Women in Red Savers 2015

[sealy]

Thanks seriousthistime I keep trying to get my EF off the ground.

Hopefully this time will work.

[Deleted]

My homeowners and auto insurance are due the end of the month so I'm doing some last minute shopping around to see if I can scrape a little more towards my savings goals instead of sending off to an insurance company.  This is getting to be an annual thing with me and I'm kind of sick of it.  I wish I could just stay with one company for years, but they keep jacking things up and so I bail for greener pastures. 

[Deleted]

Scored a win with State Farm today.  $300 more to throw at next month's savings goals and I'm better insured to boot.

[Ombud]

seriousthistime

Not sure how I'm going to track. Probably as a list with a totals line. Hard to do a table on the phone:
12K Alaska in summer (8 of us)
2K Ireland after crazy season
2.5k Conn 8 French Horn
6.5k Roth
1k Volunteer in Israel
Lastly: 6k emergency fund (not sure I'll get it)

Total: 30k. I'll have a better tag line later this month and thinking of only tracking total progress

Currently : 4227 of Roth + 8676 other + 6383 refund pndg = 18,286 with 11,714 to go (with most of my 2nd income stream coming in the 1st 4 months)

Ombud $12,903 (6k on 1/1/15, Goal 30k)

[shanendoah]

shanendoah 2/18/2015 $5,158.44 (Start: $5,051.10 / Goal: $15,500)

Fund	Current Balance	Starting Balance	Goal Amount	% Saved
Pop Tart College	$1,168.44	$1,061.10	$2,500.00	46.74%
Vacation	$3,000.00	$3,000.00	$3,000.00	100.00%
House	$990.00	$990.00	$10,000.00	9.90%
Total	$5,158.44	$5,051.10	$15,500.00	33.28%

I jumped in, and then kind of disappeared. Sorry for that. It's been a bit of a crazy time.
The only saving I did in January was toward Pop Tart's college fund. However, what I did do was cash flow the last of my December travel expenses (last minute trip for my grandfather's funeral), and the plane tickets for our Disney trip in April, so I didn't have to touch trip savings. (So really, I added ~$1300 to trip savings, and then spent it.)
We also finished paying off Christmas, which was not inexpensive.

I am using YNAB, and still getting used to the way it handles things. Basically, I was a little over budget in January, so didn't add to savings (other than for Pop Tart). The one nice thing is that we essentially are at where YNAB wants you to be- paying for this month's bills with last month's money. I'll have a better idea of where we are after February. And hopefully, I'll get a little more saved. (Though I did just have to purchase one more plane ticket for the Disney vacation since we added a new foster kid to the family.)

seriousthistime - Yes, we are selling a rental property and expect to walk away with over $50k, which we will use for a down payment on a new place, while keeping our current house. I do still want to have $10k in a house fund in order to fix up the current house, either for sale or rental, and to make small cosmetic changes to whatever house we buy (depending on what it needs).        

[bankergurl]

I had to pay my Property Taxes ($2300.00), but I got my Tax Refund ($1700.00) so they somewhat evened each other out.    Overall still very happy with how things are going, but know I could be doing better.  Too much impluse buying lately (BF is a bad influence for that), grabbing fast food, or snacks or drinks at gas stations, and also too much gambling.

Well not planning on anymore of that business until the Laughlin Trip on 3/8.  I need to reign in my senseless spending. 


Banker Gurl $28,228.00 ($25,925.00 1/1/15)

Increase of -$472.00 since last update. ($1828.00 including spent savings)
Increase of $2303.00 so far this year. ($4603.00 including spent savings)

	Start 1/1/15	Last Update 2/2/15	Current	Goal	Spent
52 Week Challenge	$0	$15.00	$28.00	$1380.00	-
Joint Savings	$690.00	$1185.00	$1235.00	$2000.00	-
New Car	$1735.00	$4000.00	$5965.00	$4000.00	-
Christmas	$500.00	$500.00	$500.00	$500.00	-
Surprise Trip	$1000.00	$1000.00	$1000.00	$1000.00	-
Home Insurance	$1300.00	$1300.00	$1300.00	$1300.00	-
New Garage Door	$2000.00	$2000.00	$2000.00	$2000.00	-
New Patio Door	$2000.00	$2000.00	$2000.00	$2000.00	-
Painting/Drywall	$2000.00	$2000.00	$2000.00	$2000.00	-
Laughlin Trip	$2200.00	$2200.00	$2200.00	$2200.00	-
Property Taxes	$2500.00	$2500.00	$0	$2500.00	$2300.00
Emergency Fund	$10,000.00	$10,000.00	$10,000.00	$10,000.00	-
	$25,925.00	$28,700.00	$28,228.00	$30,880.00	$2300.00

And......for anyone that isn't on the WIR Racers or Weightloss Board....here is an update on my life:


I have a roommate! And I am Moving!

