moneysquirrel
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Post by moneysquirrel on Jan 5, 2013 22:21:36 GMT -5
Update; 1 NSD and 4 CSDsGuess I hit enter by mistake and now I have to edit. Welcome to all our returning members and to the newbies as well. If you have a question one of us will try to answer. Some of us are beginning our fifth year on this thread. I am not on the board as often as some of the others but I do pop in at least once a week or so. I return to school on Monday. It has been really nice not having to leave the house before 7 each morning. I have managed this week to get some much needed shopping done. All of my purchases were on the list of needed items so I am counting them as CS days. I did find one of the two required cocktail dresses needed for some upcoming social events. I had no need for such items the last few years so I am starting from the beginning again. It is so hard finding something that I consider age appropriate, decent and not frumpy. I do have a lead on a second dress and will see if it fits tomorrow. If so then I will have the dresses then on to the other items. At least I have about six weeks to find everything needed. Also I am so happy that the stores are currently filled with gowns and party dresses due to the upcoming Mardi Gras seasons and activities. Returning to school on Monday should show an increase in my NS totals. I am usually so tired at the end of the school day that I have no desire to see the inside of any store. Usually I come home and crash. I took down the Christmas tree today. I still have some other items out that will be picked up this week. I never pick up the nativity scenes until after the 6th. So I have all of them to pack up later in the week. The house always seem so empty once all the Christmas items are put away. I don't have as much Mardi Gras items but I will have a small table display for it in a few weeks. I also have been going through a lot of items and have quite a few items in the donation box and I still have several other areas to review. I may not be able to get to them in the near furure but everything I can get done is progress. I also have tried my hand at a few new beading projects. I should be able to finish up the current one tomorrow. I am beginning to have trouble seeing all those little beads this late at night, especially since I just spend several hours working with small seed beads. Many of them were the clear ones that are almost impossible to see on a good day. Wishing all of you a good night and will try to check in soon.
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Honeylioness
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Post by Honeylioness on Jan 6, 2013 17:01:28 GMT -5
Congratulations to Muttley and family on the arrival of their daughter who was born this morning around 11:30 am
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redruby
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Post by redruby on Jan 6, 2013 20:34:07 GMT -5
Six days in I have 4 NSF, 6 no cc and I am still on budget in all areas.
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sheilaincali
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Post by sheilaincali on Jan 7, 2013 10:11:57 GMT -5
Days on budget: 6/20
Didn't do anything on Friday after work. Saturday DH and I ran a few errands and got groceries (within budget). Saturday afternoon my dad called to offer the Boys 3rd row seats to the Timberwolves Game. Dad is friends with one of the owners and he gave Dad his tickets and my mom didn't want to go so Dad offered them up to us. The Boys had a blast. Amazing seats. It's basically - the players, the family, then DH and DS. Fancy Pants seats. But they were free so they only paid for parking and the dinner they had before the game. I was invited out to the movies with a friend. We saw Les Miz. It was good I guess. I have the movie tastes similar to that of a 14 year old boy. I tend to prefer car chases and aliens to opera but it was still a good movie.
Sunday- pretty mellow. Did housework and stayed out of trouble.
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Rocky Mtn Saver
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Post by Rocky Mtn Saver on Jan 7, 2013 10:31:55 GMT -5
We also saw Les Mis this weekend. Although most of my girlfriends adore the musical, I've been avoiding it for many years because I knew it would just be so sad! It was. I also prefer 'guy movies', but I really liked Les Mis. I wept at least 4 times. ;D Anne Hathaway killed it, particularly.
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sheilaincali
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Post by sheilaincali on Jan 7, 2013 11:00:48 GMT -5
Rocky- agree with Anne Hathaway. I must be cold hearted because I didn't shed a single tear but I noticed that those around me (including my friend) crying a few times.
