Author Topic: Celebrations Thread  (Read 1648171 times)

arebelspy

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #200 on: May 26, 2013, 04:52:56 PM »
I just went through and did our household's budget recap for the first five months of the year. So far we've averaged $518 per person per month for food, brewing ingredients, household consumables, utilities, and rent! Like sol, we're celebrating in rich-as-hell people style: cheeseburgers, red wine, and maybe a board game!

I tip my hat to you and your roommates.  Truly inspirational.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
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cbear

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #201 on: May 26, 2013, 07:50:23 PM »
I only discovered MMM over the weekend. Today I found my bike in the garage, found the necessary baskets, helmet, lock etc, pumped up the tires and pedaled the fearless Schwinn over to Food Lion where I bought some yummy groceries, AND a bag of charcoal, strapped it to my bike and biked home.  Entire trip...30 minutes and $28. 

The $28 I spent at food Lion was also the only money we spent this entire weekend.  We worked on our garden, read books, watched the new Arrested Development on Netflix, had a bonfire, did some photography, bbq'd, went on another bike ride.

We also decided that we can't afford an overseas trip this summer while paying down debt.  We'll do it next year.  This year, we'll have a stay-cation.   I decided to make it even more exciting by calling it a practice-retirement!

kdms

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #202 on: May 27, 2013, 11:41:13 AM »
I added the cost of an impulse purchase to my weekly mortgage payment and shaved four months of payments off the amortization.

Who knew that a $1.67 bag of Doritos (and the subsequent self-induced guilt trip for spending the money) could save over $4800 in interest?  :)

Mozactly

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #203 on: May 28, 2013, 06:05:59 AM »
I rode my bike, up a big hill, on a busy state road during a morning rush to work.

Huge accomplishment for me, as I'm in bad shape, and frightened to ride on busy roads.

But we are moving soon to a town with more hills and I decided I had to get in shape for it now, in a place I'm at least familiar with.

I'm going to bike it again tomorrow morning!

vieja

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #204 on: May 30, 2013, 08:29:37 AM »
We sold our paid for house yesterday.  Next week when the check clears the bank, we'll use the proceeds from the house to pay off our business and be 100% debt free doubling out income in the process.

arebelspy

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #205 on: May 30, 2013, 08:47:09 AM »
We sold our paid for house yesterday.  Next week when the check clears the bank, we'll use the proceeds from the house to pay off our business and be 100% debt free doubling out income in the process.

That's awesome!  I'd love to hear more details (about the business, how you paid for the house free and clear, etc.) if you're willing to start a separate thread.  :)
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

vieja

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #206 on: May 30, 2013, 10:38:42 AM »
We sold our paid for house yesterday.  Next week when the check clears the bank, we'll use the proceeds from the house to pay off our business and be 100% debt free doubling out income in the process.

That's awesome!  I'd love to hear more details (about the business, how you paid for the house free and clear, etc.) if you're willing to start a separate thread.  :)

Ok Arebelspy-I'm going to try.

kanejedward

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #207 on: May 30, 2013, 02:04:08 PM »
Just set up my MMM access account and gained access to the forums for the first time.  I guess that's something to celebrate! 

So glad to have found the common sense Mustachianisms offered here.  Truly motivated to go forward and try to reach the 50% savings rate.  I know it will take time to get there but I already eliminated eating out (entire month of May) and just cancelled $100 p/month satellite tv service that was just rotting my brain anyway.  Feels good.........:)

kkbmustang

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #208 on: May 30, 2013, 05:13:36 PM »
Just listed my luxury car on Craig'sList. Planning on going down to one car at least for the summer. Wish me luck on selling it!

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #209 on: May 30, 2013, 06:43:02 PM »
Cool, it feels really good once it's gone :) If you don't have any luck, I sold mine to the Carmax in Plano for a fair price.

kkbmustang

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #210 on: May 30, 2013, 06:45:17 PM »
Cool, it feels really good once it's gone :) If you don't have any luck, I sold mine to the Carmax in Plano for a fair price.

That's where I'm headed if I haven't gotten any traction in a week. The longer I hold onto it, the more irritated I get.

chatsc

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #211 on: May 30, 2013, 07:01:25 PM »
Hydro bill was 150$! (for 2 months).  It used to be 200$ every 2 months....

can i get it to 140$?  the sky is the limit...

