Women in Red SAVERS 2019

[teachermom]

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. She is hanging in there and continuing to fight. It was good to spend some time with her.

Teachermom

[shanendoah]

shanendoah [Q4] $1750 12/18/19 (Goal: $1,800 12/31/2019)
[Q3] $1,020 9/24/2019 (Goal: $2,020 9/30/2019)
[Q2]: $3,010 6/25/2019 (Goal: $3,020 6/30/2019)
[Q1]: $8,994 3/26/2019 (Goal: $300 3/31/2019)

Okay, one more automatic $50 transfer to savings on Christmas, and I will have met my 4th quarter goal. Yay me.
Final numbers for the year should be $14,824 (Goal: $7,140), meaning that we managed to save over 2x the goal for the year.
Looking back at this year, I am pretty proud of what we managed. Next year, there won't be a giant tax bill. We are planning for fully funding a ROTH for C, and I am looking at investment options for the longer-term savings goals, so that the money can do a little bit of the work, not just me.

Thinking I am going to continue with the quarterly goals for next year, because it's just easier for me to wrap my head around, and better allows for changing circumstances.

[bobosensei]

Sorry, I haven't been updating. I have still been saving though! I've actually saved more than 7250 in my 401k, but don't have the total in front of me now. I based it off of 10% contribution on the salary I had at the start of the year, and I got a 10K raise in March or April plus a small bonus that had retirement withheld too.

I decided against putting money down on the car I ended up buying in August. I did have about 3k in savings at the time, but financed it all. I got a low interest rate on the car so this feels like it was a good thing to do. I'm enjoying the new car very much, and feel I got a great deal and all around safer more comfortable now with all the advancements in features since 2004. My insurance went up 40 a month since I needed a 500 deductible and I had to add collision and comprehensive. But the gas is not much more. I'm in an automatic now, and the tank is 2-3 gallons bigger, but I am getting gas about the same amount.

A few months ago I raised the deductible on my home owners to 5k so decided I absolutely must have that amount liquid so I upped the 3k goal to 5k. Next year I will continue with the board and hopefully be better about my updates. I want more than 5k liquid in savings as I'm finding as a home owner little things come up that you don't want to pull from investments all the time so I need to figure out how to calculate that.

I may owe some credit card interest in January. I had only planned to save 4k this year, and a week ago dumped in another 950+ but didn't do all the math on what I have been spending. If I switch to my other card for everything I can, and pull out my cash back rewards I think I will be okay. I haven't looked to see what bills will hit my most used card by the end of the year, and I have one gift left to purchase.

I updated amounts in the table below.

Mar 3, 2019 22:11:24 GMT -5 bobosensei said:

401k	7250	7250+	0
HSA	3500	3500	0
Savings	3000	5000	0
Car Downpayment	5000	0	5000
Total	18750	15750+	5000

[bobosensei]

Also wanted to ask is everyone making goals for next year's savings?

[snapdragon]

Dec 19, 2019 9:23:54 GMT -5 bobosensei said:

Also wanted to ask is everyone making goals for next year's savings?

I will be but I am in the pondering stage at the moment.

[teachermom]

bobosensei Absolutely!! Still trying to figure it all out!

Teachermom

ETA: I love having very specific goals and knowing that I have the goal saved for each thing but sometimes it is so much to track.....toying with the idea of not breaking things down so far and combining line items to streamline it. For example: All car expenses in the same fund (maintenance, tires, insurance). Still pondering and looking at what that would look like.

[Saving4Norway]

Month	2020 Goals	Saved	% Met
B of Jan	1000	0	0%
E of Jan	1	0	0%
B of Feb	1000	0	0%
E of Feb	1	0	0%
B of March	1000	0	0%
E of March	1	0	0%
TOTAL	3003	0	0%

Saving4Norway 1/3/20 $1,000 (Goal $3,003)

This is what I've been thinking about for upcoming goals. I think I'll start out each month with an automatic deposit of $1K, then transfer anything extra at the end of the month. I've been able to make similar contributions for the last few months without needing to take anything back out of savings to make ends meet so I'm predicting I'll be rather successful with at least the $1000. (Lord willing, and the creek don't rise!)

