Women in Red Savers 2018

[seriousthistime]

forwardwego is our shout-er out-er.  As such, she does not get shoutouts like the rest of us.  So, if you think of it, this would be a good time to send her a shoutout.

Have a look at her smilies.  She not only revamped (i.e., increased) her goal but is totally rocking the new goal. 

Way to go, forwardwego!  You are on a roll, and there's no stopping you!  Very impressed with your progress!

[plugginaway22]

Thank you both for tracking all of us and our savings!  Good motivation and keeps me accountable.

[forwardwego]

Shoutouts Part 1 of  2:

trimatty471 was the first update of June and the last update for June. Nice double play!! And nice use of a 3 payday month to shoot past the $10K milestone 

chiver78 Here we are over half way through 2018 and you are rolling well with 42% accomplished  Keep dealing that card deck!

Saving4Norway And thinking of playing cards, S4N has the best poker hand of smileys  which I'll call 4 jacks and a queen. And also an A MA ZING 85% to goal. Sorry if I've asked this before, will you be bumping up your goals?

tobinikui   Does the minivan drive nicer now that it's ALL yours? Good work! And yes, adulting is a barrel of laughs ( picture a barrel of monkeys here) That will be so nice to have a fridge that doesn't "lash out"  Congrats on being a fraction of a percent from 50% at the midpoint of the year. 

snapdragon I bet it feels great to clear out the stuff and have the taxes and savings goals accomplished. And as our seriousthistime often reminds us the moneys you spent were saved for exactly that. Nice work with 69.4% accomplished. It feels like 2018 has been a year of transitioning and recovery from 2017's challenges. You're doing great Snap! 

plugginaway22 Congratulations to you and your family on the upcoming arrival of your first grandchild! Good job on judging wants VS needs. And your EF continues to thrive! Nice total of over $11K and 65.5%! It surely isn't easy to stay focused. Keep up the good work!

debthaven Our "new" Saver friend, who had been observing and encouraging us for years, loving your first saver update. 
My mind often whirls with approaches and methods also. Now you've jumped in. You've got this!! Seriousthistime has a skill for absorbing the givens and helping create method and order. Watching her help you with this helps me.  

finnime Hey there! Nice month of June for you with over 60% of EF saved, "pert near" three grand total, and cash flowing the dehumidifier. Cash flowing is now a favorite phrase for me. It's the sign that the mechanicals of our finances are operating on par and/or better! 

lazysundays Just like an elephant bouncing high, your savings is growing by leaps and bounds, adding $1946 in June.....you know I gotta say it....two grand IS too grand!! 

[forwardwego]

Shoutouts Part 2 of 2:

seriousthistime Thank you for my personal Shoutout, and for keeping us all organized and encouraged with the monthly updates and smileys. Kudos to you for adding $2360 to your total in June for an average of nearly $80/day  . And so glad your furry love can rest well with a fully funded EF. 

Maryland Monroe Congratulations on your granddaughters marriage, and on cash flowing that AND a quarterly expense AND plumping up your savings total by a solid Grand! 

nikiz628 I couldn't help but notice your lovely EF. You wear it well  . Great job being at 97.6%, looking forward to seeing your new goals 

shanendoah Good June update for 68% of goal. It looks like you'll soon be working toward your stretch goal! Best wishes for getting the house ready for market and a quick smooth sale.

azucena very nice update with $13261 saved and 53% to goal. You're on target and more, but it sounds like you wish you could tighten up your spending a bit? How about some monthly goals or other short term goals to help your sense of urgency in saving?

minnesotapaintlady Nice work with over $14K saved for 65.7%. And thought it's hard to spend the money, so nice you had it saved for that bedroom flood fix. 

steph08 Nice gain in June and hitting 2 new milestones: over $6K and over 30% 

Jaguar Last, but certainly not least...It's always good to see you. Good job getting the vaccine started, hope side effects were minimal or non existent. 

If you had a June update and aren't named in the post above or this one, please message me so I can correct that and give you a well deserved shout. 

[sealy]

I still only have $1,000 saved.  I am almost certain I'll have to use it next month.  My mortgage and car payment have been paid a month ahead of time.  I will have to use it on my insurance and other incidentals.

