Money Matters
als1982
member
Dear Community,
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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.
January/February monthly check-in
The first month of 2017 is already in the books! Let's see how we're doing on our money goals for the year so far...
January
What were your financial goals for the month and were you able to accomplish them?
February
What are your financial goals for the month and how will you accomplish them?
Status of Ongoing Goals
What are your short, middle and/or long term goals, and what are you doing to accomplish them?
GTKY Bonus: Seasonal
Do you celebrate Valentine's Day? And if so, how do you show love to your spouse, kids, friends and/or co-workers?
HeartlandHustle | Personal Finance and Betterment Blog
Re: January/February monthly check-in
In February I'd like to get quotes for short term disability and lock something in on that end. I also like to get our taxes done towards the end of the month. It would be awesome to get at least 1 renter for our music room for extra cash flow but that may be a bit hard to do in the winter months. I also need to buy a couple funds in my IRA.
Our ongoing goals are status quo. I need to put more money into our efund to get it back to where it was. I really want to save more for home improvements so I hope to get there more so in March when I start getting into my busy season.
Next weekend on Friday DH and DD are going to a daddy/daughter dance. On Saturday MIL will have DD and go to her Vday dance party at her dance studio and DH and I will celebrate Vday early. I want to go out to dinner and catch the new 50 shades movie. We don't really do huge gifts for this holiday. Cards and something small.
January
What were your financial goals for the month and were you able to accomplish them?
We had a lot of one-time expenses in January so our goal was just to pay those without losing ground or touching savings. We were successful! We were also working on our communication vis a vis credit card use. I've stopped using them at all, but H prefers to use them in certain situations (gas stations in the sketchy part of town where he works, for example) for security reasons so we had to come up with a better system for dealing with that. It's going well and our overall spending has decreased from when we used them for all expenses.
February
What are your financial goals for the month and how will you accomplish them?
I am now 39 weeks so the baby could be coming any time. Major goals are on pause for this month, and probably for my maternity leave. I will be drawing my full paycheck amount for most of February, so any "extra" after our bare bones expenses will go into a temporary savings account to help pad things when I switch to drawing STD (it's a state program in RI, so it starts once they process the paperwork, which usually takes about three weeks, and it'll be a little over half of my normal income). We've also budgeted a lot extra for groceries and takeout between guests and me presumably being very hungry. We will be cloth diapering so that's all set and paid for, but I do expect a big water bill increase.
Status of Ongoing Goals
What are your short, middle and/or long term goals, and what are you doing to accomplish them?
Short Term: Pay cash for L&D bills. That should be all set but we'll see when the bill comes in! I anticipate an insurance battle because I usually have them for everything.
Medium Term: Refinance into 15 year and/or savings for exterior painting, electrician work, and 2018 vacation
Long Term: Max out retirement accounts and college savings accounts
GTKY Bonus: Seasonal
Do you celebrate Valentine's Day? And if so, how do you show love to your spouse, kids, friends and/or co-workers?
We are off to a good start. The goal of putting a budget in place is accomplished. It is still a little loose and may firm up over the next few months. We had a fair month for spending. We accomplished our monthly savings target but I honestly thought we would do better, part of that is related to our mortgage escrow not getting adjusted down yet. The $300 we got over the weekend from BnB was a nice add to our savings total.
February
We have a monthly savings target and if our mortgage/escrow is adjusted this month I think we will hit it. Expenses will be helped by H being on a business trip and doing Mystery Shops for 3 meals out.
Goals
We have a target for building savings each month. Part of this money will be used for our "2017 big purchases" and then we want to have $5,000 at the end of the year to start our new car fund. We are managing spending to meet these goals.
Long term is to retire early. We are putting a lot into retirement to meet that goal.
Bonus
We don't do much to celebrate Valentine's Day. I think it is a made up holiday and am not gung ho about it. But I do have decorations up, will wear red (and Valentine's socks), and will exchange cards with H and my BFF. Sometimes H gets me a small gift like a pastry. Last year I made some cookies I knew he would like. If Qdoba does their BOGO special again this year we will probably go there and kiss in the store to get our free burrito.
So... I haven't been completely forthright on this board about our primary money goals the past few months... We've actually been stocking away cash for H to leave his current job and start his own company. In total, we saved about $15K for start up costs plus an additional 8-10 months of bare bones expenses in an emergency fund. And today is the day he will be giving them his two week notice!!
February. What are your financial goals for the month and how will you accomplish them?