Dr. Doom

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #212 on: June 03, 2013, 06:53:19 AM »
I had an iphone which was subsudized by my previous employer.  I'm no longer working for them, and hence the subsidy is gone.  Yet, I'd held onto the device and stupidly continued to pay $86/mo service (their cheapest iphone plan) over the past 5 months, which amounts to just flushing good coin down the toilet.

Read MMM's article about Republic Wireless and it kicked me in the cajones.  I wasn't treating this problem like the emergency that it is.  And I was being unreasonably scared by the concept of the "contract termination fee" when in fact I just needed to get the numbers and see what works.

I called <evil service provider> and found the termination fee on 5 remaining months is $150.  And it turns out, that number is absolutely nothing in comparison to the outrageous amount I've been overpaying on service every single month

So over the past weekend I

-sold my iphone for $290
-picked up a very good used droid for $140 (thanks, craigslist)
-broke my contract (cost: 150)
-am in the process of signing up with Ting on a $25/mo plan which actually reflects my real-life usage patterns on calls/texts/data.

The whole contract-termination/phone shuffle ended up being pretty close to a wash, and I'm saving $55/mo now
Awesome.




Mozactly

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #213 on: June 04, 2013, 06:27:48 AM »
I love this thread. It makes me feel like little steps really do lead somewhere.


jfer_rose

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #214 on: June 06, 2013, 11:25:01 AM »
I just posted a version of this on my journal but after thinking about it, I think this is cause for celebration!

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/journals/jfer's-journal/

Wow, I just crunched some numbers using data from Mint, and it looks like in the last 12 months I managed to save 54% of my take home pay. Pretty great considering I only discovered MMM in late April, as in just over a month ago. I hope I can trust the Mint numbers-- I have run into problems on Mint from time to time. Hopefully I can improve my savings rate-- maybe I will aim for 60%. Oh wait, maybe I should aim even higher-- I'm due to get a 3% raise, including backpay from April, any week now!

kkbmustang

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #215 on: June 06, 2013, 03:20:32 PM »
Cool, it feels really good once it's gone :) If you don't have any luck, I sold mine to the Carmax in Plano for a fair price.

That's where I'm headed if I haven't gotten any traction in a week. The longer I hold onto it, the more irritated I get.

I sold my car today. I'm was in mourning until I cancelled the car insurance that went with it. I'm still a little bummed at the impending logistical issues of being a one car family, but I'm sure I'll get over it.

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #216 on: June 07, 2013, 08:01:25 PM »
Over the last couple of months I've:
  • started taking lunch to work instead of buying it, saved $300/month (and discovered a love for cooking)
  • stopped paying for extras I never used on my healthcare plan ($40/month saved); this was really facepunch-land for me
  • cut down on the take-away coffee at work ($50-70/month ... but I'm still addicted to coffee, I just make do with the instant at work)
  • switched Internet and phone providers ($20/month)
  • stopped eating so many snacks at work ($40/month ... yeah really!) -- eating lots of fruit and home-made cakes instead now (so still a lot of sugar :)

Finally, last week I found I'd been buying a more expensive bus ticket.  It only saved me $21/month, but somehow it feels great!

smalllife

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #217 on: June 10, 2013, 04:27:35 PM »
I found a recipe online to replace my oatmeal packets in the morning (it mimics the consistency, which is what has stopped me from making my own before - tried it but it wasn't quite as tasty).  While I was at it, I decided to use powdered milk in my smoothies and baking.  Since I get the local glass-bottle milk otherwise this will be a great deal of savings.

One less pre-processed staple gone from my kitchen!  :-)


Fletch

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #218 on: June 10, 2013, 04:56:36 PM »
I'm getting a raise! It was the first time I asked for one, and presto, they gave it to me!

rightstuff

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #219 on: June 11, 2013, 09:42:41 AM »
DW and I were so fed up with our Big Bank experience that we took the big step of opening a new account with Schwab for our banking needs and also opened an account with Vanguard to make our excess dollars work harder for us.

Can't begin to describe the relief at our house now that we've given our Big Bank the middle finger salute!

And now just reading deeper into Boglehead theory and J.L. Collins to maximize our Vanguard experience.

Mozactly

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #220 on: June 12, 2013, 08:56:28 AM »
I'm feeling really good about some recent changes.

- I went one full week without driving my car. During that week I walked to a dentist appointment, a reporting assignment and other errands around town.

- I scored a free washer/dryer and refrigerator for our new house (all we had to do was pick it up).

