Women in Red Savers 2015

[megaptera]

UPDATE

megaptera: 2/28/2015 $3,500 [1/1/2015 $0.00 / Goal: $15,000]

Happy weekend!

[Deleted]

Feb 28, 2015 2:06:32 GMT -5 Saving4Norway said:

Hmmm, how do you make a chart, MPL?

I created the chart in Excel and just posted a pic of it.

[seriousthistime]

Shoutouts!

Saving4Norway, you are an amazing inspiration for all of us!  What is your secret for saving so much? You will be at your goal before you know it.  Will you revise your goal upward, start a new saving race, or sit tight for the rest of the year?

Bankergurl, the closest casino to me is 1.5 hours away and I have never been to it, but I am in awe of your casino success.  After I read your post about the luck at the slots, I had a dream that I was in Vegas playing the Sex In The City slot machine, as Carrie Bradshaw, and I won $453,000 plus a Corvette!  I go to Vegas once a year and have mixed success at the slots. I live for free spins! Question: If you saved $2,500 for property tax and spent $2,300, why does your current balance for that fund say $0?  VERY EXCITING NEWS about the move!  Best of luck to you as you set off on this new phase of your life.

Ombud, I know people have been after WW for years because of its flagrant violations of FLSA. Glad you finally got compensation for the work you did.  The smartest people find a balance in their lives. Life is not all about saving, saving, saving. All savings will eventually be spent on something.  I say go for balance in your life. At your grandson's level of music talent, buying a good horn is important.  You don't want him to outgrow it and then have to buy an even more expensive horn, so I think you are making a wise decision. 

acemom, baby steps lead eventually to giant steps, so keep at it!  You are doing so VERY well.  It is easy to compare our success, or lack of it, to others.  But we are not all equally situated and we each have different challenges, financially and otherwise.  Keep at it!  

Sugilite, good for you for staying in savings mode.  When do you think the TV will be reduced to a price that will cause you to act?  Second rose is waiting in the wings for you, ready to bloom on your chart when the time is right!  (Are the critters gone?)

snapdragon, I know the windshield bummed you out, but look at you -- you're back, stronger than ever!  Nice recovery.  Seems there's always something ready to get us down.  Murphy lurks around everyone's corner. 

Steph08, welcome!  I am calculating your progress toward your goal rather than your stretch goal. When people meet their goal and increase it, they get a banana for the first goal and then a second banana for meeting the increased goal.  Looking forward having you be a two-banana Saver!

speechchick71, your weekly challenge is breathtaking.   I'm looking forward to seeing your progress. Yes, I love paydays for exactly the reason you describe.  I usually arrange my online payments at least a week prior to paydays (which for me are every two weeks).  

forwardwego, you are inspiration as always!  I love seeing you hopscotch around the weeks in your weekly savings challenge. You did very well at your garage sale!  How did it feel to see all that stuff leave your house?  Even better that you managed to donate to the rescue group!  Tree removal -- ugh. What kind of tree?  I have a crabapple tree that I need to have removed and would like to get that done as soon as the snow is gone, before the hostas come up. 

scrgrl47, I'm impressed that you have your deductible in your HSA already.  Looking forward to seeing how you attack that EF goal!  Watching the numbers increase is a great motivator!

mikosmommy, I don't have you down with a savings goal yet.  I want to add you to the chart, even if the money is not in savings yet.  Cash in the piggy bank can also be savings.  Why don't you consider starting the race with $1,378 as your goal, and count up the money you're setting aside toward it in whatever form it may be in (savings, cash -- anything but wishful thinking)?  Can I suggest this for a tagline for the first 8 weeks of the year:  mikosmommy, XX/XX/2015, $36 (1/1/2015, $0, Goal $1,378)?  If so, please post it and I'll pick you up with the next update. 

runsmarathons, you can modify your goal date or modify your goal amount, either, neither, or both. How you keep track is up to you.  I suggest whichever would be more motivating. Seattle in June sounds great!  How's the training going?

