2023 Women in Red Savers

[debthaven]

I was offered five more individual Staff classes yesterday. I took on two more, because money, and windows. That makes a total of 8 Professor/Staff classes, plus 7.5h/week of regular classes.

I don't want to work more than 15h/week now that I'm retired, but every little helps. 

[seriousthistime]

I have a moment to catch up on some ad hoc shout-outs. I'll start with the first page of this thread.

Thank you, Rukh O'Rorke, for getting us up and going for 2023.  I like the way you are so proactive about setting goals and maybe tweaking if needed along the way. $59,850 for one year is quite the lofty goal.  Don't dismiss your savings through payroll deduction.  It IS savings, so don't beat yourself up about not saving much in other ways.  All savings are meant to be spent at some point.  You (and others here) are doing/have done some home improvements and spending money on those things now makes a lot of sense.  Sure, you could save money by not doing them, but if they need to be done eventually and are lasting improvements, the cost will increase as time goes on, so saving for them will cost you more and deprive you of the enjoyment in the short term.  (Baja?  )

azucena , ditto to you for setting such lofty goals. I'm adding up your various goals and it looks like you've set $43K for retirement and kids' college, plus $30K for general savings, plus $15K in mortgage paydown?  That's quite aggressive - and I mean that in a good way!  College decisions are so difficult.  I'm glad you are starting now to think about good choices for your older DD. You and debthaven will be so pleased with your window projects.  And you have some very exciting vacation plans!  And an outdoor theater!  (I'll be right over.) Hurray for unexpected bonuses!!!

saveinla , what did you decide about brokered CDs? A bunch of us have been focusing on I bonds to get the best interest rates.  It ties up your money for a year and there's a 3-month interest penalty if you with withdraw the money within the first five years, but the interest rate is worth it. And see the next paragraph below:

anciana , thanks for the reminder on the Capital One Performance 360 account.  I took the money I had saved last year that was sitting in my various Capital One sub-accounts and moved it all into a Performance 360 account. I like the extra interest I'm earning! I do miss having my sub-accounts though.

minnesotapaintlady , I'm interested in hearing more about back door Roths. Everything I've read has me confused.  I'm not eligible, but others here would be interested in knowing more.  Your description of the process seems easy enough.  

debthaven , it will be so nice to see the fruits of your labor once you get your new windows installed!  You've been wanting this for a long time, and it'll be nice to finally get it done!  How to track savings is something we all wrestle with (and thank you for suggesting ways for me to do it).  I think it's important to do it in whatever way makes sense for you.  Keeping at it and seeing it build is more important than figuring out the perfect tracking method. The big question is, what works for you?  And also consider what motivates you best. I LOVE that you are getting opportunities to augment your retirement income (and that you are being selective about it so as not to over-commit).

CCL , brokered CDs are a great idea for people who don't want to tie up their savings for a year or more.  Nice suggestion!

nlt , yeah, the interest rates on regular Capital One savings accounts are so low!  I hated to give up the balances in my sub-accounts, but the interest rates made moving that money into a Performance 360 account a no-brainer.  As azucena said, we'd love to have you join our humble group of savers. Please consider doing so.  We are a friendly bunch here. 

mollyc , so sorry to hear about DH's heart issues and the related impact on your finances.  Is he doing okay now?  You don't have to be sure you can make the goals you set out.  So glad to see you post here! Please keep posting.  You are free to tweak your goals up or down, as you see fit.  Life is unpredictable.  We understand that!  We "eat the elephant" one bite at a time, right?  

teachermom , welcome back!  We're glad to see you post in 2023. Did you get married yet? Thinking back on your posts over the years, you have come SO FAR with your savings and debt reduction. And congratulations on your retirement countdown.  Looking forward to seeing more posts about your savings for the next phase of your life, which is coming right up! It will be here in the blink of an eye. 

Thanks to TheOtherMe for popping in to comment on our various musings and lamentations.  Please stick around and add your $0.02!  All words of wisdom are welcome and appreciated here. 




