Debt Dumpers - 2019

I broke down and booked....

No additional debt, but it'll slow savings a bit.

I should regret it, but I don't. Not sure what that says about my self control!

DH and I booked the passholder preview too, now trying to figure out if we can trust our kids (20, 18 and 12) to not kill each other and stay out of trouble while we're gone (late Friday to early Monday). Our only cost would be airfare and car rental because we can stay with our oldest daughter, but we're having trouble justifying the trip. We have NEVER been on vacation without them. EVER. And we have the $ in our vacation budget, and would not need to miss any time from work, but still having trouble justifying. Gaaah!
 
DH and I booked the passholder preview too, now trying to figure out if we can trust our kids (20, 18 and 12) to not kill each other and stay out of trouble while we're gone (late Friday to early Monday). Our only cost would be airfare and car rental because we can stay with our oldest daughter, but we're having trouble justifying the trip. We have NEVER been on vacation without them. EVER. And we have the $ in our vacation budget, and would not need to miss any time from work, but still having trouble justifying. Gaaah!
That's a tough one. Not because of financial outlook but leaving the kids home. My worries when we leave ours is not for when things go smoothly, but when things go wrong. I'm not trying to instill fear but we haven't had good luck when we leave our kids.
When the huge tree fell on our house in 2016, ds22 was 19 and our then 16 yr old was with us. Ds told my dad there were "some branches on the house", neglecting to mention the massive hole in our roof, the heat & AC unit in our attic getting smooshed, branches coming through the ceiling of 4 rooms, and our chimney getting wacked right off the roof. It all turned out fine in the end; no one was hurt but it was a shocker to say the least.

We just returned Tuesday from Siesta Key, FL. They are 22 and 19 now. We were only gone Sat-Tues. Late Sat night the water heater died. We were told about it Sunday afternoon when I inquired how they were doing. Dh and I weighed whether to hire someone to come in vs. letting it wait til we get home and dh can easily do this himself. My dad lives about 2.5 miles away so they could shower at his house if they wanted to. Our friends we were traveling with have a home heating oil delivery business (+AC/heating, etc.) they offered to send someone there but admitted they'd have to buy it at Home Depot, which is not as ideal quality-wise as buying from a plumbing supply shop. We finally opted to wait and have dh do the work. At least the AC was doing well through the 112 degree heat index outside.

Then Monday's storm knocked so many trees down and we lost power. We have a generator so ds19 hooked it up just fine but plugged in his phone charger and TV. He never bothered to get the extra propane tanks filled or plugging in the fridge. :rolleyes: :headache: So we came home Tues afternoon rushing to get to the plumbing supply shop before they closed, with not even enough time to give dh some time to troubleshoot first and see if maybe the pilot needed to be relit or something simple. Sigh. I ran out to BJ's to buy & fill more propane tanks and get some takeout for dinner, came home noticing the fridge temp was 70 degrees by then. Ugh. So instead of unpacking and washing clothes from our trip at a leisurely pace, I was out grocery shopping at almost 9pm replacing all the things in the fridge that I wouldn't trust to not get us sick, so we'd have food for lunches to pack the next morning and milk for our coffee.

So none of these things were the kids' fault at all but certainly a challenge for them to handle/juggle things in our absence. It's all part of growing up and maturing I guess. They sure are appreciating a hot shower and internet this week. :teeth:

Sorry for the long winded story. In the end, you know your own kids best and know what they can handle.
 
Thanks for sharing your story. Our 2 sons are autistic and are 13 and 15 now and your life sounds very much like ours will in 10 years. We currently have about $35k in each of their 529s so I think whatever trade school or community college they go to (one won't even go to community college, I suspect), we should be covered. My oldest wants to be a pastry chef, and already runs his own home based baking business, but he is also the smart one who may end up taking classes towards an AA or certificate at the local CC. Good to know that we can withdraw the money penalty free if needed. We have been looking into Able accounts for them and didn't know how that would work if we wanted to use 529 money to fund it.
Let me add a detail - you can only withdraw the original investment (so anything it's made in the stock market over time doesn't count, just the money you put in, without the penalty) and they have to be on disability - meaning SSI, before age 22. The diagnosis alone isn't enough. Our son's Docs suggested we apply for him as the years went by and there was no improvement (he'd been seeing docs since age 2, so he had a GIANT medical file to go with the app) and he was in his late teens when we did this. It really looked like he wasn't going to be able to lead a normal life and would need something in place, they were right. He'll probably always live with us, I'm his caretaker basically and I've been grooming DS 24 too as caretaker (at his request, bless his heart) for a few years now in case something happens to me - he is close with his "little, big, bro" (DS 27 is much shorter, but older). If I'm sleeping or at the store, the next person he turns to if he needs something is DS 24 (DH is last, lol) so it makes sense. If you have any questions how this works, or how the 529 works when you start using it, let me know!
 
