June/July check-in.

als1982 · July 2015

Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July!!

June

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month?

2. What did you do differently this month that helped?

3. What were your greatest achievements?

4. What were your biggest downfalls?

July

1. What are your goals for this month?

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal?

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that?

GTKY Bonus

What is your biggest financial regret? What financial decision has made you most proud?

cbee817 · July 2015

June

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month? We did pretty well- $1000 went to savings in June and we had our last 2 kids/full time day care payment.

2. What did you do differently this month that helped? N/A

3. What were your greatest achievements? Getting through those massive day care payments- we'll be down to 1 child full time in September and 1 child at the school's after school program. DH also got a new job with a great district- this will greatly impact our financial future in the next 10 years (his income is set to double in 10 years according to the teachers' salary step contract). He also has the option of 26 paychecks at his new district so we're very happy about that!

4. What were your biggest downfalls? N/A

July

1. What are your goals for this month? save $1000, work on some exterior repairs to the house. Replace some siding in the front, rip out the wood porch and put trex down with new railings. Also need to re-landscape the front yard from the sewer job that was completed in December (the dirt is finally starting to settle a bit).

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal? Our day care payment is less- 2 kids/3 days a week and DH is home for the summer to work on these projects.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that? Keep to the usual- DH doesn't get real paychecks over the summer (just 2 $1000 checks) so by the end of August, his checking account is pretty low. He does have some paid training/orientation with the new district so that might help.

GTKY Bonus

What is your biggest financial regret? The porch rebuild we did in 2009- the guy didn't do a great job which is why we're already looking to replace it 6 years later. Wood porch flooring looks great with the an older house but no matter how well we take care of it, the winters just destroy the wood.

What financial decision has made you most proud? I think the fact that I had $0 in SL debt and have a BA in Math/MA in Economics.. I got a scholarship/help from my mom for undergrad and work reimbursed me for my masters degree.

smbenevides1989 · July 2015

Its been a while since I last posted. I've just been so busy with work, I haven't had a chance to come on. But, I need the accountability, so I'm going to make the effort!

June

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month?

- It was spendy. I'm not very happy on the direction we went. We overspent on our Vacation $200, and that cause the avalanche. The only goal we were able to keep was our savings goal.

2. What did you do differently this month that helped?

- Saving wise - we just focused on the end result which was the remaining little bit for our down payment.

3. What were your greatest achievements?

- We were able to save up enough to complete the closing June 27th.

4. What were your biggest downfalls?

-Over spending when we shouldn't have.

July

1. What are your goals for this month?

-Stay within budget, save up $1000 for a mini goal, then off to start saving for the architect and foundation.

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal?

-Stay home to avoid spending.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that?

-savings (by putting in all of DH's overtime and any overage at the end of the month) and groceries (by meal planning and using the items at home).

GTKY Bonus

What is your biggest financial regret? What financial decision has made you most proud?

-biggest financial regret: buying the Elantra. The sales person really screwed me and it was finally known how much he screwed me when I went to upgrade my car to something better and within my budget. My new sales person notified me of it.

-most proud: Buying our land. for the size of the lot and where it is located, we got an amazing deal. We will start building next year, and will be building it slowly, and will get what we want. It's stressful, but so exciting at the same time.

als1982 · July 2015

June

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month? Fair. The estimate on our bathroom remodel came in higher than we had planned (from $12K to $14K), so we had to shift some money from our student loan payoff to that area. Otherwise, we did okay.

2. What did you do differently this month that helped? I started picking up side gigs on Gig Walk, Field Agent and other similar apps. I netted an extra $120 in June that way.

3. What were your greatest achievements? Starting to tackle H's monster student loan. We went from $58,000 down to $54,000. Also bumped up my retirement contribution to 12%, which I think puts us at 18% combined.

4. What were your biggest downfalls? A few unexpected or unbudgeted expenses, like a $120 plumbing issue and a $150 trip to Beauty Brands for their annual liter sale.

