Women in Red SAVERS 2019

[teachermom]

I know this has been talked about before.....but really sucks when your savings takes huge hits even if it is what you saved for. So far this month.....$2195 for 2018 taxes, $549 quarterly taxes for 2019, and $16,131 to pay off an old 403B loan. All of this along with withdrawals for house upgrades that I paid for.....my total savings up over $30k but balance actually around $5400 now. Like lund just said....at least I had it.....marching onward and forward from here!

Teachermom

[Deleted]

I hate, hate, HATE taking money out of savings.  I had to hit up the emergency "kids activities" fund this month to cover a band trip and more piano lessons because my normal budget is crazy tight, bringing it for $4300 to $3800.  It's what it's there for, but it killed me to do it and the fact that it dropped below 4K made it feel even worse.  I only put about $400/year in it, so that shows how often I hit it up if it's built up that far, but still, taking $500 out was over a year's worth of savings.

[finnime]

Apr 11, 2019 10:44:01 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I hate, hate, HATE taking money out of savings.  I had to hit up the emergency "kids activities" fund this month to cover a band trip and more piano lessons because my normal budget is crazy tight, bringing it for $4300 to $3800.  It's what it's there for, but it killed me to do it and the fact that it dropped below 4K made it feel even worse.  I only put about $400/year in it, so that shows how often I hit it up if it's built up that far, but still, taking $500 out was over a year's worth of savings.

You provide a wonderful life for your sons and save for your future on an incredibly small budget. I admire how you manage.

Make it a goal to add $200 back this year to the fund, and let it go. You save for a reason. Don't beat yourself up for using the money as intended.

[Deleted]

Apr 11, 2019 11:33:18 GMT -5 finnime said:

Apr 11, 2019 10:44:01 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I hate, hate, HATE taking money out of savings.  I had to hit up the emergency "kids activities" fund this month to cover a band trip and more piano lessons because my normal budget is crazy tight, bringing it for $4300 to $3800.  It's what it's there for, but it killed me to do it and the fact that it dropped below 4K made it feel even worse.  I only put about $400/year in it, so that shows how often I hit it up if it's built up that far, but still, taking $500 out was over a year's worth of savings.

You provide a wonderful life for your sons and save for your future on an incredibly small budget. I admire how you manage.

Make it a goal to add $200 back this year to the fund, and let it go. You save for a reason. Don't beat yourself up for using the money as intended.

I know.  I was just piling on to the posts by Carl and teachermom about how much it sucks to spend savings.

[debthaven]

Thanks for the shoutout forwardwego. Best to you and your DD.

[forwardwego]

Thank you kindly WIR Saver Friends, for your support of me as I support my DD. 

If you had a March update and I missed you in the (finally completed) March shoutouts, please let me know. I want each and every one of us to get credit for our efforts. 

[TheHaitian]

Thank you everyone, nice to know I am not alone with “hating”’to take money out of savings... and sometimes I torture myself endlessly and wait till the last possible minute (as if waiting for a miracle) before I pull the trigger...

Just glanced at my paycheck for 4/15 (get paid twice a month) and reducing the 401m contributions will increase my net take home by ~$230/paycheck or ~$460/month.

That should definitely help with things not being as tight. Just paid $150 for swimming class for my daughter and $180 for her gymnastic starting end of April (then have ballet in the fall). And those expenses are recurring, not a 1 time thing (ex swimming is every 4 weeks, gymnastics every 6 weeks and ballet is every 8 weeks).

[tobinikui]

Tobinikui: $26,484.68 on 4/12/2019 (Goal: $105,658.00)

Account	Goal	Saved	Spent	Remaining	% Saved
ER Fund	$15,000.00	$2,821.00	0	$12,179.00	18.8%
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	$2,283.87	$117.00	$4,799.13	33.3%
Insurances	$6,458.00	$1,179.78	$2,239.00	$3,039.22	52.9%
Retirement	$44,000.00	$12,000.00	0	$32,000.00	27.3%
Home Projects	$21,000.00	$0	$5,844.03	$15,155.97	27.8%
Total	$105,658.00	$18,284.65	$8,200.03	$79,173.32	25.1%

Man, it's extremely difficult to get contractors to come give estimates! I mean, I'd like to PAY THEM to do some work.... oiy. That has been extremely frustrating!

