Still married!

Although our early twenties were spent wasting most of the money we made, we eventually matured enough to realize what we were doing.  In fact, becoming pregnant with our second daughter made us freak out.  All of a sudden, we began to realize that time was slipping away from us.  Getting older meant that that we had to start taking things seriously.  Therefore we decided to take this challenge head on and pay off all of our consumer debt ASAP.  How did we reach this conclusion?  Together.

The truth is that we’ve never argued about money in our entire eight years of marriage.  Don’t believe me?  It’s true!!  People often ask us why we’re always on the same wavelength.  Honestly, I don’t really know.  Maybe it’s because we ultimately want the same things out of life – peace, stability, early retirement, and lots of travel and fun along the way.

So I decided to detail how we make our finances work as a team.  What follows is a boring story about two people getting along.  It’s not exciting, dramatic, or suspenseful. 

Now that I’m self-employed, we get paid at various times throughout the month.  Since both of our incomes fluctuate, I choose to budget on last month’s earnings.  This way, I’m never trying to create a budget built on wishful thinking.  Budgeting off of our last month’s earnings means that we’re always budgeting on what we made and not what we wish we would’ve made.  Anyway, on the 1st of each month I create a budget for that month.  I put our fixed expenses in the budget and I estimate variable expenses such as utility bills.  I also allow a $500 grocery budget for the month and $200 for unplanned purchases.  Then, Greg and I sit down together and talk.  At this time, we also add in any “extras.”  Sometimes Greg will need new underwear or a new book.  Sometimes I want to get my hair highlighted.  I almost always ask for breast implants and Greg always immediately says “no.”

Once all expenses are agreed upon, we see what’s left over.  We then allocate money to savings, mortgage prepayment, and our kid’s college funds.  Once we’re in agreement, I pay the bills according to the plan we’ve laid out.  I also immediately transfer whatever we’ve decided to save to savings.  That way, it’s out of sight and out of mind.

This approach works great for us and the only tricky part is deciding what goes in the budget and what doesn’t.  Thankfully, I can’t remember a time when either of us strongly disagreed about spending on a particular item.  Greg rarely wants anything for himself aside from an occasional book for his kindle.  And honestly, neither one of us are into “stuff.”  I’m not the stereotypical woman who is into purses and shoes and Greg doesn’t play the stereotypical man who likes gadgets and cars.  It just isn’t us.  Typically, when we decide to put a “splurge” into the budget, it’s for an experience that we can both enjoy- like getting a babysitter and going out alone for dinner and a movie.

So, there it is….a boring story about two people making things work.  Boring is good sometimes and I think that can be the case when it comes to marriage and money.  No, my life isn’t exciting.  I don’t have financial highs and lows or twists and turns…and that’s alright by me.  I sleep great at night, have peace with my spouse, and have peace with myself.  That is truly priceless.

How do you and your significant other manage your finances?  What works for you?  What doesn’t?

Marriage and Money: How We Make it Work Club Thrifty - Stop spending. Start living.

Vegetables…..it’s what’s for dinner.

Disclaimer:  Many people have recently been asking me why we became vegetarians last year.  Therefore, I decided to share my story.  However, please know that I’m not trying to convert any of you.  I also promise to try not to judge you if you continue to eat sweet, defenseless, innocent animals after reading this.

Over the last few years, we started feeling weird whenever we ate meat.  I’m not really sure when or why it started.  It just did.  And at a certain point, I started completely losing my appetite when I actually thought about what I was eating.  So, little by little, we started seriously cutting down our meat consumption.  And by the end of 2012, we were eating meat only once a week.  We thought about going vegetarian before, but I was in love with bacon and pot roast.  Plus, it seemed like such a hassle.

Then, in December I saw some things I wish I could “unsee.”  I completely freaked out after watching a movie on Netflix called Vegucated.  We randomly picked it from the queue and watched it, not really knowing what it would be about (except that it was about vegetables, of course!).

