Author Topic: Trending Down  (Read 2052 times)

civil4life

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Trending Down
« on: March 15, 2018, 07:02:00 AM »
I found MMM last summer and started to work on making spending changes over the past 6 months or so.  Today I used Mint to review my trends over the last 6 months vs the last year.  I am amazed at the difference of just small changes and being a bit more conscience of needs vs. wants.  I still have plenty of room to improve, but working on it slowly so it is lasting change.

I still have not taken the time to learn how to insert an image or table directly into the text.  The comparison is attached.

Also, I started a journal a while back so if you wanted to see more about the changes that have happened here is the link to my journal.  https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/journals/fire-highway/

yachi

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Re: Trending Down
« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2018, 07:18:27 AM »
Awesome progress!  What's included in 'home services'?  For planning your annual spending you should add something for those seasonal costs.

ducky19

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Re: Trending Down
« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2018, 07:44:33 AM »
Great job making progress! I'm impressed that you cut your dining out habit as well as your grocery budget, I would expect your grocery budget to go up or at least stay the same when cutting dining out! Looks like there is still room to cut there, but great work so far!

Question on the legal fees - will they be that much each month, or lower, or what? I noticed that was the majority of your savings, yet you noted that they will still be around. I read your blog about the why, I hope you're able to get it settled soon. Meanwhile, keep on truckin', you're making fantastic progress!

civil4life

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Re: Trending Down
« Reply #3 on: March 15, 2018, 09:00:42 AM »
Actually the Home Services has gone away since January.  Last year I worked with a professional organizer to declutter and organize my house.  I am a borderline hoarder so I needed a professional.

Legal - I am suing a previous employer for Discrimination and Retaliation.  It is unlikely to settle before trial.  My former employer was a government entity and historically do not like to settle.  Most likely the earliest I will go to trial is late this year.  As long as I do not lose I will consider it a win, even if the settlement is no more than paying my legal fees.  However a big win might mean fire much sooner.  If I lose, it will definitely set me back a few years of my goal to retire by 40.

Toad

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Re: Trending Down
« Reply #4 on: March 15, 2018, 06:24:23 PM »
Nice progress.  I have just recently started tracking my expenses and have surprisingly been able to lower my restaurant costs as well as keep my grocery costs basically the same which was a shocker to me (since I had been eating out 4+ lunches and 4+ dinners a week so very little groceries)...amazing what can be done when you start actually paying attention to what is on sale and opting for those.

Probably just about everyone on here would disagree with me on this one but I disagree with the decision to drop the pet insurance.  I had a very sick cat the first cat I had and did not have pet insurance. I would always end up paying for the recommended treatments but it would always nag me that I was paying $x,xxx for unknown outcomes or $xxx to diagnose a problem that would then be treated for $x,xxx, and that was not what I wanted on my mind when my pet was sick.  After that cat died I went through all of his medical expenses which amounted to ~$2,000/yr (certainly far from the norm.).

Before I got my two current cats I researched a bunch of pet insurance options and opted for a policy that I estimated I would break even on if one of my cats needed an emergency visit every 3 years or so (I had a fairly good idea of what 1 emergency visit costed by that point).  I have had my current cats for 3 years now and am currently slightly above break even on my policy because, although both of my cats are very healthy, I still had to take one in for an emergency visit twice early on due to urinary obstructions.

I watched this cat like a hawk after the second occurrence of this and discovered he does not drink any water so I have avoided further issues by only feeding him wet food and adding water into it.  For me though, it isn't even about breaking even, it is about not needing to think about costs when one of my fur-babies is not doing well...I can afford the emergency costs regardless, but the small potential savings due to cutting out the insurance just isn't worth it for me and in fact at this point, having the insurance was the cheaper route to go.

civil4life

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Re: Trending Down
« Reply #5 on: March 15, 2018, 09:23:31 PM »
Nice progress.  I have just recently started tracking my expenses and have surprisingly been able to lower my restaurant costs as well as keep my grocery costs basically the same which was a shocker to me (since I had been eating out 4+ lunches and 4+ dinners a week so very little groceries)...amazing what can be done when you start actually paying attention to what is on sale and opting for those.

Probably just about everyone on here would disagree with me on this one but I disagree with the decision to drop the pet insurance.  I had a very sick cat the first cat I had and did not have pet insurance. I would always end up paying for the recommended treatments but it would always nag me that I was paying $x,xxx for unknown outcomes or $xxx to diagnose a problem that would then be treated for $x,xxx, and that was not what I wanted on my mind when my pet was sick.  After that cat died I went through all of his medical expenses which amounted to ~$2,000/yr (certainly far from the norm.).

Before I got my two current cats I researched a bunch of pet insurance options and opted for a policy that I estimated I would break even on if one of my cats needed an emergency visit every 3 years or so (I had a fairly good idea of what 1 emergency visit costed by that point).  I have had my current cats for 3 years now and am currently slightly above break even on my policy because, although both of my cats are very healthy, I still had to take one in for an emergency visit twice early on due to urinary obstructions.

I watched this cat like a hawk after the second occurrence of this and discovered he does not drink any water so I have avoided further issues by only feeding him wet food and adding water into it.  For me though, it isn't even about breaking even, it is about not needing to think about costs when one of my fur-babies is not doing well...I can afford the emergency costs regardless, but the small potential savings due to cutting out the insurance just isn't worth it for me and in fact at this point, having the insurance was the cheaper route to go.

I definitely was/is eating out almost daily for lunch and dinner.  I am still working on making the change.  I think the groceries will go up a bit still.

My one cat actually had an emergency as well.  Also it happened over the weekend and ended up at the hospital and surgery.  I still cringe thinking about that bill and the after care.  Then a year later both of my cats ended up sick and costing me in the thousands again.  That is when I got the health insurance.  It was a really good deal and I think it easily would pay for itself with a cat-astrophe.  However mine went from $500 to $1100 annually.  I just was not willing to pay that much.  I am in a better place financially now and if another cat-astrophe occurred I could manage the bill.