teachermom
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Post by teachermom on Jan 28, 2019 11:13:47 GMT -5
So now that DH and I finally have a fully funded EF, is there anyway/anywhere to get a little bit of earnings on that? Poked around & found this ranking of 15 best online savings accounts. Can anyone comment on any of the banks in this article? Also, can someone please teach me how to make a "prettier" link?ETA: Thanks finnime  The only one I know much about is Ally.....it has been around for a long time. I have thought about transferring my Capital One 360 to there but haven't done it. I have had Cap One for about 10 years and have always liked them....they just need to get with the ball on the interest rate. They used to be the highest and have been slacking for awhile now....only 1%. Teachermom
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Jan 28, 2019 11:57:56 GMT -5
forwardwego - I have an online savings account through Sallie Mae bank. APR is 2.1%. I've had it since 2010. I don't know if they still offer that APR for savings. I got it back when I still had student loans through Sallie Mae. Truth is, I have very little dealings with them. I can set up auto-transfers between them and my regular banks. It generally takes a couple business days for money to get from one account to the other, which doesn't bother me. It's pretty simple. I would think that most of the online only High Yield savings accounts are going to be the same. For me, the main goal is to be able to trust that that bank will be sticking around. I don't expect Sallie Mae to go anywhere, so that works for me.
I do know that a LOT of personal finance bloggers work with Ally.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Jan 28, 2019 13:00:52 GMT -5
I have the AmEx Personal Savings, albeit with almost nothing in it at the moment. 2.1% and pretty quick electronic transfers as needed. have had it for years now, no major complaints.
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azucena
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Post by azucena on Jan 28, 2019 13:58:31 GMT -5
I'm risk averse. Also I've experienced what happens when one spouse becomes disabled (DH didn't work from 22 to 30). I am the primary breadwinner by far. We have the life insurance covered (I am worth waaaaaay too much dead), but I worry about what happens if I become disabled. My 60% coverage from work won't be enough to pay for our current house. I understand that but have you done the math to see where you get the most bang for your buck? Nothing wrong with being risk averse, I am married to a woman that is... but sometimes you need to do the math and see what is in your best interest. Ex: I send $75 every time get paid to DD 529 (invested in low index funds) while my wife sends $60 to a savings account in DD name. Savings account is earning close to nothing but that is DW preferred method being risk averse and all. Is that the best bang for her buck the next 15-17 years? And while “we” as a general rule do not believe in social security safety net and refuse to rely on it, it is still there. Per my most recent statement that I got a couple Of days ago, if I were to be disabled I would get $2,288/month which would make up some of the gap from 60% I would receive. Basically what would do your family good in a time of need: a big pile of money? Or a paid off house that would require some steps to access the money? I get the urge and I pay extra towards my mortgage (just to round it up to paying down the principal by 1k each month)... but accessible cash (taxable and in your case a ROTH under your name and husband name) might be better than paying extra towards the house. That $5,000 extra is 1k short from maxing at least 1 of those 2 ROTH’s... I hate to sound like Phil but he is right, sometimes we need to take the emotions out of it and look at the math. It is easier said then done I agree but maybe seeing someone will help get an unbiased look at your total picture. And do you mean HSA? And you don’t max it? Or is it not invested? Because only 1k of my ~18k balance is not invested and over 15 years at 8% continuing maxing it that is over <$250,000 that can be used towards insurance and healthcare. I get it... but what if your mortgage was 200k and you had access to 400k; would you still have a problem sleeping at night? If the answer is yes then go ahead pay it off. I know people that are just terribly adverse to debt and the idea of having debt make them sick (I am not one of those people)... but if being liquid or having access to funds to pay off that debt lessen the burden you feel ; then do the math. There is no wrong approach or right approach; I was just curious. It's an HRA - I think that stands for health retirement account. I still have a deductible plan for health insurance and will grip that tightly until it no longer becomes an option. DH's supplies cost $600/month after insurance. Our deductible is $800 indiv, $1600 family. The math tips overwhelming against the HSA that is offered. Yes, I've done the math over and over and have decided that this is the best path for me