Do you mind if I join in though I will say it will be hoping on here and there especially over the next few months as it is busy time for me.
A week from Monday is the non livestock projects judging day for fair than 5 days starting that next weekend to the following weekend that we have to be down at the fair, but it has been cut down from 7 out of the 9 day events and the ones we do have to be there are not all day long. Should help the budget not to have to plan for getting breakfast at a fast food place on our way or in some cases dropping a kid off while I run and get something from a fast food place and a cofffee shop (there is very limited breakfast items until after 10 am and when your there between 7:30 and 8 that is not going to cut it. By limited I mean you can get milk, orange juice, apple juice, popcorn and pretzels unless you want to wait for a hotdog/corndog/polish, taco in a bag, or a not fit for human consumption cheeseburger (when you go to take the top bun off to put on condiments and half the bun sticks to the meat and what they call cheese it is not fit for human consumption) or some fries. Around 10 or so a local coffee stand opens up but they only carry coffee drinks and maybe muffins. While I will drink M Mudd over Starbucks I prefer going to C Brew which has a few food items-love their pecan rolls and muffins in the mornings with my lunch choice being ham and swiss or turky and cheddar crousant, and their banana bread at any time is delicious. The prices are a little lower and they have a rewards program that is generous. It has been years since I have been to a M Mudd location so I am not sure what they have (I stopped even stopping in when they were always out of the oreo or strawberry granitas or they could do one but only with strawberry syrup flavoring and not actual stawberries) Hey I have my standards here. Also will be only having to grab 1 meal and or maybe a snack instead of lunch, snack or two or three and dinner because we are there from 7:30 AM till 8 or 8: 30 PM and that only because they close the barns at that time (technically 8 but sometimes you have to wait till we can get the public out before leaving and if your group is the one doing security for an area that night you wait till it is all done. Which is a torture on your feet because your walking the 3/4 plus mile to your vehicle unless one of the employees feel sorry for you and give you a ride as the gators for the exhibitors do their last run at 8 PM unless there are people waiting and there is not room and you can catch it a bit late). I am figuring 80-100 dollars this year on food and snacks instead of 250-300 range that we spend most years due to the reduction in the number of days we need to be there and that the days we do need to be there being reduced hours. For example normally the first full day we are there for 13 hours where this year we will be there for 3.5-4 hours at most and possibly only 2.5-3 hours. Variance is going to depend on one of my 14 year old's events which while there is a general start time it is going to be effected by how late another event runs so if they can start on time and then it depends on how many kids they have and how many adults sign up to volunteer to participate as well (I normally due but am not this year as last year I tore my knee out and I don't think I can make it up the stairs to the stage. 3 weeks after fair is over the girls have record books due for the first check.

Goals for remainder of the year
Pay off paypal balance of 155 (should be done this month)
Emergency fund back up to 1K current 283
cut credit cards down to half of my limit which means a combined balance of 6K between them though would be happy if can reduce this by 2K for the year
Pay off personal installment loan from purchasing our car when our truck had the transmission go and the cost to just repair that was more than it was worth not counting all the other repairs needed to be done. Couldn't get an actual vehicle loan due to it being considered salvaged from hail damage. Current 896 balance

Personal
Loose 26 pounds to reach my first goal
Get the house cleaned and halfway organized without over doing it and puting myself out of comission with my fibro.
Figure out if we are staying with the same club for next year, transfering to another club, or getting together with a couple of other families in our current club and starting a new one. There have been a lot of changes not for the good this year especially since it has ment that those not taking a certain project are being treated as 2nd class citizens including that project doing a seperate fundraiser so they could purchase nice fancy decorations and nice jackets for the kids in that project while the rest of the kids are stuck with what they make out of poster board and the old wooden ones that we have already that have room to put Name shown by Name or Name with Name depending on which style ones can be found in whoever's house the items got stored at the previous year. As of right now the general plan is to stay with the current club for at least next year and see how things go though we are going to see how things work out this year at fair.
 