[forwardwego]

Jul 4, 2018 1:48:09 GMT -5 sealy said:

I still only have $1,000 saved.  I am almost certain I'll have to use it next month.  My mortgage and car payment have been paid a month ahead of time.  I will have to use it on my insurance and other incidentals.

Hi Sealy! $1K saved is good, & would be great if that could stay put. You have some time between now and next month's insurance and incidentals expenses. What do you have that you aren't using that you could sell? What side job could you do? I've been doing a variety of side jobs lately, maybe some of these could work for you.... cleaning for a company that does "in & out" service between tenants of a rental or home seller leaving and homebuyer moving in, pet sitting, appointment sitting (I wait at the house for their service person), packing the dishes for a person moving, installing the shelf paper. I always earn at least $10 /hour and often these people like what I've done and round up the money. I earned $185 cleaning, she rounded to $200. Could the kids help you brainstorm for ideas?

[sealy]

I could make quilts again but I'm not sure how to sell them forwardwego and I'd have to pay money to have them quilted.
I could make a bunch of baby quilts that don't cost too much to have quilted.

[forwardwego]

Sealy, that's an idea!

How about it savers? Has anyone made money with something like quilts and have some experience to share? 

Hope this isn't too silly... baby quilts means quilts for babies, right? Not like a small quilt that is used as a throw on the back of the couch? Either way a smaller quilt could be quicker to make, and cheaper price so easier to sell more? Also products for dogs and babies are harder to resist purchasing so the market is maybe easier?

[debthaven]

forwardwego thank you for the welcome! You are truly an inspiration to me.

And thanks to seriousthistime for tracking us, and for asking me those questions and making me think.

to both of you. 

ETA: To respond to Forward's question about sealy . Last summer money was VERY tight, and I sold a bunch of old coins. Nothing very valuable, mainly silver quarters I had collected as a child. I kept a few back for sentimental reasons (my birth year). 

I would probably have more suggestions if I knew (even vaguely) what Sealy does. For example I'm a former print journalist, currently an adjunct English professor. My "odd jobs" are tutoring/coaching older students (or adults) for school (or job) interviews/doing translations/being a certified ESL examiner/proctoring official ESL exams.

NONE of those jobs are regular or reliable. That's fine for me because I don't have time during the school year, but my school year ends in April. I also reject the lower-paid work in favor of the better-paid work when it's available ... but lower-paid work is better than NO work LOL.

[snapdragon]

Jul 4, 2018 12:59:24 GMT -5 sealy said:

I could make quilts again but I'm not sure how to sell them forwardwego and I'd have to pay money to have them quilted.
I could make a bunch of baby quilts that don't cost too much to have quilted.

Looking at your picture I am wondering if you could quilt up some pillow covers for throw pillows or something similar...than try etsy or e-bay to sell?

[snapdragon]

Jul 3, 2018 16:34:30 GMT -5 forwardwego said:

snapdragon I bet it feels great to clear out the stuff and have the taxes and savings goals accomplished. And as our seriousthistime often reminds us the moneys you spent were saved for exactly that. Nice work with 69.4% accomplished. It feels like 2018 has been a year of transitioning and recovery from 2017's challenges. You're doing great Snap! 

Thank you for this. I have been very emotional lately and needed to hear that. June and July are not the best months for me right now. Maybe with the distance of time they will get better.

[forwardwego]

Jul 5, 2018 12:13:21 GMT -5 snapdragon said:

Jul 3, 2018 16:34:30 GMT -5 forwardwego said:

snapdragon I bet it feels great to clear out the stuff and have the taxes and savings goals accomplished. And as our seriousthistime often reminds us the moneys you spent were saved for exactly that. Nice work with 69.4% accomplished. It feels like 2018 has been a year of transitioning and recovery from 2017's challenges. You're doing great Snap! 

Thank you for this. I have been very emotional lately and needed to hear that. June and July are not the best months for me right now. Maybe with the distance of time they will get better.

