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.
November/December monthly check-in.
Another month = more financial progress! Please share your successes, reflections and ways you can improve in the coming month here:
November
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?
December
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
Winter is officially upon us, and many across the U.S. have already had their first brush with snow. What does winter weather consist of in your part of the country? How do you prepare, and if you're in a cold weather climate, what are your MM tips for keeping warm in the winter months?
Re: November/December monthly check-in.
November
1. What were your financial goals for the month?
Just to keep our spending in check.
2. Were you able accomplish them?
I think so. We were able to finish buying necessities for the house/yard so we can now start buying some new furniture for the house.
3. What were your greatest achievements?
Well we purchased furniture for our man cave along with a new TV. H's uncle is buying us a Bose home theatre system and I bought a regular Bose radio that he will be setting up this month. I'm glad we can start making 1 room feel like home.
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
Probably spending more money than we needed to on new Xmas décor (tree/lights), but I don't regret it
December
1. What are your money goals for this month?
Pay off Christmas décor and keep credit cards low. Keep adding to our vacation fund and savings account.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals?
Keep within the budget
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month?
Nothing other than the usual
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff- No debt
2. Savings success- We are finally back to adding to our savings account
3. Net worth watch- I don't track
GTKY Bonus
Winter is officially upon us, and many across the U.S. have already had their first brush with snow. What does winter weather consist of in your part of the country? How do you prepare, and if you're in a cold weather climate, what are your MM tips for keeping warm in the winter months?
We live in CT, so it's starting to get colder and so far we've only had 1 snow flurry. But more cold and snow will be coming...but it feels pretty mild for this time of year so far. Luckily our house is very well insulated so there are no drafts that we can feel. We have a small ranch so it's very easy and hopefully cheap to keep warm but we will find out this winter. We keep our heat at 68 during the day (we have a dog) and 66 at night. We have a fireplace but still need to get it cleaned..not sure if we'll use it this year.
November
1. What were your financial goals for the month?
Pay down student loans, stay on budget with everything, save some in the car replacement fund.
2. Were you able accomplish them?
Yes. We did $2514 to student loans and came in about $85 under for the month because of low fuel prices. We're up to $1100 in the car replacement fund.
3. What were your greatest achievements?
$2500 is always our goal amount to go towards SLs, so it was great to hit that. We also did a Christmas gift sinking fund that we funded in October and November, so that has really helped with cashflow now.
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
Being sickly? I had a $163 medical bill this month and we found out DH had been billed incorrectly all year at the chiropractor, so we'll probably have another $150 or so due to the chiropractor. And more medical bills for me probably next month.
December
1. What are your money goals for this month?
With property tax on our vehicles and the medical bills due in December, I think our goal for SLs is probably $2100. We haven't actually finished the budget yet because we were out of town and haven't had a chance yet, so we'll get the real #s in there tonight.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals?
Stick with the budget and only spend what we've planned to spend. We need clothes, so that's what we asked for from family for xmas and we're each getting each other jeans as a present.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month?
Nothing different from normal, just minimize all variable spending to maximize debt payoff.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff: Current balance $21,610. Down from $55,421 when we got married in October 2014. Had to push back our expected payoff to August '16 after recent car maintenance and medical costs.
2. Savings success: $1100 in car replacement fund. Still sitting at $2000 in the efund until we finish the debt payoff.
3. Net worth watch: Currently about -5800. Should be positive by March!
GTKY Bonus
Winter is officially upon us, and many across the U.S. have already had their first brush with snow. What does winter weather consist of in your part of the country? How do you prepare, and if you're in a cold weather climate, what are your MM tips for keeping warm in the winter months?
Winter is very cold in the midwest and we usually get about 3 big snow/ice storms and a few more smaller storms, but all the almanac knowledge points to it being a heavy snow and ice year. My mom just gave us a bunch of window weatherizing kits that she wasn't planning on using this year. We only have two windows and a sliding glass door (which leads to balcony & storage unit) in our apartment, so we'll probably just cover the two windows. We keep the heat low and just use sweaters and blankets.
November
1. What were your financial goals for the month? Save $500/paycheck for November
2. Were you able accomplish them? Yes- $2,000 total went to savings last month
3. What were your greatest achievements? Just getting back on track with savings so that we can fully fund our Roth IRA accounts in 2016.
