Halloween is a really meh holiday. I probably wouldn’t do anything to celebrate it if I didn’t have a kid.
YESSS. Halloween costumes are also expensive and cheaply made. My husband actually hates Halloween. He says it's a white people holiday. ETA I should probably elaborate on that. He's Asian, and people are dumb and rude to him about costumes. Like, why aren't you just a ninja? I know it sounds stupid, but I've witnessed the stupidity.
Me: 29, DH: 31 Married: October 2014 Began TTC: April 2015 BFP #1: 9/18/15. EDD 5/18/16. MC 10/26/15. (9w) BFP #2: 2/27/16. EDD 11/7/16. MC/D&E 4/20/16 (11w) BFP #3: 9/22/16. EDD 5/29/17. DS born 4/24/17 BFP #4: 5/20/18. EDD 1/23/19.
@saltedcaramel518 so you're saying you're not super excited about a maternity Halloween costume this year???
AFM, I love Halloween. We decorate with lights and big spiderwebs that go across the house. I've been looking at maternity costumes for a while and I think I've narrowed it down to Winnie the Pooh/ hunny pot or the house wife/ milkman's baby. My brother's birthday is Halloween so I think that may have some influence on why I love that day so much.
@kns1988 I don't like cats, either. There's many reasons.
My OP: I don't like when people talk about doing (or should do) a low carb diet. I know nutrition, I've seen a few nutritionists, I am close to a few personal trainers. I know why people talk about low carb, but if it's not a medical necessity for you, it isn't actually that necessary to losing weight. I'm sure a few of you will have something to say about this, and that's fine. I DO think that balance and the type of carbs makes a difference. I could go way into the science of it, but I'll stop here.
@saltedcaramel518 I LOVE Halloween! Probably mostly because it kicks off the holiday season, but also it's a good excuse to watch scary movies and gorge on candy. Maybe I will agree with you more when I have to go trick or treating, but I will probably bring a drink and be cool with it haha.
@kns1988 noooo cats are the best! They are so low maintenance and snuggly. I guess my UO is that I like cats more than dogs. Then again, I am a lazy homebody and my dog is a crazy husky sooo he's mostly my SO's baby. I obviously love him too, but my cats are my bottom b*tches. They have teeny teeth and little bean toes, the cutest.
Oh, one thing that I do love about Halloween is that Jezebel always does this scary story series.where commentators post all of these crazy stories. I get lost for hours in them and then can't sleep for a week. I'll link to it when Halloween comes!
Me: 29, DH: 31 Married: October 2014 Began TTC: April 2015 BFP #1: 9/18/15. EDD 5/18/16. MC 10/26/15. (9w) BFP #2: 2/27/16. EDD 11/7/16. MC/D&E 4/20/16 (11w) BFP #3: 9/22/16. EDD 5/29/17. DS born 4/24/17 BFP #4: 5/20/18. EDD 1/23/19.
@AshVA yes!!! He's actually a pretty horrible person IRL (I grew up outside of Nashville and lived/worked in an area where his family's circle crossed mine every once in a while). I hate that people follow his advice and practices out of the religious connection he puts to it. Gross.
@sweetyjenj I think low carb diets are one of the easier diets for people to do. Yes, there are some good carbs but also do you need all those chips, cookies, breads, noodles, etc? Everything in moderation is key but when you are taking someone who maybe has never done a diet before and wants to lose weight, I think low carb is an easy way to go. We *mostly* try to eat low carb and it's really helped us maintain healthy weights.
My UO: I read an article this morning about a local company that is offering "fur-turnity leave" to new pet owners. Basically, if you have a new pet you can work from home. It seems a little crazy when lots of companies don't even offer the proper maternity/paternity leave. We also have some friends who told us that having a cat is like having a baby. I was like....really??? Pets are pets, and it's awesome that they are a special part of your family but they are not real life children.
We never celebrated holidays growing up so I always use every holiday as an excuse to go overboard on decorating and wearing themed outfits!!
I loathe cats because they can be jerks and I'm secretly happy that I'm super allergic to them and can decline invited to my sisters house with her zillion cats.
I absolutely hate all horror everything. I still have nightmares from watching IT a few months back with my dh. And I didn't even watch any of the scary parts!! Horror films and gory stuff just makes me feel icky inside; it's a hard feeling to describe.