Hey Snap, I am so glad I was in a position to help you with what you needed when you needed, and all I had to do was share the truth.   Looking at this shout I'd like to add that you are almost at 70%. As it happens 70% is one of my favorite milestones. With many tests 70% is the first "passing score". I also like 50% because we can visualize an old time scale tipping in our favor. And I like 80% because (this is wacky, but here goes) 80% is the approximate rate of recidivism. An offender needs to be part of that good 20%, to win in life. I feel that hitting and surpassing 80% is arm's length to 100%. I'm really eager to see you nail the 70% really soon, and soon after that the sweet 80%. 


ETA: Fellow number geeks please feel free to add your thoughts on favorite numbers 

[tobinikui]

Tobinikui: 7/6/2018 $25,352.40 (Goal: $50,707.85, 1/1/2018 Starting Point: $5,533.00)

Account	Goal	Saved	Spent	Remaining	% Saved
Taxes	$7,200.00	$316.65	$284.00	$6,599.35	8.3%
Insurances	$5,933.00	$189.41	$2,984.00	$2,759.59	53.5%
Christmas	$2,200.00	0	0	$2,200.00	0%
Random	$2,100.00	$100.00	$260.00	$1,740.00	17.1%
Car Repair	$2,800.00	$100.04	$700.00	$1,999.96	28.6%
Vacations	$2,400.00	$0	$400.00	$2,000.00	16.7%
ER Fund	$9,400.00	$1,062.14	0	$8,337.86	11.3%
Minivan	$18,674.85	0	$18,955.22	$0	101.5%
Total	$50,707.85	$1,769.18	$23,583.22	$25,355.45	50.0%

6 days into the 2nd half of the year, and we hit 50%!! Ding, ding, ding!! There won't be much movement this month, but the ball will really start rolling after August 1st. We are very cash poor at this moment, but it was all for a good reason, and now we are done with all debt but our house! The rest of the year will be dedicated to putting money back into accounts that we drained to get rid of debt, as well as building up our cash ER fund. I think that is one goal that we won't meet this year, but time will tell! It will be a great feeling to finally be saving money *to keep!* again. I'll be a lot happier with an extra zero, or two, at the end of our dollar amounts. The first goal is $4,800 back to the tax fund (just in time for our property tax bill that's due by late September).

I also plan on putting aside an additional $3,500 (total) that I don't have listed here, for lump sum payments back into accounts for the kids, and for a remodel of our downstairs bathroom that I hope to accomplish with my dad's help, later this fall. 

So many moving parts, but we have no complaints. We are blessed, and life is good! One thing at a time!

In other news, DH is interviewing for a new job, that would bring his SAHD period to a close. He is very excited and hopeful, and we should know the outcome by this time next week. If you'd care to send us some prayers or positive energy, that everything works out the way it is supposed to, we'd really appreciate it. (We'd be able to knock our savings goals out of the park, if this came to fruition! Haha. Time will tell.)

Stay cool, everyone! 

[snapdragon]

Snapdragon 7/06/18 --- $ 13,290.23 / $ 18,700 -- Update

Car/House $ 2257.26 / $3500

Savings $ 4018.68 / $4000 

Travel $ 3414.22 / $4500

Property Taxes $ 2199.73 / $2200 

Lasik $ 1400.34 / $ 4500


New Totals $ 13,290.23 / $18,700


A little progress. I will keep plucking away at things. I have already started to think about what I am going to wear in on my trip. 

[forwardwego]

Good morning savers 

I re-read the last few posts and had a happy discovery. I had said/preached how wonderful 50% 70% and 80% milestones are, and 2 hours later tobinikui nailed down her 50% ,  and 2 hours after that snapdragon accomplished her 70%  . I thought WOW who will step forward and pick off the 80%?  Who is in the 70% range and will read this and go "forward" to 80%??  Sometimes I have to be hit over the head with a brick or something.   I think I'm supposed to do it. I'm going to go dig around and see if I can manage it. 

[shanendoah]

shanendoah: 10-July 2018 $1900 (Goal: $2,500/stretch $5,000)

So my retirement account dispersed. About $44k. Most of it will go to earnest money and moving expenses. So while I am tempted to move say $3,000 over to the savings account and then reach my stretch goal by the middle of next month, I am not going to. I must make myself be patient and wait until moving expenses are all taken care of. Once that is done, any extra can be moved into savings.

