Post Your Wins

[amastewa93]

Awesome! Congratulations! That's got to feel great.

What's next on your financial priority list? What do you plan to do with the funds that have been going toward CC debt?

We are tackling our car loan next!!

[disneysteve]

I got my May auto insurance discount today so another $41.60.

[~bs]

Got two free 200# pigs from a neighbor last weekend. A couple buddies and I processed them up into a whole bunch of; chops, pork loin, roasts, ground pork and breakfast sausage.
After expenses, we had under $0.50 per pound in the finished goods.

That's great! Just curious what your expenses consisted of. Wouldn't it be mostly free?

[Fishindude77]

That's great! Just curious what your expenses consisted of. Wouldn't it be mostly free?

$50 worth of ice to chill the quarters for a few days
Significant quantity of spices to make the breakfast sausage; sage, pepper, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika
+/- 150 Vac seal bags

[~bs]

$50 worth of ice to chill the quarters for a few days
Significant quantity of spices to make the breakfast sausage; sage, pepper, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika
+/- 150 Vac seal bags

ah.... i figured the sausage would have incurred some cost. didnt think about the ice. you guys must have made a lot of sausage. imguessing this was wild boar?

[amastewa93]

I got my May auto insurance discount today so another $41.60.

This have been a pleasant surprise haha. We have gotten about $100 back total.

[Fishindude77]

ah.... i figured the sausage would have incurred some cost. didnt think about the ice. you guys must have made a lot of sausage. imguessing this was wild boar?

60# Of breakfast sausage, 20# plain ground pork, the balance in chops, pieces of pork loin and roasts.
No, these were domestic hogs raised for a local packing house.

[kork13]

2 wins:
First, we closed on the sale of our previous house yesterday!!! It took a while to sell thanks to COVID (we listed literally days before all of the restrictions started piling up in our state), so we had to have some patience while the RE market ground almost to a halt. But it's done, sold, and we're flush with cash (ahead of buying our next home in cash!). Honestly, it feels pretty uncomfortable to have over $300k sitting in our savings account... But it's only for a few weeks (closing on our next home 8 July), so it shouldn't be a big deal.

Second, I finally broke down and found a place to replace the battery on my phone...which is fantastic! I've got a Google Pixel from 2016 that has been a great phone, still in excellent condition & works perfectly, except that its battery was toast -- wouldn't last more than 2-3 minutes off of a charge cord or backup battery, and even then would sometimes spike a power draw for a processing-intensive function (esp. taking photos) & shut down. I've been trying to hold out for them to come out with their Pixel 4a.... but its release keeps getting delayed (originally planned for Apr/May I think), and is now rumored to be delayed as late as October. So with that news, I gave up waiting, and started looking to replace the phone with something used/cheap ($50-$60) to hold me over for a few months. But while searching, I saw an ad for battery replacement, and found a place nearby that was Google certified for repairs. Ended up costing ~$80, but it's like having an almost-new phone again! This phone could now probably last me easily for another 1-2 years if desired (we'll see when I actually decide to replace it). Plus I get to keep the phone I've really enjoyed & don't have to re-load all of my contacts, apps, etc. to something new. Overall, it's a win in my book!

[disneysteve]

Congrats on the house, kork.

I've been thinking about replacing the battery on my phone. My cousin had his done a few months ago. I think it was $60. Sure beats buying a new phone if that's the only issue.

[kork13]

I've been thinking about replacing the battery on my phone. My cousin had his done a few months ago. I think it was $60. Sure beats buying a new phone if that's the only issue.

Yeah, that was basically my thinking.... Sure the thing is 4 years old, but since the phone still works well, in great condition, & I like using it, if I can extend the use of my phone by a year or two for just $60 (or $80), totally worth it.

[scfr]

I calculated our asset allocation today and we are not off of our targets by more than 3% in any category, so I don't have to do any rebalancing. (If we were off by 5% or more, I would.)

So I have 2 wins:
1) I know we're within our target ranges
and
2) I get to sit back and do nothing.

[ua_guy]

I've been a Norton antivirus customer for years. Last renewal was $60. Except they keep aggressively pushing identity theft protection and internet security add-ons, it's more annoying (daily emails, their software tries to trick you into upgrading, etc) than greasy car sales people. I know there are free AV programs out there, but I have a buddy who works in cybersecurity so I asked what's good. He says nope, the free ones are garbage, here's why (5 minutes of tech that I can't explain), but for the average home user Norton is good, but here's one or two which are actually a little bit better (another 3 minutes of tech I can't explain). So I hopped on Bitdefender's website, the annual subscription is a little less, and the first year is steeply discounted.

Blah blah blah, I saved about $35 after I called and requested a refund from Norton and signed up for Bitdefender. I find the software is more intuitive to install. Win/win/win.

[Thrif-t]

I've been a Norton antivirus customer for years. Last renewal was $60. Except they keep aggressively pushing identity theft protection and internet security add-ons, it's more annoying (daily emails, their software tries to trick you into upgrading, etc) than greasy car sales people. I know there are free AV programs out there, but I have a buddy who works in cybersecurity so I asked what's good. He says nope, the free ones are garbage, here's why (5 minutes of tech that I can't explain), but for the average home user Norton is good, but here's one or two which are actually a little bit better (another 3 minutes of tech I can't explain). So I hopped on Bitdefender's website, the annual subscription is a little less, and the first year is steeply discounted.

Blah blah blah, I saved about $35 after I called and requested a refund from Norton and signed up for Bitdefender. I find the software is more intuitive to install. Win/win/win.

This made me laugh...I ditched a pc and moved to a chromebook about 7 years ago so I don't have to worry about virus software, best move I ever made!

[disneysteve]

[COLOR=#FF0000]I ditched a pc and moved to a chromebook about 7 years ago so I don't have to worry about virus software, best move I ever made!

We've had Macs since 1994. No virus worries at all.

[Thrif-t]

We've had Macs since 1994. No virus worries at all.

Well my Chromebook was $200, that's more in my budget