When Huge Expenses Arrive

Okay….so as I mentioned in my last weekly update….my HVAC system took a huge poop last week. So. I have a Big Hairy Expense Goal coming up. I BHEG if you will instead of a BHAG for those familiar with business planning.

Estimated Cost: Between $6,000 – $10,000

Here is what I’m doing to make this as easy as possible:

SHOPPING AROUND
My boyfriend freelances and has been available this week to have 4 different companies come to look at our system and quote replacing the gas furnace and A/C. He was also kind enough to do a BUNCH of research to help me understand what these dudes are talking about and what I’ll be paying for.

LOOKING FOR ALTERNATIVES
We’ve been taking two box fans back and forth between the living room and bedroom. Unfortunately, there’s also construction on our block so we can’t keep the front windows open. A friend is kindly lending us a window unit so we can wait out the 2+ weeks we may be waiting for installation. This will keep us comfortable at home and less likely to seek out other places that will make us spend money!

CUTTING OTHER EXPENSES
So far I’ve cancelled my Bennett compost service, Spotify, and Amazon Prime. My cell phone will be paid off in my next bill so that should go down. We aren’t running a 25 year old inefficient air conditioning unit so that is saving expenses….though I’m not sure that’s saving when we’re running box fans 24/7.

One expense I’m not cutting? The $15/month gym membership. I’ve been going more and showering there to conserve at the house and make it less hot.

MAKING SOME EXTRA MONEY
I am paying $10 for a 10×10 space at the DiSilvestro Craft & Flea Market on Saturday from 11am through 4pm. I’ve got lots of sewing, quilting, and scrapbooking supplies that I’ve been carting around for way too long. Every night this week I’ve gone home and worked on pricing, staging options, and condensing for ease of travel. My only issue right now is when I signed up for this thing the weather was supposed to be sunny in the 80s and now they’re calling for rain. Anyone have a pop up tent I could borrow?

While pricing and organizing, I’ve been running Swagbucks and InboxDollars

That’s what I’m doing leading up to making a decision and saying goodbye to all of my money for a few months. What do you do when you’re suddenly strapped for cash?

 

WEEK 12 IN THE BOOKS

General Health

Here’s how I’m doing with March FitCamp!  :

1. Respect nutrition –I rejoined Weight Watchers this week and have been trying to get used to the new SmartPoints system as it’s different than the PointsPlus I did last time.  The meal on the left is 10 SmartPoints…and I only get 30 per day.  Luckily, the FitPoints are a lot easier to obtain so I’m able to eat almost double my points thanks to WW sycing with my FitBit!
2. Do one legitimate straight-leg pushup – I’m noticing that the first 3 on-knee pushups suck a lot less when I do pushups but I’m still not very good.
3. Beat last month’s 13 days at the gym –BOOM! I was at 15 as of 3/24

GYM July 2016 – June 2017: 65(as of 3/21) /120 

 

Be Creative
I learned how to frog and am back on track with my scarf!  I also now have all the yarn I will need for my next project thanks to someone offloading a bunch from KnitPicks for $8

I picked up Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide To Thriving In The Age of Accelerations at the library and I think it will come in handy for blogging!

Financial Goals

Pay Down Some Mortgage
I was only able to put another $25 in this week but I still put it in!  Telling you all about my weekly progress on this is keeping me motivated to suck it up and throw the money in.

Frugal as Fuck
I feel like every day is a struggle not to spend!  I put $149.95 down on Weight Watchers this week but it will eventually be reimbursed by my health insurance which is a win!

I spent $33 on WW-friendly foods at Aldi and have a good pack of fruits and veggies for work tomorrow!

Mortgage: $556.50/$1,000

Professional Goals

Continuing Education Credits for Health License
I’m officially the worst when it comes to working on my CE – work has been busy!  It’s kind of a good thing!

Learning About Annuities
This got pushed to the end of the month…..sigh.

Blog Goals

Why The Fuck Are You Reading This?
I don’t know either!  I hope to wade through my drafts at some point and pull some more sideposts weekly but who knows!

Weekly Updates
Well I’m posting at least once a week

WEEK 11 RECAP – I Did Nothing for St. Patty’s Day. Holllaaaa

General Health

Here’s how I’m doing with March FitCamp!  :

1. Respect nutrition – I’ve been eating a lot of oatmeal and trying to stay right buuuuut there were lots of pizza slices and cookies this week
2. Do one legitimate straight-leg pushup – I’ve been able to up my hand weights from 5lb to 8lb and can now do about 3 knee push ups.  PROGRESS!  I FEEL IT!
3. Beat last month’s 13 days at the gym – I’m at 10 as of Friday!  I’m going to try to break this record this very week!

It was really difficult to stay on track for the StepBet this week with all that snow!  It makes me so lethargic.  On Tuesday I ended up working from home and spent the last hour of my day jogging in place and walking around the block to knock out the last 4,000 steps before bed.  Rest day can’t be Tuesday!

GYM July 2016 – June 2017: 61(as of 3/19) /120 HALFWAY MARK! WOOO!!  Think I can do 59 more by the end of June?  