teachermom, I know you're going through a challenging time.  I am so impressed that you allowed a student to move in with you, knowing how tight things are for you and what a hit your budget would take.  You are an amazingly caring person.  There is room for every sort of inspiration here, and you are a winner in my book. May good karma come back to you a thousandfold!  Sounds as if your money situation will ease quite a bit during the next few months, with your income tax refunds and your son's subbing!  

sealy, "Do.  Or do not.  There is no try."  Who said that?   You are trying, and you will do, because without trying there can be no doing.  So says seriousthistime. (Does that make sense?) 

minnesotapaintlady, nice going on the insurance savings.  Wow!  State Farm is also great on paying claims compared to other insurance companies.  That's an eye-popping bar chart you've got going! You do so well saving money on what I've gathered is a tight budget.  Do you have any secrets you'd care to share?

shanendoah, a tip of the hat to you for taking on another foster child.  And taking that child to Disney! Honestly, if I could give an award for "most caring,"  I would give it to you and teachermom! P.S. Why is your dog still wearing the "cone of shame"?

azucena, I like forced savings too, but there must be a better way without all the paperwork headaches.  Fingers crossed for a good raise and bonus!

megaptera, nice job saving this month!  Your tag line doesn't reflect it, but my records do -- $1,500 saved in February?!?  Wow, nice.

Attention all Savers:  Please remember to put in tag lines or at least a total line in your chart.  And if you are posting only a tag line and not a chart to go with it, remember you will have to tell me if you've earned any roses because otherwise I have no way to tell.

"Save on," Savers!

[Jaguar]

Mar 1, 2015 15:15:47 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

Shoutouts!



Sugilite, good for you for staying in savings mode.  When do you think the TV will be reduced to a price that will cause you to act?  Second rose is waiting in the wings for you, ready to bloom on your chart when the time is right!  (Are the critters gone?)

"Save on," Savers!

I check every Friday to see if the prices have been reduced, not yet and I'm clueless when it will actually happen.

More poison was put into the hole on Friday, it's quieter than the last poison application. I'm at the point if I hear a lot of noise I complain, but if they are there making a small amount of noise that's when I ignore it. I had a squeaker, it sounding like the damn smoke alarm going off all the time. So I complained about that one.

I want to get another rose, I also want to get $1500 in my account so I don't have to pay a fee. Yes it's all small stuff, but small amounts need to be saved too.

[NastyWoman]

Feb 28, 2015 23:24:22 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Feb 28, 2015 2:06:32 GMT -5 Saving4Norway said:

Hmmm, how do you make a chart, MPL?

I created the chart in Excel and just posted a pic of it.

Norway, if you are using excel on a PC, just select the data you want to show in the chrat, hit F11 (which will create a graph on a new sheet), right click inside the chart and chose graph style. And presto... Your graph is done 

[Deleted]

Mar 1, 2015 15:15:47 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

minnesotapaintlady, nice going on the insurance savings.  Wow!  State Farm is also great on paying claims compared to other insurance companies.  That's an eye-popping bar chart you've got going! You do so well saving money on what I've gathered is a tight budget.  Do you have any secrets you'd care to share?

No real secrets since most of that savings is windfalls that I just shipped off right away and pretended didn't exist.  But, having a complete budget and sinking funds helps avoid raiding savings later.  I used to save, save, save, but have to keep pulling it out for things that "came up".  I plan for that stuff better now. 

[seriousthistime]

