Author Topic: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition  (Read 41664 times)

Silkspin

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #100 on: March 29, 2017, 02:25:11 PM »
Happy to report that I got down to $700 in March for grocery and all eating out, over $500 lower than January. And we hosted a birthday party! Goal for April is $500 but we have a week away (already paid) and a 5 day getaway at the in-laws and they usually feed us well so I think it's very attainable. Maybe even $400!

And if all is approved through my non-profit, I will have a 2% market adjustment on salary starting April, on top of my 2% annual increase that I received in Jan. I'm going to pretend it didn't happen and the extra will be put away.

I'm now walking my daughter to and from school (3 blocks), then walking an additional 3 blocks by taking the long way around the park. Feels good, clears my head start and end of day! I got so lazy in the winter, but it was -30!!

beantown

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #101 on: March 31, 2017, 10:18:51 AM »
Have not been checking in regularly to this thread, but here's my Q1 results:

Goal 1: Maintain a 60% savings rate using the definition of (pre-tax savings + matches + post-tax savings + debt repayment)/ (gross income - taxes). This year I had an average of around 45%, but I've received a raise and will get 401k matching next year, so hopefully can bump this up
Q1 Results: Did not hit 60%, but a respective 58%. Life changes will make this harder in the second half of the year

Goal 2: Reach 75K in net worth by EOY. I'm starting Jan with about a 16K net worth.
Q1 Results: Currently at 35.1K, so I'm about 4K ahead of plan

Goal 3: Pay back at least 24K to my mother, who helped pay for grad school.
Q1 Results: Have been holding this in savings for now, will make a payment in May

Goal 4: Donate 1% of net income. As someone who has only haphazardly donated in the past, I want to determine what causes I care about and start getting in the habit of donating more regularly.
Q1 Results: Haven't quite hit 1%. At .7%. Once again this might change due to life changes

DWW

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #102 on: April 02, 2017, 09:30:32 PM »
Goals for 2017

1. Max out HSA (6750)
2. Max out ROTH for Wife and I (11000)
3. Have total savings rate of 45-55%
4. Purchase first rental property

Update:

1. HSA maxed out

2. 1000 toward ROTH

3. Savings Rate at 54 percent

April Update:

1. HSA maxed out
 2. Maxed out Personal Roth and 250 toward spouse's Roth
3. Savings rate still above 50 percent

Step37

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #103 on: April 02, 2017, 11:24:20 PM »
I look forward to continuing to track my expenses in detail in 2017. After many years of doing it, I got away from it for several years prior to 2016. It will be great to be able to compare!

2017 Financial Goals:
1. Continue to pare down grocery spending (10%) and restaurant/alcohol (20%).
Jan-Mar, down 11% on groceries and 26% on restaurant/alcohol.
2. Cancel unnecessary life insurance policy that I've been regretting - collect ~$1200 cash value AND save $106/mo (no dependants/no debt/no need for this foolishness).
Done!!
3. Continue with no new clothes/shoes/bags/jewelry (started in 2015! Yeah!). Replacement of actual WORN OUT necessities (gym shoes and the like) is all that's permitted.
Still going very well, aside from an unneeded shirt for $30. I can live with this.
4. Hand in hand with #3, slim down a bit and fit into quite a few "new" pairs of underutilized pants. The bigger sizes are getting worn out and this will prevent shopping. Win/win.
Going back to WW on the weekend to get my head back in the game on this. I'm a lifetime member, so this should only cost about $20 if I restate my goal weight slightly higher (I am within the range) so I can get back to "free" status really quickly.
5. Get the damn TFSAs bought and maxed AND
On track! 85% there, and the balance will be added in May. I didn't want to dump it in all at once.
6. Research and move RRSP accounts into lower MER funds. Dreading the effort of this but it will be well worth the PITA, I am sure.
Everything has been moved into a self-directed account. Now I just need to sell the existing, high MER mutual funds and purchase the appropriate index funds.

Hopefully this list will keep me accountable. Good luck with your goals, everyone!

