Women in Red Savers 2018

[Maryland Monroe]

I have pretty much decided that when my savings account is at $20,000, my next goal is to pay what I would have saved to the mortgage. I retired a few months ago, and I want that mortgage gone. On the racers page, my race #2 is only the mortgage. Everything else is pay as you go.

As of last month, I am making double payments unless I need to pay one of the infrequent expenses (taxes, insurance, etc.) then anything above that, along with any tax refund I might get will also go to the mortgage. Since I just retired, I don't know what my tax situation will look like. Social Security is withholding 7% for taxes at my request. My pension also has a withholding (a little more than 8%), and I have continued the quarterly state tax payments that are not withheld from my pension. This is all new to me, so I'll see how it shakes out at tax time.

When the mortgage is gone, I'm not sure what comes next.

[debthaven]

Maryland Monroe that's fabulous, you're on your way to blitzing that mortgage!

But I would hate for something unexpected to happen and for you to have no savings left. Maybe you could pay 10K of the 20K you're saving to your mortgage, reduce it significantly, then resave to 20K, and rinse and repeat? That way you'd always have 10K in savings if something happens.

Maybe you have other savings too, in which case please feel free to disregard my comment! We spent several years with very little savings. It was SO stressful, I just don't want anybody else to go through that.

ETA: You could even keep back just 5K, but I wouldn't pay all 20K to the mortgage.

[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%
10		462.02	485.00	104.97%
11		507.06	527.00	103.93%
	48	104.74	110.00	105.02%
	49	106.93	113.00
Annual		3,778.06	3525.25	93.31%

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	525.25	5.25%
	Car	2,500	130	5.20%
	Dog	500
	Medical	1000
	Gifts,  Miscellaneous	3000
Security	EF	3,500	3,500	100%
Survival	3 Months Expenses	6,000	355.00	5.92%
Future	Nest Egg	500
Fun	Finland Fund	5000
Total		32,000	4510.25	14.09%

Finnime 8/17/2018 $4,510.25 ($32,000)

I was reimbursed by insurance for some medical bills, so applied most of it to savings. Now at 100% of EF! I've been leap-frogging over the actual calendar to build up savings more quickly. Now almost done with the "year". The rest I put towards the house. Did spend about $100 on Franklin the Dog and $240 on medical, but took it out pre-savings.

[Maryland Monroe]

Aug 15, 2018 18:04:26 GMT -5 debthaven said:

Maryland Monroe that's fabulous, you're on your way to blitzing that mortgage!

But I would hate for something unexpected to happen and for you to have no savings left. Maybe you could pay 10K of the 20K you're saving to your mortgage, reduce it significantly, then resave to 20K, and rinse and repeat? That way you'd always have 10K in savings if something happens.

Maybe you have other savings too, in which case please feel free to disregard my comment! We spent several years with very little savings. It was SO stressful, I just don't want anybody else to go through that.

ETA: You could even keep back just 5K, but I wouldn't pay all 20K to the mortgage.

I guess I wasn't clear enough. When I get to $20K, that money will stay right where it is. I have also spent too much time with little savings and the stress that goes with it.

After I hit $20K, instead of transferring funds to the savings account, I will pay extra on the mortgage instead. The $20K will continue to grow because I also save for infrequent expenses there. The mortgage is on a snowball plan. I paid off my car earlier this year and rolled the payment onto the mortgage. Then I added half of my monthly savings to that to make a double payment. When the mortgage is gone, I'll start saving for my next car (the one I have is not quite three years old with low mileage).

[debthaven]

I am feeling like a Savers failure because I see the money going out of the savings I set aside when we sold the apartment. I knew it was inevitable. Although we were able to pay nearly all our debt off after the sale, we still have as many rental obligations as before, but we have 500e less per month coming in.

It has been an expensive summer, even if we only did a beach rental and drove there and back. We've had/have 7 mouths to feed most of the time. We're not used to feeding that many people regularly anymore, and even if you're shopping smartly, it still adds up. And I'm absolutely thrilled to have my kids and grandson with us, so I don't regret a thing.

Then there was A's son's wedding last weekend. A is one of my bestest friends, of 31 years. Her DH committed suicide 2.5 years ago. So more gas/tolls, another overnight stay for the 2-day wedding, plus a generous wedding gift (because they all went/still go through hell and this was their first happy occasion since their dad's/DH's death.) 