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Nov 23, 2019 13:21:12 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Nov 18, 2019 17:54:48 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Rukh 11/18/2019 $1276.22 (Goal = $20,000)

Rukh 11/23/2019 $276.22 (Goal = $20,000)

Rukh 12/20/2019 $2,000 (Goal = $20,000)

10%!!!!

Ok - my little bit of ambitiousness is paying off, after giving me several painful weeks during completion. RI project check came through ....client is fantastic with payments, and I'm so grateful! The work took into the second week of december and I thought I really can't expect the money before January and worried about staff out for holidays, etc; but I was hoping as the first time it was quick. The check came and it is now available funds....

Paid back my big loan and sent a little extra to top off my money market account before the end of the year.....

But - I know the RI income is going to come with some tax consequences, and now I'm forgetting how much I originally set into the MM account for the 1st project. So - things are getting muddled.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Account	Goal	Current	Percent
401k	$26,000	~0~	~0~
HSA	$7,600	~0~	~0~
EF:MM	$5,000	~0~	~0~
EF:ETFs	$5,000	~0~	~0~
Total	$43,600	~0~	0%

Ok - so about those 2020 goals......

Realizing that 2019 savings should not be included in 2020 goals, as this is to be a new (hopefully shinier and brighter!) year. So - the 2020 savings goals for MM account should be just like 401k, etc. a new total added in...Everything will start at 0 for the new year..

My ultimate 20k goal for EF will take several more years. I'll be lucky if I can squeeze out the 10k savings for 2020 on top of the retirement money/HSA savings I have planned. Under the plan above after 401k and HSA deductions, for the 2 paycheck/month budget - I won't have enough to make ends meet - let alone save money. I also need to have some R and R/fun money for Rukh - which I have not had in the budget for several years! Not sure if that will happen at the beginning of 2020, but at some point  ....something, right?

So - I will be relying on the RI income to help the ends meets, save, extra to debts, and any fun. That is a somewhat tall order I think! I have my first project for client 2 in first quarter of 2020. This is a one-off but I am hoping they may change their minds and stay with me - it would only be a once a year project. So I need to kick it on that for sure!! I have 4 projects loosely planned with client 1 for 2020, but all are after mid year. 

So basically - I'm back to not knowing what I'm doing and when the money will come in and if it will be enough. But I have my EF for back up - so just a way to push myself into savings. Save now and figure it out later . Better than spending now and figure it out later, right?


I also need to work on reducing monthly expenses, being close to the edge every month brings that into focus. Otherwise, with so much always going on I forget about that.

[plugginaway22]

12/21/19 Update: Plugginaway22: $45,441 (goal $36,000)

brick bank           $7,000
on-line bank      $21,754
credit union       $16,687

Total                  $45,441


HSA balance $15,410

This is my year end update.  I really want to spend some time thinking about a plan for 2020.  Seems difficult with our job situations.
No real change this month, just shifted some money to higher interest money market account.  We cash flowed December spending somehow. 
I just bought DH a new (bigger) TV that he will be happy about.  Desperately need to plan a vacation to get me through the Jan/Feb doldrums!

Thank you all for the motivation to stash money this year.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

very impressive plugginaway22 !!

[seriousthistime]

SAVERS, the 2020 thread is now open.  

Please keep all 2019 updates here.  Thoughts about 2020 goals can go here, or in the 2020 thread.  Both threads will remain open for a while. 

Please get your 2019 final updates posted here by the afternoon of January 5.  Final shoutouts will be done, and then this thread will be locked for future posts. 

Charts and specific goals for 2020 should go in the 2020 thread. 