[forwardwego]

Jul 10, 2018 10:32:59 GMT -5 shanendoah said:

shanendoah: 10-July 2018 $1900 (Goal: $2,500/stretch $5,000)

So my retirement account dispersed. About $44k. Most of it will go to earnest money and moving expenses. So while I am tempted to move say $3,000 over to the savings account and then reach my stretch goal by the middle of next month, I am not going to. I must make myself be patient and wait until moving expenses are all taken care of. Once that is done, any extra can be moved into savings.

You set an amazing example of patience.

[forwardwego]

UPDATE 7/11/2018 $35200 (begin 6780, goal 44000)

2018	PRESENT	GOAL	% MET	$$ TO GO
VEH INS Part 1	2000	2000	100
VEH INS Part 2	1200	2000	60	800
DD Starter IRA	3000	3000	100
DDIL IRA	3000	3000	100
Baby STEP 3	13000	18000	72	5000
Pups Med/EF	1000	4000	25	3000
Rental Margin	10000	10000	100
SL Payoff	2000	2000	100
TOTAL	35200	44000	80	8800

I challenged myself to go after the 80%. Dating this for tomorrow because a check is to be deposited and a transfer completed. 

[chiver78]

so I'm definitely down at least 2 weeks if not 3 (started the new job on the 18th and don't think I've paid myself since then) and I surprisingly won $100 on an impulse scratch card buy when I stopped for an iced coffee at lunch after letting out my pups today. I cashed it in a little while ago when I stopped for a pizza after tiring out the pups at the dog park, and deliberately took a large bill. I need to look at the remaining cards and figure out what larger cards I can knock out with that, but the $100 bill is already in the jar.

[nikiz628]

Jul 10, 2018 20:25:37 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

so I'm definitely down at least 2 weeks if not 3 (started the new job on the 18th and don't think I've paid myself since then) and I surprisingly won $100 on an impulse scratch card buy when I stopped for an iced coffee at lunch after letting out my pups today. I cashed it in a little while ago when I stopped for a pizza after tiring out the pups at the dog park, and deliberately took a large bill. I need to look at the remaining cards and figure out what larger cards I can knock out with that, but the $100 bill is already in the jar.

Amazing luck! I never win on scratch offs (though I rarely buy them so that could be why!) I always joke with H that I am going to scratch one of them off at some point and it's going to say I owe THEM money lol 

[chiver78]

I very rarely buy them anymore, usually just when a group of us are out and someone suggests splitting a larger dollar ticket. but for some reason I wanted one and let the cashier pick. same cashier this morning, she was happy to hear she picked well.

Jul 11, 2018 9:49:17 GMT -5 nikiz628 said:

Jul 10, 2018 20:25:37 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

so I'm definitely down at least 2 weeks if not 3 (started the new job on the 18th and don't think I've paid myself since then) and I surprisingly won $100 on an impulse scratch card buy when I stopped for an iced coffee at lunch after letting out my pups today. I cashed it in a little while ago when I stopped for a pizza after tiring out the pups at the dog park, and deliberately took a large bill. I need to look at the remaining cards and figure out what larger cards I can knock out with that, but the $100 bill is already in the jar.

Amazing luck! I never win on scratch offs (though I rarely buy them so that could be why!) I always joke with H that I am going to scratch one of them off at some point and it's going to say I owe THEM money lol 

[seriousthistime]

Posting this a day early, since I've got it all set up for tomorrow:

	Goal	Amt. Saved 7/13/18	% Saved	Roses
Survival fund	$6,000	$2,505	41.8%
Property tax	$5,000	$3,167	63.3%
Household Exp.	$1,000	$900	90.0%
Weekly Savings	$1,898	$1,149	60.5%
Gifts	$2,600	$1,510	58.1%
EF increase	$2,600	$1,505	57.9%
Pet care	$600	$603	100.0%
Misc. Exp.	$800	$525	65.5%
Total	$20,498	$11,864	57.9%

Seriousthistime, 7/13/18, $11,864 (Goal $20,498) 

 
Just plugging along.