Whaaaatttttt????????? I cannot fathom that people don't like Halloween LOL!!!!! I think my love of holidays in general comes from my mom since she got crazy into every single one with decorations, and food, and music - it was SO much fun as a kid. I really enjoy doing the same for my kids, especially for Halloween. My goal is to be the best decorated house on the block every year. We get so many more kids than my neighbours because they make a special point to trick-or-treat at our place. I make a Halloween-themed dinner (witch soup, or pasta with brains aka meat sauce, etc.), we all get dressed up, have the music and fog machine going, we carve way too many pumpkins....it's so much fun!
My UO: As soon as Halloween is finished (I usually take down the decorations that same night) I am full-steam ahead on Christmas November 1st and I have zero shame. Christmas décor comes out, Christmas movies are played, Christmas music is on 24/7, and my tree goes up mid-November. I know this is pretty controversial for my American friends, especially since you guys have Thanksgiving between Halloween and Christmas, but us Canadians have our Thanksgiving in October so, after Halloween, there's nothing but Christmas on the horizon.
Oct 16: Spontaneous BFP | m/c @ 9w1d (massive SCH) | D&C Apr 17: IUI #1 = BFN May 17: IUI #2 = BFN Jun 17: IUI #3 = Late BFP (18 DPO) | NMC 17Jul17 @ ~6w Aug 17: IUI #4 = Cancelled due to premature ovulation | TI = BFN Sep 17: IUI #5 = Cancelled due to overstimulation (10+ follies) Nov 17: IVF #1 = Cancelled due to non-IF related health issue | TI = BFN Dec 17: IVF #1 = Puregon 200, Menopur 75, Orgalutran, Suprefact trigger due to OHSS risk | 22R, 18M, 16F, 10B frozen Feb 18: FET #1 (medicated) = BFN Mar 18: FET #2 (natural cycle) = CP (beta 1: 54; beta 2: 0)
Apr 18: FET #3 (natural cycle) = cancelled due to missed ovulation
Apr 18: FET #3 (natural cycle) = BFP! Beta 1: 201 Beta 2: 585 Beta 3: 3254 Beta 4: 9715
U/S 19May - one bean measuring on track with a HB of 125! EDD: 07Jan2019 Team Green My Rainbow Baby Boy born 03Jan2019
@tosh24 I'm with you! As soon as Halloween is done, I'm decorating for Christmas. I have satellite radio and they start their Christmas music on November 1st and you better believe I'm listening to it 24/7. I almost always have my tree up by American Thanksgiving.
My OP: I don't like when people talk about doing (or should do) a low carb diet. I know nutrition, I've seen a few nutritionists, I am close to a few personal trainers. I know why people talk about low carb, but if it's not a medical necessity for you, it isn't actually that necessary to losing weight. I'm sure a few of you will have something to say about this, and that's fine. I DO think that balance and the type of carbs makes a difference. I could go way into the science of it, but I'll stop here.
+1 I particularly dislike the low carb evangelists. If I didn’t have to eat low carb, I would stop in a heartbeat. I’ve never tried to lose weight, but it certainly does not make me feel amazing, and no, I’m not doing it wrong.
Just about diets in general... I think they're dumb. I'm not talking about having a normal, healthy diet; I'm talking fad diets. I'm also not saying that people are dumb for trying them, because some people do have genuine success; the problem is, a lot of fad diets aren't sustainable. They can be harmful to long term health, they can lead to people feeling worse about themselves if the diet doesn't work out, etc. What happened to just eating in a balanced way? Why deprive the body of things it needs to stay healthy? So weird to me. I was in the lunch room the other day where these three overweight women ( not judging - just painting the picture) were talking about doing the keto diet. I sat with them for a bit and chatted, and then it was time to go back to work... And wouldn't you know it that I was the only one who headed for the stairs instead of the elevator. The three were aghast - that's FOUR floors! But in that is my point - you have to take care of yourself if you want success. A fad diet isn't going to fix it.
I also think cats are gross/creepy and have lied and told people (including my in-laws) for years that I am allergic to cats to get out of having to touch or interact with them
@AshVA agreed on Dave Ramsey. Piggybacking on that and this maybe an UO: If you tell people that all debt is scary and bad instead of teaching them how to responsibly use it as a tool to leverage your financial wealth then you are severely inhibiting their class mobility and just creating a broader base of people to sell your BS advice to as a glimmer of hope.
@AshVA agreed on Dave Ramsey. Piggybacking on that and this maybe an UO: If you tell people that all debt is scary and bad instead of teaching them how to responsibly use it as a tool to leverage your financial wealth then you are severely inhibiting their class mobility and just creating a broader base of people to sell your BS advice to as a glimmer of hope.
This x 1000. Paying for a large purchase in cash and losing a significant amount of liquidity to avoid a short-term, low-interest loan (e.g., a car purchase) often doesn't make financial sense.
