Women in Red SAVERS 2019

[nikiz628]

copy/pasted my post from WIRR

Things are about to be shaken up in our household... my H has decided to leave his job that he's had since he graduated high school. (14 years ago). You may remember he works for my uncle in telecommunications/security/networking. A job presented itself at our children's school corp in the IT dept and they wanted him to apply (his company now handles a lot of their contracted work). The contract is for 240 days a year, with 2 weeks vacation/2 weeks leave, retirement, medical/dental, and the ability to work from home at times. They were able to match what he is making now- so it's a lateral move financially. The job will allow him to be home more and work a set 8-3 schedule, instead of 8-whenever his day is done. This probably all reads so wonderfully, but of course there is a downside. 1. He's leaving a family business, where he is basically #2 in the company behind my uncle. 2. My uncle/his boss offered him $15,000 more a year to stay. $15,000. It stings the financial coordinator side of me to know he walked away from such a big raise. I know he has not been happy at his job for awhile and ultimately his happiness is the most important thing. Change is very hard for me. With my anxiety disorder and my panic attacks, you can imagine how this has affected me. We thoroughly discussed both sides before he made his decision, but it still feels so weird to me that the life we've had since before we were married is going to be different after this month ends. The school board still has to officially approve his hiring, once that happens he will finish out this month at his current job and start the new job 7/1.



Another change that will throw me for awhile: going to bi-weekly pay. He's paid weekly now so I've never had to stretch a check. And the way his contract works, his actual annual salary is $10,000 less than what it is. He's "picked up" extra responsibilities that pay out separately, so that $10,000 is divided up and only paid out on the 2nd check of the month. So, not only am I going to have to completely redo our budget, but I won't even know for a month or so what his 1st pay & 2nd pay will be. Cue more panic. We will make it work. We will make it work. We will make it work. But until this becomes normal to me, I am a hot hot mess.

[shanendoah]

nikiz628 - I hope the new job is all that your H wants it to be. Not to add to your stress, but given that the new job is for 240 days a year, that's only 2/3 of the year. For 120 days each year, he won't be getting paid. That means his paychecks during the time he is getting paid will be much larger than you are used to, but you will definitely need a savings plan in place to cover the 4 months each year he is not getting paid. Or will he be able to elect (as some teachers are) to have a smaller paycheck during the school year, in order to be paid regularly during the time he is on hiatus?

[forwardwego]

I'm thinking that nikiz628 's DH is working 48 weeks times 5 days totaling 240 days, which leaves the 2 weeks of vacation and 2 weeks of leave?

It is a big change, especially considering the nature and length of time at the job he is leaving, and the new pay schedule.  As the "financial coordinator" in our home I can empathize with a bit of nerves during the transition and until the new normal emerges.

[debthaven]

nikiz628 I don't much like change either, but it sounds like a great opportunity for your family!

[shanendoah]

forwardwego - That is definitely possible. However, nikiz628's H is moving to working for their children's school coop. In the world of education, contracts are very often only for the academic year. Even at University level, my faculty are on 9 month contracts and do not get paid over summer unless they have made other arrangements (generally grants in my world). So just something to verify in the new industry.

[trimatty471]

trimatty 06/30/2019 $14,424.00 (Goal = $14,424.00)



2019                  Goal           Complete

Moving Exp.    3,500.00      3,500.00    - 100.00%

Vacation           2,500.00      2,500.00    - 100.00%

Sinking Fund    2,200.00     2,200.00    - 100.00%

Holiday             1,500.00     1,500.00    - 100.00%

Emergency        4,724.00     4,724.00    - 100.00%

Total              $14,424.00 $14,424.00    - 100.00%

Sorry for the delay.  I have been covering for people at work.
I will have some new goals by the end of the month.

[forwardwego]

woo hoo trimatty471 

[nikiz628]

Jun 10, 2019 9:26:30 GMT -5 shanendoah said:

nikiz628 - I hope the new job is all that your H wants it to be. Not to add to your stress, but given that the new job is for 240 days a year, that's only 2/3 of the year. For 120 days each year, he won't be getting paid. That means his paychecks during the time he is getting paid will be much larger than you are used to, but you will definitely need a savings plan in place to cover the 4 months each year he is not getting paid. Or will he be able to elect (as some teachers are) to have a smaller paycheck during the school year, in order to be paid regularly during the time he is on hiatus?