We managed to fully fund our 2018 IRAs, and file our taxes in the last couple of weeks.  Additionally, we have been able to cash flow the bathroom remodel and a couple of other things that we had going on.

We are adjusting our withholding a bit for taxes next year, and just increased our contributions to the 401k-type equivalent retirement accounts we have. At this rate, if we cannot even get estimates for the needed work, there's no sense in saving that pile of money now. I am switching my focus to filling our emergency fund, as well as building up our cash buffer to be able to pay our credit card bill in full the day it's due. We were doing really well at that, prior to when we started the bathroom remodel, so I hope to get back to that by May 1st. And then, by the end of May, we should be back to adding money to our emergency fund.

So many moving parts, and competing priorities. Oiy! Maybe one of these months, I'll even get my update done in time for end-of-the-month smilies! Ha!

[TheHaitian]

Just heard back from our accountant...

Since I have file an S-Corp for my side business first she suggested I file an extension.

DC : we owe $502
Fed : we owe $1,502

So while I am allowed to file my taxes later; I still have to pay my taxes now! Bunkers!!!

Anyway my wife feels that is too much to owe and we should adjust our withholdings... I think that is an ok amount personally. I don’t care much to get a refund and we have the money.

What is your take? I can reduce our withholding by 2 each and get more taxes taken out... play with he calculator and see how close to zero we can get?

[Blonde Granny]

I guess my first thought is how much did you actually make and what is the difference between income and $2004 owed for taxes. Then I'd take a close look and determine if the profit (if any) is worth all the time spent away from home.

But, that's just me.

[debthaven]

More good news from this non-saver. The opposing party is NOT appealing *MY* settlement. So it should come in within a month or two, and rebuild my savings.

I know I don't save as much as I should. But the fact that I even have a savings account again, and am careful with it, is all thanks to you people.

DH and I have yours/mine/our accounts. Most of what we've both spent from our separate savings has been for our rentals. But I spent 2K from MY savings on "life" because I earn significantly less in second semester.

I always earn extra money in May and June, so I'm hoping to replenish at least 1K of that 2K.

[Deleted]

Apr 12, 2019 14:01:31 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Just heard back from our accountant...

Since I have file an S-Corp for my side business first she suggested I file an extension.

DC : we owe $502
Fed : we owe $1,502

So while I am allowed to file my taxes later; I still have to pay my taxes now! Bunkers!!!

Anyway my wife feels that is too much to owe and we should adjust our withholdings... I think that is an ok amount personally. I don’t care much to get a refund and we have the money.

What is your take? I can reduce our withholding by 2 each and get more taxes taken out... play with he calculator and see how close to zero we can get?

Reducing by 2 might be a little much at your income to just cover $1500 and $500.   I think that would get you overwithholding quite a bit.   Maybe split the difference and do 1? 

[forwardwego]

GOAL	AMOUNT	STARTING	$$ TO DATE	% OF GOAL	$$ TO GO
JPPCU CUSHION	2000	350	1350	67	650
DD IRA	3000	1000	1600	53	1400
RENTAL MARGIN	12000	10700	4000	33	8000
PERIODIC EXPENSE	5000	1800	3260	65	1740
CASH STASH	2000	300	400	20	1600
TOTAL	24000	14150	10610	44	13390

UPDATE 4/13/2019 $10610 (begin $14150; goal $24,000) beginning amount corrected

two steps forward, and two steps back

[chiver78]

I will edit this post with table and correct numbers later from a laptop, this is just a placeholder. I realized I missed the last two weeks, and I have a one-off bill that may come in this coming week or next, before I have the cash flow to cover it. so, I played the three smallest cards just now, adding $8 to the total. A, 2, 5 of spades. I may, should the bill come in this week, need to borrow all of what's in the jar, and will replace in 2wks when I get paid again. this week is a cyclical low balance, ugh.

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

chiver78 3/22/19 $216/$910

[paynointerest]

Update!