for now. I think I have a healthy balance for me. I don't want to save specifically for college so my workaround is to put our whole family in a better position with a paid off house which frees up the cashflow to assist with college. I need to read up on FASFA to see what works to our advantage. I also have some other kind of executive compensation retirement profit sharing account that just started last year, but that I honestly don't quite understand. It's all company money going in, and vests on a 3 yr rolling cycle so I can't do anything with it until 2021 anyway. In 2018, company put in almost $5k, and I'd call that a typical year. So with current 401k balance, pension, and exec acct, if anything I feel a little retirement heavy so starting a $5k Roth for DH is the compromise to throwing $10k at the mortgage. And this is also where personal finance is personal. I'm sure I would have a different take on it had the long term illness and disability not taken up such a large portion of our life. Keep in mind that this happened when I was only making $30k/yr since we had just graduated. We also paid off our student loans early (owed $25k at 3% with 30 yr term). Haven't had a car payment in 5 yrs. So it's not just that I'm risk averse but also debt averse. I appreciate the conversation, but I don't want to derail this thread further. As I gather my finances to meet with an advisor, I also plan to put it all on the board and get lots of opinions. |
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TheHaitian
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Post by TheHaitian on Jan 28, 2019 16:04:52 GMT -5
So it's not just that I'm risk averse but also debt averse. And that is the perfect answer, thank you  |
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finnime
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Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.
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Post by finnime on Jan 29, 2019 10:09:45 GMT -5
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 1/29/2019 ($20,000) Goal for Keeping | Security | 5,000 | 64 | 1.28% | | Total | 5,000 | 64 | 1.28% |
Finnime2 $64 1/29/2019 ($5,000) Concentrating on upping my EF for peace of mind (not Peace of Mind!) |
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paynointerest
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Post by paynointerest on Jan 29, 2019 19:09:15 GMT -5
Update! Pay-no-interest: $7,950 (Goal: $49,200.00)
| Goal | Saved | % of goal
| My 403b
| $19,000
| $1,900
| 10% | 457b
| $9,000
| 0
| 0%
| Savings Acct
| $3,000
| $3000
| 100% 
| Taxable Invest Acct
| $5,000 | $600 | 12% | Property Taxes
| $4,200 | $1,850
| 44%
| DH 403b
| $10,000 | $600 | 6% | Totals
| $49,200
| $7,950
| 16%
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I was able to see my paycheck for Jan 31 and so I listed the amounts that will be contributed to DH and my 403b accounts. I also added more $$ to my property taxes account from some of the money I had left over from my Dec 31 paycheck. |
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Jan 30, 2019 18:25:16 GMT -5
shanendoah[Q1]: $7,850 1/30/2019 (Goal: $300 3/31/2019)
So, one of the ways I can keep myself motivated is to give myself credit for transferring money to savings even if I have a plan to spend it.
I did a preliminary look at taxes today, and it looks like we will owe around $7,700. (I took an early disbursement of one of my retirement accounts in order to have earnest money to buy the house. That disbursement jumped us from an 11.5% tax bracket into a 20% tax bracket, and then there's a 10% tax penalty for the early disbursement on top of that.)
We currently have the money to pay that bill in checking. It means we don't buy some of the other things we were thinking about buying for the new house now, but taxes are the definition of a need, while everything else is (for the moment) a want. (If the water heater goes, then that will become a need, but it is still working for now.) So, I transferred the money from checking to savings, and then I went and transferred the money from every day savings to the Sallie Mae savings account. I have scheduled a transfer back to every day savings on April 8.
This way, I ensure we will have the money for the tax bill, no matter what else happens.
I had my very last meeting with my lawyer today. So I will be getting back what's left of my retainer in the next month or so. That should be a bit over $4k. Anything else can wait until that comes in. (Or, in an emergency, go on a credit card that won't have to be paid until that comes in.)
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Works4me
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Someone responded to your personal ad - a German Shepherd named Tara wants to have you for dinner...
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Post by Works4me on Jan 30, 2019 20:56:00 GMT -5
shanendoah[Q1]: $7,850 1/30/2019 (Goal: $300 3/31/2019)
So, one of the ways I can keep myself motivated is to give myself credit for transferring money to savings even if I have a plan to spend it.
