Women in Red Savers 2014

[Rocky Mtn Saver]

Dec 15, 2014 10:56:58 GMT -5 Ombud said:

Dec 10, 2014 13:55:33 GMT -5 Rocky Mtn Saver said:

I'm changing my work situation in February

??missed this??

Yeah, it's basically moving to part-time for a while.  It'll mean reduced income but more time, so I'm looking forward to it.  It's what I want, even though change is always difficult as well.  

[bankergurl]

My BF coaches Girls High School Basketball team so I went and watched them play this last weekend. During halftime they play Bingo for $1 a card as a fund raiser. I paid my $1 and won! I won $33.50! So I put that in joint savings for us and added $1.50 to even out the account.



Current Balance $24,455.00
+$25.00 BF Payday to Joint Savings
+$25.00 Even out Amount to get to next $500 mark
+$33.50 Bingo Win!
+$1.50 Even Out Amount
Balance $24,540.00

Local Savings $800.00
Capitol 360 Savings $23,100.00
Joint Capitol 360 Savings $640.00
Total Savings = $24,540.00



Total Regular Savings $24,540.00
Total Retirement Savings $48,916.63
HSA Savings $10,376.38
Total Savings = $83,833.01


Banker Gurl $83,833.01 ($83,748.01 12/10/14)

[teachermom]

Savings Goals 2015

My focus needs to be on debt pay off but I also know that I need to get some money saved up for emergencies/potential repairs....so going to start small and if I reach these....will add some of my others.

Tires - $400 (just bought 2 but need to get 2 more soon)
Insurance deductible - $200 (I had to pay this 2x this year...so preparing. )
Roof  - $500 *going to need to redo my roof soon but my dad and brothers will do so just supplies.
Plumbing - $400 *going to someday have to have the main line from street to house replaced...so planning ahead.
Car Maintenance - $500 (oil changes, tune up, etc.)
Gifts - $500 (home this will cut it. Will increase once I meet these goals)
EF - $500 (in addition to my $1000)

Total $3000

Teachermom 1/1/2015 $0 (1/1/2015 $0, Goal $3000)

I think these will be pretty attainable from extra pay I receive throughout the year, selling stuff, potential other job, coaching, etc. If my other job pans out....I should be able to increase some of my goals and still make a good dent in debt payoff.

Teachermom

[Jaguar]

I bought some supplements and in doing so saved myself some $15 in shipping fees and taxes. You'll see my Moving Fund is lower now but January 30th, it will go back up cause that's when I was going to order the supplements.

I don't take it out of the TV Fund cause that's completed.

[Rocky Mtn Saver]

Dec 15, 2014 10:54:25 GMT -5 Ombud said:

INPUT WANTED:

I'm thinking of really scrimping and completing 1 goal this year instead of putting an additional lump sum on my debt (@ 1.289%). That way I only have 2 goals (& maybe 2 short trips) next year. We did Hannukah early and light (DS is in a savings mode too & DD is broke still). I only have baking to go & will do that out of grocery $$s

WWYD?

Honestly, at 1.3%, I wouldn't prepay that debt hardly at all.  There must be a ton of other, better things to do with that money. 

[Ombud]

That's sort of what I thought so I'm modifying my goal:

• Roth 6500
• Emergency Fund 6000 [raided to complete GS1s annual college promise of 8k]
• Total = 12,500
• Start will be under $1 

Any extras throughout the year will cover their band, annual trips, vacation, holidays. Hopefully I'll get a tax refund [yes I plan on those] to cover these things

[teachermom]

Ombud.......I decided to scale mine back and work on smaller goals too although I have others...if I don't meet those I will be good with it. Maybe you should have a 3rd one for all those miscellaneous things as it looks like you are going to be saving for those as well.

bankergurl....you rock the savings!!! Like a few have said....seems like you are saving more than you make.

Rocky Mtn Saver.....good luck with doing the part time gig....I would love to but not in the stars at this time. It will be a challenge but I bet it is one you are up to!

Selling some more stuff today although I got stood up on the desk....again.

Teachermom

[bankergurl]

Serious - I don't really have a budget......I should, but I don't.  I just try to be as frugal as I can in all areas.  That way the pennies and dollars I save over here (from buying generic instead of brand name, using coupons, not making impulse buys, not trying to keep up with the Joneses, etc.) can go over there (unexpected expenses, gas to drive to BFs, doing what I want when I want to, and of course, savings).  I know if I had a budget and I stuck to it, I could save more, but I have problem areas just like everyone else.  Mine are eating out and gambling.  I am bad at overspending on both, and I always make plans to "not eat out for a week" or "not go to the casino for a month", but I never make it...lol.  Oh well, we all need to have a little fun in life!