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Then Monday's storm knocked so many trees down and we lost power. We have a generator so ds19 hooked it up just fine but plugged in his phone charger and TV. He never bothered to get the extra propane tanks filled or plugging in the fridge
They sure are appreciating a hot shower and internet this week. :teeth:

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: you are making me flash back to the discussions dh and i had w/ our contractor some years back when we were making arrangements for our 'whole house' generator to be put in. i say it as 'whole house' b/c we had to pick and choose which electrical items would be hooked into the system. the contractor was surprised when i immediately told him that my top priorities were the fridges/freezer, well pump, hot water heater then tv and internet, never mentioning the dishwasher or washer/dryer. he said 'you know you can opt NOT to have power to some rooms like the non master b/r and forgo tv/internet to get those other essentials' to which i replied 'i've got 2 kids who have plenty of clothes they can wear and can eat off paper plates, i on the other hand can NOT handle dealing with those 2 kids for extended periods of time if they go unbathed and i can't separate them into their own rooms with their gaming systems and internet while i watch tv ALONE-those items are my TRUE essentials'. the contractor thought about for a second, said 'i have kids..........you make a VERY GOOD POINT, i may have to re-think how my system at home is set up'. we've been w/o power for as long as 9 days-never once regretted THAT decision:rotfl:

He'll probably always live with us, I'm his caretaker basically and I've been grooming DS 24 too as caretaker (at his request, bless his heart) for a few years now in case something happens to me - he is close with his "little, big, bro" (DS 27 is much shorter, but older).

that's great that they have a good relationship. i'm in a similar boat. we don't know when ds 22 might be able to try living apart from us but we know it would require HEAVY assistance. in any case our dd will likely take over his guardianship when we pass so one of our big projects this summer has been working with an attorney to set up our estate planning to make things are as easy as possible for dd when the time comes. it's been time consuming researching and not cheap getting things set up the way we want it to be but we don't want her to have to deal with all the responsibilities of guardianship along with being the 'money person' for ds so we are setting things up so a professional trust company will handle the estate settling, special needs trust and such. heck-dh and i both administered public assistance programs for many years but despite intimately knowing the eligibility rules it's still time consuming and a pain to deal with so for us we feel it's money well spent to protect dd as much as possible from having to take on that responsibility as well.
 
Update here. DH has been home for four weeks, eating better, walking every day. He's still got a week of vacation left and then he needs to decide what to do, go back to his job if it's even an option, keep looking (he's put in a lot of applications) or what. He doesn't know what he's going to do yet and that stresses me out on many levels but at the same time he's more relaxed, which is good. Meanwhile, DS18 got his roommate and dorm assignment and we have been buying stuff he'll need for college which is also stressful to me. Not the spending the money per se but the fact that he's leaving soon. We hardly go out anymore which is mostly fine because it's been a busy summer and I am tired, have not been spending as much in anticipation of whatever we're going to do next. And I have lost 8 pounds. I want to lose 8-10 more; I gained 15 this year. We're traveling next weekend to see family, just for the weekend and we'll spend some money then but I'm trying to see it as a getaway because I have not taken much vacation time this summer. I'll take two days next week and another two to move DS in, although he is only going an hour away. The other day will be recovery for me!! DS16 has been working a lot (lifeguard) and starts his fall sport in a couple weeks...too soon for the whole grind, I am not ready! That is my mantra this summer, lol.
 
Today, I'm choosing joy. We have debt, but we are working on it. We have health issues, but we are able to go here, there, and everywhere. August's extra check is already spent on "well, I didn't expect that." DD agreed that getting her own CC to charge books is not a good idea. I can choose to look at our debt and be overwhelmed, look at our carpet that is literally falling apart (way past warranty), have a pity party as the temps soar to 110...but today, I choose joy. Happy Friday, Debt Dumpers!
 


