Women in Red SAVERS 2019

[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 5/3/19 $8,500 ($0 1/1/17 / Goal=$16,000)

UserName 5/3/19 $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 5/3/19 $38,572 (Start=$24,369)

We are hoping everyone has a prosperous 2019. 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: 5/1/19 $4,978 (1/1/19 $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=  
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 2019.

The 2018 Savers thread is still open for you to post your final updates for 2018. Please post your final year-end updates in the 2018 Savers thread.

When the smilies and shoutouts for 2018 are done, that thread will be locked. So please hurry and get your 2018 updates done by the afternoon of January 5, and post them in the 2018 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 2019, Savers! Let the savings begin!

[Saving4Norway]

Fund	2018 Goals	Last Month	This Month	% Met	Roses
TBD	1	0	0	0%
Iceland 2020	4000	0	0	0%
Deductibles	500	0	500	100%	Jan
Gifts&Donations	2000	0	0	0%
Palm Springs 2019	600	0	0	0%
Motorcycle Trips 2019	1000	0	0	0%
Home Improvement	5000	0	1000	20%
Cultural	2000	0	0	0%
Vacay Prop	500	0	500	100%	Jan
Hockey Season Tickets	1000	0	0	0%
Christmas	500	0	0	0%
Adventures	1000	0	0	0%
TOTAL	18101	0	0	0%

Saving4Norway 1/3/19 $2,000 (Goal $18,101)

[Saving4Norway]

To re-introduce myself... I have enjoyed so much success at planning and executing significant savings here on the Savers thread over the years that I want to be on board for this year, as well.

A little about me, I'm a 27-year veteran teacher in the Pacific NorthWet. DH and I are DINKs. The only debt that we have is our mortgage. I first started with the Savers to save $1000 for a basic Emergency Fund. Once I got that rose, I raised it to $7,500 (3 months expenses). That's been so long ago that that fund's value is now over $25,000! I automatically fund my retirement, investments, and maximize my Roth contributions so I don't track them here. That's why you might notice that my savings categories are mostly "fun" things.

Happy Savings to all, new and old friends!

[nikiz628]

Hello! Allow me to re-introduce myself. I have been around WIR for several years now. I originated on the MSN Money board (MPDunleavy days), but got lost in the shuffle over to proboards. I found my way here a few years later (2013 ish) and you've been stuck with me since!  I mostly stuck to the WIRR board, but came over to be a Saver 2 or 3 years ago. It has really helped motivate me to save more! 

 I am 32 years old, married to my high school sweetheart, and we have 2 boys (8 & 3).  I am a SAHM and I handle all of the financials at our house (numbers nerd!)

My goals for 2019 are pretty similar to 2018, just with higher numbers. 

1. Get our E.F. to $4,500.00 
2. DS1's Savings to $2,000.00
3. DS2's Savings to $800.00   (2 & 3 are mostly reached with birthday/gifted money, piggy banks, etc). 
4. (Not savers but $$ related) Auto loan under $16,000.00 (we have 2 vehicles combined in 1 auto loan). 
5. Cash flow our family vacation to Disney. 

I should be able to post my starting numbers for the year tomorrow! I am looking forward to another great year saving money with you all! 

[lazysundays]

Lazysundays 1-3-19 $10973/$60,000 by spring 2020 18.3% of goal


serious budget juggling to avoid holiday debt.  I learned a lesson this year.  If hubby and I don't plan out what to get the kids, we each buy them a couple of big ticket items and go way over on the budget.  It was all just gathering in the basement and didn't see the item tally until Christmas morning.  maybe it isn't a good idea to buy items on sale throughout the year....


Happy New Year!!!

[finnime]

Based on 2018's experience, I've decided to create two buckets for savings: one to keep and one to spend. So I'll have a savings bucket to build over the year to add to my EF and another, separate, to be spent as needs arise, for the house and car and etc. Once I reached my EF goal last year my needs to spend were forefront. I want to credit and track that money, too. I'll just have to figure out a format for it.

[TheHaitian]

Hello Ladies... a gentleman here (hope you will not mind). I was part of this group back in 2016 and took a break (a lot happening).