Casting all credit card debt as evil can be short sighted also. We put almost all of our day to day expenses on our credit card, then pay it off on a rolling basis so we rarely ever pay any interest. We earn a ton of points, which adds up to $500+/ year in Visa gift cards. As long as you have discipline, don't spend more than you can pay off, and avoid incurring interest, credit card rewards are essentially free money.
@AshVA I actually really like Dave Ramsey, but I also don't view him as the be all, end all of financial advice. A lot of his stuff is too black and white, where I think personal finance has to be personal. I think there are some people who are able to handle debt appropriately and use it to their advantage, but some people can't. For example, DH and I have a couple credit cards still in order to keep up a credit score, but only I have access to them as DH just cant handle it responsibly, no matter how many times we try. I think a lot of the people Dave is preaching to are like my husband, where they would be much better off using cash only and never touching a credit card.
I think he is in the right regarding his teachings of saving money in general, as I think that is lacking in a lot of people's lives. I also personally agree on his advice on when to buy a house and his guidelines on how much of your take home pay your mortgage should be, though I recognize it would be hard to keep your mortgage at 25% of your take home pay in areas like California, where I am.
Either way, I think he has done a good job overall at getting people to a better place financially, but I do agree that he can be an a-hole at times and that his approach can be too rigid for some people's situations.
My UO: I hate LulaRoe leggings and all their other ugly A$$ clothes! There, I said it!
My wife and I have conceived a babe with my body and frozen donor sperm through IUI, with medication support (clomid, ovidrel, and injections of progesterone) IUI #1, #2, and #3: Dec 2017, Jan 2018, and Feb 2018 - all BFN HSG Test: April 2018 - all clear! IUI #4: April 15/16, 2018 - BFP!! EDD: Jan 7, 2019
@AshVA H and I do the same with our credit cards but we both get close to $100 cash back a month EACH. that's$2,400 extra income straight back into our pockets.
There are snippets of decent advice sprinkled in there, but a lot of it I think is far too rigid or geared towards a very narrow subset of people while being cast as universal advice.
I dislike a lot of his methods, but the one I hate the most by far is the snowball method for paying off debt. He casts it as the ideal debt payoff method for everyone, when in reality it's only decent advice for people who 1) lack any self control whatsoever, and/or 2) care more about feeling good about paying off debt than they do about actually paying off debt in the most efficient/ least expensive manner.
Also, prioritizing debt payoff completely at the expense of liquidity and retirement savings is also really bad advice for many people.
@tosh24 YES Christmas!!!!! November 1st, full on Christmas over here. Love it!
@leighbrek I completely agree!! I wanted to save all my UO's about diets to future weeks and not group them together and use in one week And I dislike them for basically exactly what you said. I'm all for healthy long-term diets....not "diets". @UnbreakableKimmySchmidt I agree about unnecessary carbs. I don't buy chips or cookies, so I only eat a few when someone else buys them and shares them, like at work or during festivities. White bread, white rice, etc...not the best carbs. Oatmeal, quinoa, whole grain, etc are GOOD carbs, though, and can aid in losing weight.
We do the same thing with our credit cards.. put everything possible on it and just pay it off each month. What I'm really struggling with is what to do with our "extra" money each month. Do I put it towards loans? Do I save it for a down payment? Do I increase our retirement contributions? Do I increase our 529 contributions? I've spent a lot of time recently reading about personal finance and know I'm suppose to do all of these things, but by trying to do all of this I feel like I'm getting no where in any aspect. It's super frustrating. Both DH and I are in our late 20s with professional degrees and still feel like we are living like college kids. My peers have all bought houses by now and go on elaborate vacations.. It's not that I'm jealous of them (at least I don't think, lol), I'm just wondering what they did differently to afford a 200k-300k house 1 year out of school..
I guess I still struggle with our decision to have me work part time.. Working part time and spending the other time with the kids is what I want, and I love the balance I have now, but delaying our financial goals is a cost of this. I'm not a very patient person and having to delay buying a house for at least another 3-4 years is killing me a little bit.
@ashva & @galactickates I love credit card rewards! I have the Starbucks Visa and use it for basically everything and pay it off each month. No interest, but I earn at least 1-2 free drinks each month, in addition to the 20 free drinks I earned right away from opening it. I used to use a card with travel rewards and got several free flights, but now I don't travel much anymore and it's not worth it. I have had a free flight waiting for me for over a year now. Free Starbucks? Bring it on.
