Our Bill Pickle

Budget Update: December 2020

January 5, 2021

Our monthly budget update includes 5 highlights from the last month and 3 goals for the month ahead. Here's the update for December 2020.

Our monthly budget update does not change much.

It is primarily fixed expenses, like rent, phone bills and car insurance, which remain the same month after month. Even the amount budgeted to our miscellaneous line (more on that here) stays the same most months.

So instead of giving a line-by-line breakdown for our monthly budget update, I do something a little different. Each month, I share five highlights from our budget, along with three goals for the month to come.

Here is the update for December 2020.

How to use credit card extended warranty

December 8, 2020

Some credit cards offer extended warranty perks. Here is how to use the Tangerine Money Back Mastercard warranty to replace a broken FitBit.

I filed my first credit card extended warranty claim in June 2020.

I’ve been using credit cards regularly for years. It’s my preferred way to spend money. I’ve tried a few different spending methods and nothing works for me the way credit cards do.

Worth noting: I treat the credit card like debit, meaning I only use it to spend money we already have. In most cases, we make a purchase on the credit card then immediately transfer the money from our debit. There are exceptions to this (like December Christmas spending) but they are just that: the exception, not the rule.

Despite my years of credit card use, I’ve barely scratched the surface on using features associated with my cards. This includes the extended warranty. In a way, this is a good thing — it means the items I have purchased have held up well, right?

That said, it did result in a bit of a learning curve when it was time to actually use the benefit. Here’s what I learned through the process of using my credit card extended warranty.

Five personal finance confessions

December 3, 2020

Personal finance confessions is my irregular recap of things you might not know about how I'm managing our money. Here's the Q4 2020 recap.

Welcome to another edition of personal finance confessions — a totally irregular recap of things you might not know about how I’m managing my money lately.

This is my third confessions post — you can find the first two here and here.

This round features five confessions (although much like the first two posts, I still think calling them personal finance confessions is a bit dramatic).

Here we go.

Budget Update: November 2020

December 1, 2020

Our monthly budget update includes 5 highlights from the last month and 3 goals for the month ahead. Here's the update for November 2020.

Our monthly budget update does not change much.

Here is the update for November 2020.

Why I’m finally quitting the gym

November 19, 2020

Quitting the gym isn’t something I expected to do this year.

I’ve had a gym membership for years. My interest and enthusiasm for going to the gym has ebbed and flowed during that time, but even during the lulls, the charge stayed in our budget.

You’ll go back eventually, I told myself. For years, I used that logic to justify continuing to spend money on my membership.

It’s only been over the last few months that I started seriously reconsidering.

Here’s why I finally decided quitting the gym was the right call — and what I’m doing instead.