Let me add a detail - you can only withdraw the original investment (so anything it's made in the stock market over time doesn't count, just the money you put in, without the penalty) and they have to be on disability - meaning SSI, before age 22. The diagnosis alone isn't enough. Our son's Docs suggested we apply for him as the years went by and there was no improvement (he'd been seeing docs since age 2, so he had a GIANT medical file to go with the app) and he was in his late teens when we did this. It really looked like he wasn't going to be able to lead a normal life and would need something in place, they were right. He'll probably always live with us, I'm his caretaker basically and I've been grooming DS 24 too as caretaker (at his request, bless his heart) for a few years now in case something happens to me - he is close with his "little, big, bro" (DS 27 is much shorter, but older). If I'm sleeping or at the store, the next person he turns to if he needs something is DS 24 (DH is last, lol) so it makes sense. If you have any questions how this works, or how the 529 works when you start using it, let me know!
I am so glad your docs advised you this way. No one likes to consider their own mortality, but you have made things so much better for the future of both your children.

For decades my aunt and uncle refused to admit anything was really wrong with my cousin. They never had him officially diagnosed and never did anything with the SSA. He is now 35 and cannot support himself or live on his own. They are struggling with what to do for end of life planning as they age and get more feeble. I am not close enough to know what they all talk about, but only one of his siblings is in a financial position to care for him. He also has 4 children of his own 2 of which have smaller disabilities. I worry about hm often and know it weighs heavy on my uncle and aunt’s hearts.
 
I am so glad your docs advised you this way. No one likes to consider their own mortality, but you have made things so much better for the future of both your children.

For decades my aunt and uncle refused to admit anything was really wrong with my cousin. They never had him officially diagnosed and never did anything with the SSA. He is now 35 and cannot support himself or live on his own. They are struggling with what to do for end of life planning as they age and get more feeble. I am not close enough to know what they all talk about, but only one of his siblings is in a financial position to care for him. He also has 4 children of his own 2 of which have smaller disabilities. I worry about hm often and know it weighs heavy on my uncle and aunt’s hearts.

some people just don't want to have to face up to a diagnosis. they see the issues with their disabled child but don't want to actually hear what they've suspected but never wanted to believe b/c then it becomes real to them.

in addition to it dis-serving the child w/ regards to treatment/assistance that could greatly improve their lives in the present not getting a diagnosis when a child is STILL A CHILD can have devastating financial implications. a diagnosis that shows it's onset before age 22 can mean a parent's health insurer has to continue carrying the child well beyond the standard age cut-off, for some old pension plans it can mean a parent can opt out of naming their spouse as the death beneficiary in favor of the disabled adult child, and as is the case w/my ds-b/c i was already disabled/receiving social security it meant that he was eligible to use my work quarters and qualify not for ssi/medicaid but ssd and full blown mediCARE with a much better level of payment and medical coverage. there are a wealth of services that extend throughout a disabled persons lifetime that absent that pre age 22 diagnosis they will never be eligible to.
 
so dish tv got installed today so i had to make the dreaded call to direct tv to cancel. i've read the horror stories on them coming up with a counter argument for any reason you come up with (and they won't take a simple 'i don't want it') so i wracked my brain for a reason beyond arguing............

i told them we are going off the grid. the rep said 'you mean like in the mountains with no electricity off the grid?' i replied 'yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup, none of that fancy electrical stuff for us anymore'. there was a moment of silence after which he said 'WOW that's like a major life style shift....we'll set you up for disconnect but remember that direct tv will be waiting for you if you decide to return to the grid':rotfl::rotfl:
 
I am so glad your docs advised you this way. No one likes to consider their own mortality, but you have made things so much better for the future of both your children.

For decades my aunt and uncle refused to admit anything was really wrong with my cousin. They never had him officially diagnosed and never did anything with the SSA. He is now 35 and cannot support himself or live on his own. They are struggling with what to do for end of life planning as they age and get more feeble. I am not close enough to know what they all talk about, but only one of his siblings is in a financial position to care for him. He also has 4 children of his own 2 of which have smaller disabilities. I worry about hm often and know it weighs heavy on my uncle and aunt’s hearts.
I don't know how close you are to this side of your family, but it's never too late to get a diagnosis and apply for disability. My older bro is bipolar, only diagnosed about 10 years ago (age 49). Takes longer, more hoops to jump through, but he eventually got what he needed. If you can't talk to the aunt/uncle, maybe the sibling? Or, whomever you are getting the info. from might be able to pass that info. along. There's always hope!
 