Like I said before, I feel like that rental sale allowed us to finally catch up, but not to get ahead. Oh well. Even if some of those savings go down till the Next Good Financial Thing happens, at least the coffers were replenished. I am very grateful for that.

I'm trying to look at things from a place of abundance rather than a place of scarcity.

ETA: No hidden debt, it's all in my signature.

ETA2: DH still wants me to use some of our savings from the sale to pay off the kitchen loan. It's very tempting, even if I know we'll only turn around and get another loan (probably for a car). We will only take out one (non RE) loan at a time. 

[snapdragon]

Aug 3, 2018 17:17:26 GMT -5 forwardwego said:

Shoutouts part 2 of 2:

snapdragon I have lost track, please remind me when and where for your vacation 
Nice work nailing down over $13K AND over 70% to goal 

The end of October and it's a Budapest, Vienna and Prague tour. I am especially excited to try something "alone" but being with a tour so I don't feel completely alone. It's the second time ever I will have flown out of country. Jamaica last July was the first. 

[tobinikui]

Tobinikui: 8/21/2018 $28,680.43 (Goal: $50,707.85, 1/1/2018 Starting Point: $5,533.00)

Account	Goal	Saved	Spent	Remaining	% Saved
Taxes	$7,200.00	$3,116.90	$284.00	$3,799.10	47.2%
Insurances	$5,933.00	$0	$3,698.49	$2,234.51	62.3%
Christmas	$2,200.00	0	0	$2,200.00	0%
Random	$2,100.00	0	$360.00	$1,740.00	17.1%
Car Repair	$2,800.00	$0	$800.00	$2,000.00	28.6%
Vacations	$2,400.00	$0	$400.00	$2,000.00	16.7%
ER Fund	$9,400.00	$1,065.82	0	$8,334.18	11.3%
Minivan	$18,674.85	0	$18,955.22	$0	101.5%
Total	$50,707.85	$4,182.72	$24,497.71	$22,027.42	56.6%

$1600 in car repairs, and an unexpected (semi-planned, but definitely ill-timed) $1300 purchase. *sigh* So much for filling back up some of our sinking fund accounts. This is not a comfy feeling for me, being so very cash poor. DH did not get the job he was hoping for, but he's very much ok with that. We both believe he dodged a bullet on that one! He does have a lead on another job that he applied for yesterday, so we are waiting to hear something on that one. Time will tell.

We have had some big expenses this month, that I was attempting to cash flow. That was a fail, for sure. And, in order to cover our 2yo's child care this fall, in case my DH does get a job, I've had to drop down to 80% time & pay. It will work out to a loss of about $3500 in income over the next 3 months. Ouch. But, I will bank some time off, which will come in handy over time. Needless to say though, we're taking it one step at a time. The car repair bill was unexpected too. But, we will drive it into the ground, and it's still got a decent life left. 

As I frequently say, I need to do a better job of sticking to our budget. I need to take a closer look, and figure out a truly reflective budget of what we usually spend, and then make small changes to rein things in. I think in the past, I have made highly optimistic assumptions about our spending that don't hold up over time. Adulting is hard sometimes. 

[finnime]

Adulting is hard, that's for sure.

[forwardwego]

UPDATE 8/21/2018 $35770 (begin 6780, goal 44000)

2018	PRESENT	GOAL	% MET	$$ TO GO
VEH INS Part 1	2000	2000	100
VEH INS Part 2	1300	2000	65	700
DD Starter IRA	3000	3000	100
DDIL IRA	3000	3000	100
Baby STEP 3	13400	18000	74	4600
Pups Med/EF	1070	4000	26	2930
Rental Margin	10000	10000	100
SL Payoff	2000	2000	100
TOTAL	35770	44000	81	8230

[plugginaway22]

plugginaway22, 9/1/18 $10,890 (goal $16,800)





Accounts           9/1/18                      2018 Goal



EF- online         $3690                           $5000



EF- brick bank  $6600                           $7000



Tax Escrow       $600 (paid taxes)         $4800



Totals               $10,890                        $16,800





(the HSA account balance is now $5336)




Vacation, paid taxes, bought dress/gift/hotel for upcoming wedding = a little backsliding, but also some hope for last 4 months of year.  Mattress continues to be put lower on the spending list, ha-ha.

