Money Matters
als1982
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Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
September/October monthly check-in.
Another month = more financial progress! Please share your successes, reflections and ways you can improve in the coming month here:
September
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?
October
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
What is your greatest financial fear?
What is your dream for your financial future?
HeartlandHustle | Personal Finance and Betterment Blog
Re: September/October monthly check-in.
I can post normally again!!
September
1. What were your financial goals for the month?
$1910 to debt, $100 for car replacement fund, $20 to gym sinking fund. Also wanted to get estimates and save some for car maintenance I need done.
2. Were you able accomplish them?
Yup. We got an estimate for my car work of around 750 and we already budgeted 550 in september, so another 200 this month and I'll finally get the maintenance taken car of.
3. What were your greatest achievements?
We've had two close friends have babies this month and we were able to make an extra meal for each family and cover cost of making food for our small group at church tonight with only $15 extra in our grocery budget. We were out of town a couple days, but still!
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
Just looking forward to these car issues being over and done with. $1115 in August for DH and now $750 for me in early October. I don't foresee any issues with my vehicle, just want to do my due diligence with replacing timing belt and assorted things before I hit 100k miles. And hopefully DH's vehicle makes it another couple years without anything else!
October
1. What are your money goals for this month?
3 paycheck October for me! We're going to do the regular $100 for car replacement fund, $20 for gym fund, and then we're saving $400 to knock out our full christmas present needs and an additional $250 for car maintenance. Finally, we're doing $3127 on debt.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals?
Just stick to the budget, every day.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month?
I'm trying to be more positive. I would like to be even more aggressive, but DH has reached his limit on aggressiveness and it bums him out when I get impatient to pay the debt off.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff
SL balance today is $26,972. We started payoff in November, 2014 with 55,421 and we will be done in July 2016. No mortgage and no car loans.
2. Savings success
$900 in car replacement fund. Crazy how quickly that adds up when we don't even feel the $100/month.
3. Net worth watch
Estimating around -16,500
GTKY Bonus
What is your greatest financial fear?
I think it would have to be not being able to retire or having to depend on others in retirement.
What is your dream for your financial future?
Once we're debt free, we want to save for a modest house and hopefully be in a position where I can work part time when we have our second kiddo. We don't currently have plans to retire very early, just mid-60s, so just saving steadily while enjoying travel along the way.
ETA: bolds
September
1. What were your financial goals for the month?
Stashing away enough to fund our Roths for 2015.
2. Were you able accomplish them?
Yep - funded them yesterday in full.
3. What were your greatest achievements?
Not allowing multiple unexpected things to derail us.
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
Being overly focused on savings. I focus so much on the long term benchmark numbers that sometimes I lose sight of spending a little now to be happy. My H literally asked me last weekend if we could budget in a bucket of golf balls for him to hit. It costs $3. That made me realize I need to stop setting such aggressive savings goals and loosen the belt a little bit for the here and now. We both work a lot, and while we have spent a lot on large goals this year (travel, home improvement), we spend very little on the day-to-day, and I'm probably taking the daily deprivations too far. Frankly, we make too much to be overanalyzing a $3 bucket of golf balls that will provide entertainment and a way to decompress for my H, not to mention improving his game (which is actually pretty important for his job).
At this point we have achieved every big and important financial goal we had this year. I have a tendency to set new savings goals as soon as the most recent ones are complete, and I think I'm going to try to just let the rest of the year play out instead of being crazy about saving every last dime. I'm a lot like my dad in terms of how I view money, and he told me just this week that he really wishes he and my mom had spent just a little more of their monthly cash flow while they were young to make their lives more pleasant, instead of being overly focused on building wealth. At this point they are sitting on literally millions of dollars with no plan or need to spend any of it because they both have pensions that will cover all of their expenses and more. My dad says he really wishes his account balance was a little less and they had hired somebody to mow the lawn or done a few more spontaneous things when they were younger. It's an interesting perspective, and one I'm going to need to think about.
October
1. What are your money goals for this month?
Letting go a little bit. I will not compromise retirement, but I also need to chill out a little bit.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals?
We are traveling to see family quite a bit this month, and my job will probably be very busy. I'm going to try to focus on those things rather than money, and then see where we end the month.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month?
Asking myself, "Does this financial decision spark joy?" Yes, I've been reading Marie Kondo, and I think her "sparks joy" analysis can apply to a lot of other things in life besides decluttering and organization.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff
We have paid down more than $20,000 in principal on our debt since the beginning of the year.
