Women in Red Savers 2018

[seriousthistime]

WANT TO JOIN THE WOMEN IN RED SAVERS (WIRS)?
Hello and welcome to the Women in Red Savers (WIRS) group! We are a supportive community group that celebrates reaching the personal savings goals of the WIRS members, whether we are women or men, currently “in the red” or “in the black.” This thread will give you basic information what our group is about, so please read all of the information provided below and then start posting!

The purpose of the Savers group is to empower our members to take financial control of their lives by setting, tracking and achieving savings goals. If you're interested in a community of support, motivation, and inspiration, then this is the place for you.

As one part of the Women In Red, the Savers focus on encouraging members to save, no matter what your level of savings knowledge is. You may be starting on your first Emergency Fund or maxing out your retirement. It doesn’t matter to us, as long as you keep doing it. We feel that positive encouragement and motivation will help all of us to learn better savings habits, and accomplish those savings goals.

A key part of saving is learning to incorporate savings into your daily routine – many of our members are also members of the No Spend threads or the Women In Red Racers. Savings is an integral part of paying off debt and changing your lifestyle, so no matter where you are in the process, this is the right place for you to be!

The WIRS - Women in Red Savers group is a SMALL sub-group of the larger Women in Red community because we are seeking the common WIR goal: Taking Total Financial Control! The same support, encouragement, motivation…and yes, sometimes “tough love” provided by the WIR is applied towards savings goals as well! And because the support and encouragement from a group with similar goals also serves to provide a sense of accountability in meeting our individual goals, what better way to approach this than promoting our own Savers group!!

PLEASE use a tag line. In order to be able to keep track and post updates please make sure and include the start & goal such as:

Username / Update date / Current amount saved/you may follow that with your goal in parenthesis in any manner you wish-Some suggestions are:

UserName 5/3/17 $8,500 ($0 1/1/12 / Goal=$16,000)

UserName 5/3/17 $8,500 (Start=$0 / Goal=$16,000)

There are some Savers that prefer to have massive multi-year goals that don't have an annual goal in mind so they could just do the basics like this, if they wanted to (not logging ★ progress).

UserName 5/3/17 $38,572 (Start=$24,369)

We are hoping everyone has a prosperous 2018. Please feel free to invite others to join us!!!

[seriousthistime]

HOW TO JOIN THE WOMEN IN RED SAVERS (and work to increase your Savings):

Read this entire page of info!!!!!
Sign in with the username you created.
Post a message in the RESPONSE BOX AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE and a list of the savings categories and goals you want to track (more info about this below).

After you post your list of accounts, you are officially a member of the Women in Red Savers! The list of members is updated approximately once a month, so if your name doesn't show up right away, please be patient! ALL the people working on this board are volunteers and they will get you added to the list as soon as possible.

UPDATING
So, now that you know a little about the group, here are the "rules" that we have adapted so that it's easy to keep track of everyone.

The list shows the date of each person's most recent update, her/his current savings balance, her/his starting date, her/his starting savings balance, page number is optional.

Like this: UserName: 5/1/12 $4,978 (1/1/12 $0, WIRS2)

The original starting amount and date is listed in parenthesis. The WIRS# is the page number the original post was listed on - it will be different for everyone. The current date and savings amount are listed next to your name. You choose which accounts you want to list and can add accounts later.

You can do the (parentheses) part how you want, goal amount, starting debt its ok to already have money "saved" See above post

To join, post your list of accounts, goals and any previous amounts saved. (Please do not list any debts here; you can get motivation on that by joining the WIRRacers.)

A few instructions on posting and working with your table: To update, you can quote your most recent past post, update the numbers, and repost. To remove the info so you don't have quote within quote within quote, you will see that at the bottom of the white box as you are posting, there are two buttons: Visual and BBCode. Click on BBCode. You will see the code for your post. At the very bottom, you will see the word quote, in brackets. Delete that, brackets and all. At the very top, you will see something similar, but it's a long line starting with a bracket, the word quote, and other stuff, ending with another bracket. Delete that whole line. If you have a heading on the first line (I have Update, for example) it will run together with your heading. If you hit Enter on your keyboard a few times to move your heading down a line or two, you can easily distinguish between the code and your heading.  Just delete the brackets and the text within them. 

And bankergurl has told us of any easy way to add or delete columns or rows on our tables:
"if you have your chart, and then you right click on it with your mouse, it will give you options to add, move, delete columns or rows."


