club The Frugal Adventurers Club

[Heidi]

2 hours ago, Jarric said:

to me none of these have anything to do with class. Class is about the type of job you do, the kind of area you live in, your idealogical beliefs, who your parents are, how you talk, what you had growing up - all sorts of things that are related to money but aren't really based in it.

I 100% agree, and I think the US culture has completely lost sight of this.

[Heidi]

To say I have been spendy this week is an understatement.

I also knew this would happen and I've planned for it but WOW it all feels like I'm hemmoraging cash.

 

In the last seven days I've paid for:

• Move-in Cleaning
• Movers
• Takeout (because moving)
• Uber to Band Booster meeting
• Move-out cleaning
• Groceries (a small order becuase I was brain dead but it was cheaper than takeout and also, I needed things)
• Birthday dinner for Vivian
• A second round of moving help
• A cabinet, shelves, and a dining table for the new space (this went on a credit card for convenience and will be paid off over the three weeks it takes to ship it)
• 2024 vegetables and fruits farm share
• Shipping for cupcakes for Vivian's birthday party this weekend
• Groceries, again
• A tuition payment

And I almost bought a car.

 

I have absolutely no regrets, and I love the new space and the new things, but I am so looking forward to getting off the Spendalot Bus.

I still need new rugs, and will probably buy at least the one for Vivian's room over this coming weekend, since she'll be here and I'd like her input on it.

 

The car can wait a few months, but I think I'm definitely of a mind to have a car before Football season starts again.

[Jarric]

18 hours ago, Heidi said:

To say I have been spendy this week is an understatement.

I also knew this would happen and I've planned for it but WOW it all feels like I'm hemmoraging cash.

 

In the last seven days I've paid for:

• Move-in Cleaning
• Movers
• Takeout (because moving)
• Uber to Band Booster meeting
• Move-out cleaning
• Groceries (a small order becuase I was brain dead but it was cheaper than takeout and also, I needed things)
• Birthday dinner for Vivian
• A second round of moving help
• A cabinet, shelves, and a dining table for the new space (this went on a credit card for convenience and will be paid off over the three weeks it takes to ship it)
• 2024 vegetables and fruits farm share
• Shipping for cupcakes for Vivian's birthday party this weekend
• Groceries, again
• A tuition payment

And I almost bought a car.

 

I have absolutely no regrets, and I love the new space and the new things, but I am so looking forward to getting off the Spendalot Bus.

I still need new rugs, and will probably buy at least the one for Vivian's room over this coming weekend, since she'll be here and I'd like her input on it.

 

The car can wait a few months, but I think I'm definitely of a mind to have a car before Football season starts again.

 

Exciting news about the new place - I'm glad you like it! Having somewhere to live that you want to spend time in is so worth the money.

[Heidi]

Bought a car, insured it, arranged for shipping, and signed up and paid for a parking space.

All from the tub.

May have been overheard saying "Fuckit, let's buy a car."

[Sepherina]

19 hours ago, Heidi said:

Bought a car, insured it, arranged for shipping, and signed up and paid for a parking space.

All from the tub.

May have been overheard saying "Fuckit, let's buy a car."

Planned spend is great!  Congrats on the new/new to you car.

[Sepherina]

Budget is looking really good this month despite some extras that we needed to buy.  With the money saved from tuition, we did manage to get a bed for when minion #1 comes home from school.  She took hers up to college for her apartment.  There was some other spending but most of it in line with needs and a few wants. We also avoided putting money on the credit card this month so the balance will be below our goal of $6,500.   

 

How is everyone else doing?  

[Jarric]

Payday last week, so I spent a while bunch of money on stuff. All planned spends though - a race I'd agreed to sign up for and accomodation for another race I'd already signed up to in the main.

 

I had a bit of a weird win too. We're going to France this summer, and our Airbnb cancelled on us a couple of weeks ago. It's taken ages to find another place, but we've ended up somewhere that's £250 cheaper than the first one we booked. The net result is that I didn't need to pay off my credit card this month, and I'm a couple of quid in credit on it still.

[Sovalis]

I've been diligently not spending until today. I paid someone to plow my driveway (we got 8-10" of snow last night), bought a bag of my favourite coffee once it restocked, and splurged on a beautiful candle. I will resume being frugal. Have to pay a chunk at the dentist tomorrow morning which will dampen my spirit a bit but it beats having a hole in my tooth. 

[Sovalis]

Friends!!! 

 

THE MAGPIE URGE IS STRONG IN ME!!

