Testimonial Friday

[hybrid]

A beautiful Friday and payday to boot, take a moment to share your testimonial if you have a few minutes and are so inclined.

This morning I hopped on my bike for the fourth time this work week and enjoyed an invigorating 7.5 mile ride into downtown Richmond. For lunch I have one of my jar salads I made earlier this week with my Mustachian Daughter - lower calorie, healthy, and inexpensive to eat. Later today I will ride my bike home and spend the weekend painting my mother's cabinets in the house she recently moved from. I will also take some time to pick more blackberries early Saturday morning with Mustachian Buddy and fix more preserves later in the weekend to add to the collection of 40 jars I have made thus far, most of which are destined to become Mustachian presents. When my Costco Amex bill arrives today or tomorrow I will immediately pay it in full, comfortable in the knowledge that I can do this without worrying where the money is coming from and knowing I will get a healthy rebate check back next February.

And what would I have been doing on a typical July weekday two years ago? Driving to work, enjoying the Friday doughnuts our firm provides, and likely picking up Popeyes chicken for dinner on the way home before settling in to watch some ESPN or HGTV.

[EarlyRetirementGuy]

Rode into work on my motorbike, skipping all the traffic and parking it in the free bike parking spaces. Working the 9-5 in my job that I enjoy but dont wish to be doing for the next 40 years. Afterwards I'll go home, tidy up and continue working on my bathroom plumbing DIY :)

[soccerluvof4]

Sitting in a Hotel Room in Minneapolis with one of my 4 kids under poor weather delay before hopefully starting to play his first Soccer game in the USA Cup while my Wife heads to Southern Chicago with one of our 4 kids for and International Soccer tournament but nicer weather. But the office is open and soldiers are working!

[EK]

I woke up this morning in a wonderful house that my husband and I would not have been able to afford the down payment on if we hadn't found MMM back in March 2014. I played a bit of piano on my beautiful instrument that I never thought I'd be able to afford. We had a wonderful vegan breakfast of pan fried potatoes, fresh local organic salad greens topped with tomato (courtesy of our dirt-cheap CSA). We each had a giant bowl of kiwi and mixed berries (thank you Aldi for the wonderful cheap fruit that we usually have to pay 3-4x as much for at the regular grocery). I'm about to walk my dog over to my piano teachers house for my once a month piano lesson.

Later today I'll be working on my online classes (never thought I'd be able to afford to go back to school, much less pay expenses out of pocket along the way), and I'll have some kind of fruit and veggie heavy lunch because my fridge is loaded with more fresh produce than I know what to do with (thanks again, dirt cheap CSA). I might start painting the bedroom this evening, or (more likely) I'll just relax and enjoy a slow dinner out on the back patio.

Today's pay day, but I didn't even realize until I read the first post because it doesn't matter anymore when I get paid.

[ThriftyD]

I have the day off of work today but I still woke up nice and early (5:30 am) to do a little running and workout for FREE in the huge parkway by my apartment.  My former self would have driven to the gym to use my now-cancelled gym membership and pay to take a group class!  I kick myself for not realizing at that time that body squats, push-ups, burpees, sprints, running, etc are free and don't require a membership to do on my own!

Now I am just about to head off on my bike to help a nearby friend unload a king-sized mattress up to his two-story home.  Then I plan to ride my bike to downtown Milwaukee this afternoon (about the same 7.5 mile distance it is for Hybrid to get to his downtown in Richmond :) ) to hang out at our annual FREE "Bastille Days" festival, which celebrates French, Cajun, and Creole heritage.  There, I will enjoy FREE music, FREE entertainment, FREE laughs with friends.  I may be a little bit un-mustachian and buy a beignet or some other unhealthy French pastry.  But I don't splurge on that kind of thing often so I don't feel too guilty.

TGIF, everyone!

[ThriftyD]

Today's pay day, but I didn't even realize until I read the first post because it doesn't matter anymore when I get paid.

Nice EK.  Ha, the only reason I get excited about payday is because I know I can toss a lot of it into my investment portfolios!  Inflate the Vanguard mutual funds a bit more, continue to build up the Roth to the max for the year, and I throw a little bit into some random individual stocks now and then.

What I won't be doing with my paycheck: paying loans (don't have em), going to the mall to by new clothes or fancy crap (don't want em, don't need em), or going to the bar and buying expensive drinks and shots (no thank you, says my liver)!

