2024 Women in Red Savers!

[seriousthistime]

azucena, I would not tell you to MYOB!  I appreciate all comments and advice.  And I like responding to questions such as yours because it gives me an opportunity to articulate my reasoning, and in the process to test that reasoning to see if it is sound.

Here are a few details:

--My EF is already quite healthy (more than 2 years' worth of expenses), in a Capital One 360 Performance savings account.  I add to it the entire pension payment from just one source. I have two other income sources -- another pension plus SS. All together, the amount going into the Capital One 360 Performance savings account is a bit less than half of my net income. I guess I'm saving the money from that source because it is an amount I am comfortable saving, and I have adopted it as my EF savings "goal."

--I have a CD that just matured, and it is about one year's worth of expenses.  I'm looking around for the best FDIC-insured rates and will start a new CD soon.

--I have I bonds that total just short of a year's worth of expenses.

--I'm starting to take RMDs this year, going for monthly amounts and putting them into a taxable investment account at Fidelity. That amount is about 4 months worth of expenses.

--I am not carrying any CC balances from month to month. I pay them off each month. The balance is a bit high right now just because of the emergency traveling I had to do recently (including 9 days in a VRBO). It's that larger-than-usual CC payment that I'm planning for. Sure, I could pay off some of it and pay a small amount of interest so I can pay it off completely next month just to complete that extra amount in savings for January, but then that catches me in the cycle of paying some interest each month unless I stop using the CC for a month or two to ensure there's no carryover balance.  And I should be able to get the rest of the January deposit done by the end of the month.  

I should add that I have just a loose idea of my total annual expenses at this point.  I restarted on January 1 to track my expenses in YNAB. I've done it before, but then got away from doing it.  So that "loose idea" is based on total net income minus what I have saved in recent years. 

[azucena]

Thanks for the detail. I guess my more general question is if you're retired and receiving pensions, why are you still saving so much? What's the goal?


I'll post my own Jan savings numbers at the end of the month. I should admit that I just pulled a couple grand from savings to cover some lumpy annual expenses. How annual fee of $500 and private school reenrollmwnt fee of $250. Also semi-annual private school tuition of $2700. Spreading it out to monthly had a new $75 fee associated with it which just seems like too much. So I just need to suck it up in Aug and Jan to avoid that fee.

Dd11 also has a choir trip in April that cost $400 and I'll be going along for $300 since she asked me to. Was thinking it'd be best since she's young and with her anxiety. Can't wait to be on a bus full of middle schoolers heading to omaha.

[seriousthistime]

Jan 19, 2024 13:42:03 GMT -5 azucena said:

Thanks for the detail. I guess my more general question is if you're retired and receiving pensions, why are you still saving so much? What's the goal?

That's a good question.  I'm in the middle of a kitchen remodel (3/4 of the costs already paid).  Then new flooring and a small bathroom remodel.  That's about $20K worth of expenses.  

That one pension source will continue as long as my XH (age 75) stays alive.  When he dies, it all goes to his replacement wife. So I view it as temporary money.  Let's say I'm saving for that rainy day when he passes.  He's had some serious medical diagnoses in the past few years but his siblings, all older, are doing pretty well. If he outlives me, it will be the nursing home fund if I ever need it.

ETA: Setting aside that particular income source not only allows me to use it to ease into my new financial life if it disappears, but also goes to show that I can live quite well on the other two sources, even if it does disappear. 

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Jan 19, 2024 14:48:57 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

Jan 19, 2024 13:42:03 GMT -5 azucena said:

Thanks for the detail. I guess my more general question is if you're retired and receiving pensions, why are you still saving so much? What's the goal?

That's a good question.  I'm in the middle of a kitchen remodel (3/4 of the costs already paid).  Then new flooring and a small bathroom remodel.  That's about $20K worth of expenses.  

That one pension source will continue as long as my XH (age 75) stays alive.  When he dies, it all goes to his replacement wife. So I view it as temporary money.  Let's say I'm saving for that rainy day when he passes.  He's had some serious medical diagnoses in the past few years but his siblings, all older, are doing pretty well. If he outlives me, it will be the nursing home fund if I ever need it.

ETA: Setting aside that particular income source not only allows me to use it to ease into my new financial life if it disappears, but also goes to show that I can live quite well on the other two sources, even if it does disappear. 

seems sensible planning! 

Is this a common thing in divorce? I thought one would get the pension for their life, not the x.

