Women in Red Savers 2015

[bankergurl]

Not sure how to post my goals/progress anymore since I guess my main goal is just to continue to have no debt other then mortgage and to keep non-retirement savings above $25K.  So I know these amounts will fluctuate throughout the year, but just want to still be at $25K at the end of the year, after trips and home improvements, etc.

Banker Gurl $26,311.00 ($25,925.00 1/1/15)

	1/1/15	Current	Goal	Spent
52 Week Challenge	$0	$1.00	$1380.00	-
Joint Savings	$690.00	$1020.00	$2000.00	-
New Car	$1735.00	$1790.00	$4000.00	-
Christmas	$500.00	$500.00	$500.00	-
Surprise Trip	$1000.00	$1000.00	$1000.00	-
Home Insurance	$1300.00	$1300.00	$1300.00	-
New Garage Door	$2000.00	$2000.00	$2000.00	-
New Patio Door	$2000.00	$2000.00	$2000.00	-
Painting/Drywall	$2000.00	$2000.00	$2000.00	-
Laughlin Trip	$2200.00	$2200.00	$2200.00	-
Property Taxes	$2500.00	$2500.00	$2500.00	-
Emergency Fund	$10,000.00	$10,000.00	$10,000.00	-
	$25,925.00	$26,311.00	$30,880.00

 

[teachermom]

Bankergurl.....your goal is kind of a moving target isn't it? You have some things that you have fully saved up for that will disappear right? Like the New garage door and new patio door. Once you purchase those, that money is gone. SO the only money that is steady is the EF? 52 Week Challenge, Joint savings & new car?  Total of $17,380 once those are fully funded. Everything else you saved for a specific purpose and that will pay out this year, right? I am just trying to understand the plan to stay at $25000. Does that mean that your goal is to save $13,500 this year ($30,880 - $17380)? If anyone can do it....you can....no doubt!! What do you plan to save it for?

Teachermom

ETA....not I even calculated that exactly right. Confused.

[forwardwego]

forwardwego 1/9/2015 $1683 (goal 11,378)

fund 2015	present	goal	% met	$$ needed
rental EF *	0	5000	0	5000
homestead EF	1020	2000	51	980
vehicle EF	500	1000	50	500
tree removal	50	1200	4	1150
truck tires	10	800	1	790
52 week challenge**	103	1378	7	1275
totals	1683	11378	14	9695

*I zeroed my rental EF and moved that $$ to an operating fund, and will be using it in Feb or March to prepare for new tenants.

**So far I've been able to start with the biggest amounts (52+51), but at some point will probably change to the "maximum tackle" method, especially since I'm paid bi-weekly.

ETA: just changed "weekly savings" to "52 week challenge" after reading it in bankergurl's post. It sounds much more active and fun and, challenging 

[bankergurl]

Question - Is there a way to copy my chart, or do I have to fill it out again each time I want to update?

[azucena]

Azucena: 1/9/15 $0 goal $20,000

I'm a lurker coming out of hiding - you'll occasionally see me posting on the kids thread.

I'd like to save $20,000 this year as part of a down payment on a new house in the spring of 2016.  I'm married and have two young daughters.  I'm the primary breadwinner and completed my first actuarial designation at the end of 2013.  Due to exam increases and promotions my salary has increased 30% over the past two years.  If I continue to work diligently, I'll finish my final designation by the middle of next year at the latest.  I'm guaranteed another 10% increase at that point and most likely another promotion.

I'm finding this new phase of life daunting and overwhelming.  My husband and I grew up lower middle class with periods of unemployment in both of our families.  So stating I have the ability to save $20,000 this year is crazy to me but completely doable if I'm persistent.  Putting the goal in writing and in front of other people will motivate me.

Our only debt is our mortage of $150k at 4% and our student loan of $10,000 at 3.75%.  I intend to just let those ride for a while because of the lower interest rates and planning to move anyway.  Our emergency fund is currently at $20,000.  I intend to use $10,000 of that towards the down payment.