Well I waited all week (TORTURE) to tell BF that I am moving, so that I could tell him on Valentines Day! I got balloons and made signs and surprised him after he was done coaching out of town so he was totally not expecting anything, it went great and he is so, so happy!

Wow so much to say! So much to do!

Sooooo.....lots and lots of things to do and changes happening!

It will likely be about 1-2 months before I will actually be working from home, still a few things to pass through budgeting dept. Which is actually good since I have so much to do before then!

BF's friend has decided to move into the basement. YEAH! I have a rental agreement typed up. I just need to do some cleaning up in the garage but otherwise ready. He will be moving in in March. He will be paying $600 a month in rent.

I have a gazillion things to do with getting BF's house ready for me to move in and the office (currently a guest room for him) ready with cleaning it out, and getting a chair and desk. Then for my house, for now it is fine, but will need to be packing and moving things up. Eventually I want to rent the whole house (I would guess in a year or so) and my roommate is aware of this and that I would be renting only the basement for a limited time, then he would have the option of renting the whole house, finding a roommate, or moving out. I need to do several repairs and updates before it would be ready to rent the whole house, so I am super happy that I will have a roommate income of $600 per month while I am moving and getting the upstairs ready to rent.


This will be sooooo many money savers for both me and BF!
#1 - FUEL!!!!
#2 - BF gets a $300 per month allowance for groceries, and any leftover rolls to the next month. This is definitely more then enough to cover all of our groceries per month, so shouldn't have any grocery bill at all.
#3 - I am cancelling my gym membership ($25 per month).
#4 - My roommate's rent money will go towards my mortgage payment and we haven't worked out all the details yet, but I will be paying something towards BFs mortgage. That will be saving us both money as I will be paying less overall then I pay now for my mortgage and he will have some help from me for his payment.
#5 - I will be able to put in LOTS more OT once I am WAH as my office has limited hours but when WAH I can come in earlier, stay later, and also work on the weekends if I want to. So that will e some great extra $$.

There will be lots more money savers once I have my whole house rented, but for now these will be great changes!

SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[forwardwego]

UPDATE  2/20/2015 $2303 (goal $11378)

fund 2015	present	goal	% met	$$ needed
rental EF	150	5000	3	4850
homestead EF	1120	2000	56	880
vehicle EF	570	1000	57	430
tree removal	120	1200	10	1080
truck tires	30	800	3	770
52 week challenge*	313	1378	22	1065
totals	2303	11378	20	9075

*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+21+40+50+49+24=313

Just a little weekly update, but the garage sale is tomorrow so will update again after that. I will the first $350 into the rental EF & $50 to the tire fund to reach the 10% mark on those, then the rest to the tree fund which has greatest urgency. Overall hope to score at least $542 so I can get my 25%  

Thanks fellow savers for your presence, & contributions. This is an awesome club.  

Have a good Friday and good weekend 

[Ombud]

REFUND DEPOSITED
12K Alaska
2K Ireland
2.5k Horn - partial @ 1790
6.5k Roth - partial @ 4227
1k Volunteer in Israel
Last: 6k emergency fund

Ombud $20,017 (6k on 1/1/15, Goal 30k) - 66%

[teachermom]

Wow!! Everyone is doing amazing on their savings goals. Great job!!!

We are still going day by day. I haven't been selling much due to a couple of things going on right now. First, I had to take over a program from the main high school in town because a gal is on medical leave and not returning this school year. It involved supervising a job placement program for special needs students. It was a mess and has been taking TONS of my time. The second is I have a student from school who was homeless living with me. That has increased my expenditures without any additional income.....so without selling, I have gone backwards some. I need to get back on track really bad!!! I honestly don't even know where I am at....so need to get focused and figure that out this weekend.

