Women in Red Savers 2014

[Rocky Mtn Saver]

Wow, FemaleSam, congratulations! 

One of the best reasons for getting my financial house in order was to open up options to do things that would otherwise be impossible due to debt, low savings, and/or a non-frugal lifestyle. 
 
  Way to go! 

[Ombud]

Apr 16, 2014 22:46:28 GMT -5 Ombud said:

After tomorrow's paycheck, I'll be done with my Roth for 2014. Which is great bc they are looking to sell company. No idea what happens then. But I was asked to stay until May (2 let go yesterday)

Roth is done. Got my new hours today. FT until May then M / W / F.

[Ombud]

I've had to update my goal # to 15k (+ 6.5k for Roth + 3.5k for prop tax /ins) as the wedding / vaca costs rise. I really wanted to keep it under 25k this year but I guess that isn't possible

But Roth is done and prop tax/ins is on auto draft so it'll be done by November too

[shopaholic814]

Shopaholic814 : $ ( 4/25/2014 $8,725.31 / Goal $18,600.00)

UPDATE	GOAL	PREVIOUS	CURRENT	% Saved
EF	$1,000.00	$1,000.00	$1,000.25	100.0%
Car Insur.	$350.00	$250.00	$250.00	71.4%
Medical Costs	$650.00	$513.55	$318.71	49.0%
Home reno 7/2015	$5,000.00	$4,835.55	$5,487.73	109.8%
CMAS 12/14	$1,600.00	$500.00	$500.00	31.3%
Car Fund	$5,000.00	$230.18	$280.30	5.6%
Travel Fund 7/2017	$5,000.00	$797.82	$888.32	17.8%
Total	$18,600.00	$8,127.10	$8,725.31	46.9%

I had some expenses that came up so I didn't save as much as I should have and some medical bills were paid also.  Also, the auto insurance bill came which will need to be paid soon and I had the payment plan wrong, so I either need to make other plan arrangements or I need to borrow $ from another fund to make the payments.  We also have to put off the bathroom renovation another year, theres no way we can do it this summer.  DH is a high school teacher but he works in the summer at a lumber yard, he also runs the school weight room 3 mornings a week for summer training, and he is an Asst Varsity Football coach this next year.  He has done it in the past, it's been 5-6 years since he did it, and he has been busy as the Head Track/Field coach & Head Powerlifting coach.  Needless to say, there's no time for a bathroom renovation since he will also be finishing his Master's degree this summer.  Hopefully the bathtub doesn't fall through the rotting floor before we can get it repaired
And I know that My home reno is over 100% funded, but I have our money in 3 different banks, and that money is the only thing in one of the banks.  It is too confusing for me to try to move it all around for this spreadsheet, and to be honest, I might just post my tagline from here on out.  It's all just too frustrating right now.  Things aren't going very well for me.  I just quit my race in the Midwest region since I am only making the minimum payment on our student loans.  Plus DH had to take out more loans for his Masters, so what the hell is the point, right?  My kids (9 & 10.5 yrs old) are going to be graduated college before we get ours paid off!   I feel like the dead horse right now!!

[seriousthistime]

Shop, 

I saw your message on the Racers.  Glad to see you are here!  It looks to me like you are doing pretty darn well on the savings end.  

I'm not sure what is going on with your medical cost line, but if your goal is to save $650 and you saved $513.55 and then went down to $318.71, then you're not tracking savings; you're tracking balances. Lots of people here track how much they save, even if they have to draw on it from time to time.  I save for a lot of things like insurance and property taxes and I expect that over the course of 12 months the amount in that account will equal the amount out of that account.  It helps me to track only what goes in, not what stays in. I call it "sinking funds."  On the other hand, some others track what stays in, or they only track accounts where they know the money will stay there for a while, like retirement or down payment on a house.  I don't like to track the seesaw.  

So if your outlook would benefit by tracking what goes in and not what goes out as well, I suggest you consider it.  It's just another method of positive reinforcement.  

[Jaguar]

NEW FOCUS : This is my proactive moving emergency fund = PME Fund

PME FUND	GOALS	CURRENT	% SAVED	WOO HOO
1ST	$443	$270	61%	?
2ND	$443	$-	0.00%	?
3RD	$443	$-	0.00%	?
4TH	$443	$-	0.00%	?
5TH	$443	$-	0.00%	?
6TH	$443	$-	0.00%	?
7TH	$443	$-	0.00%	?
GRAND TOTAL	$3101	$270	9%	?

Sugilite - 4/28/2014, $270 - [GOAL - $3101]


I figured out that I'll be at the 50% mark by October and until I reach that 50% mark not buying anything extra.

[Ombud]

Updating this weekend, anxious to see that the momentum continued! !