I did a preliminary look at taxes today, and it looks like we will owe around $7,700. (I took an early disbursement of one of my retirement accounts in order to have earnest money to buy the house. That disbursement jumped us from an 11.5% tax bracket into a 20% tax bracket, and then there's a 10% tax penalty for the early disbursement on top of that.)
We currently have the money to pay that bill in checking. It means we don't buy some of the other things we were thinking about buying for the new house now, but taxes are the definition of a need, while everything else is (for the moment) a want. (If the water heater goes, then that will become a need, but it is still working for now.) So, I transferred the money from checking to savings, and then I went and transferred the money from every day savings to the Sallie Mae savings account. I have scheduled a transfer back to every day savings on April 8.
This way, I ensure we will have the money for the tax bill, no matter what else happens.
I had my very last meeting with my lawyer today. So I will be getting back what's left of my retainer in the next month or so. That should be a bit over $4k. Anything else can wait until that comes in. (Or, in an emergency, go on a credit card that won't have to be paid until that comes in.) Can you repay the early disbursement from your retirement account? I remember doing that one time several years ago. |
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Jan 31, 2019 0:05:23 GMT -5
Works4me - No. It was not a loan, it was a full disbursement of the account - from an organization I no longer work for. My current employer (the state), won't let me take a loan from my retirement account, so this was the option. It was still the best option, I just hadn't quite expected the tax bracket jump.
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trimatty471
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Post by trimatty471 on Jan 31, 2019 7:58:52 GMT -5
Trimatty 01/31/2019 $5,187.00 (Goal = $14,424.00)
| 2019 | Goal | Current | Needed | Complete (%) | | Moving Expense | 3,500.00 | 3,037.00 | 463.00 | 86.77 | | Vacation | 2,500.00 | 1,000.00 | 1,500.00 | 40.00 | | Sinking Fund | 2,200.00 | 1,000.00 | 1,200.00 | 45.45 | | Holiday | 1,500.00 | 150.00 | 1,350.00 | 10.00 | | Emergency | 4,724.00 | 0.00 | 4,724.00 | 0.00 | Total
| $14,424.00 | $5,187.00 | $9,237.00 | 35.96 |
I am supposed to make settlement today (unfortunately, it got delayed  ). So, when I tally up my selling expenses, I will revise my goals. | | | | |
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azucena
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Post by azucena on Jan 31, 2019 9:30:50 GMT -5
Ending Jan at breakeven. We sent out $1000 in full deposits for two long weekends this year and took the cats for their $300 annual checkup. Plus some frivolous spending. Good news is the last couple of months we haven't been eating out as much. Following mash up mom's aldi meal plan has helped, and I know the cold weather is keeping us in.
Going to lunch with DH today and will discuss moving to cash each week for day-to-day spending. My method of swiping away the extra into savings and leaving enough to pay the bills along with some spending money is working except when our checking acct runs out, we start charging $20 here and there. Doesn't break the bank because we pay it off each month, but it is breaking the budget. Switching to cash will hopefully make us think twice.
Azucena $0 of $25,000 goal as of 1/31/19
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teachermom
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Post by teachermom on Jan 31, 2019 14:47:34 GMT -5
Update - Finally.....  Here are my goals.....again....multi-year although I plan to knock quite a few off the list as we go this year. Plan is to finish fixing up my house and probably sell this summer to make a move.....still in the works. However, the work on my basement has started. We are going room by room and getting them finished and ready to go. So far, we finished the walls, textured, painted and tiled the floor. Need to grout, put the baseboards on, install the door, closet doors, and lighting. Then we will start on the next room.