We did the Dave Ramsey method years ago, but we weren't super motivated since we didn't have much debt aside from our house. I found it more annoying, and since DH and I are savvy spenders and don't shop much outside the norm, it just didn't seem worth it. I personally don't agree that you should dump all your savings onto debt and only keep $1000 until you pay off debt and rebuild the savings. It does not seem smart IMO so even if we did the Dave Ramsey again (not likley) I wouldn't drain savings to do it. That said, I do know some who have used his method with success.
Cats are a million times better than dogs. I get all the snuggles without ever having to rush home to feed/walk them. They even play fetch!
Halloween is the worst. I’m really not into any holidays that require actual effort though. And I am so not into seasonal decorations. I am pretty anal about what I display in my house and I guess I’ve never found a pumpkin/gourd/snowman that really fit my decor. I’m really glad this baby is due in January so I can skip one more year of Christmas trees/pretending to care about Christmas in general.
Carbs are probably the best thing ever invented but I have had really good success losing weight by cutting out carbs. I feel like it helped cut down on my food cravings a ton.
+1 to responsibly using credit. We each signed up for a travel rewards card before our wedding, put all of our expenses on it but paid them off immediately, and the points we accumulated basically paid for our honeymoon.
@sweetyjenj - a lot of time I will say "low carb diet" when talking about my eating habits because it is easier than saying (and explaining) that I am avoiding high glycemic load foods. I have PCOS so every bite of white bread and pasta goes right to the belly fat. If you say "low carb" people just accept it. But if I get into the explanation they tend to get a glazed look in their eyes. Lol.
@Mandamay1414 I've often said the same thing to my husband: "HOW are all these people, who make the same money as me, affording the fancy cars, giant houses, and semi-annual vacations?" My husband, who is a financial advisor, says that most of them have a sh*tload of debt. Not everyone, of course - there's sometimes family money, or someone who caught a big break on something early on - but the majority are drowning in debt.
I'm with you on wanting to feel like I'm progressing quickly... But maybe in the end we'll be the ones without debt in our senior years. lol
@AshVA Those are all valid points. I do struggle with the idea of stopping retirement contributions, and I didnt stop mine while paying off debt, but that was more because DH was only half way buying into the plan, and it was obvious we were going to spend more time paying it off than we could have spent if we were fully working together. But, as far as the debt snowball goes, if you make the calculations for the debt a lot of people have, doing the debt snowball only delays paying off debt by a couple of months, if that. That isnt always the case, like with a friend who had 3 no interest loans and a giant loan with interest, but I have seen it a lot of times. In my friend's case, definitely pay off the interest one first, especially because he had already proven himself pretty financially responsible.
The whole point is getting people who otherwise live paycheck to paycheck because they don't know what to do or don't care, a tangible, easy to follow plan to dig them out of their mess and into a better financial position. I think Dave Ramsey has done that for a lot of people. The details might not jive in every situation, especially those who are already decently financially responsible, but I think he has succeeded in teaching a whole bunch of people how to responsibly handle their money and get them on the path to actually care enough to pay attention and work towards their financial goals.
Me & carbs are inseparable. I fully believe I’d lose a bunch of weight on a low carb diet. I also believe I’d be in a crappy mood pretty much indefinitely.
Me (28) & DH (35) Met 4/2010+Married 8/2014 TTC #1 August 2016. BFP 10/2016= DD Born 6.23.17
NTNP April 2018. BFP 5/2018 EDD 1.29.19 *Team Green*
@PolarBear517 me and sugar are inseparable lol I know carbs get broken down similar to candy, but if I didn't give up oatmeal, quinoa, and whole grain english muffins (all of these are YUM) and just gave up processed sugar, i would probably lose a few lbs. But it's not worth it lol
Having ADHD and pregnant is tough..I can't have my normal concerta OR a ton of caffeine, so I crave sugar more often to replace the stimulants.
@Mandamay1414 That balance is definitely a tough call, and is such a personal decision based on individual circumstances and risk tolerances.
For us, retirement has always been a big savings priority, to reduce taxable income and to maximize the time for the money to grow tax free. We also prioritized saving for a down payment on a house over paying down student loans, because our mortgage is less than we paid in rent, doesn't go up like rent, and gains us equity (vs rent where the money is just gone). We bought a smaller house than we technically could have afforded, but it was enough to suit our needs for 10-15 years or so.
We then built up a decent emergency cushion, because having little liquidity makes me really anxious.
After we had a house and a comfortable emergency cushion, we very aggressively tackled my student loans. It was a brutal slog (helped by two strategic refis), but it was SO worth it in the end.