Getting Vegucated

Vegucated is a documentary about three people who decide to adopt a vegan lifestyle.  Not only does it talk about the struggles of a vegan lifestyle, but it showcases all of the things they discovered along the way.  As I watched, I discovered things along with them….things I never wanted to know and things that I can never forget.  For instance, did you know that sometimes baby boy chicks are simply thrown away?  Apparently, baby boy chicks aren’t as valuable so they are often discarded.  Discarded.  Well, that’s one way to put it.  Sometimes the baby chicks are thrown into a grinder where they are ground alive.  Other times, they are tossed into trash bags and put in the trash.  ALIVE.  Think about that for a second.  No matter how stupid those chicks may be, they don’t deserve to be thrown away in the trash.  At that very moment, I vowed to NEVER eat chicken again.

I will also never forget the images of pigs being slaughtered.  Scared like little children, they huddled in the corners of their bins while men shot bolts into their heads to stun them.  Then, still alive, the pigs were moved into the area where they begun processing them.  Hung by their feet, they were skinned.  Some of them were still moving at this point.  You get the picture.

I can’t believe that I never knew all of this.  For so long, I had been enjoying pork barbecue, rotisserie chicken, and my favorite -bacon- without ever thinking about what that animal had gone through.  If I hadn’t discovered the gruesome truth, I would probably still be a carnivore.  But I can’t now.  I won’t.  We haven’t eaten meat for six months and I’m convinced that I’ll never eat meat again.

More Reasons To Stop Eating Meat

As if all of that wasn’t enough, there are other reasons to stop eating meat.  If you love our planet, there are some huge environmental factors to consider.  Huge scale farming is notoriously terrible for the environment.  Aside from the insane amounts of methane gas created, industrial farms creates an unbelievable amount of environmental waste.  Just think about all of the fresh water it takes to keep all of those animals hydrated.  All of the fossil fuels it takes to keep those farms running.  All of the damaging pesticides and fertilizers it takes to grow the crops used to feed all the animals.

Now imagine if we stopped huge scale animal production altogether.  Did you know that we already grow enough food on this planet to feed 10 billion people?  Neither did I.  If we stopped the huge scale meat production, we could literally end world hunger.  Imagine if all of the crops that are currently used to fatten up animals were diverted to solving the world hunger crisis.  Imagine what that could mean for humanity.  Imagine all of the lives that could be saved.

So, that’s why we stopped eating meat.  But, we decided not to go full-fledged vegan.  I’m sure I’ll get some hate mail from saying this, but I just think that being vegan would be too much of a hassle.  Tons of foods have small amounts of animal products in them and I think it would be nearly impossible to avoid them altogether.  So, while we are going to try to avoid most animal products, we haven’t been super strict about it.

So, what do you guys think?  Could you ever become a vegetarian?  Or, have we only confirmed that we’re tree-hugging liberals?  Please share by commenting below.

Becoming Vegetarian: A Club Thrifty Confessional Club Thrifty - Stop spending. Start living.

I’m livin’ the life!

I recently wrote about how I quit my job in order to focus on my various streams of online income.  The change has been quite dramatic, so I thought I would write a post about the new challenges I am facing since deciding to work from home…

Oh, who am I kidding?  My new set-up is completely bitchin’!  Although I liked my old job, I feel like a have a whole new life.  Instead of working 70 hours a week, I’m now working about 40.  Plus, I’m not having to deal with all of the bullshit that came with my old 9-5.  While my old job required me to spend my entire day in an office being constantly interrupted, my new job requires me to sit on my couch and talk to people only through email.  If anyone dares to call me, they immediately get a text back.  “Do you need something?”  I pretty much hate people right now, so I’m trying to take some time off from the majority of people I know.  Give me a few months, alright?

