Women in Red Savers 2014

[Jaguar]

I'm refocusing my goals cause I know I can do this. There's no if, and or buts about it, I'm achieving what I'm setting out to do.

[forwardwego]

sugi woman on a mission   you can do it!

seriousthistime How is it going with the "weekly saving" program? Do you have a "plan" for that money? I hope some of the WIR Racers will take your invitation to join us. I'm sad that the membership and activity on the boards have dwindled. I am so thankful I found WIRR in 2010, I'd love to see more people benefiting the way I have.

Tomorrow is payday & savings update day  

[forwardwego]

UPDATE Forwardwego 10/13/2014 $1510 ( 8/30/2014 $1040, Goal = $3000)

fund 2014	goal	current	% met	$$ needed
rental EF	1000	360	36	640
homestead EF	1200	680	57	520
Vehicle EF	800	470	54	330
total	3000	1510	50	1490

The credit card balance that has the car repair is down to $600 which should get zapped in November. Should finish 2014 with savings in the $2K range.

possible 2015 goals:

1) $1200 tree fund for the tree dying in the front/side yard. This is priority because it is still climbable to bring down, but eventually will not be safe to climb and will require more equipment/$$. Also close to property line and has potential to damage neighbor's property. And (good grief) it is located between the power lines that go to our house and the ones to the neighbor's house. Sad to lose the tree and the shade, but will be less stress.

2) increase goals for the 3 EF's. 

[seriousthistime]

Serious this time, $43,572, 10/10/14 ($0, 1/1/14, Goal $51,258) 

My first rose!  One more will be hit soon, with the others hit with my last deposits of the year. 

forwardwego, my plan is to use the Weekly Savings money for some home improvements and maintenance.  I have the handyman coming this week to take a look. 

For next year, I will likely divide up the EF into sub-categories. I'm thinking now about what those sub-categories might be.  So many needs!

Savers, if you are also WIR Racers, you saw my messages in those boards inviting people to join us here at the Savers. Please "talk us up" in your WIR Racer board.  As we approach the new year, I will be posting more messages there.  Especially about the Weekly Savings.  How many here do Weekly Savings?  

[ambellamy]

We are revising our savings goals and removing our Roth IRA's. Instead we want to add more to our Emergency Fund because of the baby We are due end of March and we find out if its a boy or a girl Nov 3rd

2013 Roth IRA (Hubs) | 100% DONE
Goal: $5,500.00 (Starting: $0.00)
Now: $5,500.00

Emergency Fund | 100% DONE
Goal: $12,500.00 (Starting: $12,250.00)
Now: $12,500.00

Emergency Fund #2 | 15.8%
Goal: $2,000.00 (Starting: $0.00)
Now: $316.77

Car Emergency Fund | 57% finished
Goal: $700 (Starting: $0.00)
Now: $400.00

Ambellamy: 10/16/14 $6,466.77 (1/1/14 $0, WIRS1) 

[seriousthistime]

Oct 16, 2014 17:21:31 GMT -5 ambellamy said:

We are revising our savings goals and removing our Roth IRA's. Instead we want to add more to our Emergency Fund because of the baby We are due end of March and we find out if its a boy or a girl Nov 3rd

2013 Roth IRA (Hubs) | 100% DONE
Goal: $5,500.00 (Starting: $0.00)
Now: $5,500.00

Emergency Fund | 100% DONE
Goal: $12,500.00 (Starting: $12,250.00)
Now: $12,500.00

Emergency Fund #2 | 15.8%
Goal: $2,000.00 (Starting: $0.00)
Now: $316.77

Car Emergency Fund | 57% finished
Goal: $700 (Starting: $0.00)
Now: $400.00

Ambellamy: 10/16/14 $6,466.77 (1/1/14 $0, WIRS1) 

I'll catch this revision with the next update I'll post shortly after November 1.  

How are you feeling? 

[ambellamy]

I'm feeling really good actually. 2nd trimester is much easier than my first. I've started getting back to 10,000 steps a day, cooking more at home, and getting some good quality sleep in too.

Other than the bump and maybe going to bed with a few more pillows and an hour or so earlier, i'm kind of normal... Which is awesome.

We find out Nov 3 what we are having... assuming our goober cooperates with the nurse

[forwardwego]

RE: Weekly Savings Program:


I can't remember the last time I saved without a specific "need", so it's interesting to think of having $1378 at the end of the year, just to have it

I saw a variation about "weekly savings"...instead of saving $1, $2, $3, ...

Make a page listing all amounts from $1 to $52, and each week challenge yourself to tackle the biggest number you can, check off that amount and maybe mark the date

That way it will be challenging all through the year and maybe prevent struggling and giving up toward year's end. I'm thinking I'll try this weekly savings variation for 2015. 