We earn smileys to represent how much we've saved and roses in celebration of meeting annual goals! It may seem silly, but once you start getting smileys and roses, you will see how great they are!
The smiley list is as follows:
$50= $100= $500= $1,000=  $5,000= $10,000= $ 25,000= $50,000= $75,000= and $100,000=
Roses: per goal reached,   
Stars: 1 for each 25% goal = ; at 100% =

We do not give out negative smileys if your savings goes down instead of up. This is for two reasons: 1) this board is all about being positive and supportive of each other, and 2) 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. (Some of us find it easier to just track our contributions here and keep track of expenditures on our own.)

We hope that your participation in the WIR Savers group brings you the same feelings of empowerment and success that each of us has found. So? What are you waiting for? Join us!

[seriousthistime]

Round-up of savings ideas:

In the past, we have kicked around some ideas for ways to save. Some people are very methodical, and others need tricks and motivation. Some of us like both.

See replies #339, #348, #353, #358, and $360 in the Savers 2014 thread.

First, there is the weekly savings challenge. The idea is that for the first week of the year, you save $1, second week you save $2, then the third week you save $3, and so on up to $52 on the last week of the year. You end up with $1,378. This is a great way to build up an EF.

Variations:
Reverse weekly challenge: Start with $52 on the first week, $51 on the second week, $50 on the third week, and so on. You end up with the same $1,378, but it builds more quickly.

Bump-up weekly challenge: Instead of starting with $1 on the first week, start with a few dollars more than that, and increase by $1 each week. So maybe start with $5 the first week, $6 the second week, $7 the third week, and so on.

Maximum-tackle weekly challenge: Make a list of weeks from 1 to 52. Each week, select an amount from $1 to $52 that you can manage that week. If it's $1, cross that off the list, and put it in savings. If it's $52, cross that off and put it in savings. Once it's crossed off, it's done and you have to select from the other amounts in future weeks. This gives you more flexibility during the more challenging weeks of the year.

Another idea was to use a deck of cards of which there are 52 (how convenient!).  Pull a card out of the deck, and put that amount in weekly savings. An ace can be $1 or $11. Kings, Queens, and Jacks can be $10, or any other amount you assign to them. Thanks, chiver, for this idea.  

Plateau weekly challenge: Start with the straight weekly challenge ($1, $2, $3...) and if it becomes too much to put in an ever-increasing amount, STOP increasing but continue to put in the last amount you were able to make. So if you had to stop at week 20, with $20, continue to put in $20 for the rest of the year.

There are a few non-weekly challenges we've been discussing.

Random cash challenge: If you find cash in pockets, floating around in your purse, in your laundry room, and basically any place other than your wallet, it goes into a pot to be added to your savings.

Specific denomination challenge: Choose a denomination that you want to save. It could be $10, $5, $1, quarters, dimes, all coins, etc. You get the idea. At the end of each day, if you have any of that denomination in your purse, wallet, backpack, or wherever you keep your money, it goes into a pot to be added to your savings.

[seriousthistime]

And here's another helpful post from the 2014 thread, courtesy of bankergurl (hoping she doesn't mind my reposting it here ...) [Note: she didn't mind last year, so let's hope she doesn't mind this year either...!]


Hi Ladies! Hope everyone on the savings board is doing well!

I was with the WIRS waaaaay back in 2005 and off and on since then. I put small amounts in savings very frequently and ended up feeling like I was either "over-updating" or not tracking accurately on here, which prompted me to start my own savings blog in 2009. If you would like to read my blog, the link is on the bottom of my post. If there one thing I am good at in life....it is saving money. I don't make much (about $35K a year), but I can pinch a penny (or coupon...or rebate) as hard as anyone I know! I (sadly) got divorced this year. After the divorce my savings was down to $17K. That was just about 4 months ago...since then I went up to $27K! And that is on one income! I have had some major bills since then (car repairs, insurance bills etc.) and am now at $24K, but still pretty darn good if you ask me, for a single 30 y/o with no debt other then mortgage. Some people take the word "cheap" as as insult, but you can call me cheap all day long and I will accept it proudly!

I am a HUGE believer in nickel and diming your savings. You do no need a $100 to save money, you don't need $10, you don't even need $1. All you need is 1 red cent to start. Through it in a jar. You started!

