Women in Red Savers 2016

[sealy]

Turns out I actually have $900 in my savings account.

[teachermom]

Update....love that I was able to make huge progress on savings this month....however....unless I get my butt in gear and get stuff listed and sold....going to be slow growing. Some of my categories that I drained to pay off credit cards, need to have money as they will be needed this year still....so I just added that amount to my EF-major as I won't get that fully funded this year and will spend out of it. At 41.81% for the year so that is exciting!! Better get to work!!! Time to sell some stuff and keep boosting my savings!!

Savings 2016
Fund	Goals	Previous Bal	June 2016	YTD	Spent	End Bal	% Met
Emergency Fund - Minor	$1,000.00	$1,000.00	$0.00	$1,000.00	$1,000.00	$0.00	100.00%
Emergency Fund - Major	$5,000.00	$330.00	$1,558.42	$1,888.42	$330.00	$1,558.42	37.77%
Insurance - Deductible	$200.00	$200.00	$0.00	$200.00	$200.00	$0.00	100.00%
Roof	$2,000.00	$0.00	$300.00	$300.00	$0.00	$300.00	15.00%
New Tires	$200.00	$200.00	$0.00	$200.00	$200.00	$0.00	100.00%
Car Maintenance	$1,000.00	$300.00	$200.00	$500.00	$300.00	$200.00	50.00%
Plumbing updates	$500.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%
Gifts	$1,200.00	$100.00	$100.00	$200.00	$100.00	$100.00	16.67%
Spring break trip	$500.00	$500.00	$0.00	$500.00	$500.00	$0.00	100.00%
Grand Canyon trip	$500.00	$500.00	$0.00	$500.00	$500.00	$0.00	100.00%
Summer trip	$1,000.00	$707.03	$292.97	$1,000.00	$0.00	$1,000.00	100.00%
Hawaii trip	$2,000.00	$25.00	$0.00	$25.00	$25.00	$0.00	1.25%
Total Savings	$15,100.00	$3,862.03	$2,451.39	$6,313.42	$3,155.00	$3,158.42	41.81%

Teachermom 6/6/2016 $6313.42 (1/1/2016 $0.00, Goal $15,100.00)

Teachermom

[forwardwego]

UPDATE 6/10/2016 $12420 (goal $24000)

2016 FUND	Present	Goal	% Met	$$$ Needed
Homestead EF	2020	2000	101
Vehicle XF	800	1500	53	700
Medical XF	800	1500	53	700
Retirement Gap	1300	9600	13	8300
SL Payoff	5000	5000	100
DD Wedding Pt 1	1100	2000	55	900
Rusty J Boxer Pt 1	600	1000	60	400
Weekly Challenge*	800	1400	57	600
TOTALS	12420	24000	51	11600

*Weekly challenge/53 Friday summary

1	2	3	X	5	6	7	8	9	X
11	12	13	X	X	X	17	18	19	X
X	22	23	X	25	X	27	28	29	X
31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	X
X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
X	X	22

14+10+22+24+20+4+50+16+40+52
+48+30+15+21+51+49+47+46+41
+45+44+43+42+26=800

Very happy to be "over goal" on the homestead EF. We are still nursing along our crippled garage door, so without an account established for that the money for the eventual replacement will have to come out of the homestead EF, weekly savings challenge or the monthly snowball. 

Also looking for advice. There is a house in my territory at work that sits on the riverfront. The widow lady who lived there died last year. We had become friends, she was an awesome lady. The house has sold, and word has it the buyer bought it for the land value and plans to tear down the house and build new. Makes me sad, but Mrs. C had indicated she knew that's how it would unfold.
Well there's a rather big circle drive there made of bricks that Mrs. C and her husband had installed totally on their own. I want to ask the new owner if I can have the bricks or buy them for a low price if I remove them myself. Our home needs a new driveway and i could use bricks for walkways and a patio. So, my questions How much should I be willing to pay for the bricks? How do I approach the new homeowner (who do not live there but from tax records I do know where they live). And has any of you ever laid pavers or bricks? And if I am able to acquire the bricks, how do I stack/store them until I use them?? 

