Canine’s Christmas Stocking And Completely different November 2022 Payments

November is always a month of celebrations in our family! We hosted Thanksgiving for what we anticipate is the tenth 12 months–although there have been a few years off for Covid–and Kidwoods turned seven!

Our payments are always bigger in November on account of these festivities and I don’t ideas the least bit. With the ability to spend on points that matter deeply to me is why I’m frugal. It’s why I observe my spending. It’s why I interrogate my priorities and the way in which my spending shows them.

It’s an illustration of values-based spending:

Save on stuff that doesn’t matter–or that you might get used for a inexpensive price–to permit your self the freedom to spend on the problems that matter most.

Earlier this month I wrote about how I’ve saved a whole bunch of {{dollars}} on my kids’ wardrobes by sourcing all of their garments second-hand. The reason I do it is as a result of I can. Because of I can outfit them in fully good garments for a FRACTION of the worth. Then, when it comes time to have a very good time and host family, I’ve the financial leeway to spend further on groceries and wine and birthday occasions. My technique isn’t about depriving myself or chopping once more in every single class, it’s about being strategic with how and the place I spend my money.

A Christmas Stocking for A Canine

One amongst my traditions is to brighten for Christmas the week sooner than Thanksgiving. Don’t come after me! I LOVE CHRISTMAS decorations and I acquired’t stop!!! I try this, partly, so as that we’ll get the feeling of celebrating two holidays with my husband’s family since we don’t spend Christmas with them.

As I was putting up our decor–all of which I re-use 12 months to 12 months–I seen one factor was missing. When our oldest was born, my mother-in-law bought GORGEOUS monogrammed Christmas stockings for us from Land’s End. When Littlewoods was born, she bought her a stocking as successfully.

That’s how I found myself on the Land’s End website online looking for the right stocking to monogram for…. the canine. I do know, I do know, she is going to have the ability to’t even be taught, nonetheless I wanted one! So I bought it. Whereas on there, I availed myself of a screaming deal on winter base layers for the ladies and, uh, ya know… moreover bought a robe for myself. What can I say? It’s Christmas-y plaid!!!!!! I’ve an element for Christmas-y plaid, as all trip images of my youngsters amply show. 

Kidwoods’ SEVENTH Birthday!

Kidwoods requested a celebration to which she would possibly invite her full class along with a very good number of kids in several classes as successfully. Wanting over her customer guidelines, which she wrote herself and included such luminaries as her coach and the principal, we realized it is going to be folly to aim to have all these folks at our house.

And so, we had her celebration at our metropolis coronary heart, which has an vital playground! Good. For a mere $50 we had been able to lease out town coronary heart, host a birthday celebration and can be found residence to a transparent, non-destroyed residence. WORTH IT.

We served sandwiches, chips, fruit & veggies, cans of seltzer, juice packing containers, cupcakes and cookies, which–blended with web internet hosting Thanksgiving–is why our grocery value vary was about $200 better than common.

Whereas most of her birthday presents had been purchased second-hand at yard product sales and thrift retailers, we did buy one reward new: Qwirkle!! Our mates launched us to this board sport all through our seashore journey with them earlier this fall and it is nice! It’s kinda like Scrabble, nonetheless with colors and shapes, which suggests your entire family can play.

We’ve been a bit restricted in whole-family video video games since Littlewoods can’t be taught however, nonetheless Qwirkle is good (affiliate hyperlinks)! It’s actually gratifying for adults to play, there’s some extreme approach involved, AND a four-year-old can fully do it. Extraordinarily advocate!!

Household offers had been moreover up this month on account of shopping for some birthday celebration paraphernalia along with, nonetheless not restricted to, a unicorn piñata, which I’ve taped once more collectively for reuse subsequent 12 months.

The last word birthday-related expense was $5 for a Daniel Tiger stuffy that Kidwoods bought for her sister to have on her birthday. I was so touched by this gesture of kindness that I ended up paying for Daniel and by no means having Kidwoods pay me once more. Littlewoods was thrilled and surprised that she purchased to open a present too! I will positively be doing that when extra.

Christmas Taking part in playing cards

I continued my customized of ordering enterprise postcards for our family Christmas enjoying playing cards as they’re SO MUCH cheaper.

