1.5 Weeks in -- Am I Doing It Right?

[bgunther]

It has been a week since I have started and here is a status reports.  My wife and I have always payed off our credit cards each month and only debts are 1 car 3.25% and Mortgage at 3.75%.

After being introduced to MMM and starting to really look at Mint.com I was astonished to find out over the past 12 months out monthly averages were Restaurants - $484, Shopping $742,  Gas and fuel $419, Groceries $833, Net Income -$2551 (Includes a $20k basement finishing cost, real number is -$866)

Time for a change!

Reductions
Stopped taking the high priced toll road to work - Savings: $10 Day / $2400 Year
Reduced Cable TV, returned DVR, Removed home phone - Savings: $90 Month / $1080 Year
Reduced Water heater to 130 from 150 - Savings $15 Month / $180 Year
Stopped going out to lunch at work - Savings: $10 Day  / $2,400 Year
Talk with wife for purchases over $10. - Savings $400 Month? / $4,800 Year
Looked more closely at our donations - Savings $200 Month / $2,400 Year
Haircuts at home - 1 Complete - Savings $17 ea / $294 Year

Total Yearly Savings $13,554

Savings
Increased 401k % to max out for 2013
Started Roth IRA

Sales/Purchases
Sold items no longer needed on cragislist - $1200
Bought hybrid bike off CL  + $125
Bought Bike trailer to pull kid  +75

I think I am on the right track.  More drastic measures of downsizing our house is not on the table at this point nor is selling her Toyota Highlander for 1 (+1 on the way) children.  Unfortunately i am 23 miles from my work with no access to a trail from my house so biking is off the table for now.  I am going to have a discussion with work remote 1-2 days a week which should help as well.

Any other ideas?

Brian

[AJDZee]

Hey bgunther, welcome to the community!

You've done all that in 10 days?!   ...or that's what you're planning on doing?
Either way, it's very impressive and you guys should be congratulated for your first steps! $13,000 / year is very good start!

My little words of caution though, all this saving is just 'on paper' for now. You're in the right mindset, you've looked over your finances, you've made some great planning. But when it comes down to actually saving that $13,000 twelve months from now, that will boil down to the 4,000 little daily decisions you guys will make over the next 365 days. (I.e. you chalked up $2,400 in savings becaues you 'stopped going out for lunch'. This is a great plan, but to get that $2,400 you'll have to not go out for lunch for another 50.5 weeks)
I've seen people in the past draw up a plan, pat them selves on the backs for the great work they planned to do, but didn't do much behaviour modification as they needed because they had already 'banked' their savings in their mind.

You guys are on the right track and I have no doubt you'll be much better off a year from now than if you never came across MMM. :)

Like you I am just starting off (2 months ago). I too always paid off my cc every month, thought I was pretty good with my money. And I too looked through my mint and was shocked at how much I was spending (on food especially).

Last piece of advice - get rid of that Highlander. You're going to get a lot of face punches from everyone on here for keeping that large hunk of metal that gets 20 mpg. Just a guess, but it might also be your biggest potential for savings other than moving closer to work. You won't get much sympathy from people on here about 'needing' an SUV becaues you have offspring.

Cheers and welcome to MMM! :)

[madage]

Last piece of advice - get rid of that Highlander. You're going to get a lot of face punches from everyone on here for keeping that large hunk of metal that gets 20 mpg. Just a guess, but it might also be your biggest potential for savings other than moving closer to work. You won't get much sympathy from people on here about 'needing' an SUV because you have offspring.

A little more encouragement for removing the Highlander from your lives. We sold our nearly-new Highlander last year when we realized how much it was costing us and replaced it with a small, used hatchback. We have two kids - three and five at the time. Our hatchback gets 70% better gas mileage than the Highlander, tire replacement will be ~1/2 the cost, the list goes on and on. Most importantly: our 'stache is much bushier since we ditched the Highlander.

[bgunther]

Your absolutely right, some actions have been completed but the rest is a realization and a commitment to change.

Regarding the highlander, worse yet the wife really wants a minivan with sliding doors in the next 2 years.  I have thrown out the idea that she can drive my Camry hybrid and I can get an older Prius but it isn't going well.

Thanks for the encouragement!

[sarahcooks]

We have a Mazda 5 which has sliding doors and we're really happy with it!  The sliding doors are useful for getting kids in and out, and we can fit 6 people and a stroller and groceries in the back.  I can't imagine wanting to drive anything bigger (my other car is a Scion xA!  I was so excited when I realized that's what MMM drives too!  Of course I bought it new in '05, so I lose points for that...)

[Eric]

Great work Brian!  That's some serious change in less than two weeks.  Congrats and keep it up!

[AJDZee]

Your absolutely right, some actions have been completed but the rest is a realization and a commitment to change.

Regarding the highlander, worse yet the wife really wants a minivan with sliding doors in the next 2 years.  I have thrown out the idea that she can drive my Camry hybrid and I can get an older Prius but it isn't going well.

Thanks for the encouragement!

Hey you're doing great - in less than two weeks you've read a lot of material, looked at your own habits and have already made a stellar plan.