Since getting married, we've always lived on one income, putting the other to savings or debt repayment. But there's always been a safety net of knowing we could dip into the second salary. This is the first month we won't have that, so we will need to stick to a strict budget and eliminate any unnecessary expenses until he has income coming in.
Status of Ongoing Goals. What are your short, middle and/or long term goals, and what are you doing to accomplish them?
Short is to keep maxing out retirement. Mine is set but we'll need to figured out H's now that he'll be self employed.
Medium is to have the house paid off by 2019 (stretch goal).
Then in the next five years, we'd like to be FI and semi-retired living seasonally in both KS and FL.
GTKY Bonus: Seasonal. Do you celebrate Valentine's Day? And if so, how do you show love to your spouse, kids, friends and/or co-workers?
Nope. I was single for too many years!
January
What were your financial goals for the month and were you able to accomplish them?
Stick to the budget. I haven't totaled up the expenses for January but I think we did ok other than in groceries...but we'll make for that this month and next. We also contributed the last $1,500 to my IRA. And we have enough cash on hand to pay the remaining deposit for our Norway trip.
February
What are your financial goals for the month and how will you accomplish them?
Continue to save my paycheck and try to save $5,500 before April 15th so we can make a 2016 contribution to a Roth IRA for DH.
Status of Ongoing Goals
What are your short, middle and/or long term goals, and what are you doing to accomplish them?
Short - Save up $5,500 before April 15th for DH's Roth IRA.
Middle - Continue to work on our secondary savings which will probably turn into a house downpayment for 2018.
Longterm - Continue to contribute the max amount allowable to our tax advantaged retirement accounts.
GTKY Bonus: Seasonal
Do you celebrate Valentine's Day? And if so, how do you show love to your spouse, kids, friends and/or co-workers?
No, not really. I had a boyfriend in HS who constantly went overboard. DH and I are pretty low-key about it and don't really do anything to celebrate other than silly cards.
@Xstatic3333 - 39 weeks already!? Time has flown. I'm sure you are ready to get baby out.
January
What were your financial goals for the month and were you able to accomplish them?
We have found a financial advisor that we clicked with right away, and now we're making decisions about life insurance (finally). Another goal was to aggressively pay down our car loan, and we sat down and made a plan of how to do so. As far as budgeting, we haven't improved at that yet. But it's only January.
February
What are your financial goals for the month and how will you accomplish them?
Make a final decision on life & LTD insurance, work on budgeting, switch our HSA vendor. We decided that we're going to DIY our kitchen renovation (with professional help for a couple things beyond our scope) and we need to decide on a budget because H is ready to get started. But I'm concerned that one thing will lead to another and before you know it we'll be 10k into it with more to go...
Status of Ongoing Goals
What are your short, middle and/or long term goals, and what are you doing to accomplish them?
Short: ensure that we are financially secure (talking to financial advisor, purchasing life ins, making a more formal retirement plan, etc.)
Middle: Home improvement with the goal of having the house in shape for an appraisal toward the end of this year, so we can try to get rid of the darn PMI!!
Long: super long term goal is retirement, and we're taking steps now to ensure we can retire comfortably.
GTKY Bonus: Seasonal
Do you celebrate Valentine's Day? And if so, how do you show love to your spouse, kids, friends and/or co-workers?
H and I usually exchange cards and do something in lieu of gifts. Last year we went to a B&B but we're probably going to stay home this year. We haven't really talked about it yet.January
January's goal was to try living on just my husband's income as a dry run for the unpaid portion of my maternity leave. I'm calling it a moderately successful trial but we could still do a little better. We had a bunch of large annual bills in January so while I didn't technically move my entire paycheck into the savings account, I also didn't drain those sinking funds (so they'll still be there for next year), was able to cash-flow those big expenses, AND still save double what we normally do in a month. My husband did so awesome and didn't buy anymore board games and finally played some he still had in the packaging! We also reduced our take-out/restaurant spending by 75% which I'm pleased with - we still enjoyed a few planned dates and events with friends, but we didn't succumb to laziness and order pizzas because we were just tired. All of our restaurant spending was pre-planned and savored! If you exclude the expected annual bills and the OT my husband earned this month we're looking at anywhere from $500-$1,000 short during my unpaid months (depending on irregular, but expected expenses like vet bills, oil changes, etc) which we have more than saved up for so I'm much more relaxed.
February
February is to keep our restaurant spending at its new level, and finish planning out some home repairs. Our first quote for new front stairs was significantly more than we were anticipating so we're getting a few more to see if we were unrealistic in our expectations. Hopefully I'll be able to actually move my entire paycheck (or at least most of it) into savings this month since the big annual bills are out of the way.
