My daughter will be turning 16 in just a few short weeks, and what she wants for her birthday is to have a dance with her friends.  Nothing fancy or elaborate, just a big open space with music and order pizza.  We found a building on our county fair grounds that has lots of parking, big space, and reasonable to rent.  While I thought we were done with the whole big birthday party scene, we want to do this for her sweet sixteen party.   Even though it is rather reasonable, it’s still not a trivial amount of money.  I agreed […] Read more »

We’re preparing for one last gasp from Winter here  in Minnesota.  A snow storm is supposed to roll in later today, dumping heavy wet snow on us.  But as normal, there’s a bit of uncertainty in that the temps may stay warm enough where it’s mainly rain.  I’m all for that at this point.  I’d rather have the liquid form of precipitation fall today and tonight and the sun come out tomorrow.   Come on, Spring! Raise those fists to Spring, and my favorite posts of the week! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump 10 Habits to Change to Save Money […] Read more »

I went into my mechanical room yesterday to clean out my cats’ litter box, and found water leaking from the water heater.  We have an appliance repair service plan, so I called to have a person come look at it.  Unfortunately, he gave me bad news.  The tank had cracked,  and after 14 years of serving us faithfully, our water heater needed to be replaced.  So today I’ve been working from the kitchen table as I watch a new water heater be installed, at a price of about $1800. At least I can still fist pump for my favorite posts […] Read more »

Alright, friends, I’ve finally reached my breaking point.  It happens every year, but this year I held out all the way until March.  I’m officially sick of winter.  I want no more cold, sleet, ice, snow, blizzards or snowdrifts.  I’m done shoveling.  Just done.  Bring on the spring weather, the smell of freshly cut grass and the warm sun beating down on my freshly shaven head.  I know that there’s likely a snow storm or two still in our future for the season, but at least I have a trip to Florida to look forward to in less than 3 […] Read more »

Have you done your taxes yet?  I’m usually not very excited to do my taxes, as I’ve owed money the last few years.  Last year I changed my withholdings such that I was really close to breaking even.  This year, however, I will get a tax credit for a portion of the tuition paid under the American Tax Opportunity Credit.  I’m actually looking forward to doing my taxes this year! Fist pump for tax refunds, and my favorite posts of the week! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump 6 Reasons Why Debt is Like a Financial STD from FI Me […] Read more »

Last week I received an email containing my Costco Citibank cash back rewards check from 2017.  It’s a significant amount, totaling several hundred dollars.  It would be easy to just blow it on something meaningless, but instead we’re putting it in the bank to be used during our family vacation to Florida at the end of March.  We’re already budgeting for spending money for the trip, but adding this will give us some extra funds to make sure we have a great time. Fist pump for cash back rewards, AND my favorite posts of the week! Posts That Make Me […] Read more »

Welcome to a special Monday edition of Fist Pump Friday!  Our beloved Enemy of Debt site was having some issues late last week, but I didn’t want to not give props to my favorite posts of last week!  I honestly love doing these once a week link posts, because it gives a shout out to my favorite bloggers, and gives you the readers additional resources and motivation. Fist pump for EOD being back online, and for my favorite posts of the week! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump 5 Cheap Ways to File Your Taxes Online from Well Kept Wallet […] Read more »

As I was using my snowblower, I noticed that one of the three gears ceased to work.  I got the snowblower for free from my parents, so any money I have to put into it is really not that big of a deal.  However, with spring seemingly nearby I’d like to hold off on spending money on this season.  I have a feeling that other gears may stop working as I continue to use it, but if I could wait and deal with it when utility bills drop of during the warmer, but not hot springtime months, it would certainly […] Read more »

Who’s watching the Super Bowl this weekend?  I’m bummed my Vikings won’t be in it, but I’ll be watching.  I was thinking of firing up the smoker and making something, but last week I spent 6 hours in front of it and what I made didn’t turn out.  In my defense, it was something I never made before.  But, putting in that amount of effort, and sinking about $50 into it between the meat, charcoal and wood, has left a bad taste in my mouth (get it?).  I just don’t feel like lighting it up again this weekend.  I guess […] Read more »

With one door closing, another opens.  The bad news is that my Vikings lost in the NFC championship game last weekend.  The good news is that football season is coming to a conclusion which means my Sundays are now free to get some indoor projects done before Spring arrives.  On the list is repainting two bathrooms, and installing a closet organizer in our master bedroom closet.   None of these will be that expensive, because I’ll be doing them myself. Looking forward to being productive! Fist pump for DIY projects, and my favorite  posts of the week! Posts That Make Me […] Read more »

This weekend the NFL’s AFC and NFC championship games are on.  I was planning to make some ribs on the smoker using a new rub I found.  Imagine my surprise when a knock at my door the other night was my neighbors bringing me…….ribs!  Over the last few months I had shared some of my BBQ with them, the latest being some pulled pork just last weekend.  To show their appreciation they gave me a package of St. Louis cut pork ribs.    Now I have a new rub, AND the ribs to put it on.  This is going to be […] Read more »

The last two weeks have been brutally cold in Minnesota.  Look, I know I live in Minnesota and this shouldn’t be unexpected, but an extended period of time where daily high temperatures struggle to break zero wears on a person.  Not to mention, I’m not looking forward to seeing my utility bill next month.  It might just put the deep freeze on my budget.  See what I did there? Fist pump for warmer  temperatures and my favorite posts of the week! Posts That Make Me Fist Pump Wasting Somebody Else’s Money from Money Beagle 3 Keys to Knocking Out Your […] Read more »