2019 will be tight for us because we have a high savings rate that I would like for us to achieve and maintain while also keeping budget in line / cutting back and keeping everything going smooth and sending any extra (if any) towards paying down debt.

I have a 6 year plan for the debt payoff so this is why savings is a priority to that but if I can accelerate that too and pay less interest (income increase / cut back in spending) that would be great too. We are also planning on starting to start the process for baby #2.

The Savings goals I have for us :
1. Max 401k - $19,000
2. 401k Match - $3,000
3. Max 403b - $19,000
4. 403b Match - $6,000
5. Max HSA - $6,500
6. HSA match - $500
7. Max FSA - $2,700 (but that is used/spend by the end of the year).
8. DD savings account - $1,560
9. DD 529 account - $1,740

Grand total $60,000 : now having it on paper I see how crazy the goal is! It will be TIGHT!

I wish all of you ladies the best of luck reaching your savings goals!

cawiau 01/03/2019 $0.00 ( Goal = $60,000)

[Deleted]

Jan 3, 2019 20:00:06 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Hello Ladies... a gentleman here (hope you will not mind). I was part of this group back in 2016 and took a break (a lot happening).

2019 will be tight for us because we have a high savings rate that I would like for us to achieve and maintain while also keeping budget in line / cutting back and keeping everything going smooth and sending any extra (if any) towards paying down debt.

I have a 6 year plan for the debt payoff so this is why savings is a priority to that but if I can accelerate that too and pay less interest (income increase / cut back in spending) that would be great too. We are also planning on starting to start the process for baby #2.

The Savings goals I have for us :
1. Max 401k - $19,000
2. 401k Match - $3,000
3. Max 403b - $19,000
4. 403b Match - $6,000
5. Max HSA - $6,500
6. HSA match - $500
7. Max FSA - $2,700 (but that is used/spend by the end of the year).
8. DD savings account - $1,560
9. DD 529 account - $1,740

Grand total $60,000 : now having it on paper I see how crazy the goal is! It will be TIGHT!

I wish all of you ladies the best of luck reaching your savings goals!

cawiau 01/03/2019 $0.00 ( Goal = $60,000)

Lol.  You want to save what I earn.  . Good luck!

[nikiz628]

Jan 3, 2019 20:00:06 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Hello Ladies... a gentleman here (hope you will not mind). I was part of this group back in 2016 and took a break (a lot happening).

2019 will be tight for us because we have a high savings rate that I would like for us to achieve and maintain while also keeping budget in line / cutting back and keeping everything going smooth and sending any extra (if any) towards paying down debt.

I have a 6 year plan for the debt payoff so this is why savings is a priority to that but if I can accelerate that too and pay less interest (income increase / cut back in spending) that would be great too. We are also planning on starting to start the process for baby #2.

The Savings goals I have for us :
1. Max 401k - $19,000
2. 401k Match - $3,000
3. Max 403b - $19,000
4. 403b Match - $6,000
5. Max HSA - $6,500
6. HSA match - $500
7. Max FSA - $2,700 (but that is used/spend by the end of the year).
8. DD savings account - $1,560
9. DD 529 account - $1,740

Grand total $60,000 : now having it on paper I see how crazy the goal is! It will be TIGHT!

I wish all of you ladies the best of luck reaching your savings goals!

cawiau 01/03/2019 $0.00 ( Goal = $60,000)

Glad to see you back here!!

[trimatty471]

I will be doing this again. I am in the process of selling my home and have long "honey do" list.
I will enter my information by the end of the month...


Goals:
Vacation - $2500
Holiday - $1500
Repair/Replace - $1500
Moving Expenses - $3565
Replenish Emergency Fund - $1575
Sinking Fund - $2200

[plugginaway22]

I joined this group last year because we were ending a year of heavy spending (DD2 wedding, house HVAC system, travel, etc.) and  I was very uncomfortable with the amount of cash we had on hand.  DH and I are empty-nesters who are making our highest salaries ever, but we are trying to make up for the years I stayed home with 3 kiddos.  I saved $23k in my 401k in 2018, and have it set to max this year at $25k.  DH saves 15% of salary and maxes the HSA, at about $8k/year.  Our home is paid for and we only owe about $9k on my car.  DH is itching to replace his car this year.