The realities of working from home

This all may sound completely boring, but I’m finding ways to keep my days from being too monotonous.  If I need a change of scenery, I simply move from my couch to my favorite comfy chair or my office.  Sometimes I get cabin fever.  When that happens, I go for a walk or make a trip to the grocery store.  But, don’t worry.  I’m super motivated, so I’m still getting shit done left and right.  The difference is that when I’m done working I can just stop.  I no longer have to count down the minutes until 5:00 finally arrives and I can go home.  Gone are the days of pretending to be busy when I’m not, and I don’t have to rely on someone else for a paycheck.

My new problems

Working from home is definitely awesome, but there are a few issues that I’m dealing with since becoming self-employed.  Leaving my old job allowed me to get away from the problems that came with working for someone else.  However, my new job has its share of new and different problems to deal with.  Here are a few:

My new co-worker is annoying.  I loved my co-workers at my old job, especially my husband, Greg, who still works there.  Unfortunately, working from home means that I get to spend the entire day with my dog Pablo, the freeloading genius.  Have you ever tried to write an article with a dog sitting on your arm?  Humping your elbow?  Breathing what smells like raw sewage all over you?  Did I mention that he’s mostly blind?  This wouldn’t be a problem…except for the fact that he barks at anything that moves!

My kids don’t think I really have a job.  I was recently alerted to the fact that my 4-year-old is telling her daycare friends and their parents that I don’t have a job.  I should probably be mortified, but I think it is hilarious!  Can you imagine what those parents must think of me?  They think that I take my kids to daycare and just sit my ass at home all day.  It doesn’t help that I sometimes pick them up in yoga pants and house slippers.   I would love to be a fly on the wall during some of those conversations.  “Did you hear that Holly quit her job but keeps her kids at daycare?  What in the hell do you think she does all day?”  They must think that I’m either a terrible mother or a diabolical genius!

Sometimes the days run together.  This isn’t really anything I should be complaining about, but I did find that working from home can make all the days run together.  If I don’t leave the house for a few days, it can just feel like one long day.  ONE LONG AWESOME DAY.  But, still.  I’ve been trying to make at least one trip out of the house each day.  Either I will go and pick up the kids (Greg usually picks them up on his way home), or I’ll go for a walk or run an errand.  That way there is at least something to break things up a little.

Anyway, that’s all I got.  Aside from these small issues, my life is pretty dang sweet.  I’m still working hard and hustlin’.  I’m just doing it in the comfort of my own home.

So, what about you guys?  Would you like working from home, or do you think you would go crazy?

The Perils of Working From Home Club Thrifty - Stop spending. Start living.

The following is a guest post from CollegeMom at ConsumerFu.com. If you are interested in guest posting at Club Thrifty, please see our guest posting guidelines.

One of the biggest mistakes couples make is allowing love to render them financially stupid. We’re so afraid of hurt feelings, we fail to sit down and talk about money. We talk about how many children we want, at what age we want to retire, where we want to travel and all sorts of other hopes and dreams. What we don’t do is use common sense to guide discussions about money.

Will you continue to have separate finances after marriage? How much insurance will you buy? Who pays which bill? Will you have joint savings accounts? Will you contribute equally to your IRAs even if one spouse earns twice as much? How will you handle inheritance – expected or otherwise?

My husband and I didn’t talk about all of these things, but we talked about enough of them to know that when it came to money, we were kindred spirits. After almost 21 years of marriage we’ve learned a lot from our own experiences and those of friends and acquaintances.

The following are a few other big mistakes couples make with their finances. The stories that accompany them are true, but the names and some of the details have been changed to avoid needlessly embarrassing anyone who might recognize themselves in these scenarios.

Mistake #1 – Failing to protect premarital assets

If you have assets to protect, get a prenuptial agreement. Don’t cave to the guilt. Your future spouse isn’t marrying your assets. He is marrying you. Good, take the assets out of the equation. Have him sign a prenup.

In this example, the prenup wasn’t required for their first attempt at marriage since neither party had any wealth. Greg and Claudia represented everything that is bad about couples and money. They never communicated about money. He defined the word cheap and she enjoyed spending every cent they both made.

