Post Your Wins

[disneysteve]

Not entirely a financial win but it is somewhat.

My wife has been bugging me for a while to get a video doorbell. We finally ordered one a few weeks ago and I finally installed it today. The financial angle is that we got a refurbished 1st generation model which was quite a bit cheaper than a brand new 2nd generation model. The specs were more than sufficient. I really didn't see any benefit to the newer model except for the unit itself being smaller. The HD video quality is more than enough to see what's happening. We didn't need 4K or whatever the fancier model had. All we want is to know when Amazon drops off a package and to be able to say "go away" to anyone who rings the bell without us having to open the door. This will accomplish that just fine.

And now my wife is happy which is always a win.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Does it record video to an SD card, cloud service, or other device such as an external hard drive?

[disneysteve]

Does it record video to an SD card, cloud service, or other device such as an external hard drive?

I'm not entirely sure. I know there is a subscription service you can pay for, which we won't be doing. I don't know about the other stuff. We really don't care. Like I said, the #1 reason we got it is so that we'd get a notification when a package is delivered. FedEx rings the bell but USPS, UPS, and Amazon do not, so my wife is always tracking the deliveries and waiting around for them to come so she can get them promptly. Now she won't need to do that since we'll get notified and see when they arrive.

And I also want to be able to send away solicitors without opening the door. Nobody of any importance ever rings the bell. It's always somebody selling something. It will be great to be able to get rid of them without getting off the couch or having to run down the stairs.

[disneysteve]

We finally got a break from the unrelenting heat and humidity we've been dealing with all summer. Not only has it been terribly uncomfortable, it's made outdoor activities quite unpleasant if not outright dangerous. This morning we woke up to temps in the low 60s and low humidity for the first time since spring. I took the opportunity to do a couple of hours of yard work. I cleaned up all of the overgrowth between the house and the AC compressor including cleaning out the basement window well that sits there. Then I moved to the front of the house and trimmed all of the hedges. I subscribe to the "never let the perfect be the enemy of the good" mindset so it may not be pristine but it's easily 90% better than it was.

Of course, I did this the day after installing the new doorbell camera so every time I got in view of it, all 3 of us got notifications. I could have disarmed it but didn't want to risk forgetting to turn it back on.

[james.hendrickson]

I paid off an extra 22 bucks towards my mortgage. Its a very small win, but still a win.

[bjl584]

I've been busy the past couple weeks installing a second kitchen in my basement.
The stove is now up and running, all gas and electrical lines are run.
I just need to get a few odds and ends and the project will be complete.

I had most of the material, and the stove was used from an estate sale.
I only have around $100 in the whole project so far.

The goal is to have a second kitchen for canning and baking to keep the upstairs from getting too hot.

[crazyliblady]

I donated a bunch of stuff today, including a vacuum in working order, a scanner, a pipe stand, a couple of cigarette rollers, and a nylon loofah back scrubber. I like to take stuff like this to a local thrift store called the New to You and Reuse it Shop, because it benefits the community in multiple ways.

[crazyliblady]

I paid off an extra 22 bucks towards my mortgage. Its a very small win, but still a win.

A couple of years ago, our mortgage payment actually went down by $5.30, but I kept paying the same payment. It seems to be having an effect on the balance, because 35% of the payment is now going to the principal. Woo-Hoo!

[Fishindude77]

Just got back from a great fly in fishing trip to NW Ontario with three life long buddies.
Great weather, great fishing, a great lodge to stay at, nice people, good meals, awesome fresh walleye shore lunches every day, a couple giant pike were caught, hundreds of walleye caught, etc.

I'll call that a win.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

i finally got my family to unpack and clean their clothes. This weekend before school starts my goal is to not park in the garage and spend at least 4 hours on Saturday making DH and the kids go through everything in the garage. I cleaned a huge pile earlier this year but it didn't stick

[Fishindude77]

i finally got my family to unpack and clean their clothes. This weekend before school starts my goal is to not park in the garage and spend at least 4 hours on Saturday making DH and the kids go through everything in the garage. I cleaned a huge pile earlier this year but it didn't stick

I'm overdue to set a dumpster in the driveway, drag everything out of the shop, clean the place head to toe, dispose of a bunch of stuff, then put everything back neat and tidy.
Probably should do that every couple years.

[james.hendrickson]

I called T Mobile - and got a less expensive plan with basically the same service for $15 less per month. On an annual basis, that's $180 saved.

[james.hendrickson]

Just threatened to cancel HBO and got a $30 savings ($10 a month for 3 months) for staying on.

[disneysteve]

As I'm sure many of you do, when some of my clothing gets stained or worn out they become "bum around" items that I just wear around the house, to work in the yard, or to clean the garage. The issue I've run into recently is that all of my bum around pants are pretty shot, even for that purpose. The knees are ripped, the crotch seams are opening. They're just beyond even yard work condition, which my daughter keeps ribbing me about.

We went to Goodwill earlier today and I managed to find one pair of khakis in my size that actually fit. Plus they were the color of the week so they were $3 instead of the $6.99 they were marked. One existing pair will get trashed and replaced by those. I need several more so I'll keep looking as I'm in thrift shops regularly. I did buy a pair a month or two ago but when I got home they didn't fit and I didn't realize at the time that the store did have a 5-day return policy so I just re-donated them.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

had 35 more items to consignment and i donated another 5 bags of stuff