	Stars	Name	Amt Saved	Goal	% Saved	Roses	Smilies
1		acemom	$1,444	$7,000	20.6%
2		azucena	$21,890	$39,300	55.7%
3		bankergurl	$28,228	$30,880	91.4%
4		DVM gone riding	$1,500	$12,800	11.7%
5		dogmom	$200	$2,600	7.7%
6		forwardwego	$2,660	$11,378	23.0%
7		megaptera	$3,500	$15,000	23.3%
8		minnesota paintlady	$13,550	$17,900	75.7%
9		Ombud	$20,850	$30,000	68.0%
10		runmarathons	$16,774	$30,000	55.9%
11		Saving4 Norway	$19,000	$27,000	70.0%
12		scrgrl47	$2,864	$19,820	14.5%
13		sealy	$400	$21,500	2.0%
14		seriousthis time	$2,309	$14,498	15.9%
15		shanendoah	$5,159	$15,500	33.3%
16		snapdragon	$4,214	$6,500	64.8%
17		speechchick71	$535	$20,005	3.0%
18		Steph08	$2,849	$6,478	44.0%
19		Sugilite	$1,263	$8,800	14.4%
20		teachermom	$0	$3,000	0.0%
21		tobinukui	$750	$9,000	8.3%

Remember: Stars are for meeting 25% of your total goal. Roses are for meeting one individual goal. Smilies are based on the total amount saved. The key is found in the first few messages on page 1.

dogmom, I need an update from you, and please confirm your goal of $2,600.  

coffeegirl, I need an update and goal from you. 

teachermom, you are on the hook now.  I've put you on the smilies list, so -- vroom vroom -- get racing!

[shanendoah]

shanendoah 3/02/2015 $6,811.91 (Start: $5,051.10 / Goal: $15,500)

Fund	Current Balance	Starting Balance	Goal Amount	% Saved
Pop Tart College	$1,296.38	$1,061.10	$2,500.00	51.86%
Vacation	$3,000.00	$3,000.00	$3,000.00	100.00%
House	$2,515.53	$990.00	$10,000.00	25.16%
Total	$6,811.91	$5,051.10	$15,500.00	43.95%

Okay, February ended, and I had a better idea of where we were. We are pretty much on budget, and I was able to transfer $1,500 over to savings for the new house fund. I also put $125 (instead of just $100) in Pop Tart's fund. And we cash flowed the plane ticket for Cupcake, so vacation fund is still sitting pretty at it's full $3k. (I also feel like I'm cheating, since, with the exception of Pop Tart's account, I don't actually have separate accounts for everything, so with emergency fund and vacation fully funded, I get to count all the interest toward the house fund.)

There will be another update this month as our tax return should come in. It won't be huge along the line of last year's return, but enough to move the needle some more. Plus, the rental property should go on the market sometime in the next couple of weeks, and when that sells, my numbers will suddenly look ridiculous. (And I'll have to re-evaluate goal dollars.)

seriousthistime - Little Larry is not still in his cone. I just LOVE that picture because the little squeaky from one of his toys his caught between his chin and the cone. I'll have to look and see if I have a more recent picture either of him, Junebug, or maybe one with the ratties.

[Saving4Norway]

Mar 1, 2015 16:57:49 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Feb 28, 2015 23:24:22 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I created the chart in Excel and just posted a pic of it.

Norway, if you are using excel on a PC, just select the data you want to show in the chrat, hit F11 (which will create a graph on a new sheet), right click inside the chart and chose graph style. And presto... Your graph is done 

Thank you, I'll try that at home tonight! : )

[teachermom]

Update: My son gave me $800 so far and I split $400 to debt, $400 to savings. I also mentioned earlier that I have money we have been saving towards a trip to Thailand.....it is family money (my kids contribute as well). We won't be going on the trip until we have saved the money (only showing what I think we will save up this year too). I didn't have it in my original or the starting $1000 that I put in my EF at the end of last year but it is in my table.....so I am updating my table and my goals to reflect it. Hope that doesn't mess anything up.

Saving 2014
Fund	Goals	Beg Bal	March 2015	YTD	Spent	End Bal	% Met
Savings
Emergency Fund - Minor	$1,500.00	$1,000.00	$1.18	$1,001.18	$0.00	$1,001.18	66.75%
Insurance - Deductible	$200.00	$0.05	$200.00	$200.05	$0.00	$200.05	100.03%
Roof	$500.00	$0.05	$0.00	$0.05	$0.00	$0.05	0.01%
New Tires	$400.00	$2.34	$200.00	$202.34	$0.00	$202.34	50.59%
Car Maintenance	$500.00	$0.05	$0.00	$0.05	$0.00	$0.05	0.01%
Plumbing updates	$400.00	$0.10	$0.00	$0.10	$0.00	$0.10	0.03%
Gifts	$500.00	$0.05	$0.00	$0.05	$0.00	$0.05	0.01%
Thailand Trip	$1,500.00	$535.00	$1.36	$536.36	$0.00	$536.36	35.76%
Total Savings	$5,500	$1,537.64	$402.54	$1,940.18	$0.00	$1,940.18	35.28%