This group motivated me so much last year. We have never had all the categories I see here, just 2 savings accounts, but I wanted to see those numbers increase each month and it did make me accountable when spending.  I increased our savings by about $14K and it feels so much better than same time last year.

I am still gathering my thoughts about how much I want to add to the accounts this year.  We are within 5 years of retirement, so am also thinking of this stash as a bridge to Social Security /Medicare.

[Poptart]

I'm in for 2019, I'm just trying to figure out what goals to set. The way I see it I need to save for the following events

• Friends wedding- March 2019
• Boyfriends birthday- July 2019
• My birthday/ Christmas- November/December

November is a super busy and expensive month for me. I have three family birthdays not including my own and all are in the final two weeks of November, this year my birthday and Thanksgiving fall on the same day and I'm not going to sit around cleaning and cooking for everyone so I'd like to save enough money to do something fun that day and weekend. 

I'm going to sit down this weekend and try and figure out how much I want/ need to save to deal with these events, but I'm freaking out because it's already January and the wedding is in March!

[seriousthistime]

Here is what I posted in the 2018 Savers thread on thoughts for saving in 2019.  I need to revise these and come down to earth.

---------------

Now, on to 2019. Some random thoughts for the upcoming year:

Gift expenses were lower this year than usual, which I think was due to no family members getting married. I'm more generous with family than others so my overall gift costs were lower. I also absorbed memorial gifts and other donations into my ongoing spending rather than using saved Gift money for those. I'll roll over Gift Savings and maybe reduce the amount deposited per paycheck.

Property tax and Survival Fund will be about the same. I'll continue with Household, Pet Care, and Misc. Expenses. It's good to build up those accounts. Weekly Savings may take a different form. I don't know what it would be, but maybe the same amount every week... $50 maybe? And I can still have the chart with the smilies, except instead of jumping around the chart and putting in random amounts, I'd just start with the first square in the upper lefthand corner, and go from there.

And now comes wishful thinking.

I'd like to build up my account in a bank that I use almost exclusively for my mortgage withdrawal each month. I deposit half my mortgage payment into that account each month and have slightly over two months in there now (covering January and February). In 2019, I would like to have 6 or 8 months' worth of mortgage payments in that account, plus about $1,000 for random ATM withdrawals when I'm traveling and can't find my regular bank's ATMs. (My regular bank is a big bank with a limited ATM network. My mortgage bank is one of the giant banks with branches and ATMs all over the place.)

My car is two years old (with 19k miles on it, extended warranty to 96k), payments are at 0.9%, and I've paid most of the interest to be charged on that loan because the interest is front-loaded. I have 35 more payments to make. I might continue to pay the regular car payment each month and be done with it on schedule, but also save the same amount in a car payoff savings account. That way, if I do decide to pay it off early, I'll have some money saved for that. I could, then, potentially pay off the car in mid 2020. And if I do pay it off on schedule rather than early, I'll have some money for car replacement at some point down the road. Way, way down the road I hope.

I also need a travel savings account. The amount I would like to put in that account is scary high, because the money I spent on travel in 2018 is scary high. But I want to travel while I can, and I want to travel with, and spend time with, my kids whenever possible. Maybe it wouldn't be so scary if I were to just attempt to save part of my anticipated travel expenses for 2019.

And I might add a line below my charts to track investment savings. I would probably track the savings as % of goal rather than dollar amount. Not sure how that would work, but we shall see.

As I look at this, I think my plan is to save more than 100% of my paycheck each month! Ha! Why not start out with an impossibility? At what point do I start sounding like Scrooge McDuck? Except that I'm saving for eventual spending...

-------------
The goals are a work in progress. More later.

 

[seriousthistime]

And to re-introduce myself, I started here back in the MSN days, first as a Racer, then as a Racer and Saver, and having finished all the races I plan to do, I am now just a Saver.  I still have a mortgage and a car payment, but I am not racing those.  I used to have consumer debt I needed to dig myself out of, and having done that, I'm good with the rest of it.

