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Archive for August, 2015

New Motivation and an Awesome Deal

August 26th, 2015 at 04:24 pm

I think I've finally found something to curb the eating out. I have a really bad tendency to treat myself to dinner/lunch when I'm stressed/pressed for time/annoyed at life. While each meal is often under $10 or even $5, this easily adds up. Lately, I've been asking myself if I want the meal or a life with DF. With everything we have coming up, we really need to jumpstart our savings and curb our spending. While I've only employed this technique a few times, it has stopped me from getting food. Yesterday, I even turned around from Five Guys and made a grilled cheese. Yummy and considerably healthier!

In the opposite direction, we did spend $15 on a Groupon. It's normally $25 for $50 at Brookstone. I had a $10 off $25 or more offer, so $15 for $50 seemed like a steal for us. We're going to use it to most likely replace our showerhead and get a wireless speaker for DF to listen to music in the shower.

In other news, I also paid off our couch, made a $400 payment to one of our CCs, and am hoping to make another $150 payment to my Chase card.

Meeting the second job's family

August 20th, 2015 at 04:29 pm

The woman looking for a mother's helper got back to me last night. I'm meeting with her Monday. Her daughter is 13, and I'd just need to make sure she's up at 7 and at school by 815. Provided her daughter is one of those obedient, easygoing teenagers, the job will be a breeze. I've discussed this with DF as it means he'll have to take morning dog duty and he's not a morning person. He's concerned about the extra stress it may put on me, but he understands we could use the money and is willing to give it a shot. Fingers crossed it works out!

Saving (my mom) money, possible side job, and contest help

August 19th, 2015 at 09:55 pm

My mom's AC broke last week. She definitely doesn't have the money to fix it, but my brother suggested she could get a window unit since it gets hot here in August/September. Before she asked me for money for one, I went on freecycle and posted for it. Lucky enough, someone had it! It actually was a woman I'd gotten a shoe rack from before. My mom is really grateful for the cooler air at no cost.

I also reached out to a woman who posted on Facebook for a mother's helper. The pay would be $100/week for morning drop-offs. DF and I could definitely use the money, so hopefully this pans out.

The last bit of news is a request for help. DF and I entered a contest for our apartment company. Our entry is less focused on why we love our home and more focused on us, but I'm hoping we can get one of the vote prizes ($500). If you read this and have a minute or two, we'd appreciate your vote (bonus - you'd get a much more personal look at us). The contest is here:

Text is http://www.equityapartments.com/contest/contest.html and Link is
http://www.equityapartments.com/contest/contest.html. You can actually vote once in each of the various browsers on a device, but we'd appreciate even the one vote!! Our entry will most likely be on one of the first three pages and is titled DJ - Fairchase. The video screenshot is pictures of us playing pool on a green background.

Saving (my mom) money, possible side job, and contest help

August 19th, 2015 at 09:45 pm

My mom's AC broke last week. She most definitely does not have the money to fix it. My brothers are fine suffering, but it definitely gets hot in August here. My brother had suggested that maybe she could get a window unit as a temporary fix. I posted on freecycle asking for one, and as luck has it, someone did! It actually turned out to be a woman I'd gotten a shoe rack from before. The unit works well and my mom is grateful for the cooler air without having to spend money.

I also reached out to a woman who posted for a mother's helper to get her daughter to school in the mornings. Pay would be $100/week which DF and I could definitely use as savings to our wedding.

The last bit is my own plea for help from this community. DF and I entered a contest held by our apartment company. Our video focuses more on our story with some bits about why we love our apartment community, but the top 5 vote-getters win a $500 prize. If you read this and have a minute or two, we'd really appreciate the help (plus, you'd get to see a more personal side of us)! The contest is here:

Text is http://www.equityapartments.com/contest/contest.html and Link is
http://www.equityapartments.com/contest/contest.html. Our entry will most likely be on the first three pages. It's called DJ - Fairchase. The screenshot is us playing pool on a green background. You can vote once in each of the various browsers on a device, but I'd appreciate even the one vote!

