2013 Personal Finance Summary

[Iggy aka IG]

How did you do last year?

Per my Excel spreadsheet:

Grocery/HBAs:  $3,865.61  I want to reduce this further in 2014!  (DH fills in throughout the month with fresh produce and dairy, and buys his own beverages and lunch snacks.)

Debt repayment (school and personal loans):  About 11% of last year's net income.  I'd like to increase this percentage and pay them both off by the end of this year.  Once our refi goes through, I'll be able to throw more $ toward the balances.

Emergency fund:  Only 3% of my net income was put toward it.  Must increase it!

Office expenses were drastically reduced in 2013 because I moved the office with lesser rent and utilities included (except for the land/fax/internet lines).  I didn't renew the Yellow Pages ad.

Keeping caught up on my cell and the water bill saved me about $75 last year. 

My other two goals for 2014 is to start a SEP IRA and continue taking advantage of the medical insurance we have through DH's work while we still have it. 

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Wanted to end the year with a certain amount added to savings. Missed that mark by 20 percent, but had some weird expenses this year (mold remediation, replace carpeting, painting, stucco repair, etc.)

[snapdragon]

I wanted to be under $21K for my 2nd mortgage and I managed to do that. I also was able to re-finance my main mortgage and help keep expenses in line. 

I hit a milestone in my 401K and got over $100K now in there. Hopefully it will increase sooner than it took to get to that place. I has taken me 16 years to hit $100k. 

I live in a condo complex with only 28 units and we are upping our HOA dues for having to replace the siding, windows and doors. That way the HOA won't have to do special assessments and people know that it will have the money for those expenses --- about $500 - $600K for everything, which is a huge chunk of change. Just my part of the $500K would be almost $18K! This is scheduled to start in 5-6 years but there is no way people want to pay that much all at once! So I am planning for that and my 2nd mortgage being paid off is part of that. If things work out the way I hope it will be paid off in about 3 years. 

[The Captain]

DH and I both were able to max out the contributions to our 401(k)'s

AND

we purchased two rental properties.  Only debt is one car (almost paid off) and three mortgages (one primary and the two rentals).

I would like a bit more in cash savings then we have but we've had several largish expenses come up in the past few months.  We're still ok.

[kilroy]

I got access to a 401k at my new job which I didn't know I was going to have (it's the only benefit I get as a per diem employee) and I immediately starting contributing 10% of my salary.

I was able to put a lot more in savings/investments than I'd planned because of an inheritance, so I'm comfortable with my EF and other accounts at this point.

I know I spent too much on wants but given the first 2 points I think I can live with it and try to do better this year.

[kilroy]

Crud, double post.  Sorry.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

We got hit by an IRS bill for $4K. That really threw me off. We've never owed before. It took the rest of the year to recover the EF and plan for it for this coming year. We'll see how te 2013 filing goes and adjust our withholdings after that.