Women in Red SAVERS 2019

[plugginaway22]

Update: Plugginaway22: $25,224 (goal $36,000)

Brick bank 2,001

On-line bank 16,546
Credit Union 6,677
Total $25,224


HSA balance $10,416

A few steps back. Paid the Federal taxes of $3200 and cash-flowed the handyman work of $2500.  My annual bonus is expected in May, but we are also going on vacation with all of our adult children in May, which is a wonderful but spendy week.  It is so much easier to accumulate money when you don't have debt.  It has taken us years to get into this position.  I still have a 0% Toyoto car loan, but house is paid off and we haven't had CC debt since kiddos were teenagers.  

[debthaven]

Hi friends. I haven't been on much but yes I met seriousthistime ! We had a wonderful time together. It felt like meeting an old friend.

[shanendoah]

Sharing here because I think it will be appreciated.

I've been figuring out how much my savings goals each month are by basically deciding what I think I can afford to save currently. This is not a bad plan, but I do have a master budget that also says I should be able to put away around $800/month when all the debt is paid off. This makes sense as this month, I am paying $500 toward debt, and $340 into savings. So I think, come October, that will be a realistic (and possibly a little conservative) number.
But what I have not been focusing on here, or really even in my spreadsheets is my reasons for savings - what I want to use those dollars for. And I do have plans.

So yesterday, I went into my savings spreadsheet where I am tracking the amount in the high interest account (that I don't look at all the time), and added a section for savings goals, and when I want to meet those goals by, so that I can keep my priorities in place. Currently it looks like this:

Goal	Goal Date	Goal Amount	Saved	% Saved	Months until Goal	Amount needed/month
General Savings	July 2019	$2,500	$2,320.50	92.82%	2	$89.75
Car	January 2020	$6,000	$0	0%	8	$750.00
Pop Tart Launch	August 2022	$10,000	$500	5%	40	$237.50
Canary Islands	August 2028	$30,000	$500	1.67%	113	$261.06

The General Savings is my top priority, and if I spend money out of that, it will be replaced instantly. After that is the car fund. Our car is 12 years old with close to 200k miles on it (diesel engine). It needs some body work. We had to replace the cam shaft last summer. The $6k should cover any one specific thing that needs to be fixed. If there is something wrong that costs more than $6k, we should be considering a new car. And then the $6k will be used for a down payment. We're still paying off the cam shaft (that's a big part of the debt on the 0% card that will be paid off in October), but I'd like to have that $6k fully funded by the end of this year. So that will be the primary target of most of my savings once I get the general savings to $2,500 next month.
The other two goals are long term goals. I've got lots of time to meet them, but the more money I get in them early, the less I have to try and find later, and I know I have the goals, so I might as well track them. I am certain that between now and each of those goal dates, other savings goals will come into the mix, but that's okay. Those can be added.
Right now, this puts me at needing to put $1340 in savings each month in order to meet goals. Obviously, that's more than the $800 in my budget. But, I've got the plan of $2k coming into savings when I get my retainer back, and that will cover a third of the car savings and chance those numbers pretty drastically. 

I won't share this chart every time I post an update, but it will probably come out once a quarter as I work on figuring out my new savings goals.

[Poptart]

Hi fellow savers!

 So all my savings goals were wrecked, since January it has been one thing after another, in January we had a death in the family, my sister who was very close to this family member took two weeks off from work, one of which was unpaid, this meant that I covered her rent which set me back $500.00. In February I started having awful tooth pain it turns out I need serious dental work, including an implant, I have been putting this off but I need to take care of it before the pain comes back. And to top it all off I got hit yesterday with a $1,500 bill that needed to be paid off ASAP, so now I'm down $1,500.

 I'm really discouraged, I thought this year I'd be able to pay off debt and get some savings under me but its just not happening. Any suggestions on how to get back on track?

[seriousthistime]

Poptart , you'll probably get a lot of response to your question about getting on track after a devastating few months. Because we've all been there, done that, still do that.

Most of all, don't throw in the towel!  (See the post from forwardwego below)  

Learning to save is a lot like learning to lose and maintain weight.  There is always a reason to eat the wrong foods, not exercise, etc. Some people have it easier than others.  Some people just give up.  Don't compare yourself to anyone else.