- made a $775 payment one student loan and plan to pay another $1,300 this month (about half my take home pay).

- have been getting more comfortable on my bike, riding 10 miles one day. I haven't used it for running errands yet. But plan to start soon for the stuff that's too far to walk to.

- little things: made iced coffee out of the half pot that remained after I had my mother-in-law over. Normally would have just poured it down the drain. I made my own sherbet from fresh picked strawberries. I worked out a complicated car pool arrangement for today, when I had to run errands with my husband in the morning, rather than have him drive me home to pick up my own car.

Feeling good! Hope I can keep it up.

adesertsky

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #221 on: June 13, 2013, 08:20:39 PM »
2.5 months ago I got home from vacation, realized i had $5K+ in credit card debt, freaked out, found MMM and made a resolution.  As of 5 minutes ago, I have PAID OFF MY CREDIT CARD! 

Next Step is to increase my tax advantaged retirement savings and build an emergency fund.  Once the fund is in place, I will open my first investment account for FIRE and start making extra mortgage principal payments.  WooHoo!  Thank you, strangers.  Your insights and expertise have really helped.  Fun stuff!

Cottonwood28

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #222 on: June 15, 2013, 09:37:47 PM »
We have reached $100,000 in cash and retirement assets! Huge deal for us and now we are very motivated to run as fast a we can to FI.

Mozactly

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #223 on: June 17, 2013, 07:15:32 AM »
I should probably just start a journal, because I'm very excited about the little changes I've been making and want to share them!

Yesterday I listed my gas-guzzling Jeep for sale and cancelled my gym membership. I realized the more I rode my bike, the less I needed both.

I do plan to buy a new car (cash, with more than double the gas mileage) for work commuting. But I plan to ride the bike as much as possible to cut down on that expense and help keep the car running longer.


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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #224 on: June 17, 2013, 09:35:58 AM »
Since discovering MMM in early May, I've done the following:

Had a yard sale/ sold stuff on Craigslist netting about $400.
Used the proceeds to buy a bike.

Gave up my parking spot and started a drive/ bike to work scheme, saving $192/ mo (parking = $130/ tolls = $12/ gym = $50).
Cut my internet/ landline bill from $67/ mo to $40.30 (savings $27/ mo)
Switched from Verizon to Ting, saving about $50 a month (for now, once my son is moved over total savings should be $100).
Reduced my water heater's temperature, saving $5 mo.
Sold my 2001 Maxima (MPG 25) and bought my mom's 2007 Prius for a gas savings of $120/ mo.
Installed "coyote rollers" on fence to keep dog from climbing out, saving $100/ mo on dog sitter fees.
Reduced eating out budget by $100/ mo (leaving just enough to fund work-required lunch networking)
Cut my electric bill by $8/ mo by leaving the Green Power upcharge plan

Total monthly savings so far - $602/ mo

More coming soon as I have a car for sale and will move my son to Ting and kill the remaining gym fees that he swears he can't live without (going slowly with him).    Anticipated additional future savings = $688/ mo.  I am so eager to get there!




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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #225 on: June 17, 2013, 07:43:33 PM »
Finally biked the 15 miles round trip to my summer class, only left 15-20 minutes earlier and still got there on time! My longest bike ride previous to this was 9 miles last summer, and I haven't ridden my bike in a month due to not fixing brakes.

pachnik

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #226 on: June 18, 2013, 12:27:21 PM »
Hi.  I've been reading the MMM blog for about two months now and here are the changes I have made:

Buying only 1 coffee at a coffee shop per week.  (This had been an almost daily habit).  Saving $27/month.
Buying a newspaper 3 times per week rather than 6 times per week.  Saving $18./month.
Cut off caller's ID from phone.  Just a bare land line now. 
Talked to my husband about stopping cable after the hockey playoffs (I am in Canada). 
Car insurance is due next month and I will see what I can do to make it cheaper. 

Going out for a walk without my purse so I can't just pick up a "treat" at Starbucks on my way.  Savings approx. $20/mt.
Put 1 of 2 designer purses that I rarely use up for sale on Craigslist and I am going to put the $ towards a bike. 

Small changes but it is a start.



artistache

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #227 on: June 18, 2013, 05:20:24 PM »
Bumped up my 403B contributions to 25% from 20%!

boy_bye

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #228 on: June 18, 2013, 05:40:05 PM »
The odometer on my bike hit 300 miles today!