 

ARRRRRGH!

 

I am resisting, but it is so so hard. 😬

[Darciana]

I have not been following my no spend rule very well. It can be quite a challenge to do so when I'm still meeting my most basic goals. I need to get a handle on the spending, though.

 

Yesterday the Man got his work bonus so we were able to pay off the RV loan (still waiting on the last bit to come in from the boys - they're paying little at a time as they can with their income) but it's such a nice feeling to have that big chunk out of my way - that's $350 per month I can now put towards paying down my credit card and saving up for summer fun.

 

What I need to focus on until next payday (March 22nd)

-Limit grocery spend. Currently have $150 in my grocery debit account. If I can plan appropriately, and all goes well, I won't need to add more than $50 additional funds. I'm beginning stock-up for the week of the Solar Eclipse (Total eclipse aligns over my town so there will be a skipped grocery trip the weekend of the eclipse - need to stock up with everything I possibly can prior to that). Groceries can be kept reasonable with proper planning leading up to this.

-Set aside $250 towards Quarter 2 HOA dues ($522.96 due April 1st) from this paycheck - next paycheck has to cover Big Bills (mortgage, insurance [vehicle/life], electricity, etc] so any buffer for the added expense will be beneficial.

-Pay down as much as possible on the credit card with what remains of this paycheck. Keep bank balance above my preferred Buffer Balance. ($252.68 before accounting for interest will get me to $7,000 exactly - aim for this as best as possible while maintaining buffer balance).

 

The next 2 months (until summer break with kids):

-Pre-plan Quarter 3 HOA dues - they are due in July which is in the midst of the summer spend. Set money aside each paycheck until "paid in full" to another account for easy payment come July

-Currently have ~$150 minimum payment on credit card. Keep paying this through summer, even as minimum payment drops when balance drops.

-Put the $350 previously used as the loan payment away for summer activities. Add to this as possible over the next several paychecks to build a buffer for expensive summer activities and avoid/limit accruing additional credit card debt.

 

 

We can do the hard things!!

[Sepherina]

7 hours ago, Darciana said:

We can do the hard things!!

[Heidi]

On 3/8/2024 at 11:19 AM, Sovalis said:

Friends!!! 

 

THE MAGPIE URGE IS STRONG IN ME!!

 

ARRRRRGH!

 

I am resisting, but it is so so hard. 😬

I feel seen. 

Getting settled into any move always comes with buying a few things here and there, and also I am wanting everything to be Glitter-Bomb FABULOUS (only, without any actual glitter). Solidarity in the struggle and sympathy and compassion for any purchases along the way. 

 

23 hours ago, Darciana said:

We can do the hard things!!

Yes, and you're an inspiration!

I like that we are all trading around the struggle and the Banner Of Intent. This is such a great group.  

 

The Spendalot Bus ripped through again, in the form of entertainment-with-Vivian annual gift (Oculus 3) and a few more items for the Loft (a coffee table that fits the space and works with the feeling of the living room; the second chaise lounge for the library that I knew was coming), and some eating out adventures while Downtowning with Vivian and then a solo adventure for tacos (because walking, and getting out of the house, and also tacos). I'm considering keeping the Taco Tuesday trip as a regular expense, because it's good for my mental health. Tuesdays seem to be a low point in my overall weekly cycle, and I think I'd like to do what I can to lift. Overall, it's cheaper than therapy.  

 

I am making large payments on the car loan and the personal loan, and this feels good and solid. The other loan continues with slightly-above-minimum payments while I finish up with tuition (March and April, and I might take the extension option to spread it into May since the percentage fee is much lower than the interest on the loans). The cards are all paid off, and the therapy bill has been reset to 0 (deductibles are the devil). 

 

My plan for the coming three months is to continue not using credit cards and make agressively large payments on the car loan (I'd like to have it paid off Very Soon), and then focus on the larger balance of the high-intrest personal loan. I don't know if I'll be able to pay the loan off by the end of the year, but let's see how close I get. Taps the "We can do hard things" sign.

 

❤️ 

[Heidi]

update: I need to set up a healthcare savings account deduction before taxes. 

[Darciana]

On 3/15/2024 at 10:10 AM, Heidi said:

Taps the "We can do hard things" sign.

 

❤️

[Jarric]

The last couple of weeks have been pretty spendy for me. The big stuff I'm kind of ok with - I did a shift delivering flowers for (UK) mother's day which paid for some new climbing shoes and a competition entry and left plenty of change - but it's all of the little drinks and bits out that have crept back into my routine I want to knock on the head.