They’d been married about 12 years when Greg received a $300,000 inheritance check after his grandfather died. Claudia got angry after he put it in an account that bore only his name. Within a week, Claudia had packed up the kids and was headed back home to mother. She was determined to get her hands on half of that inheritance, but the law in our state was on his side. She did manage to get a 50/50 split of marital assets and the kids.

Greg pined away and begged for Claudia to come home. About 11 months later, after she’d blown through the $60,000 she took from the marriage, Claudia decided she did love Greg and returned home to him. This is where Greg made his biggest mistakes. Not only did he fail to get a prenup (technically it would have been a postnup) to protect his assets, Greg put both the inheritance and his portion of the marital cash into a joint account. Four years later, she once again walked out and this time she and her attorney got half of everything.

Prenuptials get a bad rap from people who seem to confuse asset protection with selfishness. In some cases selfishness might be the motivator behind the request for a prenup, but in most cases it is no more true than the assumption that all people marrying wealth are greedy gold diggers.

Mistake #2 – Hiding debt from your spouse

Don’t take debt into a relationship without letting your future spouse know and don’t secretly incur debt in a marriage. Eventually, you will be found out.

Max and Leila were friends of ours who seemed to be perfect for one another. He earned a solid six figure income while she stayed home with their two children. Our families did a lot together and outwardly they were the golden couple.

About eight years into the marriage things started to fall apart. It turned out that she had received unsolicited credit card applications in the mail and on the strength of household income(his) she had been approved for two different $25,000 accounts. She then proceeded to max them out. We had a hard time understanding how he didn’t notice her spending habits but apparently she foot the bill for some weekends away with girlfriends and spent on things that didn’t catch his eye like spa services.

Credit has been so easy to obtain over the past 20 years that it is hard to imagine people getting married without bringing some debt along with them. The time for full disclosure is before you walk down the aisle or combine your finances.

Mistake #3 – Making stupid decisions with free money

If you live long enough, you will eventually have money drop in your lap. Don’t be stupid with it. It may not be huge sums, but any money that drops in unannounced deserves to be treated with respect.

My final example involves lottery winnings. Cameron and Shannon won $100,000 in our state’s lottery. They aren’t from this area and often say they want to move back to their home state after their son graduates from high school in four years.

I was stunned when Shannon told me how they would spend their winnings. They are putting about $65,000 into a six year old house they plan to sell in four years. They might as well light a match to the money. Along with a screened-in porch and extensive tiered decking, they are putting in a pool that alone costs $35,000.

If they were planning on staying in their home, some of these decisions would make sense. For this couple, moving home in a few years takes them back to an area with a much higher cost of living. Imagine the down payment that money would have provided for the next home – the one that will probably carry them into retirement.

If money magically appears in your life, take some time to think before you spend. Put it somewhere safe and allow yourself to dream on paper. Do some math. Pay any taxes due before you spend a penny on things you want. That alone might encourage you to save the rest. If not, imagine how you’re going to feel when that money is gone and you are once again living paycheck-to-paycheck or bonus to bonus.

There are plenty of other mistakes couples make with money, but outlining them all would be a truly depressing exercise. Marriage is hard work. Don’t make it harder by making stupid decisions about money.

####

CollegeMom is a staff writer for ConsumerFu.com and is the mother of two college-age daughters. She and her husband live on four acres of old farmland with two dogs, one cat and a large number of gardens.

3 Big Mistakes Couples Make With Money Club Thrifty - Stop spending. Start living.

Winning!

Good morning, Club Thrifty enthusiasts!  Not only is it Friday, but I have some awesome news to share with each and everyone one of you.  Are you sitting down?  Wait for it……

On Wednesday, we found out that we won the ebay Frugal Blog Award in the family category!  I’m sure you’re all wondering what exactly this means.  And the truth is, so am I.  From what I can tell, I’ve just won a whole lot of bragging rights, fame, and glory for all time.  I’m also the proud owner of this swank little badge to display on my blog until forevah.  Isn’t she beautiful???