Cottonwood28

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #229 on: June 21, 2013, 10:00:57 PM »
I found MMM a few months ago and have read every post. This discovery came at a great time as I recently stopped working to stay home with our son. We are taking things one step at a time and it has already provided us with hope and motivation as prior to MMM we were just hoping to stay afloat.

*negotiated price down on internet and trash bill
*signed up for the summer saver program with gas & electric earning us $150 credit
*Husband got a promotion and 14% raise so salary is $45,000 now
*got accounts in order, rolled over old 401k's
*uped Husbands 401k to 27% from 7%
*on track to max both Roth's with money previously sitting in a sad savings account

And realized we are worth $100,000 in cash and retirement investments!

mom-n-teacher

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #230 on: June 21, 2013, 11:00:31 PM »
This is my first post!

Since I am really, really not mechanically inclined, I have been putting up with our downstairs toilet not working since last fall, assuming there was nothing I could do about it except spend a bunch of money having a handyman come out and fix it.  My husband isn't the best DIYer, either, but he could have fixed this...if he weren't working a contract on the other side of the country.  But after the last few weeks of being inspired by the MMM website, I decided that damn it, I am not going to be helpless!  I bought a repair kit yesterday and today, my teenage son and I took the toilet apart and FIXED IT!!!  It took the entire day, literally (the instructions might as well have been written in Klingon), for what should have been a 30-minute job, and it is dripping a tiny bit (about one drop every 5 minutes) from each bolt underneath the tank, but that's okay.  I'm sure Hubby can tighten those in under a minute when he is home next.  My son is afraid he will crack the porcelain if he tightens them any more, and I'm not quite strong enough to do it.

But YAY!  I'm a DIYer now!!!

arebelspy

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #231 on: June 21, 2013, 11:13:05 PM »
This is my first post!

Since I am really, really not mechanically inclined, I have been putting up with our downstairs toilet not working since last fall, assuming there was nothing I could do about it except spend a bunch of money having a handyman come out and fix it.  My husband isn't the best DIYer, either, but he could have fixed this...if he weren't working a contract on the other side of the country.  But after the last few weeks of being inspired by the MMM website, I decided that damn it, I am not going to be helpless!  I bought a repair kit yesterday and today, my teenage son and I took the toilet apart and FIXED IT!!!  It took the entire day, literally (the instructions might as well have been written in Klingon), for what should have been a 30-minute job, and it is dripping a tiny bit (about one drop every 5 minutes) from each bolt underneath the tank, but that's okay.  I'm sure Hubby can tighten those in under a minute when he is home next.  My son is afraid he will crack the porcelain if he tightens them any more, and I'm not quite strong enough to do it.

But YAY!  I'm a DIYer now!!!

That's awesome, way to go!

Taking that first step is huge.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
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captainawesome

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #232 on: June 22, 2013, 07:21:28 AM »
Made a lot of strides in the last 6 months thanks to this website/forum.  So far I have cut my driving down to two weeks a month (carpool).  At the same time old my jeep and purchased a Mazda 3, cutting my gas bill down to a quarter of what it was.  I just switched the Mrs. and I over to Platinumtel from our verizon phones, going from 154.00 a month to currently 40 (took advantage of the promo code).  I've signed up for mint.com to help keep my budget in line.  I've always semi handy with tools, and I've done a lot of the work on my current house myself (bought a foreclosure). Recently I got the wife to agree to stop looking at restoration hardware and just tell me what she wanted and I would build it.  Just finished up 3 pieces of furniture, and spent a fraction of what it would have cost if we went to one of those stores.  AND the wife loves it, bonus. I'm slowly getting my wife onboard with the lifestyle, but it hasn't been easy.  I still have to put up with her lease payment for another 11 months, at $448 a month.  It makes me cringe every time I pay it.   

yolfer

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #233 on: June 24, 2013, 05:00:01 PM »
I ran a half-marathon over the weekend. And I biked to/from the marathon. The ride home was pretty tough, so I took a bus up the final hill.

That was a great accomplishment, but it's not why I'm posting. My real reason to celebrate here is that previously, I'd have said "Let's go out to a big, fancy dinner to celebrate my run!" but instead I went home and made myself a "celebratory smoothie" with extra banana (my favorite smoothie ingredient).