Status of Ongoing Goals
Short - save up $40k in liquid savings by baby time and so far we're on track. Also figure out the maternity leave situation (still waiting to find out if my request for 6 months is approved). My husband can also take 3 months with a significant portion of it paid (due to accrued sick time plus 2 weeks paid paternity) if my request is denied so we at least can plan that the baby won't go to daycare until s/he's 6 months old.
Middle - finalize our college savings strategy and begin funneling money to those accounts. Continue saving up for our next car since we know we'll need something larger after we have our second kid in hopefully 2019. The Impreza is great for now, but 2 car seats and an 85 pound dog just aren't all going to fit down the road. Also hopefully remodel our kitchen in the summer of 2018.
Long - just keep plugging along on retirement.
GTKY Bonus: Seasonal
We don't go nuts - usually just cards and a date night at home. It is one of the few times a year my husband typically buys me flowers. I don't care if it's cliche I LOVE fresh cut flowers (in the summer I have them all over my house) and he indulges me even though he thinks they are stupid and wasteful. That's love right there
January
Just staying the course in terms of working on building up savings. Also, a small goal of not buying lunch during the week for the entire month, and that was accomplished. I had been buying a lot of lunches in December and it was really starting to add up. I think I'm going to continue on in February, except for maybe going out to eat on Fridays. We'll see there.
February
Again just staying the course on building up savings. Also, we received our property tax bill and it went up quite a bit, which we were expecting, although we didn't know how much. So, we will need to pay some cash into the escrow in the next few months to cover it.
Status of Ongoing Goals
See above, only real goal is building up savings as much as possible.
GTKY Bonus: Seasonal
No, not really. H will be out of town. My work is doing a potluck with a "perfect pairs" theme, ie peanut butter and jelly, cheese and wine, etc. So I'm trying to come up with a fun food item for that.
@Xstatic3333, yay, baby soon!
@als1982, that's exciting news! I hope your H's start-up has lots of success.
January
What were your financial goals for the month and were you able to accomplish them?
My main goal was to get renters into my new duplex. Totally failed on that. We were still doing renovations. But I'm putting up an ad today for the 2-bedroom unit.
February
What are your financial goals for the month and how will you accomplish them?
Get both units of my new duplex rented out.
Get my realtor's license (I should have already started it).
Pay down CC Debt Mountain by $4K. I may not reach that, depending on how long it takes to find good tenants for the new duplex. Or if I get laid off, my constant worry (sigh).
Status of Ongoing Goals
What are your short, middle and/or long term goals, and what are you doing to accomplish them?
My short term goal is to get renters for our new duplex, putting an ad up for one of the units today.
My middle goal is to do a cash-out refi of that duplex around June. I need to get my cc debt back down below a 25% utilization before I take that step, and I expect I'll get there around June. My credit score is awful right now, because of the utilization rate. It's depressing, especially considering before the renovation I always paid them off (unless I had 0% interest). According to Credit Karma's analyzer, I should zoom into the mid 700s, once I'm below 25%. That will set me up for the best refi rates.
My long term goal is to create at least $5K/month in cash flow from my rentals (not including my personal duplex). That amount would more than replace my f/t income and I could conceivably "retire". Though I'd want to pay down/off my HELOC before I went all "take this job and shove it". Maybe, lol. I really want to retire. The temptation might be too great. Once my new duplex is rented, I'll be over $3K/month in net cash flow (including 18% of rental amount set aside for repairs/future vacancies). I'm planning to get to $5K/month within the next two years.
GTKY Bonus: Seasonal
Do you celebrate Valentine's Day? And if so, how do you show love to your spouse, kids, friends and/or co-workers?
My H and I have a tradition, going all the way back to our first Valentine's Day (which occurred only about one month after we had started dating). We go to a place like Whole Foods, that has delicious gourmet meals already prepared. Then take those home and have a romantic, candle-lit dinner. We also exchange cards and my H usually buys me flowers. He has a major sweet tooth, so I get him one of his favorite candies with a Valentine theme. Not boxed chocolates, he doesn't care for that. Stuff like red/pink Valentine's peanut M&Ms.
2) Honestly, I have no goals for February except stay in budget.
3) Short-term: baby savings is plugging along. Still not pregnant, but I finally started charting and discovered that our timing has probably been way off for the last few months. So we are optimistic that we'll get a BFP soon. If we don't have anything by July we will discuss next steps. Our insurance doesn't cover medical interventions, but we will have enough saved in cash and I should have enough personal data from charting at that point to start exploring those options.