Let’s move on to my favorite posts of the week!

Snark Finance shared some hilarious commentary about daydreaming on the job.  This is my favorite quote “What I spend the most time at work doing is thinking about the activities I would rather be doing.  For example, anything.”

Michelle at Making Sense of Cents posted some awesome pictures from her trip to St. Thomas….it made me want to go there!

Nicole and Maggie wrote my favorite post of the week about their next blog.  Their idea is to create a faux blog based on a typical male blogger wanna-be entrepreneur, Steve.  Shit, I would read it!

Frugal Rules wrote about the joys of being self-employed.  Since I quit my job last month, I could totally relate!

Reach Financial Independence wrote about the cost of living in Guatemala.

J.D. Roth wrote about how to live a life you love.  It really resonated with me for some reason.

The Heavy Purse wrote about some thing to consider before college.  Yeah, like not going into debt!

Also, make sure to check out my newest post at Get Rich Slowly.  I really thought that this one would bring out the angry mobs, but I managed to make it through unscathed.  I hope that everyone has a great weekend!

VIP Club: Best Week Ever Edition Club Thrifty - Stop spending. Start living.

I’m still a work in progress…..

I don’t try to hide the fact that we used to be pretty sucky with our finances.  Although we never let things get too out of hand, I finally accept the fact that we used to waste most of our income.  We bought stuff.  We went on trips.  If we didn’t have the cash, we would finance anything that we desired.  Even furniture.  And vacuums.  I swear.

We also lived without any sort of budget.  Unfortunately, this meant spending without limits until the next payday came along.  Since we have relatively high incomes, it never seemed like much of a problem.  But, we’re not stupid people.  I think we knew deep down that we weren’t reaching our potential.  We had our heads stuck in the sand and were caught in the typical middle class trap of going to work, buying stuff, then working more to buy more stuff.  Luckily, getting pregnant with our second child finally made us snap.  The new responsibility made us realize that our future was being squandered on outrageous grocery spending, credit card debt repayment, and a plethora of unnecessary purchases.  We knew we had to change.

One of the first steps we made toward financial freedom was to create a zero sum budget.  Our new budget was merely the beginning of  a series of positive changes that we made.  In fact, I’ve come to realize that we made a lot of changes within a short time frame.  In addition to drastically cutting our spending, we gradually changed many of our destructive habits as well.  And as we all know, changing old habits can be a long and painful process.  However, I am convinced that the new habits we adopted completely transformed our financial future.  Here are the 5 financial habits that changed our lives:

Habit #1

We stopped watching TV.  Cutting our cable television bill was awesome for our budget.  Doing so freed up an additional $90 per month to use toward debt repayment.  We also found ourselves with a lot more time to do productive things.  We even started a blog which ultimately led to the fact that I am now self-employed.  Had we continued paying for cable television, I would probably still be watching Real Housewives marathons on Bravo and wishing that I could find way out of my 9-5 job.

Habit #2

I stopped caring what people thought.  I stopped giving in to peer pressure.  I stopped feeling bad for not buying an extravagant present for every relative’s birthday or for not going to every expensive event I was invited to.  I started putting our family first and the wants and needs of everyone else a distant second, third, or even last if needed.

Habit #3

We made savings a priority.  Instead of hoping to save something at the end of the month, we started saving first then learned how to live off the rest.  This way, money that was supposed to be saved wasn’t wasted due to poor planning.  Since we became debt free, our savings rate has grown dramatically and we are now saving at a rate of around 50 %.

Habit #4

We stopped living in denial.  Creating and sticking to a budget made us take a hard look at our choices every week and month.  It forced us to confront our past mistakes and made us want to do better.  Coming to terms with reality helped us transform into the responsible and goal-oriented adults that we are now.