Once all that is taken care of, I think how to prioritize extra income depends on personal priorities and market conditions. For example, we prioritized our mutual funds last year while the market was going gangbusters, but have backed away from that a bit this year with a more stagnant and uncertain market. This year the focus is more on short term baby savings, though we still try to balance medium term and retirement savings as well.
To connect our two main UO convos, I think that the Snowball Method is kind of like a fad diet. It might get you started on a path, and it might keep you engaged for a while, but ultimately:
- It's easy to fall off of the wagon,
- Scientifically/ mathematically, it probably isn't the best approach for most people,
- You might have good results in the short term, but they probably aren't as good as the results you'd get from plain old, boring, sustained self - discipline.
FFThC: I'm much better with financial self- discipline than I am with dietary self - discipline lol
1. I never watched The Handmaid’s Tale & I have no desire to watch it in the future
2. Halloween rocks. I’ll take all of your candies, thankyouverymuch
3. I’m indifferent to cats. Definitely prefer dogs but I don’t mind them
4. I love going to the mall early October and seeing them prep for Christmas decor. Yesssss to Macy’s always setting up those Christmas trees earlier and earlier every year, lol
5. +1 UO: IDGAF about Harry Potter books. I tried getting into it in 4th grade and couldn’t get past the first chapter. I do enjoy, however, butterbeer and Harry Potter world at Universal Studios. The last HP movie - I was dragged to go see and brought a sleeping mask so I can knock out. I dislike Lord Voldemort so much bc he’s scary looking AF. I slept through the entire movie and woke up when credits were rolling. No. Regrets. I know there are some HP fans in this group - no offense on any of your love for HP. Just not for me for some reason!
Whaaaatttttt????????? I cannot fathom that people don't like Halloween LOL!!!!! I think my love of holidays in general comes from my mom since she got crazy into every single one with decorations, and food, and music - it was SO much fun as a kid. I really enjoy doing the same for my kids, especially for Halloween. My goal is to be the best decorated house on the block every year. We get so many more kids than my neighbours because they make a special point to trick-or-treat at our place. I make a Halloween-themed dinner (witch soup, or pasta with brains aka meat sauce, etc.), we all get dressed up, have the music and fog machine going, we carve way too many pumpkins....it's so much fun!
My UO: As soon as Halloween is finished (I usually take down the decorations that same night) I am full-steam ahead on Christmas November 1st and I have zero shame. Christmas décor comes out, Christmas movies are played, Christmas music is on 24/7, and my tree goes up mid-November. I know this is pretty controversial for my American friends, especially since you guys have Thanksgiving between Halloween and Christmas, but us Canadians have our Thanksgiving in October so, after Halloween, there's nothing but Christmas on the horizon.
I think we must be kindred spirits! I’m already planning Halloween costumes and activities with my kiddos. I live in the U.S., but I’ve decided that Thanksgiving is part of the Christmas Season.
My parents, especially my dad, got really into Holidays and I have such great memories. We had an annual campfire cookout and story telling every year in a local canyon in in October. My dad had this big long “Legend of Mueller Park Canyon” he’d tell us and embellish more every year. Some years I brought friends and I think a few of them are still scared of that canyon now fro his stories!
And Christmas. My dad LOVED Christmas. Our entire house, inside and out, was a spectacle. Also, my dad was overweight and had a round face and a beard; for the last 7-8 years of his life, he looked so much like Santa that he would get comments from adults and children alike even in the off season. One year during the Christmas season, he and my mom were eating at an IHOP. He wasn’t wearing his Santa suit (yes, he had a great Santa suit,) but his t-shirt was red. These 2 little boys kept looked over at him from their table until finally their mother walked with them up to my dad and said (with a Mexican accent,) “I’m sorry to bother you, but they wanted to come say hello. They think you are Santa.” One of the little boys said something to him in broken English, and when my dad replied in perfect Spanish (he’d been fluent since his twenties,) the little boys were beside themselves with excitement. My dad took the time to let them sit on his knee and talked with them about Christmas and listened to them share stories with him for several minutes before their mom ushered them back to their own table to eat.
So I guess I love the holidays because they remind me of my dad and so many great memories. I want to provide just as fond of memories for my kids.
Re: UO 8/16
DS1: May 2016
DS2: Jan 2019
Baby #3 EDD: 6/18/24
Married: October 2014
Began TTC: April 2015
BFP #1: 9/18/15. EDD 5/18/16. MC 10/26/15. (9w)
BFP #2: 2/27/16. EDD 11/7/16. MC/D&E 4/20/16 (11w)
BFP #3: 9/22/16. EDD 5/29/17. DS born 4/24/17
BFP #4: 5/20/18. EDD 1/23/19.