When I first started, I was going through a nasty divorce with one child in college and another about to start.  Basically, the most expensive years of parenting were upon us, and then the divorce happened. There was a lot of emotional and financial upheaval all at once, and then I had to rebuild my life as a single empty-nester.  

I am about 15 years post-divorce now.  In those years, I've taken two promotions that have boosted my income to current levels.  Still single and happily so.  I'm a few years from retirement.  So my focus is to stay out of consumer debt and Save Save Save. 

[seriousthistime]

	Goal	Start	Amt. Saved 1/6/19	Amt. Saved %	Roses
Gifts	$2,300	$335	$335	14.6%
Property Tax	$5,000	$2,984	$2,984	59.7%
Survival Fund	$6,000	$26	$26	0.0%
Household/Misc	$2,500	$1,075	$1,075	43.0%
Pet Care	$600	$130	$130	22.5%
Weekly Savings	$2,600	$0	$0	00.0%
Mortgage Cushion	$12,000	$4,200	$4,200	35%
Car Fund	$6,000	$0	$0	00.0%
Travel	$5,000	$0	$0	00.0%
Total	$42,000	$8,750	$8,750	20.8%

Seriousthistime, $8,750, 1/6/19 (Goal $42,000)

Okay, so this will be a bit of a reach, and the goals may be modified to more realistic amounts at any given point, but we'll see.  This is pretty much in line with my post a few replies above this one.

Gifts, Property Tax, Survival Fund, and Pet Care are essentially the same as last year with maybe a small adjustment in the goal up or down.  Household and Misc. were two separate funds last year.  I'm combining them this year.  Weekly Savings will be a flat $50 each week. The Mortgage Cushion, Car Fund, and Travel accounts are new. 

I swept some money out of some of last year's funds and into a money market account. 2% interest, woo hoo! But I didn't clear them out completely except for Weekly Savings, and that's why most of the existing accounts have a carryover amount. 

Weekly Savings: 

Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6
Week 7	Week 8	Week 9	Week 10	Week 11	Week 12
Week 13	Week 14	Week 15	Week 16	Week 17	Week 18
Week 19	Week 20	Week 21	Week 22	Week 23	Week 24
Week 25	Week 26	Week 27	Week 28	Week 29	Week 30
Week 31	Week 32	Week 33	Week 34	Week 35	Week 36
Week 37	Week 38	Week 39	Week 40	Week 41	Week 42
Week 43	Week 44	Week 45	Week 46	Week 47	Week 48
Week 49	Week 50	Week 51	Week 52

[paynointerest]

Hello Everyone!  I've been a member of WIRR since 2007 and the MP Dunleavy days and spend most of my time hanging out in the "get-myself-out-of-debt" section of the WIR thread.  The only debt I have is my mortgage and in the past 3 years, I've been contributing more to savings since I have my mortgage under control.  I'm half toying with the idea of an early retirement by age 55 -- so 9 years from now.  So, I thought I'd get serious about my retirement savings and my "make sure I have fun" savings because now that I'm middle age, it is finally hitting me that life can be really short and I need to make the most of this life I have.

It is good to see many of you from the WIRR thread over on the savings thread with goals to save your money as well as pay off debt.  It is good to see some names that I haven't seen in awhile.  I'm looking forward to this!

2019 Savings Goals

• Max out my 403b = $19,000
• My 457b = 9,000
  
• Savings account (2%APR) = $3,000
  
• Taxable investment accounts = $5,000
• Property taxes = $4,200
• DH 403b - save $10,000 (it will a major accomplishment to get him on board with this plan for this much savings -- I've got him committed to a portion of this)
  

Pay-no-interest:  $1,650 (Goal: $49,200.00)

	Goal	Saved	% to goal
My 403b	$19,000	0	0%
457b	$9,000	0	0%
Savings Acct	$3,000	$1000	33%
Taxable Invest Acct	$5,000	$300	6%
Property Taxes	$4,200	$350	8%
DH 403b	$10,000	$0	0%
Totals	$49,200	$1,650	3%

Note: if I get DH on board to save in his 403b, I'll choose to make maxing that out a higher priority than getting $9K into my 457b.