Here are my personal favorite ways to save:

Save all of your change, once a month take it to the bank and deposit it into savings. Do not use a Coin Star or anything else that charges you to turn in your change, nearly
all banks have a coin machine and will process it for free if you have an account there.

When you get your monthly or quarterly interest in your savings accounts, add a deposit to get that amount to at least the next $5 amount, or even try for the next even $100 amount if it's not too far away. So if after your interest goes in your new balance is $379.18, deposit another $20.82 to get to that $400 mark. It might not seem like much, but I am sure I have saved at least another $1000 by doing this every month.

When you make a savings deposit, do the same thing as with the interest, round it up to the next $5, or even $100 mark (depending on what the amount is). So if I got a rebate for $12.00, I deposit $15 or $20 into saving.

Put all rebates, bonuses, tax returns, gift money (unless for a specific gift), found money (on the ground, in your car, in the washer, etc.), rummage sale or online selling, recycling money, and any and all other "extra/surprise/not standard" funds into savings. You survived without them before, you don't need them now!

This is an oldie, but a goodie. Set up an automatic savings plan. It doesn't have to be a lot. If you can only start with $5, then start with $5. Then next month try to move it to $10, whatever amount you start with, just try to keep moving it up, no matter how slowly or gradually. Try to set it up for every paycheck, that way you know the money will be in your account on payday, and it will already be transferred and gone before you even have a chance to miss it!

There will (of course) when you have to take money out of savings. Sometimes this will be for a planned purchase. Sometimes this will be for an emergency or an unexpected expense. That is ok! That is what your savings is for! Do not get discouraged. If you have to take $100 out of savings today for a car repair, but tomorrow you find $5 in an old Christmas card...you still put that $5 in savings. The old notion of "slow and steady wins the race" is completely true of savings. Just keep making those deposits no matter how big or small and they WILL add up!

[seriousthistime]

PLEASE NOTE:

This thread is now open for you to start posting goals and ideas for 2018.

The 2017 Savers thread is still open for you to post your final updates for 2017. Please post your final year-end updates in the 2017 Savers thread. 

When the smilies and shoutouts for 2017 are done, that thread will be locked. So please hurry and get your 2017 updates done by the afternoon of January 3, and post them in the 2017 thread.  Our cheerleader, forwardwego, will post the shoutouts after the smilies are done.  And when she's done with her shoutouts, that thread will be locked.  

Successful saving in 2018, Savers! Let the savings begin!

[nikiz628]

Watch out 2018- The Savers are coming! 

[nikiz628]

2018 Savings Goals: 

1. Emergency Fund to $2,000 (minimum). 
2. DS1's savings to $1,750.
3. DS2's savings to $550.
4. Start a retirement account- this is a vague goal, I know, but H and I are currently researching/deciding on the best way to do this since nothing is offered through his employer. 
5. Fund our spring Disney trip in cash.  Our goal before we depart is $5,000. This balance will not begin at zero, obviously, as we have been saving for over a year! 

Non Savings Goals: 
1. Auto loan under $10,000. 
2. Finish our home addition- at least phase I of it, which is the part we actually built on. All that is left of this is the bathroom, which is in progress. Once we complete that I will officially deem the addition finished.  Phase II is renovating our old bathroom to turn it into a bath/laundry and converting our attic into a bonus room/play room (which was not an original project but one we realized we could easily do once we began the addition. We currently have the stairs built going up to it in the new part of the home, but that is all). 

I will post numbers after the first of the year! Happy 2018 everyone! Let's smash some goals together! 

[snapdragon]

Snapdragon 12/22/17 --- $ 10,512.29 / $ 18,350


Car/House $ 2001.14 / $3500

Savings $ 4001.96 / $4000

Travel $ 3385.28 / $4500

Property Taxes $ 1123.91 / $1850

Lasik $ 0.00 / $ 4500 

New Totals $ 10,512.29 / $18,350

I have adjusted my goals and added to my list for 2018.

Goals for 2018:
Get a new Water Heater 
Buy a Mattress - mine is not working for me.
Finish up Mom's estate and make sure taxes/whatever are completed.
Look into a trip somewhere in the US for a vacation - No clue where, possibly in flyover country.
Need eyes done in the next 3-4 years so want to start now on saving.

