You know the best wins come on the heels of a loss. And that’s exactly how I’m feeling about my money win this week. In other words, boy, did I make a money booboo.
I bought something at Kohl’s and I went to pay my bill online right away. Because that’s what I do at stores that I don’t normally frequent. At least that’s what I thought I did.
I clicked over to the site. I entered my password. I was right on the first try. Everything was coming up roses when what to my wondering eyes should appear but…a $15 late fee.
At first, I thought it had to be a mistake. But sure enough, it wasn’t. I shop so infrequently now (huzzah for personal growth!) that I didn’t even remember that I bought something. How could a money blogger mess up like this? (I put it in my spending tracker and everything!)
I figured the fee was my penance.
But then I realized it didn’t have to be. In 32 years, I have had exactly one overdue fine at the library. I have never had a late payment in my life. So I called the customer service line for my Kohl’s charge, and I confessed my sins. I was polite and sincere. I was also as red as a tomato while I babbled.
The agent interrupted me. “Ma’am, we’d be happy to reverse the charge. We value you as a customer.” She then proceeded to remind me of all the ways to pay my bill.
So that’s my money win for the week, and my penance is now my confession, first to one stranger, now to however many SPUP friends read this post. PHEW!
Now. Onto the wins that you came to read about. And we have so much virtual confetti to throw this week for Anna, Debra, and Claudia and Garrett.
Anna from Yes, Little Hummingbird
What was your money win?
It all started in 2014. My father was injured at work and received money through a work injury settlement. Around the same time, my mother’s friend discovered she had cancer and was selling her house for $5k to help pay some of her medical debt.
My parents originally bought the house for themselves but later decided they were too lazy to do the necessary repairs and the house was too small for them. My husband and I, meanwhile, were still engaged and living in the basement of my in-laws’ house. Between all the chaos that was planning our wedding, we were looking for a place of our own to rent, to no avail. After finding out about our lack of success in that area, our parents offered us the house they’d bought as a wedding gift, with the caveat that we had to get married before we were allowed to have the keys.
Initially, they promised to pay for the sewage line to be replaced (the largest item on its massive checklist). But being my parents, they backed out when we decided to have a bit of a shotgun wedding (largely due to the meddling of my mother in our wedding planning, and me not wanting to start our marriage stressed to the teeth).
So we took a leap, went to the bank, and asked for a 5k loan. We dumped every bit of that money into the house to make it habitable and moved in 2 months after our wedding…as Homeowners with 5k of debt to our name (to say nothing of medical debts and car loans). But we’ve stayed steady and stuck to the plan we outlined when we made the decision, and we’re on track to pay it off in the next year and a half finally!
Why are you pumped?
It’s exciting for us because we both come from had impoverished childhoods; neither of us ever dreamed we’d be homeowners or riding the border of lower middle class. But here we are! We’ve proven that we can do it, and that means a lot to us.
What can others learn from it?
Be smart about it and take your time! Sometimes the big wins are the ones you have to wait a bit for ♡
(Penny’s Note: If you want more details on Anna’s story, check out this post.)
Debra
What was your money win?
We needed our backyard spruced up—enlarge the patio and spruce up the rock (we’re in AZ so no grass, although my husband did want some artificial grass). I called three people for written estimates. One never called back, one came out for an hour & measured but never sent the quote, even after I called. Our regular landscaper never got us a quote either though he said he would. At this point, I was done dealing with them all, so we went to Lowe’s and got the artificial grass and pavers and did it ourselves.
Why are you pumped?
I had resigned myself to paying the $3000 or so (based on the two verbal estimates). But I’m really happy we saved the money (over $2000, I think). It looks great, and there’s that satisfaction of doing something yourself.
What can others learn from it?
There’s really so much we can do if we need/want to, and the money saved is an extra bonus. There was a little child labor involved, which turned out being a win for everyone. They loved making a little money and are hard workers.
Claudia from Two Cup House
What was your money win?
Previously, I was with Ting and Garrett was with Verizon. I was really happy with Ting and Garrett was really happy with Verizon. But we’re Xfinity Internet customers and they sent us an offer we couldn’t refuse. With Xfinity Mobile, both of us have unlimited calling and texting for free (plus tax) — and data is only $12 per GB.
Why are you pumped?
Making this transition saves us more than $100 a month.
What can others learn from it?
What can others learn from it? Sometimes it pays to pay attention to email newsletters. HA!
(Penny’s Note: I’m just over here jumping up and down for them for saving over A GRAND A YEAR for reading an email!)
Final Thoughts on Money Wins
There are all kinds of money wins, and they happen all the time. From stories like Anna’s where people are doing huge things with debt. Then, there’s Debra and her family, as well as Claudia and Garrett, who found ways to save thousands of dollars. There’s even my win that is essentially a flub that I figured out how to fix. I hope you all find ways to win with money this weekend, friends.
If you missed any of the past money wins, check them out here:
Volume 1 – Kate, Revanche, Melody
Volume 2 – Jody, Aitza, Little Miss Fire
Volume 4 – Zero, Kat, Mystery Money Man
If you’d like to join the money win party, drop me a line at shepicksupppennies (at) gmail (dot) com with your answers to the three questions. Whether you are a blogger or a reader or both, you are welcome to party here!
After reading that they bought a house for $5K….. I couldn’t re-reading like 3 times to make sure i was reading what i thought i was…
That is amazing. I don’t know how anyone else can top that lol
And congrats on getting the fees waived SPUP, does that mean you keep the never having paid late fees streak going? Technically if they got waived, did they ever even really exist
YES! I’m going to call it a win, TJ, and say the streak continues. Though maybe there is a small asterisk by it.
And isn’t that house story amazing? I couldn’t stop reading her blog after she shared her story with me!
You did, in fact, read that correctly! The house was 5k, purchased private sale from a family friend. It’s a small, 700 sqft house with 1 bedroom occupying a “lot and a half” and valued at 7k – 10k (which does mean we’ll never recoup the cost of renovations)… It was uninhabitable with a collapsed sewage line and in desperate need of renovations when we bought it, and the lady needed the funds for her cancer treatment at the time, which was why it was actually sold so low.
I’m still so excited about making the switch. Woot! Thanks for celebrating our money win and congrats on getting that charge reversed. 🙂
I’m loving this series! And I hear you on feeling like a late fee should be penance when you screw up so rarely, but good for you for pushing through that and getting it reversed. Everyone makes mistakes, and we shouldn’t be penalized for that (as long as it isn’t a regular thing, of course).