2024 Women in Red Savers!

[seriousthistime]

Update

Name	Start	Goal	Saved	% Saved	Spent	Rose
Travel	$1,289	$6,000	$4,353	72.6%
Property Tax	$1,843	$6,200	$5,176	83.5%	$3,099
Weekly Savings	$0	$2,600	$1,351	52.0%
Pet Care	$0	$1,500	$876	58.4%
Total	$3,132	$16,300	$11,756	72.1%

Seriousthistime  $11,756, 7/7/2024 (Goal, $16,300)



Stash of $5 bills: $340

[debthaven]

I'm glad you did that Rukh O'Rorke . plugginaway22 put it well. With your income and net worth, you shouldn't have to worry about your monthly mortgage or SL payment.

I'm sure you'll be much less stressed going forward! 

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Jul 9, 2024 16:29:07 GMT -5 debthaven said:

I'm glad you did that Rukh O'Rorke . plugginaway22 put it well. With your income and net worth, you shouldn't have to worry about your monthly mortgage or SL payment.

I'm sure you'll be much less stressed going forward! 

Thanks, still feeling conflicted about it, but I guess it had to be done! 

I'll see how it goes for a few months and then plan accordingly.

[debthaven]

Rukh O'Rorke I also think it would be worthwhile looking at the different SLs at some point. It could be good to put either a bonus or some Rukh Inc income towards one of the loans to knock it out. Maybe not ... I don't know what your interest rates are. 

Like plugginaway22 I'm all about sleeping at night LOL. But I acknowledge that I've always been a low earner, despite my education. 

You clearly prefer to maximize potential future gains, but then you sometimes have problems paying when bills are due, which means sometimes you're very stressed out. 

I do think you need to find a better balance. 

mollyc I'm so glad you were finally able to open that joint account with your DD! How are you doing?

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Update!

Vehicle	Original Goal	Revised Goal	Current	Percent
401k	30,500	20,795	16,611	80%
SEP-IRA	~4,500	1,700	1,700	100%
HSA	5,150	5,150	2,611	51%
bonds	10,000	3,100	3,100	100%
Total	50,150	30,745	24,022	78%

Been spending the Saturday lazy coffee time with my spreadsheets today 

Been working on resolving my conflicted feelings about reducing the 401k to the minimum amount to get the full match. Since I have been on track so far this year to max with the catch up, it shows as 80% of the new goal complete. The new goal is the money already completed, plus the minimum for the rest of the year.

The HSA is left to max, don't think you can change that outside of open enrollment anyway. The sep-ira came in lower than expected, but that was maxed as much as I could per my tax person. I bonds might not get any more money than I have already put, so will leave that as is for the goal.

I am trying to reframe the current situation as focusing on other aspects of getting ready for retirement, as lowering retirement savings meant not only less money for retirement, but that the amount I was spending annually was so high I wasn't even close to being able to retire! Was being a bit of head-in-the-sand about the cash flow issues, so now I will be looking at that very closely and try to work on reductions of monthly expenses as well as targeting debt. And the less spent per month on a regular basis, the closer I am to retirement, right? So similar to increased savings. So that is my reframe!

[seriousthistime]

I like your thought process, Rukh.

[mollyc]

Good morning.

DD Joint Account - $80
Savings Account - $46

Even though I probably shouldn’t have, l put another $20 in the joint savings account when I was paid last week.

My first week back at work went ok. I’m still not caught up on the June 30 year end stuff. There were too many interruptions regarding current fires to put out.

Regarding my health, I still have some pains but that’s apparently normal for about another 2 months. I went swimming in the river with DH and the dogs one evening. It’s a good thing the river is so low because I couldn’t stroke & kick hard enough to cross to the calm part without being way down stream. I need to work on that.

I’ve decided not to go with the chemo. It could have had some beneficial effect but maybe not. I’ve gotten copies of the various Dr reports for my short term benefits. It seems that generally my type of cancer has 30% chance of recurrence. The chemo would potentially have dropped that by 10%. It may be I regret that but when no one was telling me percentages, it still sounded like a lot of uncertainty about whether the potential long term damages would be worth the effort.

I have an appointment with the radiation oncologist on Jul 22

For the next 3 years, I will see a regular OB-GYN every 4 months for follow up.

