starting to think about 2012

[NastyWoman]

I am discussing with myself about what to do to make 2012 a great savings year. So far I have not come up with a lot except to keep my 401k with holdings the same even if the SS rate will go back to its previous level of 6.2%.

I am looking for fresh inspiration here...

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Do you have specific things you are saving FOR?
Are you looking at building an emergency fund as well as retirement savings?
Do you save your change?
Do you have a Christmas Club Account?
Do you get a tax refund and, if so, what are your plans for it?

[NastyWoman]

Molly, I am -forever 29, but I will admit that 2 years ago I started my 3rd lifecycle, so my main concern is retirement . I really don't have so much either an income problem or even a spending problem. At the moment I am in desperate need of inspiration to keep going. As you know neither the stock market nor savings account have any consistent return in the last decade -the time I have been on my own after a long marriage. My worry is that I will run out of (savings) steam and in years down the road would end up dependent on my sons. That is what I desperately am trying to avoid -> especially since both have told me that they would always take care of me. Does this make sense to anyone but me?

I do have a budget max out my 401k ( no catch-up), my Roth IRA including catch up, and in 32 months (but who is counting ) I will pay off my condo 19 years early. All this saving means I lead a frugal life most off the time, although I do travel to visit family. But as I said, I am running out of steam and I need help. Hence my question: what to do for 2012

[dancinmama]

Nov 5, 2011 21:44:17 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Molly, I am -forever 29, but I will admit that 2 years ago I started my 3rd lifecycle, so my main concern is retirement . I really don't have so much either an income problem or even a spending problem. At the moment I am in desperate need of inspiration to keep going. As you know neither the stock market nor savings account have any consistent return in the last decade -the time I have been on my own after a long marriage. My worry is that I will run out of (savings) steam and in years down the road would end up dependent on my sons. That is what I desperately am trying to avoid -> especially since both have told me that they would always take care of me. Does this make sense to anyone but me?

I do have a budget max out my 401k ( no catch-up), my Roth IRA including catch up, and in 32 months (but who is counting ) I will pay off my condo 19 years early. All this saving means I lead a frugal life most off the time, although I do travel to visit family. But as I said, I am running out of steam and I need help. Hence my question: what to do for 2012

joss: The fact that you are on track to pay off your mortgage 19 years early is an inspiration in itself. I think that is AWESOME!!



What kinds of things have inspired you in the past?

For me, I search the weekly grocery and drug chain ads for the very best deals on food or household products. When I can get something really cheap (or free with coupons), it recharges my "savings battery" a little bit.

[Tiny]

I'm rarely excited about 'saving' - mostly because all the big saving stuff is 'automatic' - Retirement, after tax savings, and then the saving to spend stuff: vacation, car, holidays, property taxes, insurances, etc.
I don't like a lot of drama (or working up the motivation) so I avoid the "feast/famine" cycle of saving to spend (If I find myself saying or thinking 'Oh, I can't do some inexpensive thing because I'm saving for Y' - that's a flag for me that I'm in Feast/Famine mode).
That said... I do try to save money on my fixed expenses. So I do review my utility bills (the Phone Company is notorious for slipping in $5.00 and $5.00 there...) Now is also the time when you sign up for health care bennies at work - so I'm reviewing the plans and how much I put into the FSA. I'll also be reviewing my insurance coverages (house, car, rental property) - I haven't really fine tuned them in 3 years.

If you haven't looked at some of those 'cash leak' areas for savings - maybe doing that would give you some motivation/diversation from the typical?

[saveinla]

If it would help, instead of saving (unless you need to save) maybe you can apply more towards your mortgage for a few months? The balance going down may be a motivation.

[Tiny]

My worry is that I will run out of (savings) steam and in years down the road would end up dependent on my sons. That is what I desperately am trying to avoid -> especially since both have told me that they would always take care of me. Does this make sense to anyone but me?