[chiver78]

I am definitely getting back in on this thread for 2019. I got derailed mid-year last year due to a number of reasons related to a really bad career move. there's a lot more detail in the Job Hunt thread elsewhere, but on 1/21 I will be starting a new job. the new place is more toward the pay scales/bonuses etc that I'm accustomed to in my industry. I will be driving a ways again, but there's a lot to be said for keeping my professional integrity and getting paid well for that knowledge and reputation. 

I am going to be using the playing cards again. this worked well for me, even though sometimes I found myself playing two cards at once b/c I had forgotten the previous week. there are 52 Saturdays in 2019, starting today. I do not have any other specific savings goals for 2019, as I also got derailed in paying down debts. if I can stick to this $910, I'll call it a win. 

today, there are six $1 bills in my wallet, alongside a $50. there is no $50 playing card, and being week 1 there is no change. so I will play my first card as the 2  for $6. I think I may not have done the tagline just right, if one of the captains could lmk. thanks!

Card	Spades (1x)	Diamonds (2x)	Hearts (3x)	Clubs (4x)
A	1	2	3	4
2	2	4		8
3	3	6	9	12
4	4	8	12	16
5	5	10	15	20
6	6	12	18	24
7	7	14	21	28
8	8	16	24	32
9	9	18	27	36
10	10	20	30	40
Jack (11)	11	22	33	44
Queen (12)	12	24	36	48
King (13)	13	26	39	52

chiver78  1/5/19  $6/$910 

[finnime]

Savings 2019

Goals for Spending

Goal	Goal Amount	Saved	Spent	Percent Saved
House	10,000	10	0	.10%
Car	2,500	0	0
Dog	500	0	0
Medical	1500	0	0
Gifts/Misc	3,000	0	0
Travel	2,500	0	0
Total	20,000	10		.05%

Finnime1 $10 1/6/2019 ($20,000)

Goal for Keeping

Security	5,000	2	.04%
Total	5,000	2	.04%

Finnime2 $2 1/6/2019 ($5,000)

[seriousthistime]

Welcome, new and returning Savers!

[nikiz628]

UPDATE TO ADD STARTING NUMBERS 

Jan 3, 2019 0:20:32 GMT -5 nikiz628 said:

Hello! Allow me to re-introduce myself. I have been around WIR for several years now. I originated on the MSN Money board (MPDunleavy days), but got lost in the shuffle over to proboards. I found my way here a few years later (2013 ish) and you've been stuck with me since!  I mostly stuck to the WIRR board, but came over to be a Saver 2 or 3 years ago. It has really helped motivate me to save more! 

 I am 32 years old, married to my high school sweetheart, and we have 2 boys (8 & 3).  I am a SAHM and I handle all of the financials at our house (numbers nerd!)

My goals for 2019 are pretty similar to 2018, just with higher numbers. 

1. Get our E.F. to $4,500.00 
2. DS1's Savings to $2,000.00
3. DS2's Savings to $800.00   (2 & 3 are mostly reached with birthday/gifted money, piggy banks, etc). 
4. (Not savers but $$ related) Auto loan under $16,000.00 (we have 2 vehicles combined in 1 auto loan). 
5. Cash flow our family vacation to Disney. 

I should be able to post my starting numbers for the year tomorrow! I am looking forward to another great year saving money with you all! 

2019 Savings	START	CURRENT	GOAL	STILL NEEDED
Emergency Fund	$2,091.03	$2,091.03	$4,500.00	$2,408.97
DS1's Savings	$1,750.51	$1,750.51	$2,000.00	$249.49
DS2's Savings	$576.65	$576.65	$800.00	$223.35
TOTALS	$4,418.19	$4,418.19	$7,300.00	$2,881.81

NikiZ628 1/7/19 $4418.19 (Goal $7,300 WIRS1)

[teachermom]

I will be back here for 2019....just need to sit down and set up my goals. Congrats to everyone on their successes in 2018!