[seriousthistime]

	Goal	Amt. Saved 8/25/18	% Saved	Roses
Survival fund	$6,000	$2,909	48.5%
Property tax	$5,000	$3,772	75.4%
Household Exp.	$1,000	$1,000	100.0%
Weekly Savings	$1,898	$1,335	70.3%
Gifts	$2,600	$1,810	69.6%
EF increase	$2,600	$1,806	69.5%
Pet care	$600	$604	100.0%
Misc. Exp.	$800	$630	78.8%
Total	$20,498	$13,866	67.6%

Seriousthistime, 8/25/18, $13,866 (Goal $20,498) 

 
I'm 2/3 of the way there, which is where I should be since we're 2/3 of the way through the year.  

Several times in the past few months I've been out with my kids or my friends and ordered a glass of wine. There's a Sauvignon Blanc I buy at the local wine store for $9.99 a bottle ($10.76 with tax; is it bad I remember the exact price?).  When I've been out socializing recently, that wine has been on the menu for either $10 or $11 per glass.  I can't help commenting to the others that I could buy a whole bottle for what one glass will be costing me. (But I order it anyway.)  I feel like Steve Martin in Father of the Bride, in this scene -- start at the 3 minute mark when they discuss the wedding cake. 




Weekly Savings chart:

			$14
$18	$19		$21		$23	$24
$25		$27		$29		$31
		$34			$37
$39	$40		$42	$43	$44
$46

[Maryland Monroe]

A couple of questions about saving. I have never before been in the position where I felt comfortable with the amount of money I had readily available.

Account 1: One of my retirement checks is deposited in this account. I don't spend it, but keep it available for any unusual expenses. If nothing happens and I don't need it during the month, I move the balance to my savings account when the next check arrives. This is the account I will use to pay extra on the mortgage.

Account 2: My other retirement check is the one I actually live on. A set amount goes directly to the savings account as soon as I get paid for infrequent expenses (tax payments, birthday and Christmas gifts, insurance premiums, etc.). This ensures that I have the money when a quarterly or annual bill is due, or I need to buy a gift for a family member.

I'm pretty sure I'll reach my desired $20K savings goal early next year by continuing to add the funds from account 2 and accrued interest. I'm looking for ideas. What would you do after that? Continue saving? Change to a new goal? Something else?

[nikiz628]

Since I've hit all but 1 of my savings goals for the year, it's time to set a new set of goals to keep me motivated. 
I will keep my initial goal active until I hit it (should be in the next month or so, DS1's birthday money will get deposited and he should hit the target number). 

I am going to post my 9/1 update today before the busy holiday weekend hits. 


INITIAL GOALS FOR 2018

2018	START	CURRENT	GOAL	STILL NEED
E.F.	$760.00	$2000.00	$2000.00	$0 GOAL MET
DS1'S SAVINGS	$1528.06	$1667.54	$1750.00	$82.46
DS2'S SAVINGS	$425.33	$550.00	$550.00	$0 GOAL MET
DISNEY FUND	$1895.47	$5000.00	$5000.00	$0 GOAL MET
TOTALS	$4608.86	$9217.54	$9300.00	$82.46

NikiZ628 9/1/18 $9217.54 (Goal $9,300 WIRS1)



Secondary Goals for 2018

2018 Secondary	START	CURRENT	GOAL	STILL NEED
E.F.	$2000.00	$2146.60	$2500.00	$353.40
GENERAL SAVINGS	$95.00	$95.00	$500.00	$405.00
TOTALS	$2095.00	$2241.60	$3000.00	$758.40

NikiZ628(2) 9/1/18 $2241.60 (Goal $3000.00 WIRS14)



The general savings is the secondary savings we have for unexpected expenses (school/extracurricular expenses, medical bills, etc). It has $50-$500 in it at any given time, obviously it's on the lower end right now. I would like to get it back up to $500 before the year ends. 

[debthaven]

Debthaven 300 euros for 1 Sept 2018 (Goal: 600 euros)

We got a VERY good estimate for the paint and new flooring for the two damaged bedrooms (upstairs and downstairs masters). We have decided to use some of the money from the rental sale to redo the downstairs masters.

We WON'T redo BOTH bedrooms now because of the cost and the disruption, but I am hoping we can redo our bedroom (upstairs masters) at some point next year. 

I have also decided that while I will obviously not liquidate our savings, if we use more than planned, that's life. We have a LOT of deferred maintenance (and several deferred purchases). Things have been SO TIGHT FOR SO LONG. So I'm trying to find a balance. 

We have also put another rental up for sale, as I think I mentioned. Unfortunately we did that just before our renter left for a month, so although people have called, they haven't been able to see the apartment. That was very dumb of me, I should have put it up in Sept instead. But hopefully that apt will eventually sell and allow us to pay off more debt/replenish the coffers/spend some money.