 

[seriousthistime]

Update

Name	Start	Goal	Saved	% Saved	Spent
Emergency Fund	$0	$3,000	$8	0.0%
Gifts	$0	$3,000	$8	0.0%
Travel	$0	$8,000	$1,556	19.5%	$270
Property Tax	$0	$6,200	$470	7.58%
Periodic Expense	$0	$3,500	$12	0.0%
Weekly Savings	$0	$1,898	$295	15.5%
Total	$0	$25,598	$1,915	7.48%

Seriousthistime [1], 2/16/23, $1,915 (Goal $25,598)

Seriousthistime [2], 2/16/23, $2,344 (Goal $10,000; saved $5,002, spent $2,658) (*DGS OOP Medical)


Weekly Savings chart:

	$12	$13	$14	$15	$16	$17
$18	$19	$20		$22	$23	$24
$25	$26	$27	$28		$30	$31
$32	$33	$34	$35	$36	$37	$38
$39	$40	$41	$42	$43	$44	$45
$46	$47	$48	$49		$51	$52
$53	$54	$55	$56	$57	$58	$59

Monthly savings (not tracked above):

January	February	March
April	May	June
July	August	September
October	November	December

[debthaven]

Thank you for those lovely shout-outs seriousthistime !

If it's not too personal, how did your kids react to your contribution for DGS's medical care? 

[azucena]

Nice surprise to login and have shout outs.

yes, I think you captured my goals accurately. Lofty but attainable if we keep lifestyle creep at bay. I'll admit that was harder in 2022 as it's nice to open up the pocketbook and see what my earning power can buy. That might be okay if we didn't have two kids who want to go to college soon and soonish.

PSA that Capital One 360 5% CD for 11 months deal ends 3/14.
    I decided to pull about $15k out of an older CD earning 2.5% and move it. Lo and behold, it's like the caveman days and I had to fax a letter with my signature and DHs and they will mail me a check. Say what?!

I think I'm going to dig other various savings piles to put a nice big chunk into that CD. Will be nice to have more money 'safely' earning real interest. DH and I check in with each when we make money moves, and he was left shaking his head about 'yet another account' until I showed him the math that each $10k will earn about $450. He agreed that's a material move.

My bonus will payout two weeks later. Pretty sure I'll take the portion of it earmarked for savings and buy iBonds. It brings a smile to my face to check them every six months and watch the interest add up. Not quite $2,000 so far since I started late 2021. Read something about if you use them to pay college tuition, you don't get taxed on the earnings. They might have to be in the student's name. Will look that up again before I buy.

[debthaven]

To my surprise, I had to fill out which classes I want at Job 1 for the 2023-24 school year!   I retired only 7 weeks ago! 

I had to fill it out earlier than everyone else because my boss (a close friend) asked me to proofread and test her online questionnaire. 

I ended up asking for 3 classes for fall, and 1 class for spring. S knows I may well reduce. She said it's better to ask for more and reduce than the other way around. 

As always, I'm torn between wanting to earn extra money for all the work in the house and wanting to take it easy. But next school year wasn't even on my radar! 

So it looks like I'll continue teaching in fall semester (but still reducing to 65/70% compared to last fall). 

[seriousthistime]

I saw that deal, azucena. I'm considering it. I have some money in the Performance 360 savings account so I may take out some of that to put into the CD. I do almost all of my checking and saving through Capital One, so it is not really "yet another account" for me. I hope the CD would appear on my main page that lists all my checking, savings, credit card, and Performance 360 account. 

I did buy $10K more in I bonds at the beginning of 2023.  The I bonds that come as part of an income tax return are in paper form.  Last December I turned in $5K of paper bonds to have them converted to electronic form.  I got an email after that, saying that it would take some time before they were converted.  I checked today, and still ... nothing.  So when I get my income tax refund this year, I will have to convert those as well, and it will take another long time.    

debthaven, not personal at all!  Thank you for asking.  DS and DDIL were very grateful for the assistance with the medical bills.  They had a tough year last year when DS switched health coverage due to a job change around June.  They had enough medical expenses by that point to exceed the out of pocket maximum under the old plan.  Then they changed insurance plans and had to start again with the new plan's out of pocket maximum. I guess the good thing is that the new plan year is not the calendar year, but goes from July 1 to June 30. It takes forever to get medical bills for some things like his medical equipment, and DDIL spends a lot of time appealing denials.  As a result, the bills often arrive well after the fact and they tend to come in all at once, which is overwhelming.  So there was a pile of bills waiting to be paid, and they never stop coming.  But at the least I have given them some breathing room, which makes me feel good. DGS turns 3 later this year. 

