Women in Red Savers 2015

[seriousthistime]

Category	5/22/2015	Goal	% Saved	Roses
Deferred purchases	$1,108	$2,075	53.4%
CC paydown	$300	$8,500	3.5%
EF	$1,200	$1,000	120.0%
Gifts	$1,253	$2,600	48.2%
Utilities	$110	$280	39.3%
Weekly Savings	$589	$1,378	42.7%
Total	$4,560	$14,498	31.5%

Serious this time, 5/22/15, $4,560 (Goal $14,498)

It's depressing that my CC paydown has not zoomed forward.  My goal for June is to get it pumped up a bit. The EF was at $1,000 but then I had to "borrow" from it so I am building it back up.  Since I don't track money out, the balance looks better than it really is. 

[Saving4Norway]

Fund	2015 Goals	Last Month	This Month	% Met	Roses
Iceland Flight	4000	4000	4000	100%	Jan
Iceland Expenses	3000	3000	3000	100%	March
Vehicles	2000	2000	2000	100%	Jan
Harley Trip	2000	1000	2000	100%	April
Gifts&Donations	2000	1000	2000	100%	June
Palm Springs	2000	2000	2000	100%	Jan
Hike PCT	1000	1000	1000	100%	Jan
Cultural	1000	1000	1000	100%	May
Vacay Prop	1000	250	250	25%
Christmas	500	500	500	100%	March
Oleana	250	150	150	60%
Quilting	250	500	750	300%	May
Sisu (& sister?)	3000	2000	2000	67%
Home Improvement	5000	2500	2750	55%
TOTAL	27000	20900	23400	87%

Saving4Norway 6/1/15 $23,400 (Goal $27,000)

I have the opportunity to go on a week-long quilt retreat with a friend and her extended family so I'm adding in extra to my Quilting fund for the added cost of retreat lodging, food, etc.

[tobinikui]

Hi all - I know I'm on the inactive list, but what can I do to get re-activated? (Besides beg everyone's forgiveness & post more frequently?)

My one goal for the year, of bulking up our emergency fund, is going very slowly.

DH just had *another* surgery, this one to repair bilateral inguinal hernias, at the beginning of May. He's still not cleared yet. I took a chunk of time off to help him at home, and my mom came to watch the baby on-and-off for four weeks. I am currently at 100% pay/work right now, but we are hoping to try for baby #2 in the next few months, so I will be dropping back to 80% pay, in order to bank hours for my potential maternity leave next year. That will slow our savings even more unfortunately.

My youngest step-daughter heads to college in the fall, so now we're bracing for our part of her college bill - thank goodness DH set up a 529 for her when he first got separated years ago. We already have our portion of her first two years set aside, thankfully.

I had originally pretended our ER fund was at $0 & did some strange calculation to determine what I wanted to save, but here's the end-all-be-all:


Goal: $25,000.00
Start: $0
Current: $12,189.00
Percentage: 48.8% complete

My goal is to get $25,000 in our ER fund by Christmas 2016. Including my husband's pension, that will be close to a full year worth of living expenses. Once we hit that number, we'll focus on the remainder of SD's college bills.

In other news, I have been working very hard to get fit. I have always been rather "round", and I finally decided that I wanted to be a FIT, healthy mom & wife. Since October, I've lost close to 40 lbs, and have gone from a size 16 to a size 8, and I've dropped 8% fat. I still have a ways to go, but I'm adding in weights and body weight exercises too now. Baby Boy will be one at the end of the month, and I can honestly say, I've never felt better!!

Can't wait to catch up on all the news around here!! And I'm looking forward to making this a *priority* again.

Tobinikui: $12,189.00 (Goal: $25,000, Start: $0)

[movinonup]

movinonup 6/1/2015 $236.54 (Goal $4045.95)

	Saved	Goal	% Saved	Periods Completed
Weekly Challenge	$153.00	$1378.00	11.103%	3/52
Daily Challenge	$83.54	$667.95	12.507%	24/365
Skiing	$0.00	$2000.00	0%

My main focus is my debt reduction, so I am happy with the small steps that I am making toward meeting my savings goals.  If I do manage to meet my savings goal early, I will add a Monthly Challenge ($10 for January, $20 February, etc.).  The total for the Monthly Challenge would be an additional $780.  I need to get to my $4,045.95 before I try tackling that challenge, so I don't think I'm going to get to it this year.

