Sunday, August 14, 2016

Just Odds N Ends

Lots of action this week in the living rich household.  We traded in hubby's sportscar (found at a garage sale, paid for in cash) and sold my car (also paid in cash) and upgraded to a 2012 model (cash from both vehicles paid for car plus a bit extra).  We are now a 2 car family again.  Maybe one day we will be a one car family but for now this works.  Our truck is for lifestyle, hauling things like kayaks, bottles, furniture and going to spots with buddy.  The car will be shared.  We rarely have to be two different places at one time but it happens.  The car is a four seater so will work to haul family around when they visit or when we go places with Mom.  Probable savings?  About $1200 per year in insurance and maintenance and less polishing and washing for hubby who is in charge of that in our household.

Test subject buddy was the first picture taken with new iphone SE
My birthday is in a few days.  I really wanted nothing but hubby insisted we upgrade my phone.  I had an iphone 4s for the past four years (my first smartphone) and really liked the apple product.  I upgraded to an iphone SE which is just a tiny bit bigger than the 4s and perfect for my needs.  That is a company expense but company money is our money so I am counting it as my birthday present.  It turns out that the new plan we had to change to is $5 cheaper a month on a two year contract.  The phone was $129 so essentially over two years we save $120 plus tax and so we are only out of pocket $9 on buying the new phone. Plus - I get to sell the perfectly working old phone.  That money will go straight into the weekends away fund.  So, basically after all is said and done we are ahead of the game by upgrading the phone. The new phone's primary feature that enticed me to finally agree to the upgrade is a much better camera as that is the same technology as the iphone 6.  I am constantly amazed at the pictures hubby takes with his iphone which rival that of my expensive (5 year old) DSLR Canon Rebel camera and you don't need to lug it around with you.  It is likely we will just take phones with us for pictures in our future travels except when we are close to home or traveling with a vehicle.  Lugging around a big camera when flying no longer makes sense.  For those in the United States we pay far more than you do for cell phones and charges.  Let's just say that the government had to intervene to outlaw 3 year contracts this past year as they were unfair to consumers so things are getting better but not fast enough.  The major issue is lack of competition so our line rates are still high. Hopefully that will change soon too (not holding my breath).

We have thought about canceling our home alarm.  We are almost always home and only use it when we go away.  We do receive a discount on our house insurance for having it.  Hubby called them to cancel and they dropped our rate to basically paying the same amount as the discount we are receiving on our property insurance, therefore we are even and receive the alarm for free.  Not too shabby.

We have another kid coming to visit at Christmas.  Once again, I am so thankful we won all those airmiles as they come in handy with a big family.  Cost per ticket?  $105 in tax so very reasonable.  Total savings between the 2 kids so far $800 in won airmiles.

On our recent weekend to Bellingham Washington one of our purchases were these tiny lights for our patio.  I have priced them out in Canada and they were far more.  Yes, we tend to spend money on our home versus in restaurants or on things like clothing and hair.  Everyone has priorities and we spend so much time at home and on the patio it makes sense.  This was taken at dusk last night.  For $20 we got two strands and they likely will last a long time as are both indoor/outdoor but protected from the elements.

Finally, we have no travel plans in the works and are just adding to our different savings funds right now.  What makes that difficult is I keep coming across great travel deals.  This morning I found a flight from Vancouver to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam this fall for $573 including taxes on secretflying.com.  They post error fares and just really low airfares that anyone finds.  If you like them on facebook you can stay in the loop.  The listing said $566 but when I checked airspace the rate was a tiny bit higher.  That is not in the cards for us but if they have a rock bottom rate in the Spring we might consider it (or to somewhere else in Asia).  Check them out if you are a traveler.





18 comments:

  1. ...we have no travel plans in the works...

    WHAT??

    Lol..just kidding...

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    1. Oh, believe me, I check things out all the time. Hubby wants to take a driving vacation next year down the Oregon coast. To me that isn't really traveling. Trying to save up so maybe we can do both a driving vacation and a flying one. I want to see more countries!

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  2. I will definitely check them out, that is great airfare. I want to travel more than just visiting family.

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    1. You have the travel bug Jeannie! I know you love cruising so have seen a lot that way already.

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  3. Your test subject is very cute. :-) And, I adore your lights for the patio!! I'd far prefer to upgrade my outdoor living space vs lots of meals out. We have a great patio area, and the highlight of my weekend is a glass of wine on the patio, under the umbrella with M. And, sometimes the kiddos. ;-)

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    1. Mine too. Ours is covered and we also have a sun shade (came with the house). I love sitting out there with a good book or magazine.

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  4. I am always amazed at your creative money managing! Congratulations on your vehicle upgrade and your phone! I upgraded this year to an iPhone and it actually saved me $$ too!!

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    1. Funny how that works, isn't it? Keeps you loyal to iphones, that is for sure.

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  5. Oh Vietnam is on the top of my list after we have done our Australasia trip next year. You sound a bit like me in that most of our money goes on trips away and the house. We spend very little on eating out etc and save as much as we can for our travel adventures and family time. We have a large family too six kids two grandkids and another due in October. My phone was submerged by a freak wave while away in Samos this year so I was glad I lugged my DSLR with me otherwise no more pics. Lovely pic of your little buddy. I always used my phone as like you say brilliant pics but my DSLR was a pressie from Lovejoy and I was scared to use it lol. Not having my phone camera made me get to grips with it now I love it. We only travel with cabin luggage so takes a bit of skill with the packing to cram it in. I love your patio lights we rarely get enough warm evenings to sit outside but I love lights in the garden.

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    1. That sucks about your phone! The DSLR does take great pictures if you are ok with taking it. I found it difficult to take any pictures in crowded spots though. I have been to Hong Kong and Macau but no where else in Asia so would like to go, likely to Thailand or Indonesia. Hubby hasn't done any Asia at all so would like to see it. I think Vietnam has so much history and not everyone goes there so more off the beaten path, my kind of holiday!

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  6. Wow, you are really cutting lots of expenses these days. I know that's a good feeling. The three of us all have Tracfone smartphones. They cost very little and do everything we need. If we need more data, we can just buy data. If we need texts, we can buy just texts. We each use our phone differently, so it works for us.

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    1. We have a shared data plan for our business, hubby uses most of the data when on the road but we never seem to need extra thankfully. I am still trying to lower a couple of our bills - electricity is the main one. Our delivery cost went up this year and we are definitely seeing it on the bill.

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  7. You have been busy saving the money! It all sounds so practical and some of it just for the asking. I'm sure you will enjoy being down to a 2 car family. I really like your patio lights especially the warm color.

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    1. We love our patio lights, particularly now when it is starting to get darker earlier. So glad we bought them.

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  8. YOur test subject is picture perfect!!!
    Good job on saving so much in so many areas. You make me want to dig into our bills.
    I returned DJ to Ball State and I need to go through all the bills. It seems to add up.

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    1. My test subject always takes a good picture, he is so darn cute. We have 2 kids who likely are going to college a year from now but have the money saved and they live where they can go so no moving/going away to college. That is tough when they don't where they go to school.

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  9. Good way to save money and you have two vehicles when schedules need you to each drive.

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    1. I really don't think we can pare down to one vehicle until later in life, we both have so much going on all the time. Nice to save a bit of money now though

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