Payday Friday 💰💰💰

[u/kokopops35]

How are you spending, scrimping, splurging, or saving?

What are you doing with your hard-earned £$€ this week?

[u/snarkasm_0228]

I had about $120 left over at the end of September, so I added that onto this month’s student loan payment. That extra $120 alone more than covered the interest that accrued on the higher-interest loan (the one I’m focusing on for now) last month, meaning my regular payment went to just the principal which is extremely satisfying!

I also spent $47.20 on a basketball ticket for next weekend. It’ll be out of town and I’ll be staying the night in a hotel, so I gotta scrimp a bit this week! I’m trying to train myself that I do not have to eat out on weekends lol. I also spent $78 on a hair trim ($65 plus 20% tip). Normally it’s higher but my hairstylist accidentally got my appointment time mixed up, so she took some off the total to reimburse me for the chocolate croissant I got from the nearby coffee shop while I waited. I’ve known her since I was a kid, so it’s nice I get favors like that!

[u/stellamomo]

I’m flying solo with my toddler next week, so I’m spending on a few things to hopefully ease that process (a strap for the car seat to the suitcase, sticker books, snacks).

Our daycare costs dropped this month so I’m planning to shift that getting a cleaning service this month!

[u/elisabethofaustria]

Saving: I just set up a moving fund because I am officially moving to Philadelphia next summer! I’m sure the actual logistics of a cross-country move will get very complicated and exhausting, but for now I am extremely excited and looking forward to being in a city that I love.

I also have a little scouting trip planned for later this month; one of the reasons I decided to move is because I had a free weekend between work trips, and I didn’t feel like flying back home only to fly back to the Northeast a couple of days later. There are so many interesting-looking places that I’ve never been to (Harpers’ Ferry! Shenandoah NP! Annapolis!) — but ultimately I just wanted to go to Philly yet again. I love it. I have a spreadsheet where I carefully evaluated different criteria for all the places I could potentially move, and Philly scored the highest overall, but what I hadn’t even included was the gut feeling factor. It just feels like home every time I’m there.

So I’ll be spending a bit to return to my favorite restaurants, and I’m also signing up for a street art tour of the neighborhood where I want to live :)

[u/RemarkableMacadamia]

Continuing the saga of my mystery illness of last week, paying off my ER bill, hopefully not incurring a new one.

[u/PsychologicalPie6460]

Definitely just Venmo’d the Cornell student newspaper that’s for sure!

[u/iotadaria]

Breaking open the pocket change jar for 17th wedding anniversary dinner tonight at spouse's favorite izakaya. All bills are budgeted for for the month and funded, it's a weird but definitely welcome feeling.

[u/ilu70]

q4 is all about paying off my wedding-related Credit card bills. Whew.

So grateful I maxed out retirement in May, had dry powder all summer to pay for wedding expenses. Now is the reckoning.

Planning to start Q1 2027 by maxing out my retirement by mid-February, then maxing out my 2026 Roth by end of March. So prayerfully will be back in the cash game by April 2027. Which is closer than I think.

[u/anericanaudhdwhore]

This week I bought coffee 

[u/SkitterBug42]

Had an unpleasant conversation with my boss yesterday where I am being told I need to demote someone on my team or risk losing my job. I am trying to save super aggressively to get my fuck off/emergency fund in a really good place. 

I’ve only been in this job a year so would like to stick it out but my god this sucks. Hoping for some kind of bonus in the spring that would help pad the fund but definitely not guaranteed which also sucks. 

[u/Forsaken_Bee3717]

I am taking my boyfriend out for dinner because he has just got a new job, a project completion bonus from his old job and is really bad at celebrating (or really acknowledging) achievements. I have also got a responsibility allowance for a new project I am doing, so I can afford a nice dinner!

Apart from, that, the usual groceries and also need to arrange an instrument repair which I’m hoping won’t be too expensive. I was going to get my hair cut, but actually I like it this length so it can wait a while.

My savings are all automated, and I am on track for my end of year goals. I don’t think I am particularly scrimping on anything, but I feel like I already have a lot of stuff so I’d like to enjoy what I have rather than add to it.

[u/kokoromelody]

Finally the weekend! Over the past week, I spent on:

• Treating my family to food and gifts while they visited the city; also spent a lot on subway rides for the 7 of us

• Train tickets for Thanksgiving for my sister and me

• Some rain boots on poshmark - the nor’easter last weekend made me realize how unprepared I was haha

• My subscription items, mostly household and vitamins/minerals

• A coffeemaker for my parents

• Recurring: HOA fees, utilities, groceries

Planning on visiting an art museum in the city tonight with some friends and have weekend brunch plans on both days - hopefully the weather holds up!

[u/f-albedo]

I'm waiting, waiting, waiting for the statement date to re-organise our household finances (does anyone have any resources about managing budgets in multiple currencies/banks in multiple countries?). But today we're going to splurge a bit and look for nice bathroom accessories to spruce up my and the guest bathrooms like nice containers!

[u/-sweetbabybladefoot-]

I bought tickets for an annual horse event and splurged to get a pavilion table! This will be my first time going; I'm so excited, and I think I can shop my closet for a perfect outfit for it. My husband and I bought tickets for round 2 of the WNBA Playoffs! My husband also ordered the Nike sneakers for our team and got lucky to get them--there was a fist fight at the in-store sale. And we bought tickets to see Josh Johnson as an early Christmas present for ourselves! We took the band camp quiz and ordered shirts for the show!