I have 1 met 1 goal which was the insurance deductible. Important to me because I had to pay it 2x's last year and I wasn't prepared for it either time.....so that was $200. The other $200 went to tires. I recently had to buy 2...so this is for the other 2.

Feeling a little more in control. My student is moved into her new home and I can start getting my life organized again.

3/3/2015 $1940.18 (1/1/2015 $1000.00, Goal $5500.00)

Teachermom

[seriousthistime]

Yay teachermom!  I'll pick you up on the smilies at the end of March. Looks like so far yo've got one   and one   too!

[auburnsky]

Hi ladies new here, a couple months late to the party ? but I've been lurking and feeling very inspired to join! I'm so close to paying off my cc debt so my next goal is to build up my EF. I'm really excited about it since my EF is a measly $1000 right now. My ultimate goal is 15k but for this year ill be happy with $5000. Should I set my goal at 5k (this year) or 15k (ultimate goal)?

So I set up an automatic transfer into my capital one account for the EF starting in April and I also want to do a modified 52 wk challenge by adding what I can every week from my $20 blow/week. Started last week and I already have $29 in there, not bad! $20 from my blow and $9 I found around the house. Oh and I also need to save $3600 for property taxes.

Current Goal
EF $1000 $5000/$15000
Taxes 0 $3600
52 wk $29 $1000

Auburnsky 3/4/15 $1029 (3/4/15 $1029, goal $9600)

Does this format look ok?

[Deleted]

auburnsky  Several of my savings goals are several years out (like replacement vehicle and cruise with my boys) but I set my goals for the year not the ultimate one. One thing I've learned over the years is that emotions play so much into finances.  The feeling of accomplishment in meeting the short-term goals on the way towards the long-term larger ones is very motivating and keeps me from burning out. 

At the end of the year, seeing I met 100% of my goals is going to be a huge lift rather than 25% even if the savings number is the same. 

[Jaguar]

Welcome to Your Money and More auburnsky.

[Saving4Norway]

AuburnSky, You asked... "Should I set my goal at 5k (this year) or 15k (ultimate goal)?" 

My two cents is... it doesn't matter to us which way you look at it so do what will be motivating to you. I'm in the same camp as MinnesotaPaintLady. I could batch all of my travel savings into one big lump but I find that it is more motivating for me to look at it one trip at a time, or even one expense at a time. 

I'm happy to hear that you'll soon be setting up an automatic transfer to fund your EF! By "paying yourself first", almost like a monthly bill, you won't be temped to spend it. That's what I've done for over two decades and it's great - you just set it, and forget it. And before you know it, you've got $19,000 in your savings account! 

[seriousthistime]

auburnsky, welcome!  I agree with the others, just do whichever is more motivating to you.  If you set your goal to meet it by the end of the year and then meet it early, you can set a higher goal.  Or if you want to set a high goal now and then reduce it, you can do that too.  

Whatever works -- just as long as you're saving!

[acemom]

UPDATE:  acemom 3/5/2015 1,744.60 Goal $7,000.00  )

UPDATE	Goal	3/5/2015
Christmas 2015	$  1,000.00	$     296.43	$     703.57
Sister Wedding	$     300.00	$               -	$     300.00
Sister Bachelorette Party	$     200.00	$               -	$     200.00
Sister Shower	$     250.00	$               -	$     250.00
House	$     500.00	$     389.33	$     110.67
Misc Savings	$     500.00	$     730.62	$   (230.62)
Dog	$     300.00	$               -	$     300.00
Car Maintenance	$     500.00	$               -	$     500.00
Summer Camp	$  1,500.00	$        25.02	$  1,474.98
52 week savings	$  1,378.00	$     303.20	$  1,074.80
Vacation	$     572.00	$               -	$     572.00

Taxes have been deposited.  I will decide how to split them up after I pay off some of my CC debt.  

