Friday!!

Dignity100

Happy Friday, Everybody!!

I'm super jealous of @Swazzle because I'm tired of this bitter cold!


I'm thinking about paying off my car today!!  It'll get paid off this month, but I'm really thinking today's the day I get off my lazy bum and do it!

This weekend, hoping to have Take 2 of Game Night - I have to figure out what to cook for us still.  Other than that probably just errands (Sam's Club, Target, Grocery store, laundry, etc).  Tonight H has poker, so maybe I'll just sleep ALL night.

[Deleted User]

I want to be in Aruba @swazzle

Tonight we are going to a house warming party for one of my friends. She moved into a condo in ATL and we hate driving down there but I told DH this year I really want to focus on going over to ATL more so I can see my friends. Last year I didn't see them at all.

Saturday I'm going to CrossFit in the morning and then finishing cleaning up the house. Our mailbox fell over this week because of the crazy wind so our landlord is coming over to fix it for us. Then we might drive around to look at some houses that our realtor mentioned to us.

Sunday is church and relaxing. DH and I need to look into which bank we want to take out our home loan through so we will probably do some research this weekend on that.

Hummingbird125

Good morning and HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

This weather SUCKS. We got a few inches of snow and the roads were absolutely terrible my whole 20mi drive to work. My car does not handle snow well at all, so I was a nervous wreck the entire time. I don't think I went above 35mph, yet I still had a few scary moments. I'm really hoping that the roads are 10x better by the time I get to leave. My boss is actually closing on a house only 15 minutes away from me today, and we already discussed carpooling occasionally, which would be nice. I told him how my car doesn't go well in the snow, and that I'm really nervous when driving in bad weather, and he told me that he'd be happy to pick me up on his way in whenever possible in bad weather. I'm also going to make sure I'm set up to work from home as much as I can be, because there's no way I'm willing to drive in weather much worse than this. It's just not worth the risk.

I have nothing planned for the weekend, other then maybe hitting up Michael's and starting some wedding crafts (table numbers, perhaps?). There will also be LOTS of playing in the snow with the pup.

cu97tiger

Tonight DH and I will go down to the Eagles (it's like a VFW that we are members of) for a little bit to have a beer. We've both had a long week. 

Saturday I am meeting a bunch of people from a running club. I'll only be doing three miles, since I just did my first run in six weeks yesterday, but it will be good to get out there. It's going to be freaking COLD!

Then DH and I are having a big sitdown about our budget. We make enough money to not worry about our bills, but we aren't doing a good job with our extra cash. Our credit cards aren't going down, and we keep saying 'oh, we'll just pay it off when we sell the house' but that could be a year from now, so it's time to put our adult pants on and make a budget (I've been begging for this for years, but DH is just now getting that flying by the seat of our pants isn't working).

@dignity100 - congrats on paying off your car! I think both DH and I pay off ours this summer. I'm looking forward to 6-12 months of no car payments!

phira

Good morning!

I'm hoping this is my final sick day. Most of my symptoms are a lot better (YAY!), but I'm still tired, and my cough is getting worse. I think it turned into bronchitis? I'm afraid to see a doctor about it because it's almost 100% certain that it's viral bronchitis, which has to resolve on its own. We'll see how long the damn cough persists.

Weekend plans for us involve celebrating my mother-in-law's birthday tomorrow, and me going out to CT to see my best friend on Sunday.

speakeasy14

@dignity100 congrats on paying off your car!! And good luck with game night part 2, hopefully less tension this time!

@hummingbird125That's awesome that your boss is offering to carpool and you can work from home, so that you can avoid driving in bad conditions as much as possible!  This is my first car with all wheel drive, I've only ever owned tiny cars (Toyota Echo and Hyundai Elantra), so I completely understand having a car that does not handle well in snow.  If you don't already, get snow tires or at least really good all season tires; it'll help a little bit at least, for when you do have to drive.  

cu97tiger good luck with the budget talk!  I created an excel sheet about a year ago to help me figure out where I can pay down credit cards and student loans. I used one of those debt repayment calculators to help me actually figure out where the extra money could go before I put it in excel; hopefully it is just as easy for you guys!

southernpeach89 Is there other ways for you to get into ATL without having to drive so you can visit more often?

*forgot about me haha*

We're supposed to go to a meadery tonight with my bf's brother and his gf. It's his brother's birthday and they're moving to Texas next week so we're trying to spend as much time with them as possible.

OH!!!! Yesterday I went on a tour of my company's guest house, which is the most beautiful house I've ever been in.  The kitchen was designed to be able to prepare meals for 36 people so it is massive.  While on the tour though they told us something I found really interesting; the kitchen has gas ovens and electric ovens.  This is because cooking and broiling are better in a gas oven, while baking is better in an electric oven.  Now to convince my bf that I need two ovens haha. 

cu97tiger

@speakeasy14 - Luckily, we already have the spreadsheet and use it every month. The trick is getting the 'extra' money to be put into buckets and kept there. Usually we just use up whatever is in the checking account each month. Then, when we go on a trip, it all goes on the credit card. I feel like the answer is easy enough, but it will definitely be a switch for us.