[bankergurl]

Teachermom - Yes I agree my info/goals is confusing!  LOL  But yes, essentially that is correct, my main goal is to stay at/above $25K while still living and improving my life!
So I show I would need to save $12,575 to meet my goal of staying at $25,000.

 $25,925.00 Start
-$13,500.00 Planned Expenditures
= $12,425.00 Balance Remaining

$25,000.00 Goal
-$12,425.00 Balance after planned expenditures
=$12,575.00 I need to save this year to stay at $25K after planned expenditures


This does seem like A LOT......but I have always had a constant fluctuation in my savings of 1 step back, 2 steps forward....so I think it is very doable. 

Also I am hoping to come in under budget on some or all of the planned expenses, so that would be money that could them be moved to another goal or to the EF.

Christmas ($500) - I buy family gifts for 9 people currently, we normally spend about $25 per person, so that is only $225.  Then I have BF, I would estimate $100-$150 for him.  So that is on the high end $375, I also plan for wrapping supplies (though I always buy the year before at 75% off) and additional grocery costs for baking and bring food to potluck style meals.

Surprise Trip ($1000) - I don't know what this is, so it is hard to budget for it....BF said we are going on a trip in June, and it is a surprise and he isn't telling me where we are going until we leave.  The only reason he even told me about it at all was so I could get the week off of work.....since it is a surprise and present, I dont have to pay for travel/lodging.  I only have to pay for extras, maybe some food/shopping.  So I think $1000 should cover it, but I really don't know.  Whatever it is, I am excited!

Laughlin Trip ($2200) - The trip is free, all flights, ground transportion, and lodging are covered in full by BF's comps, as well as some food and gambling comps.  I am bring $200 for additional food and shopping and the $2000 is for gambling.  That probably seems like a lot, but this is one of my main "fun" money uses and I have a system where I "play through" a lot of money, but normally bring home 50%-80% of what I brought...and of course occasionally come out ahead!   So I am hoping to bring home at least $1000 (last time we went I brough back $1400).  Anything I bring home can go into another savings bucket.

Home Insurance ($1300) - This should be pretty close to accurate.

Property Tax ($2500) - This should be pretty close to accurate.

New Patio Door ($2000) - This is a sliding door that goes out to my backyard deck.  The locking mechanism is broken.  I have other securities in place to ensure you can't enter the house there, but it definitely needs to be fixed.  I am going to look in to the option of only fixing the locking mechanism and not replacing the entire door, but the door is very old and I think may not be energy efficient in regards to letting in the cold, so will probably want to replace the whole thing.  Planning on this being a spring time project.

New Garage Door ($2000) - My garage door is literally falling apart.  The trim is hanging off the bottom (which could easily be temporarily fixed with a hammer and nail) and if you inspect the door carefully you can see where there are parts where the wood under the paint is starting to rot and splinter apart.  The actual door opener is great, just need to have the physical door replaced.  Will be researching this and it will also be a spring time project.

Painting/Drywall ($2000) - Normally I would do all of my painting myself, or with the help of my Dad and Brothers.  My parents own several rental properties and they do all of their own repairs and updates, so I have LOTS of experience with painting and other DIY projects.  The painting I would like to hire a professional for is for my entry way (which XH punched several bowling ball sized holes in the walls), my living room, and my bathroom.  All of the rooms have holes from XH, but the entry way is by far the worst which sucks because anytime anyone comes in the house it's the first thing they see (and a terrible and sad reminder for me daily ).  My Dad came and patched the holes.  They need to be smoothed out, textured, and then painted.  I could do this myself.  But the ceilings in my entry way are somewhere around 18ft high and over a stairwell, so essentially up to 25ft high.  Not something I am interested in attempting!  My living room has vaulted ceilings as well.  The bathroom would be easy to paint, but there is a patched hole that I want to be completed by a pro, as well as previous patch work that was done by the previous home owner, and it looks awful, IDK what they were thinking...lol.  I am planning on doing this first in the order of the home improvements and hope to get to getting estimates soon.

[teachermom]

Bankergurl....so I wasn't totally off not understanding what you were doing......not that I really need to as long as you do!! Sounds like you have it all planned out.

