Why?

@Sarah, I love Allison Baggerly! Have you listened to any of the This Is Awkward podcasts that she does with Chris from Popcorn Finance? They are so funny.

Nothing new on my end either, just putting one foot in front of the other.

@Katie Yes! I started with Popcorn finance and made it through all of This is Awkward :) I have been enjoying it so far and I am on episode 16. I've been staying pretty motivated listening to finance podcasts.

I checked out the NerdWallet website and podcast and was thoroughly impressed!!! I can't remember who recommended it, but thanks for the info.

Sarah recommended NerdWallet I've been so obsessed with podcasts lately. I have a two hour commute, listen to them on 1.5 speed, and have been running out of them so adding more and more. Most recently it's Paychecks & Balances (a super down to earth guy who doesn't give off a know-it-all vibe) and Rich & Regular (a couple who are smart, funny, and interact really well with each other). I'm also a huge fan of Bigger Pockets Money but haven't listened to the main Bigger Pockets podcast. Both of those are geared towards real estate investing.

I found out this week that (contrary to what I had believed), I had a small deficit each month. I only caught it because I finally moved the funds that I had written-designated to goals to their designated accounts. Fortunately, this spurred me to ask for an income increase and it was granted. Here's to hoping I recall Diderot's message (lifestyle inflation) and save the increase instead.

@Sara: That is awesome that you have options to choose from for museum visits (and other such things). Sounds like a good deal/perk for supporting a cause.

Thanks for the recommendation, Sarah!!

Katie, I'm going to check those out too.

Kristen, Way to go on asking and receiving the pay increase!! Well done, my friend!

My credit score finally went up from opening the new credit card. Sounds like good news all around.

Congrats on the progress! It's fantastic when you can see the work you're doing pay off. Great motivation to keep doing what you're doing!

Has anyone else still had trouble receiving the 50 points for the Child Tax Credit survey/quiz? I've taken it quite a few times, now and while I have a page that says "Congratulations you've received…points", it doesn't ever take or even check off as having done.

@Kristen I have taken it more than once; I think it is bugged. All of my other activities that were marked as completed were unmarked for some reason. The only ones that work consistently for me are the forum post and article of the day :/ I finally had to email customer support to unlock my points store but 10/10 was resolved immediately and I was able to use my points.

I have also taken the Child Tax Credit quiz several times as well as the kids money games, but I haven't received any additional points since the first time I was surveyed.

I made a huge mistake. I thought that since I've managed to save my travel fund (the place I want to go is still closed for travel) I could invest it with a broker/trader to increase funds so that maybe I can pay off my student loan early AND still be able to travel… Why did I do that?!?! I'm so disappointed.

I had the same issues with the child tax survey and contacted customer service. They gave me the points but the survey never acknowledged that it was done and all of my other tasks are now unchecked, too.

@Candice, when is your travel? If you keep the funds invested for 12 months before pulling out your contributions then is it that bad? I don't know enough about that, I've never done anything outside of 401k and bank accounts.

@Candice P: Probably not much help in this specific circumstance, but if you are disappointed because the place opened, perhaps you can give yourself a little vacation elsewhere or even do a "staycation"? I would assume that the place you had wanted to visit will still be there in the future at a later time (when you can pull your contributions without additional taxes [I think it is a year and a day?]).

If it is because of the volatility and uncertainty of the stock market (and currently ongoing government debt-ceiling debate), historically those who wait out these periods do better.

I agree, I don't think it was a bad mistake but you'll probably be better off if you let the funds sit for a year. From what I hear, it's best not to watch stocks daily or weekly because of how quickly things change. That's probably easier for people that have a lot more money than I do, lol. I know I don't like saying goodbye to money, even if it's only for a year, because of how long it takes me to save it back up.

@Candice I agree with @Katie @Kristen depending on the type of investments you are in, I wouldn't stress. If you are in some index funds or mutual funds, everything will balance out, it just takes some time. Individual stocks are riskier. I am in the process of moving my individual stocks into index funds. I am almost there, but I have a few poor investments that I check in with hoping to catch them at the breakeven point so I can sell them. I will be happy when I am in the set it and forget it portion of my investment journey.
Knowing what I know now, I will probably never buy individual stocks again unless I know enough about the company/product/industry to feel confident in risking the money.
I tend to take a lot of staycations. Luckily I live in an area that has a lot of cool stuff within day driving distance (~2 hrs) even though there is not much to do here.

Popping back in to say I just discovered a limited time series on Netflix called Money, Explained. I am on the second episode about credit cards. It is eye opening! It gets into the behavioral tactics used against consumers. I am finding it fascinating.

I'm sorry All. I got called away and forgot to explain why I was/am disappointed.

The broker/trader was not a real person and I got scammed. It's all my fault because I didn't research correctly. On the bright side, I'm no longer thinking about the vacation being closed for travel, but it's just my luck they are probably open now.

That's got to be a terrible feeling, Candice. I've been let down by family members in the past, loaning them money to pay bills and then finding out that they had drug problems and used the money to fuel that instead. It feels like a total loss but if you learned something then it's not all negative. In my case, I learned to ask more questions and listen to my gut before opening my wallet. I also learned not to loan out cash unless I was okay with the idea of not getting it back.

.

Katie, lesson learned.

Why don’t I get points from saving last week!!?

@Lina, I've had this a few times and have contacted support for it (was given the points). It takes a few days to show up so they suggested to make your savings deposit on Tuesday or later. I think they check Monday for savings for the previous week but not sure about that part.

@Candice I'm so sorry to hear that! That has gotta be super frustrating.

@Katie @Lina Usually just have to email customer service and they get back pretty quick. I have contacted them twice; first time it took a couple days, this last time literally minutes. I am guessing its a pretty common problem and they now have some sort of workflow for it, lol. Mine is locked up again after being unlocked, so I'm gonna leave it until my points rack up again and I have plenty to redeem.
The savings check I believe is after 9AM on Monday; they will verify your balance and give you the points if you saved your $5. I believe SaverLife recommends moving your money over on the previous Wed to ensure it has enough time to clear by Monday morning. I use ALLY bank for my savings which usually moves funds within a day, so I move my savings over on Thursday.

Hi everyone!! I hope you've had a good half-week of saving and budgeting. Let's keep earning!!

Happy Thursday everyone! Thursdays are my Fridays and I can't wait for my weekend. Going to balance September's budget and make a plan to stay on track for October.

Alas its my Friday on this week, so I still have work (I work a 9/80) but its a short day for me, so I'm taking the fam to the county fair tomorrow afternoon. Kid is super excited :) I had budgeted for it, BUT my company paid out a quarterly bonus this quarter so I have a small bit of cash that I didn't plan for! Since I'm already on goal with my debt paydown, I'm saving some and spending some at the fair and riding ALL the rides (and buying all the kettlecorn which is my favorite).