Weekly Savings chart:

$11	$12	$13	$14
$18	$19		$21		$23	$24
$25		$27		$29		$31
		$34			$37
$39	$40		$42	$43	$44
$46		$48		$50		$52

I'm not sure how to tackle the weeks left on my weekly savings chart.  I'm thinking of working in a top/bottom strategy.  I make two deposits on payday because I get paid every two weeks.  I could do the highest and lowest numbers still available on the chart every payday.  If interest rates were a factor, I'd put the two highest amounts left in the chart and work backward to get the most money into the account and earn more interest.  But we're talking pennies here.  The extra interest from getting more into the bank sooner isn't worth it. 

[chiver78]

woof.

not sure if I mentioned in this thread, but I took a pay cut to start my new job last month - down the street instead of an hour away. today is the first full paycheck at the new rate, which means now I have the actual number to input to my tracker spreadsheet. so the hit to my paycheck is $350/check, or roughly $700/month. right now, I'm sitting with my bills spreadsheet and have managed to figure out how not to have a negative balance the rest of this year, once I take what's in my calendar savings jar and deposit it into checking TODAY since overnight autopays put me about $300 in the red. another bill that's scheduled for payment mid-next week is another $100. so that snazzy $100 scratch card win is going to save my ass an overdraft fee, and I essentially have zero cash until August. 

guess who's spending her time at the beach for free this summer, and not much else? 

ETA: it probably goes without saying, but the "want" Jeep is off the table. I just messaged my sister's coworker to let her know. that's shitty, but I'll find something else later. 

[finnime]

Ouch, chiver78. Good you have your calendar savings. Is there a change you should make to your exemptions?

[chiver78]

no, I just got doubly screwed because the new place pays a week in arrears, so my first actual check was for only one week, at the new lower rate. it will all be fine once the dust settles. I just didn't have enough fluff in the cash flow to cover the differences.

oh, and actually, I only took $400 out of the jar. there's still probably $40 or 50 left in small bills. and, I have a couple other sources of income in the next week or so. first, a concert coming up with some friends. I bought the tickets and haven't gotten $ back yet. and then the guy that backed into my car and offered to cover the repair is supposedly bringing me cash next week. I can wait on the repair until I'm a little more solvent again.

Jul 13, 2018 11:14:04 GMT -5 finnime said:

Ouch, chiver78. Good you have your calendar savings. Is there a change you should make to your exemptions?

[azucena]

Jun 29, 2018 6:51:50 GMT -5 azucena said:

Jun 15, 2018 10:46:12 GMT -5 azucena said:

Payday update deposit $647

6/29/18 Azucena $13,261 of $25,000 for 53% (stretch $35,000 38%)

DH and I both got paid today.  Added $2100 to savings.  DH got an unexpected raise from $12 to $15/hr that will start next paycheck.  We've agreed to increase his monthly spending allotment from $150 to $200.  Need to see what's left that after that.

Not sure if I've ever outlined here that one of the biggest keys for us to beginning to save was when I took over budgeting from DH about 4 or 5 yrs ago.  Before that, we'd just sit and talk thru the week.  When I took over, I started using mint to really see where our spending goes.  Each payday I look at the bills coming due, add $250 in spending money (groceries, eating out, gas, and misc shopping), and then siphon off anything that is extra above that directly into savings.  It makes our debit account much, much lower and we are often very "broke" at the end of the week which makes us both weigh purchases more carefully.  Now, sometimes we end up putting things on the credit card which is always paid in full at least once a month, more often twice.  Mint makes it easy to see what bills are still coming in the time until the next paycheck.  If a paycheck is more than a week away (I'm every other week, DH is 15th and last day), then I have a separate checking account that holds the needed amt until then.  Each Friday, I true everything up.  That second account is also where I move over enough money to cover the credit card bill at all times.  So if we've charged $100 this past week, I'll move $100 to that account and consider it spent.

Really would like to pull that $250 in cash for a few weeks to force us away from the credit card overages.  Would also be better for DD10 to start thinking about money more clearly. 