-movinonup

[nalto]

Nalto 6/2/15 $1495.99 (Goal=$10,000)


I'm actually pretty happy with where I'm at. Yeah, it looks like I've taken some steps back, but that's mostly because I've gone ahead and paid for a lot of different wedding things. I shouldn't really have to tap into savings from here on out, rather, just reduce what I'm putting in there. I'm a happy camper!

Also, I made a minor adjustment to my line: I deleted the start date/savings amount. I realized that it wasn't really relevant to my savings goal. Just a minor housekeeping note.

[nalto]

May 28, 2015 15:49:28 GMT -5 shanendoah said:

What kinds of things do you and the fiance like to do nalto? There's a ton of stuff in and around Seattle that's free or inexpensive. I got married at the Kubota Japanese Gardens in Renton. While having a wedding there isn't free, admission to wander around the lovely park is, as it's a city park. There's Golden Gardens with a park and beach up north, Gasworks, Olympic Sculpture Park, the Gihuly Glass display at Seattle Center (the Museum of Glass in Tacoma is also pretty cool, though not free), first Thursdays of the month the SAM is free admission.
If you like board games there are a few places around town where you can go, eat some food (the food costs money), and play their board games for free. You don't actually have to buy food at some of them either.

There really is a ton of stuff going on. Here's the Seattle parks guide to summer events. A lot are free.

Thanks for this!! She's near Volunteer Park, and I'm closer to downtown, so this Seattle parks guide is quite helpful.

Now that it's getting a bit nicer out, I imagine it'll be a lot easier to come up with things to do. Fall/Winter/Spring here can make me forget that there are times when it's nice, and we can go outside for walks/adventures/soaking it all in. Definitely going to try to squeeze a few camping trips in this summer!

[Ombud]

tobinikui, welcome back

WOW! You've had a lot going on

[seriousthistime]

Update!

	Stars	Name	Amt Saved	Goal	% Saved	Roses	Smilies
1		acemom	$1,745	$7,000	24.9%
2		auburnsky	$4,325	$9,600	45.0%
3		azucena	$31,120	$39,300	79.2%
4		forwardwego	$4,743	$11,378	41.7%
5		megaptera	$3,900	$15,000	26.0%
6		Minnesotagirl7	$5,100	$10,000	51.0%
7		minnesota paint lady	$15,350	$17,900	85.8%
8		movinonup	$237	$4,046	5.9%
9		nalto	$1,496	$10,000	15.0%
10		Ombud	$24,510	$30,000	81.7%
11		PauletteG	$4,895	$9,000	54.5%
12		Saving4Norway	$23,400	$27,000	87.0%
13		scrgrl47	$10,570	$19,080	55.4%
14		sealy	$2,003	$6,326	31.7%
15		seriousthistime	$4,560	$14,498	31.5%
16		shanendoah	$11,736	$15,500	75.7%
17		snapdragon	$4,592	$6,500	70.6%
18		speechchick71	$2,425	$20,005	12.1%
19		steph08	$3,595	$6,478	55.5%
20		Sugilite	$1,635	$8,760	18.8%
21		teachermom	$2,247	$5,500	40.9%
22		tobinikui	$12,189	$25,000	48.8%

Hello Savers,
We are seeing more stars, roses, and smilies!  Congratulations to all.  You are fighting the good fight, and that's what counts. 

This month we see tobinkui return -- welcome back!  And nalto rejoined!  Welcome back to you, too. 

We still have several Savers who dropped off the list and have not returned.  bankergurl, DVM gone riding, and runmarathons are still missing, and dogmom and coffeegirl haven't been back since January. Please come back!!

Thank you to forwardwego for posting shoutouts last month when I promised to get to it and never did.   This month I will get to it, but not tonight.  