Habit #5

We became proactive.  We stopped waiting for opportunities to present themselves.  We started chasing them instead.  We realized that no one was going to knock on our door and hand us what we wanted.  We started working for it. 

Making huge life changes takes hard work, and improving our lives meant acknowledging our own shortcomings.  It sucked, but I’m so glad that we took the steps to start getting closer to our full potential.  And it’s not over yet – we’re still trying to improve our lives, financially and otherwise.  I hope to never stop learning and growing, and I plan on continuing to implement positive changes until I evolve into the person I was meant to be.

So, how about you?  What habits are you trying to change?  What changes have you made for the better?

The 5 Financial Habits that Changed My Life Club Thrifty - Stop spending. Start living.

Hey folks! Welcome back to Club Thrifty! Today we are uber pleased to be joined by Melissa Hathaway, Senior Marketing Analyst at ShopAtHome.com. Enjoy!

Club Thrifty: Hello Melissa, and thanks for being with us today! Tell us a little bit about ShopAtHome.com?

Melissa: ShopAtHome.com is a site that shares thousands of coupons on nearly everything.  In addition to providing coupons, we also work directly with retailers to negotiate Cash Bach rewards for our users.

CT: Sounds cool, but how does it save you money?

MH: We aggregate best of the web deals and share them through email, social channels and our site to help you save on everything you buy.  We also scour the web and have a few hundred thousand coupons on our site at any given time.  There are lots of coupon sites out there, but they aren’t created equal.  They all receive a commission from retailers for sending them traffic, but what makes ShopAtHome.com different is that we share a portion of that commission back with our users in the form of Cash Back.  That means that just by going through ShopAtHome, you’ll get a portion of your purchase sent back to you in cold hard cash (okay, it’s actually a check, but you get the idea……)

CT: Are there buying patterns we should know about? When should we buy what? What coupons and deals circulate when?

MH: Absolutely.  Part of responsible financial planning is only buying what you need, but it also means buying smart.  This is true of both the little purchases and the big purchases.  For example, you might think the best time to get a great deal on a TV would be Black Friday, but you actually can get better deals in early February, just before the Super Bowl.  The best time to buy large appliances are in September, typically around Labor Day.

As for perishable items, these all have buying cycles too. There is usually one to two times a year that you can get the absolute BEST deal on food items.  However, that works great for those extreme couponers, but might not be realistic for the average family that can’t have a glorified warehouse stockpile in their basement.  Rule of thumb is that grocery store items usually go on a sales cycle averaging 6 to 8 weeks.  Start an excel spreadsheet of the things your family buys the most and start tracking prices of those items on your weekly grocery trip to your favorite store.  You’ll start seeing the patterns that emerge.  I also love this infographic from mint.com as a handy guide.

CT: Obviously, consumer goods are your bread and butter. Where is one unexpected place we can save?

MH: Travel!  We are all pretty used to frantically searching different travel sites, with about a thousand browsers open at once.  But there is an easier way to save, I think.  Many travel sites offer coupons in addition to savings – especially on bundles like air and hotel or hotel and rental car.  Plus, with the addition of Cash Back through ShopAtHome.com, you can save tons on hotels and rental cars.  I just booked a trip myself to head back home to Michigan, and we were able to apply a coupon and earn Cash Back on the rental car and hotel.  I saved an additional $80 in coupons and Cash Back after my initial comparison shopping.

CT: Sweet! We love us some travel rewards! So, what’s the best deal you’ve gotten at ShopAtHome.com?

MH: Over $200 of clothing and accessories at one of my favorite stores for $1.56.  It was EPIC.  By being a valued customer at this particular store, I received a lot of free gift cards that could be combined into a single purchase.  From there, I applied a few coupons:  Free Shipping, plus 20% off my entire order and a Free Gift with Purchase coupon.  Combining those coupons with Cash Back and my free gift cards from loyalty points, I gave myself a little early birthday present – and it cost less than a latte!