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Feb 16, 2023 16:32:21 GMT -5 debthaven said:

To my surprise, I had to fill out which classes I want at Job 1 for the 2023-24 school year!   I retired only 7 weeks ago! 

I had to fill it out earlier than everyone else because my boss (a close friend) asked me to proofread and test her online questionnaire. 

I ended up asking for 3 classes for fall, and 1 class for spring. S knows I may well reduce. She said it's better to ask for more and reduce than the other way around. 

As always, I'm torn between wanting to earn extra money for all the work in the house and wanting to take it easy. But next school year wasn't even on my radar! 

So it looks like I'll continue teaching in fall semester (but still reducing to 65/70% compared to last fall). 

if you'll still be happy, i say  ,

if not 

[saveinla]

seriousthistime, I bought a brokered CD at Fidelity to start with for 5K - it was 4.5% for 6 months. Work and life has been crazy  and I have not checked into it at all.

I have been putting money into the ibond also - 10K each for the both of us since that thread was started here by Rukh O'Rorke , but still have more cash in hand. 

We have another small renovation to do, so will use up some of the funds.

Thanks for reminding me to check - will update this thread once I do that. 

[seriousthistime]

Interesting article in today's NY Times about I bonds and alternatives. 

link

[TheOtherMe]

I am embarrassed to put numbers and goals here because they are a pittance compared to other people's.  But I earn less than $50K so I think they are okay for my income.

That's also the reason I will not participate in the net worth thread.  

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Feb 16, 2023 23:57:35 GMT -5 saveinla said:

seriousthistime , I bought a brokered CD at Fidelity to start with for 5K - it was 4.5% for 6 months. Work and life has been crazy  and I have not checked into it at all.

I have been putting money into the ibond also - 10K each for the both of us since that thread was started here by Rukh O'Rorke , but still have more cash in hand. 

We have another small renovation to do, so will use up some of the funds.

Thanks for reminding me to check - will update this thread once I do that. 

I think MPL deserves the credit for this!

It was @tiny started the Ibond craze!

I started tips and treasury threads - not nearly as popular as the ibonds!!

[seriousthistime]

Don't be embarrassed, TheOtherMe.  A goal of any amount is ok.  I remember a few years back when posters had goals of a few hundred up to $1K and saved a few dollars here and there toward their goal.  

But if posting low goals is not your comfort level, we still welcome your posts here! 

An idea: are you interested in just doing weekly savings, starting with $1 and going up to $52? I believe the total for the year would be $1,378. And you don't need to go in order.  Pick off any week. Do you have an extra $15 this week?  Put it in savings and cross off Week 15.   

My net worth on paper stinks too.  I am a pretty good Saver, but won't post on the net worth thread.

[teachermom]

Feb 16, 2023 14:48:39 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

anciana , thanks for the reminder on the Capital One Performance 360 account.  I took the money I had saved last year that was sitting in my various Capital One sub-accounts and moved it all into a Performance 360 account. I like the extra interest I'm earning! I do miss having my sub-accounts though.

You can have more than one Performance 360 account. I just opened all the new ones I wanted and closed the others. They stay in your list for a few months and then disappear. 

[teachermom]

Feb 16, 2023 14:48:39 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

teachermom , welcome back!  We're glad to see you post in 2023. Did you get married yet? Thinking back on your posts over the years, you have come SO FAR with your savings and debt reduction. And congratulations on your retirement countdown.  Looking forward to seeing more posts about your savings for the next phase of your life, which is coming right up! It will be here in the blink of an eye. 


To answer your question, we haven't gotten married yet. Since I was on an IBR for student load repayment, if we got married it would use our joint income for payments and I was so close to forgiveness. As of today, they finally reevaluated my payments and the balance of my loans have been forgiven through PSLF!!! Yeah! I have paid on them for so many years (22nd year of teaching) and I didn't feel like they were ever going to go away!!! So now....the wedding conversations will start.

[teachermom]

Still haven't had time to just sit down and think about my savings goals. Since I no longer have to set aside the money I was stockpiling to pay off my loans once payments started again, I need to reevaluate all my accounts, savings and goals. 

Maybe I can get to that this weekend.

Teachermom

[TheOtherMe]

Feb 17, 2023 12:25:52 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

Don't be embarrassed, TheOtherMe .  A goal of any amount is ok.  I remember a few years back when posters had goals of a few hundred up to $1K and saved a few dollars here and there toward their goal.  