Update on my son....he went back to work today. Still only has about 8% hearing in his left ear and going to therapy for his shoulder but doing so much better. Thanks for everyone's prayers.

Teachermom

[snapdragon]

I am staying here for a while. I need to figure out what my plans are and than I will have my numbers ready to go later on. 

[shanendoah]

I'll be honest. This morning, at least, a year is too long for me to plan for. I'm just not there. We sold a house and bought a new house in late December (closed on both on my birthday, 12/21). Our first mortgage payment is due 2/1. It will be a significantly higher mortgage payment than before. We walked away from the sale with about $11k in cash to use on things we needed for the new house, and we're slowly making our way through that. Big expenses from that will be a new couch and new water heater.
But lots of other things have changed since last year, too. We paid down a lot of debt, and there should be no more significant legal expenses.
Anyway, it's enough changes that I don't feel like I have a great grip on what our budget is going to look like just yet. So for now, I am setting a Q1 2019 goal. And then, come April, I'll set a goal for Q2. I think this will let me set both realistic goals that can be met, but also perhaps give some stretch goals, especially if I am just looking at 3 months at a time. Last year I saved $2,500 (a lot of which then came out to be spent- but that's the point.) This year, I know I'd LIKE to double that, but I am not positive that's exactly possible just yet. So, we'll keep that in mind as we set new quarterly goals.

Anyway, Q1 goal is simply $300 - the $50 per paycheck I have auto transferred into savings.

shanendoah: $0 1/8/2019 (Goal: $300 3/31/2019)

[paynointerest]

Update!

Pay-no-interest:  $2,650 (Goal: $49,200.00)

	Goal	Saved	% to goal
My 403b	$19,000	0	0%
457b	$9,000	0	0%
Savings Acct	$3,000	$2000	67%
Taxable Invest Acct	$5,000	$300	6%
Property Taxes	$4,200	$350	8%
DH 403b	$10,000	$0	0%
Totals	$49,200	$2,650	5%

After paying all of my bills, I had some extra money left from my December 31 paycheck that I decided to put towards my savings account.  Any extra money I have left over each month (after contributing to retirement accounts) will go to my savings account until that goal is met, then I'll work toward meeting my property tax goals.

[seriousthistime]

Jan 8, 2019 11:08:51 GMT -5 shanendoah said:

I'll be honest. This morning, at least, a year is too long for me to plan for. I'm just not there. We sold a house and bought a new house in late December (closed on both on my birthday, 12/21). Our first mortgage payment is due 2/1. It will be a significantly higher mortgage payment than before. We walked away from the sale with about $11k in cash to use on things we needed for the new house, and we're slowly making our way through that. Big expenses from that will be a new couch and new water heater.
But lots of other things have changed since last year, too. We paid down a lot of debt, and there should be no more significant legal expenses.
Anyway, it's enough changes that I don't feel like I have a great grip on what our budget is going to look like just yet. So for now, I am setting a Q1 2019 goal. And then, come April, I'll set a goal for Q2. I think this will let me set both realistic goals that can be met, but also perhaps give some stretch goals, especially if I am just looking at 3 months at a time. Last year I saved $2,500 (a lot of which then came out to be spent- but that's the point.) This year, I know I'd LIKE to double that, but I am not positive that's exactly possible just yet. So, we'll keep that in mind as we set new quarterly goals.

Anyway, Q1 goal is simply $300 - the $50 per paycheck I have auto transferred into savings.

shanendoah: $0 1/8/2019 (Goal: $300 3/31/2019)

And going quarter by quarter is just fine! 

shanendoah[Q1]: $0 1/8/2019 (Goal: $300 3/31/2019)

[kindthatjingles]

Hi Everyone!

Have posted on and off and lurk (way too much).

Single with two teenage boys, modest income, and need some accountability.

A win for me is if I had one month on income in savings. I was doing the Dave Ramsey baby steps and have gotten debt to the point I feel okay with but I worry about my ability

to handle something with the house.

Kindthatjingles starting 1000.00 (goal of 3500.00 )