Over the years of doing the Savers thread, I've learned that we are not all similarly situated so don't get discouraged when you see others post their progress here.  I want to be some of our posters here when I "grow up."  Your situation is YOUR situation.

Post your debt in the Racers thread, and get some advice for debt payoff there.  Savings and debt payoff are not mutually exclusive.  You can do both at the same time.  

To start here, I'd set a low goal of something like $5 per week for the rest of the year.  I think we have about 35 weeks left in the year, so the goal would be $175.  Save it in cash.  Find a good hiding place to keep it out of mind except when you add to it each week.  Just get it into your mind, you will take one $5 bill each week and put it away.  It's so easy to blow $5 on something you don't need and can do without.  Why not save it instead?  And view it as something not to be touched, no matter what.  Once you have some success under your belt, you'll see how it builds.

And then post your progress here.  Posting makes a big difference.  Accountability + friends = motivation +success.

[seriousthistime]

Poptart, here is the post I was talking about.

Mar 7, 2019 8:22:33 GMT -5 forwardwego said:

Mar 6, 2019 22:52:23 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

Hey forwardwego , you're doing great!   Gaining some traction feels good, doesn't it?  And everything can get so bogged down with various budgetary challenges.  Remember the good old days when we felt like throwing in the towel with every hiccup?  You are past that now.  "Adulting" is not easy, but you've got it mastered!  You could teach classes.  What do you think was the single most important lesson you've learned along the way?

Excellent question! YES I did spend many years picking up the towel (of financial responsibility) and then either throwing it in when the going got tough, or allowing it to just fall to the wayside when I/we chose buying things over ditching debt and saving. Single most important lesson (for me) is finding the truth of the situation, whether it's financial or another area. When a financial move requires a lot of finagling and justifying then something is not ringing true....the beneficial response is adulting and telling myself and others around me "NO". Following close behind that would be keep working and learning. WIR has been so important and beneficial with the anonymity, sharing, discussing, and encouragement from the company of others also trying to build financial security. 

[seriousthistime]

Hi there, Savers.

The end of the month is almost upon us. I'll be doing the smilies on Saturday morning, May 4.

Please get your updates in before then. 

Thank you!

[paynointerest]

Update!

Pay-no-interest: $22,600 (Goal: $58,700.00)

	Goal	Saved	% of goal	Amt spent
My 403b	$19,000	$7,800	41%
457b	$9,000	$200	2%
Savings Acct	$3,000	$3000	100%
Taxable Invest Acct	$5,000	$1,500	30%
Property/Income Taxes #1	$4,200	$5,200	124%	$2,218
Property/Income Taxes #2	$8,500	$2,500	29%
DH 403b	$10,000	$2,400	24%
Total	$58,700	$22,600	40%

[forwardwego]

Apr 26, 2019 13:59:17 GMT -5 Poptart said:

Hi fellow savers!

 So all my savings goals were wrecked, since January it has been one thing after another, in January we had a death in the family, my sister who was very close to this family member took two weeks off from work, one of which was unpaid, this meant that I covered her rent which set me back $500.00. In February I started having awful tooth pain it turns out I need serious dental work, including an implant, I have been putting this off but I need to take care of it before the pain comes back. And to top it all off I got hit yesterday with a $1,500 bill that needed to be paid off ASAP, so now I'm down $1,500.

 I'm really discouraged, I thought this year I'd be able to pay off debt and get some savings under me but its just not happening. Any suggestions on how to get back on track?

Poptart I'm sad that you are in the thick of a lot of expensive stuff. I'm glad you came here to share. This is a good place for encouragement and suggestions. 

In general life is going to continue to deal out to us expensive and sometimes painful events. One very important thing is the Emergency Fund. Even as you are figuring out this present set of expenses, EF needs to be front and center. Was the $500 a gift or a loan to your sister? Can you make payments on the dental expense? And if it's not too personal what is the $1500 bill for? Are you sure it has to all be paid right away?

