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Where are you spending your money – August, 2021

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Sometime back, I would post regular updates on where I had money going that week or month. I cannot remember the cadence. It might be a good idea for me to revisit that strategy to hold me more accountable.

The goal will be to publish where I plan to spend money every month. I realize I’m starting towards the middle of this month so many of my budgeted items have already been paid, so I’m starting with just those that have not already been paid or in many cases, are waiting to be cashed, having been sent previously.

For the remainder of August, these are my line items:

Amazon-500
Giving-300
Groceries-200
House – Electrical-750
House – Flooring-1690
Kennel-400
Lawn Care-100
Auto – Gas-100
Student Loan – interest only-163
Netflix-18
Gym-50
Princess college-1500
Princess move-200

The Details

I think most of these line items are pretty self explanatory, but I will do my best to predict the ones that might not be.

Amazon

I still have an open line of credit with Amazon which I use regularly for many subscribe and save items…Using this credit line gets me discounts on the items and cash back on the line of credit. I pay it off every month and rarely spend more than a hundred or so. These items include: toilet paper, trash bags, toothpaste, soap and now dog food.

That is not why the bill is $500 this month…I bought myself a dishwasher. It is a fancy one but I got a great deal and have been watching it for years. We have not had a dishwasher in 7ish years. I’m so freaking excited!

It should get here towards the end of the month and I should be able to install it myself with minimal outside help.

Housing Bills

Since purchasing the house, I have tackled a few larger projects that I felt were more needs than wants…

I am replacing all the old linoleum that was 50ish years old, pulling up and just pretty terrible with ceramic tile. One bathroom, the kitchen, dining room and laundry room are done and the other bathroom is prepped and ready for floor.  I’ve used the same tile throughout.

This cost includes tile for a kitchen backsplash which I hope to install myself when it gets a little cooler. They had 10 boxes of white subway tile on clearance, dirt cheap so I got them all.

The electrical bills were to install outlets in the kitchen. We literally had 1 outlet on the 2 walls of the old kitchen. And I had to get one installed to hook up my new dishwasher.

Kennel

The kennel costs are estimated as I’m not sure what it will cost. But I am paying $200 for my new puppy to attend a obedience class. (It’s been decades since I had a puppy so I’m really good at spoiling her, but not so much as training.)

And then I’m boarding her for Princess’ move. I’ve asked for a quote, but haven’t received it yet.

What do you think of this new monthly post? I think it will help keep me much more accountable for how I’m spending my money every month.

Hope’s Debt Update – August, 2021

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Wow, I went back looking for my last complete debt update. Has it really been since January? I guess when I write small updates, I assume all the pieces flow together. Now I realize that may not be the case, I will be more diligent about giving complete updates.

Creditor
Original Debt
Last Update
Current Balance
Interest
Min. Req. Pymt.
Student Loan #2$21,750.03$19,242.59$16,948.622.88%$0
Honda HRV$21,200.00$12,769.08
$8,485.02
3%$600
Hearing Aids - New debt Aug, 2021$4,500$4,5000%?
Total$64,450.03$36,511.67$25,433.64$600

The details

This year has certainly turned into something I never expected – great new job, great new steady income, 6 week bout with illness and buying a house. All with not the one child I thought would be here this year, but three – Gymnast chose to stay last summer and Beauty moved in for her senior year. Never would have guessed how this year would go.

Therefore, it’s not surprise that my financial plan has been all over the place as well.

The Car

If memory serves, and I’m sure someone with a better memory then I will remember, I originally planned to have my car paid off by June. But then I went and got sick and bought a house…and here we are in August. This month, I plan to pay off Princess first semester of college. I’ve been making payments since we got the bill and the total due is now down to $2,000. (Her father did pay $413 of the $3,913 bill.)

That being said…I cut back on my car payment this month to assure I had enough to cover bill in its entirety. (I am still hoping her dad will come through with more but he is non-committal.)

With that being said…I am still on target to pay the car off next month! I will keep you posted.

Student Loans

When I was preparing to purchase my home back in May, I became worried that there would be unexpected expenses and I feared that surprise. As a result, I call my lender to ask for a one month deferment, only to learn that somehow my loans have been put into deferment until next June. I missed that news completely. I’m guessing some COVID mandate again.

Well, once I heard that news, I cancelled my auto pay and I’m sad to report that I’ve not made another payment since. But am remedying that now by turning on minimum payments ($307) for now.

New Ears

I wrote last week about my newest debt. I have ended up financing $4,500 of the cost, paying cash for the rest. And I have a year to pay it off with 0%. I haven’t received details on the loan yet, so am guessing my first payment will be due in September.

I also won’t know what insurance will contribute for at least that long. But after a call to insurance, it should be around $800, possibly more.

So this is where I am at today…as mentioned earlier, I will be more consistent with complete debt updates.