Today, I'm choosing joy. We have debt, but we are working on it. We have health issues, but we are able to go here, there, and everywhere. August's extra check is already spent on "well, I didn't expect that." DD agreed that getting her own CC to charge books is not a good idea. I can choose to look at our debt and be overwhelmed, look at our carpet that is literally falling apart (way past warranty), have a pity party as the temps soar to 110...but today, I choose joy. Happy Friday, Debt Dumpers!
That is a lovely place to be! I dig your enthusiasm, and choose to join in - how about we carry that over to the weekend!
 
I don't know how close you are to this side of your family, but it's never too late to get a diagnosis and apply for disability. My older bro is bipolar, only diagnosed about 10 years ago (age 49). Takes longer, more hoops to jump through, but he eventually got what he needed. If you can't talk to the aunt/uncle, maybe the sibling? Or, whomever you are getting the info. from might be able to pass that info. along. There's always hope!
Thank you very much. My aunt and I discussed the SSDI thing a few years ago, and I know they have talked recently with my parents that they are concerned. The situation is more confusing in that my aunt and uncle have permanent residency in Mexico, but somehow related to all this I don’t think my cousin qualifies. I know he still has to return to the states every 6 months for visa stuff, and it is getting harder because he can’t really do it on his own. They have sought advice from lawyers or social workers, but if there is an option they might feel it is to expensive or exhaustive for them to try to tackle at this point. I know my cousin has started taking care of their financial planning stateside (he didn’t want to lol!). I just keep hoping and praying that they are able to work something out. You give me hope they may be successful.
 
Spent today volunteering at an outreach for low income, homeless, and veterans. Had a great time running one of the information tables. Was supposed to be in charge of coordinating the clothing area but it was decided to move me to the table since I have a voice that projects. We gave away a bunch of clothing. I had one little girl around 10-11 come up to me and ask if she could get some clothes even though her parent didn't want to come. I was able to send her to one of the ladies helping in that area and she got a personal helper to pick out some cute things that hopefully she will enjoy getting to wear to school this fall. We had people lined up when I got there 1.5 hours before the event even started so that they could get clothes. Makes me so greatful that while I need to watch sales, shop some at thrift shops and use ross a lot to get clothing for my girls I can get them a few items when they need them. 14 year old DD was able to get some candid shots of the day though she wasn't feeling that great with her legs hurting her (I think it is a lack of magnesium since it runs in my side of the family-my grandmother had problems with this, my maternal aunt and mom both do, and I do as well but she refused to even try putting one of the magnesium effervesent tablets in a bottle of water that she drank down a bit because you don't wan to put those in a full bottle or else it will explode-Yes I have done this and it made a mess luckily I was outside so it just got all over the grass and rocks not my floors.
Plan for tomorrow is to work on clearing off a table and the picking up items on the floor around it. I am going to bibe 14 year old to help me by stating that if it is done by 1 PM I will run in and get the items that she and her sister need for their photo story shoots. I figure if I leave the house a little after that I can get to the store get the stuff needed for both the taco salad that 14 year old is doing for her photo story and the miracle gelatin salad that 11 year old is doing for hers and get home and get everything made by 3 PM so DH has 30 minutes to eat before heading to work.
 