Maybe you are 'saving' all you can already - maybe instead of trying to squeeze more out of your income to put towards saving - you can look for ways to decrease your expenses. Really look at what you are spending money on... and then determine if that money is really well spent or just out of habit. What value are you getting from the spending? Is it still relevant to your life? Our lives change over time, but we don't always 'change' our spending habits - maybe you have a subscription or membership to something you aren't interested in or using (maybe in the past it was important but now not so much). It's ok to let go of those kinds of things and make changes. Sometimes spending money on something is just a habit... you do it because you always have. Maybe that's ok and maybe it's become a cash leak.
This is a good time to review what you currently are doing (everyday, for fun, for work) and to see if any tweaking needs to be done. You might wind up not really 'saving' any money - because you may simply move spending money from one thing to a new thing (which isn't bad - it's kinda exciting - doing something new!). Just make sure you don't INCREASE how much of your disposable income you are spending.

Another thing to do might be to 'declutter' - if you've got closets full of clothes - instead of shovelling it all into the trash/donate - make the effort to wear everything you own without buying anything new for a set period of time.
You can do something similiar with any personal care items or household cleaning kinds of things - set a goal to use up the bottles/jars/cans of stuff you already have before you buy new stuff.

(FWIW: I went on a clothes diet - and was able to go 18 months without buying any new clothes. I also well spent nearly 24 months using up the household products and whatnot I had on hand. I still have a well stocked pantry - but there's alot more room in it!! since I don't have handfuls of 1/2 used products or stuff I'm never gonna use).
Less is more.

[fuzzylumpkins]

Oh. Savings.

I was thinking about building a zeppelin in my back yard.

If I can successfully get a new, higher paying job (I've put in several applications, being a barista sucks!) I'd like to, every month, put aside $1k for my EF, $500 for my FUN account and another 1K for my UPDATE account. The FUN account is for if I want to make a big purchase, go on vacation or just treat my friends to a weekend in Vegas. The UPDATE account is for household updates like new windows, new kitchen, and a second bathroom.

I do like watching the little green bar on the Mint.com Goals skyrocket. It's a good feeling.

[NastyWoman]

This is a good time to review what you currently are doing (everyday, for fun, for work) and to see if any tweaking needs to be done. You might wind up not really 'saving' any money - because you may simply move spending money from one thing to a new thing

This might be what is needed. I don't spend a whole lot on frivolous things, to the contrary. I live on less then half my income and that includes at least one international trip/year -> DS2 lives closest to me at 1000 miles. To visit the rest of my family involves either an 10-11 hour flight in one direction (non-stop) or a 17 hour flight in the other direction (1 stop). So maybe to get out of the rut I am in I need to find ways to cut my regular spending and dedicate the savings to some fun things I can do locally. But it is hard for me to "just spend" money so I keep cutting out the fun in live, which in turn has led to this burn-out.

Thank you all for listening and your suggestions

[skubikky]

Joss...how old are you?

[dragon2008]

Maybe you make 2012 the Year of Exploration - find things you like to do, try new things out, etc. It may take a slight investment in money from your savings, but if it can reinvigorate your life that would be money well spent!

[bring in the new year]

Perfect topic.

I was setting up the 2012 budget this morning. And talking about saving & spending with sister.

Joss, you're on track to pay off the condo early. Would it make sense to you to take some of your savings and pay it off before the 32 months? Or to up the payment to cut it down to the end of next year? Is that the kind of goal that would get you excited?

If not, don't think about the market or the interest rates. Imagine what you would like to invest in if you had more money and conditions weren't so iffy. Would you like a smaller condo closer to family that you could rent out to others? A new business? A round the world trip?

Save for that. Then if conditions do get better, you'll have the money to do what you like with it.

Good luck.

[Tiny]

FWIW: I'm a firm believer that you reach a point where you are saving 'enough' and instead of attempting to save more you need to evaluate how you are spending what you have left so you are getting the most value from that money. The goal isn't to save 100% of one's income. Another goal is to NOT live feeling deprived.

If you are concerned about retirement - have you attempted the seemingly daunting task of figuring out how much money you will need- or- how much money your savings/pension/401(k)/ss/whatever streams of income may generate?
As you get closer to retirement, you should have better and better guestimates of what those numbers are...

Change the way you think. Change your life.

[NastyWoman]

Nov 8, 2011 11:18:18 GMT -5 skubikky said:

Joss...how old are you?

I am -forever- 29, but I will admit that 2 years ago I started my 3rd lifecycle -> I think that this makes me, mathematically at least, 60

I plan to retire in about 10 years.