[seriousthistime]

Not with this state pension.  The pension ends when the state employee dies, unless the employee has chosen a joint survivor and takes a reduction in benefits.   If the employee is married, the possibility for a joint survivor benefit automatically goes to the current spouse at the time the retirement paperwork is done, unless the spouse affirmatively waives it.  As an ex, I didn't have that right, and the replacement spouse refused to waive.  (They had a hastily written prenup, done at the last minute without a lawyer's input, in which she waived any right to his pension, but then she refused to sign the waiver document.)

Come to think of it, it may be the same with a federal pension.  I seem to recall coworkers going through something like this. 

[debthaven]

Jan was a good month for savings (partly due to interest). Feb won't be. I was off for two weeks in Dec, and the semester starts up slowly. My regular class starts mid-Jan, but my staff classes don't start until mid/late Feb.

Turns out March won't be great for savings either! My hours need to be in by the 10th of the previous month, they're paid at the end of the month. The person who does payroll will be off in Feb, so we need to submit our hours by 31 Jan instead of 10 Feb.

That means I'll get 25% less than planned at the end of Feb.

Not the end of the world, but still a bummer!

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Jan 23, 2024 17:19:41 GMT -5 debthaven said:

Jan was a good month for savings (partly due to interest). Feb won't be. I was off for two weeks in Dec, and the semester starts up slowly. My regular class starts mid-Jan, but my staff classes don't start until mid/late Feb.

Turns out March won't be great for savings either! My hours need to be in by the 10th of the previous month, they're paid at the end of the month. The person who does payroll will be off in Feb, so we need to submit our hours by 31 Jan instead of 10 Feb.

That means I'll get 25% less than planned at the end of Feb.

Not the end of the world, but still a bummer!

have they heard of covering coworkers' work while they are out?

so strange to me!

[debthaven]

Rukh O'Rorke I know right?!

The email specifically said she doesn't want to leave her coworker too much to do to cover for her during her absence. Part of me was like, to heck with that! I deserve to be paid for all my hours during that pay period! 

The other part of me was like, hmm, maybe it's not a great idea to piss off the payroll people and risk not getting paid at all for that month ...

I considered "forgetting" until 36h before she leaves, and hoping for the best ... but ultimately, I'd rather get 75% of my salary than none of it, so I'll probably toe the line. 

[TheOtherMe]

Might their be people who need the money to pay their rent since you are paid monthly.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Jan 25, 2024 18:31:15 GMT -5 debthaven said:

Rukh O'Rorke I know right?!

The email specifically said she doesn't want to leave her coworker too much to do to cover for her during her absence. Part of me was like, to heck with that! I deserve to be paid for all my hours during that pay period! 

The other part of me was like, hmm, maybe it's not a great idea to piss off the payroll people and risk not getting paid at all for that month ...

I considered "forgetting" until 36h before she leaves, and hoping for the best ... but ultimately, I'd rather get 75% of my salary than none of it, so I'll probably toe the line. 

Seems the least they should do is accept estimated hours for that time and then adjust as necessary when she returns. 

I understand not wanting to be confrontational - but this could be one of those decisions that a lower level employee made and a higher up would immediately squash. In the US, this would be illegal to let hours go unpaid for that long. And for a planned absence? No, I can't see any employer (or employees!) being ok with that. I'd consider a brief not to someone higher up and suggested estimated hours so that people can be paid on time for work they did. Or at least have interest added! 

If she is so vital to the process - and no one else can take over her duties (!) they need to hire another person.

I just don't see this coming from anyone who is in management! But - of course Europe can be different from the US, but I would think worker protections were stronger, not more lax....

[Sunnyday]

Jan 14, 2024 21:32:18 GMT -5 Sunnyday said:

Expense	Amount	Currently saved	Estimated date
3-month emergency fund	12,000	12,000	COMPLETED
March trip (train, food and gifts)	1,000	1,000	COMPLETED
New phone	800	800	COMPLETED
Sink funds - phase 1	1,000	1,000	COMPLETED
Cosmetic	10,000	2,420 3720	ASAP
Private school - Kid 1	6,000	0	2025
Private school - Kid 2	6,000	0	2026
Big trip with kids	10,000	0	2026
Children braces	3,000	0	2025
Dog	10,000	0	2027

 

Not much crazy progress since my last post. Slow and steady.

I got hit with a legal bill about 600 in January. 

I was able to save about 41% of my take home pay and other income in both December and January. 

I won't be able to save as much in February as I won't have other income coming in except regular take home pay.

I anticipate saving about 28% of my take home pay in Feb. 

I doubt that I will get a very high raise this year.  Maybe like 2-3%... with the high taxes here, it would make like 0 difference in my life.

