Money Matters
als1982
member
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.
February/March monthly check-in.
Where did February go?!
February
What were your financial goals for the month and were you able to accomplish them?
March
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 get a Spring Break at your job? Did you do anything for Spring Break in elementary school, high school or college? If you're a parent, how do you keep your kids entertained during this week off of school?
HeartlandHustle | Personal Finance and Betterment Blog
Re: February/March monthly check-in.
We came in $100 under budget for our FL trip at the beginning of the month, primarily because we got a friend to dog sit and paid her half of what the kennel costs.
I helped our long term savings goal by starting a second CD at a great rate. I just got that in for Feb yesterday.
March goal is to increase savings, get taxes done and investigate bills that have increased and how to decrease them (cable, insurance, dog food). I may also start getting landscaping quotes.
We'll get out of work a few hours early on Good Friday but no break other than that. I never did a spring break as a kid.
The month I was unemployed I was also in grad school and had spring break. I spent a week with my family and a week in Hollywood with a friend. Hollywood was a great time. We went in the audience for the Price is Right, I accidentally met a (non-famous) band, and I got Dwayne Johnson's autograph (he was really nice).
2) Since that first loan is paid off, our goals for March now include closing our HELOC (I will receive closing papers today), getting quotes for our master bathroom and starting that process (also today), and staying on budget for Spain at the end of the month. I also set a personal goal to not go overboard with gardening stuff this year.... but I think that's the goal I'm least likely to accomplish.
3) TTC is taking longer than we hoped, but we are trying to find a silver lining with it. At this point our undergrad loans will be fully paid off, and all interior remodeling that we ever wanted to do to this house will be done before we have a baby. There is still some exterior stuff we want to do, but it's not nearly as disruptive as interior stuff.
If I'm not pregnant by this summer we may start some early testing, but we won't do anything too serious until 2018 when I can get onto H's insurance. So we are trying to stay positive in 2017 and spend this year focusing on whittling down the student loans and our home improvement list. Home improvement takes a lot of energy for us, so it's a great distraction.
4) We don't officially have spring break, but every school district in our city coordinates spring break for the same week. Our offices are totally dead that week while everybody with kids is out. Last year I think I billed fewer than 10 hours during spring break week (H was the same), so this year we are going to Spain instead!
February
February goals were to keep restaurant spending to a reasonable level, plan getting our front stairs replaced, and save all of my income. The restaurant goal was pretty good - we had special events that we splurged on, but we kept the take-out to only 2 times and mostly cooked at home.
We got a second quote to replace our front stairs and it was $4,100 LESS than the first one! Both companies came highly recommended by neighbors and have beautiful portfolios so I'm psyched to find that savings.
As for saving all of my income we had technical success hahaha. We both had OT this month so we were able to save 59% of our paychecks, but our expenses were still a few hundred dollars higher than my husband's monthly base pay. At this point I'm actually pretty pleased though because we've cut enough to not be wasteful but don't feel like we're deprived. Given our savings we'll be able to just drawn down a few hundred dollars a month while I'm on the unpaid portion of my maternity leave and barely dent the account.
March
This month's goals are to continue the course and start researching life insurance policies. I also want to get started on choosing guardians so we can draft our will - basically get all the morbid crap out of the way so we can then focus on the fun part of expecting a baby. I also need to investigate having the inside stairs refinished/recarpeted because they are gross and the loose carpet is a tripping hazard.
Status of Ongoing Goals
Short - keep stocking the baby fund. We have a weekly transfer set up so it happens without even thinking about it.
Middle - keep saving for potential car replacement in a few years and hopefully the kitchen renovation for next year. This goal is semi-dependent on how much OT we keep making and how much of the baby fund is left over after maternity leave.
Long - just keep going on retirement. Husband just increased his contribution to his SMART plan (supplemental retirement since he gets a state pension) which is awesome.
GTKY Bonus: Seasonal
No spring break for us. In college I went to Spain my junior year and Ft. Lauderdale my senior year and both were super fun.
Feb was good. DH now has 4 renters and some hourly renters too. His mortgage is fully taken care of by the rental income. I got a new adult student at his downtown location.
I hope march to be better financially. there is a chance he could get a full time renter which would be an extra $850 a month. He already has booked a lot more shoots for this month. Wedding bookings should be more busy for me. Hoping to also complete the process for DH's long term disability so we can get that going. Also need to finish up 2016 taxes.
Short - keep plugging along saving to retirement and savings. Would be nice to get pregnant in the next few months. I just found out today that I have low progesterone so I can start taking supplements like this week. I can now stop blaming myself for our loss. I felt so relieved! Hoping this will help with our next embryo.
Middle - keep putting money away for home repairs. Now that things are looking up financially I hope to put more away for hardwoods. Also in May or June I would like to get a rock wall landscape in the front of our house.
Long - continuing on with retirement funds, home improvement funds and would like to start a vacation fund.
Where did February go?!
