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February/March monthly check-in.
Sorry I didn't get this posted yesterday! I've come down with the worst cold I think I've ever had, and have been a big weenie about being sick.
February
1. What were your financial goals for the month?
2. Were you able accomplish them?
3. What were your greatest achievements?
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
March
1. What are your money goals for this month?
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals?
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month?
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff
2. Savings success
3. Net worth watch
GTKY Bonus
Not only have I been sick, but our entire office is pretty much down for the count and the hospital where I work is seeing high volumes of respiratory viruses. How do you handle it when you're sick? Do you stay home or go in to work when you maybe shouldn't? Do you see a doctor or just rest and hydrate it out?
Re: February/March monthly check-in.
February
1. What were your financial goals for the month?
Cash flow as much house stuff as possible
2. Were you able accomplish them?
Yes
3. What were your greatest achievements?
Handling a few things that popped up unexpectedly without dipping into our e-fund (ie: $300 plumber bill)
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
Market still sucks.
March
1. What are your money goals for this month?
March is going to be spendy with our last round of big house projects for awhile and my firm retreat to California at the end of the month. Quite a few things are being covered by the firm, but there are a number of meals "on your own" which could get very expensive very fast. This place charges $70 for a pitcher of margaritas by the pool (no, I'm not exaggerating), so I'm kind of dreading the final bill.
Anyway, our big goal overall is to cash-flow the California trip.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals?
H and I are flying Southwest, so I will probably check a bag with drinks and snacks. We are already committed to at least one big meal "on your own" at the resort, but if we can handle our own lunches, etc. that will go a long way toward helping us out on the final bill.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month?
I just want to make it to April without our budget rupturing!
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff - Same as always
2. Savings success - Also the same as always + $300 because I participated in a legal survey and they sent me a check for my time.
3. Net worth watch - up by $4,510. We usually have a bigger swing than that, but we paid for our hotels in Italy this past week. That was planned, but of course it offset some of our savings.
GTKY Bonus
How do you handle it when you're sick? Do you stay home or go in to work when you maybe shouldn't? Do you see a doctor or just rest and hydrate it out?
I actually haven't been really sick since my junior year of college, about 8 years ago. H says I have an immune system of steel. He gets sick twice a year and we have stuff come through the office all the time, but I never seem to catch anything. The last time I was really sick I did go to the doctor, but I was on campus and the visit was free. I don't think I would have gone if I had to pay for it. I would not come in to the office if I was sick because I can work from home pretty easily.
February
I feel like a broken record! My goals are always to get my new duplex rented out, but I swear the finishing details are taking longer than the big projects and I haven't even started advertising yet. I'm giving myself an "F" for that goal.
I did rent out the other side of my house on Feb. 12th. That was a blessing. I only did a week of showings until I found the right tenant and had gone in expecting most people would want a March 1st move-in. It was so great he wanted to move-in mid month.
The other piece is, now that I have a new tenant, I was able to fully tally my monetary damages from my previous tenants who broke the lease and moved without notice. I need to track down their new address so I can mail the final bill...have them ignore it and wait 30 days...then take them to small claims court. After I subtracted their security deposit, they still owe me around $1700, meh.
March
1. What are your money goals for this month?
a) Rent out the duplex (sigh). Though I don't expect any move-in before April 1st, at the earliest.
b) Figure out how to get an address for my previous tenants. Not quite sure how to do that. I have one strategy, but it will only work if they put a forwarding address in with the post office. I'm not sure they did that.
c) Find more rental homes to purchase.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals?
a) Stay on top of my H better with what tasks have been accomplished and what is left.
b) Try my post office trick and, if that doesn't work, post on my real estate investing forum asking for help. I know I can't be the first landlady who had tenants move out owing money and not give a new address, lol.
c) Already put out feelers for three homes I am interested in.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month?
Continue to put most of my income, not needed for bills, against my HELOC balance.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff
Paid my HELOC down $2700 this month.
2. Savings success
Didn't dip into my e-fund? More of a "not a regression" than a success, lol.
3. Net worth watch
This is more of an educated guess, but I think my net worth went up another $30K over the last 6-9 months, because the value of my house keeps rising. Every time I check out comps for my area, that lovely "price per square foot" just a keeps on rising.
GTKY Bonus
Not only have I been sick, but our entire office is pretty much down for the count and the hospital where I work is seeing high volumes of respiratory viruses. How do you handle it when you're sick? Do you stay home or go in to work when you maybe shouldn't? Do you see a doctor or just rest and hydrate it out?
I rarely get sick but, when I do, I will usually stay home. I don't see a doctor, unless there is something extenuating and/or I am sick for more than 2 days. Of course, despite usually going years without getting even a minor cold, I was hit hard this year. I was out of work the entire first week of January. The last time I was sick enough that I missed more than one day of work was over 20 years ago.