[finnime]

Aug 27, 2018 19:32:57 GMT -5 Maryland Monroe said:

A couple of questions about saving. I have never before been in the position where I felt comfortable with the amount of money I had readily available.

Account 1: One of my retirement checks is deposited in this account. I don't spend it, but keep it available for any unusual expenses. If nothing happens and I don't need it during the month, I move the balance to my savings account when the next check arrives. This is the account I will use to pay extra on the mortgage.

Account 2: My other retirement check is the one I actually live on. A set amount goes directly to the savings account as soon as I get paid for infrequent expenses (tax payments, birthday and Christmas gifts, insurance premiums, etc.). This ensures that I have the money when a quarterly or annual bill is due, or I need to buy a gift for a family member.

I'm pretty sure I'll reach my desired $20K savings goal early next year by continuing to add the funds from account 2 and accrued interest. I'm looking for ideas. What would you do after that? Continue saving? Change to a new goal? Something else?

I would continue saving, but set up new goals for the funds. Some bigger, some less so. Like $10,000 for house/home improvements, plus $750 for a long weekend get-away. I feel like I'm getting somewhere with trackable goals and a plan for reaching them. It makes saving more interesting and less like an endless diet.

[Saving4Norway]

Happy to be getting a raise starting next month!

[Maryland Monroe]

Congratulations, Saving4Norway! 


Update: Maryland_Monroe $18,492 8/31/18 (Goal $20,000)

[debthaven]

Maryland Monroe the other thing you can do is set a bigger goal and continue to put the money into that account. Then when it gets to a point where you feel comfortable (25K? 30K?), put the extra 5K/10K towards the mortgage. It will go WAY down as you do that, because you'll be putting both debt and savings towards it. (I know your goal is to pay it off ASAP.)

I hope I can manage to do as well as you in retirement, you are truly an inspiration to me! 

Congrats on the raise Saving4Norway ! We miss you on the decluttering thread!

[Maryland Monroe]

Aug 31, 2018 17:16:33 GMT -5 debthaven said:

Maryland Monroe the other thing you can do is set a bigger goal and continue to put the money into that account. Then when it gets to a point where you feel comfortable (25K? 30K?), put the extra 5K/10K towards the mortgage. It will go WAY down as you do that, because you'll be putting both debt and savings towards it. (I know your goal is to pay it off ASAP.)

I hope I can manage to do as well as you in retirement, you are truly an inspiration to me! 

Congrats on the raise Saving4Norway ! We miss you on the decluttering thread!

debthaven, thank you! That's probably exactly what I will do.

I want to encourage all the young people here (younger than me, anyway) to pay off your debts and save as much as you can before you retire. I aggressively saved and paid down debts for my last few working years and had only the car loan and mortgage when I retired. I have a retirement account that I started kind of late, but plan to leave the money there to grow until they make me start withdrawing it at age 70. If I can do it, most anybody can do it. I was quite the spendthrift in my younger days.

[Deleted]

Still going forward...albeit slowly.  

Fund	2018 Goal	Current	Needed	% Complete
Survival Fund	$6000	$6000	$0	100.00%
2019 Roth	$5500	$3100	$2400	56.36%
House Maint	$3000	$3000	$0	100.00%
College	$2400	$1800	$600	75.00%
Replacement Car	$2000	$200	$1800	10.00%
Pr. High School	$1000	$1000	$0	100.00%
Vacation	$1000	$0	$1000	0.00%
Christmas	$600	$280	$320	46.67%
Total	$21,500	$15380	$6120	71.53%

minnesotapaintlady, $15380 8/31/18 (goal $21,500)

[seriousthistime]

Savers,

I don't know how this happened, but it is September 1st already.  Where did the time go

Anyway, it's time to get your August updates in if you haven't done so.  I'll do the Smilies on Monday, the 3rd.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Serious this time

[lazysundays]

update:



Lazysundays 9-1-18 $7100.90/$60,000 by spring 2020  11.8% of goal

$1983.98  Looks like back to school kicked my butt... actually it's the eating out with the kids while shopping that blew up my budget last month.  Had an extra paycheck but took from it to pay the extras.  Overall, not bad, but behind on the goal for sure...

[Jaguar]

So I got the first Shingrix vaccine on June 8th, and my Shingrix #2 vaccine has a appointment for getting #2, in September.