Save on, Savers!  You are doing a fantastic job.  I tend to beat up on myself because my numbers don't look as good as other Savers' numbers, and that makes me feel like I'm not doing a good enough job.  But we all come here from different places, and for some of us, saving $50 is as much a victory as $1,000 or more for someone else whose situation is different.  Keep challenging yourself, and keep at it.  It all adds up.  





[forwardwego]

UPDATE 6/5/2015 $4834 (goal $11378)

fund 2015	present	goal	% met	$$ needed
rental EF	800	5000	16	4200
homestead EF	1100	2000	55	900
vehicle EF	600	1000	60	400
tree removal	1750	1750	100
truck tires	250	250	100
52 week challenge*	334	1378	24	1044
totals	4834	11378	42	6544

*52 week challenge summary

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

sum of 1-17= $153 153+18+19+20+52+21+51=$334

Would really love to enter the $5K range soon! (next week?)

Keep up the good work fellow savers!

[seriousthistime]

Shoutouts!

movinonup, I like your strategy.  Sometimes it's all about having a strategy and following it.  You know that saying: If you fail to plan, then you are planning to fail.

Saving4Norway, I'm glad I was able to catch your updates this month.  How do you feel about delaying the Iceland trip?  The quilting retreat sounds great!  I'd love to start quilting; maybe in retirement...  Right now I'm focusing on knitting.  I think after the baby blanket I'm making now (friend's baby due the end of this month), I can start working ahead.  

shanendoah, wow!  you have a lot going on right now.  I'm glad you found the time to update your numbers.  What is it about summer that makes it so hard to save?  It's true for many of us.  Good luck with the move!

forwardwego, you almost had a visit from Murphy with the higher tree cost.  But you kept him away with the tire costs.  Nice work.  If only you could share the anti-Murphy shield with the rest of us... You are so close to $5K that I bet you can almost taste it. 

azucena, sounds like Murphy drive-by at the forwardwego household ended up at your place.   Sometimes when unexpected expenses pop up I tell myself that at least the money is going for a big project that will stay done for a long time. Some expenses just don't stay done, but keep recurring. Your big items will stay done for a long time. 

Ombud, your numbers are always impressive, even with your iffy job situation.  Please share: how do you do it?  It seems that your savings is a huge percentage of your income.  When does DGS leave for college?

speechchick71, your weekly challenge is indeed on steroids.  Holy moly, it's breathtaking!  You are an inspiration to everyone here.

Sugilite, I checked out the Gateway Voyage program online.  Sounds exciting. Your moving fund is almost done.  What steps are you taking regarding the move?  Do you have a place in mind?  How will it be better than your current place?

teachermom, what an inspiration you are!  Really, 85 pounds!  How did you do it?  (And please don't say diet and exercise...) I am trying to lose 25 pounds and it's a struggle.  You are an excellent example of someone who's moving toward two financial goals at once, debt paid down and savings going up.

nalto, we're all excited to see you again.  Nice updates and progress.  Kudos to you for seeking out free and low-cost things to do in your area.  Saving for a wedding is a challenge for anyone.

scrgrl47, it sounds like your trip to Austin was a nice treat for you and your mother.  I agree, when staying with someone it is common courtesy to treat them to a restaurant meal or two.   

snapdragon, nice work on reaching your first goal. Several more to follow. Keep at it.    You're doing great.

PauletteG, good work on the island trip fund.  I kept breaking my shredders, so I finally just decided to save up my documents for shredding and take it to my bank 3 times a year when the shredding truck comes around. 

minnesotapaintlady, which of your remaining goals are you focusing on, or are they all equal priority?  You do so well with saving.  Are you that disciplined in other aspects of your life? 

tobinikui, welcome back!  You may have been dropped from the updates, but anyone who starts during the year and doesn't update for a few months is still on the master list.  40 pounds made such a change in your clothing size!  Did you have to go clothes shopping?  

[Jaguar]

It was a very interesting learning how to get up to Orangeville Mall by GO Transit, I found out a awful lot getting to see my brother.

On another note, I'm seriously thinking or forgoing on getting a new TV. My computer needs an upgrade and I much rather keep the money for that than putting it into a new TV. besides I would still need basic cable to use Rogers Shomi and I don't want to pay for anything like that.