AFM, I love Halloween. We decorate with lights and big spiderwebs that go across the house. I've been looking at maternity costumes for a while and I think I've narrowed it down to Winnie the Pooh/ hunny pot or the house wife/ milkman's baby. My brother's birthday is Halloween so I think that may have some influence on why I love that day so much.
Married: October 2014
Began TTC: April 2015
BFP #1: 9/18/15. EDD 5/18/16. MC 10/26/15. (9w)
BFP #2: 2/27/16. EDD 11/7/16. MC/D&E 4/20/16 (11w)
BFP #3: 9/22/16. EDD 5/29/17. DS born 4/24/17
BFP #4: 5/20/18. EDD 1/23/19.
DS1: May 2016
DS2: Jan 2019
Baby #3 EDD: 6/18/24
@kns1988 I don't like cats, either. There's many reasons.
My OP: I don't like when people talk about doing (or should do) a low carb diet. I know nutrition, I've seen a few nutritionists, I am close to a few personal trainers. I know why people talk about low carb, but if it's not a medical necessity for you, it isn't actually that necessary to losing weight. I'm sure a few of you will have something to say about this, and that's fine. I DO think that balance and the type of carbs makes a difference. I could go way into the science of it, but I'll stop here.
Married: 8/11/2007
DD: Born 2/3/17
BFP#2: 5/3, EDD 1/10/19
@saltedcaramel518 I LOVE Halloween! Probably mostly because it kicks off the holiday season, but also it's a good excuse to watch scary movies and gorge on candy. Maybe I will agree with you more when I have to go trick or treating, but I will probably bring a drink and be cool with it haha.
@kns1988 noooo cats are the best! They are so low maintenance and snuggly. I guess my UO is that I like cats more than dogs. Then again, I am a lazy homebody and my dog is a crazy husky sooo he's mostly my SO's baby. I obviously love him too, but my cats are my bottom b*tches. They have teeny teeth and little bean toes, the cutest.
Married: October 2014
Began TTC: April 2015
BFP #1: 9/18/15. EDD 5/18/16. MC 10/26/15. (9w)
BFP #2: 2/27/16. EDD 11/7/16. MC/D&E 4/20/16 (11w)
BFP #3: 9/22/16. EDD 5/29/17. DS born 4/24/17
BFP #4: 5/20/18. EDD 1/23/19.
Andrea -- FTM at 39!
Andrea -- FTM at 39!
@sweetyjenj I think low carb diets are one of the easier diets for people to do. Yes, there are some good carbs but also do you need all those chips, cookies, breads, noodles, etc? Everything in moderation is key but when you are taking someone who maybe has never done a diet before and wants to lose weight, I think low carb is an easy way to go. We *mostly* try to eat low carb and it's really helped us maintain healthy weights.
My UO: I read an article this morning about a local company that is offering "fur-turnity leave" to new pet owners. Basically, if you have a new pet you can work from home. It seems a little crazy when lots of companies don't even offer the proper maternity/paternity leave. We also have some friends who told us that having a cat is like having a baby. I was like....really??? Pets are pets, and it's awesome that they are a special part of your family but they are not real life children.
I loathe cats because they can be jerks and I'm secretly happy that I'm super allergic to them and can decline invited to my sisters house with her zillion cats.
I absolutely hate all horror everything. I still have nightmares from watching IT a few months back with my dh. And I didn't even watch any of the scary parts!! Horror films and gory stuff just makes me feel icky inside; it's a hard feeling to describe.
My UO: As soon as Halloween is finished (I usually take down the decorations that same night) I am full-steam ahead on Christmas November 1st and I have zero shame. Christmas décor comes out, Christmas movies are played, Christmas music is on 24/7, and my tree goes up mid-November. I know this is pretty controversial for my American friends, especially since you guys have Thanksgiving between Halloween and Christmas, but us Canadians have our Thanksgiving in October so, after Halloween, there's nothing but Christmas on the horizon.