[seriousthistime]

Update

Name	Start	Goal	Saved	% Saved	Spent	Rose
Travel	$1,289	$6,000	$1,289	21.5%
Property Tax	$1,843	$6,200	$2,303	37.1%
Weekly Savings	$0	$2,600	$200	5.8%
Pet Care	$0	$1,500	$125	8.33%
Total	$3,132	$16,300	$3,917	24.0%

Seriousthistime  $3,917, 1/28/2024 (Goal, $16,300)


Monthly Savings (not tracked above)

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

I was able to finish my January monthly savings deposit. 

[steph08]

UPDATE: steph08 $2,378.36 1/29/2024 Goal $41,300.00

Savings	Start	Previous	Current	Difference	Goal	Percentage Saved
General Savings	$0.00	$0.00	$400.00	$400.00	$15,000.00	2.67%
Christmas Savings	$0.00	$0.00	$150.00	$150.00	$1,800.00	8.33%
Mattress Savings	$0.00	$0.00	$133.00	$133.00	$1,500.00	8.87%
DD1 Savings	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$500.00	0.00%
DD2 Savings	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$500.00	0.00%
401K	$0.00	$0.00	$648.00	$648.00	$8,500.00	7.62%
TSP	$0.00	$0.00	$547.36	$547.36	$7,500.00	7.30%
DD1 529	$0.00	$0.00	$250.00	$250.00	$3,000.00	8.33%
DD2 529	$0.00	$0.00	$250.00	$250.00	$3,000.00	8.33%
TOTAL	$0.00	$0.00	$2,378.36	$2,378.36	$41,300.00	5.76%

Some leftover Christmas bills plus a plumber visit cut into my savings this month. Ah well, here's hoping for a better February. 

[debthaven]

Rukh O'Rorke I'm realizing there was something unclear about my "venting". Mea culpa.

These "extra" hours are in addition to our student classes/regular pay. The payment for those "regular" hours is NOT affected by this person's vacation time.

Since I'm retired, I have only one student class. So for ME, this "extra" income is the majority of my income from that school. But I'm probably the only teacher in that situation. The person who is going on vacation only deals with the "extra" hours.

The regular hours will be paid out normally. It's not like nobody will be paid for a month. (As TheOtherMe pointed out, in France and the UK, we get a monthly paycheck, so it's not like they can just skip it!)

I've decided to just toe the line. But I should get a great paycheck in late March.

[seriousthistime]

Update

Name	Start	Goal	Saved	% Saved	Spent	Rose
Travel	$1,289	$6,000	$1,289	21.5%
Property Tax	$1,843	$6,200	$2,763	44.6%
Weekly Savings	$0	$2,600	$200	7.7%
Pet Care	$0	$1,500	$250	16.7%
Total	$3,132	$16,300	$4,502	24.0%

Seriousthistime  $4,502, 2/1/2024 (Goal, $16,300)


Monthly Savings (not tracked above)

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

I paid the frightfully high credit card bill, so now I feel I can breathe a bit.  This month should be just normal expenditures. 

As I wrote that, a thought crept into my mind: don't say it or you'll jinx it. So we shall see how things go in February. 

[debthaven]

I decided not to spend 2K rebuilding our old couches. I found a much cheaper fix that's good enough.  

I'll update in about a week when my bigger pension comes in.

[azucena]

Will probably only update monthly.

Great progress already as I received a payout of stock options and tucked that right into savings before we spent it. I'm waiting for DH's IRA transfer to go through so that we have the option for his backdoor Roth as the folks of YM so kindly educated me on in another thread. Since that will be new savings for us, I'm going to count it in my general savings goal. Just putting it to better use than my liquid savings.

Azucena   $7,973 on 2/2/2024 towards Goal $65,000  12%

[debthaven]

February update

Name	Goal	Saved	Spent
General Savings	10,000	2,500	0
Home Improvements?	1,000	0	0
Garden	500	500	500
Travel	3,500	0	0
TOTAL	15,000	3,000	500

Debthaven: 9 Feb 2024: 3,000 euros (Total savings goal: 15,000)

This month's savings (500) went straight to the gardener. They did a huge clean-up today, for the first time since before Covid. We may do more in the garden later, we're waiting for an estimate.  

We're also waiting for an estimate for a new front door to match the new French doors/windows. 