Oh believe me, this was my first question when he started considering this job. It's year round pay, regardless of when he works or not- he also has the flexibility to decide when he works, as long as he gets 240 days in a year. He will be in charge of maintaining all of the school IPADs/projectors/computers/etc, ensuring the networks are up and running in all buildings, web and building security, and other nerdy things of that nature. The busiest time for him will be right before school starts, as they get everything prepped for students returning. The current IT admin takes off the month of June and all school holidays (she's contracted at 220 though, so she gets a few more days off than he does). 

[snapdragon]

Well I just paid for half of our girl's weekend vacation in August. The place has 3 actual bedrooms and 3 separate beds so no sharing for the first time in forever! I have the feeling that going forward this will be the way we do retreats.

Ocean and beach combing here I come! 

[azucena]

May 22, 2019 8:23:21 GMT -5 azucena said:

May 3, 2019 8:30:29 GMT -5 azucena said:

Hot water heater and install a few weeks ago $1500.  Now my fridge died, so expecting $2000.  Fortunately able to cashflow both - helps that summer camp was paid months ago and I don't have the kids tuition bills right now.

Net loss of $105 over the past few weeks, but I'm still considering that a win.

Azucena 6/14/19 $13,631 of $25,000 goal (55%)

[seriousthistime]

Update

Account Name	Goal	Start	Amt. Saved 6/16/19	Amt. Saved %	Roses
Gifts	$2,300	$335	$1,637	71.2%
Property Tax	$5,000	$2,984	$5,000	100.0%
Survival Fund	$6,000	$26	$1,133	18.9%
Household/Misc	$2,500	$1,075	$1,399	55.9%
Pet Care	$600	$130	$600	100.0%
Weekly Savings	$2,600	$0	$1,205	46.3%
Mortgage Cushion	$12,000	$4,200	$6,500	54.2%
Car Fund	$6,000	$0	$1,002	16.7%
Travel	$5,000	$0	$1,000	20.0%
Total	$42,000	$8,750	$19,476	46.3%

Seriousthistime, $19,476 6/16/19 (Goal $42,000)


Weekly Savings Tracker: 

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

Still hoping to be on track with 50% overall ($21,000) by the end of June.  I might still make it, though it will be tight. 

So far this year I've been able to cash flow most of my travel and all of my gift purchases.  If I'd put the money into my savings before I spent it, I'd have met both of those goals by now. 

Right now I'm hemorrhaging money on the household front. I had my acrylic shower pulled out and am having tile and a clear glass door installed.  It's a relatively small update to the place (right?) but it's not cheap (materials plus labor!) and it's been disruptive, having my intimate surroundings messed with. (Example: I went to take my nighttime meds one evening and found the vanity had a protective covering taped over it so it wasn't harmed from the moving of tile and equipment into the bathroom.  So I had to take it all down, get my meds, and tape it back up.)  It appears it will be another two weeks before it's done. But it will be so nice when it's finally completed!

Happy saving, everyone!  

[shanendoah]

shanendoah[Q2]: $2,840 6/10/2019 (Goal: $3,020 6/30/2019)
[Q1]: $8,994 3/26/2019 (Goal: $300 3/31/2019)

Running behind on my update.

All the "current use" savings was transferred out this month to pay for the things we used it on.
We have also loaned $500+ to our friend/roommate who needed it to get back to the US/eat/rent a car to get back to our house. And for the moment, she's living and eating with us for free. She will pay us back and start paying rent when she gets a job. I think the plan will be for everything she pays us (rent included) to go into savings.

This is because C will likely be starting a masters program in August. That will cost around $3,700 every 6 months. It will likely take him 2 years to complete.
That's going to put a dent in a lot of our other savings plans, but we can do it. And once it's done, he should be able to get fairly high paying contract work. We also got a couple credit card offers that re 0% APR on purchases for the first 15 billing cycles, so we'll hopefully get 3 rounds of tuition put on that, meaning we can stretch the payments out a bit as we need to. We'll also get a $200 bonus for putting over a certain amount of expenses on the card in the first 3 months.