[scrgrl47]

Update! scrgrl47 3/5/2015 $4,497.75 (Start: $42.04 / Goal: $19,820)

Fund	Start	Last Update	Saved Since	Current Balance	Total Saved	Goal
HSA	$0.00	$1,180.76	$180.76	$1,361.52	$1,361.52	$3,300.00
Rowing	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$2,000.00
Retirement	$0.00	$980.75	$663.44	$1,644.19	$1,644.19	$7,500.00
Car	$0.00	$360.00	$240.00	$600.00	$600.00	$3,120.00
Vacations	$0.00	$300.00	$200.00	$500.00	$500.00	$2,400.00
EF	$42.04	$42.04	$350.00	$392.04	$350.00	$1,500.00
Total	$42.04	$2,863.55	$1,634.20	$4,497.75	$4,455.71	$19,820.00

[forwardwego]

UPDATE  3/6/2015 $2868 (goal $11378)

fund 2015	present	goal	% met	$$ needed
rental EF	500	5000	10	4500
homestead EF	1160	2000	58	840
vehicle EF	600	1000	60	400
tree removal	150	1200	12	1050
truck tires	50	800	6	750
52 week challenge*	408	1378	29	970
totals	2868	11378	25	8510

*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 +48=408

Bingo! Got my 25%  


Keep up the good work savers 


Thank you  seriousthistime for the updates and shoutouts

[speechchick71]

UPDATE: speechchick71 3/6/15 $750 (goal=$20,005, started 1/1/2015)

	22-Feb	6-Mar	Goal	How much to go	% Met
Weekly Challenge	$360.00	$550.00	$13,780.00	$13,230.00	4%
$25/week	$175.00	$200.00	$725.00	$525.00	28%
Roth 2015	$0.00	$0.00	$5,500.00	$5,500.00	0%
	-	-	-	-
Totals	$535.00	$750.00	$20,005.00	$19,255.00	4%

Almost "interest-bearing debt free" on the other board (except for my car which I'm not racing at this time). Then the real numbers should begin!

[azucena]

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

Moved into a new tax bracket so my refund was about half of what it was last year - good problem to have though and I expected it.

Still waiting on my raise and bonus amounts - I've heard rumors that they are released as of yesterday so I expect to find out soon.  Headed on spring break on Friday with my family so would be nice to leave with extra good news.

[steph08]

I caught up on the 52 week challenge. I hoped to knock out some of the higher weeks, but you know how it goes. You have a little extra cash and then a dentist bill comes in, then a tax bill (that I forgot about - for land we own in another township). At least I was able to cash flow them and not take it out of savings.

I hit 25% toward the college savings goal (and the stretch too). Woohoo!

UPDATE: steph0808 3/11/2015 $3,057.00 2/4/2015 $3,057.00 Goal: $6,478 Stretch Goal: $7,630

	Previous	Added	Current	% Toward Goal	% Toward Stretch Goal
Disney	2,700.00	0.00	2,700.00	67.5%	54.0%
52 week challenge	15.00	40.00	55.00	4.0%	3.8%
College Fund	134.00	168.00	302.00	27.5%	25.2%
	2,849.00	208.00	3,057.00	47.2%	40.1%

Saved this update $208.00
Total Saved $3,057.00




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

[forwardwego]

UPDATE  3/13/2015 $3004 (goal $11378)

fund 2015	present	goal	% met	$$ needed
rental EF	500	5000	10	4500
homestead EF	1180	2000	59	820
vehicle EF	630	1000	63	370
tree removal	160	1200	13	1040
truck tires	80	800	10	720
52 week challenge*	454	1378	32	924
totals	3004	11378	26	8374

*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 +48+46=454

I'm trying to knock off the highest amounts in the weekly challenge first. It's fun to watch that grow since it is savings without a specific thing tied to it yet  Very fun.