4. What were your biggest downfalls? N/A
December
1. What are your money goals for this month? Save $500/paycheck, pay off the sewer repair bill, add $1,000 to vacation fund, enjoy the holidays with family
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals? auto withdrawl for savings, last payment for sewer bill is scheduled for December 7th, $1,000 to vacation fund comes from our healthy reward dollars we get from our health insurance company, and taking 10 days off to spend time with DH and the girls (including going through the basement, girls' toys, closets, etc).
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month? Stick to what we've been doing- DH has been taking a lot of extra courses with his school district so his paycheck has been consistently higher every other week. That helps us hit our goals without much trouble.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff - Mortgage (15 yr at 4.0% - balance is $93,661), Car Loan (48 months at 0.9% - balance is $21,838), Sewer (0.0% credit card - balance is $700 - last payment!).
2. Savings success - $2,000 went to savings for November, $2,000 more for December.
3. Net worth watch - $336,786
GTKY Bonus
Winter is officially upon us, and many across the U.S. have already had their first brush with snow. What does winter weather consist of in your part of the country? How do you prepare, and if you're in a cold weather climate, what are your MM tips for keeping warm in the winter months?
We actually haven't had any snow yet which is pretty crazy. We're in the NE so we get a lot of snow. The biggest thing is staying on top of it- DH snow blows and we shovel off our porch every snowfall so that it doesn't get damaged (wood porch). I work from home as much as I can if I know it's going to be bad out and DH has an all wheel drive vehicle for his commute. We keep the house at 67 all the time- we bundle up and make the best of the cold weather. Take the girls to museums (children's, science, and maybe we'll try our local art museum this year) and we use the art space in the basement and they've been really into games and puzzles lately. The goal is to keep them entertained as much as we can since we can't go outside a lot.
November
1. What were your financial goals for the month?
Pay off our final student loan and move in to our new house, and buy all the things we needed with cash.
2. Were you able accomplish them?
Well, I did pay off the last student loan! But our move got pushed back, so all the house stuff will be Dec.
3. What were your greatest achievements?
Not going crazy when our move kept getting pushed back! Not really financial lol
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
Spending too much on food out since everything was packed up
December
1. What are your money goals for this month?
Keep within a budget as much as possible, even though it's xmas present time and we have to buy a ton of stuff for our new house
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals?
Trying not to go too crazy
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month?
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff - paid off 3200 to fully pay off student loans
2. Savings success - ehh.. december we'll save a lot since we're getting money back from our house being sold, november, no.
3. Net worth watch
like negative 260k- yay new mortgage! but no other debt, so yah..
GTKY Bonus
Winter is officially upon us, and many across the U.S. have already had their first brush with snow. What does winter weather consist of in your part of the country? How do you prepare, and if you're in a cold weather climate, what are your MM tips for keeping warm in the winter months?
We never get colder than 30 degrees and that's usually middle of the night. I just wear scarves and jackets and gloves. No snow here.
November
1. What were your financial goals for the month? Were you able accomplish them?
2. What were your greatest achievements?
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
December
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
Winter is officially upon us, and many across the U.S. have already had their first brush with snow. What does winter weather consist of in your part of the country? How do you prepare, and if you're in a cold weather climate, what are your MM tips for keeping warm in the winter months?
Sucky. We have already had two major snow storms bringing in over 2-3 feet of snow each time. It's crazy though, we live in Colorado and in the same city the weather is drastically different. One half will be cold with no snow and the other half (usually ours) will have 3 feet. We don't change our thermostat much during the winter (set at 65), but we did buy an entertainment stand with a fire place in it a few years ago and it helps keep our living room warm for really cheap.
November
1. What were your financial goals for the month?
Cash flow some Christmas gifts and get the grocery budget under control,
2. Were you able accomplish them?
Christmas gifts were a success, but groceries was not. Granted we hosted Thanksgiving and that didn't help. But I was really hoping to come in less than we did for groceries. But really, $500 for groceries and toiletries for us for the month and hosting Thanksgiving, isn't bad.
3. What were your greatest achievements?
I did amazing with the grocery budget for the first few weeks of the month. We used a lot of the stuff in the pantry and freezer, and I did great at meal planning.
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
The week of Thanksgiving was a dud with the grocery budget. We needed a lot of groceries for us, along with everything for Thanksgiving. I ended up spending $300 for all of that. Which really isn't bad, but was more than I was planning to spend. And we didn't even go crazy with stuff. It was just necessities and stuff for hosting.
