Author Topic: What month is your "good" month?  (Read 10048 times)

snshijuptr

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What month is your "good" month?
« on: February 04, 2015, 04:26:28 PM »
Historically February is always a banner month in our house, financially. We usually spend WAY less than we would expect from a combination of less days, the AMEX Costco check, and the end of the holidays, and we tend to get extra money. This year we already got a reimbursement from our escrow and my boss offered me a pay raise. I feel like February is always a good month financially.

Is it the same for others? Do you have a different month that rocks financially?

2Birds1Stone

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #1 on: February 04, 2015, 04:29:10 PM »
January for me. Get employer contribution to HSA, have gift cards to spend vs earnings.

ncornilsen

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #2 on: February 04, 2015, 04:30:30 PM »
Feb.
-ESPP shares become available
-late January Bonus
-Tax Returns

frugalecon

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #3 on: February 04, 2015, 04:48:58 PM »
I have two extra good months per year because I get paid biweekly, so two months out of the year I get three pay checks.

A whole extra pay check to blow on extra stuff!

Just kidding...

netskyblue

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #4 on: February 04, 2015, 05:59:19 PM »
January.  I'm always most committed in January. 

Zikoris

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #5 on: February 04, 2015, 06:37:47 PM »
We tend to spend less in the winter overall, January through April. Last year February was our best month ever at $1183 total spending. We'll see for this year.

mustachianteacher

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #6 on: February 04, 2015, 07:59:21 PM »
September is usually pretty awesome, closely followed by February. September is a super busy month at work, and there are no birthdays or major holidays that cost money, and February is just so nice and short. :-)

Davids

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #7 on: February 04, 2015, 08:40:38 PM »
I guess March because that is when we get our bonus.

MoneyCat

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #8 on: February 04, 2015, 08:48:29 PM »
February is a good month because I get two paychecks for fewer days plus I still have some gift cards left over from Christmas.  I also enjoy July and August, because those are my furlough months from teaching and I use money I saved all year for bills, so everything I make from my summer jobs goes towards investments.  I think this summer I'll work for Leapforce to make some extra money to put toward my student loans.

dunhamjr

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #9 on: February 04, 2015, 10:42:58 PM »
December and January.
Yearly performance bonus shows up in December.
January is when merit increase hits plus my RSUs vests.

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #10 on: February 05, 2015, 02:37:37 AM »
February/March.

The damage done by holiday spending/travel is sustained in Dec/Jan. As a result, January is usually a chill/relaxed month without a ton of crazy spending. Couple this with the possibility of a tax refund (had a very small one last year, owed a small amount of money a few years ago), and you have a recipe for banner months in Feb/Mar.

SaintM

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #11 on: February 05, 2015, 04:04:05 AM »
Every month that there is air to breathe is a good month in my world.

boarder42

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #12 on: February 05, 2015, 06:34:04 AM »
all months are good months.

But i get a bonus in December
I get my Company ESOP contribuition in March
We find out our share price increase in April
we get our new shares with the money from march in May

First quarter ESOP dividend April
Second quarter July
3rd quarter october
4th quarter December

I do my charity event for the Boys and Girls Club in July

If the market has an amazing month any month thats a good month.
If the market has  a bad month any month thats a good month (ie my purchasing power increased so i get more shares)

you can find good in every month

oinkette

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #13 on: February 05, 2015, 01:53:15 PM »
January

  • I get an escrow check back, if any.
  • 1st three pay day month of the year (for us biweekly folk)!
  • I at least know what my refund will be, even if I don't get it until February or March
  • I get to use up all the gift cards I got for Christmas instead of using my own cash. I usually ask for practical stuff (Target, gas, etc.) or stuff I can't quit (Starbucks).

galliver

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #14 on: February 05, 2015, 02:17:34 PM »
I was surprised that it was October, even though it was my and bf's birthday-month! Perhaps I tend to crack down before the holidays...February runs a close second (cracking down *after* the holidays, haha). I was going by net income by month over past 3 years in Mint (only goes back to Sep 2011, my earnings as an adult go back one more year). Excluded the sizeable fellowship deposits I got last March and the previous September, since that was a one-time thing.

PEIslander

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #15 on: February 05, 2015, 02:34:16 PM »
all months are good months.

January - It's a new year!
February - Valentines Day gets me twitterpated
March - Spring Break!
April - My bride & I have our Birthdays
May - Winter is almost over! (I live in Canada)
June - Birds return our Island to nest
July - Summer finally arrives! (again - I live in Canada)
August - Time to drink beer in the sunshine listening to Bob Marley
September - Kids return to school
October - Harvest time. mmmm - pumpkin pie
November - Great hiking weather
December - First "Snow Day"...
« Last Edit: February 05, 2015, 02:36:08 PM by PEIslander »

ShoulderThingThatGoesUp

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #16 on: February 05, 2015, 02:40:31 PM »
Get my peformance raise in April.