[Rocky Mtn Saver]

Rocky Mtn Saver 04/30/14 $7,717 or 96% (01/01/14 = $0; Goal = $8,000)    

Fund	2014 Goals	Jan 1st	Last Update	Current Update	% Met
Emerg Fund	$1000	$0	$882	$1022
Roth IRA	$1300	$0	$845	$1145	88%
Vacation Fund	$1000	$0	$750	$1100
Investing	$500	$0	$100	$100	20%
HSA	$2500	$0	$1675	$1755	70%
Car Fund	$700	$0	$585	$615	88%
Insurance	$1000	$0	$240	$295	30%
Totals	$8000	$0	$5077	$6032	75%

[Ombud]

Just did a preliminary May budget and it looks like I'll pay off my 2014-2015 property tax & ins bucket Thursday. That'll make 3 down (marching band / Roth / prop tax-ins) & 3 to go (wedding / vacations / holidays)!

[seriousthistime]

I need to update my savings.  Is Saturday too late to get it in for your next overall update, Ombud?

[Ombud]

No ... not at all. I slow down to M/W/F next week so I'll probably do it during the week (Tues ) after sitting down and doing auto draft on 3 goals (paying off cruises instead of prop taxes but it's the same number anyway)

[nalto]

I may have to blow my goal up completely here soon. I (finally) finished my AA degree and will be pursuing my bachelors degree in the fall. My HOPE is to not go into debt for it, so I'll be aggressively saving over the next few years as I try to stay one step ahead of my tuition. Thanks to medical issues finally being resolved, I'm feeling healthy enough to live on my own, although my parents have encouraged me to stay at home to save money for school. It looks like I might have to go that route, as living on my own and not taking on student loan debt doesn't seem like a possibility.

Anyway, I'll be doing some recalculating/thinking and determine if I want to change my goal or what.

[Ombud]

 On your degree!!

[nalto]

Thank you!

[megaptera]

UPDATE

megaptera 5/1/14 $10,315.00 [1/4/14 $0.00 / Goal: $15,000]

Have a great weekend!

[Ombud]

Back to the drawing board re: this year's wants. DS's wedding costs are changing. Up from $2500 to probably 4k. GS1 came into the familyroom last night & apologized for his summer schedule changes. Seems his teacher thought the summer camp scholarship that he was gifted wasn't challenging enough for him so instead of a week in the mountain music camp 7-11 to 7-18, he's at one at UC 6-30 to 7-5. So the NYC cruise 6-30 to 7-7 is out.

● wedding up from 2500 to 4000, net -1500
● trip with grandkids from 7k to


□ wedding, marching band, Alaska cruise (+ Roth, prop ins / taxes but didn't track) done ★★★
□ holidays has 113 of the 200 reward dollars but putting wedding on AMEX so that'll be done after wedding charged
□ vacation not even planned

That bucket has
$8231.02
- 4000 wedding
- 700 marching band
- 1630 charged to Alaska
$1901.02 + 113 in rewards pts


Ombud $8344 [$0 1/2014, goal $10,000]

[tobinikui]

Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone!!
I am going to spare everyone the messy chart, as I'm posting from my smart phone again.
My updated tagline is:

5/5/14 $19,598.44 ($10,028.27 on 12/28/13; Goal - $44,500)

The stressors of this year continue - DH does in fact need back surgery, which is currently scheduled for three weeks after my due date. What he needs done is severe enough to take him out of work for a minimum of a year, and leave him in a back brace for the first three months (minimum). We are going for a second opinion next week, but don't really anticipate hearing a much different prognosis.
We have also been coping with another financial issue that requires me to save money that otherwise would be in our standard monthly budget, but due to the current situation, I have been saving it (to the tune of $3000), since the beginning of the year. We hope to hear the good news that it *is* ours & there will be no need to pay that amount out, but the confirmation we expected last week, never came - so the stress and limbo continues. I would *really* like to use that money for bills & to get our front lawn seeded. The construction with our deck tore up almost all of our front yard & the neighbors' too.

My pregnancy is still going rather smoothly, thankfully - 33.5 weeks along now. With the exception of washing/folding/putting away baby clothes, we are pretty much ready. (Rather, as ready as anyone ever is for their first child!!) Let's hope we still have a few weeks to go yet though!

Anyway - here's hoping spring has finally sprung!

[Saving4Norway]

Hi All,

We're happily spending our last day next to the pool here in Palm Springs. Looks like we've stayed right at/under budget. Will be checking out the Brighton store at the airport for souvenirs, though.