[shanendoah]

Okay, 2018, I have my financial plan in place.
I have upped my automatic saving from $25/paycheck to $50/paycheck, taking me to $1,200 for the year there.
I will be selling my second car in January or February (BFF is buying, just need to get the paperwork done) for $2,500. I intend to put half of that in savings so $1,250.
That would put me at $2,450 for the year, but I like rounder numbers than that (and I can certainly come up with another $50), so my goal will be $2,500.
However, I've also created a debt pay off plan for the year, and everything will be paid off by early November, which will leave me with quite a bit of extra in November and December. I think it's safe to think that based on that plan, I could then double my savings right at the end of the year next year, so the stretch goal is $5,000.

That makes my new tag line: shanendoah: 1-Jan 2018 $0 (Goal: $2,500/stretch $5,000)

[Poptart]

Here's where I run into problems. I want to save, I need to save but I don't know if saving is more important than paying off debt. I'm currently trying to pay off three credit cards and all my other bills, plus I need to get new eye glasses which is always expensive and I need to take myself to the dentist yesterday. I get so overwhelmed that I don't know where to start.

[teachermom]

Poptart Have you ever heard of Dave Ramsey and the baby steps? Basically, make a budget paying all the minimums on everything. Whatever is left.....first, save a baby emergency fund of $1000. Once you have that in place, take all extra $$$ each month and apply that to your smallest debt until paid. Repeat until all consumer debt is paid (credit cards, student loans, car payments, lines of credit, etc). The exception if it is going to take awhile to do, would be to budget monthly for sinking funds (things that you will need to pay during the year....car licensing, oil changes, copays for doctors, clothing, etc. Find out what you spend yearly and divide by 12 and save that for those things). This would not be a time for vacations, etc....just things you will absolutely have to pay this year while paying off debt. Goal is to do it in 2 yrs or less. After that....back to saving until you have 3 to 6 months of expenses saved....this is in case of job loss. Look him up....his program works.

Teachermom

[teachermom]

Goals for 2018 and beyond.....I say that because some of mine goals are very long term while others are yearly. Will be a big stretch to save much this year as I am trying to work on paying off student loans. I want to get a part time job but not sure how that will work as I need to have knee replacement surgery....scheduled for April 18. So....in the meantime.....cleaning out the house and selling what isn't needed and used. All of that will go to savings and/or paying off student loans. Carrying forward a little bit of savings from this year....hopefully Murphy won't visit so much next year.

Savings 2018
Fund	Goals	Previous Bal	Jan 2018	YTD	Spent	End Bal	% Met
Emergency Fund - Minor	$1,000.00	$1,000.00	$0.00	$1,000.00	$0.00	$1,000.00	100.00%
Emergency Fund - Major	$20,000.00	$24.40	$0.00	$24.40	$0.00	$24.40	0.12%
Insurance - Deductible	$1,250.00	$300.01	$0.00	$300.01	$0.00	$300.01	24.00%
Home Maintenance	$5,000.00	$15.06	$0.00	$15.06	$0.00	$15.06	0.30%
Roof	$4,000.00	$32.44	$0.00	$32.44	$0.00	$32.44	0.81%
Plumbing Updates	$3,000.00	$5.10	$0.00	$5.10	$0.00	$5.10	0.17%
Appliances	$3,000.00	$5.05	$0.00	$5.05	$0.00	$5.05	0.17%
Hardwood Floors	$3,000.00	$5.04	$0.00	$5.04	$0.00	$5.04	0.17%
Tires	$800.00	$342.60	$0.00	$342.60	$0.00	$342.60	42.83%
Car Maintenace	$1,000.00	$0.75	$0.00	$0.75	$0.00	$0.75	0.08%
Car Replacement	$30,000.00	$26.48	$0.00	$26.48	$0.00	$26.48	0.09%
Gifts	$1,500.00	$204.12	$0.00	$204.12	$0.00	$204.12	13.61%
Spring Break Trip 2017	$500.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%
Summer Trip 2017	$500.00	$500.00	$0.00	$500.00	$0.00	$500.00	100.00%
MN trip 2017	$1,000.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%
Student Loan Payoff	$10,000.00	$303.89	$0.00	$303.89	$0.00	$303.89	3.04%
Training Classes	$4,450.00	$3.05	$0.00	$3.05	$0.00	$3.05	0.07%
Future home/moving	$10,000.00	$0.03	$0.00	$0.03	$0.00	$0.03	0.00%
Total Savings	$100,000.00	$2,768.02	$0.00	$2,768.02	$0.00	$2,768.02	2.77%

Teachermom 1/1/2018 $2,768.02 (1/1/2018 $2,768.02, Goal $100,000)

[seriousthistime]

Poptart, I agree with teachermom that Dave Ramsey is a good place to start.  

