Women in Red Savers 2014

[teachermom]

My goal through the end of 2014.....to save $1000 in a mini emergency fund. Should be able to do that this month but for sure by the end of the year.

Teachermom  11/10/2014 $0 (11/10/2014 $0 - Goal $1000)

[Jaguar]

Okay my budget has taken a nose dive this month, basically the rest of 2014 is a write off. I'll see everyone in January 2015. I'll lock this thread when seriousthistime asks me. I'm looking forward to 2015.

[Jaguar]

In case no one on this thread gets over to EE, I've got some nocturnal critter living under my bathtub and wall between the bathroom/livingroom. This all started on Nov. 2 and the Landlord says he won't do anything until it gets into my apartment. So for 2 to 4 hours every night since then, I listen to this thing digging/scratching down there and getting either shocked or electrocuted. The Landlady says I have too good hearing.

I'm saving to get out of here. I figure I can do it as soon as April 30th.

[Rocky Mtn Saver]

Nov 13, 2014 15:36:18 GMT -5 Jaguar said:

In case no one on this thread gets over to EE, I've got some nocturnal critter living under my bathtub and wall between the bathroom/livingroom. This all started on Nov. 2 and the Landlord says he won't do anything until it gets into my apartment. So for 2 to 4 hours every night since then, I listen to this thing digging/scratching down there and getting either shocked or electrocuted. The Landlady says I have too good hearing.

I'm saving to get out of here. I figure I can do it as soon as April 30th.

Oh, man, I had that thing's cousin living somewhere in/around my floor vent in my bedroom a few years back.  It was weird to hear! 

[Jaguar]

Rocky Mtn Saver , I've just been beside myself with angst over this. Nothing like worrying if your bathroom is going to collapse into the nether regions of Southern Toronto. Then I'll hear what sounds like a mirror cracking or breaking, yeah critter got a zap of electricity. So then it's worrying about if my place is going to burn down.

No TV, No anything, I'm just saving to get out of here.

[Rocky Mtn Saver]

Ew, that sounds much worse than we had!  We had the critter scratching around and living his happy critter life for a while until we made it an ex-critter.  The electricity part you're hearing is definitely worrisome! 

[Jaguar]

I hate critters.

[teachermom]

Sugilite....when you mean lock this one is it because there will be a new board for 2014? Just checking because hadnt been on her for a long time and when came back they had consolidated the racers regions to 1.

Teachermom

[Jaguar]

There's always a new Board for this thread on January 1st. That's as long as I've been seeing it.

[teachermom]

Thanks! I thought so but just wanted to see if something was changing.

Teachermom

[Jaguar]

busymom gave me this idea and I'm using it and hell it seems to scare the critters away. I play cats meowing loudly videos from youtube, at top high volume. Woo Hoo the longer I can stay here the more money I can save. Everyone think good and positive thoughts for me please.

[tobinikui]

Sugilite - good luck with your critters!! I had squirrels chewing through my apartment walls a few years back. The landlord wouldn't do anything either! No surprise there. So I moved out as soon as I possibly could, and reported him to Code Enforcememt! They were *very* interested to hear about the squirrels, and his refusal to do anything. Ha!

In other news, how is it almost December? I don't really understand how that is possible! We are doing well & things are chugging along. One week from Saturday, we'll have a five month old. (What? How?)
Our savings continue to grow slowly. We have a ton of people to buy for at Christmas time - thankfully, I save a little bit each week. We spend significantly above the average, which makes me ill. I am hoping to talk to my extended family about NOT exchanging gifts next year. We're all adults - if we *need* something, we go buy it. Still want to surprise the kids though! Time will tell.

All of our savings accounts, with the exception of our main emergency fund will be fully funded by 12/31/14, which makes me very happy. The one-month-in-advance fund I set up is working really well. I hate having bills looming over my head, so being able to pay things off immediately makes me very happy.

My tagline for now is:
Tobinikui: 11/20/14 $33,871.78 ($10,028.27 on 12/28/2013; Goal: $44,500.00)

I am 76.1% of the way there for this year, and I'm hoping to add another $2500 or so to my total, but I'm still going to be short (significantly!) in the ER fund, which I knew going into this.

So, for 2015, I am not going to track all of my automated savings (taxes, insurances, Christmas, college, etc). All of those things happen without me doing anything at all. It's the Emergency Fund that requires effort and sacrifice, and persistence. So that's going to be my exclusive focus for 2015, with a total goal of $13,500 saved in 2015. I'll be starting with approximately $6500, but I'm going to treat it as $0.
My 2015 tagline will be:
1/1/2015 $0 (Goal $13,500: $0 on 1/1/15)

Account Goal. Have. Need. %
ER Fund 13,500. 0. 13,500. 0%

I hope having only one account to focus on will make it more of a challenge, and hopefully I'll be more likely to finish up that challenge in 2015. It's a tough, but do-able goal.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving & if any of you are getting socked with snow, hang in there!! Stay warm and safe, all.