[rujancified]

Been "here" a couple months and have been cutting way back on eating out which was my main expense. Just checked my credit card statement and I haven't spent a dime all week. I'm going to the hairdresser later today and am genuinely bummed that I'm breaking my no spend streak :(

[Cromacster]

Wife's Birthday tomorrow.  Going to walk the dog around the lake near our house.  Swim and workout on a different lake then head to a friends house (on that lake) to enjoy some grilling along with non mustaschian boating and jet skiing.  Then taking the train into downtown to catch a comedy show and enjoy some of the antics that having the MLB ALL-STAR game in town will bring.

Mixture of mustache approved as well as non, should be fun :)

[mak1277]

And what would I have been doing on a typical July weekday two years ago? Driving to work, enjoying the Friday doughnuts our firm provides, and likely picking up Popeyes chicken for dinner on the way home before settling in to watch some ESPN or HGTV.

I haven't been here long...but please don't tell me that mustachianism precludes the consumption of donuts and Popeye's chicken (which is effin' awesome!).

[hybrid]

And what would I have been doing on a typical July weekday two years ago? Driving to work, enjoying the Friday doughnuts our firm provides, and likely picking up Popeyes chicken for dinner on the way home before settling in to watch some ESPN or HGTV.

I haven't been here long...but please don't tell me that mustachianism precludes the consumption of donuts and Popeye's chicken (which is effin' awesome!).

As long as they don't find a permanent home on your ass......  Yes indeed, Popeye's chicken is effin' awesome. We still get it every once in a while, but nowhere near as often as we used to, thank goodness.

[shotgunwilly]

Sitting in a Hotel Room in Minneapolis with one of my 4 kids under poor weather delay before hopefully starting to play his first Soccer game in the USA Cup while my Wife heads to Southern Chicago with one of our 4 kids for and International Soccer tournament but nicer weather. But the office is open and soldiers are working!

I envy this.  I was big into playing soccer and loved traveling for tournaments.  I miss it so much.  To be FI and able to do that with your kids seems like a dream come true.

[LibrarIan]

I rode a quick bike ride to the nearby bus park and pool and rode the bus into the city where I work, thereby avoiding my car and then getting some reading in while being transported inexpensively. I'm currently "desking" my packed lunch to avoid the ritual weekly "eating out" that my colleagues do and to leave an hour earlier in the day. I'll bus/bike home and make dinner with my wife. Then I'll spend the weekend completing my master's degree (like - I'll be totally done), attending a local concert and then playing some indoor soccer.

[Threshkin]

Then I'll spend the weekend completing my master's degree (like - I'll be totally done)

Congratulations!  My wife turns in her last paper for her master's certificate this Sunday.  After two years she will finally be DONE.  No debt, paid cash.

[socaso]

I'm puttering around Saturday doing grocery shopping and some home repair. Sunday I'm taking a friend to some of my favorite thrift stores and Sunday night I have a work party that is free and fun because I work with some lovely people.

[Melf]

This is my first ever post on MMM.  I've been lurking a little while.  The highlight of the day has been checking my Vanguard account to see that my first order for VTSAX went through at the close yesterday.  I've been in the process of moving most of my cash, my small Roth IRA with high expense ratio funds, brokerage account high expense ratio funds and some company stock options over to Vanguard.  I've been hesitant to put money into the market with everything near record highs.  I finally broke down after reading some of the threads on here and made a small investment.  Now, if I can just convince myself to get the remaining 150K invested!

[Mrs. Frugalwoods]

I enjoyed a wonderful morning with my husband and our frugal hound before we both left for work (me and the husband that is, frugal hound hasn't found a job yet... does anyone want to hire a lazy dog?). We both brought our own coffee, breakfast, lunch and snacks to the office (as we do everyday). This evening, we'll make our monthly pilgrimage to Costco to stock up on cheap, bulk foods. We're also going to try out Aldi's for the first time ever (it's not close enough to bike to, so we've never been before). Then, we'll toast our newly achieved 82% savings rate (used to be 65%-75%) with a frozen pizza at home!

As this post illustrates, it's the simple things that we love about our Mustachian lifestyle. Time together, a love of finding deals, no financial worries, and the knowledge that we won't be doing this 9-5 thing for much longer--let alone for the rest of our lives! Life is so, so good.

[mrsggrowsveg]

I woke up at 5 so I could do a bit of yoga and enjoy some breakfast with eggs I just gathered.  Then, I hypermiled my car to get my son to daycare with his homemade lunches and cloth diapers before I went to work.  For lunch I enjoyed some leftovers from the inexpensive garden fresh dinner I made last night.  After work, I am going to visit my parents and make them some seafood curry.  I will likely enjoy the nice weather and help them harvest some of their vegetables.  Then I will finish the evening with some chores on our farm and watching some Amazon Prime until my husband gets home from his long business trip.