Wow, this year is going great so far. And NW is up 75k in just three months (30k of it was a company dividend, but the rest is savings and investment gains, about 50/50)! I should have made a NW goal... wait, I still can! I would like to increase another 50k at least.

afuera

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #104 on: April 03, 2017, 08:09:21 AM »
Some of these will be stretch goals (side hustle income and spending) which will be hard for us to reach but hopefully with some hard work and creativity we will be able to check all of these off by EOY.  Good luck everybody!
2017 Goals:
-Max both 401Ks ($36K).
-Rollover Hubs' tIRA into his 401K (if his company allows).
-Max my rIRA and open rIRA for Hubs and max it ($11K).
-Max my HSA and Hubs' HSA.
-Spend <$40K for the year.
-Open a taxable investment account with Vangaurd and contribute $15K.
-Make $400/month in side hustle income.
-Pay for Hubs' Lasik/PRK surgery out of HSA (~$3.5K).
-Finally get our asses over to Madrid (pay for flights w/ travel hacking points).
Feb. Update
-Max both 401Ks ($36K). Contributions set, will max by year end.  DONE
-Rollover Hubs' tIRA into his 401K (if his company allows). Check is on its way! DONE
-Max my rIRA and open rIRA for Hubs and max it ($11K). Hubs' contributions on autopilot, will max by year end. Will max mine with my bonus mid-March .
-Max my HSA and Hubs' HSA. Contributions set, will max by year end.  DONE
-Spend <$40K for the year. Way overspent in January.  We are going to need a Frugal February to get back on track...
-Open a taxable investment account with Vanguard and contribute $15K. Will start on this once the IRA's are maxed.
-Make $400/month in side hustle income. Total: $330, Avg: $330.  Should make more in on-season months to make up for off-season months.
-Pay for Hubs' Lasik/PRK surgery out of HSA (~$3.5K). HSA is set to max and filling slowly.
-Finally get our asses over to Madrid (pay for flights w/ travel hacking points).Working towards the CSR minimum spend to get bonus.
Mar. Update
-Max both 401Ks ($36K). DONE
-Rollover Hubs' tIRA into his 401K (if his company allows). DONE
-Max my rIRA and open rIRA for Hubs and max it ($11K). Max my IRA by end of month. Hubs' IRA is on autopilot but we may max early.
-Max my HSA and Hubs' HSA. DONE
-Spend <$40K for the year. Spent 3.6K in Feb (5K in Jan :/). Will need to cut spending a bit more to make this goal.
-Open a taxable investment account with Vanguard and contribute $15K. No change.
-Make $400/month in side hustle income. Total: $780, Avg: $390.  I could pick up more games but I'm not willing to commit my entire weekend to reffing...
-Pay for Hubs' Lasik/PRK surgery out of HSA (~$3.5K). No Change.
-Finally get our asses over to Madrid (pay for flights w/ travel hacking points). CSR sign-up bonus should go through this next statement.
April Update
-Max both 401Ks ($36K). DONE
-Rollover Hubs' tIRA into his 401K (if his company allows). DONE
-Max my rIRA and open rIRA for Hubs and max it ($11K). Maxed both accounts in March thanks to a nice big bonus. DONE
-Max my HSA and Hubs' HSA. DONE
-Spend <$40K for the year. 1Q average puts us on track for 47.5K.  It doesn't look like we will make this goal but we will continue to try and lower spending.
-Open a taxable investment account with Vanguard and contribute $15K. Opened the account and contributed 3K.
-Make $400/month in side hustle income. Total: $585, Avg: $457.  Sold my first Tradeline last month for $175.  I'm only reffing a handful of games every weekend so I can still enjoy my free time as well.  This is really the perfect side hustle for me.
-Pay for Hubs' Lasik/PRK surgery out of HSA (~$3.5K). My HSA is at $3,250 and Hubs is at $760.  We found out that Hub's HSA charges a $4 maintenance fee every month for balances below 1K so we are re-evaluating how we will pay for the surgery.
-Finally get our asses over to Madrid Spain (pay for flights w/ travel hacking points). CSR statement close 4/17.  We should have the flights purchased by the end of the month.  Also, we received some advice from a friend and might go to Grenada instead...decisions decisions.