[Jaguar]

I'm still crawling along and saving, but I got a new focus.

Saving Funds	Goals	Current	% Saved	Woo Hoo
Moving Fund	$1,300	$1,300	100%
Gateway Voyage	$4,600	$340.28	7.4%	?
Mattress Fund	$2,300	$0	0%	?
GRAND TOTAL	$8,200	$1,640.28	20%	?

Sugilite Update - 6/11/2015 - $1,640.28 - [NEW GOAL - $8,200] =

[Jaguar]

Now that's not all that I'll put into my moving fund, but it's a good base to add more on after I save for The Gateway Voyage. My landlord is 86 years old and still in fairly good health, but I have to have a safety net for myself.

[forwardwego]

UPDATE 6/13/2015 $4880 (goal $11378)

fund 2015	present	goal	% met	$$ needed
rental EF	800	5000	16	4200
homestead EF	1120	2000	56	880
vehicle EF	600	1000	60	400
tree removal	1750	1750	100
truck tires	250	250	100
52 week challenge*	360	1378	24	1018
totals	4880	11378	43	6498

*52 week challenge summary

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

sum of 1-17= $153 153+18+19+20+52+21+51 +26=$360

Would really love to enter the $5K range soon! (next week month?)

Very small progress this week, but the $$ is in place for our vacation Jun 25 thru July 6.

I see vacations as such a mixed blessing. Especially while I'm still trying to knock off my car loan. However all work with no play can backfire.

Keep up the good work fellow savers!

[azucena]

Azucena: 1/9/15 $19,300 goal $39,300 Downpayment for a new house Spring of 2016
1/14/15 +755 last 2014 daycare reimbursement $20,055
1/30/15 +1202 third paycheck of the month so no deductions $21,257
2/27/15 +633 last 2014 healthcare reimbursement $21,890
3/10/15 +2075 tax refund $23,965
3/27/15 +7348 bonus $31,300
4/10/15 +439 "extra" from paycheck $31,739
5/08/15 -619 deductible for new roof after hail damage $31,120
6/18/15 +2176 daycare reimbursement $33,296

Haven't posted in a while, having a hard time keeping up at work.  Excited to post this large deposit though.  This is the highest my savings account has ever been and it feels like a huge accomplishment.  It's really quite amazing and I'm proud of my husband and I for being able to stick with our goal instead of spending any of this money.

seriousthistime - thanks for the encouragement.

[seriousthistime]

Hi Savers, 

Looking at my calendar, it seems I will have time to update the smilies and shoutouts on July 3.  Those of you who wait until after the first of the month to update, if you get them in by the night of July 2they'll be included in the next roundup.

Things are looking VERY good so far.  Nice job, Savers!

[seriousthistime]

Update

Category	6/19/2015	Goal	% Saved	Roses
Deferred purchases	$1,228	$2,075	59.2%
CC paydown	$300	$8,500	3.5%
EF	$1,400	$1,000	140.0%
Gifts	$1,453	$2,600	55.9%
Utilities	$130	$280	46.4%
Weekly Savings	$695	$1,378	50.4%
Total	$5,206	$14,498	35.9%

Serious this time, 6/19/15, $5,206 (Goal $14,498)

This summer I am paying the price for having slacked on savings for property taxes and life insurance. I am not tracking those goals here.  But since I slacked in those areas earlier this year, I have had to increase what I'm saving in those accounts this summer in order to meet payments due September 1. I expect to make more progress on the goals I track here once that is over.  

Weekly Savings is a steady $53 per paycheck (every two weeks).  Looks like it's pretty much on track in that area, at least.       

[forwardwego]

UPDATE 6/19/2015 $5010 (goal $11378)

fund 2015	present	goal	% met	$$ needed
rental EF	800	5000	16	4200
homestead EF	1200	2000	60	800
vehicle EF	600	1000	60	400
tree removal	1750	1750	100
truck tires	250	250	100
52 week challenge*	410	1378	29	968
totals	5010	11378	45	6368

*52 week challenge summary

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

sum of 1-17= $153 153+18+19+20+52+21+51 +26+50=$410

SOOOO happy to be in the $5K range!