Mid-term: Debt snowball is on track, and I found a floor plan for a new build that H and I absolutely love. We are still years away from that, but we have saved it as motivation for house #2
Long-term: Retirement contributions are coming right along. I think we will hit the $200K mark by the end of the year (depends on what the market does).
4) We don't do much for Valentine's day except cards and a splurge dinner/movie at home. We will probably celebrate the weekend before or after this year.
I just need a plan in place so I can mentally relax and not worry about it until that point. I have to manage a lot of stress with my job anyway, and layering TTC stress on top of it just compounds things.
January
What were your financial goals for the month and were you able to accomplish them?
To keep saving for vacation- Yes!
We also got hit with big vets bills, so those will be paid off in Feb
February
What are your financial goals for the month and how will you accomplish them?
Pay off vacation and decide on transportation to the airport...drive or take a car to JFK....
We also need to start saving for H's brother wedding
Status of Ongoing Goals
What are your short, middle and/or long term goals, and what are you doing to accomplish them?
Short- Pay off vet bills, vacation, save for wedding,get some small/cheap house projects done
Middle- Save for H's car we need to buy by the end of June, Increase E-Fund
Long- Attempt to save for some house project later in the year
GTKY Bonus: Seasonal
Do you celebrate Valentine's Day? And if so, how do you show love to your spouse, kids, friends and/or co-workers?
Yes, I only show love to my husband lol. We have a nice dinner out (but not on V-day! I hate crowds and lines) and we usually get each other a card and small gift..usually candy!
January
What were your financial goals for the month and were you able to accomplish them?
February
What are your financial goals for the month and how will you accomplish them?
Status of Ongoing Goals
What are your short, middle and/or long term goals, and what are you doing to accomplish them?
--TTC Related: Hopefully successfully conceive and save up $5,000 in HSA for OOP max, if not, use those funds for testing given recent MC/cycle irregularities
--Increase 401k contributions to 20%
--Pay off both vehicles in the next 2 years
--Pay off mortgage within 15 years--currently have a 20 year mortgage, but paying an extra $50 a month, need to increase soon
GTKY Bonus: Seasonal
Do you celebrate Valentine's Day? And if so, how do you show love to your spouse, kids, friends and/or co-workers?
We always give each other a card, a box of chocolates and go to dinner. Have been for the past 14 years and will continue to do so. It's not so much about Valentine's itself, but the gesture. We used to make each other cards (when we were younger) and I though it was sweet...but ain't nobody got time for that now. Lol.
I just learned today that H's insurance covers some fertility treatment (everything up to IVF, but does not include IVF). I wasn't expecting that at all because my state doesn't mandate it, and my insurance certainly doesn't have that. So our plan is evolving to us trying this year, and then moving me to his insurance next year during open enrollment if we are unsuccessful. It's longer than I really care to wait, but it will force me cool my heels and give it an honest try with charting for a year before seeking alternatives. My annual exam is in December anyway.
And if we have to seek out IVF eventually, then I'm inclined to do some medical tourism. Surprise surprise, the cost of this sort of thing in the US is like 8x-10x what it costs in other countries. If we end up in a position where we need to go out of pocket, well I would really like to visit Vienna and Prague at the same time. I'm pretty sure that would be the actual definition of a "babymoon!"
I hate going to the doctor because it is not MM given my crappy insurance plan. It's over $100 a visit....which sucks.
Late to the post...
January
What were your financial goals for the month and were you able to accomplish them?
get HELOC squared away- all set once the house was appraised.
February
What are your financial goals for the month and how will you accomplish them?
Set % for 401K so that I max out this year, get DH into a new 403b provider. First one is done for next paycheck and DH is calling one of the approved providers tonight. We already met with one other and their fees were terrible (5.75% front load for every transaction... insane!). We may have to pick the least of all evils in this case and have DH push to get fidelity/vanguard back as approved providers through the teacher's contract.
Status of Ongoing Goals
What are your short, middle and/or long term goals, and what are you doing to accomplish them?
short- get DH's 403b squared away- contribute 12%. House exterior this summer.
middle- pay off cars, HELOC (should all be done Sept 2020). Up DH's 403b contribution each year to hit max in 3 years.
long- house paid off 2025, retirement savings, 529 plans.
GTKY Bonus: Seasonal
Do you celebrate Valentine's Day? And if so, how do you show love to your spouse, kids, friends and/or co-workers?
We show each other love every day- just spending time together, helping each other out with small things. For Valentine's Day, I usually make the girls something small and bake DH peanut butter brownies. We're going out to dinner this weekend with friends so that will be a special treat.