TheCastle

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #105 on: April 03, 2017, 08:17:55 AM »
My goals:
1.  Pay off $6000 in student loans
2.  Add $1000 to Emergency Fund
3.  Get raise (boss says chance of 15-20%)
4.  Get bonus (10% last year)
5.  Save $5000 for vacation to Disney (wife's dream lol)
6.  Add $10K to 401K
7.  Open Roth IRA
8.  Do some home improvements
9.  Minimize my possessions aka junk
10.  Increase Net Worth by at least $20K
11.  Pay off remaining balance on cell phone installment
12.  Open HSA if the law allows. 
1.  Pay off $6000 in student loans  Changed this to beating my planned debt snowball for rest of year. $11,965.20.  Already $1403.84 ahead of that pace.
2.  Add $1000 to Emergency Fund  DONE
3.  Get raise (boss says chance of 15-20%)  DONE, but only 3% due to pissing contest within the board
4.  Get bonus (10% last year)   DONE, barely over 4%.  Again, due to someone on the board slashing company bonuses without the board's okay (he's in some hot water)
5.  Save $5000 for vacation to Disney (wife's dream lol)  This has been changed to new flooring in the living room and a cheaper trip to Arizona.  $1277 in there currently.
6.  Add $10K to 401K  On pace
7.  Open Roth IRA   Opened one for the wife, hopefully one for myself by the end of the year
8.  Do some home improvements   In progress
9.  Minimize my possessions aka junk   In progress
10.  Increase Net Worth by at least $20K   On pace
11.  Pay off remaining balance on cell phone installment    Paid off my wife's phone in March, mine will be paid off in a few days
12.  Open HSA if the law allows.  No Change

the_fixer

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #106 on: April 07, 2017, 05:28:04 PM »
You guys / gals are killing it makes my progress feel pathetic.

$8392 into my pretax 401K so far currently 26% of pay will bump percentage as soon as I pay off furniture loan and credit card
Spouse 401K on track to hit 18K max by year end. She gets a match on each pay check so need to max it over the year
0% interest on furniture is down to $1200 should be paid off by the end of this month
Credit card is down to $2500 from $16,000 last year and should be paid off this month


1 - Pay off 6 months same as cash for the appliances we purchased for the new house due by April 04 17
$3800

2 – Pay off 9 months same as cash from furniture purchase due by July 17
$3100
3 – Figure out what to do with my old 401k and how to invest my new 401K
Post a case study
4 – Understand and implement either a Tira or a backdoor Roth that will best suit our situation
5 – Increase the amount we are saving / investing this year to $70,000 or more
401k maxed + matches + retirement accounts and the amount we pay down the house
6 – Learn to build points for travel by using credit cards to offset our vacation habit

Nangirl17

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #107 on: April 12, 2017, 02:10:58 PM »
You guys / gals are killing it makes my progress feel pathetic.
...
Credit card is down to $2500 from $16,000 last year and should be paid off this month



A paid off credit card is NOT pathetic progress!  It'll feel great to not have that hair on fire! =)

recklesslysober

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #108 on: April 12, 2017, 02:34:05 PM »
the_fixer I agree with Nangirl17- a paid off credit card (a $16K one no less!) is epic progress and it will feel SO GOOD when it's at $0. 

lemonverbena

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #109 on: April 15, 2017, 03:55:30 PM »
2017 goals:

continue doing Uber Frugal Month challenges
enroll spouse in free employer health insurance plan DONE
enroll spouse in free employer cell phone plan DONE
pay off car loan $7825 by June
stop paying for preschool $396/month by June
grow most of our veggies and fruits
buy leftover roofing materials on Craigslist, DIY new roof this summer NOT HAPPENING
DIY mold removal this summer
start working at a paying job (I'm currently a full-time parent) in September
set up tIRA and contribute to reduce MAGI to qualify for healthcare stipend "extra savings" level
Additional goals:
move $1,000 into separate emergency account DONE
cancel landline no longer needed for side-gig
cancel Microsoft Office no longer needed for side-gig DONE
set up HSA
pay off roof replacement loan by June
Max out SEP IRA, then rollover to tIRA

the_fixer

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #110 on: April 16, 2017, 07:00:56 PM »
Thanks for the support. I am happy with our progress and know it will just grow in momentum I am just amazed at the progress some are making. Truly in awe and it kicks me in the butt to do more after I get over that few mins of beating myself up for being a slacker :)

Today's happy news

Paid off the $3100 same as cash offer for our furniture.

Bumped up my 401K to 35%

Marking off learn to build points for travel. I did the 15 day class and feel I understand how to make it work but I feel I am not at the point to try it just yet as I want to have no debit and some extra money in the bank.


