I love credit cards so much! v3.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[Haley R]

I’m staying home now that we had our first baby. I went to school for elementary education and not at all interested to go back to teaching right now.

 

[needsomesun]

Any moms that gave up working full time when you had kids? I am really thinking about giving up my full time position and working 2-3 days a week.
We will be fine with the loss in income, however vacations will take a big hit. I did just buy a small dvc contract with cash so at least that’s all paid for.
I’m just having a hard time making the jump. I am so used to having a decent paycheck. But kids are only small once and there will always be full time later on down the road...
Guess I just need some positive stories to motivate me.

Yes! I worked full time after my 1st was born, for about a year and a half. She was in daycare full time and constantly sick. After I had my 2nd and daycare was costing a fortune and they were both sick all the time, I decided to quit my job (which had a good salary) and work weekends instead. Bonus, they were no longer sick all the time. I still made fairly good money and wasn't paying for daycare, so it worked out. And I got used to it. Had a third kid, stayed part-time. They're all teens now and I got spoiled and still haven't went back to full time

ETA: I'm a nurse, so that helps with flexibility. You can find a job to work any strange hours you're looking for, just may not be quite what you wanted to do.

 

[hsmamato2]

Well..... I'm a lot like @CyndiLouWho ...not much spending, no apps.no travel till at least next year..... I've been using a pile of UR's fast and furious with PYB on my CSR.... but now that I'm down to about 300k..I think I'll hold off and see where the wind takes me next. It's been great tho,stocking up groceries in the pantry, buying home improvement things to do various projects around the house and using that PYB feature to cancel the costs. We actually used it to buy a generator,something we hadn't ever done (I have no idea why) but after our last storm a couple of weeks ago,I decided the PYB+ the added insurance for my freezer/fridge in an outage was too good to resist..... I'm on the fence about *one* last item I want for the house.... It seems like a great thing,I've been eyeing it for years...but it would be about 93k UR.
Decisions,decisions..... Keep the rest of my points,or splurge on this last (much wanted) Item? I suppose I could justify it as the sum total of all my canceled/missed trips right now...

 

[hsmamato2]

Any moms that gave up working full time when you had kids? I am really thinking about giving up my full time position and working 2-3 days a week.
We will be fine with the loss in income, however vacations will take a big hit. I did just buy a small dvc contract with cash so at least that’s all paid for.
I’m just having a hard time making the jump. I am so used to having a decent paycheck. But kids are only small once and there will always be full time later on down the road...
Guess I just need some positive stories to motivate me.

Positives? You'll get to spend so much time with your kids.... I wouldn't trade my years of raising my kiddos at home for anything in the whole world...I wish I could go back in time! I say go ahead and try it.... yes,there'll be times when it's crazy making....but overall? I'm sure the kids would love having you there too..... oh lucky you. Enjoy it.

 

[needsomesun]

The IHG Premier card has the phone insurance. I used it this summer on my iPhone and got a brand new one

I tried to do this but it didn't work out for me. My son's phone died, just wouldn't turn on anymore. Took it to apple, they confirmed it was dead. Sent paperwork to IHG insurance claims and they denied it. Something about only certain things covered, "damage." Might have been covered if we dropped it or there was visible damage?

 

[DisneyMandC]

Has anyone here bought VGCs with a credit card at Sheetz? Just noticed they have variable load VGCs

 

[WVMomof3]

I totally relate to your situation. Almost same story here except I’ve been home for well over 20 years, and I really don’t want to go back to the work I went to college for (education). Things are totally different now and I don’t have the energy level for that anymore. My youngest is a senior in hs this year and I really need to go back to work to finish paying for the kids’ college and then also to get some savings going to help pay for my health insurance after DH retires in a few years (I’m WAY younger lol). My idea is to get into either something in banking or insurance. I’m thinking 10-15 years at something will be plenty. Is there anything you are leaning towards, @WVMomof3 ?

I have also thought about some kind of banking, bookkeeping, anything with numbers. My degree is in Chemical Engineering but my work experience was in cost engineering so anything to do with numbers/money is what I like to work with. But I hate to sound terribly lazy, I do NOT want to work full time. It would be so hard to go back to that. DH is eligible for retirement in 8 years so I don't see me working longer than him. Of course, I do not see him retiring in 8 years either. lol He can't imagine not working and now I can't imagine working.

 

[mhartman09]

Do we have anyone from Louisiana on here? Wanting to check in with Laura looming off the coast. I'm over in Houston watching the radar and eating poptarts from our hurricane stash of nonperishable foods. If you need help after the storm please feel free to PM me.