We also went a little buck wild this past 4th of July weekend on alcohol and eating out.

July

1. What are your goals for this month? Keep killing H's student loan. We are on track for it to go from the $50Ks to the $40Ks. Also, we're TTC so I'd love for this to be the month we get PG.

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal? Just keep on keeping on.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that? We are pretty bare bones at this point, but our deep freeze is well stocked, so I'd like to try to stay away from the grocery store as much as I can.

GTKY Bonus

What is your biggest financial regret? I tried to live an unsustainable lifestyle in college and ended up with $13,000 in credit card debt. My junior year it hit rock bottom and I started to turn it around. Somehow I was able to get rid of it all before starting my first real job after grad school. I had an assistant-ship, worked two part time jobs, and sold a lot on e-Bay.

What financial decision has made you most proud? Living well below our means (we live on one income and use the rest on debt and savings) and not buckling to societal pressures to spend money on stuff we really don't need to impress others.

abrewer5 · July 2015

June

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month?

Not great, 2 vacations in June, 2 showers, planning a shower for my cousin this month, and buying a bridesmaid dress made it difficult to stick to goals, and I ended up spending too much money. At this point in time I don't have a separate savings category for gifts/slush, which I need to do when I get my student loans paid off.

2. What did you do differently this month that helped?

Doubled my student loan payment! That was a big win for me, planning to more than double it again once summer is over. I also, stuck to my budget on one of my vacations and even came home with $20 left over.

3. What were your greatest achievements?

Just upping my student loan payment.

4. What were your biggest downfalls?

Going over budget on my first vacation and not budgeting for shower gifts.

July

1. What are your goals for this month?

Reduce my eating out and slowly start buying things for my cousins' shower at the end of this month.

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal?

I'm going to plan my $150 allowance a little better to limit money spent on eating out and make sure all the money has a designated goal in my allowance like getting my oil changed this week, money for shower supplies, and eating out.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that?

Unncessary spending. Gifts/random spending was out of control this month so hoping to limit that in July.

GTKY Bonus

What is your biggest financial regret? What financial decision has made you most proud?

There are so so many regrets, but this biggest one is just wishing I had saved more before growing up/going to college/buying a house. I really wish someone has instilled in me the importance of saving, and I wish I would have started saving 50% of my paychecks from the time I started working at 15 and before I had any real bills. I would be in a much better position now. I also regret getting any credit cards. They are just dangerous. I'm most proud of my saving for retirement. It's nice to be 24 years old and focused on retirement even thou it is so far away, too many people my age aren't and it hurts them later on.

Edited for formatting.

jessica490 · July 2015

June

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month?

Well we closed on our condo at the beginning of the month so that was a small loss there...but we moved in with my parents so we are savings a ton of money!

2. What did you do differently this month that helped?

Moved in with my parents. No more mortgage/condo fee, Comcast bills,home insurance, but we do pay them some towards the extra electric bill though.

3. What were your greatest achievements?

Actually having the closing!

Getting back a refund from Comcast, and house insurance. We are still waiting for escrow money back

4. What were your biggest downfalls?

The $ we had to dish out for the closing. Ouch

July

1. What are your goals for this month?

We found a house and are just waiting for the buyers to sign the revised contract...we will keep hoarding money this month with a plan to close early-mid August

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal?

The usual, cutting back on shopping, doing cheap/free summer activities

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that?

Everything will stay the same for now while at my parents

GTKY Bonus

What is your biggest financial regret? What financial decision has made you most proud?

Regret- Owning 2 different condo's within 10 yrs...what a waste of money. We plan to make this house a long-term one.

Proud of- Learning to contribute more into 401K's and starting a ROTH next year...I think it will pay off in retirement and I will be glad I started when I did....and getting my husband on board too

TravelJunkie1234 · July 2015

June

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month? Not so great. We spent waayyy too much money, and tbh I'm trying not to think about it too much, lol.