One thing I would disagree with, though, is if you have a job with a 401(k) and matching dollars.  Before getting into a long-winded explanation, I'll just say that IF you have a 401(k) plan where your employer matches the first X% of contributions, it would be a very good idea to contribute that first. 

If you need more details, just post something here and people will be glad to chime in. 

Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman are both very good for setting out financial roadmaps that help you get from where you are to where you want to be. 

[seriousthistime]

Dec 27, 2017 18:01:25 GMT -5 teachermom said:

Goals for 2018 and beyond.....I say that because some of mine goals are very long term while others are yearly. Will be a big stretch to save much this year as I am trying to work on paying off student loans. I want to get a part time job but not sure how that will work as I need to have knee replacement surgery....scheduled for April 18. So....in the meantime.....cleaning out the house and selling what isn't needed and used. All of that will go to savings and/or paying off student loans. Carrying forward a little bit of savings from this year....hopefully Murphy won't visit so much next year.

Savings 2018
Fund	Goals	Previous Bal	Jan 2018	YTD	Spent	End Bal	% Met
Emergency Fund - Minor	$1,000.00	$1,000.00	$0.00	$1,000.00	$0.00	$1,000.00	100.00%
Emergency Fund - Major	$20,000.00	$24.40	$0.00	$24.40	$0.00	$24.40	0.12%
Insurance - Deductible	$1,250.00	$300.01	$0.00	$300.01	$0.00	$300.01	24.00%
Home Maintenance	$5,000.00	$15.06	$0.00	$15.06	$0.00	$15.06	0.30%
Roof	$4,000.00	$32.44	$0.00	$32.44	$0.00	$32.44	0.81%
Plumbing Updates	$3,000.00	$5.10	$0.00	$5.10	$0.00	$5.10	0.17%
Appliances	$3,000.00	$5.05	$0.00	$5.05	$0.00	$5.05	0.17%
Hardwood Floors	$3,000.00	$5.04	$0.00	$5.04	$0.00	$5.04	0.17%
Tires	$800.00	$342.60	$0.00	$342.60	$0.00	$342.60	42.83%
Car Maintenace	$1,000.00	$0.75	$0.00	$0.75	$0.00	$0.75	0.08%
Car Replacement	$30,000.00	$26.48	$0.00	$26.48	$0.00	$26.48	0.09%
Gifts	$1,500.00	$204.12	$0.00	$204.12	$0.00	$204.12	13.61%
Spring Break Trip 2017	$500.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%
Summer Trip 2017	$500.00	$500.00	$0.00	$500.00	$0.00	$500.00	100.00%
MN trip 2017	$1,000.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%
Student Loan Payoff	$10,000.00	$303.89	$0.00	$303.89	$0.00	$303.89	3.04%
Training Classes	$4,450.00	$3.05	$0.00	$3.05	$0.00	$3.05	0.07%
Future home/moving	$10,000.00	$0.03	$0.00	$0.03	$0.00	$0.03	0.00%
Total Savings	$100,000.00	$2,768.02	$0.00	$2,768.02	$0.00	$2,768.02	2.77%

Teachermom 1/1/2018 $2,768.02 (1/1/2018 $2,768.02, Goal $100,000)

Nice job, Teachermom!  You are obviously lightyears ahead of me on setting short term and long term goals.  When I grow up, I want to be like you!  (Haha, since I'm probably 20+ years older than you; I should have grown up a long time ago!)

Question: you have some goals here for 2017 trips with 0% saved.  Are you taking the trips in 2018?  

[seriousthistime]

I'm waiting for the dust to settle before posting 2018 goals.  My signature line reflects the only goal I've set for the year, and it's a savings goal I don't track.  

"Waiting for the dust to settle" is sort of an elusive event, isn't it?  Does the dust ever fully settle? 

I have two new sources of income starting in 2018, so I'm waiting to see what they bring to the table.  Then I need to weigh savings vs. debt reduction vs. maybe a little extra bit of fun.      