Thankfully we ended up with minimal impact in our area as the worst of it was a good bit to our west. Our power blinked around 1 AM, but never actually went out. Had our generator ready just in case. We still had some wind gusts and plenty of rain earlier today, but things appear to be all clear now. My parents who live about 25 minutes west of us lost power around 1 AM, but had their generator so all was OK. Their power was restored about 30 minutes ago. Praying for those in areas with greater impact. Despite the destruction not being quite what was predicted there are still many places with plenty of damage.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

I’m staying home now that we had our first baby. I went to school for elementary education and not at all interested to go back to teaching right now.

I'm starting my 22nd year and I don't want to go back, LOL. And my "babies" are 11 and 15! Though that's pretty much true any fall! Just 3 more years! Just 3 more years!

I tried to do this but it didn't work out for me. My son's phone died, just wouldn't turn on anymore. Took it to apple, they confirmed it was dead. Sent paperwork to IHG insurance claims and they denied it. Something about only certain things covered, "damage." Might have been covered if we dropped it or there was visible damage?

I did make sure Apple noted there was no damage on the work order I sent them. Mine was due to a dead screen. Originally Apple replaced the screen but then the face ID didn't work, so they replaced the entire phone. The girl was great about making all the notes for me!

 

[Psychodisney]

I have also thought about some kind of banking, bookkeeping, anything with numbers. My degree is in Chemical Engineering but my work experience was in cost engineering so anything to do with numbers/money is what I like to work with. But I hate to sound terribly lazy, I do NOT want to work full time. It would be so hard to go back to that. DH is eligible for retirement in 8 years so I don't see me working longer than him. Of course, I do not see him retiring in 8 years either. lol He can't imagine not working and now I can't imagine working.

I actually gave notice yesterday...retiring end of September!
One of my bosses asked me what I was going to do now....I said "Golf". I also have always joked about being a Starbucks barista. No pressure, if it doesn't taste good, make a new one. Only problem is, I'm not sure about being on my feet for a whole shift.

 

[WVMomof3]

I actually gave notice yesterday...retiring end of September!
One of my bosses asked me what I was going to do now....I said "Golf". I also have always joked about being a Starbucks barista. No pressure, if it doesn't taste good, make a new one. Only problem is, I'm not sure about being on my feet for a whole shift.

Congrats on the retirement! I could not be a barista. I hate coffee. Lol. And I’m thinking while it should be no pressure, people can get darn crabby if you mess up their coffee!

 

[georgina]

I have also thought about some kind of banking, bookkeeping, anything with numbers. My degree is in Chemical Engineering but my work experience was in cost engineering so anything to do with numbers/money is what I like to work with. But I hate to sound terribly lazy, I do NOT want to work full time. It would be so hard to go back to that. DH is eligible for retirement in 8 years so I don't see me working longer than him. Of course, I do not see him retiring in 8 years either. lol He can't imagine not working and now I can't imagine working.

Yay another chemical engineer. I liked math and chemistry, but by the time I graduated I realized I didn't like engineering. Was so happy to quit after 5 years. Always thought if I went back it would be in something more math-y.

 

[Haley R]

I actually gave notice yesterday...retiring end of September!
One of my bosses asked me what I was going to do now....I said "Golf". I also have always joked about being a Starbucks barista. No pressure, if it doesn't taste good, make a new one. Only problem is, I'm not sure about being on my feet for a whole shift.

My parents are retiring at the beginning of the year. My mom wants to spend half the year at gulf shores. They already do 2 months there in the winter.

 

[trenty]

I also have always joked about being a Starbucks barista.

I have often said the same about what I would do in retirement.

 

[havaneselover]

I just want to hang out with a dog and read all day in retirement!

 

[miztressuz]

A bonus for opening a Capital One 360 (CO360) checking account has popped up. This is not the greatest bonus ever but it works well as a hub account for doing bank bonuses. I've used mine to trigger a few bonuses.

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/ig9z1e/_/g322qym

To be eligible you can't have or had a CO360 checking account after January 1, 2018. To get the $100 bonus you need to spend $300 with the debit card. There should be ways to make that work with out sacrificing MSR spend if that's a deal breaker. Offhand, when opening up a bank account there's sometimes an option to fund with a debit card even if the bank doesn't offer CC funding. That should qualify.

If you were interested in opening up the account anyway this would be a good opportunity to sweeten the deal.

 

[wendow]

Do we have anyone from Louisiana on here? Wanting to check in with Laura looming off the coast. I'm over in Houston watching the radar and eating poptarts from our hurricane stash of nonperishable foods. If you need help after the storm please feel free to PM me.

Much of my family, including my 92yo grandma, live in the area from Beaumont to Lake Charles. My grandma's house is okay. She evacuated and the reports from her neighbors are encouraging. Her fence is down and a lot of limbs but Rita flooded her house and blew in her garage so this sounds pretty good! I've not received updates on the ones closer to Lake Charles. They all evacuated as well so I know they are safe.