CT: That is awesome! We are all about good deals around here. Thanks again for joining us Melissa and have a great week!

MH: Thanks for having me!

We hope you enjoyed this interview! Please don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter for a chance to win our quarterly drawing! Also, don’t forget about our current 50-inch HDTV giveaway. Follow the link to learn more. Thanks for visiting Club Thrifty, and we hope to see you again soon!

An Interview With Melissa Hathaway of ShopAtHome.com Club Thrifty - Stop spending. Start living.

I’m starting to feel like I am being secretly videotaped on that old MTV show, Boiling Points.  And let me give you a hint; my boiling point is currently T minus zero seconds when it comes to billing errors.  I have had so many billing errors in the past few years that I sometimes wonder if I am being punished for something I may have done in a former lifetime.  Do companies just hate me?  Can they really all be that bad at basic math?  Is good customer service just a thing of the past?

I received four bills in the mail while I was away last week, and two of them had crazy mistakes on them.  And not just small mistakes, glaring errors.  The kind that make my head spin like the exorcist as I try not to yell expletives at innocent customer service reps.  The kind that make me question the competency of the companies that I choose to do business with.  The kind that make me bat shit crazy.  Let me explain.

Billing Error #1

I recently wrote about my home refinance with Amerisave Mortgage.  They kinda sucked but ultimately got the job done.  Anyway, I paid my first bill to them by personal check on March 1st.  For my second payment, I daringly chose to pay them through my bank’s online bill pay and sent them a check for $3,800 on April 1st.  When it didn’t cash by April 20th, I called them to see what was taking so long.  Amerisave informed me that they never received my check.  No biggie.  I called my bank to issue a stop payment on the first check and proceeded to pay my mortgage through the mortgage company’s website, amerisavepayments.com.  Problem solved.

Unfortunately, the story didn’t end there.  Amerisave did in fact have the first check that I sent them, and they went ahead and cashed it.  Since I had issued a stop payment on the check, they were unsuccessful in their attempt to do so.  That didn’t bother me.  What makes me crazy is that they wanted me to pay a $35 fee for their inconvenience.  The chances of that happening were less than zero, and they immediately removed the fee when I told them as much.  Still, I lost 30 minutes of my life sorting through the details with Zorah in Las Vegas.  I think the issue is resolved for now, and I will continue to make payments through their website from now on.

Billing Error #2

We have rental properties with small mortgages on them, and both of the mortgages are due on the first of the month.  Since I use a zero sum budget and am a month ahead on all of my finances, I pay the mortgages for my rentals and primary residence a month ahead of time.  This means that I pay the mortgage that is due May 1st on April 1st and the bank gets it around the 5th of the month.  Unfortunately, one of the mortgage companies I deal with gets really confused by my early payment.  In fact, they have improperly credited my account 5 times in the last 12 months.  5 times!!!!  Each time is dumber and more unbelievable than the last.

So, I got home from vacation and opened the bill to find that I was past due on April’s months mortgage payment.  This was super weird since they had happily cashed my $900 check.  Upon further investigation, I found that they had credited the $900 straight to the principal of the loan and not counted it as my monthly payment.  I called and they fixed it, but they couldn’t promise that it wouldn’t happen again.  “Our system gets confused because you pay your bill so early,” is what they always tell me.  They get it on the 5th, about 25 days early.  I cannot be the only person who pays their bills a few weeks early, can I?  They also made these suggestions in order to prevent them from making the same mistake every month:

• I could wait until after the 15th of the month to make my payment that is due on the 1st.  No.
• I could make the payment early then call every month to make sure that my account is properly credited.  No.
• I could make my early payment by snail mail and include a personal note detailing my instructions each month.  No.

All of those options sound completely absurd to me, and I don’t think I should have to jump through hoops to pay my bill early.  It really shouldn’t be that complicated, should it?