We are only 11 days away from halfway through 2015, and I'm at 44.9% of goal. I'll be very happily surprised if I make my goal. I should be able to achieve all of them except the rental house EF. I'm okay with that, but will need to make it among my top priorities in 2016. 


Keep up the good work fellow savers!

seriousthistime sorry you are having to play catch up on taxes and insurance, 2 of my least favorite things to "buy". I need to pick up the pace on real estate taxes too 

[Ombud]

Thanks for the shout out, seriousthistime. I have 2 primary income streams. My gov't pension covers monthly needs (barely, minimal food like $100 m). My job covers food / cell / cable / kids / WIRR + WIRS. And it front loads .... I get FT until April 15th then supposedly 24 hrs a week until the next January 15th. On my previous job, I was pretty much guaranteed that but not here (called off again 2 days this week)

Meanwhile GS1 is taking a summer course at DVC re: business overview [real estate, finance, accounting, mgmt] that will transfer to CSU. Thursday he got an email stating he had moved up on the dorm wait list (was #104 now #74) then yesterday got an email asking if he would consider a cheaper dorm! Happy dance time 

[Saving4Norway]

Serious - I'll be skipping posting this month. While I was gone on my quilt retreat my truck died during my DH's drive to work. Engine has seized, a new one is $10,000. I'm paying cash do get a discount so when that's all taken care of I'll re-work my goals for the rest of the year.

Having financial stability is making this stressful event much less stressful!

[nalto]

Nalto 6/22/15 $2515.99 ($3727.21 5/20/15 Goal=$10,000)

I'm sloooooowly making strides. It's been a busy month, I was taking 23 credits and 20 of those just wrapped up. Spent more than I wanted to, which means I saved less, but given all that was going on, I'm just lucky I didn't blow even more. Wedding planning is going to be really taking off here soon, but financial help (totally not expected, and very much appreciated) from my future in laws will be there to ease the load a bit.

In the meantime, watching future Mrs. Nalto start to really take on a new frugal side is a lot of fun. (I didn't push it on her, honest! She started doing a lot of this on her own.) Instead of going out Friday and Saturday nights, she wants to get up early Saturday mornings and walk around town, especially near the bars where drunken people dropped their change the night before. Great time together, early rising (which I enjoy) and the potential to make a little change. Not a bad date! I love that I can offer inexpensive and fun ideas without getting funny looks from her, which I so often got from significant others and friends in the past.

Anyway, keep on saving everyone!

[speechchick71]

UPDATE: speechchick71 6/25/15 $4160 (goal=$20,005, started 1/1/2015)

	15-may	25-June	Goal	How much to go	% Met
Weekly Challenge	$2,100.00	$3,510.00	$13,780.00	$10,270.00	25%
$25/week	$325.00	$650.00	$725.00	$75.00	90%
Roth 2015	$0.00		$5,500.00	$5,500.00	0%
	-	-	-	-
Totals	$2,425.00	$4,160.00	$20,005.00	$15,845.00	21%

Starting next month, I'll be socking away $1k or more/month in my weekly challenge.  I have another savings account to but I don't have a "plan" for it and I use the money from there as needed.  Between all my savings, I've saved over $10k already this year.  I am planning to use my weekly challenge money as my "you're going back to school" fund and by the time I could possibly be in my program, I could very likely have well over $30k in it.  That will go a long way to reduce the amount of student loans I'll likely have to take.  I made some really large purchases this past month and I'm so thankful that I have the money to pay it off.  I don't know what makes me feel happier:  saving money or paying off debt but mark my words: DON'T GO INTO DEBT JUST SO YOU CAN HAVE THAT SATISFYING FEELING!  Just had to say that. 

Keep on savin' on, y'all!

[Jaguar]

I'm going shopping in July to get some stuff to spruce up my place, so my July budget is taking a wee tumble, but I'll be back on that saving wagon come August.

[Rocky Mtn Saver]

Hello all!  I've been MIA for a few months, I know. I've gone to part-time work this year and am still in the process of adjusting to my new situation. Maybe it's a midlife crisis, who knows?   