Keep up the great work everyone!!

Teachermom

[forwardwego]

teachermom It's good to see you! I imagine you are making such an incredible difference both to your student who is no longer homeless because of you, and the job program for special needs students. I hope the extra program can bring you some income to get going forward instead of backwards. I hope you can get rolling forward financially while doing these very important things. You are a teacher/mom with a lot of heart. Is there anyone in your circle of acquaintance who would contribute to the expenses of housing and helping this student?


Ombud nice work being at 66% of goal and it's still February, good work applying those windfall amounts.  


garage sale update: didn't get my biggest item sold washer and dryer (was trying for $350), 
earned $245, and DH suggested we give that to a friend who has been helping me get the rental house ready and do the garage sale. I respect and agree with that.  We are donating most of the unsold things to the rescue group for retired racing greyhounds. So overall I had a very good garage sale 


It's not just about money. It's about balance and values too. And I value the WIR board for helping me make better decisions while considering these things. 

Good work savers   

[speechchick71]

UPDATE: speechchick71 2/22/15 $535 (goal=$20,005, started 1/1/2015)

	6-Feb	22-Feb	Goal	How much to go	% Met
Weekly Challenge	$210.00	$360.00	$13,780.00	$13,420.00	3%
$25/week	$150.00	$175.00	$725.00	$550.00	24%
Roth 2015	$0.00	$0.00	$5,500.00	$5,500.00	0%
	-	-	-	-
Totals	$360.00	$535.00	$20,005.00	$19,470.00	3%

Whew!  That 52 week challenge is ramping up!  I added $150 to it from this paycheck, next week will be $180.  I am almost thru with paying off my last interest bearing credit card.  I am thinking of raiding my savings accounts to pay it off and then pay those amounts back to savings.  It's killing me to have less than $1000 owed.  Everything else (besides my car) is 0% so my savings number should really be on the rise.  I am not including my general savings account into these totals but I'd like that one to be my "raid" fund with these being my future tuition and car funds.  I love watching the numbers increase!

[Ombud]

forwardwego, thanks. Although I've got a hefty paycheck with OT next Friday, I doubt I'll make any more headway. ... that usually goes to monthly bills

teachermom, think I'll try selling some of those extra clothes at a group garage sale. It'd be nice to get some $$ & space!!

speechchick71, how are you doing the weekly challenge?

[speechchick71]

Feb 22, 2015 21:55:49 GMT -5 Ombud said:

speechchick71, how are you doing the weekly challenge?

I am doing the weekly challenge "on steroids".  Instead of $1/week plus adding $1/each week, I'm doing it at $10, adding $10 each week. Weeks 51 and 52=$1030!  I figure that if I don't have debt, I should be able to save that.  I'm HOPING I can save it!  I am also doing another one of $25/week.  The first one will end up being like $13800ish and is going to be for tuition.  The other one will end up being about $700. 

[Ombud]

I saw the $25 @ week but the $180 this week threw me. Kudos for doing it!!

[snapdragon]

Update - snapdragon 2/23/15 ( $4214 / Goal $ 6500 )



Travel Fund - $ 4500 (currently $ 3282)

EF - $1500 (currently $ 709)

House/car - $ 500 ( currently $ 223)

I feel a bit better having my numbers go up some. I just have to make sure I keep my spending in check so I have more money for savings. 

[Ombud]

I just figured out my bills for the end of the month. I'm not going to get any closer to my goals unfortunately.

[Deleted]

Feb 24, 2015 10:58:18 GMT -5 Ombud said:

I just figured out my bills for the end of the month. I'm not going to get any closer to my goals unfortunately.

Yeah....I'm trying to get the final numbers for my March savings contributions.  March budget looks ok, but I'm hurting really bad in April.  I might have to scale things back.  Turns out I need more of the tax refund money for living than I'd expected. 