*TW loss and children mentioned*
Apr 17: IUI #1 = BFN
May 17: IUI #2 = BFN
Jun 17: IUI #3 = Late BFP (18 DPO) | NMC 17Jul17 @ ~6w
Aug 17: IUI #4 = Cancelled due to premature ovulation | TI = BFN
Sep 17: IUI #5 = Cancelled due to overstimulation (10+ follies)
Nov 17: IVF #1 = Cancelled due to non-IF related health issue | TI = BFN
Dec 17: IVF #1 = Puregon 200, Menopur 75, Orgalutran, Suprefact trigger due to OHSS risk | 22R, 18M, 16F, 10B frozen
Feb 18: FET #1 (medicated) = BFN
Mar 18: FET #2 (natural cycle) = CP (beta 1: 54; beta 2: 0)
EDD: 07Jan2019 Team Green
My Rainbow Baby Boy born 03Jan2019
DS 05/29/2013
M/C 02/14/2017
M/C 06/05/2017
C/P 03/01/2018
BFP 05/17/2018 EDD 01/27/2019
I was in the lunch room the other day where these three overweight women ( not judging - just painting the picture) were talking about doing the keto diet. I sat with them for a bit and chatted, and then it was time to go back to work... And wouldn't you know it that I was the only one who headed for the stairs instead of the elevator. The three were aghast - that's FOUR floors!
But in that is my point - you have to take care of yourself if you want success. A fad diet isn't going to fix it.
End of rant. lol
I also think cats are gross/creepy and have lied and told people (including my in-laws) for years that I am allergic to cats to get out of having to touch or interact with them
@AshVA agreed on Dave Ramsey. Piggybacking on that and this maybe an UO: If you tell people that all debt is scary and bad instead of teaching them how to responsibly use it as a tool to leverage your financial wealth then you are severely inhibiting their class mobility and just creating a broader base of people to sell your BS advice to as a glimmer of hope.
Casting all credit card debt as evil can be short sighted also. We put almost all of our day to day expenses on our credit card, then pay it off on a rolling basis so we rarely ever pay any interest. We earn a ton of points, which adds up to $500+/ year in Visa gift cards. As long as you have discipline, don't spend more than you can pay off, and avoid incurring interest, credit card rewards are essentially free money.
I think he is in the right regarding his teachings of saving money in general, as I think that is lacking in a lot of people's lives. I also personally agree on his advice on when to buy a house and his guidelines on how much of your take home pay your mortgage should be, though I recognize it would be hard to keep your mortgage at 25% of your take home pay in areas like California, where I am.
Either way, I think he has done a good job overall at getting people to a better place financially, but I do agree that he can be an a-hole at times and that his approach can be too rigid for some people's situations.
My wife and I have conceived a babe with my body and frozen donor sperm through IUI, with medication support (clomid, ovidrel, and injections of progesterone)
IUI #1, #2, and #3: Dec 2017, Jan 2018, and Feb 2018 - all BFN
HSG Test: April 2018 - all clear!
IUI #4: April 15/16, 2018 - BFP!! EDD: Jan 7, 2019
There are snippets of decent advice sprinkled in there, but a lot of it I think is far too rigid or geared towards a very narrow subset of people while being cast as universal advice.
I dislike a lot of his methods, but the one I hate the most by far is the snowball method for paying off debt. He casts it as the ideal debt payoff method for everyone, when in reality it's only decent advice for people who 1) lack any self control whatsoever, and/or 2) care more about feeling good about paying off debt than they do about actually paying off debt in the most efficient/ least expensive manner.
Also, prioritizing debt payoff completely at the expense of liquidity and retirement savings is also really bad advice for many people.
Married: 8/11/2007
DD: Born 2/3/17
BFP#2: 5/3, EDD 1/10/19
What I'm really struggling with is what to do with our "extra" money each month. Do I put it towards loans? Do I save it for a down payment? Do I increase our retirement contributions? Do I increase our 529 contributions? I've spent a lot of time recently reading about personal finance and know I'm suppose to do all of these things, but by trying to do all of this I feel like I'm getting no where in any aspect. It's super frustrating. Both DH and I are in our late 20s with professional degrees and still feel like we are living like college kids. My peers have all bought houses by now and go on elaborate vacations.. It's not that I'm jealous of them (at least I don't think, lol), I'm just wondering what they did differently to afford a 200k-300k house 1 year out of school..
I guess I still struggle with our decision to have me work part time.. Working part time and spending the other time with the kids is what I want, and I love the balance I have now, but delaying our financial goals is a cost of this. I'm not a very patient person and having to delay buying a house for at least another 3-4 years is killing me a little bit.
Married: 8/11/2007
DD: Born 2/3/17
BFP#2: 5/3, EDD 1/10/19
Cats are a million times better than dogs. I get all the snuggles without ever having to rush home to feed/walk them. They even play fetch!
Halloween is the worst. I’m really not into any holidays that require actual effort though. And I am so not into seasonal decorations. I am pretty anal about what I display in my house and I guess I’ve never found a pumpkin/gourd/snowman that really fit my decor. I’m really glad this baby is due in January so I can skip one more year of Christmas trees/pretending to care about Christmas in general.