Dignity100

@Southernpeach89 - hope one of the houses pans out (and you find a great bank, just know your mortgage will probably sell a gazillion times; I've had my house for 11 years and I've had 4 different banks hold my loan.  I HATE the current bank <which is funny because I worked at that bank for 12 years - I wouldn't recommend them then either though).

@Hummingbird125 - YAY for nothing planned.  Any ideas on what your planning your table numbers to look like?

@Cu97Tiger - *Only* 3 miles... I can't even run 3 blocks!  I hate having budget discussions w/H.  I'm so happy to be paying off my car - I had a 72 month loan and I'm 52 months into it.  I'm hoping to be able to put away some $$ each month still for a down payment on my next car (probably I'll save less than what I was making for my car payment since some other expenses have went up).

@Phira - Feel better.  Hopefully you can get some rest this weekend, sounds like you need it.

[Deleted User]

@speakeasy14 -We could take MARTA but most of them don't live close to marta stations so it's a bit inconvenient. We just live far from ATL (around an hour) so it's just a drive for us to make where they are all super close to each other (within 20 minutes).

KeptInStitches

@dignity100, congrats on paying off your car!

@southernpeach89, enjoy the house hunt!

@hummingbird125, it's nice that your boss offered to carpool.

@phira, get better soon!

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COLD. NOT RIGHT COLD. Blizzard yesterday that did us all the wonderful favor of showing up after the blizzard warning expired.

This weekend is for knitting and housework. My brother is moving back onto campus Sunday so FI and I will go over to help him with the heavy stuff. 

We ordered new phones last night! It took an act of Congress and a 15-minute phone call to get our numbers onto the same plan, but it all worked out in the end. I got the Samsung Galaxy S4 (should be here today) and FI got the Droid Turbo (should be here Monday). I'm not happy he got another Droid - every one he's had has crapped out at the 18-month mark, but it's his phone, so on his head be it.

Peaseblossom55

@southernpeach89 enjoy the house hunt.  H & I had so much fun with the process

@dignity100 Yay for paying off your car, my car is fairly new I still have a little over 2 years to go!

I'm looking forward to the weekend. Tonight I open with my show, I'm really looking forward to it.  Tomorrow morning I have rehearsal pretty early for the new show I'm in and then another performance at night for the other and a matinee performance on Sunday.  On Sunday early evening we are doing a family dinner to celebrate my brother's birthday.  I'm lucky I have an H who is so supportive of my extra cirricular activities.  I'm just feeling cold and tired.  It was snowing this morning too.  I probably won't even be able to really sleep in much this weekend.  Oh well. Next week is a lot less stressful.

speakeasy14

southernpeach89 I completely understand; I live in the middle of nowhere so I have to drive at least an hour to visit anyone.  

cu97tiger That is exactly how I was; I avoid using my credit cards now and that has helped me cut extra spending a lot.  

@phira, feel better!  When I had bronchitis,I had a tea that helped so much, especially in stopping the coughing fits.  I got in from the organic/all natural aisle at the local supermarket, let me see if I can find the brand. It is Traditional Medicinals Throat Coat Tea.  

speakeasy14

Peaseblossom55 Good luck tonight!!! 

minskat30

Morning, ladies.  I'm tired again.  Couldn't fall asleep and then when I did, dog woke me up.  I just wish I could get a good night's sleep without physical exhaustion before hand...only had one good night's sleep this week. 

After work H and I are looking at kitchen pendant lights and tile for the new shower going downstairs.  Here is hoping I have enough patience, and coffee, in me to get through it this afternoon after a full day of work.

Saturday and Sunday are just home renovation, cleaning, etc.  Boring but productive at least.

labro

@dignity100 Congrats on being so close to the car loan payoff!

@southernpeach89 Sometimes a mortgage broker can make that process a little bit easier for you. H and I stuck with Chase because that was where he'd already been banking and he got some extra perks by having a mortgage with him too, but we probably could've gotten a slightly better rate if we had looked around more. I recommend looking into credit unions before regular banks because they'll offer the most competitive interest rates.

@TwoDimes Yay first vet appointment! I hope Indy does well and doesn't feel too traumatized.

@cu97tiger I'm sure you know already about all the awesome programs and apps out there that can help you track your spending. Maybe the key may be to start setting up an automatic payment every month onto your credit card right at the beginning of the month so that way the money is gone? Or set it up so that some portion of your paycheck, goes straight in to savings. If the money is already elsewhere then maybe the temptation to use it up will be less.