Pay-no-interest: $19,100 (Goal: $58,700.00)

	Goal	Saved	% of goal	Amt spent
My 403b	$19,000	$5,800	31%
457b	$9,000	$100	1%
Savings Acct	$3,000	$3000	100%
Taxable Invest Acct	$5,000	$1,200	24%
Property/Income Taxes #1	$4,200	$5,200	124%	$2,218
Property/Income Taxes #2	$8,500	$2,000	24%
DH 403b	$10,000	$1,800	18%
Total	$58,700	$19,100	33%

I added to my Taxable Investment account goal ($300) and Property/Income Taxes #2 goal ($500)

For those of you who are sad to see your savings spent, I know it is nice to see those big numbers in your account but please be proud of yourselves for having that money in savings available for these items.  It is so much better than having the stress of not having the money on hand and being worried how you are going to make it to the end of the month or having to put it on a high interest credit card.  Excellent work to all of you!

[sealy]

Apr 11, 2019 1:26:41 GMT -5 lund said:

Sealy,
Pat yourself on the back!
You had the money to pay not only the taxes, but also the personal loan and the BB bill.
Now, onward and forward to replace the savings.

Thank you for helping me to see the bright side of this. I don’t have to worry about those two bills ever again.

[TheHaitian]

Hi everyone,

I figure I would do a mid month update since I just updated my spreadsheet, we both just got paid on Friday! Nothing really exciting just regular contributions; mine was a bit lower but knowing that I will still max by year end God willing that made it easier to swallow. Slow consistent progress!

News I have, I saw that teachermom posted about driving for uber eats and I had reached out to her. Seemed activating my account took way longer than usual but today I logged in and it was active. I can start driving for uber eats to bring a little bit of side money in. Obviously 100% of the money I earn there will be going towards paying down debt and off course gas/car maintenance. If all goes well by the end of April I should have 1 credit card paid off and retiring it to keep it paid off and moving on to the next... 

I still  need to focus and find time to get my side business off the ground and earning a consistent income from it... Just time and time again.. I need to get 48 hours worth of work out of 24 hr days! I already talked mentioned the taxes, will sent those payments tomorrow, have not decided if by mail or paying it online yet! 

Savings	Goals	Actual	Percentage
Carl 401k	$19,000.00	$9,315.05	49.03%
Carl Match	$3,000.00	$2,495.91	83.20%
DW 403b	$19,000.00	$5,846.24	30.77%
DW Match	$6,000.00	$1,895.28	31.59%
HSA	$6,500.00	$1,895.81	29.17%
HSA Match	$500.00	$500.00	100.00%
FSA	$2,700.00	$787.50	29.17%
DD Savings	$1,560.00	$630.00	40.38%
DD 529	$1,740.00	$250.00	14.37%
Total	$60,000.00	$21,571.84	35.95%

cawiau 04/05/19  $23,615.79 (Goal = $60,000)

[TheHaitian]

So today after my Dr appointment I had time to kill and since I was so excited about UberEats since last night, decided to give it a go... and I popped my Uber Eat Cherry!

I only made 1 delivery it was McDonalds and I made $4.42!!! Yeah me lol! At first I was expecting like a $1 because the McDonald was 3 minutes (a couple of blocks) from where I was and the delivery was 3 minutes away also (another couple of blocks).

I was surprised to see $4.42... but I will take it! I am so happy and giddy lol! And works perfectly since I don’t want strangers in my car (or more so drunk people); and I don’t want to drive 20-40 minutes out of my area (my Uber driver Saturday night was going home in Germantown, MD which was a good 45 minutes from my house and he picked me up from Arlington which was more like over an hour for him).

So yes I would probably make less money than Uber, but I will drive less, closer to home and no weird folks in my car.

[Deleted]

Wow.  People pay that much to have McDonalds delivered a couple blocks?   I would probably do that if they had it here, but we don't even have regular Uber.    I don't think there would be much demand for food delivery here either.

[TheHaitian]

Apr 15, 2019 9:56:16 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Wow.  People pay that much to have McDonalds delivered a couple blocks?   I would probably do that if they had it here, but we don't even have regular Uber.    I don't think there would be much demand for food delivery here either.

And to think that is what I got paid after Uber got their cut, so they most likely paid more than that for it.