I like postcards on account of:

• Their smaller dimension means they’re cheap
• For those who select “enterprise” postcards, they’re a fraction of the worth of regular “trip” postcards
• You presumably can nonetheless do full-color on both facet of the cardboard
• Postcard stamps are cheaper than frequent stamps
• They arrive with the return cope with already printed
• You don’t must buy envelopes

I’ve been using this hack for the ultimate 8 years and it’s nonetheless going strong! I ordered from my earlier standby, VistaPrint, and spent $52–along with supply–on 150 full-color postcards. I actually purchased myself in gear this 12 months to order on Black Friday, which meant I was able to profit from a sale they’d been working. I’ve purchased to remember to order on that day yearly!

Be a part of a UFM Mastermind Group

There’s a BRAND NEW resolution to participate in my January Uber Frugal Month (UFM) Downside: be part of a Mastermind Group!!!! These groups are your likelihood to fulfill (on video) with me and one other frugal folks as quickly as each week for 5 weeks starting in January! Study further proper right here; sign-up to affix proper right here.

Sign-up For The UFM to Win…. A PRIZE!

I’m giving away three prizes to a couple individuals who sign-up for the FREE January Uber Frugal Month:

Prize #1: A one-on-one major financial session with me, AKA a personal reader case analysis ($1,500 price!).

Prize #2: A spot in a UFM Mastermind Group ($300 price!).

Prize #3: {A photograph} of my canine with a nametag on her head alongside together with your title written on it by my seven-year-old. You suppose I’m kidding? This youngster LOVES putting nametags on this canine’s head (priceless price!).

To enter, sign-up for the Uber Frugal Month inside the subject beneath. I’ll choose three winners by the use of random amount generator on Monday, December nineteenth. Within the occasion you’ve already signed up for the January 2023 UFM, you’re already entered inside the drawing!

Can I Focus on To You?

Positive! In September I launched Private Reader Case Analysis, which are an opportunity for folks to lease me for a full financial session. I moreover now present hourlong video calls. You presumably can:

1. Lease me for a private financial session proper right here.
2. Schedule an hourlong identify with me proper right here.

To be taught further about private one-on-one consultations, confirm this out.

I Love the Free Money Monitoring Devices from Personal Capital!

I make the most of a free on-line service known as Personal Capital to organize our money. It tracks our spending, web worth, investments, retirement, each little factor.

Determining the place your money’s at is probably going probably the greatest strategies to get a cope with in your funds. You’ll be able to’t make educated decisions about your money must you don’t perceive the way you’re spending it or how rather a lot you might have. Within the occasion you’d want to know further about how Personal Capital works, strive my full write-up.

With out a holistic picture of your funds, there’s no resolution to set monetary financial savings, debt compensation or funding targets. It’s a ought to, folks. Personal Capital (which is free) is an efficient method for me to systematize our financial overviews as a result of it hyperlinks all of our accounts collectively and offers an entire picture of our web worth.

Within the occasion you don’t have a steady considered the place your money’s at–or the way in which you’re spending it–have in mind making an attempt Personal Capital (phrase: the Personal Capital hyperlinks are affiliate hyperlinks). 

Credit score Taking part in playing cards: How We Buy Each factor

We buy each little factor we are going to with financial institution playing cards on account of:

1. It’s less complicated to hint payments. No guesswork over the place a random $20 bill went; all of it reveals up in our month-to-month expense report from Personal Capital. I moreover spend a lot much less money on account of I KNOW I’m going to see every expense listed on the end of the month.
2. We get rewards. Financial institution card rewards are a simple resolution to get one factor for nothing. By way of the enjoying playing cards we use, we get cash once more along with resort and airline elements for buying stuff we had been going to buy anyway.
3. We assemble our credit score rating. Since we don’t have any debt, having numerous financial institution playing cards open for a number of years helps our credit score rating scores. It’s a unclean delusion that carrying a stability in your financial institution card helps your credit score rating ranking–IT DOES NOT. Paying your enjoying playing cards off IN FULL every month and conserving them open for a number of years does help your ranking.