At the moment, I'm staying with some friends in Ecuador until September. It's been... interesting... to live in a foreign country as opposed to just visiting one for a week or two.  A great learning experience!  

The good news is that my expenses are super-low right now, so I'm not concerned about the financial picture until I get back in the States. If I break even and don't dip into the stash this first year, I'll be satisfied.  Money is fine, but I won't really know if I need to make any changes to The Financial Plan until the end of the first year. I'll try to check in more regularly now that things have settled down in Real Life a bit. I hope everyone is saving and doing well!!

And thanks Ombud for the reminder that I hadn't checked in with you guys in a while!

[Ombud]

Welcome back, Rocky Mtn Saver! I was in Equator once & loved it!!

[Deleted]

Update for July:

Well, July is going to be a lean one and I'm taking a mini-vacation with the boys starting Wednesday, so that is sucking up all the excess gas money in the budget that could have been swept to savings.  I sent off $200 to the kids 529s. and that will be it for the month.  Income for the August and September budgets looks a lot better.  Three paychecks in July (one with a bunch of OT) and an extra child support check, plus my cash back sign on bonus from the credit card I started just for that, and in August I'll be getting my property tax refund and maybe a payment from my part-time job.   I hope to knock off a couple more of these with all that.

Fund	2015 Goal	Current	Needed	% Complete
Roth	$5500	$5500	$0	100.00%
Replacement Car	$3600	$2950	$350	90.28%
College	$2400	$1400	$1000	58.33%
Vacation	$2000	$2000	$0	100.00%
Washer & Dryer	$1500	$1500	$0	100.00%
Pr. High School	$1000	$0	$1000	0.00%
Carpet	$500	$500	$0	100.00%
Sea Base	$500	$500	$0	100.00%
Christmas	$500	$500	$0	100.00%
Y Membership	$400	$400	$0	100.00%
Total	$17900	$15550	$2350	85.75%

I also started saving in a taxable account to the tune of $200/month that is not captured on here.  I don't know WHY.  I should do things one step at a time, but that money is probably going to be used towards my 2016 Roth.

[Minnesotagirl7]

Update!

Minnesotagirl7: 6/29/15 $6,100 (1/1/15 Start $0 / Goal $10,000)


I'm getting there. Slowly but surely. DH has an extra paycheck in July. I know part of it will go towards a party we're throwing, but I'm still hoping to be able to put a little extra away.  

[Ombud]

OMG does GS1 realize how lucky he is? Didn't audition in time so he was told he could be admitted in the Spring & would have to go GE in the fall + #104 on dorm list. Expanded last week to accepting any housing & he's in a week later at 1100 month instead of 1350 month. Now, a week later, he's in the program after sending a u-tube link. They said official email later this week with scholarship info. SCHOLARSHIP? He was only a little short already!

FAFSA = 13,500
Loan w/o interest until after graduation = 3500
Other loan = 2000
(Grand)parent loan = 5800

Then 2500 less in housing so (grand)parent loan = 3300 - 800 already paid.

Original school scholarship b4 he messed up on timing = 5000

So what does this mean?

FAFSA 13,500
SL. 3500
Deposit 800
Done??

Plus he gets a mentor

[Ombud]

Buying a Peets card today for the guy who put all the wheels in motion. $20 or $50?

[megaptera]

Apr 29, 2015 12:42:05 GMT -5 megaptera said:

UPDATE

megaptera: 4/29/2015 $3,900.00 [1/1/2015 $0.00 / Goal: $15,000]

Well, it's not a great update. Due to decreased income and increased expenses (hopefully both temporary); we weren't able to save for this particular item this month. (Retirement/EF/etc. all still on track.)

Hopefully May will be better!

Well, May was decidedly NOT better. DH ended up getting laid off from his 8 year job due to lack of business. He's since then started another one; it's not quite what he wanted, but it's something for now. I've been kind of slacking keeping up on the finances (not a great time to do that!), but it's time to get down to business again.

So my update is not great, and they won't be great for the foreseeable future, but here it is:

UPDATE

megaptera: 6/30/2015 $4,300.00 [1/1/2015 $0.00 / Goal: 15,000]

Hope everyone is having a great week!