Teachermom

[Jaguar]

Well I got the money saved for the 2014 TV model that I want, but no damn way do I want to spend every cent that I saved up. I want to get the TV at a cheaper price, so I'll wait.

It's no fun paying full price, I want a deep discount, then I'll buy it.

[Deleted]

Ok, I may as well join in here. 

Fund	2015 Goal	Current	Needed	% Complete
Roth	$5500	$0	$5500	0.00%
Replacement Car	$3600	$0	$3600	0.00%
College	$2400	$200	$2200	8.33%
Vacation	$2000	$0	$2000	0.00%
Washer & Dryer	$1500	$0	$1500	0.00%
Pr. High School	$1000	$0	$1000	0.00%
Carpet	$500	$0	$500	0.00%
Sea Base	$500	$0	$500	0.00%
Christmas	$500	$0	$500	0.00%
Y Membership	$400	$0	$400	0.00%

Edited to add Christmas...

[teachermom]

Welcome Minnesotapaintlady!! Just another way to help and support one another as we work towards our financial goals!!!

Wish I could say I am putting more here but still working on selling things and trying to pay off debt!! I have a long way to go!!

Teachermom

[Ombud]

2nd Roth deposit made today. SCHD was on sale & crossed my limit price so I have to economize this month (over did it). Thought it was a good deal

Edited: not such a good deal now

[azucena]

Azucena: 1/9/15 $19,300 goal $39,300
                1/14/15 $20,055 goal $39,300

Restating my initial goal to include money already in savings.  I realized it's going to be easier to track if I use the existing balance.  Added $755 that I received from the last of my daycare reimbursement account.

[Ombud]

Jan 9, 2015 10:24:05 GMT -5 bankergurl said:

Question - Is there a way to copy my chart, or do I have to fill it out again each time I want to update?

I used to quote mine then remove the quote tag. If doing on the cell (droid or iPhone), you'd need to go to the net to insert new #s but it is doable

[Deleted]

Jan 13, 2015 9:20:23 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Fund	2015 Goal	Current	Needed	% Complete
Roth	$5500	$0	$5500	0.00%
Replacement Car	$3600	$100	$3500	2.78%
College	$2400	$200	$2200	8.33%
Vacation	$2000	$100	$1900	5.00%
Washer & Dryer	$1500	$0	$1500	0.00%
Pr. High School	$1000	$0	$1000	0.00%
Carpet	$500	$0	$500	0.00%
Sea Base	$500	$0	$500	0.00%
Christmas	$500	$0	$500	0.00%
Y Membership	$400	$0	$400	0.00%

Set up the Car and Vacation accounts at CapitalOne360 with some seed money.  I track sinking funds in YNAB, but it's too easy to steal from them if it's all sitting in checking.  Especially for things that I don't need the money for for a few years out.  The Roth will get shipped off to Vanguard and the college money to the 529s, the rest I think I can leave alone, but I might set up accounts for them too....like Sea Base.  DS isn't going there until Summer 2016. 

[acemom]

I think I'm going to join here as well!  I will gather all of my info and post...  Just reading over everyone's posts have made me want to have more specific savings goals.  I've always done really well with Christmas saving, but not anything else...  I'll try to get my post in by this weekend after my auto deposits go in from tomorrow's paycheck

[Jaguar]

Holy Crap, I'm at least 5 months earlier than I thought with my goal reaching. The way this is going I might get everything completed by the end of 2016, when I originally thought it would be June/July 2017. And I'm not saving yanno great gobs of money at a time, just $40 here, $80 from there. Saving money gets results. =

Seriously when I started looking at all this just last October, I really thought mid to late 2018 before I reached my goals. And it looks like my two biggest goals will be completed by June 2016.