1 - Pay off 6 months same as cash for the appliances we purchased for the new house due by April 04 17
$3800

2 – Pay off 9 months same as cash from furniture purchase due by July 17
$3100

3 – Figure out what to do with my old 401k and how to invest my new 401K
Post a case study
4 – Understand and implement either a Tira or a backdoor Roth that will best suit our situation
5 – Increase the amount we are saving / investing this year to $70,000 or more
401k maxed + matches + retirement accounts and the amount we pay down the house
6 – Learn to build points for travel by using credit cards to offset our vacation habit
« Last Edit: April 16, 2017, 07:08:10 PM by the_fixer »

WinterSkies

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #111 on: April 18, 2017, 01:37:43 PM »
I'm coming in late to the game, but I would like to set myself some peach fuzz goals as motivation!

1. Track expenses for the whole year to get a handle on how much we actually spend (Jan, Feb, and Mar are done)
2. 25% average savings rate for the year (we are just beginning on this journey, so I don't want to set us up for failure) 20.82% for first quarter
3. Come up with a plan to max out RRSP annually
4. Finally open a TFSA and figure out strategy to use it/max it
5. Switch RRSP to something with a lower MER (fell for the bank "advisor's" advice years ago, and am invested in a fund with 2% MER)
6. Put up the fence between us and neighbours (they have a dog, we have young kids)
7. Complete my P.Eng. (should result in additional 1% raise in October)

Back to updated and add an additional 2017 goal - increase net worth by 45k.  It's a stretch when I consider some upcoming costs (fence and landscaping, potential trip to Europe for family wedding), but I'd like to aim for something a little bigger than my initial goals.  Even if we fall short, it would still be a great accomplishment for us.  We've increased it by nearly 12k this quarter, so we'll see if we can keep up the pace.

SingleMomDebt

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #112 on: April 18, 2017, 03:22:45 PM »
Great job WinterSkies!

albireo13

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #113 on: April 24, 2017, 05:36:44 AM »
OK, my goals for 2017:
* pay off CC debt   $15K
* pay off a few short term loans    $3K
* pay off student loan   $7K
* build some cash reserves    > $5K
* increase tax-deferred savings rate from 14%/mo   (including corp. match)  to at least 18%

Mongoose

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #114 on: April 24, 2017, 03:05:44 PM »
1. Stay out of credit card debt (and all non-mortgage debt). (Emerged in 2016...still holding out! A record for us!)
2. Paid out of business (while keeping day jobs).
   Minimum: one person half-time
   Full Goal: one person full-time
3. Special travel savings (to keep being able to visit family easily). Amount: $0 took family on work trip to Europe instead? Maybe met goal but not for planned purpose.
4. Car replacement fund: goal $6000 (for when our ancient cars finally die). We are keeping our ancient cars as long as possible. This may have a limited reasonable time since they both have 300-350k miles on them.Currently at $4500.
5. Increase personal savings (stretch goal: start a Vanguard FI account).

Stretch goals
1. Paid out of business: two people full-time.
2. Business emergency fund: $30-50k.

So we made a few baby steps but these goals seem super ambitious after 4 months. Long way still to go...

Money Maker Mike

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #115 on: April 25, 2017, 05:10:02 PM »
1. Start using Mint and finally track my net worth.
2. Max out 401k.
3. Consolodate majority of individual stocks into VTSAX.
4. Find a side hustle.
5. Hit 100k net worth by 2018. (Currently at about 77k)
6. Honestly update this list at end of year, hopefully don't bring public shame to my family name for generations to come by failing.

BeautifulDay

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #116 on: April 26, 2017, 05:10:47 PM »
1. Save EF of $8000 - $2100 + $700 unexpected reimbursement that I received today.
2.  Live on $3500 or less per month (mortgage, utilities, spending, etc).  Remaining $1500 of take home pay goes towards savings and non-mortgage debt reduction.  Stretch goal: increase debt and saving to $1700 per month. - we bought a house this month, so we've had extra expenses.  Work on n this next month.
3. Auto paid down from $16,000 to $10,000 (auto pay off in 2018 - non-mortgage debt free 2019) no progress
4. $3000 saved for new business venture. Have $500 so far. No progress
5. Carpool at least 4 of 5 days per week. Starting this week carpool 2 of 4 days
6. Camp 1 weekend per month in April thru October.fail
7. Go on daily walks/bike rides done
8. Start volunteering no progress
9. Find a side job/income no progress
10. Increase networth from $90k to $120k $95622
« Last Edit: April 26, 2017, 05:14:55 PM by BeautifulDay »