Savings 2019 Fund GoalsEmergency Fund - Minor $20,000.00 Emergency Fund - Major $1,000.00 New Car $20,000.00 NHRA Nationals $1,000.00 Spring Break Trip 2019 $500.00 MN Trip 2019 $1,000.00 Vacation $2,000.00 Student Loan Payoff $10,000.00 Training Classes $500.00 Landscaping $500.00 Basement remodel $3,000.00 Hardwood floors $3,000.00 Bathroom updates $100.00 Kitchen remodel $3,000.00 Electrical updates $3,000.00 Plumbing updates $7,000.00 403B Loan Payoff $17,000.00 Appliances $3,000.00 Home Maintenance $1,000.00 Car Maintenance $2,000.00 Car Tires $1,000.00 Insurance deductible $1,000.00 Gifts $2,500.00 Hot Water Heater $900.00 Total $104,000.00To up my income so that I can cash flow these projects, I have been delivering for Uber Eats and Instacart shopping during the week. Been pretty successful so far with that....made over $3k in 2 months. Started Dec 3 and working about 20 to 25 hours a week on top of my full time job. Saturdays and Sundays I keep open for the work on my house. Teachermom 1/31/2019 $22613.88 (1/1/2019 $18458.28, Goal $104,000)
Note: can't get my spreadsheet posted today....so will do that later but have 3 of these accounts funded and one at 99% (payday tomorrow and will complete it).
Woohoo!! Let's go 2019!!
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paynointerest
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Post by paynointerest on Feb 1, 2019 8:50:26 GMT -5
Update! Pay-no-interest: $9,300 (Goal: $49,200.00)
| Goal | Saved | % of goal
| My 403b
| $19,000
| $1,900
| 10% | 457b
| $9,000
| 0
| 0%
| Savings Acct
| $3,000
| $3000
| 100%
| Taxable Invest Acct
| $5,000 | $600 | 12% | Property Taxes
| $4,200 | $3,200
| 73%
| DH 403b
| $10,000 | $600 | 6% | Totals
| $49,200
| $9,300
| 19%
|
My paycheck is in my checking account and I have an idea of what I'll have left after I pay all of my bills so I contributed some additional money to my monthly contribution to my Property Taxes savings. I'm glad that I have this extra since my property taxes for city and county come due in April at the same time as tax season and paying my insurance for car/home, etc. This may be the first time in April I don't have to use all of my paycheck to cover these bills. |
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Feb 1, 2019 11:17:23 GMT -5
shanendoah[Q1]: $8,794 2/1/2019 (Goal: $300 3/31/2019)
We ended up getting a lot of "refunds" we weren't expecting in the house buying process, including a larger lender credit on the closing costs of the loan, and an escrow account refund from the old house, on top of home owners insurance refund.
We also have two savings accounts through our credit union that earn 6% APR (that's right SIX percent) on balances up to $500. Both had under $30 in them. So, after looking at my cash flow spreadsheet for the month, I went ahead and topped both of those up to $500.
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chiver78
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Current Events Admin
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Posts: 39,701
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Post by chiver78 on Feb 1, 2019 11:20:28 GMT -5
I just logged back in to report for record. I signed in to my bank online and found that my direct deposit is actually all set, I don't have to wait for a live check when I get home. my 😮 moment came when I saw the number. I actually logged into my CU account to make sure they skimmed $300 off the top for that one to pay my car payment. my paycheck was $900 more than what I got from the train wreck. holy shit! I am seriously stepping onto this boat in such a much better frame of mind than the last one, wow. looking forward to attacking those balances when I get back.
have an excellent week, kids. stay warm. I'll check back in a few days. ❤
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snapdragon
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Post by snapdragon on Feb 1, 2019 12:40:58 GMT -5
Snapdragon 02-01-19 --- $ 16,090.66 / $ 18,700
Car/House $ 3500.76 / $3500 Savings $ 4038.35 / $4000 Travel $ 3834.34 / $4500 Property Taxes $ 1940.86 / $2200 Lasik $ 2776.35 / $ 4500 New Totals $ 16,090.66 / $18,700 Got things transferred early this month. Everyone keep trotting/plodding/moseying along. We are all doing good work.
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TheHaitian
Senior Associate
Joined: Jul 27, 2014 19:39:10 GMT -5
Posts: 10,144
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Post by TheHaitian on Feb 1, 2019 22:53:39 GMT -5
Hello Ladies, here is my update for January... I will be honest, I knew I was setting some very lofty goals that would push us to be "artificially" broke, but damn I did not realize how tight it would be. 2 more moths till bonus which will help a bit (fingers crossed) and hopefully after June I will be able to get ride of the PMI so an extra $400...
Yep taking it one month at a time.. got ride of Comcast and got Verizon instead for $120.00 less a month; that will help with cash flow! Cutting corners where we can and making it work!