All caught up reading from last week. Wow- a lot going on!! This was a delightful week of not really going anywhere (except Gainesville)- I love the World and Uni but sometimes it's good to just stay home. While at UF we were able to see the first floor of DD's dorm. It's a pretty cool building because it houses the students who are dependent on wheelchairs (they have lifts in their rooms and accessible bathrooms- 19 units- think J.J. from Speechless). We didn't expect to be able to even go in but the doors opened and the young lady at the desk said we were welcome to explore the first floor. Unfortunately we didn't have time to scope out the locations of DD's classes. Oh well- can't do everything. Finished buying her books- at least the ones we could- so that was another $188.
DH and I sold our third car- once we figured out that DD was not going to take a car to school we figured that we really didn't need it. It served it's purpose for when she was a beginning driver and needed to get to school. I was a little sad because I picked out the car and felt like this was just another thing I was losing as she moves on into the next chapter of her life. The money we made on it is going into a savings account for the next car. On the plus side we now have plenty of room in the driveway- no longer do I have to get out of the car before DH parks it!
In exciting news, after weeks of stalking, DD was able to get us booked for the Passholder Preview at SWGE! She is soooo excited. DH- not so much. He's not a Disney guy and when she laid out her plan to rent a ZipCar, drive to Orlando, go the the preview, get a hotel (ummm would they even let her?), and get back to campus the next morning- he put his foot down. Instead- much to my everlasting surprise- he said he would drive and ensure that he would be there "in case something happens". I couldn't believe that he made such a generous offer. I hope she appreciates it. Then he decided that he didn't want her going into SWGE alone so he's flying me down to Orlando for about 30 hours so I can go with her. Eeek!!
Gah- just had a depressing thought- I go back to work one month from today. Blech.
This week I am going up to my parents (they live about an hour and a half away) because my mom is having cataracts surgery. I'm happy she's able to get it done because she is the sole driver (my dad can drive short distances but I don't think he should!) and her vision has deteriorated quite fast. As in within a month she went from okey dokey to- eeesh- I can't see very well. I'm just going for the day in case my dad needs anything and of course to make sure my mom is OK. On the plus side at least it's an eyeball and she won't have any issues with mobility, etc. She just won't be able to drive for a bit.
I hope everyone has a wonderful week!
 
so dish tv got installed today so i had to make the dreaded call to direct tv to cancel. i've read the horror stories on them coming up with a counter argument for any reason you come up with (and they won't take a simple 'i don't want it') so i wracked my brain for a reason beyond arguing............

i told them we are going off the grid. the rep said 'you mean like in the mountains with no electricity off the grid?' i replied 'yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup, none of that fancy electrical stuff for us anymore'. there was a moment of silence after which he said 'WOW that's like a major life style shift....we'll set you up for disconnect but remember that direct tv will be waiting for you if you decide to return to the grid':rotfl::rotfl:
That's gotta be the funniest disconnection story I've EVER heard!!! Kudos!
 
So, DH is finally settled in Japan and we just realized that we will be making an extra $1300/month in non taxable income! Woohoo! Since he is over there unaccompanied, he gets all kinds of allowances (cost of living allowance, family separation pay) and our lovely home state of CA does not tax military income earned outside of the state, so that's an extra $300/month in taxes no longer being withheld. That's like me getting a part time job at minimum wage! LOL! We were moaning and groaning about all the expenses he has had with moving over there (had to buy a car, car insurance for the year...you pay upfront for the whole year over there..., random things for his apartment, etc) but this really takes the sting out of those.

This will really help us with our savings goals. Our spending for the month is already DRASTICALLY down. I have 2 cars here and filled them both up with gas 2.5 weeks ago and they are both still about 7/8 full. I suspect I will only need to fill up on gas every other month, if that. Groceries are so much less since I'm not really cooking full meals, just buying fruits, veggies, milk/yogurt and meats for the most part. I bought a $5 Costco rotisserie chicken and it lasted me all week! I am trying to eat out of the pantry and freezer because I have a lot of food in there. I also am limiting my non grocery spending to $100/week. This includes random Amazon purchases and eating out with my kids. Last week, kids were sick, so we stayed home all week and spent nothing but grocery money. So far, we are at like 1/3 of our normal spending, which is great, and this includes DH spending about $1000 on "one time" expenses that won't recur going forward. I, personally, have spent less than $500 since he left on the 10th.

All in all, we are on track to put away $4000 next month into savings (3/4 into long term savings, 1/4 into vacation savings). We are planning a Hawaii trip for Spring Break and I will be going to Tokyo sometime later in the spring, likely May.

I do have to buy him a plane ticket to come home for Christmas (yay!), but we have $375 worth of Chase UR points towards travel, and will use that to help, since one RT ticket will be around $1000. I think I will wait until our next statement posts so we will have a bit more points to put towards that.

Overall, I'm feeling very optimistic about the coming year. I put DH on a budget of $1000/month which he has agreed to stick to. Surprisingly, we are finding that things over there are quite a bit cheaper than where we live. It's ironic that the government pays out a COLA over there when things actually cost more over here.
 
We opted not to do the Galaxy's Edge Preview. My husband didn't feel as though we would really be able to go and stay disciplined with money. He's probably right! He gets paid Wednesday and I was able to view his check today- he had 49 hours of overtime (he gets paid 1x per month). The check amount looks pretty good and I think we should be able to make some strides on things. We have a budget with things listed if his check is this much or this much etc. and I can't remember what that number was so I will have to check when I get home from work. I know we will be buying the Christmas party tickets for our trip and we are going to a concert in November with his mom and sisters so we need to pay for those tickets as well.