Which brings to mind, why are doctors/dentists not aware of how their staff schedule things. Dr O made me promise 3 times that I would book my first follow up before I left the clinic. The receptionist told me that they don’t have the schedule yet so to call in at the end of the month. Now this isn’t just the staff’s fault. Dr O is a surgeon so they might need to wait to see when the hospital has booked her hours in the operating room for November. But I’ve already pissed her off by talking at the wrong times. I don’t want her to fire me for non-compliance as she’s the best OB-GYN in town.

[seriousthistime]

Jul 14, 2024 11:24:58 GMT -5 mollyc said:

Good morning.

DD Joint Account - $80
Savings Account - $46

Even though I probably shouldn’t have, l put another $20 in the joint savings account when I was paid last week.

My first week back at work went ok. I’m still not caught up on the June 30 year end stuff. There were too many interruptions regarding current fires to put out.

Regarding my health, I still have some pains but that’s apparently normal for about another 2 months. I went swimming in the river with DH and the dogs one evening. It’s a good thing the river is so low because I couldn’t stroke & kick hard enough to cross to the calm part without being way down stream. I need to work on that.

I’ve decided not to go with the chemo. It could have had some beneficial effect but maybe not. I’ve gotten copies of the various Dr reports for my short term benefits. It seems that generally my type of cancer has 30% chance of recurrence. The chemo would potentially have dropped that by 10%. It may be I regret that but when no one was telling me percentages, it still sounded like a lot of uncertainty about whether the potential long term damages would be worth the effort.

I have an appointment with the radiation oncologist on Jul 22

For the next 3 years, I will see a regular OB-GYN every 4 months for follow up.

Which brings to mind, why are doctors/dentists not aware of how their staff schedule things. Dr O made me promise 3 times that I would book my first follow up before I left the clinic. The receptionist told me that they don’t have the schedule yet so to call in at the end of the month. Now this isn’t just the staff’s fault. Dr O is a surgeon so they might need to wait to see when the hospital has booked her hours in the operating room for November. But I’ve already pissed her off by talking at the wrong times. I don’t want her to fire me for non-compliance as she’s the best OB-GYN in town.

I wonder if your condition is the same sort that a friend of mine had.  They called it borderline ovarian cancer.  It didn't mean it was borderline between whether it was or was not cancer, but the kind that spread to adjacent tissue rather than through the lymph nodes.  After her surgery she went for scans every few months, then twice a year, then once a year, eventually the doc said they didn't need to monitor it so closely anymore.  It's been maybe 15 years since her diagnosis?  No recurrence for her. 

I wish the same for you.

[forwardwego]

Hi Savers! I hope you've had a good month of July so far. Forwardwego $4600, 7-26-24, goal $17,000. Some of this month’s progress is new savings, most is from closing down 2 underutilized accounts. Getting organized makes a big impact. Keep up the good work fellow savers 👍👍

[debthaven]

I couldn’t get the table to work properly on my phone so this month it’s just my tagline.

Update: 1 Aug 2024: +1,750 savings +750 event +200 travel=14,000 euros (Savings goal: 15,750)

It was another great month for savings! That's it for a while. I have no work in Aug, and little in Sept.

[azucena]

Jun 14, 2024 8:31:50 GMT -5 azucena said:

May 11, 2024 6:16:41 GMT -5 azucena said:

Azucena $45,530 on 6/14/2024 towards Goal $65,000 70%

Spent $20k of savings on a used 2015 sienna with 97k miles. This was known and planned but I wasn't sure when I would pull the trigger. I was struggling with how to track this, but I think the best thing is just to subtract the $20k from the balance and the goal.

Monthly credit card bill has been crazy high the past 3 months. Still spoiling bonus teen but she's set up now so need to reign it in a bit. Way, way too much eating out which is even more costly with 5th person. Also throwing away too many groceries. Way, way too lose with Amazon orders.

Azucena $29,174 on 8/2/24 towards Revised Goal $45,000 65%

[mollyc]

DD joint account - $120.00
Savings account - $46

Bubba Bear got his butt cheek bit by a coyote. DH was keeping the wound clean but there was still a small amount of internal bleeding so we went to the vet. Almost $700 later, he came home with a drain and the wound stitched closed. The cost covers the follow up appointments. He got the drainage tube out yesterday. They’ll take out the stitches this coming Friday. I pulled $400 from savings to help cover his bill.

Seriousthistime, I am told that I had endometriod ovarian cancer. I don’t know if it goes by another name. I know there isn’t a lot of research for this type of cancer. I decided that the risks of further treatment which may or may not prevent a reoccurrence (which may not happen anyway) weren’t worth the long term side effects of hand and foot neuropathy.