I don't know how some of you get by with $300-400/month in groceries. We would eat nothing. Granted we don't eat out much, but still.
December
1. What are your money goals for this month?
Grocery budget.....again. It's kicking my ass.
H is also going to take off between Christmas and New Years, and is going to have every Friday off this month. So it means budgeting without his overtime income.
We also want to cash flow finishing the garage.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals?
H helped his grandpa sell a car, and he has another one to sell as well. His cut on this past one was $500. The next one might be $1,000. That will go toward finishing the garage.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month?
Getting the grocery budget under control, and being savvy with Christmas gifts. I'm finding deals on sentimental items for the grandmas, and am hoping to make our dollar go as far as possible with it.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff
No debt
2. Savings success
Just our regular sinking funds.
3. Net worth watch
Just an increase of $350 into H's 401k. We will start the rest of our investing in Janary.
GTKY Bonus
Winter is officially upon us, and many across the U.S. have already had their first brush with snow. What does winter weather consist of in your part of the country? How do you prepare, and if you're in a cold weather climate, what are your MM tips for keeping warm in the winter months?
Winter here sucks! We live in rural northern Illinois. So roads are drifted shut often, and it's always windy with windchills in the -20 to -50 degrees. I hate winter!
We use a eco friendly space heater in our living room to help keep it warm in the room we're in, and set the thermostat lower. We also have a wood fireplace that we use often.
It's our first winter with DD, so we have the thermostat set to 70 since she isn't supposed to sleep with blankets yet.
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
November
1. What were your financial goals for the month?
Take it easy and stop flipping out about money.
2. Were you able accomplish them?
Yep - it was nice.
3. What were your greatest achievements?
Mental peace.
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
Didn't really have any.
December
1. What are your money goals for this month?
Same as before. Hopefully hit bonus, though at this point that ship has sailed so I either have or I haven't. I'll find out in a couple weeks.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals?
N/A
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month?
Don't really have plans to change anything.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff - ours is on autopay. Total outstanding balance is $3,874 less than last month.
2. Savings success - added $3,939 to savings.
3. Net worth watch - up by $7,813
GTKY Bonus
Winter is officially upon us, and many across the U.S. have already had their first brush with snow. What does winter weather consist of in your part of the country? How do you prepare, and if you're in a cold weather climate, what are your MM tips for keeping warm in the winter months?
Well yesterday we had a high of 72, and we were in shorts over the weekend. I absolutely despise cold weather, so I'm happy that it's brief here. We usually get one or two days of snow/ice in late January or early February, but other than that it's fairly mild. Also, I definitely do not turn the heat down to the 60's. Our house stays at 74 throughout the winter, and I don't really care if we would save a few bucks by turning it down.
November
1. What were your financial goals for the month?
- get Christmas stuff bought and done
2. Were you able accomplish them?
- mostly yes. I am just needing to buy 2 gift cards plus some goodies, since I bake for people also
3. What were your greatest achievements?
- saving more than I thought!!
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
- Spending more than anticipated
December
1. What are your money goals for this month?
- if I can, I'd love to pay off credit card
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals?
- extra savings towards it
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month?
- buy less.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff
- almost there on credit card, then moving half of it to savings, other half to student loans
2. Savings success
- in a year from now, we can house hunt!
3. Net worth watch![:\](https://thenest.vanillacommunities.com/resources/emoji/confused.png ":\")
- not sure
GTKY Bonus
What does winter weather consist of in your part of the country?
- shitty snow and freezing rain. lol
How do you prepare, and if you're in a cold weather climate, what are your MM tips for keeping warm in the winter months?
- i really bundle up and try to stay inside. We tend to save more during winter as we don't go out as much. We don't pay for heat in our apartment but we already keep it at 68-70 degrees to keep an eye for when we buy a house and have to pay heat. {we also plan to get a "nest" system that can adjust automatically so we're saving long term}
November
1. What were your financial goals for the month?
Finish the construction on my duplex and stop taking money out of my HELOC for it by mid month.
2. Were you able accomplish them?
Mostly, not quite. Construction isn't done, but it is almost done. Maybe another week? I was able to stop taking money out of my HELOC by mid-month. Woo-hoo! Officially in payback mode.
3. What were your greatest achievements?
This is more a greatest achievement from over the last few months, but I actually ended up cash flowing more of our construction costs than I expected. My balance on the HELOC is $7K less than I was expecting it to be at completion.
