Post Your Wins

[james.hendrickson]

As I continue to clean out my cousin's house, I'm finding things here and there. Today I found that he had $266 in cash back built up on one of his credit cards.

At least you're being thorough. A lot of people would just ignore the credit card accounts all together.

[disneysteve]

At least you're being thorough. A lot of people would just ignore the credit card accounts all together.

That’s true. I’m sure many wouldn’t put in the time or even know where to look or what to look for.

Once everything is settled and I think I’m done, I’ll do an unclaimed property search for him in PA and FL to try and find anything I might have missed.

[scfr]

Did some paperwork for DH's business first thing this morning. I've been doing more than usual this year, because his business is up. That more than makes up for the fact that hours at my 2nd job are down.

[Jluke]

Paper filed 2020 taxes in February.

refund will hit this week with $9.50 interest.

maybe next year I’ll break down and file electronically

[disneysteve]

I mentioned this in the Financial Fails thread, but it really isn't a fail overall.

I've reached the stage of cleaning out my cousin's house where it's time to start selling stuff. He had a 3-ton floor jack that I put on Marketplace tonight and got about 14 responses. First guy fell through but someone just picked it up. One very heavy item gone and $52 in my pocket.

[Like2Plan]

During the past year, we stayed pretty close to home, so I didn't notice I was getting low on socks. DH and I recently went on a trip and I didn't have enough socks for a 1 week trip!
We walk for at least an hour each day and I have a brand of socks that I like (Thorlos) that are comfortable for walking long distances. These socks are typically on sale in June and Dec, so it was lucky timing for me.

I found a 3-pair pack sold on Amazon for $17.99 (instead of $44.97 for 3- 1 pair packs ). I decided to stock up! Amazon had a limit of 5 of the 3-pair packs, but that ought to last me for a while.

[Nutria]

and $52 in my pocket.

Is that a metaphor for "in the estate"?

[disneysteve]

Is that a metaphor for "in the estate"?

LOL. I'm still figuring out this whole "estate" thing. I'm the executor and sole beneficiary so it feels like separating things is just deciding if it goes in my right pocket or my left pocket. It's all my money in the end (except for the lawyer's cut, which I'm sure he'll explain to me tomorrow when we meet).

[disneysteve]

Several years ago, I used to buy discounted Speedway Gas gift cards as there was a station on my way to work. I had about $17 credit remaining when Speedway closed all the stations in our area. Not a big loss. Last year when I was in Florida visiting my cousin, I noticed that there were stations near him so I mailed him the gift cards when I got home. He never used them and I found them while cleaning out the house. I just went over to Speedway today and put $13 of gas in the tank and bought 3 bottles of iced tea in the shop and paid a grand total of $2 for all of it.

[Nutria]

LOL. I'm still figuring out this whole "estate" thing. I'm the executor and sole beneficiary so it feels like separating things is just deciding if it goes in my right pocket or my left pocket. It's all my money in the end (except for the lawyer's cut, which I'm sure he'll explain to me tomorrow when we meet).

But isn't it part of the estate, which you must account for when settling the estate?

[disneysteve]

But isn't it part of the estate, which you must account for when settling the estate?

Normally, yes. However, in this case, it really doesn't matter because I am both the executor and the sole beneficiary. The only reason for an accounting of assets is to report to the beneficiaries and show where everything went and where all of the money is. Here, I'm the only person involved. I've already discussed all of this with the lawyer and he said there is no need to log anything because of that. There's nobody to report to.

[Fishindude77]

Got both boats out of storage and in the water. They both started right up and everything seems to be working as it should.
If you've owned boats, you know this is always a win

[disneysteve]

Huge win! After the house, the second biggest tangible asset I inherited was an antique car (a 1960 Corvette). Selling that was the single biggest source of stress for me. It's just totally out of my wheelhouse. My cousin told me it should go for about 45K. Shortly before he died, a dealer offered him 30K and he turned it down. That dealer was still interested and still at 30K. A couple of people have come to see it through word of mouth but nobody was interested. Two days ago, a friend of a friend came to check it out and seemed very interested. He called back yesterday morning and offered 20K. Clearly I said no.

My lawyer had put me in touch with a team he has dealt with many times that buys collectible cars. I gave them details and sent photos and they offered 40K and the lawyer was able to talk them up to 45K, so they bought the car for my full asking price! They came out last night to look it over and came first thing this morning to pick it up. We just have to go to a title agency on Monday and do the final paperwork. The payment is currently in escrow with the lawyer until the title is transferred.

I'm thrilled to have it sold and even more thrilled that we actually got 45K for it.

[corn18]

We have made $100,356 in paper growth (net of interest and taxes) by investing the $514k we could have used to pay cash for our current house. We put that $514k into our 60/40 portfolio back in May 2020 instead of paying cash and took out a 30 year 2.75% fixed rate mortgage instead. If the growth ever matches the mortgage balance, I got a free house.

[Nutria]

We put that $514k into our 60/40 portfolio back in May 2020

And you did it at almost the perfect time...