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Jan 7, 2013 11:17:08 GMT -5
Update: 3NSD/2CSD/1Spend
Massage and CostCo shopping on Friday, no spending on Saturday or Sunday. Saturday we went over to a friends house for a game night and played Starship Artemis- essentially you're the bridge crew in Star Trek and you fly around space doing missions and fighting bad guys. It's a cooperative game. There are 6 stations (science, engineering, helm, weapons, communications, and captain), so it's a cooperative game. And, you can run more than one ship at once, so we had two games with 2 ships- 12 people. The only issue with the game is that you need enough devices for each station- computers/tablets etc, though Iphones and Ipod Touches can work for the Communications station. And the Captain doesn't need their own station, just to see the big main screen. Anyway, if you're a gamer geek (and I know many of you are) and you have a chance to play this game- DO IT. So much fun.
We've been talking about getting a convertible laptop and went to look at one last night at Staples. Sadly, it needed to have Windows reloaded, so we weren't really able to get a good idea of how it is to use. We both love the idea of only adding one more device, but the convertibles are expensive, so it might make more financial sense to get one really good laptop and a decent tablet. I'd really like to replace my desktop with a decent laptop. And then we could get rid of my desk and add more bookshelves to our room.
Honey: I am so glad that you have friends, family, former bosses and coworkers helping you out. A good support system is so critical. If you do get a chance to come to Seattle, let me know. I would love to meet up even just for a cup of coffee/tea.
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Rocky Mtn Saver
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Post by Rocky Mtn Saver on Jan 7, 2013 15:03:22 GMT -5
Well, my CSD/NSD's didn't improve over the long weekend. I had stuff to mail Friday, I hosted a girls' night in on Saturday, and I picked up the tab for breakfast on Sunday. Oh well, here's to a more frugal week! ;D
Rocky Mtn Saver: 1 CSD/1 NSD
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redwagon
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Post by redwagon on Jan 7, 2013 15:33:12 GMT -5
Went out on Saturday night to see the Hobbit and used a gift card we got for Christmas, so that was a nospend. FIL and Blue went to Costco last night to get FIL a new tv and FIL ended up buying us a huge box of diapers as well as formula. He's sneaky like that. Told Blue it was to keep at FIL's house but then insisted we take it all home with us. Much appreciated, for sure!!
Found out daycare only takes checks/cash, no CCs so I need to finagle our finances for the first month to do that. I'm signed up to pay half on the 1st and half on the 15th, so that should help spread out the pain. and I'm doing the dependent care FSA so we'll get some money back that way, but my paychecks will be much smaller. Basically I'm just hoping to survive through winter/spring without missing a bill payment somewhere...
congrats to Muttley and family!! So happy for her!
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Rocky Mtn Saver
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Post by Rocky Mtn Saver on Jan 7, 2013 15:44:14 GMT -5
Sadly, I think dependent care FSA's have to have the money already withheld before you can get a reimb check for it. It's the opposite with the medical expense FSA's. I guess it's to limit risk, but it's too bad with as much as day care costs people.
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redwagon
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Post by redwagon on Jan 7, 2013 15:57:07 GMT -5
i know, but we will eventually get that back.
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Honeylioness
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Post by Honeylioness on Jan 7, 2013 20:24:05 GMT -5
AARRRGGHHHHH ..... I got a phone call this afternoon. It seems I have landed a great Contractor opportunity that has a high probability of becoming permanent. It is for a guaranteed six month term AND I asked for, and got, 10% more per hour than I was making at my last job!!
It really does not seem real .................... This whole thing from first e-mail from a man I used to work with until today ... just under three weeks.
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moneysquirrel
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Post by moneysquirrel on Jan 7, 2013 23:00:51 GMT -5
Update:2 NSD and 5 CSDsHoney-- Great news. So glad that such good things have been happening to you in the last few weeks. Today was the first day back at school. Full schedule today -- no planning period but got the first four classes started on their new projects. The other eight will get their assignments over the next three days. I have a very unusual class schedule -- don't see my kids everyday so it takes several days to get through the meeting of all groups and reteaching concepts on a regular basis. Good thing about today is that I finally picked up another NS day. I also think that I got the dress dilemma solved. Now for the shoes, bag, wrap, and of course the gift for the happy couple. Glad I have been adding to both the clothing and gift categories in my budget. I should have enough to cover all of the items. Picked up most of the rest of the Christmas items today. Will do a walkthrough tomorrow to make sure that all of the items have been picked and packed up. I know of at least one item I have forgotten so far. Did get a small table display done for Mardi Gras. I will be avoiding King Cake for the next few weeks.