[seriousthistime]

forwardwego, someone in my area was giving away a supply of bricks a few years ago.  I got a couple of trunks full of bricks, which I used to line a fence at the ground level to keep the neighbors' little dogs from trying to crawl under the fence, and also to bury/line my patio so I could mow close to the patio without having to trim.  At my old house I had brick edging along the gardens.  I also hoped to do that.  It was backbreaking work, and I didn't even have to dig up the bricks.  I had to make two trips because the bricks weighted down my trunk so much the back end was really low.  Then I stacked them in my garage.  I finally got some installed and gave the rest away to someone else who planned to do the same thing I planned to do but never had the time or energy. 

It's not an easy thing to install brick patios and sidewalks.  I suggest you talk to someone in your climate/area about what's involved.  In the colder areas where I live, we need to carefully excavate down about 6 inches, put small gravel and then sand into the excavated area, pack it down really well, and then lay the pavers or bricks.  In a warm, sandy area I'm not sure what would be involved.  

Let us know what you decide.

[azucena]

Previous updates

3/29 deposited bonus of $2671 for a total of $38,511
4/4 federal tax refund $510, jumped into a new tax bracket (yay, boo) so refund was less than expected but I really shouldn't complain $39,021
4/8 $550 from paycheck $39,571 I think this is a new record for my savings account, I know for sure $40,000 will be
4/18 State tax refund of $493 for a total of $40,064 (new personal record)
4/22 paycheck transfer of $100 for a total of $40,164
5/3 withdrawal of -166.11 for a total of $40,000 (cc payment was due)
5/6 paycheck transfer of $675 for a total of $40,675 (new personal record)

5/11 daycare reimbursement $830 for a total of $41,505
5/20 paycheck transfer of $100 for a total of $41,605
6/3 paycheck transfer of $1003 for a total of $42,608

New updates

6/8 daycare reimbursement of $166 for a total of $42,774

Still need to work on plugging spending holes. We've gotten into the habit of putting most things on the credit card each month. Even though we pay it off completely, I feel like we spend more this way than if we would rely on our debit cards and tracking what's actually in our checking account. I thought I was going to be able to move a few hundred more to savings this morning but the credit card bill is already $900 with more than half the month's cycle remaining. Definitely something to focus on, but may be a conflict because I'm the saver and my husband is the spender.  He recently got a $1.25/hour raise which is a big deal as a preschool teacher and it should definitely allow us to save more. If I project fwd for the rest of the month, we should be able to save quite a bit more. Need to keep from spending it. Also realized that July is a three paycheck month for me which means I net about $500 extra because the deductions aren't taken out.

We owe $134k on our house, so even with 5% commission we may actually walk away with a few thousand which would be so awesome.

[forwardwego]

Good Morning  Fellow Savers 

A couple Questions for all : Based on the old saying "Success breeds success" 

What would you say is your earliest or most successful effort in saving??

How can you use that or those specific accomplishments to build even more savings success now




ETA: re the bricks, I sent a note to the new homeowner, no response, and yesterday I saw a bulldozer starting on the garage 

[seriousthistime]

I think one of my first successes with saving on my own was getting an ING account and setting up separate savings accounts for each purpose. 

During my marriage, our retirement was secure through XH's public employment with its defined benefit pension plan.* We saved a little outside the plan via IRAs and so forth.  When the divorce hit, I realized how screwed I was. At that point I'd only been back at work a few years, so I hadn't contributed to my own plan.  And during the l-o-n-g process of divorce I figured it was pointless to contribute to the 401(k) through work because I'd just have to split that money with XH.  Finally I decided to contribute up to the employer match.  I rationalized that I could keep what I put in, and he could get the match.  Once the divorce was final, I increased the amount I put into the 401(k) and continued to increase it steadily so that now I'm putting in the annual max.

The retirement savings came first, and very soon after the divorce I started the ING accounts.

I should add that XH made enough money that during our marriage we never had a savings account.  We cash-flowed the medium-sized expenses, figured the kids' college would be cash-flowed by my earnings because I would be going back to work when our oldest headed off to college, and XH had expensive tastes: cars, houses, vacations, and anything else that was outwardly a symbol of success. Spend-spend-spend left no room for save-save-save.  He and I came from the same sort of background (single parent back when it was not common, money always tight), but had entirely different philosophies on money.