Thank you for your good wishes.

[seriousthistime]

I'm glad you weighed the pros and cons and made the decision that's right for you, mollyc.

[seriousthistime]

Update

Name	Start	Goal	Saved	% Saved	Spent	Rose
Travel	$1,289	$6,000	$6,000	100.0%
Property Tax	$1,843	$6,200	$5,692	91.8%	$3,099
Weekly Savings	$0	$2,600	$1,601	61.6%
Pet Care	$0	$1,500	$1,001	66.7%
Total	$3,132	$16,300	$14,294	87.7%

Seriousthistime  $14,294, 8/12/2024 (Goal, $16,300)

Stash of $5 bills: $355

Travel savings goal is met so I transferred that money into my Performance Savings account to get the higher interest.  I haven't had to spend any of it because I've been able to cash flow my travel so far this year. The other savings categories are on automatic transfer so I will coast on those with the expectation I will meet my goals by year end. The second property tax bill is due September 1 and I have enough in that category to cover that payment. 

I just bought a new car with special financing at less than 1%.  Thinking I may start a separate savings account to accumulate enough to pay it off if I ever feel the need.  I think I would track it in the WIR Racers thread as well as here.  I would take the official balance each month and subtract whatever amount I had in that separate savings account.  So the Racer balance would be the difference between the official balance and the amount in the separate savings account.  I guess I'd be a hybrid Saver/Racer. Thoughts? 

[forwardwego]

Serious, Congratulations on your new car! What kind? Wishing you many safe miles and good adventures. Racing off the debt directly or with a designated savings for potential lump sum payoff are both good. What is the timeline of the loan and what timeline do you see or plan for actual payoff?

[seriousthistime]

It's a Tesla Model Y. It's a 6-year loan but I haven't thought about whether or when I will pay it off early.  The interest rate is so low!  As long as I can make more from savings, I'll just put money in savings to offset the loan. I may get tired of having the loan before the 6 years is up, and I can make the decision what to do at that point. 

[mollyc]

DD Joint Account- $140.00
Saving Account - $246.12

I sent DD the silver necklace her dad bought me a few decades ago to be something old and borrowed for her to wear in Vegas.

I hope they remember their marriage paperwork but I’m not going to bug them. They are turning 24 and 23 soon. They’ll figure it out or just elope at home later. It would be disappointing though for E because she is only spending the money to go to Vegas to see them get married.

[seriousthistime]

How are you feeling mollyc?

Nice progress on the savings!

[mollyc]

Aug 18, 2024 12:27:42 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

How are you feeling mollyc?

Nice progress on the savings!

I’m feeling very well, thank you. Everything is almost back to normal which is a big relieve.

[debthaven]

Here is the table I couldn't manage for Aug, plus my vacation spending.

Name	Goal	Saved	Spent
General Savings	10,000	+1,750=8,250	0
Travel	3,200	+200=3,200	1,700*
Event	750	+750	750
Garden	750	750	750
Rug + Misc	1,050	1,050	1,050
TOTAL	15,750	14,000	4,250

Debthaven: 20 Aug 2024: 14,000 euros (Total savings goal: 15,750)

I won't be able to save anything for Aug, and very little for Sept. Fall should be better. 

*There's 1,500 left in the travel fund, hopefully for 2025.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

I may have jumped the gun a little lowering my 401k to the minimum to get the match (6%), since this is a 3 paycheck month I now have a couple of thousand extra in checking that doesn't have any immediate use. I had also forgotten that part of my plan for the year included 500 extra each month from treasury notes maturing. the first will come next week, then I have 500 each month through december and I will be finishing up an RI project this coming week, bill that, and then the payment will be in september. tow more RI projects in nov too.

All that to say! I've upped my 401k to 10%. Shouldn't be too big a change in income, and I'm still being very economical and looking for ways to trim the monthly budget. Right now I think at 10% to 401k I will be good month to month with a little change (previously to max was at 17%), and have the extras available for debt pay down and other stuff....

I plan for the 500 from notes to go into ibonds, will see what I net off the RI projects this year and use that for savings and debt paydown. I think this is workable, will see how it goes....

[debthaven]

Posting early for 1 Sept. I didn't work in Aug, so no change.

Name	Goal	Saved	Spent
General Savings	10,000	8,250	0
Travel	3,200	3,200	1,700*
Event	750	750	750
Garden	750	750	750
Rug + Misc	1,050	1,050	1,050
TOTAL	15,750	14,000	4,250

*1,500 left in travel savings

Debthaven: 1 Sept 2024: 14,000 euros (Total savings goal: 15,750)

I hope to hit my EOY goal in November.