BF also has the same "problem" spending areas that I do, so we are trying to make a plan and some goals to help tame those areas in 2015.


I have ANOTHER potential lead for a roomate....this is about the 6th person though so I won't get my hopes up.  As soon as I do it falls through for some reason.  I have a 4 bedroom house, 2 bath, 2 stall garage, fenced yard, hot tub, shed, etc......and now since I have gotten divorced, I live there alone....which is just silly.  If BF lived in the same town I am sure we would move in together, but he lives about an hr away so that is not an option right now due to work.   So I have been trying (not very hard though) to find a reliable roomate.  How my house is set up, the roomate could have their own 2 bedrooms, living room, bathroom and a spot in the garage all to themselves.  The only reason I ever need to go into the basement is for the laundry room.  The only room we would need to share is the kitchen.  Because it is not 2 separate houses, that person would have access to the upstairs (I mean, there is no way for me to lock them out of my area, or them to lock me out of their area) so I only want someone that I know, a friend or family member or a friend of a friend.  We shall see if this one pans out or not.  I would charge $600 total, (my mortgage is only $768 a month) and that would include wireless internet, heat/electricity and water.  If they want cable they would need to pay that themselves as I do not have cable.  If I find someone I would put $500 towards my principle every month and use the $100 to cover any additional expenses (additional heat, electricity, and water costs).  I have had several people that were interested just by word of mouth, so I think once I have it cleaned up (just needs a good hard scrub down) I could find someone quickly if I really put the word out there, or asked on FB.  I just need to actually get the cleaning done.  Goal is to have it done by 1/1/15!

[teachermom]

Whoop! Tons of pending sales on stuff.....going to hit my EF this week.

Teachermom

[teachermom]

Busy last 2 days......but $83 more going to saving tomorrow + $10 sweater sale in the morning and about $50 - $60 in the afternoon. Still waiting on the gal buying the jeans $20 and selling some shoes this weekend $25....puts me at $971.38....almost there!!! Still more stuff to get listed too!!! Going to be whittling away those credit cards!

Also, I took back some boots I had purchased and already paid off on my Macy's card. Figured that I didn't really love them as they hadn't come out of the box and could wait until clearance time and see if I did find some I loved....if not....next year.....so $112 and some change coming back from them!! Will go to my Old Navy card when I get the check. I still have some reimbursements I am waiting on as well....$20 + $43.52. Will either finish off my EF or go to Old Navy depends on if I have already sold some more clothes to complete the EF or not by they time it arrives.

Teachermom

[Ombud]

42c in checking account but 1000 in EF. It doesn't bother me to run my checking account down to almost nothing bc the savings account & checking account are at the same place.

Point out the fallacy in my thinking

[seriousthistime]

The only fallacy, or really potential folly, is what happens if you forget about a check you wrote and go into overdraft?  Will you be covered before the check bounces, and if so, will you have to pay a fee?

I'm terrible about writing down my checks. I also have some irregular expenses that are automatically drafted from my checking.  My gym charges a monthly fee and an annual fee. I always forget about the annual fee ($35).  Somehow I also tend to forget about Netflix and my newspaper subscription but they are under $10 per month so I can usually cover them.  I don't run it down that low.  I try to keep $100 in my checking but sometimes it's closer to $30.

[Ombud]

I just got a weird call

Not robo. A real person. Stated she was from my bank and concerned about my balance and advised me to take out a cc to increase the amount of money available. I am NOT concerned about my balance. So I hung up on her.

Then I called USAA and it wasn't them. They aren't concerned with me having 42c.

Have you ever gotten a call like this?

[teachermom]

Ombud....I never have had that kind of call but hear about those kinds of scams all the time. Unfortunate because some people  aren't quite as savy and they fall for it.

Clearing things out left and right around here!!! Haven't even had a chance to really calculate all the sales I have made lately....will update soon! I know I have met my goal for my EF once I make a deposit so the rest is going to pay off debt! Yeah!

Teachermom

[Ombud]

I want to say I was savvy. But really, I was insulted so I hung up. Then I called the bank to tell them I was insulted and they said they never called me. She was SO convincing. If I had been thinking about getting a charge card I would've talked with her. So glad I didn't

[Ombud]

Following seriousthistime 's lead, my WIRR & WIRS 2015 goals will overlap:
♤ $6500 Roth
♡ $6000 EF
♢ Dbl debt payments (1st manual; 15th auto pay)
♧ 150 lbs (starting after New Years Eve)

[forwardwego]

Ombud glad you were able to shut down the banking scam.

teachermom is your EF officially $1000 now?   Sure feels good to get that safety net in place.

[teachermom]

Forwardwego.....yes....officially $1000 in my EF!! I have $62.39 left over from stuff I have sold and will be going towards my Old Navy card!! Still have some stuff pending....about another $200....so if they all come through....a good chunk going to Old Navy. Working on getting more stuff posted and sold as well.