Based on all of this, and the fact that the other 0% APR card won't be paid off until October, I am going to keep the amount that is auto-transferred to savings at $170/paycheck.
And then, assuming roommate doesn't get a paycheck/start paying anything back until August, I'll add another $1000 to my goal for that.
That will make my Q3 goal $2,020

[nikiz628]

A few hiccups in my planning for H's impending job change. 

He told current employer that he would be there until 6/28, as he starts his new job 7/1. Today, his boss came in and said "tomorrow will be your last day- I will buy out your remaining vacation days". We knew he was going to get to cash out his vacation days, but we anticipated at least 3 more paychecks from his current job on top of that. Now it's looking like it will be 1.75 weeks plus his remaining days.  Ouch. 

To pile on the ouch, I checked with my friend who is a teacher in the school corporation he is starting his job at. The way the pay periods fall and his start date...he's going to go 3 weeks before he gets a paycheck. Double ouch. 

So, I am currently crunching numbers, I paused our automatic savings transfers for the next 2 months, and figuring out the best way to survive 3 weeks without a paycheck without draining our savings a ton. Ughhhh. 

[forwardwego]

nikiz628 Dang, that's a snag for sure. But, good job and a relief that you can pause auto savings as a first line of defense, and have savings that can be used if necessary. 

[paynointerest]

Update! June 27, 2019

Pay-no-interest: $39,300 (Goal: $55,900.00)

	Goal	Saved	% of goal	Amt spent
My 403b	$19,000	$15,000	79%
457b	$9,000	$500	5%
Savings Acct	$3,000	$3000	100%
Taxable Invest Acct	$5,000	$3,500	70%
Property/Income Taxes #1	$4,200	$5,200	124%	$5,200
Property/Income Taxes #2	$8,500	$8,500	100%
DH 403b	$7,200	$3,600	50%
Total	$55,900	$39,300	70%

My end of the month paycheck has been posted and so I'm posting the money that gets contributed into my retirement for the month of June.  I picked up extra work and was able to increase my contributions to my 403b.

[shanendoah]

shanendoah[Q2]: $3,010 6/25/2019 (Goal: $3,020 6/30/2019)
[Q1]: $8,994 3/26/2019 (Goal: $300 3/31/2019)

Missed by $10 this quarter. Guessing that I messed up on the math somewhere, but not going to stress it. I am still far ahead of where I hoped to be so far this year...

[debthaven]

I'm a bit irritated with DH's lawyer, because she told him she'd be contacting the kids and I about our settlements within 2 weeks. That was 5 weeks ago.

I emailed her last Fri but haven't heard back yet.

I want to join the Savers again!

[seriousthistime]

Jun 26, 2019 14:21:35 GMT -5 debthaven said:

I'm a bit irritated with DH's lawyer, because she told him she'd be contacting the kids and I about our settlements within 2 weeks. That was 5 weeks ago.

I emailed her last Fri but haven't heard back yet.

I want to join the Savers again!

Please do!  You're always welcome here, debthaven.

[plugginaway22]

Quick end of June update. I played catch up this month getting things paid off from last month, so spending should slow down until August, our next vacation week.
The summer is going too fast!

6/30/19 Update: Plugginaway22: $33,728 (goal $36,000)



Brick bank       7,750
On-line bank  17,000
Credit Union    8,978

Total             $33,728


HSA balance $11,490

[seriousthistime]

Hi Savers, the end of the month is rapidly approaching. 

Please get your updates posted by July 3.  I'll do the smilies on July 4.  

