 hrs round trip for his classes at this point. He ran out of online and local classes he could take to transfer. Thankfully his boss is flexible with when he works so that is ok but it adds more time and stress. If course it also gets harder as he gets in the upper level classes. 

He's been at it 5 yrs and has 1 more to go. He had one class/3 hrs to start. Bachelor degrees typically have 120 hrs. He had a few waived/alternative requirements accepted but only a few. He wasn't comfortable trying to just test out of classes with as long as it had been- he started back at 42. His college only allows 30 hrs at most anyway. 

Gotcha, dh turns 41 in a month and testing out is the only way we see it making sense for sanities sake. But he's sort of in the position where at least the Bachelor's degree is just a check mark for HR. His current role technically requires a degree but he got it with no problem because of his work experience. In theory, he may need the degree to keep moving up but who knows. He just figured he'd like to get it before that becomes a real concern.

 

3 hrs round trip is dedication. What will his degree be once he's done?

 

Edited June 8, 2023 by hjffkj

[Soror]

41 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

Gotcha, dh turns 41 in a month and testing out is the only way we see it making sense for sanities sake. But he's sort of in the position where at least the Bachelor's degree is just a check mark for HR. His current role technically requires a degree but he got it with no problem because of his work experience. In theory, he may need the degree to keep moving up but who knows. He just figured he'd like to get it before that becomes a real concern.

 

3 hrs round trip is dedication. What will his degree be once he's done?

 

Dh's degree will be engineering technology I think - something like that. Dh don't need it to do his job but to be an official engineer and get the pay bump he has to have it. Right now he's an engineering technician. There is no 4 yr degree anything close to engineering locally so it's the only option. This is the closest college he can go to. It's been a slog but he's so close now. Fall will be 3 classes and spring just 2.

I'm surprised he can test out of so many hours. That will certainly help. 

Edited June 8, 2023 by Soror

[mommyoffive]

Saving a bit of money signing some of the kids up for a much cheaper camp than I was looking at.