I had an upper respiratory infection (bad cold) coupled with an ear infection. Definitely went to one of those urgent care places for that. Quite frankly, I was disappointed there was basically nothing they could do for the bad cold part. Although I went back to work in the 2nd week, it was over a month before I was fully recovered.
I think I handle being sick pretty well. It sucks and I'll complain, but I mostly just roll with the punches and just try to do whatever I can to shorten the sick time.
February
1. What were your financial goals for the month? Money to savings, finish taxes, go on vacation
2. Were you able accomplish them? yes
3. What were your greatest achievements? We had an awesome time at Disney world and I'm so glad that DH and I started our vacation fund 2 years ago. We still have $5,000 in there for another trip and will continue to grow the account with the "extra" money we get throughout the year.
4. What were your biggest downfalls? Couldn't do anything to get us from owing the Feds- $122 will go to them on April 1st.
March
1. What are your money goals for this month? $500/paycheck to savings, start getting bathroom remodel estimates, $960 to vacation fund from state tax return.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals? Auto transfer from paycheck to savings, DH is going to go over estimates during spring break, state tax return is supposed to auto deposit by the end of the week.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month? N/A- we're doing good!
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff - Mortgage: $91,747 Car: $20,371
2. Savings success- $1,000 went to savings, $350 to 529 plans
3. Net worth watch - $331,288
GTKY Bonus
Not only have I been sick, but our entire office is pretty much down for the count and the hospital where I work is seeing high volumes of respiratory viruses. How do you handle it when you're sick? Do you stay home or go in to work when you maybe shouldn't? Do you see a doctor or just rest and hydrate it out?
I have some flexibility with work where I can work from home if I'm not feeling well. The only time I go to the doctor is if it's strep throat (usually I get it from the girls a few days after one of them has been to the doctors for strep throat). Other stuff usually works itself out- just need to get through the winter.
February
1. What were your financial goals for the month?
To add to our vacation and savings accounts, keep paying off furniture, pay off washer/dryer, keep working on house projects with supplies that we already bought, and pay off the taxes we owe for the federal
2. Were you able accomplish them?
Sort of. We only put $200 to savings and nothing to vacation. Still working on the furniture bill, and just paid off the washer/dryer. I finished painting our bathroom and moving on to another room with supplies we have. We also paid the federal tax bill but we just got a state tax refund so we basically broke even
3. What were your greatest achievements?
Paid off washer and dryer I guess lol
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
Just a lack of savings this month even though I got a bonus at work, ugh. I told H to look out for extra open shifts
March
1. What are your money goals for this month?
Keep adding to savings and vacation accounts, open up our ROTH IRA's and contribute something, keep paying off furniture, and working on house projects inside
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals?
Just plugging away, keep spending in check- a little at a time. Pay off projects before we move onto the next
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month?
Just stay the course, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with too many project ideas in my head so we are keeping it simple this month.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff- $1330 left on furniture
2. Savings success- We saved $200 in Feb, we need to increase this in March
3. Net worth watch- Don't watch this
GTKY Bonus
When I'm really sick, have no energy to function, and just sound flat out gross I call out of work. I only see the doctor for respiratory issues because those kick my butt the most! I can deal with colds but for the more severe stuff (RI's or bronchitis) I panic and go to the walk in just to confirm I'm not going to die lol. It's not funny but I hear how people die from pneumonia and the flu and just want to make sure I don't have something I don't know about. I drink tons of water, eat soup, take OTC's, plug in the humidifier and plop on the couch.
February
1. What were your financial goals for the month? Cash-flow our Valentine's weekend getaway without making our whole budget go overboard, officially switch banks.
2. Were you able accomplish them? Yes and no. We were $31 over budget on the getaway, but because our spending in other areas of the budget was lower than expected, we ended up being able to send extra to savings. Also we did open our new bank accounts and switched over my direct deposit, but due to a snafu with a bill paid from our old accounts that took awhile to actually post, we weren't able to officially switch everything in Feb.
3. What were your greatest achievements? Being able to put $500 into savings from H's salary, in addition to my entire salary. ALSO! We finally met our eating out budget of $200!! This is the first time in forever. I am so excited about this.
4. What were your biggest downfalls? Not being proactive on changing the accounts linked to our bills in order to switch banks.
March
1. What are your money goals for this month? Stay the course, cash flow my bridesmaid's dress, and continue keeping to the $200 eating out budget.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals? Better meal planning, regular grocery shopping, teamwork.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month? Same as above.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff - more to come on this when we find out the amount of our tax return (hoping it's a positive #).