Thank you,

Seriousthistime

[forwardwego]

GOAL	AMOUNT	STARTING	$$ TO DATE	% OF GOAL	$$ TO GO
JPPCU CUSHION	2000	350	1600	80	400
DD IRA	3000	1000	1600	53	1400
RENTAL MARGIN	12000	10700	7000	58	5000
PERIODIC EXPENSE	5000	1800	3165	63	1835
CASH STASH	2000	300	1000	50	1000
TOTAL	24000	14150	14365	59	9650

UPDATE 6/28/2019 $14365 (begin $14150; goal $24,000) beginning amount corrected

This little inchworm just saved 15 more $$     

[azucena]

Jun 14, 2019 7:18:04 GMT -5 azucena said:

May 22, 2019 8:23:21 GMT -5 azucena said:

Hot water heater and install a few weeks ago $1500.  Now my fridge died, so expecting $2000.  Fortunately able to cashflow both - helps that summer camp was paid months ago and I don't have the kids tuition bills right now.

Net loss of $105 over the past few weeks, but I'm still considering that a win.

Azucena 6/14/19 $13,631 of $25,000 goal (55%)

DH and I both got paid today.  We cashflowed the fridge which was $2000.  I also put $1000 extra towards mortgage principal.  Pay day deposit of $1271.

Azucena 6/28/19 $13,631 of $25,000 goal (60%)


This brings me to $50,000 sitting in our savings account; $25,000 was my annual savings goal.  Not sure it makes sense to keep more than that in the bank earning <1% interest.  I think I've reached a new financial level where I need to figure out what to do with "extra" money which is typically $2000/month.

Options:

• Funnel into Roth - in March I used part of my bonus to open and fully fund $5500 roth for DH; I don't have a Roth for myself, but I've been fully funding my 401k for the past 3 years
• Prepay kids private elementary tuition which is $5500/semester, but really this is just shifting from a monthly payment
• Continue to save since we will want to spend $15,000 for a used Highlander for DH when his bites the dust (currently 200k miles)
• prepay mortgage $260k at 4%

I'm due to post on the main board about this dilemma, but I know I'll need to gather much more info to get good answers.  Interested in what you savers think.

[seriousthistime]

Update

Account Name	Goal	Start	Amt. Saved 6/29/19	Amt. Saved %	Roses
Gifts	$2,300	$335	$1,737	75.5%
Property Tax	$5,000	$2,984	$5,000	100.0%
Survival Fund	$6,000	$26	$1,133	18.9%
Household/Misc	$2,500	$1,075	$1,399	55.9%
Pet Care	$600	$130	$600	100.0%
Weekly Savings	$2,600	$0	$1,305	50.2%
Mortgage Cushion	$12,000	$4,200	$6,500	54.2%
Car Fund	$6,000	$0	$1,203	20.0%
Travel	$5,000	$0	$1,001	20.0%
Total	$42,000	$8,750	$19,878	47.3%

Seriousthistime, $19,878 6/29/19 (Goal $42,000)


Weekly Savings Tracker: 

					">
		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

I cash flowed much of the bathroom reno (complete now, except for paint touchup), and although I was hoping to be at the 50% mark now, I am not far off and I have another influx of cash arriving on July 1.  And I should be able to make 50% when the dust settles. 

Happy saving, everyone!  

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Jun 26, 2019 14:21:35 GMT -5 debthaven said:

I'm a bit irritated with DH's lawyer, because she told him she'd be contacting the kids and I about our settlements within 2 weeks. That was 5 weeks ago.

I emailed her last Fri but haven't heard back yet.

I want to join the Savers again!

Mee too!

My goal is an EF of 20k. That would be just a little over 3 months expenses.

I don't know where to put it, how to structure it. Meaning - I won't keep 20k in cash, maybe 5k cash and 15k in stocks?

But - will just be starting out with maybe 50 (75? 100?) per month, just to get started and get the habit in place. so will take me a while to get to the stock part.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Rukh, $0.00 6/29/19 (Goal $20,000)

I will start off with my first July paycheck, in the meantime, will investigate accounts, etc.

[TheHaitian]

Hi everyone,

I did not post last month, been a crazy 2 months so somewhat back on track and hanging in there. Some unforeseen expenses or unplanned expenses and just still going at it. As I said in my last post, so far this year we had already taken out 20k out of savings and for me that was my absolute mental block! I keep thinking about the 3 years it took me to save that money and in less than 1 month it was wiped out....