[finnime]

Well, 2017 completely blew up. I'm going to just move on from it now and declare 2018 goals.

Savings, day by week by month, so I end the year with money of my own regardless of income and health expenses:

Saving a penny/day x day of year:       $664.30

Saving a dime a day x day of year:      $954.20
Saving dollar a week x week of year:  $1,378 
Saving $10/month x month of year:     $780

Total of all is $3,776.50, so as a goal I'm just going to say $3,775.

This is complicated in some ways but playing games with saving money helps me actually do it.

Separately, I'm going to receive a settlement from a lawsuit with a mediation scheduled for early February. Unknown amount, but it should be meaningful. Goals for that vary depending on the totals, but include:


10000 pay attorney
1500 car maintenance
500 dog
2000 dentistry
5000 mortgage following months
10000 taxes
7500 credit card, debt
6000 house: DR, kitchen, paint exterior, brick work, basement, LR, rest
2500 EF
2000 mattress
4000 additional car


Could be more, we'll see. I've got a fair amount of deferred maintenance that haunts me.

[plugginaway22]

Accounts	1/1/18 balance	2018 Goal	per month
EF- online	$2330	$5000	$223
EF- brick bank	$4000	$7000	$250
Tax Escrow	$2000	$4800	$235

We had a very spendy year with DD's wedding, a complete AC system, 2 trips to see DS, and another trip to beach.  I am not comfortable with current available cash.  DH and I are in our late 50s and throwing a lot into our 401ks, but we still need cash flow.  Usually have 3-4 months spending in an EF to sleep well at night.  I have another random bank account with about $800 in it that I don't plan to add to.

We also desperately need a new mattress, which I will wait for a good sale sometime this year.  We have no consumer debt and typically cash flow most purchases (like the airfare I just booked  ).

[plugginaway22]

plugginaway22:  1/1/2018  $8330  (goal $16,800)

Is this the tag-line?

[tobinikui]

Tobinikui: 1/1/2018 $7,663.00 (Goal: $41,538.00, 1/1/2018 Starting Point: $5,533.00)

Account	Goal	Saved	Spent	Remaining	% Saved
Taxes	$7,200.00	$600.00	0	$6,600.00	8.3%
Insurances	$5,933.00	$1,753.00	0	$4,180.00	29.5%
Christmas	$2,000.00	0	0	$2,000.00	0%
Random	$1,460.00	$360.00	0	$1,100.00	24.7%
Car Repair	$1,800.00	$700.00	0	$1,100.00	38.9%
Vacations	$1,500.00	$400.00	0	$1,100.00	26.7%
ER Fund	$15,000.00	$3,350.00	0	$11,650.00	22.3%
Minivan	$7,200.00	$500.00	0	$6,700.00	6.9%
Total	$41,538.00	$7,663.00	0	$34,430.00	18.2%

Lucky for me, 1/1/2018 is also a day when all sorts of automatic savings happens, so it looks as though we're already a lot farther ahead than we actually are. Some of my accounts are rolling balances as well (Insurances & ER Fund), so that gives us a boost as well.

Our main goal for this year, above and beyond the monthly savings funds, is to bump up our Emergency Fund to $15,000.00. As of right now, it should be more than do-able. As the year progresses, we'll see what happens. The one thing we have going for us though, is that we can finally count on one hand, the remaining months of child support! That will be a significant source of our savings. My goal is to move the $$ we have always put towards the monthly child support payment directly into our ER Fund as soon as we're done. I have attempted to re-purpose funds like that in the past, and have never been all that good at it. The money always gets frittered away somehow. This year WILL be different though. I am even focusing on the ER Fund this year prior to filling the Christmas fund, and then will fill up the Christmas fund *after* the ER fund is complete. If all goes well, we'll fill the ER Fund by mid-October. We shall see what the next 10 months brings. 

I look forward to the motivation and encouragement on here again this year! Thanks all & Happy New Year!!!

[azucena]

I'm pretty sure I posted last year in the savings thread debating about paying off our student loans. Bit the bullet and sent off the $7000 on 12.31 to pay it off for that tax year. That will save us $150/month that we had been paying since 2001! I left it linger since it was at 3.5% but we were ready to just be done with it. Anyway not something I can share with anyone in real life so sharing here because it was from $7k that we were able to save last year.