[forwardwego]

yea for payday today, I'll be looking forward to the end of my workday & doing my saver update!!

nice work Jaguar I love the little girl saving illustration, visuals are very motivating for me 


acemom welcome! You will be so successful expanding that Christmas saving skill into other areas of your life.


minnesotapaintlady and azucena nice job lining up your goals   

[acemom]

Thanks forwardwego!  I will be doing updates and stuff this weekend, but I have been thinking about the savings goals that I have and I keep coming up with more things that I need to save for - my sister's wedding gift, shower and bachelorette party - were the big ones that I apparently forgot about.  Unfortunately, the other 2 girls that are in the wedding are broke, so I'm not sure how I'm going to swing this.  Hopefully my mom will pitch in.  

[Jaguar]

There's not many money saving smiley's, but I think I got all that there is.

[Deleted]

Jan 16, 2015 7:43:59 GMT -5 acemom said:

Thanks forwardwego!  I will be doing updates and stuff this weekend, but I have been thinking about the savings goals that I have and I keep coming up with more things that I need to save for - my sister's wedding gift, shower and bachelorette party - were the big ones that I apparently forgot about.  Unfortunately, the other 2 girls that are in the wedding are broke, so I'm not sure how I'm going to swing this.  Hopefully my mom will pitch in.  

Yeah, I have that problem as well.  Besides other fun things I'd like to save for there are also the umpteen number of sinking funds that I need to save for too. What do I include in the challenge?   

[Jaguar]

Mid Month Update - Sugilite - 1/16/2015 - [CURRENT - $828.91] - [NEW GOAL - $8,800] =

[Jaguar]

As things are coming together my Goals are being tweaked and fine tuned.

[forwardwego]

Jan 9, 2015 9:32:51 GMT -5 forwardwego said:

UPDATE  1/16/2015 $1929 (goal $11378)

fund 2015	present	goal	% met	$$ needed
rental EF	150	5000	3	4850
homestead EF	1040	2000	52	960
vehicle EF	530	1000	53	470
tree removal	60	1200	5	1140
truck tires	20	800	2	780
52 week challenge*	129	1378	9	1249
totals	1929	11378	17	9449

*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

52+51+26=129

ETA: I tried using the quote function instead of recreating my update table, but I can't get rid of the part "January 9.....etc" so kindly pretend that line is not there 

[seriousthistime]

	1/16/2015	Goal	% Saved	Roses
Deferred purchases	$565	$2,075	27.2%
CC paydown	$0	$8,500	0%
EF	$300	$1,000	30%
Gifts	$453	$2,600	17.4%
Utilities	$20	$270	7.4%
Weekly Savings	$106	$1,378	7.7%
Total	$1,444	$14,498	9.9%

Serious this time, 1/16/15, $1,444 (Goal $14,498)


First, let me say how fun it is to see so many new Savers!  Welcome, all!

I experimented with how to get the table updated without having to retype all the information in table format each update.  I did it so well that when I went to post my explanation, I had quotes within quotes within quotes.  So let me try again.  

1.  Go to your post with the most recent update.  Click on the Quote button.  It brings you to a box where your old post will appear within a quote box, and there is an area for you to add your comments.  

2. Look just underneath the white box of text.  There are two buttons: Visual and BBCode.  Click BBCode.  The info in the box now appears in what I can only assume is some sort of code   (maybe BBCode).  At the top of the code, you will see something that looks like
[  quote  ] and you will find the same at the very end.  Delete just those two things.  (It will appear without spaces between the brackets and the word, and they are at the very beginning and very end of the quoted text.)  

3.  Don't change anything else.  Then click on Save Changes.  Your old post will appear in the thread without the quote box around it.  Then from that new post you can click Edit which will bring what you just posted, without the quote box, and you can edit the numbers, %, roses, and tag line.  If you had any old comments that got quoted as well, you can just delete them and write new comments from the Edit Post.  

4. Then click Save Changes, and your post should be updated and look very nice!  I would not advise trying to update your post from the BBCode version.  WAY too complicated!