I have found the WIR board to be a great place to break down the details and find a plan. Hopefully others here can share their personal experience and offer ideas and encouragement. Hang in there.

[paynointerest]

Poptart:  I'm glad you came to the WIRR Savers thread for encouragement.  It was a generous gesture to help your sister out financially.  I'm sorry to hear you were hit with an additional $1,500 bill that set you back.  I am going to reinforce what the others said and present some other ideas:

1) Don't give up. Don't give up. Don't give up.  This is YOUR savings race and sometimes life throws us situations where we have to adjust our plans.  It sounds like you are in a situation where you are looking for motivation.

2) Seriousthis time has great advice -- make it a goal to set aside $5 per (what works for you? per week, per month?) and then put the lump sum in a high interest savings account.  It is amazing how fast it will add up.

3) Are there ways you can make more money? I've seen others talk about selling items on Craigslist, Facebook, Ebay.  Can you pick up a small time job like delivering food for Uber, GrubHub, Instacart, etc?  Or, working as an Uber driver?  Or, picking up other side gigs (e.g., doing yard work for others, etc) to make extra $$ until you have your Emergency Fund fully funded

4) Are there expenses you can cut back on (e.g., switching insurance companies may save $$, changing cell phone plans, taking a break from monthly subscriptions to accounts like Netflix, Spotify, Amazon Prime if you are members of those), and then contribute that $$ to savings?

If you don't have an Emergency fund, I agree with Seriousthistime that that should be a high priority.

Good luck!

[teachermom]

Poptart.....there is money to be made doing UberEats....I have made well over $7k since Dec when I started. Message me if you would like more info or a referral code to get started.

Teachermom

[shanendoah]

Just FYI, Citibank is currently offering a 2.36%APR savings account in certain markets.
I just opened one, and then will move over my high yield savings from Sallie Mae (2.1%) to it once I get the documentation.

[azucena]

Apr 23, 2019 16:58:18 GMT -5 azucena said:

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

Payday deposit $875.

Azucena 4/30/19 $11,319 of $25,000 goal (45%)

[paynointerest]

Update!  May 1, 2019

Pay-no-interest: $25,700 (Goal: $55,900.00)

	Goal	Saved	% of goal	Amt spent
My 403b	$19,000	$7,800	41%
457b	$9,000	$200	2%
Savings Acct	$3,000	$3000	100%
Taxable Invest Acct	$5,000	$1,800	36%
Property/Income Taxes #1	$4,200	$5,200	124%	$5,200
Property/Income Taxes #2	$8,500	$5,300	62%
DH 403b	$7,200	$2,400	33%
Total	$55,900	$25,700	46%

I spent the rest of my Income Taxes #1 to pay my quarterly taxes and updated the amount in my Property/Taxes #2 column and Taxable Investment account column.  Last post I added the retirement contributions from DH and my April contributions.  I also adjusted the goal amount for DHs 403b to match his monthly contributions he is making so we meet the goal.

[finnime]

Goals for Spending

Goal	Goal Amount	Saved	Spent	Percent Saved
House	10,000	3260	1000	32.6%
Car	2,500	0	0
Dog	500	0	0
Medical	1500	500	0	33%
Gifts/Misc	3,000	0	0
Travel	7,000	0	0
Total	24,500	3760	1000	15.35%

Finnime1 $3760 5/1/2019 ($24,500)

Goal for Keeping

Security	5,000	2000	40%
Total	5,000	2000	40%

Finnime2 $2000 5/1/2019 ($5,000)

Threw $500 more into the EF and adjusted spending goals upward to account for a specific ambition to go to Hawaii with DH sometime in the next year. Wish I had more saved but c'est la vie. My DS and DD both have May birthdays, so going to spend about $500 between the two.

[TheHaitian]

It is that time again... update!

This month was somewhat non eventful except for the uber eats. I made $630 on my second week (was off 4 days at my regular job); so that will go towards paying down the debt. I came with a strategy while risky that I am ok with when it comes to the debt paydown.

As for savings, I realized I have reach my mental block...I needed to take ~5k out of savings and just could not do it because that would have gone over 20k I took out of savings so far this year. I looked at it and my past transactions and I took out : $1,000 , $3,800 , $5,100 and $6,450. Yes I needed it but to me it showed I was getting way to comfortable dipping into savings.