7/13/18 Azucena $15,320 of $25,000 for 61% (stretch $25,000 44%)

[finnime]

Daily and Weekly Savings Goal

Month	Week	Goal	Total Saved	Percent of Goal Met
1		30.38	38.25	125.91%
2		75.42	88.00	116.68%
3		148.55	168.00	112.21%
4		174.26	182.00	104.44%
5		219.30	228.00	103.97%
6		320.90	336.00	104.71%
7		385.65	416.00	107.87%
8		371.94	397.00	106.74%
9		416.98	437.00	104.80%
	40	87.22	92.00	105.48%
	41	89.41	95.00	106.25%
	43
Annual		3,778.06	2,477.25	65.57%

Basis:

Daily: .01 x day of year + Weekly: (.10 x day of year) + 1.00 x week of year + Monthly: 10.00 x month of year

Category	Goal	Amount	Saved	Percentage
Sinking	House	10,000	300	3.00%
	Car	2,500	130	5.20%
	Dog	500
	Medical	1000
	Gifts,  Miscellaneous	3000
Security	EF	3,500	2,477.25	65.57%
Survival	3 Months Expenses	6,000	355.00	5.92%
Future	Nest Egg	500
Fun	Finland Fund	5000
Total		32,000	3,262.25	10.19%

Finnime 7/14/2018 $3,262.25 ($32,000)

Slowly adding up. Spent more on two overhead light fixtures, not reflected in savings.

[forwardwego]

Jul 13, 2018 12:25:28 GMT -5 azucena said:

Jun 29, 2018 6:51:50 GMT -5 azucena said:

Payday update deposit $647

6/29/18 Azucena $13,261 of $25,000 for 53% (stretch $35,000 38%)

DH and I both got paid today.  Added $2100 to savings.  DH got an unexpected raise from $12 to $15/hr that will start next paycheck.  We've agreed to increase his monthly spending allotment from $150 to $200.  Need to see what's left that after that.

Not sure if I've ever outlined here that one of the biggest keys for us to beginning to save was when I took over budgeting from DH about 4 or 5 yrs ago.  Before that, we'd just sit and talk thru the week.  When I took over, I started using mint to really see where our spending goes.  Each payday I look at the bills coming due, add $250 in spending money (groceries, eating out, gas, and misc shopping), and then siphon off anything that is extra above that directly into savings.  It makes our debit account much, much lower and we are often very "broke" at the end of the week which makes us both weigh purchases more carefully.  Now, sometimes we end up putting things on the credit card which is always paid in full at least once a month, more often twice.  Mint makes it easy to see what bills are still coming in the time until the next paycheck.  If a paycheck is more than a week away (I'm every other week, DH is 15th and last day), then I have a separate checking account that holds the needed amt until then.  Each Friday, I true everything up.  That second account is also where I move over enough money to cover the credit card bill at all times.  So if we've charged $100 this past week, I'll move $100 to that account and consider it spent.

Really would like to pull that $250 in cash for a few weeks to force us away from the credit card overages.  Would also be better for DD10 to start thinking about money more clearly. 

7/13/18 Azucena $15,320 of $25,000 for 61% (stretch $25,000 44%)

Nice update! I haven't carried CC balance in a very long time, but recently quit doing the use/pay right away method also. My eyes have really opened up, I am much more mindful of spending. Feeling the dollars leave my hand helps me resist spending. Like you, I also think I do better if I create that "broke sensation".

[chiver78]

not likely that I would make this move, but just for my own information - what would be the tax implications of wiping out a 401k account that had ~$35,000 in it? this would be the account from my last company, with limited eligibility I wasn't contributing all that long. on the Fidelity website, it says 10% penalty plus taxes. 

I'm barely entertaining the idea as it would allow me to wipe out 2 of the larger balance CCs, consolidate some other stuff, and maybe start closing some accounts. and then I could snowball what I had been paying to those two into paying down/off other stuff faster. 

thanks!

[seriousthistime]

chiver78, the penalty is 10% if you are under a certain age... 59 1/2, I think.

Plus the taxes.  What's your highest marginal tax rate for both state and federal in 2018?  When you calculate your highest marginal rates for both, if you're planning to itemize deductions remember that for federal tax you lose the personal exemption and can't deduct over $10,000 for your state and local taxes paid. That's a big hit in states that have income tax plus high property tax rates.  

I did something similar, withdrew the money from a 401(k) and rolled over some of it, keeping out the other part to buy a house.  I'm over the age threshold, but the tax bill that year was a killer.  But at least the money is now tax-free and invested in an appreciating asset.  I don't think I'd do it to pay off credit cards.