Thank you!  Happy holidays, everyone. 

[debthaven]

I haven't updated numbers in longer than I thought. I did manage to save 500 euros since my last numbers update though. :-)

Oct: Saved savings 8000 (goal 10,000, was originally 10,000).

27 Dec: Saved savings 8500 (goal 10,000)

10,000 is a long-term goal so I'm just happy I managed to save another 500 euros. I'll spend that money on airfare soon to see DS1 graduate next spring. It's for a good cause.

I'm thinking about how to do this for 2020 ... I think I will probably lower the amount of my "saved savings" and then keep a more flexible "save/spend" amount for travel or purchases.

[shanendoah]

shanendoah [Q4] $1800 12/26/19 (Goal: $1,800 12/31/2019)
[Q3] $1,020 9/24/2019 (Goal: $2,020 9/30/2019)
[Q2]: $3,010 6/25/2019 (Goal: $3,020 6/30/2019)
[Q1]: $8,994 3/26/2019 (Goal: $300 3/31/2019)

FINAL: shanendoah [2019] $14,824 12/26/2019 (Goal $7,140 12/31/2019)

Final $50 went into savings yesterday. I am done for the year. See everyone on the 2020 thread.

[debthaven]

Wow shanendoah you more than doubled your goal!

[Saving4Norway]

Month	2019 Goals	Saved	% Met
Beginning of Sept '19	500	500	100%
End of September '19	500	1000	200%
B of October '19	500	500	100%
E of October '19	500	900	180%
B of November '19	500	500	100%
E of November '19	500	850	170%
B of December '19	500	500	100%
E of December '19	500	1000	200%
	0		0%
	0		0%
	0		0%
	0		0%
TOTAL	4000.04	5750	144%

Saving4Norway 12/26/19 $5,750 (Goal $4,000)

[azucena]

Dec 13, 2019 10:18:54 GMT -5 azucena said:

Dec 2, 2019 10:55:44 GMT -5 azucena said:

Payday deposit of $1628. 

When they came to measure the windows, they found the concrete foundation goes up higher under the siding than we thought so it was going to be even more expensive.  Decided to cancel the order because we don't need those basement bedrooms right now.  Plus I think the company we had do the estimate was on the high side, so I was uncomfortable with it and am glad we had a way to break the contract.

Thinking I need to consider $30,000 as my 2020 goal to keep us stretching and limit the mindless spending.

Azucena 12/27/19 $27,867 of $25,000 goal (111%)

[speechchick71]

Wow...it's been a long time since I posted. For some reason, I got an email with "have you seen these recent threads" from proboards and it reminded me that I used to do a lot on here!  I'm going to have to look at my spreadsheet for next year (yes, I still make one!) to see what a goal might be for me. This past year has been a "spend-a-thon" and I need to stop it! I cut back on work to "4 9s" so a bit of a pay cut but I gained some sanity and peace. I highly recommend everyone do it if possible. It actually makes it more fun to go to work. Last year I dipped into my savings too much and too often. Some of it was designed for home improvement (new hurricane windows....$11k!) and some for school but too much for fun times, restaurants, shopping for jewelry I don't need. My #1 goal is to fully fund my Roth. I get close to funding my 403b fully because it's automatic. I always seem to let the Roth "suffer" so that I can have those pretty drinks on the beach. This year, it's my priority. 

It's good to see so many familiar names!  

Happy New Year!

Cindy speechchick71

[lund]

Good to see you back, Speechchick, and good to see that you are doing well!

(And if you can tweak that spreadsheet, I think that you have until April to put money in the 2019 Roth...)

[trimatty471]

Oct 30, 2019 13:49:30 GMT -5 trimatty471 said:

December 2019:

Goal: $4,355.00 Complete


2019 Goal Current Needed Complete

School Tax 1,956.00  - 100.00%

Move In 2,099.00  - 100.00%


Wellness 300.00 - 14.00%


Total $4,355.00 100%

I forgot about about November.