So I only took out $3,650 to round it out to 20K and I told my wife no more dipping into savings for the rest of the year, we will have to thought it out and cut elsewhere. We will see how that works out. Retirement will be tough for me because I will have a real problem with withdrawing money and seeing account balances go down.

Savings	Goals	Actual	Percentage
Carl 401k	$19,000.00	$9,881.36	52.01%
Carl Match	$3,000.00	$2,562.53	85.42%
DW 403b	$19,000.00	$6,577.02	34.62%
DW Match	$6,000.00	$2,132.19	35.54%
HSA	$6,500.00	$2,166.64	33.33%
HSA Match	$500.00	$500.00	100.00%
FSA	$2,700.00	$900.00	33.33%
DD Savings	$1,560.00	$690.00	44.23%
DD 529	$1,740.00	$750.00	43.10%
Total	$60,000.00	$26,159.74	43.60%

cawiau 05/01/19  $26,159.74 (Goal = $60,000)

[seriousthistime]

Update

Account Name	Goal	Start	Amt. Saved 5/1/19	Amt. Saved %	Roses
Gifts	$2,300	$335	$1,335	58.0%
Property Tax	$5,000	$2,984	$5,000	100.0%
Survival Fund	$6,000	$26	$527	8.8%
Household/Misc	$2,500	$1,075	$1,397	55.9%
Pet Care	$600	$130	$600	100.0%
Weekly Savings	$2,600	$0	$904	34.8%
Mortgage Cushion	$12,000	$4,200	$6,300	52.5%
Car Fund	$6,000	$0	$1,000	16.7%
Travel	$5,000	$0	$1,000	20.0%
Total	$42,000	$8,750	$17,963	42.8%

Seriousthistime, $17,963 5/1/19 (Goal $42,000)


Weekly Savings Tracker: 

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

Finally, I have a few roses!  Looking forward to being on track with 50% overall by the end of June. I may add more to the various accounts in a few days.  I just need to see where the dust settles when I get paid. 

[shanendoah]

shanendoah[Q2]: $2,340 5/2/2019 (Goal: $3,020 6/30/2019)
[Q1]: $8,994 3/26/2019 (Goal: $300 3/31/2019)

The check from the lawyer arrived yesterday. I deposited it today. I've actually thrown $4600 into savings for now, but because $2250 will be used for the new couch probably in the next month, and I spent $1200 last night on a new Surface, that other $2600 will be coming out when those bills are due, and therefore aren't going toward any of the savings goals. They're just in savings for the moment because I might as well get the extra interest rate for the month or so it will be in my account.

[forwardwego]

GOAL	AMOUNT	STARTING	$$ TO DATE	% OF GOAL	$$ TO GO
JPPCU CUSHION	2000	350	1400	70	600
DD IRA	3000	1000	1600	53	1400
RENTAL MARGIN	12000	10700	4200	35	7800
PERIODIC EXPENSE	5000	1800	3425	68	1575
CASH STASH	2000	300	480	24	1520
TOTAL	24000	14150	11105	46	12895

UPDATE 5/2/2019 $11105 (begin $14150; goal $24,000) beginning amount corrected

[snapdragon]

Snapdragon 05-02-19 --- $ 16,457.88 / $ 18,750


Car/House $ 3501.64 / $3500   

Savings $ 4046.62 / $4000      

Travel $ 4204.82 / $4500

Property Taxes $ 1357.74 / $2250

Lasik $ 3347.06 / $ 4500


New Totals $ 16,457.88 / $18,750

First half of property taxes are paid so things went down a bit. I am so close on my travel budget. I am now looking for someplace to go for me time as vacation. 

[Saving4Norway]

Saving4Norway 5/2/19 $11,000 (Goal $18,101)

[azucena]

Apr 30, 2019 7:51:07 GMT -5 azucena said:

Payday deposit $875.

Azucena 4/30/19 $11,319 of $25,000 goal (45%)

Payday deposit $1802. 