February
What were your financial goals for the month and were you able to accomplish them?
My February goal was to finish the renovation on our duplex. Check!
I was also hoping to already have found tenants for a March move-in, but actually expected that goal to move to March. Nope! Already accomplished. Check! Check!
March
What are your financial goals for the month and how will you accomplish them?
Pay my credit card debt down by $5,000. Possibly more, but I know I'll be spending money in Tahoe next week.
Status of Ongoing Goals
What are your short, middle and/or long term goals, and what are you doing to accomplish them?
Short term: Put as much money as I can against my credit card debt. My banker suggested I get a consolidation loan for that. I'll be sending her my application today.
Middle term: Once my credit card debt is below a 25% utilization rate (which will drastically improve my credit score), I will be doing a cash-out refi of my newest duplex and pay down my HELOC balance. If I'm able to go the consolidation loan route, it will take me about two months to achieve this. If not, it will take me about 5 months to achieve this.
Long term: Have the option to retire with just the cash flow from my rental income (not including my personal duplex). Y'all...I'm almost there! As it is, with my new duplex now fully rented, I can more than pay all my bills without my current full-time income. It's not where I want to be yet, especially since my debt load is high. But it's a very comforting thought that, if (more like when) I get laid off, I can take my time to find the BEST next job. Not just the ANY next job.
GTKY Bonus: Seasonal
Do you get a Spring Break at your job? Did you do anything for Spring Break in elementary school, high school or college? If you're a parent, how do you keep your kids entertained during this week off of school?
Nope, haven't had a spring break since college. Growing up, we usually took one vacation a year. But it was in the summer. I spent my spring breaks hanging around the house and going to the local beach.
In college, I was in a sorority (Alpha Chi Omega). Everyone in the Greek system at my school went to Puerto Nuevo, Mexico. It's a little beach town about 20 minutes south of Rosarito Beach. All 200+ of us stayed at the same condo complex, lol. Aaahhhh....good times, good times.
February
What were your financial goals for the month and were you able to accomplish them?
Get DH's 403b provider changed. That has been set up and the new withdrawal submitted. We got some bills down- internet by $10/month and phones by $15/month. We added $3K to DH's Roth IRA to max out 2016 and upped my 401k contributions to hit the max by EOY.
March
What are your financial goals for the month and how will you accomplish them?
Add $3K to my Roth IRA for 2016 (will be easy with a 3 paycheck month), get DH's transfer of old 403b set. Finalize taxes. Should hit $200K in retirement by the end of this month!
Status of Ongoing Goals
What are your short, middle and/or long term goals, and what are you doing to accomplish them?
short: day care payments done in June, exterior reno this summer with HELOC, NYC trip with DH, up DH's 403b contribution by 5% for the 2017-2018 school year, full 2017 Roth IRA contributions in August when a CD is up for both of us.
middle: vacation (Disney Feb 2018), get DH's 403b to hit max (hopefully at the start of the 2018-19 school year), pay off cars (Q2 2019 and Q2 2020), HELOC (EOY 2020), mortgage (EOY 2025), plan a few more vacations too.
long: retirement, 529 plans for the girls, vacations
GTKY Bonus: Seasonal
Do you get a Spring Break at your job? Did you do anything for Spring Break in elementary school, high school or college? If you're a parent, how do you keep your kids entertained during this week off of school?
Spring break as a kid was usually the big vacation of the year- DC, Boston, Seattle, NYC, etc. College- usually worked and would take a short trip to NYC.
DH is a teacher so he is home with the girls- makes it very easy for breaks having a spouse as a teacher. He took them to the zoo, ran errands, painted in the basement, and I took Friday off so we could all go to the children's museum. Our official spring break is in April- this one last week is called February break.
Where did February go?!- Agreed, but I'm glad spring is around the corner. We've had a pretty easy winter!
February
What were your financial goals for the month and were you able to accomplish them?
Pay off vacation- We will be doing that this week
Decide on transportation- Yes, we decided to drive ourselves and park..it's cheaper
Save for H's brother's wedding- Starting that this week
Paid off vet bills
March
What are your financial goals for the month and how will you accomplish them?
Continue to save for wedding stuff
Get the dogs teeth cleaned with 20% off
Build e-fund back up since we took out a down payment for H's car
Small, cheap house projects
Status of Ongoing Goals
What are your short, middle and/or long term goals, and what are you doing to accomplish them?
Short- Same as our March goals, continue to add to Roth. It's hard when it's not automated
Middle- Build e-fund, build e-fund, save for more house projects
GTKY Bonus: Seasonal
Do you get a Spring Break at your job? Did you do anything for Spring Break in elementary school, high school or college? If you're a parent, how do you keep your kids entertained during this week off of school?
We don't get a spring break at work. I miss school solely for vacations and breaks but never went anywhere and just played and had fun. All vacations in those days were with my family.
February
What were your financial goals for the month and were you able to accomplish them?