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
My biggest downfall wasn't too bad, but I ended up needing to replace both my laptop and my Xbox (used as DVR) this month. Definitely unexpected expenses that put me back $650 total.
December
1. What are your money goals for this month?
Get tenants for my new duplex.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals?
Finally finish construction is the main thing! Than the typical advertising and boatloads of showings. I'll also be seeing a real estate attorney (hopefully) within the next couple weeks to get a lease template drawn up to replace my...ahem...slapdash internet version.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month?
Back to funneling excess income toward paying down my HELOC.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff
Car paid off in November, but really I paid it off with my HELOC just to consolidate things. Now my only real debts are my two mortgages and the HELOC. Paid $900 on the HELOC a couple weeks ago and will be paying down another $1500 this week.
2. Savings success
$500 more than usual, though I'm not focusing on savings at this time.
3. Net worth watch
I only track the big stuff (houses, car, bank accounts, cash), not that bank accounts or cash are very big at the moment lol, so about the same. Around +$280K
GTKY Bonus
Winter is officially upon us, and many across the U.S. have already had their first brush with snow. What does winter weather consist of in your part of the country? How do you prepare, and if you're in a cold weather climate, what are your MM tips for keeping warm in the winter months?
Right now, winter consists of still using the a/c, lol. But, like @hoffse, I'm also in the South. NOLA makes national news when it snows here. It happens every once in a great while. It snowed a little for one day in the first 3/5 winters I lived here, but now there hasn't been snow in the last 8-9 years.
For those of you who live in colder climates, you all would get a kick out of New Orleanians when it does snow. It's like we all turn into happy 5-year-olds and the whole city smiles for a few hours. Grown men and women leave their office buildings in the middle of a workday to go through snowballs at each other. People stare endlessly out their office windows in wonder.
But, most of the time, as it starts to get more into December and then into January, it usually hangs out in the high 30s/low 40s. Pretty cold, but not crazy cold. Unfortunately, our humidity turns it into a wet cold. I use gas heating and also have an electric fireplace that is also a large space heater. My energy bills are highest in the summer, but next highest in the winter. We dress warmly inside and use blankets, but don't mind paying more to keep the heat at a good level.
November
1. What were your financial goals for the month?
Stay the course but with hosting Thanksgiving expect a higher spending month.
2. Were you able accomplish them? We did pretty well.
It was a strong BnB month and that was a big help.
3. What were your greatest achievements?
Keeping TDay dinner in budget. We couponed and went to 3 stores (all in the same shopping center) to get the best deals. We also got 5 days of meals out of Thanksgiving food (turkey soup, yum!)--no waste there!
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
Sigh. We have his, hers and ours budgets. I kept my nose out of H's personal finances until now. I found out he has not been MM and has created cc debt. We used family savings to pay the cc debt and he will pay that account back now instead of paying interest on the cc.
December
1. What are your money goals for this month?
Stay the course.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals?
Need to get some BnB money to pay for travel expenses over the next couple of months. We will buckle down on all spending this month in case the extra money doesn't come through.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month?
H and I talked about how he needs to be making more money specifically by taking initiative with side hustles. He signed up for Postmates and Uber yesterday. I hope that helps him with his current debt situation and that our talk about finances has lit a fire under him to be more MM.
GTKY
We get 3-6 snowstorms of 2-4" each. We make sure the cars are in shape for winter to prepare for snow. To help with the cold (polar vortex the last couple of years) we keep a sweater on the dog and socks when she goes out in the worst of it. Thermostat is 65 most of the time. I try to keep active around the house with cleaning, etc during the weekends to keep my body temperature up or if it is relaxing time then I have warm socks, fuzzy pants and a blanket on while I cuddle with the dog.
November
1. What were your financial goals for the month?
Stick to the budget, and find a different job.
2. Were you able accomplish them?
Mostly. We were a little over on the budget. I was offered a job at one company, but I turned it down in favor of a different independent contractor position that pays more. My old manager told me he's waiting to hear from an HR manager to see if he can rehire me, but the corporate offices shut down during the holidays. So I don't think I'll hear back until early next year.
3. What were your greatest achievements?
Finding a new job?
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
Going a little over budget. But I needed to get a new base for our bed because the one we had was killing my back.
December
1. What are your money goals for this month?
Auto pay toward debt (already paid today). Continue sticking to the budget.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals?
I've finished a software development program I was in, so school expenses will decrease by $180 this month. I also get half of my tuition back for finishing it in less that a year, so that will go to savings (debt only has 2 more payments and is 0% interest).