 

[wendow]

Any moms that gave up working full time when you had kids? I am really thinking about giving up my full time position and working 2-3 days a week.
We will be fine with the loss in income, however vacations will take a big hit. I did just buy a small dvc contract with cash so at least that’s all paid for.
I’m just having a hard time making the jump. I am so used to having a decent paycheck. But kids are only small once and there will always be full time later on down the road...
Guess I just need some positive stories to motivate me.

I stayed home after my first was born. That wasn't the plan but once she was born, I just couldn't fathom leaving her. She also had a ton of feeding issues so she couldn't really go into childcare. I loved being home with her so planned to be home with all my kids until they began school. Then I decided to homeschool lol... At this point, I've been a SAHM for so long that I cannot imagine ever going back but that is okay cause I have zero desire to One income is hard in a high COL area like we live in but we've always found a way and the sacrifices have been 100% worth it, imo. I have zero regrets!

 

[wendow]

Also, someone mentioned going back to work one day as a barista...I've thought the same!! I love coffee and I hang out in coffee shops. I think I'd enjoy working in one. I did work retail a couple times over the years for Christmas help but I didn't love that. I also worked at my church for 2 years but I'm not sure I see myself doing that again. I'm sure I'll find something to go back to one day

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

OMG, my head is spinning reading my closing documents on my refi! I thought we were rolling all my costs in, but it's saying I need $6k to close!!!! I mean I have it, and I know I have $4k in my escrow on my current mortgage I'm assuming I get back. But wasn't looking to drop $6k right now. UGH. I need to figure this all out.

I will be saving about $150/mo on my mortgage now. I need to do an auto draft on that money I feel into my savings. In a perfect world, I would send it to my CC debt. But I know if it's just sitting in my checking account, it'll get spent. The other option I guess would be to keep paying my current payment, since I just took my loan from 26 years to 30 again. Anyone know how to factor how that helps shorten the loan? I do know I don't expect to be here forever, at some point I get my mom's house (a mile from where I live). She'll likely have hers paid off....Someone actually suggested I keep mine and use it as an income property. Who knows. If the prices keep up in my neighborhood, even at my current loan amount, I have $83k in equity! Just not sure if it makes sense to pay it down, or pay down my CC debt first (which is on a 0% card), or put the extra into savings for now.

Jealous of the retirement talk. I can retire in 2023. I just logged into my retirement account to see I finally have locked in my 3 highest years! Now in theory my next 3 years MIGHT top that, but we took a freeze this year, so I'd have to see if I actually would make anymore than I have to date. I took on some extra crap a few years ago that got me more pay, so unless I can manage to do that again, my calculations might be set. If I retire in 2023, I'll look to get $40k, which is over 50% less than my pay now, LOL. I'll also have a sophomore in HS, and my DD should be in college (luckily she wants to be a dental hygienist and that program isn't $$$). Unless I've landed my sugar daddy, I'll need some kinda job. I've been seriously thinking about flight attendant (has nothing to do with the pilot I'm dating, LOL). Detroit is a hub for Delta and Spirit. And I'm learning you can be based anywhere. I know FAs don't make crap, but with my pension at $40k, I wouldn't need to make a ton to get me back somewhere comfy. Our retirement system lets us run a few scenarios. I think if I wait till my son graduates (2027), I'd get $44k/yr. Then there is always the option to retire and come back to teach. Since I'm so rare (Engineering/Architecture), we can do that for 3 years. My friends and I joke we're all gonna retire and take each other's jobs for 3 years. Rumor is I could expect about $50-60k if I did that gig. So I've actually sat down and ran the numbers on that, which would be $5-15k more than I'd make teaching at my current salary. So $15k-45k I'd get retiring but still teaching. So at the higher end, if I collected earlier, it would take about 11.25 years to make up the pension difference. All fun numbers to run in my head. UGH. A sugar daddy would make this a lot easier decision, LOL.

It's crazy to think as a single mom I might be able to retire at 47! But honestly, when I run the numbers....the longer I teach doesn't really pan out to THAT much more each year. Like if I retire in 2029, it'll be $47k/yr. Not sure if the stress of teaching 5 more years is worth the extra $7k it would bring me a year in retirement (but yes, I know that is $7k/yr for the rest of my life, which does add up). And I'll still likely need some kind of additional job at that point too! With all the uncertainty in education right now...it's nice to know that if I can make it 3 more years, I'm going to have a lot of options with my life! And considering my job is a lock for this year, I just have to worry about 2 more years! My mom and dad like to keep telling me there is no way in HELL I can afford to retire in 3 years.....I think they are just jealous, since my dad is still working at 72 and my mom just retired finally 100% last year, LOL.