[finnime]

Goals for Spending

Goal	Goal Amount	Saved	Spent	Percent Saved
House	10,000	6260	6200	52.17%
Car	2,500	0	0
Dog	500	150	150	30%
Medical	1500	1000	1000	66%
Gifts/Misc	3,000	1000	1000	33%
Travel	7,000	2000	2000	29%
Total	24,500	10,410	10,410	43%

Finnime1 $10,410 12/30/2019 ($24,500)

Goal for Keeping

Security	5,000	3000	60%
Total	5,000	3000	60%

finnime2 $3000 12/30/2019 ($5,000)


So what I saved, I spent - on Franklin the Dog and gifts/miscellaneous for the holidays. Overall not what I'd hoped but I'm not deeper in debt; I have another $3000 in savings to keep. I'll adjust for 2020 and hope for the best.
One thing I'm going to do again is a weekly savings for my "Keeping" goal. I manage to get to the end by playing that game with money saved. Happy New Year everyone.

[paynointerest]

Last post of 2019!  -- December

Pay-no-interest: $69,700 (New goal:  $65,400; Old Goal: $55,900.00)

	Goal	Saved	% of goal	Amt spent
My 403b	$19,000	$19,000	100%
457b	$9,000	$9,200	102%
457b race#2	$9,500	$9,800	103%
Savings Acct	$3,000	$3000	100%
Taxable Invest Acct	$5,000	$5,000	100%
Property/Income Taxes #1	$4,200	$5,200	124%	$5,200
Property/Income Taxes #2	$8,500	$8,500	100%	$6,495
DH 403b	$7,200	$10,000	139%
Total	$65,400	$69,700	107%

2019 was a successful year.  I met 50% of my goals and surpassed the other 50% of my goals.  It feels good to know that I'm making good progress on my and DH's retirement accounts and my plan is is to continue saving aggressively in those accounts.

I hope everyone enjoys the last day of 2019.  I'm excited for 2020!

[debthaven]

Congrats paynointerest and the rest of you Savers!

[seriousthistime]

2019 Year End Update

Stars	Name	Amt. Saved	Goal	% Saved	Roses	Smilies
	azucena	$27,867	$25,000	111.0%
	bobosensei	$15,750	$18,750	84.0%
	chiver78	$216	$910	23.7%
	debthaven (S)	1,713€	1,713€	100%
	debthaven (K)	8,500€	10,000€	85%
	finnime [1]	$10,410	$24,500	43.0%
	finnime [2]	$3,000	$5,000	60.0%
	forwardwego	$21,750	$24,000	90.6%
	kindthatjingles	$1,000	$3,500	28.6%
	minnesotapaintlady	$33,109	$40,000	82.8%
	nikiz628	$3,695	$7,300	50.6%
	paynointerest	$69,700	$65,400	107.0%
	plugginaway22	$45,441	$36,000	126.2%
	Rukh O'Rorke	$2,000	$20,000	10.0%
	Saving4Norway	$18,800	$18,101	104%
	Saving4Norway [2]	$5,750	$4,000	144%
	sealy	$1,000	$25,000	4.0%
	seriousthistime	$42,373	$42,000	100.9%
	shanendoah [Q1]	$8,994	$300	2998.0%
	shanendoah [Q2]	$3,010	$3,020	99.7%
	shanendoah [Q3]	$1,020	$2,020	50.5%
	shanendoah [Q4]	$1,800	$1,800	100.0%
	snapdragon	$16,570	$16,500	100.0%
	steph08	$7,319	$19,400	37.7%
	teachermom	$50,923	$107,000	47.6%
	TheHaitian	$34,835	$60,000	58.1%
	tobinikui	$46,556	$105,658	44.1%
	trimatty471	$14,424	$14,424	100.0%
	trimatty471 [2]	$4,355	$4,355	100.0%

With this last month of the year, our chart got a bit more "jiggy" with all the dancing bananas, angels flapping their wings, smilies in birthday hats blowing party horns, birthday candles flickering, etc.  