[NastyWoman]

Joss, you're on track to pay off the condo early. Would it make sense to you to take some of your savings and pay it off before the 32 months?

To get to the 32 months, I already pay significantly more every month. The mortgage amortization table(s) I set up show that it will take 48 months to finish paying without addtional pay down every month. That is not going to happen unless I were to lose my job. Paying the mortgage off is one of my priorities since it will lower my future cost of living significantly and you never know what the future brings

[Tiny]

I think the common wisdom (which doesn't apply in all cases!) would be to not further speed up the pay off of the mortgage with 'savings'. At this point the math isn't very daunting and the time frame is something you can wrap your mind around 60 months or less.
It might be time to figure out a retirement budget with and without a mortgage payment for the first few years...
Planning/running numbers and thinking about the future is a way of 'saving money', so working on that would be one way to make 2012 a great savings year and would make sure your 'financial ship' is headed in a good direction.

[cronewitch]

Nov 5, 2011 17:20:01 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

I am discussing with myself about what to do to make 2012 a great savings year. So far I have not come up with a lot except to keep my 401k with holdings the same even if the SS rate will go back to its previous level of 6.2%.

I am looking for fresh inspiration here...

Maybe playing with spreadsheets would help. I like to project different returns on investments and withdraw strategies to make myself think. I am older so can think to the end of life. If I only break even on investments and we have inflation I need more money. If investments return much more than inflation I could be rich if I don't spend more. Either way I will have enough if I keep saving and it would be really nice to be 95 with more money than I could ever spend.

If you over save you might be able to not only not be a burden to you son but also to help him if he needs it when he is old.

You will never be a burden because you don't want to be so even if you have to work part time while on SS with your paid off home you will not be asking for help.

Play games like the extra you put away this year is one more year you can not work part time when you are old.

I like to think about how much I will appreciate an extra thousand a year if I was to be trying to live on SS alone. To get that you need to save about 25K so even someone who has nothing at 60 can save enough to make a difference. Working an extra year can increase your SS 8% plus you have one less year to finance and another year to save.

I am old enough to retire but waiting 2 more years will earn me an extra 150K or so and increase my SS about 200 a month and two less years to finance. That is what inspires me to keep working and saving but I have enough to cover basics so can start to waste a little.

[motherto2]

Joss, I feel your frustration. I'm within a few years of retiring myself, and because of not getting any sort of cost of living at work for last year as well as the forseeable future, a lot more of the money I had budgeted for paying my mortgage off early is being taken for everyday items. Thank goodness we aren't seeing any prices go up LOL!!! Sometimes I feel like I am just spinning my wheels and not getting anywhere. I have student loans for my kids that may or may not be paid off when I want to retire. I thought they would be, but now I'm not so sure. I refinanced my mortgage a little over a year ago to a lower rate and 15 year note, and had planned on paying $XX amount extra to have it paid off in 7 years. Well, because of life, that hasn't been happening. I'm llucky to get maybe half what I had planned on originally. I found myself in the same sort of funk about things not moving fast enough. And like you, unless I were to get a part time job, I can't find anything to squeeze out. There are little things, like cell phones, but within the next year my kids will be a little more self sufficient than they are today, and that will help. I finally realized the best way to give myself some relief from the pressure is to stop looking at the numbers every day. You need to set up what you can as far as bills to be paid on auto pilot, so that you aren't constantly trying to wring a little more out of the proverbial turnip. It helped me quite a bit, because I was starting to really stress out about it. Find free things or almost free things to do in your area. Do you have any friends that you can do things with? That was a big part of my problem also - everyone I'm friends with or work with have a partner (marriage, girlfriend/boyfriend, significant other). No one single like myself to do things with, plus they aren't in a one salary household. So I started going out with my neighbor walking our dogs, joined a discussion class at work that was free, etc. Good luck - and you really shouldl feel very proud of how well yu are doing

[TD2K]

Why bother? ;D

[marvholly]

Seems like OP is suffering from frual fatige. Maybe she just needs to find a few $$/ month for treating herself - a meal out (w/a coupon??), a manicure and/or pedicure (I go to a school and pay $5/$7)...