MDN Episode 6 Recap

Christella Morris is a blogger, social media expert and marketing executive who recently spent the summer filming a reality television show with her partner and two sons, along with 99 other families in her community. You can watch Million Dollar Neighbourhood, Season 2, airing on OWN Canada Sundays at 8pm EST. For more information about Christella, visit her blog at http://www.crawltheline.com

Episode #6, Season 2: Million Dollar Neighborhood  features 100 Families of Bowmanville, Ontario as they try to meet the financial challenges set upon them by financial experts. To earn or save $100,000 every week for ten weeks in order to increase their cumulative net worth by $1,000,000! My family was lucky enough to participate in this season and every week as the show airs I will provide you with insight into our feelings around each challenge, getting to know some of the more popular or lesser-known individuals on the show, and even maybe some extras!

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So this week was all about discretionary spending. We were challenged (by Preet in his crazy purple golf pants) to avoid our indulgences and only spend on what we NEEDED as opposed to what we WANTED. Now, Hubs and I aren't particularly big drinkers (once in a blue moon, really!) and we don't smoke, gamble or play golf. Neither of us have taken a vacation since we met, but for the mostpart, when we have extra money to spend it's still not going into our savings accounts. So where is it going?

My guess is before it was going on food, stuff for the kids, and yes, the occasional shopping trip. Usually if we have any extra money at the end of the bill cycle we try to pay down debt, but sometimes we get stuck thinking about the things we WANT as opposed to what we NEED. Most of the time that involves trips to IKEA as we're new homeowners. Dinners out, dates, stuff that doesn't seem like a big expense but when you add it all up on an annual basis you go "Holy crap!" 

Overall this week wasn't a HUGE lesson for us, as we aren't particularly lousy with extra money to begin with. We did agree to focus more on debt and less on fun, within reason. You do only live once, after all. 

There were a few people during this episode who had a LOT to learn. Primarily the smokers! The thing is, you could tell almost everybody one the show (with the exception of maybe Rodney) didn't really want to quit, which is why after the week was over they all went right back to it. When it comes to cigarettes you have to step back and say "Okay, this is ridiculous, I'm killing myself for no reason! I really need to stop!" and it takes a LOT to get a person to that point when they're so heavily addicted. I understand that and overall I think it was more about the lesson than actually stopping.

The cost of cigarettes alone would be enough to make me quit!

Jackson and Spenser's inconvenient living situation was brought to light this week. Fuelled by their nicotine withdrawals it was easy to see why they weren't getting along, but can you blame them? It's like extending living at home just without your parents! I'm sure it's not the first fight they've been in since becoming homeowners and it certainly won't be the last. Have you watched any HGTV show ever where people flip houses? All they do is fight and I doubt they're quitting smoking at the same time!

We also had Brian Jung's big reveal this week. The reveal (to us, since they've already talked about it on the show seventy-bajillion times) that he'd committed some crimes as a young adult and he wanted to dispel any rumours by coming out to us with the truth. Everyone (from what I know) was super supportive. There's going to be bad apples in every bunch, but believe me, in OUR bunch, Brian wasn't one of them! There were a few others that would leave a bad taste in your mouth, though!

My issue with this is that this is what they're making Brian's storyline about for the entire show. Reformed criminal. Previously in Jail. Mistake maker. Yeah, okay, I get it. He's rough around the edges, can the community accept him? But we did! We have. We always did! We know who Brian is, what he's about. He's a hard worker. He gives what he can when he can. Does everyone on the planet love him? No. Does everyone on the planet love me? Certainly not and I've never been to jail. 

For me I just hoped that the production would focus on more than Brian's past. We all certainly do. 

Speaking of Brian, we found out this week that he'd been chalking all of the MDN residences in the evening to help deal with his smoke withdrawal. It took a few weeks for us to get chalked and since we don't have a driveway there wasn't much they could do, but I appreciated the effort. Every morning we'd wake up and check to see who got chalked that night and again I'd be disappointed that our drive was once again chalk-free. It felt like some sort of initiation into the MDN clan or something. It definitely lifted spirits and was a great gesture of goodwill! All throughout the show most of us had no idea (but a few inklings) as to who the mysterious "Doc Chalk" was. It was definitely something funny that added to the community, so thanks to Brian, Susan and Kelly for starting it!

We also saw Miss Amber trying to curb her shopping habit! Instead, she went... shopping? For free, and not for herself, but still! As a reformed fashionista, shopping at all was therapeutic for me! Especially when it wasn't for myself! Amber took on A LOT this week, and as someone who was previously a team lead it is NOT for the faint of heart. That's one thing, getting into this whole thing, that you fail to understand. How much WORK it's going to be. It's like 5 full time jobs stapled together haphazardly!

Amber and Greg each did a fantastic job on their respective teams, pulling together a great event that... well...not too many people came to. 

Once again, we were limited with our ability to generate interest. It was a long weekend (again) and with summer rounding out I'm sure the last thing most people wanted to do was stay in town to be shepherded around like sheep all day. Those that did come had a great time, though. I try to look at it this way, We were never at our best when we were divided into teams. The competition got the better of us and it always seemed to be on a very difficult weekend to make anything happen in the first place. We knew going into it that the likelihood of winning that challenge was slim to none, so instead, we focused on the FUN! And boy, did we have a lot of it! 

Making her grand debut this week was Rayna! 

Love this Rayna, too!

No, not THAT Rayna! This Rayna!

She came out this cute I swear!
(source: thieved from FB)

That's right, during Week 6, after WEEKS of waddling around and sitting in the sun each challenge, Michelle Kimmerly finally popped! The craziest part? She didn't miss a beat! Michelle was so dedicated to the challenge that she had baby Rayna WITH her at the Fashion Show only 2 days old! I thought it was amazing and it was great to see little sweet Rayna and introduce her to her new GIGANTIC family!

Baby Rayna and Miss Michelle (source: thieved from FB)

Everyone worked super hard this week, just like every other week, and it was great to see it all come together. As much as it SUCKED to lose a challenge, we also are still ahead if you really think about it!  Week 6 means we should've been hitting the $600K mark, but we're already half way past that! If that's any indication of what the rest of the season brings, keep watching! ;)

PS: Don't you think I did a Fierce job modelling this week? Miss Tyra herself would be proud!

That's a hot piece right there!