2023 Women in Red Savers

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Dec 23, 2023 16:20:42 GMT -5 azucena said:

Not sure what you mean by 60 day lag on credit cards. I pay ours off each biweekly paycheck to help limit how high it gets. Feels less painful that way.

that is something I'd like to do also, once I get back to 0 for my planned reset when I get some extra money. The lag refers to buy now, but it won't be due for up to 60 days, and when things get tricky with a few big, necessary but unexpected expenses went on the card and then the monthly cash flow got out of whack and stayed that way through to when the student loan payments came back and I've been scrambling since then. 

[mollyc]

So as of Friday, my savings totaled $1,255.39.

This consisted of $1,005.33 for ongoing expenses and $250.06 for auto.

By the end of the month, it will be just $250.06 for auto.

On Wednesday, we are getting our boy neutered, chipped and his shots caught up which was estimated to be $1,072.56.  It will be more because I can't remember if this estimate included the blood work they talked me into and it didn't include his shots.  I'll move the $1,005.33 to chequing on Wednesday and pay the bill from there.

We also have dog tags fee due by Dec 29th but that is in the chequing account.  By waiting until after his operation, Bear's tag will drop to $36 from $81.  Because we had to put Lexie down this summer, our total bill will be $72 instead of $108.  I would rather have her then the 36 bucks but it wasn't meant to be.

It would be nice to have a pile of cash in the bank but at least we've been able to cash flow things.  Maybe 2024 will have fewer dog and car costs so I can build up some cash.

I have managed to avoid taking any funds out of my TFSA so that's $400+ still there.

I'll think about goals for 2024 over the next week and post something around New Year's Day.

[seriousthistime]

Dec 24, 2023 1:47:05 GMT -5 mollyc said:

So as of Friday, my savings totaled $1,255.39.

This consisted of $1,005.33 for ongoing expenses and $250.06 for auto.

By the end of the month, it will be just $250.06 for auto.

On Wednesday, we are getting our boy neutered, chipped and his shots caught up which was estimated to be $1,072.56.  It will be more because I can't remember if this estimate included the blood work they talked me into and it didn't include his shots.  I'll move the $1,005.33 to chequing on Wednesday and pay the bill from there.

We also have dog tags fee due by Dec 29th but that is in the chequing account.  By waiting until after his operation, Bear's tag will drop to $36 from $81.  Because we had to put Lexie down this summer, our total bill will be $72 instead of $108.  I would rather have her then the 36 bucks but it wasn't meant to be.

It would be nice to have a pile of cash in the bank but at least we've been able to cash flow things.  Maybe 2024 will have fewer dog and car costs so I can build up some cash.

I have managed to avoid taking any funds out of my TFSA so that's $400+ still there.

I'll think about goals for 2024 over the next week and post something around New Year's Day.

Rukh O'Rorke started a thread for the 2024 Savers, so please post your goals in that thread.  This one will be locked about a week into the new year. 

[seriousthistime]

Oct 30, 2023 15:54:15 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

Update

Name	Start	Goal	Saved	% Saved	Spent
Emergency Fund	$0	$3,000	$8	0.0%
Gifts	$0	$3,000	$2,064	68.8%	$2,031
Travel	$0	$8,000	$9,245	115.6%	$7,959
Property Tax	$0	$6,200	$7,908	127.5%	$6,066
Periodic Expense	$0	$3,500	$12	0.0%
Weekly Savings	$0	$1,898	$1,903	100.0%
Total	$0	$25,598	$21,140	82.6%

Seriousthistime [1], 12/27/23, $21,140 (Goal $25,598)

Seriousthistime [2], 12/27/23, $2,346 (Goal $10,000; saved $5,002, spent $2,658) (*DGS OOP Medical)


Weekly Savings chart:

Monthly savings (not tracked above):

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

A final post for 2023, and a few thoughts about 2024.  

I added too many savings categories this year.  It turns out that I cash flowed emergency expenses, gifts, travel and periodic expenses.  For 2024, I won't bother to have separate categories for those.  I will still need a category for property taxes, and I'll still do the weekly savings, though I haven't thought about what form that will be.  To make it easier to keep track of, I may do a flat amount to be saved, X 26 weeks. I need to think about that.  

Property tax will be less next year because I will get the full senior citizen property tax exemption. In 2023, the annual exemption was prorated for just the 4th quarter of the year because I didn't buy my house until September 2022. So I don't know exactly how much it will be, but I do like having a separate category just for property taxes. 

My emergency fund is basically rolled into the account I've been adding to each month (shown in the bottom chart, in green).  I missed three months this year when things were tighter than usual. Next year I will make a more concerted effort to make that deposit every month.  With fewer savings categories, I think it will be easier to do that. It is a lofty goal, exceeding $50K if I stay on track.  I have enough in that account right now to pay for the kitchen remodeling and new flooring throughout the house, which are planned and about to start.  Those are the last of the gigantic expenses. 

DGS's OOP medical expense fund seems to be less needed these days.  DS's health insurance seems to be paying out a bit better and they are getting more savvy about ensuring preauthorizations are in place before services are provided. DGS is also becoming less medically needy, and DDIL is really in the pipeline to donate outgrown equipment and receive medical equipment from other families who have outgrown the need, and drives all over an extended area to receive and donate medical equipment. So I probably won't set aside a separate fund for those expenses and may just help out from the EF if needed. 

And about periodic expenses, those are subscriptions and memberships for things such as Sirius XM, Amazon Prime, YNAB, etc.  I've cash flowed it all, but I haven't really looked more closely at whether I want or need all that.  There's a new app called Rocket that, if the radio and TV commercials are accurate, notifies you when a subscription is about to renew and gives you a chance to cancel it through the Rocket app. Is anyone familiar with it?

So I'm still in the thinking stage, and I'll post some goals for 2024 in the new thread that Rukh O'Rorke has started for 2024. 

I just want to say that I truly value everyone who posts on this thread and all it has brought out in me.  My financial picture is much better since I became a Saver.  My goals got a bit sidetracked this year but even so, I had a plan and was doing okay with it. It's important to keep savings on top of mind, otherwise (for me) it falls by the wayside. 

[debthaven]

I think you've done marvellously well seriousthistime . 

[azucena]

Oct 16, 2023 13:20:06 GMT -5 azucena said:

Sept 29, 2023 8:08:47 GMT -5 azucena said:

Haven't updated in a while.

12/29/23 Azucena $66,799 of $65,000 goal (103%) This amount was added to liquid savings. If I add in 401k and after tax investments, we're at $100,256 which is 33% of our gross income. I've very proud of this statistic. We're doing a pretty good job of avoiding lifestyle creep. Also feels like my plan of cashflowing $30k/yr for college in a couple of years is playing out pretty nicely.

[debthaven]

That's fabulous azucena ! Well done friend. 

[mollyc]

So at the end of the year, I have $275.39 which consists of $25.33 for ongoing expenses and $250.06.

My boy is fixed and chipped and vaccinated so going forward he and his mom should just need their regular checkups (fingers crossed).

[TheOtherMe]

Jan 1, 2024 21:33:09 GMT -5 mollyc said:

So at the end of the year, I have $275.39 which consists of $25.33 for ongoing expenses and $250.06.

My boy is fixed and chipped and vaccinated so going forward he and his mom should just need their regular checkups (fingers crossed).

I have a separate savings account for the cats and their vet bills.  Right now it's at just under $500.  But I have two cats with chronic illnesses and I don't want those sitting on credit cards.  

[chiver78]

locking this thread. onto 2024! 

-chiver mod