[Deleted]

Fund	2015 Goal	Current	Needed	% Complete
Roth	$5500	$5500	$0	100.00%
Replacement Car	$3600	$2600	$1000	72.22%
College	$2400	$600	$1800	25.00%
Vacation	$2000	$2000	$0	100.00%
Washer & Dryer	$1500	$1500	$0	100.00%
Pr. High School	$1000	$0	$1000	0.00%
Carpet	$500	$250	$250	50.00%
Sea Base	$500	$200	$300	40.00%
Christmas	$500	$500	$0	100.00%
Y Membership	$400	$400	$0	100.00%

Ok, here is my latest.  State tax return, didn't have to send nearly as much off to the insurance many as expected and sold a couple things.  I was hoping to put more away, but things are bleak on the horizon income wise.

I'm such a geek.  I made a chart with my spreadsheet too.  I like the visual to see how I'm doing.

[Jaguar]

Feb 24, 2015 10:58:18 GMT -5 Ombud said:

I just figured out my bills for the end of the month. I'm not going to get any closer to my goals unfortunately.

Yeah March will take a hit for me as well, but I'll step a wee bit forward.

[steph08]

UPDATE: steph0808 2/26/2015 $2,849.00 2/4/2015 $2,501.00 Goal: $6,478 Stretch Goal: $7,630

	Previous	Added	Current	% Toward Goal	% Toward Stretch Goal
Disney	2,500.00	200.00	2,700.00	67.5%	54.0%
52 week challenge	15.00	0.00	15.00	1.1%	1.0%
College Fund	0.00	134.00	134.00	12.2%	11.2%
	2,515.00	334.00	2,849.00	44.0%	37.3%

Saved this update $334.00
Total Saved $2,849.00




Goal Stretch Goal
Disney 4000 5000
52 Week Challenge 1378 1430 Stretch goal - $1 more/week
College Fund 1100 1200

$6,478.00 $7,630.00



I haven't been keeping up with the 52 week challenge - I have more than enough for several weeks in my checking account, but I just haven't transferred it yet.

[seriousthistime]

The end of the month is fast approaching.  If you have not posted an update this month, please do so by Sunday morning.  I'll be posting the smilies and shoutouts on Sunday afternoon. 

[azucena]

Azucena: 1/9/15 $19,300 goal $39,300
1/14/15 $20,055
1/30/15 $21,257
2/27/15 $21,890

Deposited the remainder of my 2014 healthcare flexible spending reimbursement.  You wouldn't believe the headaches and hoops I went through to get my own money back.  This year, we finally switched to a debit card.  While I will miss the forced savings, I won't miss the paperwork involved.  And I'm on track and in a better place to save money so it's such a small amount it won't matter.

Looking fwd to the next couple of weeks, should find out my annual raise, bonus, and tax return.  Most of these will go directly into savings in anticipation of moving next spring.

[Jaguar]

Upward and onward, I'm getting there.    

Saving Funds	Goals	Current	% Saved	Woo Hoo
TV Fund	$510	$510	100%
Moving Fund	$1300	$753.05	58%	?
Gateway Voyage	$4690	$0	0%	?
Mattress Fund	$2300	$0	0%	?
GRAND TOTAL	$8,800	$1263.05	14.4%	?

Sugilite - 2/28/2015 - $1263.05 - [NEW GOAL - $8,800]     =

[teachermom]

Update.....no new savings for Feb. Money still very tight and working on debt. Still have my homeless student with me but tomorrow she will be moving in with a cousin and as of March 1st will be getting her own money. Cost me a bit for food, etc. Also had to get her some underwear and socks as this poor kid had none. Also had to buy her a pair of scrub pants (she is in the CNA program at our skills center and will graduate in June with her CNA and her high school diploma. )

My son is finished student teaching and found out yesterday that he passed the portfolio portion so now just paperwork and finding a job. He should be able to sub the rest of there year in a few weeks once all the paper is processed. In the meantime, I completed his taxes and he will get his federal on Monday of which he will be giving me $750. He will also have a state return coming and will be giving me some of that. Once he starts subbing we will work on a plan for what he can pay to help out.

My taxes should be done this weekend. I will get a return and will fund some of my savings with it as I really need to get some of that saved because those expenses will happen....tires, car maintenance, roof repair, etc. The rest will go to debt.

Once my student is moved and settled, will go back to selling things.

Great job on meeting your savings goals everyone!!