I had to deal with that and cope and accept that is why I saved the money to begin with but it was not easy. The rest of my savings are in automatic so make it easier to keep savings in line, the expense side is where the real struggle is and you all already know my issue : I refuse to sacrifice savings for expenses because I feel we will only get comfortable and never get back in line. Ex : I still regret just using the 20k vs making cut necessary to cover the shortfalls but it is what it is... 

Putting every little extra I can towards my DD 529. I hope to max it at $4,000 this year or get as close to it as possible. My wife prefers the savings account vs the 529 and that has almost ~4k in it now and she prefers the security of a savings account vs a 529. And not sure it is worth arguing about. I figure once college time comes we can deplete the savings account first before using the 529 or vice versa... 

As for the unforeseen expense or unplanned one is a wedding in August. My wife best friend asked for our daughter to be her flower girl and my wife to be the maid of honor. Of course my wife said yes, she was the maid of honor at our wedding 11 years ago.. Since she lives in NYC, her family lives in NYC, he also lives and teach there and she is going to law school there : I assumed (yep assumed) that the wedding would be in NYC and never asked. Heck I only requested 2 days off thinking the wedding would only be 5-6 hours away.. 

It was not until I asked my wife where in NY the wedding is happening so I could make hotel reservation at that hotel or close by now that I was informed the wedding was in a small town upstate NY where the Groom is from about 45 minutes from Buffalo, NY.  Tickets for all of us to fly to Buffalo NY is over 1k, plus hotel for 3-4 days vs 1 or 2, food/drink, car rental (no hotel around or in that small town). Add in dresses, shoes, etc... my wife best friend wedding is going to cost us ~2k for a couple of days! The bright side is since we will be 1 hour from the Niagara Falls we plan or hope to drive there to visit.
--> The Irony is I am pretty sure they picked that location because her wedding overall cost will probably be cheaper there vs NYC.
--> But it is going to cost anyone in NYC or us more money to attend that wedding than if she had it in NYC. 

Savings	Goals	Actual	Percentage
Carl 401k	$19,000.00	$12,146.60	63.93%
Carl Match	$3,000.00	$2,829.01	94.30%
DW 403b	$19,000.00	$9,500.14	50.00%
DW Match	$6,000.00	$3,079.83	51.33%
HSA	$6,500.00	$3,249.96	50.00%
HSA Match	$500.00	$500.00	100.00%
FSA	$2,700.00	$1,350.00	50.00%
DD Savings	$1,560.00	$930.00	59.62%
DD 529	$1,740.00	$1,250.00	71.84%
Total	$60,000.00	$34,835.54	58.06%

cawiau 07/01/19  $34,835.54 (Goal = $60,000)

[nikiz628]

June Update:

2019 Savings	START	CURRENT	GOAL	STILL NEED
Emergency Fund	$2,091.03	$3,083.60	$4,500.00	$1,416.40
DS1's Savings	$1,750.51	$1,851.06	$2,000.00	$148.94
DS2's Savings	$576.65	$676.84	$800.00	$123.16
TOTALS	$4,418.19	$5,611.50	$7,300.00	$1,688.50

NikiZ628 7/1/2019 $5,611.50 (Goal $7,300 WIRS1)


Our EF took a small hit as we prepare for H's job change. Unfortunately, we probably won't be adding to our savings in July. The good news is, I should not have to touch any more of our savings while we wait 3 weeks for his first check. Fingers crossed for no unforseen expenses. 

[sealy]

I will update later I just wanted to share some good news I now have less than 10K to pay in order to the mortgage insurance to be dropped.  I was also able to pick up the second summer session.  My mortgage and  my truck are one month ahead so I don't have to stress about those this summer.  My son is scheduled to graduate in May.  

[trimatty471]

trimatty 07/02/2019 $674.22 (Goal = $4,355.00)







 

2019	Goal	Current	Need	Complete
School Tax	1,956.00	674.22	1,281.78	34.47%
Move In	2,099.00	0.00	2,099.00	0.00%
Wellness	300.00	0.00	300.00	0.00%
Total	$4,355.00	$674.22	$3,680.78	15.48%

[debthaven]

That's all wonderful news sealy ! Hopefully now that you've started doing those summer sessions, you'll be able to continue in future.