Great job, everyone!  

Our amazing forwardwego will do the final shoutouts, and this thread will be locked.  If you haven't headed over to the Savers 2020 thread, please go on over and see what we are up to.  We have some new and returning posters.  See you there!

Happy New Year!

[forwardwego]

2019 Year End Shoutouts part 1 of 2:
trimatty471 A good savings year for you earning twin  . And that's a 3-peat, since you scored dancing bananas in 2018 and 2017 as well. You do a fine job of saving in preparation for a variety of goals from EF building to Holiday and moving expenses. Hoping to see you soon on the 2020 Savers.

Oh tobinikui , how are you?? Congrats on saving over $46K & achieving 44.1% to goal (I think this was a multi-year goal?) Looking forward to watching your 2020 take shape as you channel your and DH's improved income into strategizing for taxes, building savings, and nixing the construction loan. 

TheHaitian Congratulations on achieving $34835 in savings in 2019, which tipped the scale past the halfway mark to 58.1%.
Keep up the good work, see you on the 2020 Board.  

teachermom You've had a challenging year. I'm so glad you're a saver. I believe that saw you through a lot. Good work being at almost 50% of your multi-year goal. Like you I am looking to apply most of my savings beyond our EF to debt and start the year fairly fresh. It could be nicer/simpler to combine some line items and see how that works. If it doesn't feel right you can always add the line items back. Good job growing your savings and saving techniques WIRFriend! 

steph08 Nice work saving over $7300 for over 37% for the year. Nice to see you on the 2020 Board. You can do it!!! And glad you are tracking the 401K... you are doing well in that category and it's good to encourage yourself and the rest of us too! 

snapdragon You Did It!!! You made that banana dance! Makes me want to dance too! Good job! Peeking at your goals for 2020...cash flowing the renovations is a good way to save while protecting/improving the value of your home.

shanendoah Good job nailing your Q4 goal, in addition to the Q1 goal, and overall for the year. Your quarterly method is a winner! See you on the 2020  ETA: congrats to you as  3-peat dancing banana winner!!!

seriousthistime Thank you for being the "super glue" of the "Super Savers", and my personal encourager and motivator. In two thousand NINEteen, you accomplished 100.9%, gathered nine roses, and amassed nine smileys. I would say that you have taken saving to the nines  . Well done WIRSaverFriend!

sealy Good job being tenacious with maintaining your base EF fund of $1K...that is "grand"! Hope to see you on the 2020 saver board  
Saving4Norway   You also scored double dancers! And a little research shows me that you have earned your dancing banana 7 of the past 8 years. You are the Meryl Streep of the Saving Stars 

Rukh O'Rorke Was 2019 your "rookie season" on the Savers? You did well, setting goals, updating and evaluating, starting conversations, enquiring, encouraging. And it pleases me to be able to say you accomplished $2K which is TOO GRAND!! 

plugginaway22   Kudos to you as a back-to-back dancing banana winner, having scored in 2018 as well. Thank you for sharing your experiences. You set a good example of establishing a plan and carrying it through consistently which makes for stability now and with retirement on the horizon. Personally I am encouraged as I observe you calmly keeping your DH's new car wishes under control by just sort of kicking the can a bit down the road. My DH and I need some of that can kicking 

[forwardwego]

2019 Year End Shoutouts part 2 of 2:

paynointerest Well done in 2019 scoring your dancing banana with an amazing $69.7K and 107% of goal! I appreciate your sentiment: "...It is inspiring to read all of the goals that have been posted so far. This is such a wonderful supportive group. I love the fact that on this page that it is about racing "our own" race and we celebrate everyone's successes."  Thank you also for passing to us your Dad's life and financial lessons. 