Went through my 22 year old son's clothes today and found some that no longer fit him or he wouldn't wear for some reason or another....those will be sold as well.

Someone was talking about that they had stuff in storage....me too. This summer when my son moved home with all his furniture (he is student teaching and living at home) we ended up with 2 units. In the last week, we have cleaned up the one, gone through a ton of stuff in the other, and consolidated to 1....so that cuts my monthly expense for storage in half!! We won't get rid of the other soon because of my sons furniture but have stuff in there that I will keep going through and get posted for sale. All sales now going to pay off debt!

Teachermom

[Jaguar]

teachermom, honestly you are a real inspiration to me.

[Saving4Norway]

Fund	2015 Goals	Last Month	This Month	% Met	Roses
Iceland Flight	$4,000	$0		0%
Iceland Expenses	$3,000	$0		0%
Vehicles	$2,000	$0		0%
Harley Trip	$2,000	$0		0%
Gifts&Donations	$2,000	$0		0%
Palm Springs	$2,000	$0		0%
Wallace,ID	$1,000	$0		0%
Cultural	$1,000	$0		0%
Vacay Prop	$1,000	$0		0%
Christmas	$500	$0		0%
Oleana	$250	$0		0%
Quilting	$250	$0		0%
Sisu (& sister?)	$3,000	$0		0%
Home Improvement	$5,000	$0		0%
	$27,000	$0	$0	0%

Saving4Norway 12/21/14 $0 (Goal $27,000)

This is what I'm currently kicking around as my 2015 plan. It's bound to change a few more times in the next week or two.

[seriousthistime]

Teachermom, I'd love to "rent" you as a gift for a friend of mine who has a couple of storage units, a "storage basement," a "storage garage," and a "storage vehicle."  Yes, she uses all of them for storage while she decides what to do with things.  She is seriously disorganized, and while she does go through stuff, it gets moved around from place to place and never actually leaves "storage."  

We don't have great places for resale here.  The local FB garage sale place is very hit-or-miss. I do take some of my better clothing to a consignment place.  I also donated a bunch of stuff to Goodwill recently, and a lot of books to the library, and a bunch of CDs, DVDs, and videotapes to a fundraiser for our public television station.  The tax deductions are worth it to me. I mention each of these options to my friend and she says, oh, she must do that, but never follows through.  She continues to believe that it's not that she has too much stuff, but that she just hasn't figured out how to store it efficiently.  And -- guess what -- now she is stockpiling storage bins that never seem to be the right size or shape.  

So I really have to admire you for getting things out the door and turning them into cash. Someone mentioned you might have a possible sideline selling things for people, but you might want to add a "going through things to sell" service. 

[teachermom]

Seriousthistime.......I have that friend too! I obviously have way too much stuff that I can find all this to sell, besides the clothes....losing 75 pounds did that!! But my friend? OMG!!! I have helped her clean out some and took 4 or 5 loads in the back of my Honda Pilot to a local thrift store......that cleaned up most of the livingroom and some of a bedroom. There was no furniture in those loads either. She lives alone and has 3 bedrooms and a full unfinished basement full. She is wanting to move to CA to be with her son but it is paralyzing to her to go through the stuff and get rid of it. I have offered many times over the last 2 years. She says she is serious now so we will see.

No more sales came through for the night.....so tomorrow we head to my mom's for a few days for Christmas.....so taking a little break!

Teachermom

[bankergurl]

I have been doing a lot of little things to get my finances on auto pilot, and wrapping up small ends from the divorce.
-I changed my internet banking user name (it was previously my married last name).
-I changed my text alerts to my personal checking account so I can check by balance from my phone (it was previously set to check the balance of the joint checking).
-I changed my credit card due date to the 22nd of the month. My mortgage is automatically taken out of my checking account on the 10th, so now I will have one paycheck for the mortgage and one for the credit card. Months when I get 3 paychecks should have an extra paycheck.

Since the change on the due date for my credit card isn't going into effect till next month, I have a decent surplus in my checking account now. So I am transferring that to savings.


Current Balance $24,540.00
+$800.00 Checking Surplus
+$25.00 Payday to Joint Deposit
+$25.00 Payday to Personal Deposit
+$10.00 to get to next even $100 amount
Balance $25,400.00

Local Savings $1610.00
Capitol 360 Savings $23,125.00
Joint Capitol 360 Savings $665.00
Total Savings = $25,400.00

[forwardwego]

UPDATE Forwardwego 12/24/2014 $3040 ( 8/30/2014 $1040, Goal = $3000)

fund 2014	goal	current	% met	$$ needed
rental EF	1000	1200	120
homestead EF	1200	1000	83	200
Vehicle EF	800	840	105
totals	3000	3040	101?	200?