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Rocky Mtn Saver
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Post by Rocky Mtn Saver on Jan 7, 2013 23:12:21 GMT -5
Yay, Honey!!
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Rocky Mtn Saver
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Post by Rocky Mtn Saver on Jan 8, 2013 9:12:36 GMT -5
Finally got back on track yesterday.
Rocky Mtn Saver: 1 NSD/2CSD
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redwagon
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Post by redwagon on Jan 8, 2013 9:13:26 GMT -5
yay, Honey!!!
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sheilaincali
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Post by sheilaincali on Jan 8, 2013 10:38:54 GMT -5
Honey_ Super duper excited for you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yesterday knocked me out of budget. I wasn't planning on having to buy any new clothes this month but then DS goes an informs us that he has outgrown his dress shoes (again!). Since he has to be in professional business attire and on his feet from 6 am until 11 pm Thursday, Friday, Saturday and most of Sunday new shoes were a must. Plus he and DH got to looking at dress shirts and got him two new ones along with two new bow-ties. So he'll be styling but I'm not 100% amused by the unexpected expense. Oh well. I had some Kohl's cash and everything was on sale/clearance so it wasn't too terribly painful. Going to need to tweak my budget to include some money for clothes each much just in case. DS helpfully pointed out that his new gym shoes (that we just had to replace in October) are getting tight. Egads! Seriously kid stop growing for 5 minutes.
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Jan 8, 2013 11:06:42 GMT -5
Update: 3NSD/2CSD/2Spend
Yesterday C went back to class. For this first week, he will have to attend 3 different classes MWF, for the exact same subject, until he knows which one he will get into, since he is a non-matriculated student (attending this class at a different university than the one he is enrolled at). He got gas (which was planned on), paid for parking (which was more expensive than expected, but planned) and bought himself a subway sandwich for lunch (I don't know if he used his cash for that or not). Still, yesterday would have been a controlled spend day, because all of that was expected (including him buying lunch on his first day back- he never remembers to pack a lunch the first day). However, I got home last night and realized we had nothing out for dinner. And, it was our friend Jen's birthday. So we called her up and then took her out to dinner- making yesterday a spend.
Honey: So so so happy for you. And building a department from the ground up- that's exciting.
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WholeLottaNothin
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Post by WholeLottaNothin on Jan 8, 2013 14:27:26 GMT -5
Honey - YAY! Congrats!!
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Ombud
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Post by Ombud on Jan 8, 2013 20:37:05 GMT -5
Honeyliness that's fantastic!! So far the $150 week cash is working. Only had to go to the debit card 2x & put it right back when I got home (didn't want to be tempted by carrying cash but that part of it didn't work)
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Rocky Mtn Saver
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Post by Rocky Mtn Saver on Jan 9, 2013 10:12:09 GMT -5
Rocky Mtn Saver: 2 NSD/2CSD Today should be an NSD again. I brought lunch to work and I have an appt directly after work. So no excuses to spend money!
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Jan 9, 2013 11:10:00 GMT -5
Update: 3NSD/2CSD/3Spend
Yesterday should have been an NSD, but I noticed in the morning that I was taking the last Coke. With DH back in school and my week going the way it is, not having Coke until we did regular grocery shopping again was not an option. So off to the store I went. It's in budget, but I still don't like running to the store for just one item (even if the store is half a mile from us). Thinking about it, this is our week not to go to CostCo and I don't know if there is anything from the regular grocery store we need. I'll be out of town over the weekend, but we may get away with no more grocery spending this week. That would be nice.
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Rocky Mtn Saver
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Post by Rocky Mtn Saver on Jan 9, 2013 11:38:05 GMT -5
Woo-hoo! Just sold some unused furniture on Craigslist for about $500 total. New couch, here I come, baby! ;D
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sheilaincali
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Post by sheilaincali on Jan 9, 2013 12:02:40 GMT -5
Rocky- Way to go !!!!! Just canceled our cable. Scary but so worth it. Going to save me just over $100 a month and with the Roku and streaming I'll still be able to watch the shows I like. May not seem like much but we have been discussing doing this for over a month.