DWW

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #117 on: May 01, 2017, 02:49:43 PM »
Goals for 2017-
May 1 Update
1. Max out HSA (6750) Done
2. Max out ROTH for Wife and I (11000) $1000 left
3. Have total savings rate of 45-55% -Currently at 64 percent
4. Purchase first rental property signficant savings toward this just waiting for right deal

Cookie78

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #118 on: May 02, 2017, 11:28:04 AM »
2017 financial goals:

By August 3rd when my 1 year leave of absence starts:

Max RRSP - estimated $7,500
Max TFSA - $5,500 (already sitting in the bank waiting until Jan 1)
Add $14,000 to emergency fund/leave of absence fund
Add $2,500 to canoe/hiking/adventure fund
Add $1,300 to Cook Island fund

I also wanted to save:
$10,000 for camper fund
$5,000 for Syrian refugee family sponsorship fund

But the rental vacancy in my city is 40% at the moment, and one of my tenants gave notice yesterday, and another one is threatening to leave, so the last two goals might be a casual fun work income goal for the later part of the year, or maybe for 2018.

Other non-number financial goals:
Rent basement suite!
Find a trusted friend who wants to rent my spare room.
May 2 update

Max RRSP -Added $3500, $2500 remaining
Max TFSA - $5,500 -Done
Add $14,000 to emergency fund/leave of absence fund -Added $8500 so far
Add $2,500 to canoe/hiking/adventure fund -Knocked out $1800 of this budget by finding good deals and spending only $1101
Add $1,300 to Cook Island fund

I also wanted to save: -neither of these are going to happen this year
$10,000 for camper fund
$5,000 for Syrian refugee family sponsorship fund

Other non-number financial goals:
Rent basement suite! -Done
Find a trusted friend who wants to rent my spare room.

runewell

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #119 on: May 02, 2017, 11:37:22 AM »
Autopilot:
Max 401k from paycheck ($18,000)
Tranksfer money from investment account to 2 Roths ($11,000)
Fund HSA from paycheck ($1,000)
Left-over money goes in investment account (up to $75K and growing, can't seem to slow it down)
Don't pay down my 2.625% mortgage since long-term higher returns are available in the stock market. 

Overflow

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #120 on: May 03, 2017, 06:48:25 AM »


I read through this thread for a long time trying to figure out what my goals should be. I looked hard at Personal Capital and my 2016 spending to figure out where I could do better. Here is what I came up with.

1. Rent out other half of our duplex. Almost through with renovations. Should be ready to rent in a couple weeks.
2. Save 25K in cash as down payment on second rental property.
3. Increase 401K contributions to $6,000 (only had 4,300 in 2016)
4. Buy second rental property.
5. Make additional income through writing.
6. Bring expenses under $2,500 per month (30K annual)



1. Rent out other half of our duplex. Almost through with renovations. Should be ready to rent in a couple weeks.
Done, as of Feb 15th. Bringing in an extra $950 a month
2. Save 25K in cash as down payment on second rental property. Unsure if we are moving forward on this one. Other financial goals may supersede this now.
3. Increase 401K contributions to $6,000 (only had 4,300 in 2016). Currently I have only contributed $700 in 2017. I increased my contribution by 1% last month, and will try to do so again next month.
4. Buy second rental property. TBD
5. Make additional income through writing. Very much TBD
6. Bring expenses under $2,500 per month (30K annual) Lots of one time house and rental property expenses in Jan and Feb that put us behind here. Spent $3900 in Jan, $3800 in Feb, and on pace to land about $3200 in March. Getting closer, step by step

1. Rent out other half of our duplex. Almost through with renovations. Should be ready to rent in a couple weeks.
Done, as of Feb 15th. Bringing in an extra $950 a month Actually just landed a new tenant (old one moved out) so bringing in $1,030 a month now!

2. Save 25K in cash as down payment on second rental property. I am deleting this goal for 2017. We surely aren't buying a second rental property this year.
2A. Save 20K in cash for a down payment for new primary residence in the next 6 months (keeping current residence as a rental). $5,000 saved so far.