[forwardwego]

UPDATE Forwardwego 11/21/2014 $2220 ( 8/30/2014 $1040, Goal = $3000)

fund 2014	goal__	current	% met	$$ needed
rental EF	1000	600	60	400
homestead EF	1200	820	68	380
vehicle EF	800	800	100
total	3000	2220	74	780

Feels good to be in the $2k's. I need to focus on the rental EF. Our present renters whom I love dearly are leaving in the spring of 2015, and there definitely needs to be a bigger cushion.

[sealy]

hi. I haven't posted an update but I will soon. I now have $1,700. I'm working on increasing it.

[teachermom]

Set a goal to have $1000 in my EF by the end of the year.....not sure I can do it from my paycheck as I really want to pay off some debt.....so....cleaning up my house and selling clothes that no longer fit, furniture, etc we have no need for!!! Meeting some people in a couple hours who want to buy some things!! I can do this!!

Teachermom

Edited to add....made $70 today on some clothes.

[Jaguar]

This is just a first step after my crappy November.

Saving Funds	Goals	Current	% Saved	Woo Hoo
TV Fund	$509	$280	40.9%	?
Moving Fund	$2300	$0	0%	?
Mattress Fund	$2700	$0	0%	?
Gateway Voyage	$5000	$0	0%	?
GRAND TOTAL	$10,500	$280	3%	?

Sugilite - 11/23/2014 - $280 - [NEW GOAL - $10,500] =

[Jaguar]

I also found out through trial and error and a lot of stomach upset that I'm Lactose intolerant, this past week. Nothing like piling the crap on me.

[seriousthistime]

Sugilite, so you were gone, but now you're back with 280 on board!  Nice!  What's happened with the critter?  I got away from my desk/office and finally transferred everything to my laptop and am working at a desk in my living room.  I am hearing scratching and bumping up above.  Crap!  I thought the critters were gone.  I will have to take some mouse poison and throw it in the attic.  It's not possible for me to safely walk through the whole attic and carefully set the poison there.  I thought I was rid of the critters when I didn't hear anything in my bedroom area... Did the YouTube meows work?

tobinikui, good for you for setting your 2015 goals now!  I am doing the same for 2015, not tracking every savings goal I've got, especially since most of them are on automatic deposit.

forwardwego, congrats on breaking the $2K threshold!

sealy, $1,700!!!  You go, girl!  For all your "should I do this or should I do that or should I do the other thing," you are doing it!  Sometimes, things take a lot of pondering, don't they?

teachermom, I was reading about you on the WIR Racers thread.  You have your hands full with lots of places to put your money.  Single parent, three kids, teacher salary, lots of medical bills. You have many challenges.  But I'm sure there is a savings plan for you and you will find much support here.

Sugilite, my plan is to have everyone update by the weekend after January 1 (so, by January 4) and I will do the shoutouts and smilies, and then we will lock the thread.  If anyone updates after the shoutouts and smilies but before we can get the thread locked, I can copy and paste them into a new message in the 2015 thread. Does that sound okay? 

[sealy]

Thank you serious. I'm just always second guessing myself.

[seriousthistime]

Round-up of savings ideas:

Lately, we have been kicking around some ideas for ways to save. Some people are very methodical, and others need tricks and motivation.  Some of us like both.

See replies #339, #348, #353, #358, and $360 in this thread.  

First, there is the weekly savings challenge.  The idea is that for the first week of the year, you save $1, second week you save $2, then the third week you save $3, and so on up to $52 on the last week of the year.  You end up with $1,378.  This is a great way to build up an EF.

Variations:
Reverse weekly challenge:  Start with $52 on the first week, $51 on the second week, $50 on the third week, and so on.  You end up with the same $1,378, but it builds more quickly.

Bump-up weekly challenge:  Instead of starting with $1 on the first week, start with a few dollars more than that, and increase by $1 each week.  So maybe start with $5 the first week, $6 the second week, $7 the third week, and so on.  

Maximum-tackle weekly challenge:  Make a list of weeks from 1 to 52.  Each week, select an amount from $1 to $52 that you can manage that week.  If it's $1, cross that off the list, and put it in savings.  If it's $52, cross that off and put it in savings.  Once it's crossed off, it's done and you have to select from the other amounts in future weeks.  This gives you more flexibility during the more challenging weeks of the year.

Plateau weekly challenge:  Start with the straight weekly challenge ($1, $2, $3...) and if it becomes too much to put in an ever-increasing amount, STOP increasing but continue to put in the last amount you were able to make.  So if you had to stop at week 20, with $20, continue to put in $20 for the rest of the year. 

There are a few non-weekly challenges we've been discussing.  

Random cash challenge:  If you find cash in pockets, floating around in your purse, in your laundry room, and basically any place other than your wallet, it goes into a pot to be added to your savings. 