[RetireAbroadAt35]

Today is a big day for me.

Last night I started packing up my things.  I'm about to relocate.  I've been living for the last month in a really interesting town in a very cool part of the country where I have a few friends.  I paid $500 for a month for rent, utilities included.  I telecommuted for work and only drove 3 or 4 times to visit outlying areas on the weekends.  Entertainment was found out in nature and conversation with friends.

Today I'll wrap up work, finish packing the car up and hit the road.  My next location will be less interesting but cheaper.  I'll stay for just over a month, spend a bit of time in the office, and set off again in late August.

I'll probably end up spending a bit of money on convenience food while I'm driving as I don't have much time to put together road food.  We'll see.  On the plus side, I tuned up my vehicle and I'm now seeing a big increase in fuel economy.  I figure it'll cost me about $250-300 in fuel to get where I'm going next.  Overall my COL remains low and I'm lovin' my (somewhat nomadic) life.

[merci001]

Woke up this AM and made myself toast for breakfast, from homemade bread I made yesterday-yum!  Also fixed myself cup of coffee to take to work. Made myself lunch to bring to work too-chicken salad using grilled chicken leftovers from last night and homemade ranch dressing-again, so yummy!  Will go home after work and if weather permits will take a nice long bike ride with my kids either before or after supper-thinking I'll make black bean tacos for supper.  Then will relax and do a little laundry and watch a movie via streaming netflix or finish my library book. Tomorrow morning signed up for free class at home depot -lighting and electrical updates workshop- in my attempts to get some DIY skills under my belt!

[mxt0133]

I'll probably end up spending a bit of money on convenience food while I'm driving as I don't have much time to put together road food.

One suggestion is to get a medium sized cooler and make some sandwiches, pack a lot of fruit and boil some vegetables.  Nothing fancy but better than McDonalds or 7 eleven junk food.

As for me, I initially wanted to work from home today but wanted to get some exercise because I have a packed weekend schedule.  So I biked to work, attended a few meetings, worked out at our gym and will go home early to go to the park with the family.  After dinner and putting the kids to sleep, i'll take some on-line classes for fun but is also work related, so I don't have to pay for it.  Then read a book and go to bed early so I can play with the kids early in the morning and let the wife sleep
in.

 I have to admit life is pretty awesome right now.  Sure I could complain about the small stuff but then I look at this, http://zenpencils.com/comic/53-robert-fulgham-inconvenience-or-problem/ , and every thing goes back into perspective.

Have a great weekend everyone!
 

[LibrarIan]

Congratulations!  My wife turns in her last paper for her master's certificate this Sunday.  After two years she will finally be DONE.  No debt, paid cash.

No joke, that's rad as hell. I did the same. It feels amazing to not have loans for that stuff.

[NV Teacher]

I drove my brother into town so that he could pay his bills.  He broke his leg at work last week and has to wait another week before he can get a cast.  On the way home we passed a yard sale with bikes so I dropped him off, loaded up my sister and her kids and headed back to the yard sale.  She bought two bikes for her kids and paid $3 each for them.  Came home and prepped supper ingredients and got them in the crock pot so dinner was good to go.  Took the nieces and nephews to the early movie in town as payment for all the work they did around the farm this week.  The tickets were half price and we all shared one big popcorn.  Came home and had a delicious dinner out of the crock pot with a fresh salad and we're all getting ready to go for a walk now that it's cooled off.  What a glorious day!

[Mrs. Frugalwoods]

Update: we did go to Aldi's for the first time ever last night and our minds were blown! Bought a ton of fruits & veg, dried pasta, peanut butter, mustard, 12 cans of black beans, canned tomatoes and MORE for $29.65! I really wish it was within walking or biking distance though. We'll have to figure out if it's worth it to drive there regularly... but, we can at least go once a month when we trek to Costco.

[Thegoblinchief]

Writing this on Saturday after work, but on Friday my goblins helped plant a 72 cell seed tray, I tilled a few more beds and planted a new sowing of lettuce and chard.

Then we went to the wading pool. After walking home, I made homemade ricotta for the first time, then made mint chocolate chip ice cream. Finally, I whipped together 4 gourmet 16" pizzas with scratch crust and homemade sauce.