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Rocky Mtn Saver
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Post by Rocky Mtn Saver on Jan 10, 2013 9:11:12 GMT -5
Good morning ladies! Rocky Mtn. Saver: 3 NSD/2 CSD. Trying to make up some frugality during the midweek to make up for being a bit spendy last weekend. Sheila, I'm planning to cut the cable cord this month too. You'll have to let us know how it goes! I'm particularly interested in how you like/don't like the Roku box. What services can you stream on it? I'm thinking of going that route too. I won't have the option of cable for a few months, and I'm hoping by then I won't need/want it any more. The hardest part will be giving up my DVR.
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sheilaincali
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Post by sheilaincali on Jan 10, 2013 9:48:59 GMT -5
Rocky- we stopped watching cable at Christmas and held on to it for a couple of weeks to make sure we liked the Roku before we bit the bullet and canceled the cable. So far absolutely no complaints. We paid for Amazon Prime ($79 annually- plus you get free 2 day shipping on anything you order), Netflix ($7.99 per month) and Hulu Plus (I think $7 or $8 per month). Those are the ones we paid for so It averages out to less than $24 a month. So far the only show I like that isn't available on the Roku is Happy Endings (that's available on line only) I was worried about giving up the DVR but I found I don't miss it. Don't need it. When I want to sit down and Watch say Chicago Fire it's available on Hulu Plus the next day. We used the DVR always and very very rarely watched anything live. So it's not been much of an adjustment. I do keep a list of series' that I want to re-watch and I've been able to find them on either Amazon Prime or Netflix for free so that's been nice. Currently loving the Roku box. No complaints at all with it yet- it has only been 3 weeks but were are usually pretty picky so if something was going to annoy me it would have by now
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Jan 10, 2013 10:39:15 GMT -5
Update: 4NSD/2CSD/3Spend
No spending yesterday. Yay! If there is going to be any grocery spending this weekend, it will be tonight. If that's so, it will be a CSD.
No Cable: We went for about a year with only limited basic cable (like 10 channels) because it was cheaper to bundle our internet with that then pay for internet alone. Between netflix, hulu/hulu plus, and what the networks put on their websites, we were able to watch most of the shows we really like. We did go back to cable (and have since upgraded some more) when we had to add a home phone line (requirement for the adoption process). We're back at HD now due to football and a few other things. However, since our roommate likes cable even more than we do, he's paying pretty much all the upgrade costs.
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Jan 11, 2013 11:57:42 GMT -5
Update: 5NSD/2CSD/3Spend
Today will be a CSD- actually this whole weekend will likely end up being CSDs. I leave this afternoon to go on a writers' retreat with my writing group up in Victoria, BC. I'll be getting gas in the car, paying for a ferry, one meal on the road, etc. We will hit a grocery store to buy food for most of the weekend once we're in Canada, but I'm certain we'll go to tea on Saturday and have one meal on the road on Sunday. I'm calling it all CSDs because this has been planned for months and I've budgeted for it.
Anyone else have fun plans for the weekend?
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3catslady
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Post by 3catslady on Jan 12, 2013 6:32:50 GMT -5
update: 11/20 NSD. congrats, Honey. This is the turnabout for you.
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moneysquirrel
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Post by moneysquirrel on Jan 12, 2013 7:43:38 GMT -5
Update:5 NSD and 6 CSDs
Good morning all, Thought I do a quick update before I start the usual Saturday errands and running. As predicted going back to work has really helped my numbers. Only CS day this week was a planned theater outing with friends to see Jersey Boys. Great evening all around and well worth the $$.
Cable-- I have never had it. For a while I thought I would add it but I rarely have the time to watch TV during the school year so decided to make due with what I have. Now that I see what is being offered I am glad that I never got it in the first place. I also have the Roku but currently I use it to listen to Pandora. I hope to explore the other possibilities sometime in the future during my "free" time.
This weekend I have no major plans except I have a school function to go to. I do have several errands to run and a lot of things on the ever growing to-do list. Most of those items are not on the must do now list more of the when I have nothing to do or a rainy day list. Since we have had rainy days most of this week I am quite ready for some dry weekend days so I can run the errands. I have to run as many of the general errands and shopping needs prior to the madness that will begin in this area toward the end of the month and last for several weeks.
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