Specific denomination challenge:  Choose a denomination that you want to save.  It could be $10, $5, $1, quarters, dimes, all coins, etc.  You get the idea.  At the end of each day, if you have any of that denomination in your purse, wallet, backpack, or wherever you keep your money, it goes into a pot to be added to your savings. 

Any other ideas?

[seriousthistime]

Serious this time, $49,659, 11/21/14 ($0, 1/1/14, Goal $51,258)

[Jaguar]

seriousthistime, play youtube videos of cats meowing, I got two good videos saved. I play those for a few minutes, no critters.

[forwardwego]

First of all  I   the savers thread!!!

Building up my savings, and building my skill of savings, while I continue to kick debt to the curb is like learning how to box with both hands instead of just one. And I love the support here. 


seriousthistime that's a nice 3rd rose you have there   . Almost $50K in savings
 I like your summary of the different weekly savings tactics, and the titles you gave them. I'm going for the maximum-tackle challenge....the title makes me feel invigorated and eager. 

sugilite nice job getting back into the savings mode.
So sorry you are dealing with critters

sealy Yea for $1700!!!

tobinikui 76.1% is very good, especially considering the high level of the goal! Reaching a goal is rewarding, but it's also rewarding to set the goal high, do your best, and be proud of the result!
 
teachermom nice work selling the clothes!! So that's $70 for your EF? Keep up the good work!

[Jaguar]

Nov 23, 2014 13:07:20 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

Sugilite, so you were gone, but now you're back with 280 on board!  Nice!  What's happened with the critter?  I got away from my desk/office and finally transferred everything to my laptop and am working at a desk in my living room.  I am hearing scratching and bumping up above.  Crap!  I thought the critters were gone.  I will have to take some mouse poison and throw it in the attic.  It's not possible for me to safely walk through the whole attic and carefully set the poison there.  I thought I was rid of the critters when I didn't hear anything in my bedroom area... Did the YouTube meows work?

Sugilite, my plan is to have everyone update by the weekend after January 1 (so, by January 4) and I will do the shoutouts and smilies, and then we will lock the thread.  If anyone updates after the shoutouts and smilies but before we can get the thread locked, I can copy and paste them into a new message in the 2015 thread. Does that sound okay? 

That sounds awesome about the thread lockdown. Yes the Youtube Videos work, but you got to keep at it. I just heard scratching, the first time in a week. So on go the videos at top volume.

[teachermom]

Seriousthistime....love all the savings ideas....I am only paid 1x per month...so hard to do them the way they say. I do save all my coins but hardly have cash as I blow through it without any accountability so I don't know where it is going....well I do....a soda here, lunch out there...but I don't track it...so not in my budget.

And in response to your comments about my journey on WIRRS....yes....kind of a mess right now....still trying to figure out how to get out of it. Am listing clothes, furniture we don't need, and in general, things I don't need and selling them. Have some project pieces of furniture I picked up for very cheap that I really need to get moving on and sell too. Also, if I find things as home that I can return...doing that too. Returned some stuff that I could at Home Depot today and $25.12 back to my card....so less I have to pay to pay it off this month. Also have a couple of reimbursements I need to get submitted tomorrow as work to get some money back there that will go to my EF.

Thanks Forwardwego! Yes, all money from selling things is going in the EF until I have $1000, then to paying off debt. I am at $89.98 in my EF from selling clothes and a return....slowly but surely!!

Teachermom

[teachermom]

Update:

Savings to date:

$500 transfer to EF
$125 from sales of clothes that are too big now and furniture and other things not being used
$19.68 from reward points
Total: $644.68

Teachermom 11/27/2014 $644.68 (11/10/2014 $0 - Goal $1000)

Also, no really tracking this right now but my ex owes me some back support from 3+ years ago. As a family, we have been wanting to go on a trip to Thailand to visit the family of the exchange student who has lived with us for 5 years now. We agreed as a family, that is where the money would go as my kids are over 18 now so not really going to their support....as it would have had I gotten it 3+ years ago. I talked with their father and he finally started paying some....I got a payment of $50 and a payment of $75....both went to our Thailand trip account....Total there is $225. Long way to go.

This is the most I have had in savings for awhile...so feeling pretty good about it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Teachermom

[Jaguar]

Oh I got a $50 update.

Saving Funds	Goals	Current	% Saved	Woo Hoo
TV Fund	$509	$330	65%	?
Moving Fund	$2300	$0	0%	?
Mattress Fund	$2700	$0	0%	?
Gateway Voyage	$5000	$0	0%	?
GRAND TOTAL	$10,500	$330	3%	?

Sugilite - 11/28/2014 - $330 - [NEW GOAL - $10,500] =

[Jaguar]

I'm pleased as punch that I saved 65% towards the new TV.

[teachermom]

Sugilite....how big of a TV are you planning on buying? I saw 50in TV's for about $200 this weekend. That's a big TV!

We are home from the parents (3 hours away)...time to tackle going through things and selling more stuff!

Teachermom

[Jaguar]

40" Samsung.