2. Savings success - On track.
3. Net worth watch - don't track regularly.
GTKY Bonus
I haven't had a cold yet this season, but I've been having headaches lately and I don't handle them well. They affect my vision as well so the best way to deal with them is to take meds and sleep it off.
February
1. What were your financial goals for the month? Stick to our new budget.
2. Were you able accomplish them? Mission accomplished this month! We stayed on track in every category with the exception of my personal budget but I only went over by $12 so even though it was a negative, at least I kept it pretty minor.
3. What were your greatest achievements? Sticking to our budget. We actually sat down at the end of the month and went over all of our expenses and made sure we had tracked everything. This is big for us since I usually have to be dragged in to budget talks kicking and screaming and I initiated this one.
4. What were your biggest downfalls? We still owed on taxes. No getting out of that, but we have a plan for this tax year at least.
March
1. What are your money goals for this month? Stick to our budget again, continue paying down our debt, try to reduce expenses even more to get our average monthly cc bill down.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals? No buying luxuries just because I have a coupon, pack lunches so we don't eat out
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month? I think I pretty much stated it above. Do a better job of packing our lunches so we don't eat out. Make coffee in the morning so I don't blow $5 on Starbucks, stuff like that.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff - Mortgage $132k, Car $17,200
2. Savings success - Since we stuck to our budget last month I saw our bank accounts grow because we increased our savings goals and cut back on expenses so I would say yes, success!
3. Net worth watch We won't talk about the market...but our overall liquid worth shot up thanks to H's bonus and raise in Feb.
GTKY
I rarely get sick. I think the last time I was actually sick was 4 years ago when a co-worker brought the plague to the office for a straight week. I ended up catching it and it knocked me out for 2 full working days plus a weekend. I don't go to the doctor usually unless I suspect an actual infection or the sickness doesn't improve, but I will stay home and nurse myself rather than bring that shit into the office! I hate it when people work while they are sick!
February
1. What were your financial goals for the month?
To be under budget on just about everything so that we could offset H's lack of overtime pay.
2. Were you able accomplish them?
With flying colors. We came in $1,000 under budget!
3. What were your greatest achievements?
Eating out. We budgeted $100 and only spent $20.
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
Groceries again. We needed to fully restock and I started my PCOS diet to try and get pregnant again. H also started eating healthier, so we stocked the kitchen with healthy and gluten free options.
March
1. What are your money goals for this month?
Get our grocery budget to $400, save up $200 toward finishing the garage, and $300 toward H's Roth.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals?
I pulled out some recipes for homemade cleaners again and am finding recipes to cook from scratch again. Also made some breakfast burritos in bulk to freeze and have been pulling more from the freezer.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month?
Going to really look at our eating out and see if we can get that lowered again. It isn't horrible, but isn't needed.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff
No debt.
2. Savings success
Just our regular sinking funds and retirement contributions.
3. Net worth watch
We will be closing out my brothers' estate sometime this month. So that extra money will come in and we'll be putting it into our mutual fund. It will add an additional $60,000 to our net worth.
GTKY Bonus
How do you handle it when you're sick? Do you stay home or go in to work when you maybe shouldn't? Do you see a doctor or just rest and hydrate it out?
I go to work. Although since having DD, my immune system has been shot. So I've been sick this past year, more than she has. It sucks, but hopefully it's rebuilding now that I'm no longer nursing.
I used to never get sick.
TTC since 1/13 DX:PCOS 5/13 (long, anovulatory cycles)
Clomid 50mg 9/13 = BFP! EDD 6/7/14 M/C 5w6d Found 11/4/13
1/14 PCOS / Gluten Free Diet to hopefully regulate my system.
Chemical Pregnancy 03/14
Surprise BFP 6/14, Beta #1: 126 Beta #2: 340 Stick baby, stick! EDD 2/17/15
Riley Elaine born 2/16/15
TTC 2.0 6/15
Chemical Pregnancy 9/15
Chemical Pregnancy 6/16
BFP 9/16 EDD 6/3/17
Beta #1: 145 Beta #2: 376 Beta #3: 2,225 Beta #4: 4,548
www.5yearstonever.blogspot.com
February
1. What were your financial goals for the month? Do even better at staying the course because mortgage payment went up a few hundred because our tax abatement is over this year
2. Were you able accomplish them? Yes and then some! We improved our overall financial situation this month. We will also get a tax refund that will go to retirement.
3. What were your greatest achievements? A surprisingly good month for BnB; we ate out 5 times but only paid for 2 of those times (coupons and mystery shop for the free ones). The two times we paid were social type outings so it wasn't just the two of us spending money going out.
Also H has a new, well paying temp job. He was able to pay down about a fifth of his credit card debt.