2. Savings success
We have funded our Roth IRAs twice this year (in full) - we did 2014's in March because we drained our savings last fall to buy the house, and we just funded 2015's yesterday so we are caught up. Between this and the stuff we did with the house this year... we got through it, but we really bit off more than we could chew. I'm proud of what we accomplished, and I don't regret it, but I'm certainly not going to do it again.
3. Net worth watch
Still going to be negative for awhile, but we are +$6,820 for September. That's what I mean by going a little crazy with it.
GTKY Bonus
What is your greatest financial fear?
1) Dying without learning to enjoy the moment a little bit.
2) Dying with too much money because of #1.
3) Producing entitled brats for children who then fight over the stash from #2.
I'm trying to break #1 before we have kids. H and I talk a lot about how to prevent #3, but it's a real fear of mine. I see the entitlement developing in a lot of my colleagues' kids who are a bit older.
What is your dream for your financial future?
Retiring some place quiet (maybe a lake) where kids/grandkids will want to visit. Traveling 3-6 months out of the year. First goal is to get to 50 countries and also visit all 50 states. By the end of the year I should be at 9 countries, 24 states, and 2 territories (one US, one foreign). I don't count airports or drive-throughs.
September
1. What were your financial goals for the month?
Stick to our budget and finish paying off my last interest-bearing credit card.
2. Were you able accomplish them?
Yep! We ended at $28 under budget, and I'm down to one credit card that is 0% interest until March.
3. What were your greatest achievements?
Not buying things just because we wanted them, and I bought a few X-mas gifts using money from our miscellaneous line item.
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
We went a bit over on our eating out budget due to some poor planning, but we were able to make up for it in other areas.
October
1. What are your money goals for this month?
We're trying to have a no eating out month so we can put extra towards my car, and FI wants to save up for a new Xbox.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals?
I'm putting that money into savings today so it's not available in our checking account.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month?
Our goal for this month is going to be pretty challenging. I think it's really going to force us to plan ahead.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff
After the CC payment I made today, I'm down to $1800 left (started at about $7500 in June). Continued making regular payments on my car, which I should be able to start ramping up in the next month or two.
2. Savings success
Nothing except our tiny emergency fund right now since we've been attacking the CC debt.
3. Net worth watch
I'm not sure. It's in the negative due to my car and student loans.
GTKY Bonus
What is your greatest financial fear?
Having to retire with not enough in savings. We're working hard right now to prevent that!
What is your dream for your financial future?
Being able to travel as much as we want. I'd like to see a majority of the world before I die.
September
1. What were your financial goals for the month?
Cash flow trip to Nashville and some other house expenses.
2. Were you able accomplish them?
Yes. With $100 to spare.
3. What were your greatest achievements?
Being able to cash flow a lot more things than originally expected and planned.
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
Forgetting to budget in new cell phones.
October
1. What are your money goals for this month?
Getting back on track with our "a bit more frugal" budget. Give graciously at the memorial fundraiser for a scholarship they are giving in my brothers' name.
Cash flow some car maintenance.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals?
H is working insane amounts of overtime, and we're going back to our more frugal budget so we can cash flow a lot of these items without tapping into savings.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month?
Figuring out our new norm for the budget, and work toward some of our larger savings goals.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff
Done
2. Savings success
Just the amount into our sinking funds for annual expenses.
3. Net worth watch
We're at about $1.05 mil, but we will be doing some major investing this month.
GTKY Bonus
What is your greatest financial fear?
Not having enough to retire.
What is your dream for your financial future?
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
September
1. What were your financial goals for the month? Getting our financing in order for our front porch project to start, and staying on budget for my niece's birthday
2. Were you able accomplish them? Yes and no. We had a pretty big setback with the porch as mentioned in a previous thread, so we had to do some serious reworking to figure out the financing for that.
3. What were your greatest achievements? Staying on budget for all birthday/showers/etc. that came up this month. I have a tendency to go over budget with gift-giving.
4. What were your biggest downfalls? I don't know if the porch setback is considered a downfall since it was out of our control, so other than that I don't feel like we had any major downfalls.
October
1. What are your money goals for this month? NOW we are ready to get our financing in place for the porch. However we are going to try to scrimp and save a few more hundred dollars while construction is going on so we have to put as little as possible on a credit card
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals? Being super mindful of any discretionary spending. Telling each other no--haha.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month? Just seeing how much we can save for that extra porch fund when we are hyper-focused for the next few weeks during construction. It's a thrill!