[seriousthistime]

Update

Name	Start	Goal	Saved	% Saved	Spent	Rose
Travel	$1,289	$6,000	$6,000	100.0%
Property Tax	$1,843	$6,200	$6,207	100.0%	$5,692
Weekly Savings	$0	$2,600	$1,751	67.3%
Pet Care	$0	$1,500	$1,126	75.0%
Total	$3,132	$16,300	$15,084	92.5%

Seriousthistime  $15,084, 8/30/2024 (Goal, $16,300)

Stash of $5 bills: $365


Still plodding along.  I have one rather large credit card bill coming up at the end of September.  I paid for DGS's 2-week intensive therapies which his insurance doesn't cover. I was glad to be in a position to do it.  I can't imagine a better use of my funds.

[mollyc]

DD Joint Account - $160.00
Savings Account - $346.17

Poking along.  All of the annual bills are paid now until April 2025 when they start up again.

I don't have benefits deducted over the summer which has helped me deal with expected and unexpected costs pretty quickly.  I will have about $200.00 less net pay per pay period starting in September because benefits will start up again.  Because of timing issues in getting the information to the Investment company, my pension may start again in September or in October.  That will be about another $265.00 per pay but because it is a registered pension, my tax deduction will be a little less.

Whenever I know what my regular net pay will be, I will review my expenses, donations and savings and see what, if anything, I can increase.

I hope everyone has a great long weekend.

[debthaven]

I found out today that I'm having hip replacement surgery in mid Oct. I don't know the OOP cost yet. Since I'm officially retired, I'm between work contracts, so my complementary health insurance doesn't take effect until tomorrow. It's a huge PITA but it is what it is.

I put my leftover "travel fund" into the new "hip surgery fund". I'm not sure 1,500 will be enough. 

I can't save more this year but I'll tweak things as I know more. I may need to reduce "general savings" to pay for the surgery, but that's OK. I'm leaving it for now.

That's also why I redid my table.

NAME	GOAL	SAVED	SPENT
General savings	10,000	8,250	0
Hip surgery	1,500	1,500	0
Travel	1,700	1,700	1,700
Event	750	750	750
Garden	750	750	750
Rug	300	300	300
Misc	750	750	750
TOTAL	15,750	14,000	4,250

2 Sept 2024 = 14,000 (total savings goal = 15,750)

[mollyc]

I hope everything goes well with your surgery

[debthaven]

Thank you mollyc 

[azucena]

prev update Azucena $29,174 on 8/2/24 towards Revised Goal $45,000 65%

It's nice that my budgeting system is holding up while I'm dealing with teen's medical stuff. Not saving quite as much as I had been before she moved in but that's okay and we're finding our rhythm towards what she needs vs spoiling her 

And, I have a whole new appreciation for African American hair care and costs.

Azucena $31,487 on 9/13/24 towards Revised Goal $45,000 70%

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Oh gosh, debthaven! Sorry to hear you need surgery, but I do send you good wishes and juju so that it goes very smoothly and you have great results!

[mollyc]

Since my phone refreshing kept eating my post, I'll try again from our computer.

DD joint savings - $180.00
Savings - $796.33

At work, how our benefits and pension are being deducted has changed.  Our benefits will still be deducted over 20 of the 26 pay periods in a year.  Our pension will now be deducted over 26 of the 26 pay periods.  This should eliminate the pension adjustments that would be required if people left over the last 4 months of the year.

This means that the "extra" money I would have over the summer, about $500/pp, will drop to about $200/pp.  I used to keep all of the money I made from my side jobs in chequing to help cover any expenses that my paycheque and funds from DH couldn't cover.  Lots of time it meant I could stock up on non-perishables when there was a good sale and replace small items with cash.  Starting this month, I'm moving $250/month from side job #1 to savings to help with the change next summer.

The pension changes and cost increases for regular expenses pretty much are a wash with my pay increase in July.  I'm leaving the automatic transfer from my pay to Savings at $200.00/pp.  That works out to $55.00 for car repairs and $145.00 for whatever else comes up.

Stevie girl seems to be getting another ear infection.  If DH can't clear it up, she'll have to go to the Vet.  The Vet wants her to come in anyway in October.  She's over 6 years and so considered a senior dog.  Good thing I love my furry children.