Reviewed the budget from April and found we were $275 over budget for groceries.  Looking at the details was very telling - apparently my husband has replaced his Starbucks habit for a morning grocery store stop which believe it or not costs more.  Argh.  It's not that we can't afford it, it's just that I'd rather our money have a purpose as we both have home projects we'd like to do.  Besides sugary lattes and some other kind of breakfast treat isn't healthy.

Azucena 5/3/19 $13,121 of $25,000 goal (52%)

[seriousthistime]

Updates

Stars	Name	Amt. Saved	Goal	% Saved	Roses	Smilies
	azucena	$13,121	$25,000	52.0%
	bobosensei	$2,008	$18,750	10.7%
	chiver78	$216	$910	23.7%
	finnime [1]	$3,760	$24,500	15.4%
	finnime [2]	$2,000	$5,000	40.0%
	forwardwego	$11,105	$24,000	46.3%
	kindthatjingles	$1,000	$3,500	28.6%
	minnesotapaintlady	$16,673	$40,000	41.7%
	nikiz628	$5,646	$7,300	77.3%
	paynointerest	$25,700	$55,900	46.0%
	plugginaway22	$25,224	$36,000	70.0%
	Saving4Norway	$11,000	$18,101	60.8%
	sealy	$1,000	$25,000	4.0%
	seriousthistime	$17,963	$42,000	42.8%
	shanendoah [Q1]	$8,994	$300	2998.0%
	shanendoah [Q2]	$2,340	$3,020	77.5%
	snapdragon	$16,458	$18,750	87.8%
	teachermom	$22,613	$104,000	21.7%
	TheHaitian	$26,159	$60,000	43.6%
	tobinikui	$26,485	$105,658	25.1%
	trimatty471	$13,726	$14,424	95.2%

I see more stars and roses this month, as well as a few more  .  Great job, Savers!

  

[forwardwego]

April Shoutouts Part 1 of 2:


trimatty471 Hola! How have you been? Congrats on being over 95% to goal. Hope you'll pop in soon with an update...maybe earn your dancing banana? 

tobinikui Woo hoo for doubling your savings level! and earning your  . Nice work on cash flowing the home projects, and maintaining focus on your EF and regaining your method of immediate payoff on charged items. Hopefully you can get the workers you need to respond soon. 

TheHaitian You had a great month of savings in April surpassing $26K and over 43% to goal! It seems you should be able to maintain your pace with the 3 improvements in monthly cash flow that are on the horizon. Good work keeping a watchful eye on savings usage. Regarding your concern about the adjustment to someday using the monies you are saving...I just had my 2nd anniversary of being retired and I am still struggling with that shift. I think being a WIR saver has helped tremendously. The accountability is great, and I learn so much and am encouraged by watching my fellow savers. You/we are in the right place. Keep up the good work. 

teachermom Good job having the monies you needed for taxes, house upgrades, and paying of the 403B loan! It hurts to see it go, but very satisfying for you to have accomplished the savings. Nice work on the Uber eats extra income, thank you for sharing your strategies and encouragement.  

snapdragon Good 4 U, accomplishing the first half taxes while maintaining your savings in the mid $16K range! It's like having a big wave hit, but savings keeps it from rocking your boat much at all. What ideas do you have so far on your me time vacation? How much $$ stands between you and having your mortgage balance under $100K? You could set that up as a savings goal. Thanks again for your wishes for DD. She has safely moved back to Oregon, and is adjusting pretty well. 

shanendoah   Good job on your Q2 goals with $2340. Nice work evaluating your savings capability. And establishing your better savings interest %, with some specific goals and timeframes. I'm happy to see you able to do that. Your endurance of the past couple years is now paying off. 

seriousthistime Congratulations on achieving your property tax and pet care goals, and that nice big step up in your mortgage cushion. Good work cash flowing pet and travel expenses! And how fun meeting debthaven . I like when she hangs with us here too! 


sealy Good job maintaining your basic $1000 savings level, after paying the taxes, BB (best buy?), and the personal loan. You make a good point that you have the BB and personal loan done once and for all. That's a satisfying feeling. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to your next update. 

Saving4Norway Congratulations on having half a dozen lovely roses! Yea for $11K saved and over 60%!!!  