Today I had to work, but the happiness equation will let me retire hopefully within a year, with DW following in 7-10 more years.

I don't make that much at my job, but occasionally get side IT projects from my boss. This week I made $150 for 2 hours of work, much of which was on the company clock for an extra $10/hour.

[Zikoris]

I got back into town two hours ago from Paris, ending a "fancy backpacking" (we used backpacks instead of suitcases, but rented private apartments and one hotel rather than do hostels or camping) trip to Budapest, Vienna, Zurich, and Paris. The trip was mostly paid for in cash months ago, and despite an unusually high number of unexpected costs en route, we came is at pretty much exactly our budget, $2700/each for everything.

Despite saving 60%+ of our income (about 70K combined) for retirement, we do two big international trips every year. It's funny - people always assume our savings go to funding our travel, since people know we travel a lot. We don't actually save for our trips - just cashflow them when they get booked, since we spend a small enough percentage of our income that it's pretty easy to just lower retirement contributions during 1-2 months a year.

We were talking about customs on our transit ride home from the airport, and I mentioned that I'm always expecting to be pulled aside and checked since we almost always declare $0 worth of goods brought back into Canada. It had never even crossed my boyfriend's mind - he just assumed tons of people do weeks long trips to Europe and come home empty-handed.

[hybrid]

These were fun to read, thanks to all who responded.

[LibrarIan]

It's Friday again!

Today I biked/bussed into work and ate a breakfast I brought in (avoiding vending machines and nearby food vendors). For lunch I'm "desking it" to avoid paying at least $15 eating out somewhere like everyone else in the office does, thereby getting a healthier meal and allowing myself to leave an hour earlier than normal. Tonight I'll make my own dinner, work out at home and make some decoupage crafts to sell on Etsy.

Saturday I'll clean the apartment using natural cleaning chemicals like vinegar, workout at home and read a bunch. Sunday I'll celebrate finishing grad school with my family and get in a soccer game. Bring it on!

[train_writer]

I just woke up after I worked nonstop until early morning because of the plane crash situation. Feel like crap and really really want to go home and hug my boyfriend and my cat and at the same time feel resentful that i feel like crap, because i have seen what worse can happen to you. And I miss someone now, terribly, forever.

Also, completely hate my job now, as I experienced what better things can be done as work (but i was in the 'right' place to help because of my job, so that doesn't maken sense)

[Cromacster]

Friday! Woo

Working from home, so no commute for me today.  Tomorrow is a full day of dog training.  Then Sunday I will be building some equipment for the Crossfit gym I go to.

Fun weekend

[MoneyCat]

I am off until the end of August since I work in Education, so I got up at 8:30 am this morning.  Sleeping in is so amazing!  I'm usually up at 5:30 am every morning during the school year.  No need to work a Summer job this year because I saved up more than 50% of my pay during the school year this past year.

After breakfast, I mowed the front lawn with our electric lawnmower  then I took apart and repaired our toaster, because it wasn't staying down when I inserted bread (I figured out that it was excess crumbs from our homemade bread that was messing with the sensor inside).  Then, I went on Facebook and played some My Vegas to earn more points toward free Cirque du Soleil tickets for our next free vacation next year.  Next, I went in the backyard to check the progress of our vegetable garden, which is coming along well (except for the Strawberries.  Aw, shucks.)

If the temperature drops a little tonight, I'm thinking about cycling over to the library for some entertainment.  I've just about finished my latest book and we're up-to-date on our favorite network TV shows which we've been watching for free on Hulu.

Life is good. :-)

[hybrid]

I biked into work four days out of five this week, sixty miles total, pretty good for 47 year old legs! Also picked a couple of gallons of blackberries including three quarts this morning. I'm kicking myself just a little for eating out for lunch twice this week, but I was meeting friends on both days and the food wasn't very pricey so I have to remind myself to keep the big picture.

Another week closer to the goal!

[Zikoris]

Five days after returning from our fabulous summer Europe trip, we crossed the $100,000 net worth line!

[Basenji]

This is my first ever post on MMM.  I've been lurking a little while.  The highlight of the day has been checking my Vanguard account to see that my first order for VTSAX went through at the close yesterday.  I've been in the process of moving most of my cash, my small Roth IRA with high expense ratio funds, brokerage account high expense ratio funds and some company stock options over to Vanguard.  I've been hesitant to put money into the market with everything near record highs.  I finally broke down after reading some of the threads on here and made a small investment.  Now, if I can just convince myself to get the remaining 150K invested!

Well done! And welcome to the forum.