Debt Dumpers - 2017

Two house related things have popped up and I'm pretty annoyed. Why do these things all happen at once?! One was that our coat rack, which has been hanging on the wall for ten years, decided it was done and fell the other night, taking a large chunk of plaster wall with it. I have it cardboarded up and materials on the way to fix it. And then? The lights in the ceiling fan in the bedroom stopped working completely. No idea what's going on with them, but it's likely electrical and if I have to call an electrician, I figure I might as well get two new lights in the kitchen done since it's been on my list forever and the lights we have are just terrible.

Ugh. So much for June being slightly ok money wise!
 
Ugh, everyone is having house trouble this month! We had our toilet repaired yesterday. My mom's boyfriend did it and refused to let me give him any money, but I'm going to try to sneak some to him next time I see him. The good news was he just replaced some gaskets and we did not need a new toilet, so we'll be returning the one we purchased Saturday and getting our money back.

I've got 10 more days to pay off the balance of our Disney vacation. I've been earning some Target gift cards from Swagbucks to help buy Disney gift cards to pay the balance. I should be able to get one more Target card before the next 10 days is up, and then I will just buy the remainder of the balance with our RedCard to get 5% off. I've been writing down how much the gift cards are for and how much I've actually paid for them so that I can see my total savings at the end :) I am sooooo ready for this trip. I've been absolutely swamped at work lately so I need a break.
 
And now I'm in a mega bad mood because I just found out I'm no longer getting the $46 credit per month for my health insurance through DH because it says that I didn't complete the online health assessment form. Even though DH sent it to me two weeks in advance, I went online and did it, and sent him an e-mail back 8 minutes later saying "done." >:(

Vacation, where are you?
 
And now I'm in a mega bad mood because I just found out I'm no longer getting the $46 credit per month for my health insurance through DH because it says that I didn't complete the online health assessment form. Even though DH sent it to me two weeks in advance, I went online and did it, and sent him an e-mail back 8 minutes later saying "done." >:(

Vacation, where are you?

Is there a way to get the credit back? Someone to call? I know it is time consuming to do these things, but that is a pretty significant amount of money each month.
 


Is there a way to get the credit back? Someone to call? I know it is time consuming to do these things, but that is a pretty significant amount of money each month.

I called and they said they can see where I logged in but they claim I never completed the assessment. They informed me they never grant any exceptions and could not give me the credit. :sad:
 
Got back from my final work trip of the month last night and I am so tried of traveling. One more trip in July, but probably nothing after that until I return from maternity leave. So glad. Well, I ended up with $560 in extra per diem for the month. It will go straight into our DVC fund! We are now just shy of 1/3 of the way to our savings goal! If we make a good haul on the garage sale next month, I might sneak a little of that money into the DVC fund too after replenishing the auto maintenance fund.

DH and I spent last weekend cleaning out our garage to get ready for the sale. We bought a large toolbox to consolidate everything into a single place and it makes a huge difference. It looks so nice now. I can't wait to get everything from the sale out of there and have even more space. This weekend we will be going through the house and finding things for the sale. The basement has a ton, including a few left over wedding items that I am hoping will finally disappear. And I am sure I could find some things when I work on cleaning out my sewing room.

And the washer/dryer deal just keeps getting better and better. Paribus informed me this morning that the price for the set had dropped by another $106 (including tax). Well, Costco has already issued a refund for the price difference! After Paribus takes their cut, I should have another $90 back into the baby fund!
 


And the washer/dryer deal just keeps getting better and better. Paribus informed me this morning that the price for the set had dropped by another $106 (including tax). Well, Costco has already issued a refund for the price difference! After Paribus takes their cut, I should have another $90 back into the baby fund!

did you sign up for Paribus through Swagbucks? I remember seeing ads for it a long time ago.
 
did you sign up for Paribus through Swagbucks? I remember seeing ads for it a long time ago.

I actually signed up before launch. They use technology from my brother's company to run their analytics engine. There was an internal beta period and my brother sent me an invite, since he knows how much I love a good deal. I have been pretty impressed with the company. They monitor price changes for a lot of purchases and if something drops within the stores price match policy term, they automatically send an email requesting the price difference. I woke up to the email from Paribus about the price change yesterday and by the afternoon, Costco had already initiated the $106 refund. Paribus takes a cut of up to 25%, which you can reduce based on how many referrals you have. I think they may take 10 or 15% of the $106. But the way I see it, I most likely would never have seen the price drop and would never have gotten any of that money back. There was also only 2 days left on the price match period!