2. What did you do differently this month that helped? N/A...

3. What were your greatest achievements? Made an extra payment on DH's SL

4. What were your biggest downfalls? Oye Vey. My parents came into town and we spent $$$ while they were here. It happens every time and yet I always feel blind-sided.

DH's parents have also officially moved in. I actually don't mind having them here, although MIL has little habits that are already starting to add up and drive me nuts. For example, she leaves the lights on everywhere, runs the dishwasher when it's only partially full (like if the top rack has 5 glasses in it, she runs the machine. And this happens at least once a day), and she does at least one load of laundry on the longest cycle each day (even if the load consists of 3 t-shirts or something crazy). Our electric bill has doubled and our water bill is more than triple what it usually is. I mean, we expected the bills to go up because there are more people in the house, but yikes!

July

1. What are your goals for this month? Need to get back on track. If I can put an extra $400 towards retirement I'll be happy (already put $200 in last Friday--I knew if I put it off that money would get spent somewhere)

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal? I need to look at the numbers and really re-work our budget. I'm also going to try to pick up some extra work on the side, since I make a lot more per hour freelancing than I do at my salaried job.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that? I need to seriously look at grocery and utilities this month. I've got to re-work our budget so that we can still meet our savings goals and accommodate having 2 extra people in the house.

GTKY Bonus

What is your biggest financial regret? What financial decision has made you most proud? I regret not learning how important saving money is and thinking that keeping up appearances justified credit card debt. And this may sound weird, but I sort of regret never living on my own either. My parents always paid for everything when I lived with them, and when I moved in with DH (who was then just my BF) he had already been living on his own for awhile so he took the reins with our finances. When I told DH I wanted to be more involved he had no problem letting me control everything (he's naturally very passive and I think he actually hated dealing with money but did it because I wasn't comfortable with it), but it's been an adjustment as I've tried to figure it out. DH doesn't see the point in us having a budget because "we make enough now not to worry about it", but I like being able to plan for the future and see where all our money goes.

I'm proud that DH and I both have retirement funds (I'm jealous that his company offers a matching 401K!). Most of our friends don't and even some of our parents think it's silly for us to be thinking about retirement when we're in our mid-20s, but it makes me feel good that even if I can only put a little bit into that account each month, it's still there.

simplyelise · July 2015

June

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month? Good! Stayed in the budget on everything.

2. What did you do differently this month that helped? We cashed in our childhood savings bonds to put towards SLs.

3. What were your greatest achievements? We paid $4007 towards SLs this month. Down to $33,300 and on track for July (ETA: July 2016) payoff.

4. What were your biggest downfalls? Didn't really have a downfall, just a low motivation month. We managed to trudge along well though, so it works.

July

1. What are your goals for this month? We're planning $2460 towards SLs and $100 towards car fund.

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal? We're selling some of our unused stuff this month so that we can actually participate in some fun things with friends. Together we've sold about $75 worth of items in the last week.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that? We always manage to do just fine sticking to our budget, but this past month was a LOT of saying no to friends. So we're trying to get creative without changing any budget goals.

GTKY Bonus

What is your biggest financial regret? What financial decision has made you most proud?

I don't really have a big financial regret. I think I just wish I would have been on a budget as a single person. I brought about 8k in savings into the marriage and no debts, but seeing how much extra money we have in our budget now, I know I should have been able to save more. I am proud of never having gone into debt and getting husband on board with financial planning. He's actually turned into a huge nerd about it.

csuave · July 2015

June
1. How good were you? We put reduced spending in place during the month so we didn't have the full impact but we did pretty good.
2. What did you do differently? We went out to eat less, did more meal planning and started hosting on AirBnB. We were aggressive with BnB and hosted a lot which will put us ahead and give us some cushion in future months/if emergencies come up.
3. Greatest achievements? DH got a 2 month temp job at the end of the month! It isn't the greatest pay but is a paycheck and steady for 2 months while he continues to look. It also looks like we will be getting BnB "superhost" status after only one month of hosting.
4. Biggest downfall?
$20 unplanned on food at the Kid Rock concert.