Feeling good about over $3K and all goals are at least 10% met 


Keep up the good work savers 

[Ombud]

Progress made with today's deposit. It's been 2 paychecks:
12K Alaska
2K Ireland
2.5k Horn
6.5k Roth next to go
1k Volunteer in Israel
Last: 6k emergency fund

Ombud $22,500 (6k on 1/1/15, Goal 30k) - 75%

[auburnsky]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys and for your opinions on goals. I think I will go ahead and set my goals for this year and make my goal more attainable and keep me motivated. So I'll keep my EF goal at $5000.

In the last couple of weeks, I added $200 to my EF and for the weekly challenge, I added $67 one week and $15 the other week. My husband even got excited by the weekly challenge and gave me some of his spare $$from his blow! Woohoo! Here's my update for now but will be adding to it once I get my taxes (hopefully next week).

Auburnsky: 3/16/15 $1,311 (3/4/15 $1,029, goal $9600)

ETA these details:

EF current $1200. Goal $5000
Prop taxes current $0 Goal $3600
52 wk chall current $111 Goal $1000

[forwardwego]

seriousthistime Thanks again for the thoughtful, thought provoking shoutouts.

As much as I hate preparing for and holding a garage sale, I love purging stuff out, making a little $$, and recycling to others who will use it. It worked out great that one of my garage sale customers got me the info for the greyhound rescue group...they came the next day and picked up everything that was left except an old TV which apparently is worth -$5, you have to pay to have them taken away . I set it at the curb and luckily it grew legs and walked. 

The tree we need to have taken down is a water oak I believe. That fund needs to be much higher, but if necessary I could combine the homestead EF with the tree removal fund. 

It's such a balancing act trying to pay down debt AND trying to save. My car debt/race is now $9100. And I told myself when it's under $10K I'll feel better and can relax about that, and keep more focus on savings. Well I felt better briefly but can't say I'm relaxed about it. 

I'm in a bit of a holding pattern waiting for the results from the tax accountant. 2014 was our first year with rental property income, so I feel uncertain. Hoping our bottom line is something close to break even. I think I'll hear from her this week, today would be awesome. I'm telling myself I'll relax after that, but I think I'm tricking myself again   

[forwardwego]

auburnsky Welcome. I agree...if a goal feels attainable but motivating/challenging then you are in the right ballpark. Nice that your DH is on board too! Where are you from? I'm originally from Ohio where we referred to other people (male or female) as "guys". I've been in Florida for 36 years and have gradually shifted to "you all".


Ombud 75% met is A-MA-ZING 


steph08 Nice update moving forward $208, and cashflowing some unplanned expenses 

azucena Nice update blowing past the 50% mark 


speechchick71 Congrats on your update. You are gonna be a weekly challenge power house.  

scrgrl47 wow. Nice update at almost 25% 


acemom and teachermom nice progress in spite of challenging times   

shanendoah nice update w/ $1500 progress in the house fund 

Jaguar yep saving (lots of) small amounts is the key 

megaptera nice update, on target for reaching your goal in @ 9 months!!!

[Saving4Norway]

Don't you love it when you run out of money before you run out of month? AND, it's only the 18th!! 

[forwardwego]

Mar 18, 2015 16:04:35 GMT -5 Saving4Norway said:

Don't you love it when you run out of money before you run out of month? AND, it's only the 18th!! 

Raspberries ... I hate when that happens 

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What are the rules about taking money out of savings goals?

My older son is taking a scout trip next Fall that they estimate will cost $1300.  I set a goal of $500 to save for this year.  Going to do $500 again next year and hoping he can raise at least the other $300 on his own.  It should be more than that, but anything extra will be gravy.

Anyhow, they have to put a $100 deposit down tonight.  I only have $200 in that category so far.  Do I reduce that to $100?  Or leave it since it's going towards what I'm saving it for?