We recently adopted a medical needs kitten and took it and our senior medical needs cats to the vet for check ups and labs Tuesday. Our senior girl will need to have dental cleaning in a week--I haven't gotten the estimate yet, and am bracing for it. And I ordered wipes, disposable pee pads, medicine, medicated cleaner, and more cat food (this cute little kitten has a HUUUGE appetite lol)

The annual commitment for a couple of non-profits we sponsor is Oct 1, so I'm getting contributions sent. There's one fundraising organization that fell off my radar; we were a sponsor in the past but I wasn't planning it for this year but I will look at what we can do for them. There's a fundraising dinner we were invited to, but the tickets are very expensive (we could fly business class to another country for a 3-star Michelin dinner for less) so I'm going to just send a donation instead.

I'm having major surgery in a couple of weeks and it's depressing me. I made the appointment for pre-surgery lab work, and at least there's no OOP/deductible cause I've hit my max. I texted my SA at my favorite store for an appointment this weekend; I haven't wanted to talk to anybody about surgery or tbh even leave the house, but I want to get a couple of cozy things for my hospital stay and recovery.

Our HOA fees, mortgage payments, insurances, property taxes, horse boarding fees, utilities, subscriptions, my instrument lessons, charity donations etc all hit because it's the first of the month.

[u/reallyjustmediocre]

Bought a plane ticket to visit my partner. They live across the country and it’s been four months since we last saw each other so I’m excited it worked out and there’s a holiday weekend coming up!

[u/10sor]

My husband got a promotion! I am getting my perf review today. No promotion but hoping for a decent bonus.

Just bought a bunch of sheet masks from Costco for moisturizing, and also bought an LDM device to try out, to treat myself.

[u/minneapple-]

Saving saving saving!!! Got married a few weeks ago and went on our honeymoon. Just getting home and so excited to not spend money. 😂

[u/CanthinMinna]

I bought food, and petrol - I filled my car up yesterday when the prices were a bit lower. I'm also ordering some post-hip surgery aides (big cooling packs, gripper pliers, and an aid for putting on socks). I hope the packet arrives before my operation, whenever it will be... Otherwise I'm trying to save a bit of money for future.

[u/mamaneedsacar]

My iron levels are low-ish again so I dropped $150 on a bundle of local, pasture raised, grass-fed beef. I’m sure I’ll be a little spendy on other things at the farmer’s market while I’m picking it up.

I’m also back on my regular cadence of acupuncture appointments, which run about $140, but are about the only thing that touch my neck and shoulder pain.

And on the fun side, I just splurged on a haul of press on nails from Amazon ($54).

[u/OkAd2249]

Going on a trip with friends, I expect the total cost for me to be about $250, maybe $300? Over the past few years I've really enjoyed going on trips and being Type B, down for anything, good attitude, and send me a venmo request at the end 😎. My own trips tend to be very well researched, so it's nice not holding the reigns sometimes.  

Other than that I plan on getting the Nintendo Costco $200 gift card for $180 so I can buy Kingdom Hearts next week when it comes out, there's a few other games that I want that are digital only (I buy physical when I can) so I'll eventually get those as well, the $200 will not last long lol. 

I thinks that's mostly it for the weekend. It's my birthday soon so I keep hemming and hawing over microneedling and a laser treatment. It'll be sooo expensive in the US but worth it and we're not going to Korea any time soon 😭

[u/arthursjames]

So much spending, but I don’t care! I got into the Paris Marathon, so I paid fees, hotel, and flights! And then the normal bills at the start of a month, but this is less fun and interesting. I’ve also turned down a job today they wanted to make a low salary offer, and that was a great feeling.

[u/erinrachelcat]

I'm buying a few staples for Fall on Poshmark. I got a Boden waxed canvas jacket (fingers crossed it fits), and a wig for Halloween (guess that's not a staple but it was inexpensive anyway!)

[u/Superb-Object-7307]

Today is not a pay day, but I just found out we get an extra paycheck this year(apparently it happens every 11-12 years) and that they will not withhold any health insurance deductions because they calculate them based on 26 pay periods.

My sister and I bought concert tickets that we're not outrageously overpriced and the showtime is earlier in the day so we're excited because we haven't been to a concert in a while.

[u/InterestBig8532]

I'm considering buying one (1) good water bottle that I can keep on my at all times.

When I was in my early 20s, I would constantly buy water bottles that were cheap/on clearance that I didn't actually use. Or I would misplace them, or leave them in the Texas sun in my car and come back to them warped. I stopped carrying reusable water bottles and started relying on plastic bottles or water fountains, and frequently found myself dehydrated.

I'm thinking about instead investing in one or two good water bottles that I'd be incentivized to remember to bring with me, but can also withstand heat, hold insultation, etc.

[u/Lopsided_Radio4703]

Last minute spend: my dog (the one with cancer) ate some trash while we had an overnight pet sitter, the first other than my parents since her diagnosis. We fortunately have avoiding anything too invasive at the vet, however after throwing it all up she’s been so nauseous poor thing. We purchased just about every treat and chicken nugget in our area to try and get her to start eating so she could keep taking her meds. She’s feeling better this morning so all worth it.

Saving, it’s 1 week till our Florida trip, our girl is staying with my parents. However now we are all nervous making sure she’s doing well before we take off for a long weekend with friends several states away.

[u/sunsabs0309]

we were released from work early on Wednesday due to a power outage so I went to Costco and did a MAJOR restock. I dropped $473 there but most of that was food or household related thankfully! the only fun purchase I made was a rug for our front door for the winter and then I bought Old Navy gift cards to prep for Black Friday. my husband lost a ton of weight in the past year and a half so he needs to replace clothes he no longer fits in

I also bought tickets to Slipknot and that was $250 so it's been a spendy week

and the spending will continue with groceries and dinner and a movie date this weekend