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff
Not a priority, but I'm happy that H only has 2 more truck payments!
2. Savings success
No change-we moved all of our vacation and shopping savings into the porch fund to give it a little boost
3. Net worth watch
I don't keep track. 80K?
GTKY Bonus
What is your greatest financial fear? Not having enough money to pay for my care when I am elderly and alone, and ending up in a bad/mediocre nursing home.
What is your dream for your financial future? Getting our house paid off and all of our projects done; taking 3-4 trips per year; owning investment property; moving to a warmer locale
September
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?
October
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
$91,000
GTKY Bonus
What is your greatest financial fear?
What is your dream for your financial future?
September
1. What were your financial goals for the month? Figuring out DH's paychecks so that we can get set up for the rest of the year. We didn't save anything extra, but we didn't take anything out savings either, so that's a win for me.
2. Were you able accomplish them? Yes- thankfully his paycheck wasn't that much different than his previous school district even though he's going from 20 to 26 paychecks (mostly due to a small raise and different set up with union dues).
3. What were your greatest achievements? Just staying as is.
4. What were your biggest downfalls? Probably just staying as is and not preparing better.
October
1. What are your money goals for this month? Get back to saving $500/paycheck. Should be easy this month since we each get 3 paychecks.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals? Keep to our normal budget and keep DH's paychecks mostly for day care, after school, his car payment, and what he charges on his credit card (mostly gas, mid-week small grocery pick up, maybe a toiletry or something we forgot to get over the weekend).
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month? Really need to just stabilize from the summer... get back on track and saving.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff - mortgage is under $95K (4% at 15 years), Car is under $23K (0.9% for 48 months).
2. Savings success - $350 did go to 529 plans, but that's on auto withdrawl for the girls. Other than that, we didn't put anything into savings for September.
3. Net worth watch - about the same as last month because of the stock market: $319,013.
GTKY Bonus
What is your greatest financial fear? DH and I both losing our jobs at the same time. Pretty unrealistic, but I grew up pretty poor (single mom that worked in labs/eventually went to pharmacy school. She graduated from that when I was 12. We were finally done renting and she was able to buy a house, get a car that wouldn't break down all of the time) and DH's dad had a long stint of unemployment and his parents ended up declaring bankruptcy when DH was in high school. We're no where near that, but I don't want our girls to go through what DH and I went through... it's definitely made me a saver because of the way I grew up.
What is your dream for your financial future? Near future would be to move to a better school district for the girls and find a house that we feel comfortable with the mortgage and amount of work it would need. The houses in that district are usually $200K-$300K.. some needing about $100K worth of work. Further out- being able to retire at 55 to hopefully help out with grandkids and quilt more.
Another month = more financial progress! Please share your successes, reflections and ways you can improve in the coming month here:
September
1. What were your financial goals for the month? Keep paying off H's student loan, pay off the cruise we booked for November.
2. Were you able accomplish them? Pretty much. We still need to move some money around, but vacation should be paid for, and while we took a small step back from paying the student loan, when I look at the final total for the month, it feels like we didn't loose much momentum after all.
3. What were your greatest achievements? We have both been so busy at work, we really haven't had time to spend money!! Plus, I had lunches and dinners included at my work events, so no spending money on eating out or groceries during the week. I guess that's a small bonus!
4. What were your biggest downfalls? Our semi-last minute vacation and splitting $800 to upgrade our work wardrobes, but after all is said and done these now feel like good decisions.
October
1. What are your money goals for this month? Keep on keeping on!
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals? Just continue to watch our budget. Our fridge and cabinets are well stocked, so no big grocery runs are needed for a few weeks.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month? I know it's small, but I'd like to carve out an extra $100 to send to mortgage principle in addition to our student loan debt payoff.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff: $3,494.76 to H's student loan. Balance is now at about $40,900.
2. Savings success: $3,049.30 to retirement. Nothing to liquid savings.
3. Net worth watch: According to Mint, just a hair under $65,500, which I think is about the same as last month.
GTKY Bonus
What is your greatest financial fear? Losing my job. Not only do I LOVE what I do and where I work, if I stayed in the same profession it would be difficult to find a position that pays half of what I am making now. I am very, very lucky.
What is your dream for your financial future? Be completely debt free, including mortgage in the next five years. Retire around 50 and travel extensively. H will probably work forever, but he's in a technology field, so he can work from anywhere.