[nikiz628]

Mar 25, 2019 10:35:07 GMT -5 nikiz628 said:

UPDATE 4/19: 

2019 Savings	START	CURRENT	GOAL	STILL NEED
Emergency Fund	$2,091.03	$3,118.51	$4,500.00	$1,381.49
DS1's Savings	$1,750.51	$1,850.51	$2,000.00	$149.49
DS2's Savings	$576.65	$676.65	$800.00	$123.35
TOTALS	$4,418.19	$5,645.67	$7,300.00	$1,898.41

NikiZ628 4/19/2019 $5,645.67 (Goal $7,300 WIRS1)

Just getting this posted before we leave for vacation on Thursday! This is my end of the month total. 

[seriousthistime]

Update

Account Name	Goal	Start	Amt. Saved 4/19/19	Amt. Saved %	Roses
Gifts	$2,300	$335	$1,135	49.3%
Property Tax	$5,000	$2,984	$4,593	91.9%
Survival Fund	$6,000	$26	$527	8.8%
Household/Misc	$2,500	$1,075	$1,297	51.8%
Pet Care	$600	$130	$131	21.7%
Weekly Savings	$2,600	$0	$804	30.9%
Mortgage Cushion	$12,000	$4,200	$4,780	39.9%
Car Fund	$6,000	$0	$500	8.3%
Travel	$5,000	$0	$402	8.0%
Total	$42,000	$8,750	$14,169	33.7%

Seriousthistime, $14,169 4/19/19 (Goal $42,000)


Weekly Savings Tracker: 

				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

I'm close to my goal on property taxes, the first installment of which is due in November, so I'm ahead of the game there. When I look at where I am on the other goals, particularly the Survival Fund and Car Fund and Mortgage Cushion, I feel like a slacker but then realize that once property tax is topped off, I'll have some flexibility on the other goals. 

I have pet insurance, so my savings goal is for catastrophic pet expenses.  I cash-flowed the last vet visit which was under $100.  I also cash-flowed my recent travel.  I got to meet debthaven , and she is as delightful in person as she is here! I hope she starts to hang out with the Savers more.  Hear that, debthaven? 

[teachermom]

Apr 15, 2019 10:23:00 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Apr 15, 2019 9:56:16 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Wow.  People pay that much to have McDonalds delivered a couple blocks?   I would probably do that if they had it here, but we don't even have regular Uber.    I don't think there would be much demand for food delivery here either.

And to think that is what I got paid after Uber got their cut, so they most likely paid more than that for it.

I have been doing it since Dec 3rd......people pay a lot of money for a milkshake or a blizzard or a dozen donuts from Krispee Kreme....I looked at the details once and I think they paid $18 for delivery of the dozen donuts. Crazy but makes me money!! I delivered last night for a bit and made $111.80 on the app and then $11 cash tips for about 5 hours of time. Wasn't delivering the whole time....sometimes just sitting and waiting.

Teachermom

[TheHaitian]

Apr 22, 2019 11:28:40 GMT -5 teachermom said:

Apr 15, 2019 10:23:00 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

And to think that is what I got paid after Uber got their cut, so they most likely paid more than that for it.

I have been doing it since Dec 3rd......people pay a lot of money for a milkshake or a blizzard or a dozen donuts from Krispee Kreme....I looked at the details once and I think they paid $18 for delivery of the dozen donuts. Crazy but makes me money!! I delivered last night for a bit and made $111.80 on the app and then $11 cash tips for about 5 hours of time. Wasn't delivering the whole time....sometimes just sitting and waiting.

Teachermom

Yes it is insane... this morning I got paid $9 to bring this lady her green juice.

At the beginning I felt bad about it but then I am not forcing those people to pay me and they appreciate they service; 95% of them have been really nice and grateful so far including the businesses.

So why not lol!! I did $363.54 last week my first week and that is an average of ~3/hrs a day! Not bad for a side gig.

[teachermom]

Apr 22, 2019 23:13:03 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Apr 22, 2019 11:28:40 GMT -5 teachermom said:

I have been doing it since Dec 3rd......people pay a lot of money for a milkshake or a blizzard or a dozen donuts from Krispee Kreme....I looked at the details once and I think they paid $18 for delivery of the dozen donuts. Crazy but makes me money!! I delivered last night for a bit and made $111.80 on the app and then $11 cash tips for about 5 hours of time. Wasn't delivering the whole time....sometimes just sitting and waiting.

Teachermom

Yes it is insane... this morning I got paid $9 to bring this lady her green juice.