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month?
I'd been spending too much on coffee while studying, so I'm going to definitely decrease that. Also, put extra into savings.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff
2 more payments on my credit card. Then I can save more to put towards my car.
2. Savings success
Nada while paying off debt.
3. Net worth watch
I don't watch it.
GTKY Bonus
Winter is officially upon us, and many across the U.S. have already had their first brush with snow. What does winter weather consist of in your part of the country? How do you prepare, and if you're in a cold weather climate, what are your MM tips for keeping warm in the winter months?
She's so cold all the time and won't sleep if she's cold. We tried having it set at 66 one night. She was up constantly just wanting to warm up against you.
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
November
1. What were your financial goals for the month?
Ours switched half way through the month. We learned DH may be losing his job in January or March/April when his company possibly has 2 more rounds of layoffs coming. So we were just paying extra on the mortgage, and we are now trying to save as much as possible.
2. Were you able accomplish them?
Yes, we were able to add a little more to our savings this past month.
3. What were your greatest achievements?
none
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
potential job loss- so preparing as much as possible just in case.
December
1. What are your money goals for this month? save as much as possible extra in our e-fund
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals? We cut about everything extra from our budget. If we eat out, it will be because we had a leftover balance from last month, or we use our pocket money for it.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month? We are able to put $1000-1500 in our e fund this month. $ that doesnt get spent this month will probably also go in there.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff- have about 20k saved to pay towards the mortgage when the job situation feels more stable, until then paying as a 15 year mortgage.
2. Savings success- goal is to save an extra $5k by end of January for our e fund. We should make this as DH gets an extra paycheck in January (so long as he isn't let go the beginning of the month)
3. Net worth watch
GTKY Bonus
Winter is officially upon us, and many across the U.S. have already had their first brush with snow. What does winter weather consist of in your part of the country? How do you prepare, and if you're in a cold weather climate, what are your MM tips for keeping warm in the winter months?
We keep the thermostat set at 68 (Texas). We generally aren't super cold, but we use blankets and our fireplace a lot when it is cold out.
November
1. What were your financial goals for the month? I don't remember what I said our goals were, ha! I'm going to say, settling our porch expenses and getting into a payment routine, and not overspending when we traveled for Thanksgiving.
2. Were you able accomplish them? No-it seems our porch will never, ever be completed. The good news is that we haven't paid a dime for it yet; the bad news is it's making it hard to budget when it's hanging in the air. Also, we spent too much over Thanksgiving vacation.
3. What were your greatest achievements? H's truck loan paid off, and he is putting that amount directly into his 401K. We just raised his contribution from 5% to 14%. I am elated!!!
4. What were your biggest downfalls? Spending too much over vacation; we went to the grocery store several times to pick up items for H's MIL (snacks and stuff that we like) and I also spent too much on Stitch Fix this month
December
1. What are your money goals for this month? Nothing major; adjust to our new budget with H's higher 401K% contribution (although it's not really new since that amount used to be a truck loan, it's just changing when/where we see the money) and also adjust the budget so I am ready to increase my Roth IRA contribution starting in January. Stay on budget for Christmas.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals? Set a gift budget for each person and stick to it; avoid eating out at all this month since we have several holiday parties to take advantage of.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month? I am going to try to finish all of my Christmas shopping just using gift cards and cash back bonuses.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff-Truck is paid off! Happy dance! Everything else, just paying as usual. Not in debt payoff mode.
2. Savings success-Just regular automatic savings
3. Net worth watch-I don't monitor this
GTKY Bonus
Winter is officially upon us, and many across the U.S. have already had their first brush with snow. What does winter weather consist of in your part of the country? How do you prepare, and if you're in a cold weather climate, what are your MM tips for keeping warm in the winter months?
Winter here sucks! It's extremely cold, and windy, and snowy, and did I mention cold? We've already had a couple of snowstorms--not major ones, but enough to leave a few inches of snow on the ground. We try to keep our house cool to save on heating (66 during the day, 60 at night). I use an electric blanket to cuddle up while watching TV. We also have a few of those electric radiator heaters that we move around the house as needed, but we don't use them very often.
1st bolded: Definitely!!! A large tax return generally means the taxpayer gave the US Gov't. an interest free loan all year. You don't want to do that, keep that money for yourself!