We definitely didn't. DH got his bonus and we probably "took it easy" with the credit card more than we should have. Not to the point of overspending, but we were not being mindful or in control. We DID automatically put half of it in savings so at least some good came out of it.
March
What are your financial goals for the month and how will you accomplish them?
Do better than February. I'm thinking we need to start fresh with YNAB again for the month and get back on track in and in control again.
Status of Ongoing Goals
What are your short, middle and/or long term goals, and what are you doing to accomplish them?
Short - Save for the Norway trip. Done. Now we just need to pay the rest of our deposit and buy airline tickets.
Middle - Secondary e-savings is in progress. About 25% of the way there and should meet that goal well before the end of the year. After that, save up enough for either a Roth or traditional IRA for 2017, luckily we have until April 15, 2018 for that. We're on track for hitting $200k in retirement this year too as long as the market continues to grow. We're casually looking to buy a second home but we won't get serious about it until 2018 unless the right opportunity presents itself before then.
Long-term - Continue to save for retirement. Our 401k contributions are automatic so we'll both max out our 401ks again this year. Explore other avenues on passive income. I keep playing with the idea of renting out our current home when we buy our next one but I'm concerned about the risk.
GTKY Bonus: Seasonal
Neither of us get spring break. Growing up we didn't do much, some years we went to the beach. In college I didn't have any money so I either went home or to a friend's house. I like it around here during spring break because all the metro counties stagger it so we have very little traffic for a couple of weeks and it's really nice.
@labro, since I don't have kids, I usually realize its Spring Break after a day or two of "lighter" traffic to work and an absence of the normally 4-6 school buses. That are inexplicably...always that many within 2-3 blocks of each other...no matter what time I leave for work. Like, who are all these kids in a 2-mile area that you all are picking up?
And apparently half the cars around me are parents of the other kids, because my drive is SO much better in the summer. I know how many school are around me and the math just doesn't add up, lol.
What were your financial goals for the month and were you able to accomplish them?
The month started out with the goal of continuing to save for H to start his own business, but early in the month, we decided now was the time to leave instead of waiting any longer. We had enough saved at this point for him to finance his start up without going into debt, though he likely won't draw an income for a while and his first few clients will just help bolster his business savings.
Otherwise, I received a small inheritance and combined with his last paycheck, we upped our e-fund to $20,000.
March
What are your financial goals for the month and how will you accomplish them?
Just stay on budget, moving any extra money available at the end of each pay cycle towards the mortgage.
Status of Ongoing Goals
What are your short, middle and/or long term goals, and what are you doing to accomplish them?
Short is for H to start making a profit.
Middle is to get our house paid off and maybe buy a second home in Orlando. I'd love to do this in 2019, but 2020 may be more realistic.
"Retire" early, ideally by 40. (My plan would still be to work, but not in a stress inducing professional capacity. Ideally at a theme park in Orlando or at a green house or some where outdoors in KC.)
GTKY Bonus: Seasonal
Do you get a Spring Break at your job? Did you do anything for Spring Break in elementary school, high school or college? If you're a parent, how do you keep your kids entertained during this week off of school?
I never went on spring break as a kid. My parents were thrifty, so we always vacationed in the fall. No place in high school or college either. It was always a good time to pick up shifts wherever I was working at the time. Same goes for now, it's always a good quiet week to knock things off my to do list.
I'm a bit late to this post, but we finally reviewed our Feb spending last night!
February
What were your financial goals for the month and were you able to accomplish them?
1. Eat out less, eat in more - accomplished! We spent $165 on eating out in Feb, which is our lowest ever (since tracking expenses, anyway).
2. Review spending mid month - failed.
3. Setup a new HSA account - failed.
4. Purchase life insurance - failed.
5. Continue putting extra toward car payment - accomplished, and then some! In January we decided to put one of my paychecks plus any surplus from the month toward the car payment, which totaled $2112 for February! At this rate, the car may be paid off within a year of purchase.
March
What are your financial goals for the month and how will you accomplish them?
1. Review spending mid-month
2. Setup a new HSA account
3. Purchase life insurance
4. Find bedroom furniture for a reasonable price
Status of Ongoing Goals
What are your short, middle and/or long term goals, and what are you doing to accomplish them?
Short - we have a lot of house projects on the horizon, which are a combo of needs/wants, so we're figuring out how to manage both the financing and DIY/finding time to do them aspects.
Short/middle - we're TTC, so depending on our luck this may be short or middle term. Fingers crossed that it's short term. A real middle-term goal is to get the house to a point where it's sellable. We'd like a two-story house for a family.
Long - retire with a large nest egg, so we're continuing to sock away money into our 401ks. But we need to beef up my Roth IRA and create one for H.
GTKY Bonus: Seasonal
Do you get a Spring Break at your job? I have a corporate job, so no spring breaks here (could use one, though!). Growing up we'd always go to a waterpark with my brother and parents.