[seriousthistime]

Update

Name	Start	Goal	Saved	% Saved	Spent	Rose
Travel	$1,289	$6,000	$1,350	22.5%
Property Tax	$1,843	$6,200	$2,763	44.6%
Weekly Savings	$0	$2,600	$300	11.5%
Pet Care	$0	$1,500	$250	16.7%
Total	$3,132	$16,300	$4,663	28.6%

Seriousthistime  $4,663, 2/12/2024 (Goal, $16,300)


Monthly Savings (not tracked above)

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

An old trick I've had for a while is to stash any $5 bills I receive in change when I use a larger bill to pay for something. It's rescued me a few times when I've needed cash to pay for something unexpected and I don't have time to hit the ATM. And then I replace it at my earliest opportunity.  

Recently I had to leave town when my debit card had been compromised and the replacement had not yet arrived. I grabbed $200 in $5 bills to carry me over. 
 
I can't believe how resistant I am to spending a random $5 that ends up in my wallet.  It has to be a real emergency for me to spend it.  

I may add some tracking here to keep count of my $5's. 

[seriousthistime]

Update

Name	Start	Goal	Saved	% Saved	Spent	Rose
Travel	$1,289	$6,000	$1,350	22.5%
Property Tax	$1,843	$6,200	$2,763	44.6%
Weekly Savings	$0	$2,600	$350	13.5%
Pet Care	$0	$1,500	$250	16.7%
Total	$3,132	$16,300	$4,713	28.9%

Seriousthistime  $4,713, 2/19/2024 (Goal, $16,300)


Monthly Savings (not tracked above)

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

My stash of $5 bills is now at $220. 

[Sunnyday]

Jan 26, 2024 22:06:03 GMT -5 Sunnyday said:

Jan 14, 2024 21:32:18 GMT -5 Sunnyday said:

Expense	Amount	Currently saved	Estimated date
3-month emergency fund	12,000	12,000	COMPLETED
March trip (train, food and gifts)	1,000	1,000	COMPLETED
New phone	800	800	COMPLETED
Sink funds - phase 1	1,000	1,000	COMPLETED
Cosmetic	10,000	2,420 3720 1766	ASAP
Private school - Kid 1	6,000	6,000	2025 COMPLETED
Private school - Kid 2	6,000	0	2026
Big trip with kids	10,000	0	2026
Children braces	3,000	0	2025
Dog  House	10,000 12,000	0	2027

 

Not much crazy progress since my last post. Slow and steady.

I got hit with a legal bill about 600 in January. 

I was able to save about 41% of my take home pay and other income in both December and January. 

I won't be able to save as much in February as I won't have other income coming in except regular take home pay.

I anticipate saving about 28% of my take home pay in Feb. 

I doubt that I will get a very high raise this year.  Maybe like 2-3%... with the high taxes here, it would make like 0 difference in my life.

Update


I removed "dog" and replaced it with "house."  

I prioritized child one tuition and completed it, and started saving for cosmetic, but might change the priority to "house."  I'm still scared to get surgery. 

I got a surprise cheque (4K) from the government. Some kind of child benefit, but apparently they underpaid me for several years and "forgot" to pay me for all of 2023 due to the change in my marital status. 
I'm expecting to save like 7K this month!  I normally bring in 5K, but with all the "surprise" money, 10K came in.    And I was expecting a low month!

My biggest accomplishment was reducing my grocery bill to 466.61.
I took the children out (in my mind, I would spend about 70), but the restaurant ended up being 107.07.  But it was really fun! So, I'm happy with it. 
Total food cost (groceries and restaurant) for Feb 573.68

Compare that to the 1,200-1,500/per month that I was spending on groceries and UberEats in the fall.  

I'm expecting March to be a little odd (money wise) as I'll be travelling, so I'll have no choice but to eat out and at least treat my friend to a nice dinner because they are letting me stay at their place. I like buying "souvenir" things when I travel, so I have a budget for that, but I do get tempted..... Maybe it was the universe telling me with unexpected money in Feb to spend without guilt in March. 

I'll report near the end of March how that went. 

[TheOtherMe]

I will be going to Toronto in late March so I get you on the travel.  

DN1 and NIL bought an apartment in a different building.  This building doesn't have a guest suite like the old building.  It does have a hotel that is attached by a walkway so I will be staying there.  Being that it is in downtown Toronto, it is not cheap.  That means I am not staying as long because the guest suite was $100 Canadian a night and the hotel is definitely more expensive than that.

I have saved enough $$$ to pay off the Toronto hotel.  

The US hotels and gas will go on my new credit card that has 0% interest for 18 months so it can be spread over time.   That card has a foreign transaction fee of 3%, so the Canadian hotel is not going on it.