nikiz628 Even though 2019 brought a lot of hits to your EF, you accomplished over 50% of your goal. Looks like you've already carried that momentum and goals to the 2020 board. Thank you for your uplifting spirit and support of your fellow savers and racers. Let's call that the Audrey Hepburn spirit award. 

minnesotapaintlady   You have done well achieving nearly 83% of your goal in spite of a partial unexpected employment loss. Being an organized saver has probably alleviated the strain this could have caused. Your mindfulness and ability to flex should carry you through. I appreciate your sentiment when it comes to saving that at times we need to just "rip off a bandaid", we can probably manage more or better than we might have thought. Hoping to see you soon on the 2020 Savers!

kindthatjingles Congrats on achieving $1K in savings! Hope you are doing well and can join us on the 2020 board.  

finnime Your 2 bucket method seemed to work well. Congrats on saving over $10K that was needed for planned spending, and with $3K in the save bucket achieving 60% there! It's good to hear that the weekly savings plan worked for you. Like you I'm also planning to use weekly savings in 2020. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration and support of your fellow Savers and other WIRs. 
debthaven It seems a 2-pronged savings plan works for you too. Congrats on achieving 100% on your "save to spend', and an overall 87%! It's good to see you on the 2020 board with your modified plan. You can do it! Thank you for your support and encouragement! 

chiver78 23.7% of goal! So danged close to getting  ! It's good to see you've already planted the seeds of savings on the 2020 board! Maybe a strategy of selling unused stuff together with the card draw weekly savings? Keep up the good work. 

bobosensei An amazing, dramatic finish for your 2019 Saver Race... nearly $16K, 84%, 3 stars and 3 roses! It's good to see your plan on the 2020 board as well. Maybe this year's strong finish will become next year's dancing banana!? 
azucena A dancing banana to go with the one you won in 2017! You had a nice strong finish in December completing the year with a lovely 111%. 

[forwardwego]

2019 WIR SAVER Overview:


We had NINE winners of the dancing banana:

azucena  debthaven  paynointerest  
plugginaway22  Saving4Norway  seriousthistime  
shanendoah  snapdragon  trimatty471

with Honorable mentions to those in the 80-90% range:

bobosensei  minnesotapaintlady and yours truly.


2019 WIR Savers: As a group, per the final 2019 smiley update, we saved a total of $501,880... which is 71.12% of our goal of $705,651. I am so happy for and proud of this group.

And a big Shoutout of gratitude to those who visited to encourage and to share advice and experience. I apologize for any oversights. Please all pat yourselves on the back for being a saver in 2019, and c'mon over to 2020 Savers Thread...more IS merrier.

[chiver78]

thanks, forwardwego! current plan with the yard sale proceeds is to keep the cash for spending $ for a vacation in a couple weeks (the annual, it's a line item in my budget like my mortgage, cruise) and then after I get back, to put that $ into the savings account at my CU. outside of the card game, I'd like to get that savings account up to $1k - that first $1k earns 6.17% interest.

[azucena]

Jan 6, 2020 10:44:02 GMT -5 forwardwego said:

2019 WIR SAVER Overview to follow here:


We had NINE winners of the dancing banana:

azucena  debthaven  paynointerest  
plugginaway22  Saving4Norway  seriousthistime  
shanendoah  snapdragon  trimatty471

with Honorable mentions to those in the 80-90% range:

bobosensei   minnesotapaintlady and yours truly.


2019 WIR Savers: As a group, per the final 2019 smiley update, we saved a total of $501,880... which is 71.12% of our goal of $705,651. I am so happy for and proud of this group.

And a big Shoutout of gratitude to those who visited to encourage and to share advice and experience. I apologize for any oversights. Please all pat yourselves on the back for being a saver in 2019, and c'mon over to 2020 Savers Thread...more IS merrier.

Impressive!  $500k saved by 22 posters (if I counted correctly) so roughly $22,800 per saver.  Not too shabby!