Good morning savers

In a sideways kind of way I made goal(s). I could shuffle $$ from the rental EF to make the homestead fund $1200, but in 2015 (8 days) I'll be setting higher goals in all 3 categories, and no funds will look "overfunded" then. 

Thanks fellow savers for cheering me on, and letting me be part of your victories. Thanks Seriousthistime for doing the updates and work that supports this thread 

[forwardwego]

teachermom I like seriousthistime's suggestion:

Someone mentioned you might have a possible sideline selling things for people, but you might want to add a "going through things to sell" service.

I had suggested you sell on behalf of others, but the culling and organizing is just as valuable a service if not more. I am fairly organized, but have some areas of disorganization. I have a friend who is very organized, & every time I visit her I wish I could hire her to help me get my trouble spots in order. I think professional organizers make a good rate.  

Ombud I just got a call on my cell phone from "credit card account services, there are no problems with your account at this time, but blah blah blah" I hang up. Fishing, and sadly catching a few fish here and there. Older folks with hearing and processing problems believe it's their bank, and the scam is off and running. People at the bank don't have time to call me. Scammers, on the other hand, have all the time in the world.

[Jaguar]

Merry Christmas and many blessings to everyone.

[DVM gone riding]

taking me for ever to post. but here is year end !

[/

dvm07 12/28/14 11,724.46 (1/1/14=$0 Goal=$11,700)
didn't fill all the correct "buckets " but overall met my goals !

Fund	Goals	Saved YTD	% Met	Roses
General Savings	$2,000	$2,071.17	103.6%
Roth IRA	$5,500	$5,500.00	100.0%
Gifts	$400	$365.43	91.4%
Taxes	$1,200	$1,146.21	95.5%
House needs	$600	$540.90	90.2%
Travel	$2,000	$2,100.75	105.0%
Total	$11,700	$11,724.46	100.2%

[seriousthistime]

Final update for 2014

Serious this time, $53,681, 12/29/14 ($0, 1/1/14, Goal $51,258) 

Savers, get your updates in by December 31, please!  

I'm still mulling over my savings goals for 2015.  About half of my savings goes to retirement savings.  Other big chunks go to property taxes, insurance, and my HSA.  I am almost certain I will not track my retirement savings next year.  It's an automatic deduction from my paycheck, and it skews the numbers.  It also messes with my head. It makes me think I'm doing a good job of saving, but it also makes me sick to see the numbers. I really needed to play catch-up on retirement, but it's at a cost.  Racing my debt is also a priority, and after saving as much as I do and paying off as much debt as I try to, each paycheck is pretty much committed before I get it, and then I look forward to the next check and when it comes I start looking forward to the next check, and so on.  I keep thinking this is no way to live a life, counting the days until the next paycheck. 

I realize that living paycheck to paycheck would be far worse if it meant going hungry, having the electricity turned off, and having to resort to payday loans. Living paycheck to paycheck because I am saving so much and paying off so much debt is magnitudes better than the other version.  I should be more grateful.

But I need to find more financial balance in my life.  How I track savings may make a difference.  So it's a lot to think about.  I just need to decide by January 1...

[bankergurl]

Went for a last hurrah for the year casino trip with BF and came home up $400! Not sure how many gamblers are on savings boards (LOL) but I was playing Incan Chief, which is a penny game, I was betting .90 a spin and I got 360 free spins! I ended up about $700 ahead, I played $200 more the rest of the night so was $500 ahead. I gave $100 to BF just because, and the rest to savings!

I also got $100 as part of my Christmas gift from my parents, I think this is the first time ever that I got any cash! The $100 bill was in an envelope that said Garage Door, so I stuck it in savings to go towards that repair

Current Balance $25,400.00
+$400.00 Casino Win
+$100.00 Christmas Present
+$25.00 BF Payday to Joint Deposit
Balance $25,925.00

Local Savings $1610.00
Capitol 360 Savings $23,625.00
Joint Capitol 360 Savings $690.00
Total Savings = $25,925.00

______________________________________________________________________
End of year savings update!

Local Savings $1610.00
Capitol 360 Savings $23,625.00
Joint Capitol 360 Savings $690.00
Total Regular Savings = $25,925.00

Rollover 401K $800
401K $39,028.87
IRA $10,161.59
Total Retirement = $49,990.46

HSA Savings = $10,376.38

Total Regular Savings $25,925.00
Total Retirement Savings $49,990.46
HSA Savings $10,376.38
Total Savings = $86,291.84

Banker Gurl $86,291.84 ($83,748.01 12/10/14)

[Jaguar]

I'm starting out in the new thread fresh for January 2015. Woo Hoo bring on 2015 I'm freaking ready.