3. Increase 401K contributions to $6,000 (only had 4,300 in 2016). Currently I have only contributed $700 in 2017. I increased my contribution by 1% last month, and will try to do so again next month. Contributed $1,033 so far. Increasing my contribution by another 1% - total 7%. If I continue increasing by 1% per month I am on pace to hit $4,700. Better than last year, but not as high as I wanted to make it. Unfortunately, I got a slow start to the year.

4. Buy second rental property. Deleting this goal
5. Make additional income through writing. Deleting this goal

6. Bring expenses under $2,500 per month (30K annual) Lots of one time house and rental property expenses in Jan and Feb that put us behind here. Spent $3900 in Jan, $3800 in Feb, and on pace to land about $3200 in March. Getting closer, step by step Hovering around $3,500 a month. Need to look at this one close to see if we can bring it down more.

lexde

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #121 on: May 05, 2017, 06:49:00 PM »
1. Pay off 100k in law school debt. I plan on shoveling $6,500 per month towards my loans and billing enough hours to make my bonus next year (10k to 20k post tax).  There will be be between a 2k and 12k shortfall depending on the bonus so I need to find another way to make money, maybe start a small side business or cut expenses even further.

2. Max out my 401k.

3. Max out my Backdoor Roth.

Exhausted thinking about it. But a year flies by...

What kind of law do you practice, and what kind of billables are you aiming for, out of curiosity? 6500 towards loans is amazing! I'm hoping to have my law school debt paid off in the next 18 months at 2K per month but I only take home about 4K/mo. Good luck this year, you're going to crush it! :)

lexde

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #122 on: May 05, 2017, 07:04:32 PM »
2017 Goals:

My goals for this year are a little ambitious but I want to make it happen!

  • Hit $0 NW (Jan1: -23K; May1:-16K)
  • Churn bank bonuses / get work bonuses
  • Sell unneeded household goods/clothes on ebay/offerup/letgo etc.
  • Vacation this year for $2500 (paid for ONLY with bank/work bonuses & household good sales)

the_fixer

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #123 on: May 11, 2017, 07:38:54 AM »
Credit card debit = 0 (being paid off each week)
$10,451 in 401K so far $7549 to go then I can switch it to after tax. In a few weeks I hope to bump up the contribution rate again
Wife is done with studying for her test and is going to start working on the details of her 401K's

Continuing to find ways to save money and cut expenses I think we will make our target this year


1 - Pay off 6 months same as cash for the appliances we purchased for the new house due by April 04 17
$3800

2 – Pay off 9 months same as cash from furniture purchase due by July 17
$3100

3 – Figure out what to do with my old 401k and how to invest my new 401K
Post a case study
4 – Understand and implement either a Tira or a backdoor Roth that will best suit our situation
5 – Increase the amount we are saving / investing this year to $70,000 or more
401k maxed + matches + retirement accounts and the amount we pay down the house
6 – Learn to build points for travel by using credit cards to offset our vacation habit

Nangirl17

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #124 on: May 19, 2017, 07:07:44 AM »
An update:

- Continue to max RRSP and TFSA, and invest $1K/mo in Open investment account Did this in May, but for June my pay will be almost nothing (due to sick leave a couple months ago). In July I'll have a regular paycheque again and will resume

- Open a Vanguard style investing account and invest my tax refund here. This will take some research as I have no idea how to go about this!! DID IT!!! I opened a Questrade account and put my 15K tax refund into ETFs, following the Canadian Couch Potato investing recommendations. Thank God for YouTube, I was walked through step by step, and a sincere nod of thanks to the MMM Canadian investing thread that is active right now!

- Spend none of my money on my expensive hobby (I already have lots, and between my birthday and mother's day I should get what I 'need'!) Still going strong - although, the new catalogue comes out in a couple weeks and the temptation will be strong!
 


Silkspin

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #125 on: June 02, 2017, 11:39:31 AM »
Also a new mustachian. Have been up and down on the frugality scale for years, but especially since I started with Mint in October, I see some horrible transgressions that I have encouraged (read: forced) my family to address. My/our goals for 2017:

- pay off remaining debt ~8k - should be done by end of June
- slash grocery spending in half (500 instead of 1k - December and Jan were very bad, cooked a lot of large family meals - next time potlucks!!)
- slash restaurants/ fast food by 80%
- walk/ bike more
- save 40% of our income (and open a TFSA - was waiting on an opening bonus promo from Tangerine) so currently savings going into rrsp.