2nd bolded: A relatively easy way to knock one year off of a 5-year car loan is to make two extra payments per year. Except they don't have to be all at once. Whatever that amount is can be broken down by 12 and then just add that much more to each payment. I realize you aren't at the beginning of your loans, but you can use a similar strategy to figure out how to cut one year off each car loan by paying a bit extra on the loans each month.
You can also do this by making bi-weekly payments (assuming you get paid bi-weekly) because you would get paid 26 times per year which equates to 13 months of payments.
November
1. What were your financial goals for the month? Keep plugging away at the student loan. Stay on or under budget during our Thanksgiving vacation.
2. Were you able accomplish them? Yes! We spent a pretty big chunk of change going to Disney World and then on accommodations, food and other activities during our 4 days in Orlando, but we off-set by spending very little during the cruise. We avoided all cruise-line excursions and explored all of the stops on our own - two for free, and at the last we spent $50 on transportation around the island and to the beach. Our bonus on our cruise package was all you could drink - which was nice, but something we decided we would never pay for.
3. What were your greatest achievements? We also closed on our refinance mid-month, which meant that we don't have a mortgage payment due until Jan. 1. Because of this, we were able to take the funds already allocated for our December mortgage payment and put those toward the student loan.
4. What were your biggest downfalls? Nothing this month. When we vacation, we don't deprive ourselves of any want, but we do tend to make smart decisions regardless.
December
1. What are your money goals for this month? Surpass $75,000 in retirement savings (we're less than $500 away now, so that should be no problem) and end the year with a "2" as the first digit on the student loan (this is a bit of a stretch goal).
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals? Throw every extra dollar we can at the student loan, including any Christmas money from the parents as well as an extra paycheck in December.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month? We are increasing H's work IRA contribution from 5-10%. He's a little more nervous than I am, but in our current bracket, we need to find as many ways as possible to reduce our taxable income.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff: $4,408.31 to H's student loan. Balance is now at about $33,400.
2. Savings success: $3,030.27 to retirement. We only keep a bare bones liquid e-fund of $1,000.
3. Net worth watch: According to Mint, and depending on how the market does that day, we're hoovering right around $80,000. Gains this month from debt payments and retirement contributions were offset a little due to closing costs of our new mortgage.
GTKY Bonus
Winter is officially upon us, and many across the U.S. have already had their first brush with snow. What does winter weather consist of in your part of the country? How do you prepare, and if you're in a cold weather climate, what are your MM tips for keeping warm in the winter months?
The winter climate in Kansas City is pretty unpredictable - with the exception that it always deems grey and dreary - but maybe that's because of daylight savings time I go to work in the dark and get home in the dark! Here it seems you can have a day with a windchill of -5 degrees and then the next it'll warm up near 60. We usually get a few snow storms typically in January/February, although the week of my March wedding we had a foot on the ground and my hospital had two snow-days for non-critical personnel.
We keep our house at 67 while we're here and awake, and 65 at night and during the day. In reading everyone else's posts, that seems on the low to typical side, but I've always thought it pretty warm! But we're blanket people and use them while on the computer or sitting on the couch, even in the summer.
Aside from our programmable thermostat and new (in 2014) HVAC system, we don't do anything additional to save money on heat. I've wanted to re-insulate the attic, but our gas bill is less than $65 a month, so it doesn't seem worth it.
November
1. What were your financial goals for the month?
To stay on track on a slightly tighter budget. My husband took a paycut for 8-9 months while he is in training for a job that will yield him much happiness (and money!). We are two months down now, my goal is to just stay the course and not touch our savings for any regular expenses. The odds that we have to touch our savings for a vet bill or car maintenance are a bit higher now since there isn't as much cashflow wiggle room but I still have a decent sinking fund for each category.
2. Were you able accomplish them?
Yes we didn't have to touch savings. Luckily H also ended up with 8 hours of holiday pay + 8 hours at time and a half on veterans day due to a mixup (he isn't suppose to work holidays) and worked a 50 hours week so we ended up with a few hundred extra dollars. We would have been okay otherwise, but now christmas is set.
3. What were your greatest achievements?
I set a grocery budget for 200 lower than my typical budget (it was 800 - I realize that is extreme but I am a foodie and do a ton of cooking and baking and buy mostly organic. Some months I spent 850-900). I ended up spending $656, so $56 over. Which isn't bad considering I cooked quite a bit for thanksgiving & hosted 4 friends for dinner. I hope to someday get it lower, but I'm not too willing to compromise variety/quality/amount of food so for now I am happy I have got it down. It was also the first full month we didn't have a CSA share since June and I was able to save 150-200 more on groceries compared to the summer when I had my produce prepaid.