It sounds so silly to write that, but I realized it was the celebratory attitude that really mattered, not what I did to celebrate (or how much it cost). I drank the HECK out of that smoothie!

imustachemystash

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #234 on: June 24, 2013, 05:03:46 PM »
Great job Yolfer!  Was it the Rock and Roll?  That's pretty badass to bike to and from the marathon.  I hope the smoothie was delicious.

Tempe

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #235 on: June 24, 2013, 07:27:04 PM »
Sunday night my roommate offered to buy a round of chinese food later this week if we bought a pizza that night. I replied I was making spaghetti ( I bought hamburger at 2$ per pound near sell by date) and she was like, oh, ok. I used her jar of pasta sauce 3.50$+ 1$ bag of pinwheel noodles+ 2 pounds of hamburger (4$) = 8.5$
 Cheaper than a pizza, filled me and her up with 2 servings, and my boyfriend filled up on the rest vs 13$ for a pizza that would not have been enough for us all, so it would have been 20$ or more to feed us.
« Last Edit: June 24, 2013, 07:36:50 PM by Tempe »

arebelspy

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #236 on: June 25, 2013, 10:12:24 AM »
I ran a half-marathon over the weekend. And I biked to/from the marathon. The ride home was pretty tough, so I took a bus up the final hill.

That was a great accomplishment, but it's not why I'm posting. My real reason to celebrate here is that previously, I'd have said "Let's go out to a big, fancy dinner to celebrate my run!" but instead I went home and made myself a "celebratory smoothie" with extra banana (my favorite smoothie ingredient).

It sounds so silly to write that, but I realized it was the celebratory attitude that really mattered, not what I did to celebrate (or how much it cost). I drank the HECK out of that smoothie!

Nice!  The wife and I did a big hiking/camping trip this weekend, and when we got home we were so exhausted and celebratory we got some KFC.  Not nearly badass enough to celebrate at home.  (Plus our willpower was super fatigued at that point, not to mention our legs, so we pointed that out and said f it, let's go out anyways.)
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

yolfer

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #237 on: June 25, 2013, 03:11:06 PM »
Great job Yolfer!  Was it the Rock and Roll?  That's pretty badass to bike to and from the marathon.  I hope the smoothie was delicious.

It was the RnR! And the smoothie was AMAZING!

yolfer

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #238 on: June 25, 2013, 03:13:35 PM »
I ran a half-marathon over the weekend. And I biked to/from the marathon. The ride home was pretty tough, so I took a bus up the final hill.

That was a great accomplishment, but it's not why I'm posting. My real reason to celebrate here is that previously, I'd have said "Let's go out to a big, fancy dinner to celebrate my run!" but instead I went home and made myself a "celebratory smoothie" with extra banana (my favorite smoothie ingredient).

It sounds so silly to write that, but I realized it was the celebratory attitude that really mattered, not what I did to celebrate (or how much it cost). I drank the HECK out of that smoothie!

Nice!  The wife and I did a big hiking/camping trip this weekend, and when we got home we were so exhausted and celebratory we got some KFC.  Not nearly badass enough to celebrate at home.  (Plus our willpower was super fatigued at that point, not to mention our legs, so we pointed that out and said f it, let's go out anyways.)

I've read that willpower is like a muscle not only that it needs to be exercised, but also that it becomes fatigued like a muscle. So you guys were not only working out your literal body muscles while hiking, but you were also draining the reserves on your willpower muscle. That's why I exercise first thing in the morning, because I know my willpower won't be strong enough in the evening (which is usually when I counteract my exercise with rich desserts)

arebelspy

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #239 on: June 25, 2013, 03:40:38 PM »
Absolutely.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

chatsc

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #240 on: June 25, 2013, 05:46:13 PM »
i am celebrating how my mindset has changed.  i went to the big chain book store to buy a bday party for a neighbourhood child.  i had a gift card and a 5$ off coupon. I found something suitable in the bargain section, picked up some xmas presents in the clearance section for my kids while i was there, noted to myself how my xmas shopping for my kids was coming along nicely. 

Before I left this evening, my husb suggested that i buy a fancy coffee and a magazine while i was there, to cheer up as I have been a little under the weather this week.  I couldn't even bring myself to waste money like that.  I actually thought "but that money could go towards our mortgage." 


smalllife

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #241 on: June 26, 2013, 05:32:51 AM »
I replaced one more packaged product with a homemade version for pennies!  Savings = $50/year, less chemicals in my body, and less packaging waste. 

plainjane

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #242 on: June 26, 2013, 06:34:37 AM »
Figured out the answering machine on the landline phone (I know, but others in the household feel uncomfortable relying on internet in emergencies and don't want a cell because ditto) and stopped paying the $10 monthly "stupid tax" I was paying my telco provider.