For further on my financial institution card approach, strive:

Cash Once more Taking part in playing cards to Keep in mind

Within the occasion you’re now cash-back curious, there are a number of enjoying playing cards accessible in the marketplace offering pretty good cash once more percentages. Listed under are a few I really feel are an excellent deal:

1) Blue Cash Hottest® Card from American Categorical:

• 6% cash once more at U.S. supermarkets on as a lot as $6,000 per 12 months in purchases (then 1%).
• 6% cash once more on select U.S. streaming subscriptions.
• 3% cash once more at U.S. gasoline stations and on transit (along with taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and further).
• 1% cash once more on totally different purchases.
• Earn a $250 assertion credit score rating after you spend $3,000 in purchases in your new Card all through the primary 6 months
• $0 intro annual value for the first 12 months, then $95. Fees and prices particulars proper right here.
• Phrases apply

2) Blue Cash Regularly® Card from American Categorical:

• 3% cash once more at U.S. supermarkets (on as a lot as $6,000 per 12 months in purchases, then 1%).
• 3% Cash Once more at U.S. gasoline stations, on as a lot as $6,000 per 12 months, then 1%.
• 1% cash once more on totally different purchases.
• No annual value. Fees and prices particulars proper right here.
• Phrases apply.

3) Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit score rating Card:

• 1.5% cash once more on every purchase, on every day foundation.
• $200 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases inside 3 months from account opening.
• No annual value.

4) Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit score rating Card:

• Limitless 3% cash once more on consuming, leisure, trendy streaming firms and at grocery retailers (excluding superstores like Walmart and Aim).
• 1% once more on all totally different purchases.
• 8% cash once more on tickets at Vivid Seats by way of January 2023.
• $200 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases all through the primary 3 months from account opening.
• No annual value.

5) Chase Freedom Limitless®:

• Earn a further 1.5% on each little factor you buy (on as a lot as $20,000 spent inside the first 12 months), which is worth as a lot as $300 cash once more:
  • 6.5% on journey purchased by way of Chase Closing Rewards
  • 4.5% on consuming and drugstores
  • 3% on all totally different purchases.
• After your first 12 months (or $20,000 spent), you earn:
  • 5% cash once more on Chase journey purchased by way of Chase Closing Rewards
  • 3% cash once more on drugstore purchases and consuming at consuming locations, along with takeout and eligible provide service
  • Limitless 1.5% cash once more on all totally different purchases.
• No annual value.

Within the occasion you’re eager on journey rewards, people love the Chase Sapphire Hottest Card®. You can earn 60,000 bonus elements after spending $4,000 inside the first 3 months. That’s $750 in the event you redeem by way of Chase Closing Rewards.

Giant caveat to financial institution card utilization: you MUST pay your financial institution card funds in full every single month, with no exceptions. Within the occasion you’re concerned about your talent to try this, or suppose using financial institution playing cards might fast you to spend further, stick with a debit card or cash. Nonetheless in case you haven’t any disadvantage paying that bill in full every month? I wish to suggest you financial institution card away, my pal! (phrase: the financial institution card hyperlinks are affiliate hyperlinks).

Cash Once more Earned This Month: $55.60

The silver lining to our spending is our cash once more financial institution card. We earn 2% cash once more on every purchase made with our Fidelity Rewards Visa and, this month, we spent $2,780.18 on that card, which netted us $55.60.

Not some large money, nonetheless it’s money we earned for buying stuff we had been going to buy anyway! That’s the reason I like cash once more financial institution card rewards–they’re one of the best resolution to earn one factor for nothing.

To see how this offers up over the course of a 12 months, strive How I Made $712.59 With My Cash Once more Credit score rating Card.

The place’s Your Money?

One different simple resolution to optimize your money is with a high-interest monetary financial savings account. With these accounts, curiosity works in your favor versus the charges of curiosity on debt, which work in the direction of you.

Having money in a no or low curiosity monetary financial savings account is a waste of sources–your money is sitting there doing nothing. Don’t let your money be lazy! Make it’s simply best for you! And now, get pleasure from some explanatory math:

Let’s say you might have $5,000 in a monetary financial savings account that earns 0% curiosity. In a 12 months’s time, your $5,000 will nonetheless be… $5,000.

Let’s say you instead put that $5,000 into an American Categorical Personal Monetary financial savings account, which–as of this writing–earns 3% in curiosity (affiliate hyperlink). In a single 12 months, your $5,000 can have elevated to $5,150. That means you earned $150 just by having your money in a high-interest account.

And in addition you didn’t ought to do one thing! I’m an enormous fan of incomes money whereas doing nothing. Is anybody not a fan of that? Apparently so, on account of anyone who makes use of a low or no curiosity monetary financial savings account is NOT creating wealth whereas doing nothing. Don’t be that particular person. Be the one who earns money whereas sleeping.