Last night we FINALLY got to sleep in our own bed. I feel so much better today! We're waiting for the permit from the county to arrive, so as soon as we get that we can hire someone to come replace our drain field. The quotes we've been getting are actually less than we initially estimated (yay!) so we're considering hiring somebody with a Bobcat to come do some grading work in our backyard at the same time to help solve the drainage issues that are probably contributing to our septic problems.

We don't have much for weekend plans. I wasn't able to take down our Christmas lights last weekend because of the rain and we've been away from the house all week so I'm going to finish taking everything down tomorrow. I also really need to grocery shop because we have no food in our fridge. Sunday H and I will probably just hang out and have some us time. We haven't gotten to have much of that lately and it's bumming both of us out.

[Deleted User]

@LaPeanut1018 -Yea that's what Dad mentioned to us. We were planning on looking into Georgia Credit Union since Sean already banks through them.

Dignity100

@KeptInStitches - Hope you love your new phone!!  I've been pretty happy with Samsung phones (I've had Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Samsung S4, Samsung S5 - I've just paired my S5 with the gear fit watch yesterday).

@TwoDimes - I always LOVE the first vet appointment, you get to show off a puppy!!  

@Peaseblossom55 - Break a leg tonight at your show

@Minskat30 - My pups got me up twice last night (12:40 and 4:20) - I feel your pain.

@LaPeanut1018 - I hope the permits come in and you get the new drain field (how long will the work take on that?) and it fixes ALL your problems.

phira

@speakeasy14 Ooh thank you!!

Ollie08

TGIFF (Thank Goodness it's Fucking Friday). I am so looking forward to this weekend.

H and I have to go to the bank on Saturday to change my name on our account. Why do they have to be so damn difficult when everyone else was so easy?!

Sunday we're just going to church, and I have a senior photo session in the afternoon. H's BFF is coming over too which is nice. We haven't seen him in a while.

Peaseblossom55

@dignity100 & @speakeasy14

Thank you!

Ollie08

@Dignity100 - Yay! My car will be paid off by the end of the year and I cannot wait. What an amazing feeling it is to have a car without payments.

@Southernpeach89 - Yay for loan shopping! How exciting to be taking the next steps towards homeownership.

@Hummingbird125 - I hope your commute home is better than the one going in!

@cu97tiger - Good luck with your budget meeting! I have to say it's really awesome when you're on the same page as your partner. I'm glad your H is coming around to budgeting.

@phira - Glad you're starting to feel better!

@KeptInStitches - Too funny! I ended up ordering my S4 last night too! No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't justify paying for an S5 when the S4 was free. I hope it lasts longer than my iPhone which is like a useless freaking paperweight.

@TwoDimes - Congrats on the Friends victory!!

@Peaseblossom55 - I'm not sure what you're supposed to (or not supposed to) say before a show opening, so just know I'm thinking of you!

@minskat30 - I hope you get some good sleep tonight. Sounds like you could really use it.

@LaPeanut1018 - YAY for being in your own bed!

KeptInStitches

@ollie08, hope you like your S4 too!

@lapeanut1018, glad the estimates are coming back lower than you expected.

also @peaseblossom55, break a leg!

AlPacina

@Dignity100 - Wahoo on getting the car paid off! I can't wait to do that. . . I've still got a bit, haha.

@cu97tiger - Good luck with the budget talk! My credit card bill cut in half when we stopped going out to eat 3-4 times a week. That was purely me making the extra effort to cook more often. But I'm loving the extra money!

@speakeasy14 - What is a meadery?!? Cuz it sounds great. It like a winery for mead? I need to find one of those.

@TwoDimes - One of the main reasons I can't wait to get a house is because we can only host about two people comfortable right now. Four guests is uncomfortable, but doable. More than four? Everyone normallly ends up outside, haha. I hope you have fun with your guests!

@Peaseblossom55 - Opening night? How exciting! Break a leg!

@LaPeanut1018 - "Us" time is the best. I hope you two have a great weekng home!

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Tonight I'm probably going bowling with some work friends. My BF doesn't like bowling, so he doesn't even want to tag along. Lame.

Tomorrow I want to make more progress on the stocking (It's so close!) and watch Friends because BF will be working. I'm hoping for a doggy play date as well.

On Sunday I plan on watching football, and then a GF of mine is coming over to smoke weed and watch Into The Woods while the BFs play video games, haha. She wanted me to wait to see the movie with her, and then a different friend of mine downloaded it for me, so we can enjoy it for free from the comfort of my home. He also downloaded Gone Girl for me, so I'll probably try and watch that at some point.

Peaseblossom55

@alpacina @ollie08 @keptinstitches thank you all so much!!!!!

eilis1228

Another zombie day for me. Mmmm I'm thankful for my caffeinated peppermint tea on this cold morning.

