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Celebrations Thread

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arebelspy:
Use this thread to post your mini-accomplishments so we can celebrate with you!

If you have a bigger accomplishment, feel free to start your own thread in the Share Your Badassity section of the forums, but for small milestones, things you just want to share with someone, but don't really have anyone to share it with (besides maybe your partner), toss em out there so we can celebrate with you!

jdoolin:
Perfect timing, as I was just trying to find somewhere to post this.

I got approved for a rewards credit card.  It was the Amazon Rewards card that gives you 3 points for amazon purchases, 2 for gas stations (cool), restaurants (won't get much from me there) and office supplies (again, probably not much) and then 1 point for anything else.  My limit is also much higher than I anticipated.

Not a really big deal in and of itself, but it was a minor triumph for me.

See, back in 2003 I got married to someone I shouldn't have (we were never a good match to begin with).  Combine a fairly low salary with someone who flaked out and stopped going to work, a typical overspending consumption attitude (both of us), with high interest credit cards and loans (for an Apple laptop and an engagement ring I had no business purchasing) and a person who felt very little control in her life, and used shopping and spending as a way to feel it.  It's a recipe for not only divorce, but financial DISASTER. **

By the time the divorce was final, my credit was awful and I we both had quite a bit of debt.  I entered a Consumer Credit Counseling and debt consolidation program and in just under 5 years had paid everything off.

I avoided applying for credit cards or loans even after I was finished (I would obviously have not been approved while in counseling).  My credit score was something I just didn't even bother thinking about.

Enter MMM in July of last year.  By August, my wife and I had made big changes and big plans.  I was no longer afraid of my credit score or finances in general.  I checked out my score and it was in the Medium range.  But with our plans to finally purchase a home, we knew I would need to increase my score to get the best interest rate.  So I planned to get a credit card.

I just happened to be on Amazon purchasing a polypropylene shirt for winter outdoor badassity when I saw the offer for the card and thought, "What the hell?"  I applied and got it (and that $50 amazon credit).

I will now use this card Mustachian style, increase my credit and even accumulate some rewards.

** Despite the relationship and financial disaster, we divorced on peaceable terms and I hold no ill feelings toward her.  I hope she finds the happiness that I still feel she deserves

tmac:
Congratulations, jdoolin! Especially for your planned Mustachian use of said card. :)

I have three minor victories to share today:

1) I had to deposit some checks at the bank and rather than use the snow and ice as an excuse to drive the three blocks, I walked.

2) In related transportation news: We currently have 3 vehicles, 2 of which have big dumb stupid loans. This morning, I put the most sellable one out on the front lawn with for-sale signs, and posted free ads at Cars.com and Craigslist. After it sells, we'll use the proceeds (should be several thousand) to pay down the second loan, which we'll then be able to finish paying off within a year.

3) I've finished getting our personal budget set up on YNAB and first the first time feel like I have a grasp of where our variable income is going. Next step: Get the business budget set up, to help that income become less variable.

marty998:
Gas hot water heating bill: July Qtr: $100.75, October Qtr: $82.49, January Qtr: $64.64

Expected the fall in October bill because the July bill is always high - in winter the water flowing through the pipes is much colder and needs more gas to be heated.

Did not expect the fall in the January bill but thinking about it we did have a heatwave which meant many days the cold water was coming out of the taps warm. So many heat records fell it became a bit of a joke when the weather girls on TV were saying "it's only going to be 39c today".

ketchup:
My recent small victories:

Switched to Platinumtel from T-mobile prepaid.  Was spending $30/month, spent $5 ($10 worth of credit, bought on a special) in first month on Platinumtel.

Did some DIY maintenance on my car. Proved the "free brake check" guys of questionable moral standing wrong. No, I didn't need $800 of brake work done.  I will do free brake work myself, at my leisure.  June, perhaps.

Helped find super cheap (relatively speaking) flights for my girlfriend and her sister when they had urgent family business halfway across the country. (We were able to find flights for $730 round trip for the two of them, Chicago to Phoenix and back, with all of 3 hours notice before the plane took off.)

Started contributing to my 401(k) at the start of the year, maxing out the employer match.  Plan on opening a Roth later this year.

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