Positive, We Solely Paid $28.24 for Cell Phone Service (for two telephones)

Our cell phone service line merchandise simply is not a typ0 (although that positively is). We truly and actually solely paid $28.24 for every of our telephones (that’s $14.12 per particular person for these of you into division). How is such trickery attainable?!? We use an MVNO!

What’s an MVNO?

Glad you requested on account of I was going to let you realize anyway: It’s a cell phone service re-seller.

MVNOs are the TJ Maxx of the cell phone service world–the an identical service, A LOT cheaper. Within the occasion you’re not using an MVNO, switching to at the least one is an easy, slam-dunk, do-it-right-away means to save lots of money every single month of every single 12 months ceaselessly and ever amen.

Listed under are a two MVNOs to ponder:

For further, I’ve a full chart of suppliers and their prices proper right here: Learn the way to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill with an MVNO: I Pay $12 a Month*

*the amount we pay fluctuates every month on account of it’s calibrated on what we use. Take into consideration that! We solely pay for what we use! Will wonders ever cease. These MVNO hyperlinks are affiliate hyperlinks.

Expense Report FAQs

Want to perceive how we deal with the rest of our money? Check out How We Deal with Our Money: Behind The Scenes of The Frugalwoods Family Accounts

• 

  Don’t you might have a rental property? Positive! We private a rental property (additionally referred to as our first residence) in Cambridge, MA, which I speak about proper right here and further currently, proper right here too.

• Why do I share our payments? To give you a method of how we spend our money in a values-based methodology. Your spending will differ from ours and there’s no “one correct means” to spend and no “good” value vary.
• Are we most likely essentially the most frugal frugal people on earth? Fully not! My hope is that by being clear about our spending, you could purchase insights into your particular person spending and be impressed to take proactive administration of your money.
• Questioning the place to begin out with managing your money? Take my free, 31-day Uber Frugal Month Downside.
• Within the occasion you’re eager on totally different points I like, strive Frugalwoods Recommends.
• Why don’t you buy each little factor domestically? We do our best to assist our native folks and buy as lots of our meals as attainable instantly from our farmer neighbors. Our metropolis doesn’t have any retailers, so we rely on on-line ordering and enormous subject retailers for necessities. The closest retailers are 45 minutes away and we go a few events a month to refill on what we are going to’t get from our neighbors or on-line.

Nonetheless Mrs. Frugalwoods, Don’t You Pay For X, Y, Or Even Z???

Questioning about frequent payments you don’t see listed beneath?

• We don’t have a mortgage on account of we paid it off (particulars proper right here)

• 

  We pay funds in full the month we receive them. That’s why you acquired’t see month-to-month funds for points like car insurance coverage protection or property tax. These payments current up as the whole annual (or bi-annual, and so forth) amount inside the month we pay them.

• Proper right here’s what we do for medical insurance coverage.
• We don’t have any cash owed and we paid cash for our vehicles.
• Proper right here’s how we make charitable contributions: How We Donate To Charities Like Billionaires and as well as How We Make Vital And Tax Atmosphere pleasant Charitable Donations.
• Proper right here’s an abstract of how we save for our youngsters’ bigger coaching: How We Use 529 Plans To Save For College
• We reside on 66 acres in rural Vermont, so our utilities and household payments are fully totally different from typical metropolis and suburban properties:
  • We don’t pay for water, sewer, trash, or heating/cooling on account of we have now now a successfully, a septic system, our metropolis doesn’t current trash pick-up (we take it to a change station as quickly as each week in baggage we purchase from our metropolis), we heat our residence with wood we harvest ourselves from our land, and we don’t have central aircon (we use window fashions by the most popular elements of the summer season).
  • There are, in any case, costs associated to sustaining these strategies (equal to having our septic system pumped and inspected) and folks payments current up inside the months we pay them.
  • We have got picture voltaic panels, which account for our low electrical vitality bill.
  • For further on our rural life-style, strive my sequence This Month On The Homestead along with Metropolis vs. Nation: Which Is Cheaper? The Closing Value Of Residing Showdown

Within the occasion you’re questioning about something, be completely satisfied to ask inside the suggestions half!

Alright you frugal money voyeurs, feast your eyes on every dollar we spent in November:

How was your November?