[debthaven]

TheOtherMe not to pry, but I'm guessing you can pay it off in less than 12 months (so that you can go back again next year if you choose to)? 

We got the estimate for a new front door to match our new French doors/windows. At 3.2K euros ($3500), we decided our front door is just fine LOL! So I can reduce my savings goal. 

I'll have 3/4 more hours of of teaching/week as of March, so savings should pick up a bit. 

Fabulous job on the grocery bill Sunnyday !

[TheOtherMe]

Yes I can.  I need to go yearly as long as I can drive there.

I'm not one to churn credit cards, but the 0% offer was too good to pass up.  The only deal was the 0% interest.

Since it has no rewards, my plan was to close it after I pay it off.  We shall see.

[Sunnyday]

Feb 22, 2024 11:58:02 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

I will be going to Toronto in late March so I get you on the travel.  

Yes, sometimes when I travel, I lose all sense of money. It feels like I'm not really spending or even when I'm aware of it, I'm like, well, how many times do I get to eat tapas in Spain.  Let's order some more!  

[Sunnyday]

Feb 22, 2024 17:38:06 GMT -5 debthaven said:

TheOtherMe not to pry, but I'm guessing you can pay it off in less than 12 months (so that you can go back again next year if you choose to)? 

We got the estimate for a new front door to match our new French doors/windows. At 3.2K euros ($3500), we decided our front door is just fine LOL! So I can reduce my savings goal. 

I'll have 3/4 more hours of of teaching/week as of March, so savings should pick up a bit. 

Fabulous job on the grocery bill Sunnyday !

Thank you!  I am really proud of this.  It's literally the only room I can improve in my budget.  

Those are some seriously expensive doors!  Holy cannoli!! 

[seriousthistime]

Update

Name	Start	Goal	Saved	% Saved	Spent	Rose
Travel	$1,289	$6,000	$1,850	30.8%
Property Tax	$1,843	$6,200	$3,224	52.0%
Weekly Savings	$0	$2,600	$450	17.3%
Pet Care	$0	$1,500	$375	25.0%
Total	$3,132	$16,300	$5,899	36.2%

Seriousthistime  $5,899 2/29/2024 (Goal, $16,300)


Monthly Savings (not tracked above)

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

Stash of $5 bills: $220. 

[azucena]

Keep up the good work, fellow savers!

I'll probably stick to updating once a month because that seems to be good enough for my motivation.

Can I just say that my math brain is loving that 2 months in ~ 16% is dead on track 

Azucena $10,215 on 3/1/2024 towards Goal $65,000 16%

[steph08]

UPDATE: steph08 $10,900.06 3/1/2024 Goal $41,300.00

Savings	Start	Previous	Current	Difference	Goal	Percentage Saved
General Savings	$0.00	$400.00	$5,700.00	$5,300.00	$15,000.00	38.00%
Christmas Savings	$0.00	$150.00	$300.00	$150.00	$1,800.00	16.67%
Mattress Savings	$0.00	$133.00	$266.00	$133.00	$1,500.00	17.73%
DD1 Savings	$0.00	$0.00	$60.00	$60.00	$500.00	12.00%
DD2 Savings	$0.00	$0.00	$60.00	$60.00	$500.00	12.00%
401K	$0.00	$648.00	$2,391.66	$1,743.66	$8,500.00	28.14%
TSP	$0.00	$547.36	$1,122.40	$575.04	$7,500.00	14.97%
DD1 529	$0.00	$250.00	$500.00	$250.00	$3,000.00	16.67%
DD2 529	$0.00	$250.00	$500.00	$250.00	$3,000.00	16.67%
TOTAL	$0.00	$2,378.36	$10,900.06	$8,521.70	$41,300.00	26.39%

February was bonus paycheck and actual bonus month. Our CC bill stayed mostly in check, so that helps as well. 

[seriousthistime]

I'm puzzled about my taxes. Income went up a bit between 2022 and 2023, which should have increased the federal tax owed by $2K or so. Last year I made a January 2023 estimated payment for tax year 2022, to overpay so I could buy more I bonds with the refund. I bought $5K worth of I bonds and got a cash refund of about $1,000, so other than that estimated payment I was pretty close just from withholding. This year, TaxAct is showing, preliminarily, that I owe a big sum of money. I haven't been home, really, since November, so I haven't been able to compare tax years and scrutinize how I went so wrong in 2023. I'll be back home after April 15. Looks like I'll be requesting an extension and writing a big fat check to the IRS, at least until I file my tax return. Then we see if any of that comes back to me.