ETA: There is a Swagbucks offer. 300 SB for signing up and making a purchase at an eligible vendor. Those include places like Costco, Target, Amazon, etc.
 
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Another pay period without using the credit card, so that's good. Found out we should be getting $15 back from the home equity loan at some point. Still not sure how that happened when they called and got the exact payoff amount while I was there and I paid it approximately 30 seconds later, but whatever. Paid another $100 on the driver's ed balance (had put down $50 to hold a spot for the July class and figured might as well try to pay some of it off before the first class). Sold a few things DS14 outgrew on Ebay. Not much but it's something anyway. DS16 is going on his week-long trip in a few days. Got cash out for him and a visa gift card in case he needs it, so he should be all set. I hope he has a blast! DH's birthday was a few days ago so his gifts are done and paid for. He didn't want Father's Day gifts, but we might go out for a meal. Not sure yet. That's all from here. Hope everyone is doing well. Been a long week here.
Well, we ended up buying tickets to another show for our NYC trip (Little Foxes before it closes; I LOVE Laura Linney) and put it on the credit card. This trip is going to cost a lot and we'll need to use our Discover. Sigh. But, we will figure it out. I plan to pay off the drivers ed balance this weekend though (out of our checking account), so one less thing to pay for in July.
 
I actually signed up before launch. They use technology from my brother's company to run their analytics engine. There was an internal beta period and my brother sent me an invite, since he knows how much I love a good deal. I have been pretty impressed with the company. They monitor price changes for a lot of purchases and if something drops within the stores price match policy term, they automatically send an email requesting the price difference. I woke up to the email from Paribus about the price change yesterday and by the afternoon, Costco had already initiated the $106 refund. Paribus takes a cut of up to 25%, which you can reduce based on how many referrals you have. I think they may take 10 or 15% of the $106. But the way I see it, I most likely would never have seen the price drop and would never have gotten any of that money back. There was also only 2 days left on the price match period!
If there is a referral for Paribus, please inbox me your info. I can't promise I'll sign up but I'll take a look and use it if I do. I'm not sure I make too many large purchases that would have a price drop, but you never know.

Looking at their website...is this for online purchases only? Because I spend a lot of money at Target...but at the actual store.
 
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I just checked on Paribus and it says that Costco's price on the washer/dryer is now at $2599.99! It was $2199.99 yesterday and was $2299.99 when I paid for it almost a month ago. So that $100 price dip only lasted 1 day, so unless I was religiously checking the price every single day, I would definitely not have caught that. Feeling pretty smug right now. :smooth:
 
Another thing to report. I want to have maternity and newborn photos taken. I have a friend from my quilt guild that is starting to build her own photography business and I love seeing everything that she posts online. She does a really wonderful job. So I contacted her about the sessions. She said that because she is building her professional portfolio, she would be happy to do the sessions for free. I talked with DH and he said that it sounds good and that we should tip her 50% of the going rate for such sessions. So it saves us money and will help her out with her budding business. So I have been scouring the internet to decide on an outfit for the newborn session. Choices, choices.
 
Another thing to report. I want to have maternity and newborn photos taken. I have a friend from my quilt guild that is starting to build her own photography business and I love seeing everything that she posts online. She does a really wonderful job. So I contacted her about the sessions. She said that because she is building her professional portfolio, she would be happy to do the sessions for free. I talked with DH and he said that it sounds good and that we should tip her 50% of the going rate for such sessions. So it saves us money and will help her out with her budding business. So I have been scouring the internet to decide on an outfit for the newborn session. Choices, choices.
Exciting! Have a couple options in different sizes depending on how big she is. My oldest was 7 lbs 5 oz and my youngest a whole pound bigger. Neither of them wore newborn clothes for more than a week or so before they went into 0-3m.
 
Exciting! Have a couple options in different sizes depending on how big she is. My oldest was 7 lbs 5 oz and my youngest a whole pound bigger. Neither of them wore newborn clothes for more than a week or so before they went into 0-3m.