Savings | Goals | Actual | Percentage | Carl 401k | $19,000.00 | $1,599.00 | 8.42% | Carl Match | $3,000.00 | $133.24 | 4.44% | DW 403b | $19,000.00 | $1461.56 | 7.69% | DW Match | $6,000.00 | $473.82 | 7.90% | HSA | $6,500.00 | $541.66 | 8.33% | HSA Match | $500.00 | $500.00 | 100.00% | FSA | $2,700.00 | $224.88 | 8.33% | DD Savings | $1,560.00 | $170.00 | 10.90% | DD 529 | $1,740.00 | $250.00 | 14.37% | Total | $60,000.00 | $5,354.16 | 8.92% |
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seriousthistime
Junior Associate
Joined: Dec 22, 2010 20:27:07 GMT -5
Posts: 5,168
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Post by seriousthistime on Feb 3, 2019 11:57:47 GMT -5
Updates| Stars | Name | Amt. Saved | Goal | % Saved | Roses | Smilies | | | azucena
| $0 | $25,000 | 0.0% | |
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| chiver78 | $28 | $910 | 3.1% | |
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| finnime [1] | $10 | $20,000 | 0.5% | | |
| finnime [2] | $64 | $5,000 | 1.3% | |
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| forwardwego
| $9,920 | $24,000 | 41.0% | |   
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| kindthatjingles | $1,000 | $3,500 | 28.6% | |
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| lazysundays | $10,973 | $60,000 | 18.3% | | 
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| nikiz628 | $4,660 | $7,300 | 63.9% | | |
| paynointerest | $9,300 | $49,200 | 19.0% |  | |
| plugginaway22 | $24,298 | $36,000 | 67.5% | | |
| Saving4Norway | $2,000 | $18,101 | 11.0% |
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| seriousthistime | $11,472 | $42,000 | 27.3% | | | 
| shanendoah [Q1]
| $8,794 | $300 | 2931.3%
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| snapdragon | $16,091 | $18,700 | 86.0% | | |
| teachermom | $22,613 | $104,000 | 21.7% | | |
| TheHaitian | $5,354 | $60,000 | 8.9% |
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| trimatty471 | $5,187 | $14,424 | 36.0% | | |
It's great to see so many Savers returning this year, and also wonderful to see some new faces! Poptart , tobinikui , minnesotapaintlady , and any others, you can join in at any time. Just post some kind of update, even if you're at zero at this point. Vague discussion of goals isn't enough to get you on the smilies. You don't need a chart of categories unless you want to be recognized with roses as you meet individual savings goals. You can have just one gigantic saving goal with a tag line but no chart. Tag lines with zeros are sufficient, as long as you post some kind of goal. And you can always adjust your goal (downward or upward) at any time. shanendoah, I had no idea what to do with you. (in a good way, of course.) I couldn't fit 29 dancing bananas on your line. So for you and anyone else who may exceed two dancing bananas during the year, the "I'm not worthy" emoticon will substitute.
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seriousthistime
Junior Associate
Joined: Dec 22, 2010 20:27:07 GMT -5
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Post by seriousthistime on Feb 3, 2019 12:57:18 GMT -5
shanendoah[Q1]: $7,850 1/30/2019 (Goal: $300 3/31/2019)
So, one of the ways I can keep myself motivated is to give myself credit for transferring money to savings even if I have a plan to spend it.
I did a preliminary look at taxes today, and it looks like we will owe around $7,700. (I took an early disbursement of one of my retirement accounts in order to have earnest money to buy the house. That disbursement jumped us from an 11.5% tax bracket into a 20% tax bracket, and then there's a 10% tax penalty for the early disbursement on top of that.)
We currently have the money to pay that bill in checking. It means we don't buy some of the other things we were thinking about buying for the new house now, but taxes are the definition of a need, while everything else is (for the moment) a want. (If the water heater goes, then that will become a need, but it is still working for now.) So, I transferred the money from checking to savings, and then I went and transferred the money from every day savings to the Sallie Mae savings account. I have scheduled a transfer back to every day savings on April 8.
This way, I ensure we will have the money for the tax bill, no matter what else happens.