July
1. Goals for this month?
Less spending than last month.
2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal?
Start managing every dollar to keep closer to reduced spending goals. Meal plan some cheap meals to give room to the entertainment budget.
3. What area will you work on this month?
Plan better for household expenses. I started subscriptions through Target to get an extra 5% off things we buy regularly and to save trips to the store for those items.

GYKY bonus
I have no financial regrets. I have been MM my entire life and careful with all major decisions.
I am most proud that I was able to graduate from an expensive business school with zero school debt.

KatieCutie05 · July 2015

Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July!!

June

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month?

June was a nightmare- I missed a paycheck of 1k and I was in NJ for a week, my father passed away so we had a huge gas bill, funeral flowers, a plane ticket etc and our month that we were planning to have 1500 extra- we ended up 200 over budget. But considering we missed a 1k paycheck and still cash flowed all but 200 of an emergency isn't bad i guess.

2. What did you do differently this month that helped?

nothing

3. What were your greatest achievements?

H started a new job

And he's much happier at work now!

4. What were your biggest downfalls?

I missed a paycheck because the time sheet system was timing out and my dad had just passed away so i couldnt check it and i guess my entry didn't save and i ended up not getting a paycheck... won't get that money till july 25th.

July

1. What are your goals for this month?

To stick to our budget, and pay 1,500 extra to debt.... a car payment of 1,860 when I owe 2800 on my car.... So next month we can pay off my car and finally 2 years later start paying extra to my student loan! lol

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal?

actually pay attention....And I have a free trial of Everydollar Plus now which is amazing and I might actually keep track of our expenses more often now. But its probably bad because i'll get spoiled and end up having to pay 99 dollars a year to keep it because i get hooked. oh well i probably waste that much money

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that?

My lunches. I have been really bad at taking a lunch to work so i end up buying out a lot more then i should. I can't eat Dairy cus LO is allergic so now my lunches require work of actually making something instead of grabbing a frozen meal. The tables have turned and I was the one who blew my budget last month instead of my husband.

GTKY Bonus

What is your biggest financial regret? What financial decision has made you most proud?

Biggest regret is taking out student loans - best decision is deciding to pay them off early and never borrow any more money in our life (well except for our next home)

bmo88 · July 2015

June

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month?

Pretty good! We paid off our 0% interest furniture account a month early (like MM posters suggested), so it was a relief to have that gone and not worry about incurring interest due to miscalculations.

We also finally opened DH's Roth IRA account!! It was such a pain in the butt because of issue around verification, but it's done. DH also asked for and received a 15% raise, so that is great for debt repayment.

2. What did you do differently this month that helped?

I looked at a lot of our expenses closely and then talked with DH about long term goals. We agreed on increasing our debt repayment by $250 a month, which will expedite our payoff by 6 months.

3. What were your greatest achievements?

Paying off the 0% interest account. Also, got under $1,000 for my student loans, which exciting because they will be paid off by August since I will be snowballing it from the previous furniture payment.

Also, we hit 4 months emergency savings! So, we are going to lower our savings amount and divert it to fun/general savings until our debt is paid off in 2 years.

4. What were your biggest downfalls?

Eating out. Usually we only eat out like once a week. But I started working between 50-60 hours a week and was too exhausted to cook. So we ate out a few times a week for a while. Also, my family came in town the last week of June/first week of July and they love eating out. So we blew our food budget for the month.

July

1. What are your goals for this month?

Increasing our debt repayment (like I mentioned above) and increasing ROTH IRA contributions by 2%.

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal?

Just keep an eye on overall expenditures.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that?

Debt repayment, mentioned above.