Again, I'm just starting out and have my own personal 'roadblocks'. I've done a lot of little changes which yield little savings here and there. But I haven't (yet) made one of the harder decisions to get a different car (I love my car. Gets 30-35mpg, but want better mileage, and it's way too expensive to insure) and I should move closer to work, but not sure where I'd want to live.

I'll get there though.

[DCUrbanMM]

Good work so far. 

Definitely look at your grocery bill.  Seems way too high!

[dorkus619]

Okay I'm also about 1 week in. But you're winning! haha (i know it's not a competition) But seriously AWESOME job b! That's some serious savings! I'm taking baby steps right now...hopefully I'll work up some better badassity soon.

Overall
Beginning to get my BF more on board
Read lots of MMM articles, got invloved in this forum
Found other blogs of interest
Added books to my "to-read" list!
Got my mint account all in order, set budgets, goals, etc

Reductions
Cancelled DirecTV ($340 penalty, but saves $595 over the remainder of my contract)
Switched ISP to CopperNet (actually $1 more but faster connection) and *middlefingersup* to Verizon
BF and I decided to reduce going out to eat to 2x/month (we used to go out a LOT)
BF and I decided when my car dies, we will switch to 1 car household (~1 yr from now)
Bumped up the AC a few degrees
Tried to turn down h2o heater, failed, broke it, dad fixed it ("RESET" button 'doh), new adjustments not actually reducing temp....will revisit
Plan to quit Verizon Wireless once contract is up
Plan to bike to work >3 days/wk once I get a bike - Savings $16/month
Started cooking more & buying less prepackaged foods or take out
Plan to shop around for cheaper car insurance (esp after reducing driving)

Savings
Increased 401k contrib  ^ 2%
Re-allocated 401k with funds with lower fees, more risk/return
Plan to increase HSA contributions to max in 2013
Plan to continue to increase 401k as I reduce spending!

Purchases
none yet, shopping for a bicycle but having a tough time finding one...gr

[AJDZee]

Plan to bike to work >3 days/wk once I get a bike - Savings $16/month

Great work so far!

It seems to me that biking to work 3x a week would save you much more than $16/month.

I start biking to work and it saves me $6/day on gas, my commute is about 10 miles. Maybe your commute is much shorter or you have a car that gets super good mileage? But your savings from 3 bike commutes a week should give you much more than that :)


Also, if you guys are prepared to go one car in a year from now, would be up to selling your car for whatever little you can get for it now while it's still running?

I've generated a little extra stach last month by selling some things around my house that I don't use. (A tablet, my old iphone, headphones I never used) They all were jut sitting collecting dust but generated $400 tax-free money! Try looking around - I doubt you guys are a bad as me with having stuff laying around though haha

Keep up the good work! Make a journal in this forum if you haven't already!

Cheers

[dorkus619]

Plan to bike to work >3 days/wk once I get a bike - Savings $16/month

Great work so far!

It seems to me that biking to work 3x a week would save you much more than $16/month.

I start biking to work and it saves me $6/day on gas, my commute is about 10 miles. Maybe your commute is much shorter or you have a car that gets super good mileage? But your savings from 3 bike commutes a week should give you much more than that :)

My commute is 4 miles :) But my bike route will be 3.8 with no major roads or hills!

Keep up the good work! Make a journal in this forum if you haven't already!

What do you mean?
Thanks!

[Basenji]

My little words of caution though, all this saving is just 'on paper' for now. You're in the right mindset, you've looked over your finances, you've made some great planning. But when it comes down to actually saving that $13,000 twelve months from now, that will boil down to the 4,000 little daily decisions you guys will make over the next 365 days. (I.e. you chalked up $2,400 in savings becaues you 'stopped going out for lunch'. This is a great plan, but to get that $2,400 you'll have to not go out for lunch for another 50.5 weeks)
I've seen people in the past draw up a plan, pat them selves on the backs for the great work they planned to do, but didn't do much behaviour modification as they needed because they had already 'banked' their savings in their mind.

Super profound and important. I'm going to engrave this on my wallet. In fact, what I'm going to do is wrap my money and credit cards in plastic wrap to make it a pain to get them out. Seriously, a great reminder that this FI stuff is a process. I'll break out the Zen master Robert Aitken:
"The means you choose for some future end are here and now. They are your mode of life. You are creating your future in the way you are living your life at this moment."

[nawhite]

Super profound and important. I'm going to engrave this on my wallet. In fact, what I'm going to do is wrap my money and credit cards in plastic wrap to make it a pain to get them out.

Someone on this forum gave an idea they used to keep from using their credit card. They froze the physical card in a block of ice in the freezer then use cash or debit cards for day to day purchases. It sounded like an awesome idea if I was having trouble with it but needed to keep it around.

[Basenji]

That's funny! Reminds me of Denzel Washington's character in "Flight" who had his stash of emergency cash in the freezer wrapped in wax paper and labelled "Veal." For me, I just need a little pause or a little break in my routine to regain mindfulness.

[velocistar237]

Keep up the good work! Make a journal in this forum if you haven't already!

What do you mean?
Thanks!

Create a post in the journals section:
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/journals/

You can use that post to keep updating your progress. See the other posts over there for examples.