I had my very last meeting with my lawyer today. So I will be getting back what's left of my retainer in the next month or so. That should be a bit over $4k. Anything else can wait until that comes in. (Or, in an emergency, go on a credit card that won't have to be paid until that comes in.) Has the disbursement been within the last 60 days? If so, have you investigated a 60-day rollover? www.fool.com/retirement/2017/04/13/what-is-a-60-day-rollover.aspxSounds like it doesn't need to go into the account it came from, and you can put it in your current employer's retirement account if your employer allows that, or open a new IRA to transfer it to (if you don't already have an IRA set up). |
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plugginaway22
Well-Known Member
Joined: Jan 2, 2011 10:18:42 GMT -5
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Post by plugginaway22 on Feb 3, 2019 13:59:41 GMT -5
Thank you! I don't deserve all those stars! Haha, goal is $36,000.
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seriousthistime
Junior Associate
Joined: Dec 22, 2010 20:27:07 GMT -5
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Post by seriousthistime on Feb 3, 2019 14:02:39 GMT -5
Thank you! I don't deserve all those stars! Haha, goal is $36,000. Fixed! Thanks for letting me know. |
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forwardwego
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Post by forwardwego on Feb 3, 2019 20:03:26 GMT -5
Shoutouts Part 1 of 2: Welcome aboard all to the 2019 WIR SAVERS! Special greetings to our newest WIR Saver friend kindthatjingles ...I'm glad your lurking led to joining...you'll do great! And the first Update of the new year goes to Saving4Norway . Thank you for the re-introduction. It helps newer members. I also appreciate a refresher, and find it motivating to hear others' reasons and methods for being Savers. Congrats on scoring , the "grand twins"!! nikiz628 Thank you for your re-intro as well! You have a nice variety of goals from EF for possible immediate needs to savings for your sons' future! Nice use of your signature line to keep yourself organized and focused. Congrats on growing another $241 in savings! lazysundays Welcome back to another saving year! Good work identifying the need to plan and organize gift buying to prevent overspending. Kudos on surpassing $10K in your multi-year goal  finnime Welcome back, it's good to see you and thanks for the tech support  . I'm eager to see your 2 buckets filling up . TheHaitian Hi Carl, It's great to have you returning. We love having gentleman savers join us! Congrats on getting the plan in place. Lofty goals may help you stretch. Nice first update with $5354 on the board!!! trimatty471 YEA for another year of saving, is this your 3rd year? Congrats on your strong finish in 2018 and having a jump start on your 2019 goals. I hope your house settlement will soon go through. Nice work at $5187 saved plugginaway22 It's good to see you back for another round of saving. Thank you for summarizing your experience as a 2018 WIR Saver, that's a great endorsement. Your stash for bridging into retirement sounds wise and it should keep adding to the peace of mind you are building. Congrats on adding nearly $1500 to your multi-year goal. Poptart It's good to see you brainstorming your 2019 goals, looking forward to your update. Remember you can always adjust later if you need to!  Hey there paynointerest ! Thanks for your introduction! Congrats on your continued success on the Racer board. And nice job planning out your savings goals with emphasis on retirement! You're off and running well with $9300 for 19% of goal. On a personal note, I love seeing your name to remind me that paying ANY interest is not for me. chiver78 It's good to see you again! Good job having the card deck laid out and getting started. Also congrats on the new job. Getting paid appropriately is certainly a valuable change and having your professional integrity is priceless. This is your ticket to ditching debt (go after it gal) and then you can assign even bigger values to that deck of cards . Looking forward to your progress in 2019 
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forwardwego
Well-Known Member
Joined: Dec 22, 2010 3:54:23 GMT -5
Posts: 1,400
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Post by forwardwego on Feb 3, 2019 20:03:46 GMT -5