[forwardwego]

UPDATE Forwardwego 11/1/2014 $1650 ( 8/30/2014 $1040, Goal = $3000)


fund 2014    goal  current  % met  $$ needed
rental EF     1000     400     40       600
homestd EF  1200    740      62      460
Vehicle EF     800     510     64      290
total          3000    1650     55      1350

Hoping to enter the $2K range in November 

[megaptera]

UPDATE

megaptera: 10/24/2014 $11,410.00 [1/14/2014 $0.00 / Goal: $15,000]

Happy weekend!

[Jaguar]

I'm redirecting my focus and going long term.

Saving Funds	Goals	Current	% Saved	Woo Hoo
TV Fund	$317	$200	63.1%	?
Moving Fund	$2683	$120	4.5%	?
Mattress Fund	$2300	$40	1.7%	?
Gateway Voyage	$5000	$40	0.8%	?
GRAND TOTAL	$10,300	$400	3.9%	?

Sugilite - 10/26/2014 - $400 - [NEW GOAL - $10,300] =

[seriousthistime]

Long term works!

[seriousthistime]

Hi Savers,

Please get your updates posted. I will post the updated listing and smilies Sunday or Monday night.

Hope all is going well with everyone!

[seriousthistime]

Serious this time, $45,637, 10/26/14 ($0, 1/1/14, Goal $51,258)


forwardwego, I like that variation of the Weekly Savings program.  I have done it in reverse this year, starting out with $52, then $51, and on down.  I may do it the way you mention next year.  If it turns out to be a deterrent (always choosing the lowest number because I'm not careful with my spending), I can always switch back. 

ETA:  One of my savings sub-accounts is Gifts.  I began my Christmas shopping last night: gift cards for my siblings.  I used to buy things for them, then wrap the gifts, put them in a box, and ship the box to them.  It adds up, as I try to fill the box, then pay to mail it.  They live 1000 miles away.  Last year I heard DB didn't use what I sent and sold it all at a garage sale.  So, this year, gift cards.  If they don't like it, they can easily regift it.   Anyway, it's looking like my Gift account balance will be close to $0 by the end of the year, so it worked out perfectly.  

[forwardwego]

seriousthistime Nice update with 2 lovely roses   Good job on nailing your gift budget 

Reversing the weekly savings sounds interesting too. I'm pretty excited about getting the weekly plan going. I'll probably earmark this account "retirement bridge account". My workplace has a 2-3 month processing lag between retirement date and 1st check. So there's a gap, followed by a biggish first check, and then the regular amount at the regular time. This would tide me over during the gap and then the first check would replenish the account.

I've toyed with thought of using a slightly higher range $55-$4, finishing with $1534.. There are just so many angles.  Probably over thinking this  

Nice work megaptera, and sugilite!!

Congrats Ambellamy on your financial progress, and adding a new love to your family 

[Jaguar]

I'm starting my Christmas shopping on Monday and then I'll do the other little bit remaining on November 28th.

[seriousthistime]

Here is a description of what forwardwego described:

www.thesimpledollar.com/thoughts-on-the-52-week-money-challenge/

So, let's see: we have this plan: Start with $1 for the first week, $2 for the second week, and so on.

And this one: Do it in reverse -- start with $52 dollars, then $51, and go all the way down to $1 on the last week of the year.

And this one: Print out the chart and each week save as much as you can, crossing that amount off the list. Each week you choose the highest amount that is not crossed out.

And this one from forwardwego: Use a slightly higher range. Can you explain this one a bit more?

And here's one, to appeal to just about anyone who's on a strict budget and thinks they can't save anything: Save $1 each week, ending the year with $52. Or for January through March, save $1 each week. For April through June, save $2 per week. For July through September, save $3 per week. For October through December, save $4 per week.

One old idea kicked around a few years ago was to save every $5 bill that is in your wallet at the end of each day.  No $5 bills, no savings that day.  Two $5 bills, then $10 savings that day.  (I did that one for a while.) How about saving the first $5 bill that lands in your wallet each week? Or the first $10 bill that lands in your wallet each week? Then cross that week off the list.

How many variations of measuring savings by week can we come up with?

[By the way, I ran out of time getting the updates done.  This weekend, for sure!]