* I will get a generous share of his pension when he retires.  He is not forced to retire at any particular age, and I can't tap into it on my own.  If he dies before he retires, his new wife gets the money.  (That's the rule of the pension plan.) If someone's spouse is a public employee, I suggest looking into what happens to the money if divorce is contemplated.  In some states, a divorcing spouse does not get any of the ex-spouse's public pension.


 

[seriousthistime]

forwardwego, I wonder if the new owners were concerned about you hurting yourself on their property while you were removing the bricks.  These days, if you put a claim through your own health insurance due to an accident-related injury (as opposed to sickness), they often ask you to fill out a form saying where it happened. If it's on someone else's property, they go after that homeowner's insurance. 

I've seen doctors for injuries that happened in my own yard (like once, when I scratched my eyeball with a small stick as I was putting raked leaves into a yard waste bag).  The insurance company wastes no time getting a form to me to fill out, asking how and where the injury happened.    

[seriousthistime]

Update

	Goal	Added	6/17/16	% Saved	Roses
Travel	$1,500	$60	$841	56.1%
Moving fund	$1,500	$210	$896	59.7%
Pet care	$3,120	$120	$1,440	46.2%
Weekly savings	$2,028	$78	$936	46.2%
Total	$8,148	$258	$3,855	47.3%

Seriousthistime, $3,855, 6/17/2016 (Goal $8,148)


Posting one day early to make sure I get this done. 

I sold another piece at the consignment shop, so that bumped up the moving fund a bit.  

I don't have any more big pieces of furniture I want to get rid of, so I'm going to make a regular deposit to the moving fund account from now until the rest of the year. I don't want to fall short of that goal. 

I've depleted the weekly savings with home maintenance and repairs. I had my house pressure washed (BADLY needed); hired someone to mow the lawn weekly (I am SO glad I don't have to worry about that anymore); had the gutters cleaned; and hired someone else to get my gardens in shape and keep them that way (they look really lovely!).  Next, the plumber needs to come out and fix a few little things. 

[forwardwego]

seriousthistime, excellent point. I hadn't thought about the liability for the homeowner. 

[forwardwego]

UPDATE 6/17/2016 $12559 (goal $24000)

2016 FUND	Present	Goal	% Met	$$$ Needed
Homestead EF	2030	2000	101
Vehicle XF	800	1500	53	700
Medical XF	800	1500	53	700
Retirement Bridge	1350	9600	14	8250
SL Payoff	5000	5000	100
DD Wedding Pt 1	1120	2000	56	880
Rusty J Boxer Pt 1	620	1000	62	380
Weekly Challenge*	839	1400	59	561
TOTALS	12559	24000	52	11471

*Weekly challenge/53 Friday summary

1	2	3	X	5	6	7	8	9	X
11	12	13	X	X	X	17	18	19	X
X	22	23	X	25	X	27	28	29	X
31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	X	X
X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
X	X	22

14+10+22+24+20+4+50+16+40+52
+48+30+15+21+51+49+47+46+41
+45+44+43+42+26+39=839

Very happy the retirement bridge climbed from 13% to 14%, and total went from 51% to 52%
Getting those bigger goals to bump up a percent feels satisfying 

[azucena]

Previous updates

3/29 deposited bonus of $2671 for a total of $38,511
4/4 federal tax refund $510, jumped into a new tax bracket (yay, boo) so refund was less than expected but I really shouldn't complain $39,021
4/8 $550 from paycheck $39,571  I think this is a new record for my savings account, I know for sure $40,000 will be
4/18 State tax refund of $493 for a total of $40,064 (new personal record)
4/22 paycheck transfer of $100 for a total of $40,164
5/3 withdrawal of -166.11 for a total of $40,000 (cc payment was due)
5/6 paycheck transfer of $675 for a total of $40,675 (new personal record)
5/11 daycare reimbursement $830 for a total of $41,505
5/20 paycheck transfer of $100 for a total of $41,605
6/3 paycheck transfer of $1003 for a total of $42,608
6/8 daycare reimbursement deposit of $166 for a total of $42,774

New update

6/17 paycheck transfer of $660 for a total of $43,434

[Ombud]

Jun 16, 2016 8:50:44 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

If someone's spouse is a public employee, I suggest looking into what happens to the money if divorce is contemplated.  In some states, a divorcing spouse does not get any of the ex-spouse's public pension. 