[forwardwego]

Shoutouts Part 2 of 2:

plugginaway22 Good work on updating. Occasionally we have those step back months. Paying $3200 in tax and only lowering savings by @$1300 is good work. Good 4 U also cash flowing the handyman work! Thank you for sharing the nutshell description of your and DH's financial journey. It's helpful to see how ditching debt enhances savings and freedom to do things like truly enjoy the family vacation even if it is a bit "spendy". 

paynointerest Congratulations on $25.7K  And on earning your roses for your Savings Account and Tax#1 goals. Congratulations also on your 12th WIRRversary!

Poptart Good work posting to let us know what is happening with you. How about trying Seriousthistime's suggestion of a small weekly or monthly amount for getting started again? 


nikiz628 Kudos on $5646 saved and earning your 3rd  ! Hope you had a great vacation. 

minnesotapaintlady Congratulations on building another $2409 in savings, for $16673 and over 40%! 

kindthatjingles How have you been? Pop back in and let us know!  

Hi finnime . Nice savings month for you adding $500 more to your EF achieving 2 GRAND on goal #2! I agree with you and wish I had more saved too 

chiver78 $8 saved is still money saved! How about dealing a couple "big" cards this month? looking forward to your next update  

bobosensei What's happening at work? And how is your new Synchrony savings and $300/month working for you? C'mon back and let us know.
 
azucena It looks like April was a bit of a roller coaster ride for you. Congratulations on coming out on top, surpassing $13K, and yahoo for opening your ROTH IRA  

Please message me if I missed you in the shoutouts. 

[teachermom]

Update:

I have an update but still haven't put my numbers into a table as my computer died and just haven' t had time. The end of the year is crazy for teachers!!!

I have meet 6 of my goals with is awesome! I am at 28.9% too!!

Teachermom $30,920.61 5/1/2019 ($18,485.28 1/1/2019, Goal $107,000.00)

Keep up the great work everyone!

Teachermom

[paynointerest]

Update!  May 8, 2019

Pay-no-interest: $28,900 (Goal: $55,900.00)

	Goal	Saved	% of goal	Amt spent
My 403b	$19,000	$7,800	41%
457b	$9,000	$200	2%
Savings Acct	$3,000	$3000	100%
Taxable Invest Acct	$5,000	$1,800	36%
Property/Income Taxes #1	$4,200	$5,200	124%	$5,200
Property/Income Taxes #2	$8,500	$8,500	100%
DH 403b	$7,200	$2,400	33%
Total	$55,900	$28,900	52%

DH and I got the rest of the extra money we made for the night class we co-taught this semester and so I put all of it towards our property/income taxes.  Woohoo! Another goal is met. I'm making extra money this summer to develop a course and starting in June, my contract will change from a 40-week to a 42-week.  This means a bump in monthly salary and that I will finally be getting paid for work I do over the summer months.  Starting at the end of this month, I'll be agressive with saving for my 403b and 457b accounts using the extra money I'm making over the summer.

[shanendoah]

shanendoah[Q2]: $2,510 5/2/2019 (Goal: $3,020 6/30/2019)
[Q1]: $8,994 3/26/2019 (Goal: $300 3/31/2019)

Pay day means savings day. I got my new high yield savings account all set up last night, and got my credit union external account verified, so I transferred the money sitting in the regular savings over to the high yield. I also initiated the transfer of the money from the old high yield over to my regular savings, so that when that shows up, I can transfer that into the new, better high yield.

[chiver78]

I haven't played cards.i. a couple weeks, and I still owe my loan back to the jar from paying that one-off bill. I'm a mess right now, and in the process of changing banks as well. however, I found out some great news as I was opening my CU accounts - they offer a savings interest rate of 6.17% for the first $1000. so that's my first savings goal after getting current with the calendar cards.

[seriousthistime]

Shoutout to forwardwego, rolling with the financial punches in retirement.  Your update shows how planning for the financial bumps and bruises is so important!  You may be below your starting point this year, but just look at what you've been able to accomplish BECAUSE you had the money saved. And by the way, you've motivated me to get serious about my cash stash!