Trying to figure out goals for 2018. Our only remaining debt is the mortgage for the new house approx $270k with and $1800/m payment. I plan to add $5k extra each year to pay it off over 15 yrs which puts us right in the middle of college years for our daughters. We won't qualify for financial aid and I'm leaning towards just continuing to focus on our retirement savings and cash flowing college and helping pay off any loans just a few years after.

Anyway all that to say I'm going to set my savings goal at $25,000 with a stretch goal of $35,000.

Azucena $0 of $25,000 (stretch $35,000)

[Deleted]

Off and running with my January 1st contributions. 

I cut a few of the sinking fund categories that I was spending more than I was saving in and tried to stick just to the categories I was really hoping to have SAVED by the year end.  I added a survival fund.  This one is probably my most important.  In 31 months child support for older son is ending and then I'm screwed.  My only "plan" for it at this time (outside of house hunting for something cheaper) is to stash some cash to buy me some time.  Child support is 12K/year so I figure every 6K I put away buys me another year.  If I can make it 2.5 years post child support I would be able to pay off the mortgage balance with Roth contributions.  I don't really want to do this, but it's at least an option I'll have at that point.

Fund	2018 Goal	Current	Needed	% Complete
Survival Fund	$6000	$0	$6000	0.00%
2019 Roth	$5500	$200	$5300	0.00%
House Maint	$3000	$0	$3000	0.00%
College	$2400	$200	$2200	0.00%
Replacement Car	$2000	$0	$2000	0.00%
Pr. High School	$1000	$200	$800	0.00%
Vacation	$1000	$0	$1000	0.00%
Christmas	$600	$30	$570	0.00%
Total	$21,500	$630	$20,870	2.83%

minnesotapaintlady, $630.00 1/02/18 (goal $21,500)

[megaptera]

Transferring my goals from the old thread to this one.


House: $1500

Car: $1500

Christmas: $1000

Vacation: $1000

Bike: $1000

Beef: $500



Total: $6500


megaptera 1/1/2018 $0 (Goal: $6500)

[ilovedolphins]

I do not track where any of my money goes so this year I want to try to save at least half of my take home pay every other week.  I don't know if I will be able to do it but it will give me an idea of how much I do actually spend.  I am also putting $2600 in my 401K.

ilovedolphins 1/1/2018 $0 (Goal: $13,000)

I am not for sure what kind of savings vehicle I will park this money in.  I would like to put it in an ETF to see if I could make some money on it or just put it in a savings account and at least not lose it in the stock market.

[seriousthistime]

Jan 1, 2018 14:23:44 GMT -5 plugginaway22 said:

plugginaway22:  1/1/2018  $8330  (goal $16,800)

Is this the tag-line?

Yes; looks good.  Just post it at the bottom of your chart with each update, and change the date and amount saved to reflect the chart date.  So if you update on February 1, it would look something like

                                        plugginaway22: 2/1/2018 $8930 (goal $16,800)

just as an example, which reflects that your savings became $600 higher in the month of January.

Does that make sense?

[seriousthistime]

Good to see some familiar faces.

Welcome to first-timers plugginaway22 and ilovedolphins.  Welcome back to the Savers, Poptart and finnime.

[teachermom]

Dec 30, 2017 12:02:43 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

Dec 27, 2017 18:01:25 GMT -5 teachermom said:

Goals for 2018 and beyond.....I say that because some of mine goals are very long term while others are yearly. Will be a big stretch to save much this year as I am trying to work on paying off student loans. I want to get a part time job but not sure how that will work as I need to have knee replacement surgery....scheduled for April 18. So....in the meantime.....cleaning out the house and selling what isn't needed and used. All of that will go to savings and/or paying off student loans. Carrying forward a little bit of savings from this year....hopefully Murphy won't visit so much next year.