Upcoming payoffs

August 17th, 2015 at 05:46 pm

First off, venue is booked! DF's next paycheck will be put aside to pay off this amount on the new CC.

We are using the paycheck he just got to buff up our account (1000) and pay off the couch (650) as well as make some payments to our joint card.

Next month, I'm hoping to pay off the remainder of my 401k loan (~610). That will put an extra ~250/month into my account to put towards debt payoffs.

Sick Puppy and Booking the Venue

August 14th, 2015 at 01:08 pm

Poor DD1 ended up sick after our camping weekend. All this week, he's had terrible diarrhea and then yesterday, he threw up. He's more than potty trained, so it's been a really tough week having to continually clean up after his accidents in the apartment. (For a day or two, we actually unnecessarily punished DD2 thinking she was the culprit...) Yesterday, we took him to the vet. Since then, he hasn't gone at all which is also a bit concerning. They gave him fluids, two meds, and two antibiotics to the tune of almost 300 bucks. Ouch.

We got a new joint credit card (the Marriott one) since it has 80000 bonus points and we have a lot of spending coming up. Since this card has no 0% interest period and it's DF's first credit card (he's an authorized user to help build his credit), we have to be very mindful of how we use this one. It will be for wedding/joint expenses only and can only be used for things that we already have money in the bank for. I plan to put our venue deposit on this card shortly, so we will officially have our date and location (Sedona, AZ). Can't wait to marry that wonderful man!!

July Spending

August 12th, 2015 at 04:55 pm

*Budgeted numbers in parentheses

My Account
Capital One Savings: 25 (30)
Netflix: 7.99 (9)
Insurance: 83.71 (83)
Navient Loans: 45.51 (45)
ACS Loan: 169.70 (170)
Phone: 149.25 (170)
Wells Fargo: 50 (50)
Target: 0 (0)
Food/Gas: 187.75 (90)
Misc: 0 (50)
Mariner: 100 (100)
Chase Freedom CC: 825 (653)
Chase Slate CC: 25 (25)
NFL Points CC: 60 (60)
Clothing: 235.87 (0)
Pets: 2 (0)
Entertainment: 497.84 (0)
Apartment*: 1400 (1400)


Our Account:
Rent: 1600.09 (1600)
Electric: 85.54 (140)
Gas: 0 (60)
Verizon: 93.15 (95)
Groceries: 321.55 (300)
Entertainment 85.40 (75)
Misc: 10 (450)
Couch: 50 (50)
Pets: 446.73 (400)

My account was just terrible, but our account was probably the closest I've ever come to being accurate in most categories. I'd hoped to pay myself a good amount back under Miscellaneous, but that didn't work out. DF has been doing really well though, so I should see at least a couple hundred this month. The entertainment category on my account was mostly the Florida trip and one set of exercise DVDs.

Relationship at Risk

August 3rd, 2015 at 12:46 pm

I'm a little bummed. My mom and I's relationship may be permanently fractured, and it's upsetting. She ended up in a situation where she needed money, yet again. While this time seems legit, I've learned that loaning her money means I have to give it to her with no expectation of getting it back. Unfortunately, this time, I need the money back as DF and I are mostly financing our own wedding. I told her I'd give it to her, but she had to sign a promissory note. She got really offended, made a comment about how we never signed one when she raised us, and told me not to worry about it.

A part of me is relieved because I'm not entirely sure we'd have ever seen that money again, but another part of me is seriously worried about the effect this will have on our relationship. I truly love my mom, and if I had all the money in the world, I'd give it to her in a heartbeat even knowing how bad she is with money. But the reality is that DF and I are about to start a life together and since I never, ever want to put my children in the position my mom has put me in time and again, I need to take care of myself first. It's a really hard realization, but I'm finally getting it.

In other news, I just realized that I'm older than I thought. I kept thinking I was turning 28 this year, but I actually turn 29. This news was super depressing as there's no way I can pay off all my debt by 30. If I focus, and I mean FOCUS!, then I could potentially have all consumer debt paid off including the wedding, so that will be my new goal.