[Rocky Mtn Saver]

Rocky Mtn Saver 11/06/14 $11,303 or 113% (01/01/14 = $0; Goal = $10,000)    

Fund	2014 Goals	Jan 1st	Last Update	Current Update	% Met
Emerg Fund	$1000	$0	$1407	$1678
Roth IRA	$2000	$0	$2345	$2545
Vacation Fund	$2000	$0	$2850	$3200
Investing	$500	$0	$100	$100	20%
HSA	$2500	$0	$2155	$2235	89%
Car Fund	$1000	$0	$840	$920	92%
Insurance	$1000	$0	$570	$625	63%
Totals	$10,000	$0	$10,267	$11,303	113%

 

[forwardwego]

Use a slightly higher range. Can you explain this one a bit more?

I hope so. It makes sense in my head, but sometimes it's tricky to explain what makes sense in my head  .
 
The basic weekly savings plan is $1, $2, $3...through $52 for an annual savings of $1378.

If you decided to instead start at $2 the first week and end with $53 in the last week the annual total would be $1430. 

range of $$$	1st week...thru...	52nd week	annual total
$1-$52	$1	$52	$1378
$2-$53	$2	$53	$1430
$3-$54	$3	$54	$1482
$4-$55	$4	$55	$1534

Basically every $1 bump up in the range, bumps the year end up by $52.

"Sacrificing" $1 additional per week, every week increases the annual total nicely. If you wanted to end with annual amount of @$2000, save $13 in 1st week increasing by $1/week til $64 in week 52, total would be $2002.

 

[forwardwego]

UPDATE Forwardwego 11/7/2014 $1770 ( 8/30/2014 $1040, Goal = $3000)


fund 2014    goal    current    %met    $$ needed
rental EF     1000     440         44         560
homestd EF  1200    770          64        430
Vehicle EF    800      560         70         240
total           3000    1770        59        1230

Hoping to enter the $2K range in November


Nice work Rockymtnsaver 


seriousthistime thanks for your contributions of time and talent to this thread and the WIRs
Good summary of the 52 week savings challenges 

ETA: Thanks for the motivation. Without seeing it written down I could feel blue because I'm "behind in my savings". But instead I look at these updates and see good things. 70% met and only $240 away from a   on my VEF 

[seriousthistime]

Rocky Mtn Saver -- great job! Have you started to plan your goals for 2015?

forwardwego, your explanation does make sense! Thanks. Anyone else have any other ideas? If so, please share them and I will post them in the consolidated Racers thread. Maybe we can get some of the Racers to start saving. We can show them that it's possible to pay down debt and save at the same time.

I got really motivated after writing and reading about the 52 week savings challenge, and the different ways to work it into a budget. I decided that until the end of the year I am going to save any $5 bills, as well as random $1 bills I find in my pockets, the washer/dryer, or various parts of my purse (in other words, anything not in my wallet). Let's see how much I end up with on December 31. Anyone with me on this?

[forwardwego]

YES, I accept your random $$ challenge. So anything that fails to make it to my wallet goes into the random round-up. The result for me will probably be that I get better at putting my money away, which is also a good thing. 


I'm so excited about the weekly saving, and have been fiddling around with a table to use for updates.  

Not sure where I saw this suggestion for doing the weekly savings in a building up fashion: 
if you hit a plateau , go ahead and stay at that level rather than give up.
Example: Saver Sam makes it to week 20 (and has $210 so far) but "can't" find the $21 for the next week, nor the higher amounts for the weeks to come. He holds the course by continuing with $20/week through week 52, and still achieves an annual savings $850    .

[seriousthistime]

	Stars	Name	Amt Saved	Goal	% Saved	Roses	Smilies
1		ambellamy	$6,467	$20,700	31.2%
2		DVM gone riding	$8,168	$11,700	69.8%
3		Female Sam	$9,541	$26,121	36.5%
4		forwardwego	$1,770	$3,000	59%
5		mak	$11,595	$13,700	84.6%
6		megaptera	$11,410	$15,000	76.1%
7		nalto	$798	$5,000	16.0%
8		Rocky Mtn Saver	$11,303	$8,000*	141.3%
9		Saving4Norway	$20,850	$20,000	104.3%
10		seahorse	$3,784	$9,100	41.6%
11		sealy	$400	$10,000	4%
12		seriousthistime	$45,637	$51,258	89%
13		shopaholic814	$8,725	$18,600	46.9%
14		Sugilite	$400	$10,300	3.9%
15		tobinikui	$30,657	$44,500	68.9%

2014 Hall of Fame

Three savers who've met their goal:

Ombud AND Rocky Mtn Saver AND, this time, -banana-Saving4Norway!

Special kudos to:

* Rocky Mtn Saver, who not only met her goal, but then increased it, and exceeded the increase! For that, you are listed in the chart with a and a for the extra 25% you've saved! Looks to me as if you're soon headed to a second   !  You're a great motivation to us all.  Can you share any secrets?   Did you underestimate what you could save, rework your budget, redirect gift or bonus money to savings?  Do tell!  