We have friends coming into town to stay with us this weekend. I'm assuming they won't be around much as they will be up at the motorcycle rally but we have money budgeted to do some meals together if they are around.
 
So, DH is finally settled in Japan and we just realized that we will be making an extra $1300/month in non taxable income! Woohoo! Since he is over there unaccompanied, he gets all kinds of allowances (cost of living allowance, family separation pay) and our lovely home state of CA does not tax military income earned outside of the state, so that's an extra $300/month in taxes no longer being withheld. That's like me getting a part time job at minimum wage! LOL! We were moaning and groaning about all the expenses he has had with moving over there (had to buy a car, car insurance for the year...you pay upfront for the whole year over there..., random things for his apartment, etc) but this really takes the sting out of those.

This will really help us with our savings goals. Our spending for the month is already DRASTICALLY down. I have 2 cars here and filled them both up with gas 2.5 weeks ago and they are both still about 7/8 full. I suspect I will only need to fill up on gas every other month, if that. Groceries are so much less since I'm not really cooking full meals, just buying fruits, veggies, milk/yogurt and meats for the most part. I bought a $5 Costco rotisserie chicken and it lasted me all week! I am trying to eat out of the pantry and freezer because I have a lot of food in there. I also am limiting my non grocery spending to $100/week. This includes random Amazon purchases and eating out with my kids. Last week, kids were sick, so we stayed home all week and spent nothing but grocery money. So far, we are at like 1/3 of our normal spending, which is great, and this includes DH spending about $1000 on "one time" expenses that won't recur going forward. I, personally, have spent less than $500 since he left on the 10th.

All in all, we are on track to put away $4000 next month into savings (3/4 into long term savings, 1/4 into vacation savings). We are planning a Hawaii trip for Spring Break and I will be going to Tokyo sometime later in the spring, likely May.

I do have to buy him a plane ticket to come home for Christmas (yay!), but we have $375 worth of Chase UR points towards travel, and will use that to help, since one RT ticket will be around $1000. I think I will wait until our next statement posts so we will have a bit more points to put towards that.

Overall, I'm feeling very optimistic about the coming year. I put DH on a budget of $1000/month which he has agreed to stick to. Surprisingly, we are finding that things over there are quite a bit cheaper than where we live. It's ironic that the government pays out a COLA over there when things actually cost more over here.
I remember the times when my DH went overseas or deployed, the non taxable income is nice. The difference in hours is hard for talks, his morning was my evening. And a lot of other things weigh in, made sometimes difficult but got through just the same. It's great to have plans like Christmas and then Hawaii to look forward to!

We opted not to do the Galaxy's Edge Preview. My husband didn't feel as though we would really be able to go and stay disciplined with money. He's probably right! He gets paid Wednesday and I was able to view his check today- he had 49 hours of overtime (he gets paid 1x per month). The check amount looks pretty good and I think we should be able to make some strides on things. We have a budget with things listed if his check is this much or this much etc. and I can't remember what that number was so I will have to check when I get home from work. I know we will be buying the Christmas party tickets for our trip and we are going to a concert in November with his mom and sisters so we need to pay for those tickets as well.

We have friends coming into town to stay with us this weekend. I'm assuming they won't be around much as they will be up at the motorcycle rally but we have money budgeted to do some meals together if they are around.
The Galaxy's Edge Preview seems like something I'd wait on, too. Unless you're a diehard Star Wars fan! Not sure how much the preview ran, but no doubt it was probably pricey.
 
The Galaxy's Edge Preview seems like something I'd wait on, too. Unless you're a diehard Star Wars fan! Not sure how much the preview ran, but no doubt it was probably pricey.

The preview itself is free, unless you want to build a lightsaber or if you're going to spend $ in Oga's Cantina. It doesn't cost anything extra to ride Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run or walk around the new area.

We have decided to go to the preview, but we're going to bring DS12 with us so that should make things easier for our older two (20, 18). We just replaced our hot water heater a few months ago, so we're hoping they can keep things together for the two days we're gone. If not, we have family closeby who can help.
 

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