Be Creative
I messed up in my scarf this week and was unable to make knitting circle….so that is on hold until I can get help to “frog” a few lines and get in.  I know where I messed up and tried to just keep knitting….but it’s an eyesore now and I feel like I won’t be happy with the finished product unless I take the time to fix it.  Sooooo I’m going to fix it!

I picked up Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide To Thriving In The Age of Accelerations at the library and I think it will come in handy for blogging!

Financial Goals

Pay Down Some Mortgage
Another $100 went into Principal!  I’m not fucking around.

Frugal as Fuck
I loaded up one of my desk drawers with oatmeal and oatmeal essentials so I always have a post-gym breakfast.  Or an emergency lunch. And a backup bag of coffee.  

As you can see, I also use painter’s tape and a sharpie to label things – I do this in the kitchen too.  It’s a cheap labeling system that doesn’t leave sticker residue on anything.

The boyfriend and I had a pleasantly cheap weekend – we walked to the grocery store Saturday to get a week’s worth of groceries and Philly AIDS Thrift on Sunday and bought nothing.  We stayed mostly indoors doing home shit and sleeping.

Mortgage: $531.50/$1,000

Professional Goals

Continuing Education Credits for Health License
Not much CE work was done this week.  I should really get back on that before I lose momentum!

The DI seminar was cancelled due to weather.  Fuck you, weather!  I wanted to get my free learn on!

Learning About Annuities
This got pushed to the end of the month.  Boo.

Blog Goals

Why The Fuck Are You Reading This?
Still not focusing much on this AND I believe I have killed the weekly #TealTuesday posts….I will continue to post #TealTuesday stuff on my Instagram and Tumblr.

A friend once gave me the advice that i should focus on doing things rather than posting about them.  I like that so I’m going to keep on that.

Weekly Updates
I need to get better about proofreading these on Monday morning on the way to the gym before they post – sometimes when I copy/paste I miss things that make the weekly updates make less sense.  So I’m going to work on that more.

#TealTuesday Keep the Change!

Today’s #TealTuesday deals with some of my favorite stuff – change!  And since change is copper and silver…how can I make this teal, you say?

This is my piggy bank!  It’s actually a bear bank.  A teal, sparkly bear bank from the Minnesota airport.  Every few months I count up my change in this bank and a burger bank I keep by the door and deposit it!  I got $6.50 out of this guy this week and deposited it in my new Wells Fargo checking for my Pay Down the Mortgage Goal

Share your piggy banks!  What do you do with spare change?

 

 

#TealTuesday #4 My Only Handbag

This is basically the only handbag I own.  I use this or my Under Armor backpack for all my shit-lugging needs.

I bought this Fossil Morgan Zip Cross Body Bag in September of 2014 and it has been my only real handbag since.  I still have the bag that this one replaced, but the strap was broke n so when I switch out I have to use the same strap.

Aside from not considering handbags – PLURAL- a necessity, here are the strict requirements I have for handbag purchase.  If it doesn’t meet these requirements, I will not buy it (no matter how cute it is.  no matter how on sale it is.  no matter how badly I want something new):

 

Criteria for a Handbag:

Cross Body Strap.  I have to be careful about hurting my back but I NEED to be hands-free and cannot stand bags that have to be held up on your shoulder or at your elbow.  Don’t even get me started on clutches.

Zip Top.  Not only does this keep your bag from falling over/being dropped and spewing your bag full of shit all over the street but it keeps people from being able to pick-pocket you.  In a city, I need that extra bit of security.

At Least 2 Pockets.  This one has EIGHT and I love it.  I like my bags like I like my emotions – easy to compartmentalize.

Real Leather.  Cloth bags get dirty and fall apart a lot faster.  I need something durable that will last and so far Fossil’s leather has been doing good.  Yes, the dye is starting to wear off in some spots on this bag but you

How many handbags do you have?  What’s the oldest one you use?

BJ’s List Hack – why haven’t I thought of this until just now?

I’ve gotten very sick of trying to rustle through the coupons and trying to do math at the same time in the aisles – so I’ve made it slightly more idiot-proof!  I have this list and I will not deviate from this list.  Everything we need to get through the winter without ordering delivery every night.

The IB circled next to some is for iBotta – it’s a cash back app where you unlock rebates, scan the items you buy and take a pic of your receipt, and then when you hit $20 in rebates you can cash out to Paypal, Venmo, or other types of gift cards.  Sign up for iBotta with my referral link and get a bonus.

Let Me Tell You About Paribus

Paribus is a website that tracks your purchases through e-mail and issues refund tickets for you when prices drop within a week of buying something online at participating retailers.

Here is my referral link for 5% off the fee

Fee, you say?
Yes – they take 25% of each refund and charge your credit card at the end of the month.  You can reduce this fee by getting referrals.

Today I got 2 e-mails: 1 from Paribus saying they had found a price drop in the dog food I ordered on Amazon this week! 2 was from Amazon saying that they had issued a refund for my price drop ticket.$5.34 – their fee will be $1.33 at the end of the month.  I still made back $4.01 just to do what I was already going to do.

Still haven’t signed up?  Here is my friend’s 5% off code.