 

I think part of the problem is that my money has started to balance again, so I'm not staring at an empty bank account 3 weeks before payday. I need to get out of that mindset though, because this year I need to:

 • Get the boiler serviced (not an expensive job, unless they say it needs replacing)

 • Pay for a load of waste to be taken out of the garden

 • Replace the outhouse roof, and one wall

 • Re-wire the top floor of the house

 • Ideally re-carpet the top floor, and hall, stairs, and landing, once the re-wiring is done

 

And really ideally, get all of that done in the next 2-3 months. Not sure if that's financially possible; I really need to price this stuff up.

[Heidi]

On 3/21/2024 at 8:54 AM, Jarric said:

The last couple of weeks have been pretty spendy for me. The big stuff I'm kind of ok with - I did a shift delivering flowers for (UK) mother's day which paid for some new climbing shoes and a competition entry and left plenty of change - but it's all of the little drinks and bits out that have crept back into my routine I want to knock on the head.

 

I think part of the problem is that my money has started to balance again, so I'm not staring at an empty bank account 3 weeks before payday. I need to get out of that mindset though, because this year I need to:

 • Get the boiler serviced (not an expensive job, unless they say it needs replacing)

 • Pay for a load of waste to be taken out of the garden

 • Replace the outhouse roof, and one wall

 • Re-wire the top floor of the house

 • Ideally re-carpet the top floor, and hall, stairs, and landing, once the re-wiring is done

 

And really ideally, get all of that done in the next 2-3 months. Not sure if that's financially possible; I really need to price this stuff up.

I'm guessing that once you get these 2024 house items priced that it will be easier to hit the target. I completely understand about the little things creeping up and taking a toll.

Have you considered creating an account for home maintenance? I find that if I can choose to skip eating out and put that smallish bit in the maintenance fund, that it adds up quickly and I also have the feeling that I've made a good choice, instead of it just getting lost in the noise of everyday life.

[Jarric]

On 3/22/2024 at 1:29 PM, Heidi said:

I'm guessing that once you get these 2024 house items priced that it will be easier to hit the target. I completely understand about the little things creeping up and taking a toll.

Have you considered creating an account for home maintenance? I find that if I can choose to skip eating out and put that smallish bit in the maintenance fund, that it adds up quickly and I also have the feeling that I've made a good choice, instead of it just getting lost in the noise of everyday life.

 

Yeah, that's probably a sensible idea, though I'm loathe to open more accounts. Currently we've got a joint account for regular bills, and a joint savings account for irregular bills. In theory the joint savings would pay for this, but we've not had it long enough and far too much goes out of it for it to cover any of those items. On top of that I have my current account, savings account, regular saver, fixed-rate saver, and an extra current account that I only opened because that bank actually have a local branch that I can pay money into if I need to. There's a reason for all of it, but at some point this stuff is going to get too annoying to keep track of!

[Heidi]

21 minutes ago, Jarric said:

 

Yeah, that's probably a sensible idea, though I'm loathe to open more accounts. Currently we've got a joint account for regular bills, and a joint savings account for irregular bills. In theory the joint savings would pay for this, but we've not had it long enough and far too much goes out of it for it to cover any of those items. On top of that I have my current account, savings account, regular saver, fixed-rate saver, and an extra current account that I only opened because that bank actually have a local branch that I can pay money into if I need to. There's a reason for all of it, but at some point this stuff is going to get too annoying to keep track of!

Okay, that a lot of accounts. 🙂

[Darciana]

Progress Update!

 

The Man and I have been wanting to refinance the truck into both our names (it's currently only in mine) once his credit had finally increased. Well, he's increased it enough, the balance on the loan is below the threshold we felt comfortable with, and my credit score hasn't yet seen the inevitable temporary drop from paying off and closing the RV loan account.

Not only does this finally get the truck into the Man's name (should anything happen to me) but it also lowered our payment and, if the final numbers are anything close to the approval numbers, will save me $360/month! There's no prepayment penalty, either, so once we get through crazy summer activities (plus any debt that accrues) and our other debts we can put more back towards it to pay it off sooner.

 

Yippee for progress! This will help increase savings between now and summer for summer activities as well as increase my ability to pay off my last credit card. Win!

[Sovalis]

Hi Friends!