Savings 2018
Fund	Goals	Previous Bal	Jan 2018	YTD	Spent	End Bal	% Met
Emergency Fund - Minor	$1,000.00	$1,000.00	$0.00	$1,000.00	$0.00	$1,000.00	100.00%
Emergency Fund - Major	$20,000.00	$24.40	$0.00	$24.40	$0.00	$24.40	0.12%
Insurance - Deductible	$1,250.00	$300.01	$0.00	$300.01	$0.00	$300.01	24.00%
Home Maintenance	$5,000.00	$15.06	$0.00	$15.06	$0.00	$15.06	0.30%
Roof	$4,000.00	$32.44	$0.00	$32.44	$0.00	$32.44	0.81%
Plumbing Updates	$3,000.00	$5.10	$0.00	$5.10	$0.00	$5.10	0.17%
Appliances	$3,000.00	$5.05	$0.00	$5.05	$0.00	$5.05	0.17%
Hardwood Floors	$3,000.00	$5.04	$0.00	$5.04	$0.00	$5.04	0.17%
Tires	$800.00	$342.60	$0.00	$342.60	$0.00	$342.60	42.83%
Car Maintenace	$1,000.00	$0.75	$0.00	$0.75	$0.00	$0.75	0.08%
Car Replacement	$30,000.00	$26.48	$0.00	$26.48	$0.00	$26.48	0.09%
Gifts	$1,500.00	$204.12	$0.00	$204.12	$0.00	$204.12	13.61%
Spring Break Trip 2017	$500.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%
Summer Trip 2017	$500.00	$500.00	$0.00	$500.00	$0.00	$500.00	100.00%
MN trip 2017	$1,000.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%
Student Loan Payoff	$10,000.00	$303.89	$0.00	$303.89	$0.00	$303.89	3.04%
Training Classes	$4,450.00	$3.05	$0.00	$3.05	$0.00	$3.05	0.07%
Future home/moving	$10,000.00	$0.03	$0.00	$0.03	$0.00	$0.03	0.00%
Total Savings	$100,000.00	$2,768.02	$0.00	$2,768.02	$0.00	$2,768.02	2.77%

Teachermom 1/1/2018 $2,768.02 (1/1/2018 $2,768.02, Goal $100,000)

Nice job, Teachermom!  You are obviously lightyears ahead of me on setting short term and long term goals.  When I grow up, I want to be like you!  (Haha, since I'm probably 20+ years older than you; I should have grown up a long time ago!)

Question: you have some goals here for 2017 trips with 0% saved.  Are you taking the trips in 2018?  

No, Serious.....should say 2018. I forgot to change that. We always take the trip to MN in the summer as well as a spring break trip. This is my share of the trip.

[sealy]

Sealy  1/3/18 $1000 (goal $25,000) 

[nikiz628]

    

2018	START	CURRENT	GOAL	STILL NEED
E.F.	$760.00	$760.00	$2000.00	$1240.00
DS 1 SAVINGS	$1528.06	$1528.06	$1750.00	$221.94
DS 2 SAVINGS	$425.33	$425.33	$550.00	$124.67
DISNEY FUND	$1895.47	$1895.47	$5000.00	$3104.53
TOTALS	$4608.86	$4608.86	$9300.00	$4691.14

NikiZ628 1/3/18 $4,608.86 (Goal $9,300 WIRS1)

Got my numbers together for 2018! I am very excited to smash some of these goals! 
H and I are currently doing a no spend January, just to help reset after the holidays. I also just got off the phone with Disney- they released a promotion for our stay dates so I had them apply it to our account. Less than 10 minutes on the phone knocked $309.66 off our trip total! WOO! 

[snapdragon]

Snapdragon 1/03/18 --- $ 11,562.29 / $ 18,350 -- Update


Car/House $ 2251.14 / $3500

Savings $ 4001.96 / $4000  

Travel $ 3635.28 / $4500

Property Taxes $ 1423.91 / $1850

Lasik $ 250.00 / $ 4500

New Totals $ 11,562.29 / $18,350


My brother is paying me back for expenses on the pets while he was gone. I told him to not worry about it but he feels compelled to do it and I don't want to argue with him. So that extra is going into the Lasik account to get me going. He seemed content when I told him that.

[nidena]

Kind of a rehash of 2017 but...
Roth 2018  0/5500
LTC 2019  0/2778
Larger EF 2610/5000
New to Me Vehicle 300/20000

The vehicle savings is the only thing that has grown...and only because it's the "Cash Back" from my credit card.  I took money out of the larger EF to pay off the credit card so as to avoid accruing interest.  It'll get replenished over the next two months.

I've joined the Controlled Spend thread this year so that I have another avenue of support for really cutting back on the unnecessary expenditures.  As well as the Declutter thread.  I don't know if there is much more to get rid of in my house but I'm sure I can find something.  I've already made one trip to the Goodwill this week--on the 31st for that last donation of 2017.  Maybe I can find even more to ensure it's worth itemizing again this year.