[Ombud]

April Progress:

	Stars	Racer Name	Current	Goal	% Saved	Roses	Smilies
1		ambellamy	$6352	$16,750	38%
2		Antivasin	535	$1000	54%
3		DVM gone riding	3917	$12,700	31%
4		FemaleSam	4918	$26,121	19%
5		Grits	3290	$12,250	27%
6		HappyCat	800	$4000	20%
7		Idlechatter	685	$11,500	6%
8		Mak	$4310	$13,700	31%
9		megaptera	$10,315	$15,000	69%
10		murpath	$3500	$17,000	21%
11		nalto	$9848	$20,000	49%
12		Ombud	$8344	$10,000	83%
13		Rocky Mtn Saver	$6032	$8000	75%
14		Saving4Norway 2014	$10,000	$17,000	59%
15		Seahorse	$2719	$9100	30%
16		Sealy	$400	$10,000	4%
17		seriousthistime	$14,685	$51,258	29%
18		Shopaholic	$8725	$18,600	47%
19		Sugilite	$560	$3000	7%
20		Teachermom	$9,048	$138,850	7%
21		Tobinikui	$19,598	$45,200	43%

[Ombud]

I don't subtract for money spent so if anyone sees that not deleted, yep, it's on purpose.

[Jaguar]

I've been adding to my April 28th amount cause once I post it, I won't spend it anywhere else. Posting it is sort of that little voice in the back of my mind.

[seriousthistime]

Mar 31, 2014 19:41:45 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

Mar 1, 2014 17:52:52 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

	2014 Goal	5/9/14	% Saved
Gifts	$2,600	$900	34.6%
Insurance	$5,600	$2,502	44.7%
Pet Care	$3,120	$1,080	34.6%
Utilities	$260	$90	34.6%
Weekly Savings	$1,378	$882	64.0%
Taxes	$5,300	$2,070	39.0%
Retirement	$28,800	$9,993	34.7%
HSA	$4,200	$1,681	40.0%
Total	$51,258	$19,198	37.5%

Serious this time, $19,198, 5/9/14 ($0, 1/1/14, Goal $51,258)

Don't let the quote fool you.  I just couldn't stand to type all the categories and numbers in from scratch when only the last two columns changed, so I quoted an old post and updated it. (Does anyone have a better way to do it?) Weekly savings are done in reverse, starting with $52, then going to $51, $50, and so on. 

[Ombud]

Posted in where have all the people gone?

Applies to us too. Any ideas?

[nalto]

It's getting nice outside, people are probably at their computers less

[Jaguar]

Yup it's warm weather time, Boards always get slow.

[Saving4Norway]

May 16, 2014 11:29:54 GMT -5 nalto said:

It's getting nice outside, people are probably at their computers less

 At least, it's true for me.

[seriousthistime]

I read all the time, but don't have a lot to add sometimes. 

I'll try to do better.  I do get a lot out of reading the other posts, so I should do my share.  

[Ombud]

Started with 21, down to 8 but we are dedicated to increasing that bottom line

[tobinikui]

Are you saying we're down to only 8 active members? That's sad.

I too, read more frequently than I post, but I get a huge motivational boost out of reading everyone's stories and posts (and playing with "what-if" calculations on my spreadsheets). It's hard sometimes with savings to maintain the momentum and excitement, especially if a lot of your savings are automated. DH and I both get paid every other week, so there isn't much in the line of financial excitement on the off-weeks.

However, since I posted last time, we found out for sure that the sum of money I had been saving will not be needed for its original & not-fun purpose. I put about half into savings & will use the other half to buy us a front lawn. We have clay dirt, and have a sloping front lawn/hill - DH will be having back surgery next week & I am about 36 weeks along, so this is one project we are contracting out. We will wait on bushes and the "pretty stuff" until later this summer/fall & will do that part ourselves.

We had several large baby related expenses pop up in the last week - the biggest being a stroller/infant carrier combo. We had hoped to get some use out of a set that was passed to us, but it won't work out that way unfortunately. So, we picked out a new set - a big unexpected expense, but it will definitely get used!! New, safer, with all directions included, and an expiration date many years off! Better safe than sorry, for sure.

I think I am done bulking up our savings until after the baby comes at this point. The mini-funds I had drained to pay off the car are 80% full again. So I am going to switch my focus back to paying the credit card bill in full, monthly. DH will not be out of work as long as we had expected for his surgery, so my maternity leave won't have to be as long & we will have his income back for at least a month or two before I go back to work. That will definitely make things easier financially during this summer & fall. It will still be a big financial adjustment when I am the bread-winner and DH is home with the baby full time. Let's just hope my calculations are correct, shall we?

Here's hoping we don't lose anyone else!! I know summer is coming & the nice weather is beckoning, but there is strength in numbers!!

[seahorse]

UPDATE: Seahorse 05/21/14 $3,147.08 (01/01/14 Start $516.80 / Goal $9,100)
Diff Last Post $170.00

	01/01/14	04/23/14	05/21/14
	Goal	Previous	Current	% Saved
Christmas	$600.00	$40.00	$60.00	10.00%
Emergency	$1,000.00	$115.00	$125.00	12.50%
Buffer	$2,500.00	$603.73	$643.73	25.75%
CD	$5,000.00	$2,218.35	$2,318.35	46.37%
TOTAL	$9,100.00	$2,977.08	$3,147.08	34.58%

Still moving in the right direction!  DH got a raise so I'm hoping to add more to savings but he has a "list" of house projects and "boy toys" he wants.