But if posting low goals is not your comfort level, we still welcome your posts here! 

An idea: are you interested in just doing weekly savings, starting with $1 and going up to $52? I believe the total for the year would be $1,378. And you don't need to go in order.  Pick off any week. Do you have an extra $15 this week?  Put it in savings and cross off Week 15.   

My net worth on paper stinks too.  I am a pretty good Saver, but won't post on the net worth thread.

Part of why my goals look so small is that I have them divided up at the credit union as to what the money will be used for.  

I will consider it over the weekend.  

Some months that savings goes down because I use it for the intended purpose.  I have one account that I "borrow" from and repay because it makes so little interest and I hate to pay interest.

[azucena]

Feb 17, 2023 10:59:37 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

I am embarrassed to put numbers and goals here because they are a pittance compared to other people's.  But I earn less than $50K so I think they are okay for my income.

That's also the reason I will not participate in the net worth thread.  

Consider posting your goal as a percentage. Like 12% saved of 100%

[debthaven]

TheOtherMe I have always earned much less than 50K!

[TheOtherMe]

Feb 18, 2023 7:56:15 GMT -5 debthaven said:

TheOtherMe I have always earned much less than 50K!

But you have a husband and not one income.  My income is the household income.  

It's not my business what your husband makes, but two incomes are better than one.  

[debthaven]

This is true TheOtherMe . But even both our incomes put together pale in comparison to many posters' incomes. 

I find it motivates me to post here, but of course it's up to you. 

[seriousthistime]

Feb 17, 2023 17:00:14 GMT -5 teachermom said:

Feb 16, 2023 14:48:39 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

anciana , thanks for the reminder on the Capital One Performance 360 account.  I took the money I had saved last year that was sitting in my various Capital One sub-accounts and moved it all into a Performance 360 account. I like the extra interest I'm earning! I do miss having my sub-accounts though.

You can have more than one Performance 360 account. I just opened all the new ones I wanted and closed the others. They stay in your list for a few months and then disappear. 

I will investigate this!  Thank you teachermom!

[debthaven]

if you'll still be happy, i say , (yay)
if not, (nay)

I want to pay off as much as possible of this year's 50K euro renovations, so I will say "yay" for fall semester, but still no more than 15h/week.

So I'll only take 2 of the 3 classes I "requested". I'll choose depending on when they're offered.
 
We will still need a loan but I'm hoping to minimize the amount we borrow.

[debthaven]

We paid the deposit for the new windows and automatic shutters today! They should start in early April. DH paid the deposit, so for now my savings are still intact, but I'll have to pay my share well before end of June. 

I've been looking at past posts. I'll probably use seriousthistime 's system:
"Goal X, Saved Y, Spent Z"

[TheOtherMe]

I set up another automatic transfer to Savings today for a certain goal.  I seem to have reigned in spending again and I have to keep it that way.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

still just doing my payroll deductions, which is the most of my savings. Waiting for a lot of dust to settle to see where I am. Submissions to insurance, flex, etc. 

unexpectedly got a 3k check for excess escrow holdings. And then my mortgage payment went down? I don't understand! but I'll take it and be prepared for it to go back up.....

[minnesotapaintlady]

Apparently I didn't join this thread this year.    

Probably because it's like an alcoholic joining a wine of the month club.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Feb 24, 2023 13:16:55 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Apparently I didn't join this thread this year.    

Probably because it's like an alcoholic joining a wine of the month club.

hmmmm


Not to late to join!

[debthaven]

Debthaven: 1 March 2023: 25,000 euros (Goal: 30,000 by 30 June)

This is an expensive month (Eurostar, residency card fees, crown) but I'm hoping to add more to savings later in the month.  

[teachermom]

Well.....I got great news...although I know some may not agree, but after paying on my student loans for 22 years and continuing to owe more than I borrowed, they were finally forgiven!! I finally got my PSLF for public service as a teacher. This means all the cash I was holding on to from the sale of my house to pay off my students loans when the repayment period starts, gets to stay in savings and become my bridge fund for retirement. I plan to separate from service at 25 years, but not start taking my pension for 5 years. So I will have to pay for medical and living expenses during that time. I could withdrawal from my 403B or Roth but plan to leave it all until later. 

Time to figure out my savings goals. Wish I knew the cost of medical insurance....the great unknown! 

Teachermom