Carbs are probably the best thing ever invented but I have had really good success losing weight by cutting out carbs. I feel like it helped cut down on my food cravings a ton.
+1 to responsibly using credit. We each signed up for a travel rewards card before our wedding, put all of our expenses on it but paid them off immediately, and the points we accumulated basically paid for our honeymoon.
I'm with you on wanting to feel like I'm progressing quickly... But maybe in the end we'll be the ones without debt in our senior years. lol
The whole point is getting people who otherwise live paycheck to paycheck because they don't know what to do or don't care, a tangible, easy to follow plan to dig them out of their mess and into a better financial position. I think Dave Ramsey has done that for a lot of people. The details might not jive in every situation, especially those who are already decently financially responsible, but I think he has succeeded in teaching a whole bunch of people how to responsibly handle their money and get them on the path to actually care enough to pay attention and work towards their financial goals.
Met 4/2010+Married 8/2014
TTC #1 August 2016. BFP 10/2016= DD Born 6.23.17
Married: 8/11/2007
DD: Born 2/3/17
BFP#2: 5/3, EDD 1/10/19
For us, retirement has always been a big savings priority, to reduce taxable income and to maximize the time for the money to grow tax free. We also prioritized saving for a down payment on a house over paying down student loans, because our mortgage is less than we paid in rent, doesn't go up like rent, and gains us equity (vs rent where the money is just gone). We bought a smaller house than we technically could have afforded, but it was enough to suit our needs for 10-15 years or so.
We then built up a decent emergency cushion, because having little liquidity makes me really anxious.
After we had a house and a comfortable emergency cushion, we very aggressively tackled my student loans. It was a brutal slog (helped by two strategic refis), but it was SO worth it in the end.
Once all that is taken care of, I think how to prioritize extra income depends on personal priorities and market conditions. For example, we prioritized our mutual funds last year while the market was going gangbusters, but have backed away from that a bit this year with a more stagnant and uncertain market. This year the focus is more on short term baby savings, though we still try to balance medium term and retirement savings as well.
- It's easy to fall off of the wagon,
- Scientifically/ mathematically, it probably isn't the best approach for most people,
- You might have good results in the short term, but they probably aren't as good as the results you'd get from plain old, boring, sustained self - discipline.
FFThC: I'm much better with financial self- discipline than I am with dietary self - discipline lol
2. Halloween rocks. I’ll take all of your candies, thankyouverymuch
3. I’m indifferent to cats. Definitely prefer dogs but I don’t mind them
4. I love going to the mall early October and seeing them prep for Christmas decor. Yesssss to Macy’s always setting up those Christmas trees earlier and earlier every year, lol
5. +1 UO: IDGAF about Harry Potter books. I tried getting into it in 4th grade and couldn’t get past the first chapter. I do enjoy, however, butterbeer and Harry Potter world at Universal Studios. The last HP movie - I was dragged to go see and brought a sleeping mask so I can knock out. I dislike Lord Voldemort so much bc he’s scary looking AF. I slept through the entire movie and woke up when credits were rolling. No. Regrets. I know there are some HP fans in this group - no offense on any of your love for HP. Just not for me for some reason!
My parents, especially my dad, got really into Holidays and I have such great memories. We had an annual campfire cookout and story telling every year in a local canyon in in October. My dad had this big long “Legend of Mueller Park Canyon” he’d tell us and embellish more every year. Some years I brought friends and I think a few of them are still scared of that canyon now fro
his stories!
And Christmas. My dad LOVED Christmas. Our entire house, inside and out, was a spectacle. Also, my dad was overweight and had a round face and a beard; for the last 7-8 years of his life, he looked so much like Santa that he would get comments from adults and children alike even in the off season. One year during the Christmas season, he and my mom were eating at an IHOP. He wasn’t wearing his Santa suit (yes, he had a great Santa suit,) but his t-shirt was red. These 2 little boys kept looked over at him from their table until finally their mother walked with them up to my dad and said (with a Mexican accent,) “I’m sorry to bother you, but they wanted to come say hello. They think you are Santa.” One of the little boys said something to him in broken English, and when my dad replied in perfect Spanish (he’d been fluent since his twenties,) the little boys were beside themselves with excitement. My dad took the time to let them sit on his knee and talked with them about Christmas and listened to them share stories with him for several minutes before their mom ushered them back to their own table to eat.
So I guess I love the holidays because they remind me of my dad and so many great memories. I want to provide just as fond of memories for my kids.