Shoutouts Part 2 of 2: teachermom YEA for your son being able to go back to work, hoping he will continue to heal and improve. WOW you have a thorough outline of your goals! Congrats on growing your savings by $4155 in January, and on having 3 goals funded and by now probably the 4th one also! snapdragon Welcome to another year of saving . Kudos on another $435 saved. I like your idea to follow up your present goals with a bump up in the EF savings!  shanendoah Quarterly goals while the dust settles, good idea.  Congratulations on your new home, and on having saved enough that the surprise tax bill was manageable. Nice work topping off the credit union accounts too! kindthatjingles Welcome aboard!!! Congrats on your first update of $1K tobinikui _Glad to see you're in for 2019. And ah, yes, the moving pieces. Hope your little one has bounced back well from tonsils and adenoids removal. Congrats on your DH's new job. It will be nice to get past those initial expenses and see the savings accelerate. minnesotapaintlady Hi, hope you'll find a plan that will work for you and join us.  azucena Hello! Good work on cutting down the eating out expense, and a cash day-to-day spending plan should enhance your awareness and your savings!! Keep up the good work! seriousthistime Thank you very much for getting us off on a good foot for 2019. I love your initial posts at the beginning of the year and from time to time I go back and reread to reset mentally. You have a nice range of goals. I think tracking saving is more fun when some of the categories are things like travel, gifts, and funds for bridging into retirement . Your goals may feel like a stretch, but I predict you are going to grow into them.  Shoutout to the WIRs who follow and contribute to the conversation and encourage the Savers: debthaven chapeau NastyWoman wvugurl26 Works4me zibazinski @aj LlamaLlamaDuck @bamafan1954 |
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shanendoah
Senior Associate
Joined: Dec 18, 2010 19:44:48 GMT -5
Posts: 10,096
Mini-Profile Name Color: 0c3563
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Post by shanendoah on Feb 4, 2019 12:20:53 GMT -5
seriousthistime - No. We took the disbursement (a little over $56k, of which we got $44k after they kept $11k for taxes) this summer - July, I think. At the time, the Seattle housing market was just starting to cool, and we knew we wouldn't be able to wait to have the money from selling the first house in order to have the earnest money for buying the second. And we also used some of that money to make needed repairs and improvements to selling the old house. We then bought a new house at close to the top of our range.
The money was spent. We owe the taxes on it. I'm not really complaining about owing the taxes. I am mostly complaining at myself for not thinking about what an increase to my yearly income of $56k would really do. In my head, we were just staying in the same tax bracket, so the fact that they took nearly 20% out for taxes meant we were more than good. But when you jump from $68k in taxable income to $124k in taxable income, you don't stay in the same tax bracket. We went from about 11.5% tax bracket to about at 16% tax bracket. I had been under-withholding from my paycheck to begin with (which I had planned for), and then you add the 10% early withdrawal fee on top of all of it.
Took us from $7788 owed to over $19000 owed (with a little over $17000 already paid), and then add the $5600 early withdrawal penalty on top of that. I was planning on owing anywhere from $500-1500. (Last year, I owed almost $900.)
But, as I said, we have the money to cover the tax bill. It was earmarked for wants, not needs. So now, it is in savings to pay the taxes in April. I believe in taxes. (Though I don't necessarily always like how the government chooses to spend the money.) So I don't mind paying what I owe. I just wish I had thought more clearly in advance about what that would mean. (I still would have done it. I just would not have been surprised when I did my preliminary look at taxes.)
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teachermom
Familiar Member
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 21:34:17 GMT -5
Posts: 660
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Post by teachermom on Feb 5, 2019 14:17:12 GMT -5
forwardwego Thanks! I am glad he is back to work. Very exhausting for him but he is doing well. Working on fixing up my home to get ready to sell....probably this summer...so those will be the goals I focus on the most. I started delivering for UberEats and DoorDash and doing shopping for Instacart....so far made $1500 in Dec and $1700 in Jan. I usually work about 25 hrs per week average and take all day Saturday off doing projects on my house. Currently we are tiling my whole basement, one room at a time. The first room we had to texture walls and ceiling and paint. We have grout left to do and then will be installing all the trim, closest door and shelves, and the door to the hallway. Then it will be off to the next bedroom. So those funds are mostly going in the account and out.