Someone -- maybe Minnesota Paint Lady? -- asked how to account for money that we are saving for a particular purpose to be spent during the year.  Here is what someone posted long before I became a Saver:  

the whole point of savings is to use the money when it's needed. You may save for a year to pay for an expense but once paid, that money is gone. However, saving that money ahead of time kept you from going into debt, panicking over the payment or stealing from other accounts. That is a major accomplishment! Because we are a community and we talk about these kinds of savings issues, we want you to give us the update about using your savings but it's your choice how to present your totals.  

So in other words, track money in, not money out.  Remember, all savings will eventually be spent.  Even retirement savings is money to be spent at some point.  

[Jaguar]

I dropped 7 cotton balls dripped in ammonia down behind the shower. Did I tell you all the landlord used 2 poisons, the last one a heavy duty poison and he broke my tap for my bathtub and shower. I fixed the tap and now I'm dealing with the critters, in my way, I'll stink em' out.

[seriousthistime]

So sorry to hear it, Sugi!  How's the moving fund coming along?  

I haven't heard critters at my house but I hear this is quite the year for critters.  Once you move, you will be done with them but your landlord won't.  Serves him right. Just remember that ammonia and bleach don't mix.  I once accidentally did that.  I was using both ammonia and bleach for different purposes in my bathroom.  I tossed the rag with the bleach into a bucket with ammonia and water, and almost immediately the fumes made it difficult to breathe.  So if you're ever tempted to use bleach on your shower now, be careful not to splash it where the cotton balls were placed. 

[seriousthistime]

Jan 9, 2015 10:24:05 GMT -5 bankergurl said:

Question - Is there a way to copy my chart, or do I have to fill it out again each time I want to update?

I just posted a method for doing this.  If someone has a different/easier way, please post it!  I quoted you here, bankergurl, so you didn't miss my post. 

[seriousthistime]

I just put together a quick list of Savers who've posted just in the first two pages:

acemom
azucena
bankergurl
coffeegirl
dogmom
forwardwego
megaptera
minnesotapaintlady
Ombud
runmarathons
Saving4Norway
scrgrl47
sealy
seriousthistime
shanendoah
snapdragon
speechchick71
Sugilite
teachermom
tobinikui

We are still missing a few Savers from 2014 who haven't posted anything in 2015.

I plan to do smilies the first Sunday in February.  You'll be on the list if you've posted goals and/or done an update for 2015. 

[acemom]

acemom 1/18/2015 (Start=$1,316.95 / Goal=7,000)

UPDATE: acemom 1/18/2015 1,316.95 Goal $7,000.00 )

UPDATE	Goal	1/18/2015
Christmas 2015	$1,000.00	$176.18	$823.82
Sister Wedding	$300.00	$-	$300.00
Sister Bachelorette Party	$200.00	$-	$200.00
Sister Shower	$250.00	$-	$250.00
House	$500.00	$358.90	$141.10
Misc Savings	$500.00	$628.87	$(128.87)
Dog	$300.00	$-	$300.00
Car Maintenance	$500.00	$-	$500.00
Summer Camp	$1,500.00	$-	$1,500.00
52 week savings	$1,378.00	$153.00	$1,225.00
Vacation	$572.00

[/b][/TD] [TD] [/b][/TD] [TD] $572.00 [/b][/TD] [/TR]
$7,000.00 $1,316.95 $5,683.05
[/TABLE]

[acemom]

I'll have to work on my table, but I think all of the pertinent information is there. I seriously have no idea how much a bachelorette party or shower will cost so those are total guesses. My Christmas saving account is set up. I have money going there every paycheck so I know that goal will be met. The 52 week savings goal should be ok. I started at the end, doing $52, then $51, etc... it should get easier going forward. Those are also set up automatically. I have money that goes into a "misc" and "house" account. I'm not really sure what those are for! I might shuffle some of the money in there and change a few things around as well. As far as "sister wedding", my dress and shoes are already purchased. I will only have gift, hair and makeup. So that number might be high as well. Anything that is additional will roll into "dog" fund. My son and I want to get a dog, but the location is currently a challenge. So I'll just tell him we are saving up

I plan on making some of these savings goals by auto deposits, plasma donations and selling on FB Garage sale sites.

Happy Saving! Captains, please let me know if I'm missing anything