Teachermom

[Saving4Norway]

Fund	2015 Goals	Last Month	This Month	% Met	Roses
Iceland Flight	$4,000	$4,000	$4,000	100%	Jan
Iceland Expenses	$3,000	$1,750	$3,000	100%	March
Vehicles	$2,000	$2,000	$2,000	100%	Jan
Harley Trip	$2,000	$500	$1,000	50%
Gifts&Donations	$2,000	$500	$500	25%
Palm Springs	$2,000	$2,000	$2,000	100%	Jan
Wallace,ID	$1,000	$1,000	$1,000	100%	Jan
Cultural	$1,000	$250	$250	25%
Vacay Prop	$1,000	$250	$250	25%
Christmas	$500	$250	$500	100%	March
Oleana	$250	$0	$0	0%
Quilting	$250	$0	$0	0%
Sisu (& sister?)	$3,000	$2,000	$2,000	67%
Home Improvement	$5,000	$2,500	$2,500	50%
TOTAL	$27,000	$17,000	$19,000	70%

Saving4Norway 3/02/15 $19,000 (Goal $27,000)

[Saving4Norway]

Hmmm, how do you make a chart, MPL?

[forwardwego]

UPDATE  2/28/2015 $2660 (goal $11378)

fund 2015	present	goal	% met	$$ needed
rental EF	380	5000	7	4620
homestead EF	1140	2000	57	860
vehicle EF	600	1000	60	400
tree removal	140	1200	11	1060
truck tires	40	800	5	760
52 week challenge*	360	1378	26	1018
totals	2660	11378	23	8718

*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+21+40+50+49+24+47 =360

Eager to accomplish another $185 in savings soon so I can get my 25%  

I am due to get $830 escrow refund in the next 30 days. Last year I anticipated a big increase in real estate taxes and paid extra to the escrow. The increase didn't happen for 2014 But will for sure happen in 2015. But instead of just mailing it back to the escrow
I think I'll hold it in my EF.  put it in the tree removal account since that is urgent. I can get the tree down in March and get rid of that particular stress. It is amazing how much clearer things are when they are written down.  

Keep up the good work savers 

[seriousthistime]

	2/28/2015	Goal	% Saved	Roses
Deferred purchases	$746	$2,075	35.9%
CC paydown	$0	$8,500	0%
EF	$600	$1,000	60.0%
Gifts	$653	$2,600	25.1%
Utilities	$40	$280	14.3%
Weekly Savings	$270	$1,378	19.5%
Total	$2,309	$14,498	15.9%

Serious this time, 2/28/15, $2,309 (Goal $14,498)


Hi all, still plugging away here.  I got my federal income tax refund already.  I did my taxes about a week ago, so that's some kind of record.  The state website says their refunds are taking three weeks or more due to some kind of new anti-fraud measures.  Neither refund was so large that I would be hyperventilating while waiting for it to arrive.  

I recently bought a wedding shower gift and wedding gift online, using some of the money I've saved for gifts.  The wedding's not till summer, the shower sometime this spring, and by having the money available now and earmarked for gifts, I could buy both gifts online, get free shipping (if bought separately, I would have had to pay shipping on the shower gift), and I got pretty much my pick of items on the bride's registry.  I hate going on gift registries and finding that everything in my price range is gone.

Weekly savings -- I'm saving $53 every two weeks. It's the based on what would be the first two weeks of the year regardless of whether I was going from lowest to highest or vice versa ($52 + $1).  Since it's the same amount every two weeks, I've set it for automatic deposit every payday. 

I'm envious of those who have big windfalls expected in the next few months.  Bonuses, big income tax refunds, lottery winnings  , etc.  Between the tortoise and the hare, I'm more like the tortoise.

[Ombud]

French Horn's up $500 to 3k, we might be getting 'spenditis' -- can I blame it on 2 windfalls in 1 month? Do I need a smackdown?

Feb 21, 2015 0:35:09 GMT -5 Ombud said:

REFUND DEPOSITED
12K Alaska
2K Ireland
2.5k 3k Horn - partial @ 1790
6.5k Roth - partial @ 4790
1k Volunteer in Israel
Last: 6 5.5k emergency fund

Ombud $20,580 (6k on 1/1/15, Goal 30k) - 68%

And 2nd job may indeed end before goals reached

[Jaguar]

I looked at my budget and next month I'll be just $80 from a second rose. Woo Hoo