GTKY Bonus

What is your biggest financial regret? What financial decision has made you most proud?

Ugh, that's a tough one. Some days, I kind of regret spending $13,000 on our wedding and honeymoon combined. It was a really great experience and we did things fairly inexpensively, but there are days when I wish we had eloped/weddingmooned and did it all for less than $5,000. But, it's done and over with, so no point in dwelling on it.

I am most proud of starting to save for retirement during my first job out of college at 22. It's only been 5 years, but I have around $37,000. It's not a ton of money, but it's amazing how much is in there and it didn't really feel like I was saving given I adjusted my life/budget to account for it. I am excited to continue savings (increasing the percent annually) and using compound interest to my advantage. Our goal is to have the option of retiring between 50 and 55, and we are on track to do that.

Also proud of living well below our means. We have tripled our income in the past 5 years, but have kept our expenses very low relative to our income increase. We did spend more on housing when we purchased our home, but we only spend about 1/2 what we were approved for. We are also using extra income to pay off debt faster.

hoffse · July 2015

June

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month?

Pretty good - we cash-flowed most of the small purchases for the kitchen and still put away $3600. We were proud of that.

2. What did you do differently this month that helped? N/A

3. What were your greatest achievements? Getting everything lined up for the kitchen

4. What were your biggest downfalls? Eating out - as always!

July

1. What are your goals for this month? Stick to the budget with the kitchen remodel and our trip at the end of the month. We've saved for it, but it's going to be a spendy month!

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal? We're doing an eat-down of the pantry/freezer between now and when we leave for France. No point in buying a lot of food between now and then.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that? Groceries - we plan to stop ourselves from stocking up like we usually do when we run into a deal.

GTKY Bonus

What is your biggest financial regret?

Probably having a wedding - we loved it, but it sure was a lot of money for a couple of 20-somethings. Still, I regret it less and less as we've been able to accomplish other goals because we got to see family members and create memories that we'll have forever.

What financial decision has made you most proud?

No single decision, but we've been able to avoid the keeping up with the Joneses to a large degree, and I'm proud of us for that. I'm also really good at squeezing out a random $1,000 whenever we need it. This last year I've felt like I'm constantly pulling rabbits out of my hat to accomplish all of our goals, and yet I've been able to do it. 2016 should be much easier since we have a better sense of what to expect in terms of home expenses and professional expenses for my H.

Xstatic3333 · July 2015

June

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month?
Although we did well overall, so much progress was undone by my blunder with buying an extra set of concert tickets. I'm so ashamed/embarrassed to even be writing about it here.

2. What did you do differently this month that helped?
Realistic grocery budgeting and prioritizing retirement.

3. What were your greatest achievements?
Getting back to my Roth IRA goal.

4. What were your biggest downfalls?
Spending over $200 to replace a set of concert tickets that weren't actually lost. Then, overspending at the festival weekend due to a general "f*** it the budget is already blown" mentality. I'm so ashamed, but holding myself accountable by sharing it here.

July

1. What are your goals for this month?
Pay off the CC mess of the concert without dipping into savings before any interest is due.

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal?
Extremely limited fun budgets.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that?
We'll be really reducing our fund budget by basically just hanging out at home with each other (which is fun!) I'll only be going diving for "work," nothing extra.

GTKY Bonus

What is your biggest financial regret? What financial decision has made you most proud?
My biggest regret is taking so long to think about budgeting and using CCs to finance my lifestyle while in school. It's a huge regret-I probably think about it daily. My proudest decision is resisting pressure (including from H!) to buy a house beyond our means and buying one with a very comfortable payment. I love to not feel house poor.

dragonstarjk · July 2015

June

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month? Meh. Not bad I guess. Last month I had upped my Roth IRA contribution and this month I realized it was just too much. I lowered it back down and I need to increase it gradually instead of trying to be at my goal right away. I am already contributing about 16% to my 401K so I was trying to contribute 4% to my Roth IRA, but it just wasn't working. We also went a little over budget on a couple of things but nothing major.

