Layout:
Home > Triple Dip & This & That

Triple Dip & This & That

September 29th, 2013 at 02:36 pm

**Dh got his *triple drip* credit card and the points are already showing up for us. Wahoo! Citi - because Citi really really wants him.

I charged $1,000 to our health insurer a few days ago (which included maybe $100 for next month) and I just logged in to check the charge. The statement had closed and the points were there. Dh has to call and redeem for a check to our mortgage company. I read you can just deposit these checks to your bank - and our primary checking account is also with our mortgage holder. Nothing to lose with just trying to deposit it.

**Closed some old credit union accounts - got all our money moved around.

**Dh finally returned his old (broken) phone to Sprint. I figured he might get something. He got $10.

Reminds me, no 4G yet. Dh called to complain again (our credits ran out) and they acted like he had to call back next month. I just sent him the bill that showed that we paid full price for *last* month. So he knows when he calls back to ask for at least 2 months of credit. {I think they saw the other $10 credit and that might have confused them}. The short story is they have been telling us for 18 months that we will get 4G "any second." In the meantime, we barely get even like 1/10 their advertised speeds. It's horrid. They gave us "40% off" the last 4 months and basically said they will do that until we get 4G. But that we would have to check back after 4 months. I have been snowflaking those credits to the mortgage, and will continue to do so when the credits materialize again.

------------------------------------------------------

We acheived a low-spend month on the discretionary spending this month. I can't believe it's already the 29th!! It's been very "tax season" like. Working working working, earning, earning, earning - certainly no time to spend any money.

I was just peeking and we spent $136 on gas this month, and $500 on groceries. & we are done for this month. $500 is right on budget, but included a huge food stock up for our road trip (next month). So, I am pleased with that. Going under this month (stocking up ahead) buys us a little more wiggle room for next month. & November will be another easy month to scale back. Short month, and I will be working tons. We usually budget $300 for gas, but that is usually a worse case month and the only place we really have any room for misc. spending. Still, we probably usually spend around $200. Obviously the carpool is working out well and helping. We are probably driving more than last year (for school) but not a lot.

That said, everything else has completely gone to heck. Still is. It never ends this year. So I can't really boast a true "low-spend" month. Just relieved we were cheap enough to buy us some wiggle room.

We also splurged this week on a night out. It was our 13 year wedding anniversary, and we had a great night out!! A new restaurant in our neighborhood was *divine* and overall pretty reasonable, but we ended up spending way more on daycare than planned. So, a $70 night out. Which I don't think either of us would have particularly planned. But, we got saved by the bell. Grandma sent us a $70 check for our anniversary. Very nice!! Big Grin So I am definitely glad we splurged. That date always seem to be charmed for us.

We'd have probably just gone out to lunch, but we had a free hour of childcare, and if we didn't use the place we would lose our registration. Which I was fine with, but dh really wanted to go out and figured it wouldn't hurt to keep our registration there. (Though we mostly have not used the drop-in place for 2 years). We both weren't thinking - only one of the kids had a free hour - and dh had also told them they could eat there (which cost more). So, ugh. Turned into an expensive night!

Oh, but the kids need all sorts of dental work. The extra tooth that LM has and we were told is "no problem" for the last 5 or so years? *This week* an extra permanent tooth showed up on his x-rays. Oy vey!! (I don't know how rare or common that is - but they never told us that was a possibility - seems rare talking to others who had extra baby teeth. They just so confidently told us all along not to worry about it). BM also has some problems. Lots of tooth pulling, and just crossing my fingers that is all. *sigh*

Anyway, so how is that for mixed money news? It's all good and bad and seems to even out in the middle.

---------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------

I didn't finish or publish this post yesterday so have more to add:

**I got a Free $10 coupon from Kohls ($10 minimum purchase) after griping I haven't gotten one in *forever.* Yay!!

**Will not be able to redeem any rewards to ROTH this month because have not been using that card at all. Our credit union is giving us 2% back for another month (& rather support the credit union and use a visa).

But, earned $40 in the CU visa (gets redeemed in January) We usually barely use the card and the rewards don't usually amount to a ton - so the "once a year redemption" is usually not a big deal. At least they ran this promotion at the end of the year...

I was able to redeem $25 on our American Express (added it to next mortgage payment).

**If I add $165-ish to our next mortgage payment, we will dip below $190k. The mortgage has been of extreme low priority because this year has been so crazy expensive (home repairs mostly). BUT, I think I can scrounge up $165 for that psychological milestone.

5 Responses to “Triple Dip & This & That”

  1. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1380491095

    So, your DH has 6 months left of his contract right? Is he planning on switching to a different carrier when the contract is up? That would be so aggravating, having to call and fuss like that.

    That's neat how you got a Kohl's cash coupon just after saying you hadn't had one in forever. Smile

  2. MonkeyMama Says:
    1380499445

    I have no idea. He's talked me into going back to Verizon ($$$) - I am over it - but I didn't get the impression he was overly keen on that. I think he is still hopeful that 4G might actually materialize. I also think we are in contract until May, but he can get a subsidized phone replacement in January (I have no idea why). So, I figure we will be running a lot of numbers in January - including the cost to break the contract. (Because he can't stand to keep his replacement phone any longer than January - he is just resigned to waiting for January from a cost standpoint). Will see...

    The only reason we are considering staying is because the service is so cheap with all the credits. If they had not responded to our endless complaints, would be a whole other story.

  3. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1380507309

    Cell phone carriers/services can be so aggravating. I hope it does work out that you get 4G in your area. It's pretty bizarre that here in the desert of NM I have 4G service, but you in a large city / populated area, don't.

  4. MonkeyMama Says:
    1380547322

    It sounds bizarre, but the reason is population. At least we found out that is why the 3G is so SLOW here - because the bandwith is shared by so many people. The 4G also seems easier to roll out in smaller areas. (We have a few pockets in our region - but it's taking a LONG time to get full coverage. They have only started putting it in the past few months).

    Of course, this means 4G has been lightning fast when we experience it in the middle of nowhere, but you wonder how bogged down it will eventually get, too, in a region of 3 million people.

  5. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1380584225

    Interesting ... so that may be one advantage to living here. Smile

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]