I had only been at county 4 yrs when we divorced and had put the full IRA contribution into his IRA at that time as well as supporting the family. So I took my pension, he got his IRA.

My mantra was to take all raises and:
1/3 retirement
1/3 debt until gone then lifestyle creep
1/3 savings

If I was to do it over:
1/4 retirement
1/4 debt
1/4 lifestyle creep
1/4 savings

[Deleted]

Jun 17, 2016 10:51:44 GMT -5 Ombud said:

Jun 16, 2016 8:50:44 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

If someone's spouse is a public employee, I suggest looking into what happens to the money if divorce is contemplated.  In some states, a divorcing spouse does not get any of the ex-spouse's public pension. 

I had only been at county 4 yrs when we divorced and had put the full IRA contribution into his IRA at that time as well as supporting the family. So I took my pension, he got his IRA.

My mantra was to take all raises and:
1/3 retirement
1/3 debt until gone then lifestyle creep
1/3 savings

If I was to do it over:
1/4 retirement
1/4 debt
1/4 lifestyle creep
1/4 savings

LOL

I'm laughing, because if you knew my raises...no splitting it 4 ways.  401K can only be increased by 1% intervals, so typically have to do 50% retirement, but I usually just do 100%.  

[Ombud]

Yeah, minnesotapaintlady, I discovered that after being in a 457 where we only had to increase by whole dollars. 401K's have difficult rules by comparison obviously. FWIW: most raises were nominal but every penny helps

[Saving4Norway]

Fund	2016 Goals	Last Month	This Month	% Met	Roses
Demark Trip	2000	0	0	0%
Vehicles	1000	0	0	0%
Gifts&Donations	2500	2000	2000	80%
MC Trips	3000	2500	3000	100%	June
Santiago 2019	2000	0	0	0%
Home Improvement	4500	2500	2750	61%
Cultural	2000	1500	2300	115%	March
Vacay Prop	1000	1000	1000	100%	April
Sisu	500	500	500	100%	February
Christmas & PS	500	250	250	50%
Quilting	500	0	0	0%
Seabrook	500	500	500	100%	April
TOTAL	20000	10750	12300	62%

Saving4Norway 6/3/16 $12,300 (Goal $20,000)

[forwardwego]

My earliest savings were as a kid, I had a piggy bank and a card that had slots for saving dimes. Later I had a "passbook" savings account. These savings allowed me to pay cash for my first car, a 1966 Pontiac Tempest bought in @ 1975 for $100. In 1978 I bought my second car, $900 cash for an early 70's Toyota Corolla. I would dearly love to get back to paying cash for cars.

[sealy]

forward I would love to pay cash for my cars too.

I used to save but then ended up giving it away.

[sealy]

my goal for this wirk year is to have both my CCs paid off by Dec so I can be debt free. I need to get my car fixed since my tags are due and I need to get a smog check.

[seriousthistime]

Update

	Goal	Added	6/22/16	% Saved	Roses
Travel	$1,500		$841	56.1%
Moving fund	$1,500	$80	$976	65.1%
Pet care	$3,120		$1,440	46.2%
Weekly savings	$2,028		$936	46.2%
Total	$8,148	$80	$4,193	52.7%

Seriousthistime, $4,193, 6/22/2016 (Goal $8,148)


Some unexpected money came my way.  Is it ridiculous that I get excited over an $80 windfall? 

[forwardwego]

Saving $80 IS exciting!
Good work savers!!

Waiting for my oil change, posting from my phone so excuse oddities

With summer here my pet sitting is picking up. I earned $140, then went shopping. Bought a purse and book satchel, and some pet supplies. Even though the bags were very nice and discounted (TJ Maxx) I knew I should save that $$. So I kept the pet supplies but returned the purse and satchel. So I am saving $85 which makes me glad. It is still a struggle to save instead of spend.