4. What were your biggest downfalls? Nothing, we rocked this month.
March
1. What are your money goals for this month? Stay the course and H pay off more cc debt.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals? We will try to minimize expenses on our Texas trip. I already shaved one day off which will help. We are also renting our guest room to a foreign exchange Dr. for the month.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month? Keep on menu planning and trying not to dine out. But with our trip and doing so well last month I am OK with spending a little. Our work from Feb deserves a little reward/breathing room this month.
GTKY Bonus PTO days mean I lose my vacation time when I take off sick so I try not too unless it is a really bad situation. Likewise, I only go to the Dr. if I have a persistent illness or ailment.
February
1. What were your financial goals for the month?
I don't remember exactly what I had said, but we're basically just in savings mode. We're saving for a downpayment on a house.
2. Were you able accomplish them?
Yep! I've set up one savings account that has 6% interest up to $5k, and another that has 5% up to $5k. I'm just waiting for the second one to link to my checking so I can transfer funds into it.
3. What were your greatest achievements?
Being able to put our whole tax refund and extra income for the month into savings because we don't have any more credit card debt.
I also opened a checking account at Chase, and earned $300 from it!
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
FI spent a bit too much on fast food this month, but other than that we did ok.
March
1. What are your money goals for this month?
Continue to save. I'm hoping to put all of what I earn from one of my jobs into savings.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals?
That job pays me via Paypal, so it's handy that it's already segregated from my normal checking account. They pay me once a month around the 15th, so once I receive it, I'll just transfer it into savings. I'll have to set up another 5% interest savings account because the first two will already be maxed.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month?
Just stay the course; put as much as possible into savings. I'll try to really think before making a purchase to decide if I really need it, or if I can put that money into savings instead.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff
I have my car lease and student loans, but I'm not focusing on those right now.
2. Savings success
$11,300 went to downpayment fund (that's also the current total since we just started), and about $100 to e-fund.
3. Net worth watch
I don't watch it. I probably won't start watching it until after we buy a house.
GTKY Bonus
Not only have I been sick, but our entire office is pretty much down for the count and the hospital where I work is seeing high volumes of respiratory viruses. How do you handle it when you're sick? Do you stay home or go in to work when you maybe shouldn't? Do you see a doctor or just rest and hydrate it out?
I usually go to work, but anywhere I've worked has been pretty strict with their attendance policies. So I'd obviously rather go to work than lose my job. If I'm at the point where I want to cry just thinking about getting out of bed then I'll stay home, but I haven't been that sick in a while. I'd only go to the doctor if I thought I had strep throat or something.
February
1. What were your financial goals for the month? Keep chugging away on our student loan debt.
2. Were you able accomplish them? Yes, plus it was nice to get a small income tax refund to throw at it as well.
3. What were your greatest achievements? Nothing really, it was a pretty boring month!
4. What were your biggest downfalls? Again, nothing really.
March
1. What are your money goals for this month? Still that darn student loan! I'm SO ready for it to be gone!!
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals? Just throw every extra dollar in that direction.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month? I've also been trying to find extra ways to earn side cash to throw at our mortgage. Last month I was able to send an extra $40 to principal. It's not much, but I'm still pushing to do that every month, which will eventually add up!
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff $4,428.38 towards H's student loan. We are still hoping and on track to have it paid off by the end of summer!
2. Savings success $3,236.68 to retirement
3. Net worth watch We broke six figures! Mint has us at just over $100,200. I could drop with the market, but I'll take it for now as a small milestone!
GTKY Bonus
An annual flu shot is a condition of my employment, but I would be diligent about getting one regardless. Influenza is deadly. This year is the first I've had such a bad cold in a long time. I took one day off work, but probably should have stayed home a few more. I did keep myself sequestered in my office and carried around sanitizing wipes half the week to disinfect doorknobs, tables and chairs, etc.
As for going to the doctor, I haven't been for a physical in probably more than five years, but I really should schedule one soon and do it every other year. People who visit their doctor to seek out antibiotics for colds make me stabby. I have been known to soapbox on social media virus vs. bacteria and why antibiotics won't work for colds, and are in fact, harmful and lessen their efficacy for the general population.
February
1. What were your financial goals for the month?
2. Were you able accomplish them?
3. What were your greatest achievements?
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
March
1. What are your money goals for this month?
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals?
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month?
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff
2. Savings success
3. Net worth watch
GTKY Bonus
Not only have I been sick, but our entire office is pretty much down for the count and the hospital where I work is seeing high volumes of respiratory viruses. How do you handle it when you're sick? Do you stay home or go in to work when you maybe shouldn't? Do you see a doctor or just rest and hydrate it out?