4. What were your biggest downfalls?
Not really any big downfalls. I spent a lot of money on winter outwear on cyber monday but it had to happen at some point in the next month or so, and 50% made it worth it now.
December
1. What are your money goals for this month?
Stick to the plan. I don't anticipate overtime for my husband so money will be tight. Income will equal expenses with almost no wiggle room. He has amazing hours right now, so we are focusing on time as a perk to less money. I am hoping to stick to my $600 grocery budget even though I will be doing a lot of holiday baking. I also need to be careful with christmas - I find it easy to go overboard with shopping but we don't have the wiggle room this year.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals?
For the grocery bill - I'm going to stick to Novembers plan:
Doing my main shopping at Market Basket with supplemental shopping at Trader Joes. Whole Foods only if it is an ingredient I can't find anywhere else.
Eat through some of my food in the freezer.
I have eliminated almost all processed foods for myself. I have made all our bread for two months now and have made crackers a couple of times. I will still buy H crackers or snacks for work but I have been having bread or sweet potatos instead of crackers with my lunches. I'm super picky about my ingredients and spending $5 on cracker is ridiculous.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month?
Last month I was able to update YNAB every three days, this month my goal is every 1-2. Otherwise, there just isn't much that we can do to change our financial picture right now. If this was a permanent paycut for my husband we could do things like move to a cheaper apartment, eat cheaper, and cut out fun money - but it's just not feasible and/or necessary given the end date.
Status of Ongoing Goals
1. Debt payoff
just student loans right now. I was paying an extra $400/month but had to go back down to the minimum payment on the 25 year plan for right now. By the summer I hope to put 400-500 more each month.
2. Savings success
Unfortunately no. I just keep reminding myself it's temporary! We did set aside money that goes into savings for a car downpayment & for our insurance payment in the summer but no "extra" savings.
3. Net worth watch
Don't track it.
GTKY Bonus
Winter is officially upon us, and many across the U.S. have already had their first brush with snow. What does winter weather consist of in your part of the country? How do you prepare, and if you're in a cold weather climate, what are your MM tips for keeping warm in the winter months?
I'm in New England so winter is all too real here. I'm not a fan. I just ordered new winter coats, put the snow shovel, blanket, and scraper back in the car, and thats about it. When storms start getting forecast we will get a few gallons of water & double check flashlights/candles. We have a strangely warm apartment (we have our window open every night and we havent used the heat yet, but it is often in the 20's overnight). In our last apartment it was so cold, I used a space heater because it was better to have concentrated heat than pay to heat the whole place with ineffeicient windows.
Late to this one. Been busy lately. Last month someone mentioned an app called "every dollar". I decided for Nov to be the first month of me using it. I like how you can visually see where you are at in every category assuming you input it on a regular basis. I try and do it on Sundays each week. Before I was just adding up the receipts at the end of every month to see where we were at.
November
1. What were your financial goals for the month? Just to stay on track with our goals which right now its our slow time so not much extra goes to savings
I had a goal to keep eating out to $150 and clothing to $200 knowing there would be some deals this month I would take advantage of. Keep household items to $120 and Groceries to $450
2. Were you able accomplish them? Somewhat. We went over groceries by $27 because we ran out of our ground beef chunks we got from a cow earlier in the year. We were only over by $1 on household items. Stayed on track with eating out. But went over in the clothing by $49 - ugh I splurged too much with all the deals this month.
3. What were your greatest achievements? Keeping in track with eating out. Yea! It was our biggest downfall. Also scoring a great health plan with BCBS with a premium of only $90 per month. Just saved us $80 in premiums every month.
4. What were your biggest downfalls? Clothing - what can I say
December
1. What are your money goals for this month? This is our tightest month so it will be tricky. Pretty much pay our bills and for sure not go over on any category in the budget.
2. How do you plan to be successful in your goals? Keep track with this new app is really helping me out.
3. How do you plan to improve or challenge yourself financially this month? Basically not do any shopping but what is for xmas that we have already saved extra for to spend on gifts. I personally would like to book a couple gigs this month just so I can get a few extra dollars in savings and retirement. I need to make our remaining contributions to Fidelity before the end of the year and also calculate all of our HSA costs before the end of the month for taxes.