[forwardwego]

UPDATE 6/24/2016 $12677 (goal $24000)

2016 FUND	Present	Goal	% Met	$$$ Needed
Homestead EF	2040	2000	102
Vehicle XF	800	1500	53	700
Medical XF	800	1500	53	700
Retirement Bridge	1400	9600	14	8200
SL Payoff	5000	5000	100
DD Wedding Pt 1	1130	2000	56	870
Rusty J Boxer Pt 1	630	1000	63	370
Weekly Challenge*	877	1400	62	523
TOTALS	12677	24000	52	11323

*Weekly challenge/53 Friday summary

1	2	3	X	5	6	7	8	9	X
11	12	13	X	X	X	17	18	19	X
X	22	23	X	25	X	27	28	29	X
31	32	33	34	35	36	37	X	X	X
X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
X	X	22

14+10+22+24+20+4+50+16+40+52
+48+30+15+21+51+49+47+46+41
+45+44+43+42+26+39+38=877

Wow it's getting to the end of the month and halfway point of the year !!!     

Side note: Yesterday I was literally hauling the bricks. I finally got to talk to the homeowner and get some of the bricks from the demolished house's driveway. A bunch of them apparently went into the dumpster, but I'm taking what I can get. Could be one of my first retirement projects. Will need to find the right help... combination of knowledgeable and affordable.

[seriousthistime]

Thinking of you hauling bricks makes my back ache!

And my back aches plenty on its own.  I started to clean out my garage yesterday.  Today I'm back at it. 

[seriousthistime]

ATTENTION SAVERS!!!


The end of the month is approaching.  Please get your updates in by Saturday, July 2.  I aim to post the smilies the morning of July 3.  forwardwego will do the shoutouts sometime after that. 

To all who are escaping for a long weekend, please try to get your updates in sometime this week. 

[Deleted]

Update for July...plugging along.  

Fund	2016 Goal	Current	Needed	% Comp.
2016 Roth	$5500	$5500	$0	100.00%
2017 Roth	$5500	$5000	$500	90.91%
Replacement Car	$3600	$3600	$0	100.00%
College	$2400	$1400	$1000	58.33%
Vacation	$3000	$3000	$0	100.00%
Pr. High School	$3750	$2400	$1350	58.67%
Car Maint	$1000	$900	$100	90.00%
Christmas	$1000	$1000	$0	100.00%
Sea Base	$500	$500	$0	100.00%
Y Membership	$500	$500	$0	100.00%
Total	$26750	$23800	$2950	88.97%

[shanendoah]

Hey all. Just letting you know that I will be dropping off this thread. We have had a family crisis that will eat all of our savings, prevent us from saving for at least another year, and cause us to go back into debt - for the moment credit card debt, but we'll likely consolidate that into a HELOC. Thank goodness for a crazy housing market, I guess.

[TheHaitian]

Jun 29, 2016 10:28:25 GMT -5 shanendoah said:

Hey all. Just letting you know that I will be dropping off this thread. We have had a family crisis that will eat all of our savings, prevent us from saving for at least another year, and cause us to go back into debt - for the moment credit card debt, but we'll likely consolidate that into a HELOC. Thank goodness for a crazy housing market, I guess.

What is wrong? I hope nothing with Peanut? .... PM me!

[snapdragon]

Best wishes on things getting better quickly Shane. 

[seriousthistime]

Jun 29, 2016 10:28:25 GMT -5 shanendoah said:

Hey all. Just letting you know that I will be dropping off this thread. We have had a family crisis that will eat all of our savings, prevent us from saving for at least another year, and cause us to go back into debt - for the moment credit card debt, but we'll likely consolidate that into a HELOC. Thank goodness for a crazy housing market, I guess.

Is everyone okay?  if there's a PM list, please add me.  I'm concerned...

Sending love. 

[shanendoah]

It's a legal issue, so I am not talking about it beyond revealing that it exists, and at the moment has a $51k price tag attached, that is likely to rise.