Regardless, I think I got these issues resolved for now.  Still, I doubt that these are the last billing errors I will have the misfortune of dealing with.  How about you guys?  Have you been on the receiving end of any crazy billing errors lately?  Please complain about your recent experience with Comcast corporate incompetence by commenting below.

Billing Errors Causing Temporary Insanity: A Rant Club Thrifty - Stop spending. Start living.

I have an announcement to make…and it’s a doozy.  At the beginning of April, I quit my job.  I walked away from my super stable and well-paid 9-5 job and leaped toward the unknown.  I put in 2-weeks notice but agreed to work until the end of the month…and now its done!

Why Did I Quit My Job?

A few months ago, I wrote about how I was a workaholic.  The truth is, that is probably an epic understatement.  Including our full-time jobs and various side hustles, we were each working an 70 hours per week – easy.  That wouldn’t be such a problem if we didn’t also have two small children who need our constant attention and care.  In order to find more time to be productive and be good parents, we were getting up early, staying up late, and spending our weekends trying to catch up on everything else.  Grocery store trips had become reminiscent of Super Market Sweep, and we were always in a hurry to get everything done.  I started feeling like more of a machine than a human being.  We were miserable, and our lives were beginning to suck.  Any free time we had was spent recovering from all of the work that we had just done.  We were exhausted, stressed out, and completely overwhelmed by all of our responsibilities.

How Did It Get This Way?

As you know, we started our blog in May of 2012.  Anyone who runs a blog knows that it is a time-consuming endeavor.  Not only do you have to write content for your site, you have to respond to emails, work on SEO, and about a million other things.  Our blog has grown dramatically, and we have started to generate some real income from this thing.  In addition, our blog has led to various part-time jobs and side hustles.  Not only do I write for Get Rich Slowly, but I also write for a few different companies. I even started doing some other internet related stuff on the side.  The point is this: I had a full-job and what felt like 5 million part-time jobs.  I couldn’t do them all. I had to pick.

The Big Decision

Since I had to pick between my 9-5 job and my side hustles, I decided to pick my side hustles, obvi.  There are several reasons that I decided to saw off my golden handcuffs:

• I started making more money from my blog and side hustles than I did at my full-time job.
• Working from home provides me with time to do household things like laundry, dishes, and make dinner.
• I can work in my pajamas.
• I now have the time to take on additional jobs and projects.

Working from home means that I now have unlimited earning potential.  My 9-5 job was great, but I was paid for my time.  This meant that working harder never produced any additional income.  I could work my a$$ off all day or twiddle my thumbs and play Bejewled Blitz.  Regardless of how hard I worked, I never got paid any more.  I was simply trading money for time…and I finally realized that it no longer made sense.

Working From Home Is…Scary…

The problem with working from home is that nothing is guaranteed.  No one is going to pay me to sit around and watch The Young and the Restless all day.  Simply put – if I don’t do anything, I don’t get paid.  Lucky for me, I am an extremely self-motivated person.  I have never needed anyone to give me direction and I don’t need encouragement or supervision.

All of that is great, but I did give some things up when I walked away from my 9-5 job.  My 401K match, profit-sharing, paid vacation, and company issued smartphone are a thing of the past.  Luckily, I have thought out all of those things and I will be writing about how I’ll be handling those issues in future posts.

For now, I’m just going to work on finding a “new normal.” My kids are still going to daycare full-time until I determine if I can keep them home a few days a week.  Life has changed now, and I’m learning to love my new found freedom.  Working from home may be scary, but I’m not afraid to try new things….even after years of working for someone else.  I had to let go of the past in order to move forward.  So I did.

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”     - Walt Disney 

Why I Quit My Job: A Club Thrifty Confessional Club Thrifty - Stop spending. Start living.

So, we thought we’d take a little time out of our regular schedule to bring you a couple of photos from our vacation. We’ll be back to our regular posting schedule on Monday. Enjoy!

Vacation Baby! Club Thrifty - Stop spending. Start living.