At the beginning I felt bad about it but then I am not forcing those people to pay me and they appreciate they service; 95% of them have been really nice and grateful so far including the businesses.

So why not lol!! I did $363.54 last week my first week and that is an average of ~3/hrs a day! Not bad for a side gig.

I know....right! Very easy too.

[chapeau]

Apr 23, 2019 10:04:01 GMT -5 teachermom said:

Apr 22, 2019 23:13:03 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Yes it is insane... this morning I got paid $9 to bring this lady her green juice.

At the beginning I felt bad about it but then I am not forcing those people to pay me and they appreciate they service; 95% of them have been really nice and grateful so far including the businesses.

So why not lol!! I did $363.54 last week my first week and that is an average of ~3/hrs a day! Not bad for a side gig.

I know....right! Very easy too.

I think this would be a great side gig for DH, but he’d probably eat up all of his earnings. There aren’t a lot of delivery options around here.

[azucena]

Mar 29, 2019 8:20:34 GMT -5 azucena said:

Mar 25, 2019 7:26:43 GMT -5 azucena said:

Deposited $1,579 from paycheck.  Shopped for a new mattress earlier this week which was going to be paid for from my bonus, ended up spending way, way too much at Sleep Number and cancelled the order last night.  The cancellation was actually prompted by DH who said we probably got ahead of ourselves.  I had been having my own buyer's remorse.  Still need a new mattress because our current one is not helping my back, but we don't need to pay for extreme luxury.

Azucena 3/29/19 $12,074 of $25,000 goal (48%)

April update isn't pretty.  After payday in of $1180, my savings is actually down $1630.  Part of that is taxes $1200 Fed, $200 state, and part is over-spending.  And I need to confess to 3x $15 charges for withdrawing from the savings account too many times this month.  I've been busy at work and also traveling so not keeping an eye on things like I should.  Part of that is DH didn't know that rule (is it 6?) so he sent both tax checks from that account.  And 2 are from Fidelity sending through test withdraws before pulling our $5500 2018 Roth contribution.  Can those YM sins be offset by the fact that we actually managed to open our first Roth?!

Azucena 4/23/19 $10,444 of $25,000 goal (42%)

[plugginaway22]

My April update will also not be pretty, a few steps back with paying Federal taxes and paying a handyman to fix up some things around the house.  But as you all have reminded me, it is less painful to remove from savings than the pain we would feel if we did not have the cash!

[Deleted]

Man, I would love to be able to work Uber eats!  I'd be doing that all the time when waiting for my kids in town.  I spend hours sitting in my van doing nothing but reading or playing on my phone.  We don't have that kind of wealth around here though.  I don't think I'd get any calls.

No more income for April, so this is my final update for the month.

Fund	2019 Goal	Current	Needed	% Complete
401K	$19000	$6822	$12178	35.91%
2020 Roth	$7000	$1770	$5230	25.29%
Survival Fund	$6000	$6000	$0	100.00%
House Maint	$3000	$0	$3000	0.00%
College	$2400	$1000	$1400	41.67%
Pr. High School	$1000	$1000	$0	100.00%
Vacation	$1000	$0	$1000	0.00%
Christmas	$600	$81	$519	13.50%
Total	$40,000	$16,673	$23,327	41.68%

Minnesotapaintlady $16,673/$40,000 4/24/2019

[shanendoah]

shanendoah[Q2]: $340 4/25/2019 (Goal: $3,020 6/30/2019)
[Q1]: $8,994 3/26/2019 (Goal: $300 3/31/2019)


My lawyer changed to a new billing software at the end of the year. They'd been telling me I should start seeing bills via email since January (which is the month my case closed). I never got anything. I finally got an email bill this month for January. But it did recognize that the case was closed, because instead of telling me I owed enough to bring my retainer back up, it said I didn't owe anything.
However, I'm not certain if this means I'll get a check later this month, if I'll get a check next month, or if they somehow ended up on a quarterly billing cycle, which means I won't get what's left of my retainer back until July. (Quarterly billing seems like a bad plan, given how much can be gone through in a single month, and we never even went to trial.)
So, leaving my quarterly goal, but it's possible I won't be able to meet the "extra" beyond the $340/month until next quarter.