One thing that I think makes us succeed is that we revise our goals as needed.  I think it would be very un-motivational to be stuck with a goal you have lost interest in.  It's like, why bother?  Life changes, priorities shift, and we need to revise a lot of things as we go along.  

Sugilite budgets with attitude!  (And I notice you are not that far away from getting your first rose!)  ambellamy budgets with the baby in mind. Good to see you back after your setback last time, megaptera. 

forwardwego and I have challenged ourselves to save some cash that crosses our path, between now and the end of the year.  I'm saving all $5 bills in my wallet at the end of the day, plus all random $1 bills that get thrown in my purse instead of making it to my wallet (as well as all paper money I find in pockets, not that there's been any lately). forwardwego is saving random money that doesn't make it into her wallet.  Anyone else want to join us in the random cash challenge? 

Soon I will compile all the various suggestions for the weekly savings challenge, and post a round-up in the consolidated Racers thread.  If anyone has any other tweaks to suggest that might appeal to a Racer who didn't think savings was on her agenda, let me know. 

And it is never too early to start thinking of 2015 savings goals.  Who is resetting goals and starting at $0?  And who will continue to work toward the same goals despite the calendar change?  I will be setting new goals. My biggest savings category is retirement, and that's pretty much on auto pilot.  Another is my HSA which is also by payroll deduction.  I haven't really thought of what I will do, but I'm pretty sure I will be taking those two off the list for 2015, giving me more modest goals for the other categories.  I may do the weekly challenge in some form, and do a random money challenge with a set goal for each month. We'll see.  Anyway, it's never too early to think about it!

[Saving4Norway]

Fund	2014 Goals	Last Month	This Month	% Met	Roses
Denmark	$2,500	$2,500	$2,500	100%	March
Sisu	$2,000	$2,000	$2,000	100%	March
Vehicles	$2,000	$2,000	$2,000	100%	March
Harley Trip	$2,000	$2,000	$2,000	100%	June
Gifts&Donations	$1,500	$1,500	$2,000	133%	July
Vacay Property	$1,500	$1,500	$1,500	100%	July
Palm Springs	$500	$500	$500	100%	January
Cultural	$500	$500	$500	100%	April
Christmas 2014	$500	$500	$850	170%	August
PS Flight 2015	$1,000	$1,000	$1,000	100%	July
Iceland Flight2015	$3,000	$3,000	$3,000	100%	August
Home Improvement	$3,000	$0	$3,000	100%	October
TOTAL	$20,000		$20,850	104%

Saving4Norway 11/9/14 $20,850 (12/22/13 $4,000 / Goal $20,000)

[Saving4Norway]

Now's the time I start making more detailed plans about next year. The dates of vacations, actual prices for airfares and hotels, things like that. I kind of like that part the best. Spending the money I've worked so hard to save. 

[seriousthistime]

Oh, Saving4Norway, you just missed the smiley update!  It's easy enough for me to incorporate your info. And I think we were reading each other's minds on the 2015 goals.  

ETA:  Incorporated Saving4Norway into the update and the 2014 Hall of Fame!

[forwardwego]

Sample/Dry Run 

Weekly Savings UPDATE  2/6/2015  $212 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 MTD January 52  7 51 20 50 $180 February 32 0 0 0    32 March 0 0 0 0 April 0 0 0 0 May 0 0 0 0 0 June 0 0 0 0 July 0 0 0 0 0 August 0 0 0 0 September 0 0 0 0 October 0 0 0 0 0 November 0 0 0 0 December 0 0 0 0 YTD $212

Suggestions anyone?

[teachermom]

Hi Savers....I have totally had a rough year and not only not had money to save.....went into debt surviving. (Doctor bills, tuition, student loans, etc.) Doing lots of re-evaluating and figuring out where to go from here. I plan to be on board Jan 1st!

Looks like everyone is doing a great job on their savings! Congrats!!!

Teachermom

[seriousthistime]

I like your demo and chart, forwardwego.  So if it were to be modified upward, you would have 52 weeks on there, with amounts in $1 increments from $5 to $56 to cross off, right? 

teachermom, welcome back, and feel free to start wherever you need to.  As you can see, we are kicking around different ideas for people to save.  Feel free to add something or create your own ways, to share or not.

[forwardwego]

seriousthistime exactly right.  

Since this will be my first year to do the weekly savings challenge, I'm going to use $1-$52, aiming for the highest amount I can each week. 



Hello teachermom.   You can do it!