Saving Funds	Saving Goals	Current Saved	Percentage Saved	Woo Hoo Factor
Shingrix	$303.40	$303.40	100%
Moving Fund #1	$3,800	$0.00	0%	?
GRAND TOTALS	$4,103.40	$303.40	7.39%	?

I'm inching forward bit by bit, it's a wee progress so I'm happy with it.


Jaguar ~ $303.40 ~ 9/1/2018 ~ GOAL ~ $4,103.40

[Saving4Norway]

Fund	2018 Goals	Last Month	This Month	% Met	Roses
Saving for 2019	1500	0	1500	100%
Denmark 2018	1000	1000	1000	100%	Jan
Deductibles	500	500	500	100%	March
Gifts&Donations	1500	1500	1500	100%	May
Palm Springs 2018	500	500	500	100%	March
Motorcycle Trips 2018	1500	1500	1500	100%	May
Home Improvement	5000	5000	5000	100%	Aug
Cultural	2000	2000	2000	100%	May
Vacay Prop	1000	1000	1000	100%	Feb
Hockey Season Tickets	1000	1000	1000	100%	March
Christmas	500	500	500	100%	March
Adventures	2000	2000	2000	100%	April
TOTAL	18000	14000	18000	100%

Saving4Norway 8/3/18 $18,000 (Goal $16,500)

[plugginaway22]

Way to go SavingNorway!!  I am determined to buckle down and hit or surpass my goals.  We are back from vacation and September will be a good month to review everything and plan the next 3-4 months.  

[finnime]

Rats. Looks like my newly-funded EF is going to be cut down as I buy a new washer/dryer. My dryer bit the dust and after dismantling it I see there is no good way to fix it. It conveyed when I bought this house over 15 years ago, so I shouldn't complain much. I do mourn the spending of the $1300 though.

[plugginaway22]

Ouch is right finnime, had no idea a set is that much!  Ours is probably 12 years old so guess we have THAT to look forward to.

[debthaven]

The worst thing is, newer washers/dryers are NOT built to last, on purpose (programmed obsolescence). The newer things are, the less time they last. You would probably be better off buying a gently-used set rather than new, but then of course then you'd have to install them and get rid of the old ones yourselves, which would of course be a huge PITA. But you and your DH seem handy, so that COULD be an option for you! 

Given the amazing estimate we got from the new painter/floorer, we are considering having both bedrooms done sooner rather than later. I've decided that I'm OK with taking 5K out of the rental sale savings, and adding anything over that to our "revolving credit loan" at our bank (ie our current home reno (ie kitchen loan)).

Redoing those two bedroom and bathrooms are the last of last year's 35K subsidence nightmare with ZERO money from insurance. It's VERY tempting to just get it ALL done and finally turn that last page.

ETA: I know I'm not a good saver, but I would still like to thank you all for making me much more mindful about how I do spend my money.

[finnime]

Sept 2, 2018 14:36:01 GMT -5 debthaven said:

The worst thing is, newer washers/dryers are NOT built to last, on purpose (programmed obsolescence). The newer things are, the less time they last. You would probably be better off buying a gently-used set rather than new, but then of course then you'd have to install them and get rid of the old ones yourselves, which would of course be a huge PITA. But you and your DH seem handy, so that COULD be an option for you! 

Given the amazing estimate we got from the new painter/floorer, we are considering having both bedrooms done sooner rather than later. I've decided that I'm OK with taking 5K out of the rental sale savings, and adding anything over that to our "revolving credit loan" at our bank (ie our current home reno (ie kitchen loan)).

Redoing those two bedroom and bathrooms are the last of last year's 35K subsidence nightmare with ZERO money from insurance. It's VERY tempting to just get it ALL done and finally turn that last page.

ETA: I know I'm not a good saver, but I would still like to thank you all for making me much more mindful about how I do spend my money.

You know, I'd prefer to go used in many ways, and keep the $$ in the bank. The problem is that my DH is not handy nor can he readily assist given his mobility issues. I can do a lot of what needs to be done myself and would have fixed the dryer if that were possible. I can find a decent used set, I think, if I look hard and given some time. I can't move in a new set or move out the old; would have to hire that out. Plus transport of the newer set - would need to hire someone for that as our Sonata just won't do. Aagh. A new set would give me 2 years all-risks warranty and 10 years major parts, plus removal and installation. Total difference in cost would be about $700 - $800. Need to think this through.

[debthaven]

finnime I agree, it's probably not worth it.