Tonight FI and I are going to clean the apartment. We have little to no clean dishes, tubs of Christmas decorations to put away, and basically a ton of crap everywhere. I also need to bake some Star Wars shaped cookies tonight for his birthday stuff tomorrow. Tomorrow morning I need to have my oil changed, and then we're meeting FI's parents for lunch somewhere. Later that afternoon I need to pick up his birthday cake (Oreo cake with vanilla ice cream and chocolate cake from Baskin Robbins), and then we're going to a local pub for dinner and drinks with some friends. It's going to be very cold and rainy, so I don't know if we'll stay out very late. No plans for Sunday... we'll probably stay in and relax all day.

Last night I was flushing my nose and trying to clean out some "debris," and I ended up causing a massive nose bleed. Awesome. One day I'll be normal!

@Ollie08 That's weird that the bank is being so stubborn. Hopefully it won't be too much of a headache for you guys tomorrow.

@phira Another tea you could try is the Celestial Seasonings peppermint tea. There's a bit of menthol in there, so it's really soothing on a sore throat. It was a miracle worker after my surgery when my throat was raw from the breathing tube. I hope you feel better soon!

@LaPeanut1018 I'm so glad you're back in the house and that the repairs won't cost as much as you originally thought! That's such great news!

@cu97tiger I think FI and I will be doing something similar soon. We're in the same boat as far as not worrying about bills, but the credit cards are still being used too much. I hope the solution you guys come up with is easy and relatively painless

@dignity100 Congrats on paying off your car! That's awesome!

@southernpeach89 I hope you guys find a great house this weekend! I know next to nothing about the financial end of buying a house, but I hope it all comes together for you quickly!

@Hummingbird125 What a great boss! 

@peaseblossom55 Break a leg!

GoldenPenguin

Good morning everyone! 

Count me into the "dog woke me up in the middle of the night" club w/@minskat30 & @Dignity100. They must have all conspired. Violet decided that she wanted to eat some poopsicles when we went out after work which always gives her an upset tummy, and always makes her wake us up in the night. I was SO MAD at her. When we came back in, I put her food in her bowl, she took one bite, and then followed me around the kitchen, looking at me with big "I'm sorry" eyes. She must have known that I was really mad, because Vi doesn't stop eating for ANYTHING. haha. 

I have meetings at 1230 & 2 pm, for the introduction of the new guy here at work. I'm nervous. 

I have basketball games tonight and tomorrow, and then Sunday FI & I are going back to Bed Bath & Beyond to finish registering. I need to make a list of little things that we forgot & need to add. Also, is it okay/normal/whatever to register for guest bedroom bedding? I'm registering for our master bedroom stuff at Pottery Barn, but I don't know if we're supposed to do guest bedroom stuff too. 

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@peaseblossom55 - GOOD LUCK!!! 

@alpacina - Can I come hang out with you on Sunday? Sounds like my kind of day  

@cu97tiger - Adulting sucks. I have been after FI to go set up our joint bank account now that we have the house, and I feel like he doesn't want to do it. I told him if he doesn't just tell me, and it'll be fine, but I think it makes so much more sense to just have all our money in one account. Ugh. Talking about money is so annoying.

@TwoDimes - it's been a few days without an Indy picture. I'm calling shenanigans.

@LaPeanut1018 - I can't wait for my poop-filled package!! Actually, Vi, the poop-eater, is more excited. 

Ollie08

@GoldenPenguin - I am no etiquette expert, but I think it's totally acceptable to register for guest bedroom stuff.

@eilis1228 - Thanks! I hope so too. I just don't want to waste all day there tomorrow. Fingers crossed it's not too busy.

Peaseblossom55

@GoldenPenguin thank you.  I don't see the big deal in registering for guest bedroom stuff as well.

speakeasy14

@phira you're very welcome!

@alpacina I found this place through Amazon local, and my deal expires today so we'll see what it is all about.  And yeah a meadery is like a winery plus brewery for mead.  The deal we got you get a tour and then a tasting of all their regular meads plus one seasonal (which is 6 drinks total), and then get to keep the tasting glass.

@goldenpenguin My sister's vet told her to put a little bit of pineapple juice with the dog food because it stops them from eating poop.  Since she started doing that her dog hasn't ate any poopsicles.  Think I'm going to try it out with my dogs too, though they prefer cat poop over their own. 

labro

@GoldenPenguin I totally registered for guest towels and some decor for our guest bedroom. No judgy eyes from me! I'm sending your package on Monday!!!! Cinders needs to work out a few more special treats for Vi.

@AlPacina I'd totally go bowling with you and so would H! This is me giving judgy eyes to your BF for not liking bowling. What's not to like??

GoldenPenguin

@speakeasy14 - The pet store told me about the pineapple too, and I also got her these "treats" that are supposed to stop her, but apparently they don't work. Looks like I'll be buying some pineapple. Ugh. Disgusting creatures.