I am leaning towards sewing something myself, in which case I would make it in both newborn and 0-3 sizes. I will probably order a cute baby tiara from Etsy though. and maybe a few other accessories. I want DH to see some ideas before I make a choice, just need to find some time to sit him down and look.
 
Back from Vegas and Arizona. While it wasn't a frugal trip,it didn't really break the bank, either. We had a great time. I do have to say the Grand Canyon is really "grand".

The day we left our lawnmower broke. Also, when we returned to our car from the airport (we did a park and fly package) the battery light came on and my engine overheated. Car was towed to my mechanic and I'll find out the damage on Monday.
 
I am leaning towards sewing something myself, in which case I would make it in both newborn and 0-3 sizes. I will probably order a cute baby tiara from Etsy though. and maybe a few other accessories. I want DH to see some ideas before I make a choice, just need to find some time to sit him down and look.

Both of my kids never fit into newborn sizes--3M from the get go. And watch out for things on their heads--some babies REALLY hate it. Both of mine never ever ever wore hats. Even the adorable Pooh Bear ones. They'd cry and cry and cry. So maybe don't break the bank on a tiara or be too married to the idea ;)

Oh and I know people (including me) have thrown clothing tips at you before but: footie PJs. They're cute, cheap (Carters!), they're easy to get on and off, and until they're starting to crawl around? Let them live in them. Seriously. Send them to daycare in them. Let them sleep in them. I wish we had known this with our first. Instead, we tried wrestling the poor kid into over the head shirts and pants and complicated three-piece outfits...ugh! Figure out if you're zipper or button people (maybe make sure you have one of each to start because at those 2 am diaper changes you're DEFINITELY going to have a preference!) and then buy a MILLION OF THEM. My second daughter basically lived in footie PJs until she was around 7 months old and was crawling so much she was pulling her legs out of them.
 
Both of my kids never fit into newborn sizes--3M from the get go. And watch out for things on their heads--some babies REALLY hate it. Both of mine never ever ever wore hats. Even the adorable Pooh Bear ones. They'd cry and cry and cry. So maybe don't break the bank on a tiara or be too married to the idea ;)

Oh and I know people (including me) have thrown clothing tips at you before but: footie PJs. They're cute, cheap (Carters!), they're easy to get on and off, and until they're starting to crawl around? Let them live in them. Seriously. Send them to daycare in them. Let them sleep in them. I wish we had known this with our first. Instead, we tried wrestling the poor kid into over the head shirts and pants and complicated three-piece outfits...ugh! Figure out if you're zipper or button people (maybe make sure you have one of each to start because at those 2 am diaper changes you're DEFINITELY going to have a preference!) and then buy a MILLION OF THEM. My second daughter basically lived in footie PJs until she was around 7 months old and was crawling so much she was pulling her legs out of them.

All of the actual clothes that I have bought are 3M or larger, with the exception of one pack of newborn onesies that snap up the side. I read that these are good at the very beginning to help with cord care because they don't have to go over the head. I also bought them in 3M size, just in case baby doesn't fit into NB. And the tiara that I am eyeing costs $10, so if baby won't wear it then it won't kill me. I plan to have the NB photos taken within the first week or so, so hopefully baby will be mostly sleeping at that point and won't care.

And I have bought a lot of footie outfits from Carters. I read on some of the item reviews that people love them for daycare when the baby is little, so I thought that sounded like a great idea.
 
All of the actual clothes that I have bought are 3M or larger, with the exception of one pack of newborn onesies that snap up the side. I read that these are good at the very beginning to help with cord care because they don't have to go over the head. I also bought them in 3M size, just in case baby doesn't fit into NB. And the tiara that I am eyeing costs $10, so if baby won't wear it then it won't kill me. I plan to have the NB photos taken within the first week or so, so hopefully baby will be mostly sleeping at that point and won't care.

And I have bought a lot of footie outfits from Carters. I read on some of the item reviews that people love them for daycare when the baby is little, so I thought that sounded like a great idea.

Those one-piece zip-up footie things are excellent. They also last a really long time, although I remember cutting the feet off of some of them as my kids became too tall for them but they otherwise still fit.
 
Car is fixed. The serpentine belt broke which makes me angry as it has only been a year that I bought it certified used. Cost me $340 to fix.
 

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