 

We might be buying a couch and a loveseat today. It will go onto our Army credit line which is zero interest and over three years so the monthly amount will be quite small, but it’s still a decision. It’s one I am making more enthusiastically because I am really tired of the sore back I have from our current loveseat. 😅

 

Otherwise, I’m doing really well with not spending beyond my tips lately and I am proud of myself for that. We did spend a fair amount on take out food last week because Dave came home and wanted all of his favourites, but I was expecting that as it happens every time he comes home from places that have terrible food. Things should level out again next week. 

 

Hope you are doing well!

 

[Loveable_Bouncer]

On 3/23/2024 at 11:36 AM, Jarric said:

though I'm loathe to open more accounts.

Does any of your savings accounts have a "bucket" system? I opened my high savings account and they are selling it hard. But that type of thing in your accounts might help for you goals you have that option without opening any more accounts. 

 

On 3/25/2024 at 1:34 PM, Darciana said:

Yippee for progress! T

Heck yeah, you are dialing into the system on what are your priorities and a beautiful long term plan. 

 

On 3/26/2024 at 10:34 AM, Sovalis said:

It’s one I am making more enthusiastically because I am really tired of the sore back I have from our current loveseat. 😅

 

May  you find the furniture you all need!

 

On 3/26/2024 at 10:34 AM, Sovalis said:

Otherwise, I’m doing really well with not spending beyond my tips lately and I am proud of myself for that. We did spend a fair amount on take out food last week because Dave came home and wanted all of his favourites, but I was expecting that as it happens every time he comes home from places that have terrible food. Things should level out again next week. 

Yay for staying under your budget goals, but also seeing the regular ups and downs of your budget

[Loveable_Bouncer]

Update: 

I've been dialing in with my budget. Really noticing habit changes I need to do for the long term. 

 

I was starting to list things off and realized I've had a LOT of movement in my budget/goals. 

 

I've been dreaming on saving up for bucket list trips (most expensive Antarctica cruise, "cheaper" ones: Machu Picchu, Stonehenge and Pilgrimage to a Germany trail.) I at least wrote down the estimates (honestly kind of kicking myself for not waiting to do at least one of these trips before I moved out on my own, but I didn't know what I know now). 

 

Finally seeing steps I need to do toward my retirement and student loans... 

While also trying to figure out my car.... going to work with my stepdad on how I should be maintaining my car but also how SOON do I need a new car? Can we maintain it for a bit, and I can save up for a nice SUV in the next 5 years? Or do I need a replacement in a year?  Thankful I have a car resource that can slow down and help me troubleshoot care for it. 

 

---

Goals for this challenge, reconcile my budget a bit more often (found out I was at least $55 off my budget the last 3 months). 

Going to REALLY dial in my food budget. It has been made clear to me I do live in a higher cost place, so its not just cutting out processed food but really looking at creating foods that are in season/on sale/ pantry cheap (like beans...). While also figuring out, what I will eat.  Going to try out a discount food store and an Asian food store. They are a longer drive, but the 2 stores I'm looking at on Saturday morning are 30 mins tops in bad weather. 

[Heidi]

This spatial upgrade simply comes with a higher monthly cost on everything, and I’m kind of wrapping my head around that. 

I’m still managing to make larger payments to the car loan, which helps me feel pretty solid, and the furniture spending is practically over, so that’s a relief. 

Being holed up in my cave was simple; this Out In the World thing takes resources.

[Jarric]

17 hours ago, Loveable_Bouncer said:

Does any of your savings accounts have a "bucket" system? I opened my high savings account and they are selling it hard. But that type of thing in your accounts might help for you goals you have that option without opening any more accounts. 

 

It doesn't, but I suppose that there's nothing to stop me doing that manually actually. Food for thought...

[Loveable_Bouncer]

15 hours ago, Heidi said:

This spatial upgrade simply comes with a higher monthly cost on everything, and I’m kind of wrapping my head around that. 

I’m still managing to make larger payments to the car loan, which helps me feel pretty solid, and the furniture spending is practically over, so that’s a relief. 

Being holed up in my cave was simple; this Out In the World thing takes resources.

I 100% feel you on this. I had moved from a 444 sq ft to 777 sq ft... (along with paying for more utilities).  But yay for keeping up with paying off your car. 

 

22 minutes ago, Jarric said:

 

It doesn't, but I suppose that there's nothing to stop me doing that manually actually. Food for thought...

Yup! There is a lot of ways to do it. From a  pen and paper, spreadsheet to an envelope system. Just depends what works for you, and finding what helps you follow through!