2. What did you do differently this month that helped? See above.

3. What were your greatest achievements? Getting H to up his retirement contribution and to make a long term plan to get him on track for retirement.

4. What were your biggest downfalls? A little bit of overspending in gifts/eating out/fun but nothing too major. I don't think of reducing my Roth IRA contribution as a downfall since it was kind of more of an experiment.

July

1. What are your goals for this month? To save another $1900 before our porch build gets started in August so we don't have to finance as much of the project.

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal? We have been cleaning out our spare room and might have a few things to sell. We will also try to watch our spending on eating out.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that? See above--I want to cut back on eating out. I need to make sure we have plenty of groceries in the house and meals planned so we aren't just running out to dinner whenever we don't feel like cooking.

GTKY Bonus

What is your biggest financial regret? Trading in a car that I loved for a car that was too much for me that I never really liked-and then paying off said car when we refinanced our mortgage so it actually increased the amount left on our mortgage (because the interest was less). I have since sold that car and have a car I love and we have caught up on our mortgage anyways--but man, that was not wise.

What financial decision has made you most proud? Buying a small, fixer-upper home well below what we can afford, and refinancing to a 15 year mortgage a few years ago. It's nice to know that our mortgage will be paid off in about 12 more years and we have a way smaller payment than most people that I know. It's an old, old 1,000 square ft. house that needs a LOT of work, but we love it and we love not being house poor!

Mustard76 · July 2015

June

1. How good were you at keeping your money goals for this month?
- Fair. We didn't save as much as I hoped. Technically, we still made our goal, but only because our savings goal hasn't been amended to our new target date. Potentially cutting 11 months of our plan has really thrown a wrench. Really, at this point I don't even know if I'm going to rework the budget on paper. We're just saving every dime we can and tossing it into our Move Money account. But, I did pay my student loan in full last month, 6 months ahead of schedule. I'll take it!

2. What did you do differently this month that helped?

- We're trying to find every spare dime we can and we're saving that. Also, I used all of my allowance to throw at my student loan in order to pay early.

3. What were your greatest achievements?

- I am consumer debt free!! ...for now. It was such a big relief to finish my student loan.

4. What were your biggest downfalls?

- I should've put pen to paper about two months ago to rework our numbers. No matter what, our situation was going to be stressful, but I would feel a little more prepared.

July
1. What are your goals for this month?
- Continue to save everything we can for our potential move. We should hopefully find out this week if we're going or not, so we'll have a better idea of what to expect.

2. What do you plan to do differently to get to your goal?

- We're selling stuff we don't need/don't plan on using. We're saving everything "extra" that we can. We're not going out to eat as much. We're still only buying fresh things from the grocery store, and eating out of the freezer and pantry.

3. What area of your budget do you want to work on this month, and how do you plan to do that?

- Savings, savings, savings.

GTKY Bonus

What is your biggest financial regret? What financial decision has made you most proud?
- Biggest regret- private school 100%. I was actually just talking about this today. It was more than graduating with SL debt. I almost failed my senior project because I was working so much, I rarely even made it to class. I found myself in the biggest catch 22. I had to work to pay my tuition, but I couldn't go to class because I was always at work. I didn't take out unnecessary loans, or loans on which to live, just to subsidize my tuition. But it still felt so overwhelming.
- Most Proud- it seems like such a small thing now, but I know it will all add up eventually. I started saving in my 401(k) from the second I was eligible. Sometimes it was hard, especially at 22, when all my friends were out all the time, some still living on student loans, doing whatever they wanted, seemed to be "living the dream." That's when I started to find balance between spending, and saving for short-term and long-term goals. I remain fairly balanced when it comes to finance. H and I never fight about money. We never have. We disagree about plenty of things, but money isn't one of them.

June/July check-in.

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