FarmerPete

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #17 on: February 05, 2015, 02:45:11 PM »
Since I follow the "Budget on last month's income" the month after a triple paycheck month or an excessive amount of on-call time are great.  I tend to put that excess 100% towards savings.

BlueMR2

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #18 on: February 05, 2015, 02:49:10 PM »
May.

For whatever reason, that's the one with the best income/expense ratio.  Apparently I just have the least number of bills due then as we don't do anything different on purpose that month.  :-)

boy_bye

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #19 on: February 05, 2015, 03:58:31 PM »
february -- that's when ESPP comes through and the last few years i've been work-traveling for a lot of feb so my expenses are covered
april -- raises and bonuses come through
august -- 2nd ESPP round comes through and RSUs vest / can be sold

this year august is going to be spendy, though, cos we're moving cross country.

Terrestrial

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #20 on: February 05, 2015, 08:01:28 PM »
April. no doubt. 

-Bonus hits.
-Receive my new allocation of company shares, stock gets revalued on the shares I already own (generally up), receive my profit distribution dividend.
-Occasionally get a tax refund around this time (though not always and often it's not a game changer, i manage to balance pretty well most years).
-Is sometimes a 'three paycheck' month for either me or my wife (i budget on 2 paychecks/month for each of us...the 4 extras per year are savings/vacation/large expense extras).

This thread started to get me excited...april in a good year can be a solid 5 figures more boost to investments/net worth than a normal month will be, and judging by last year's financials, it's going to be a good april :).  I just noticed this April will also be a three paycheck month to boot!
« Last Edit: February 05, 2015, 08:03:33 PM by Terrestrial »

aspiringnomad

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #21 on: February 05, 2015, 10:03:43 PM »
December, easily for me. Annual bonus plus it's usually a three paycheck month.

pdxvandal

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #22 on: February 06, 2015, 12:44:31 AM »
December. Spending is slightly higher due to the holidays, but year-end/quarterly dividends were 3k for the month. Plus, I have a side job in the winter in addition to regular job.

worms

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #23 on: February 06, 2015, 12:47:20 AM »
February and March, as property tax here is on a ten month collection schedule giving two 'free' months at the end of the financial year.

arebelspy

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #24 on: February 06, 2015, 02:35:58 PM »
All of them are good months.

All months are the same, actually, besides April, where we pay a bunch in taxes.  They're all good though.
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ChaseJuggler

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #25 on: February 06, 2015, 03:12:56 PM »
August. I'm a teacher, so I get paid 10 monthly checks per year.

I get a full check for only working half of August. But I get no check for working half of June.

Unique User

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #26 on: February 06, 2015, 03:58:36 PM »
I guess March because that is when we get our bonus.

ditto.

Mother Fussbudget

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #27 on: February 06, 2015, 05:13:20 PM »
Usually any month with 31 days, with the first  on Mon-Tues-Weds = 23 work days. 
Consultants work on a billed-hours basis, so more days at work means a bigger paycheck. 
This year only JULY fits the bill - Jan, Mar, Jun, Oct, Dec are 22 day months (after holidays).

But I got an escrow check last week, pre-paid a month on the mortgage, and the credit-card game is going well (thank you FrequentMiler!) so... February?

Oh, no... wait.  Marshawn didn't get the ball... worst month EVER!  ;-)

Kaydedid

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #28 on: February 06, 2015, 08:49:33 PM »
August - harvesting garden like mad and eating from meat purchased in May, so grocery costs are negligible.
Utilities are really low despite canning- too busy to use electronics, plus no heat and just a few fans running for cooling.
Out-of-pocket healthcare maxes have been reached, so one of our biggest expenses has been covered.

BlueHouse

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #29 on: February 07, 2015, 12:21:49 PM »
I'm usually in the red until May/June.  (from a business cash-flow perspective). 

In December, I zero out the company bank account for tax purposes (dividends to my personal account), then in Jan I have to loan money to the company to cover payroll, taxes, and profit sharing.  So Jan-Mar are cash-flow challenges until I can pay myself back the loan I received. 

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Re: What month is your "good" month?
« Reply #30 on: February 07, 2015, 12:31:24 PM »
December is really our only hard month. There is just a lot of obligation spending going on, and then there is a lot of impulse buying for things we may have wanted all year but are now on a really good sale. 

So all the other months are good ones.

 

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