I swear, it wasn't $10 the last time I looked at a bill, but I overpaid a year ago (missed a decimal point paying online), and hadn't been looking at that bill because there was nothing owed. Stupid a second AND third time on this issue. But I'm not going to beat myself up over it, and instead am going to be happy that I've fixed it moving forward.

happy

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #243 on: June 29, 2013, 04:47:51 PM »
Its the end of the financial year in Australia, giving me the excuse to tally up my net worth for the past fin year. My little employees have been outstandingly productive this year and so the increase in NW is a 6 figure sum. Big Happy dance :).  This is in spite of reducing work hours and semi-retiring last November.  I note I've also exceeded my target for this calendar year (70k) in only 6 months.  Maybe, just maybe, I'm finally starting to surf in the right part of the money wave.

marty998

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #244 on: July 03, 2013, 03:59:40 AM »
awesome happy, well done. If it weren't for the June sharemarket tumble you could have been up even more.

I love July though, big fat juicy bank dividends!

happy

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #245 on: July 03, 2013, 06:34:41 AM »
Yes June was a bummer, NW went down, but the rest of  year the made up for it.

MandyM

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #246 on: July 17, 2013, 09:23:18 AM »
Earlier this month I moved into a smaller house that is closer to work. Today I biked to the office for the first time. Its only 3 miles, but I am officially out of shape as it was a tough ride. Getting a work out is part of the point though, so bring on the sweat!

The house was always in my plans, the biking is completely the result of reading this blog. It will definitely be the most tranformative change. Thanks MMM and the MMM community for not only convincing me of the benefits, but showing me it was possible. I read a lot of bike comments that helped me pick a good safe route, clued me in to some safety issues, and put together a list of accessories I'll need.

TrulyStashin

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #247 on: July 17, 2013, 09:53:40 AM »
Earlier this month I moved into a smaller house that is closer to work. Today I biked to the office for the first time. Its only 3 miles, but I am officially out of shape as it was a tough ride. Getting a work out is part of the point though, so bring on the sweat!

The house was always in my plans, the biking is completely the result of reading this blog. It will definitely be the most tranformative change. Thanks MMM and the MMM community for not only convincing me of the benefits, but showing me it was possible. I read a lot of bike comments that helped me pick a good safe route, clued me in to some safety issues, and put together a list of accessories I'll need.

Hurray!  You'll quickly find that the bike ride is one of the best parts of your day.  I'm experiencing my city in ways that I didn't even know were possible.  Today, during my bike ride over the James River, I heard the roar of the rapids and a yellow butterfly flew along beside me for a bit.

What a great way to start my day!

MandyM

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #248 on: July 18, 2013, 07:43:26 AM »
Earlier this month I moved into a smaller house that is closer to work. Today I biked to the office for the first time. Its only 3 miles, but I am officially out of shape as it was a tough ride. Getting a work out is part of the point though, so bring on the sweat!

The house was always in my plans, the biking is completely the result of reading this blog. It will definitely be the most tranformative change. Thanks MMM and the MMM community for not only convincing me of the benefits, but showing me it was possible. I read a lot of bike comments that helped me pick a good safe route, clued me in to some safety issues, and put together a list of accessories I'll need.

Hurray!  You'll quickly find that the bike ride is one of the best parts of your day.  I'm experiencing my city in ways that I didn't even know were possible.  Today, during my bike ride over the James River, I heard the roar of the rapids and a yellow butterfly flew along beside me for a bit.

What a great way to start my day!

Thanks TrulyStashin!

Another announcement is that I think I can move up the date that I go PT. Plus, I went and calculated how many work days I have until that day (calendar days less weekends, holidays, and all vacation days)...280 working days. That is a do-able number. I'm hoping to convince my company to let me work 3-4 days a week for a few years. I really think that reduction will vastly improve my life. It might stretch out my time to FI, but at least I'll enjoy the ride.

viverl

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Re: Celebrations Thread
« Reply #249 on: July 18, 2013, 08:04:01 AM »
I paid off my student debt (~6000 €) after reading the MMM blog and really thinking about finances the first time of my life. I am still feeling great about this accomplishment!

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!