Keep up the good job savers! Teachermom
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tobinikui
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 30, 2010 8:59:54 GMT -5
Posts: 164
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Post by tobinikui on Feb 5, 2019 14:48:09 GMT -5
Tobinikui: $7,728.58 on 2/5/19 (Goal: $105,658.00) | Account | Goal | Saved | Spent | Remaining | % Saved | | ER Fund | $15,000.00 | $3,501.69 | 0 | $11,498.31 | 23.3% | | Christmas | $3,000.00 | 0 | 0 | $3,000.00 | 0 | | Random | $2,000.00 | 0 | 0 | $2,000.00 | 0 | | Car Repair | $3,000.00 | 0 | 0 | $3,000.00 | 0 | | Vacations | $4,000.00 | 0 | 0 | $4,000.00 | 0 | | Taxes | $7,200.00 | $1,083.19 | $117.00 | $5,999.81 | 16.7% | | Insurances | $6,458.00 | $1,638.15 | $1,020.00 | $3,799.85 | 41.2% | | Retirement | $44,000.00 | 0 | 0 | $44,000.00 | 0 | | Home Projects | $21,000.00 | $368.55 | 0 | $20,631.45 | 1.8% | | Total | $105,658.00 | $6,591.58 | $1,137.00 | $97,929.42 | 7.3% |
There is so much in flux right now. We should get DH's first paycheck this Friday, and the accompanying paperwork should help me redistribute goals, if necessary. Our main priorities are to fill that cash Emergency Fund, and then to max out our Deferred Comp accounts. DH's new job will boost our income by about 40%, so we need to thoughtfully reprioritize things to minimize the long term tax repercussions. We've already had some big expenditures this year, that we put on our credit card (but will be paying off immediately). Car repairs to the tune of $1200, along with the bathroom remodel my dad is doing for us ($4000ish). One thing at a time. Phew! |
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Saving4Norway
Well-Known Member
Joined: Jan 1, 2011 18:27:56 GMT -5
Posts: 1,383
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Post by Saving4Norway on Feb 5, 2019 14:59:18 GMT -5
| Fund | 2018 Goals | Last Month | This Month | % Met | Roses | | TBD | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0% | | | Iceland 2020 | 4000 | 0 | 0 | 0% | | | Deductibles | 500 | 500 | 500 | 100% | Jan | | Gifts&Donations | 2000 | 0 | 0 | 0% | | | Palm Springs 2019 | 600 | 0 | 600 | 100% | Feb | | Motorcycle Trips 2019 | 1000 | 0 | 0 | 0% | | | Home Improvement | 5000 | 1000 | 1000 | 20% | | | Cultural | 2000 | 0 | 1400 | 70% | | | Vacay Prop | 500 | 500 | 500 | 100% | Jan | | Hockey Season Tickets | 1000 | 0 | 0 | 0% | | | Christmas | 500 | 0 | 0 | 0% | | | Adventures | 1000 | 0 | 0 | 0% | | | TOTAL | 18101 | 2000 | 4000 | 22% |
Saving4Norway 2/5/19 $4,000 (Goal $18,101) |
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Saving4Norway
Well-Known Member
Joined: Jan 1, 2011 18:27:56 GMT -5
Posts: 1,383
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Post by Saving4Norway on Feb 5, 2019 15:17:16 GMT -5
In the process of trying to head out of town on a much needed weekend away the brakes on my truck locked up. Even with AAA, the tow home (about 2 hours) was $270. Then the repair bill was $750. No problem, I got this. In fact, within 20 minutes of being dropped off by the tow truck, we had all the gear moved over to DH's car and we were back out on the road. Made it to our cabin by midnight.
This is EXACTLY why I participate in WIR Savers! When you have a firm financial foundation, life's ups and DOWNS are so much easier to deal with!
Are we rich? Oh HECK no. We live beneath our means and have money saved for Murphy's Law events like this. I've lived paycheck to paycheck and the stress of playing "games" (like robbing Peter to pay Paul) sucks.
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zibazinski
Community Leader
Joined: Dec 24, 2010 16:12:50 GMT -5
Posts: 47,914
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Post by zibazinski on Feb 6, 2019 6:26:38 GMT -5
I’m working toward goal of saving money for 2020 big expenses. Im almost there. 2019 is set. After 2020 is saved my goal is to have 30k saved by 2022 to buy car. No more leasing. That’s 10k a year and that’s doable. Anything above and beyond that is for savings and travel. If I stay in this house, it’s going to need a roof. That’s at least 5500. Plus whatever damages to wood they find. It’s an old house. There’s going to be damage.
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