Since my last post, I donated $100 to the daughter of an Army family we are friends with. She is raising money for a diabetic alert dog. She was super excited to receive the donation. I hope she can get the funding soon, as I know it will provide peace of mind to her and her mom.
I sold a Wii workout game online and made a couple dollars. After that transaction, I sent the profits from recent sales to our Big Goal. It's just $15, but it counts.
We spent Saturday at an RV show. Paid $30 to get in the door and $5 for parking. We also needed a snack before we left for lunch, easily over $10 at those concession prices. This activity was a picked as a birthday outing for my husband, so the money was budgeted. My husband is very interested in traveling in an RV after we retire. My biggest concern isn't the money, but the size of these things. They are huge, not that we would get the largest ones. Most likely the travel trailer versions. But I dislike interstate driving in my van, why would I want to drive something so large?! Truth is I probably would not be driving it at all. Only in an emergency situation. But all three of us really enjoyed checking out all the options and features of the RVs. Oh, and we drove 1.5 hours each way to check it out, so it was an adventure!
I recently had my wedding ring repaired. The main reason for the repair was it was cut off last time I was pregnant and ballooned up overnight and it was painful on my finger. The ring needed a new claw to hold the diamond. And I had to add gold to upsize it. In the end my repair cost me $172. If you are paying attention at all, yes, my youngest child is 17...so this is long overdue! I'm so happy to have it done though. It feels like a brand new ring.
Our entertainment budget has ballooned in the last couple weeks, as we have been attending away football games and competitions. I think we have just two more games and two more competitions. Admission and usually money for our daughter to get a snack add up! My husband and I are doing better about eating something before and holding our expense to a water if needed.
We are probably saving big on electricity this month. The weather has cooled considerably. Enough that we needed to switch to heat for a couple mornings. That switch to heat made us aware that our lower unit is not working at all. In fact, even with the thermostat on the wall off, the outside unit fan was still running! I turned it off at the main panel as soon as I noticed. Our landlord is aware and this is after a recent visit by professionals who have said the compressor is out entirely. So I think we are now waiting for a compressor to be ordered and then schedule. In the meantime, weather is mild and our electric usage should drop. At least I hope so!!
We've started digging into our stash of hurricane supplies. The season officially ends December 1, but I feel pretty confident our area is not going to be impacted this year. So this will help the budget a bit in the coming weeks as I make a point to use it up.
And finally, I purchased a new cell phone. Originally was leaning towards an iPhone, but decided the one I was interested based on price, the SE, was simply too small for my over 40 year eye sight! I ended up with a Motorola Z Play Droid from Verizon. Price was $335 or $14 a month. I will get a 5% discount each month on that portion ($0.70) by using my US Bank card. I made my last phone last 3.5 years, so If I can do the same with this one it will be well worth the money.
Busy month, plenty of spending, but it's all good.
Since My Last Post
October 23rd, 2017 at 12:26 pm
October 23rd, 2017 at 01:49 pm 1508766585
Battery life is not great even after a few months. The screen is less fragile than others. Overall, I would give it a B-.
October 23rd, 2017 at 01:54 pm 1508766873
October 23rd, 2017 at 03:08 pm 1508771288
As far as the RV. You might consider looking into renting one for a weekend or so. There is a place in our small little town that rents them and will even drive them to your camping site so you can decide if you really like it. I realize this is a retirement goal, but it might help you decide if you really want to go this route.
October 23rd, 2017 at 04:29 pm 1508776157
October 23rd, 2017 at 04:44 pm 1508777077
October 23rd, 2017 at 06:14 pm 1508782496
Yes, I'm very aware of the need to drive the RVs. And rent first. Possibly buy use. This is just part of the process of making decisions over the next five years or six years.
October 23rd, 2017 at 11:28 pm 1508801293
Preshopping when you know a purchase is likely soon does help. I eliminated the fancy Samsungs and Apples quickly around Christmas, and I did not like the cheap phones at the Verizon store. When the time to buy arrived, my choices were already narrowed down.
October 24th, 2017 at 01:06 am 1508807178
As far as the RV, I don't know much about them but absolutely love them, I watch a program called Luxury RVs love it.
Not sure if anyone here is aware, but there's local groups called OfferUp on Facebook, you can pretty much buy anything you want at half price, I know someone who got her iPhone through the group.
April 5th, 2019 at 04:00 pm 1554480034