We paid off our line of credit TODAY! Woohoo! 2500 left on credit card, and will be fully paid by June 17 or slightly before. I can't believe it - I think this forum and blog lit a fire under me to squash that debt as quickly as possible - it truly became an emergency!

We improved greatly on food budget - in April we cut in half, May slightly up because of in-laws where we fed 2 more for 7 days. But we have a new normal range which is well below what it was several months ago where I didn't focus so much.

Restaurant has gone down, although not totally eliminated.

Definitely walking more, hopefully we will pick up new/ used bikes for myself and daughter within the next fews weeks (after debt is gone) so that we can bike more. So car gets a break!

Now that debt is gone, I don't see an issue saving 40% of our income moving forward!
« Last Edit: June 02, 2017, 03:12:53 PM by Silkspin »

afuera

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #126 on: June 02, 2017, 12:11:33 PM »
Quote
Some of these will be stretch goals (side hustle income and spending) which will be hard for us to reach but hopefully with some hard work and creativity we will be able to check all of these off by EOY.  Good luck everybody!
2017 Goals:
-Max both 401Ks ($36K).
-Rollover Hubs' tIRA into his 401K (if his company allows).
-Max my rIRA and open rIRA for Hubs and max it ($11K).
-Max my HSA and Hubs' HSA.
-Spend <$40K for the year.
-Open a taxable investment account with Vangaurd and contribute $15K.
-Make $400/month in side hustle income.
-Pay for Hubs' Lasik/PRK surgery out of HSA (~$3.5K).
-Finally get our asses over to Madrid (pay for flights w/ travel hacking points).
Feb. Update
-Max both 401Ks ($36K). Contributions set, will max by year end.  DONE
-Rollover Hubs' tIRA into his 401K (if his company allows). Check is on its way! DONE
-Max my rIRA and open rIRA for Hubs and max it ($11K). Hubs' contributions on autopilot, will max by year end. Will max mine with my bonus mid-March .
-Max my HSA and Hubs' HSA. Contributions set, will max by year end.  DONE
-Spend <$40K for the year. Way overspent in January.  We are going to need a Frugal February to get back on track...
-Open a taxable investment account with Vanguard and contribute $15K. Will start on this once the IRA's are maxed.
-Make $400/month in side hustle income. Total: $330, Avg: $330.  Should make more in on-season months to make up for off-season months.
-Pay for Hubs' Lasik/PRK surgery out of HSA (~$3.5K). HSA is set to max and filling slowly.
-Finally get our asses over to Madrid (pay for flights w/ travel hacking points).Working towards the CSR minimum spend to get bonus.
Mar. Update
-Max both 401Ks ($36K). DONE
-Rollover Hubs' tIRA into his 401K (if his company allows). DONE
-Max my rIRA and open rIRA for Hubs and max it ($11K). Max my IRA by end of month. Hubs' IRA is on autopilot but we may max early.
-Max my HSA and Hubs' HSA. DONE
-Spend <$40K for the year. Spent 3.6K in Feb (5K in Jan :/). Will need to cut spending a bit more to make this goal.
-Open a taxable investment account with Vanguard and contribute $15K. No change.
-Make $400/month in side hustle income. Total: $780, Avg: $390.  I could pick up more games but I'm not willing to commit my entire weekend to reffing...
-Pay for Hubs' Lasik/PRK surgery out of HSA (~$3.5K). No Change.
-Finally get our asses over to Madrid (pay for flights w/ travel hacking points). CSR sign-up bonus should go through this next statement.
April Update
-Max both 401Ks ($36K). DONE
-Rollover Hubs' tIRA into his 401K (if his company allows). DONE
-Max my rIRA and open rIRA for Hubs and max it ($11K). Maxed both accounts in March thanks to a nice big bonus. DONE
-Max my HSA and Hubs' HSA. DONE
-Spend <$40K for the year. 1Q average puts us on track for 47.5K.  It doesn't look like we will make this goal but we will continue to try and lower spending.
-Open a taxable investment account with Vanguard and contribute $15K. Opened the account and contributed 3K.
-Make $400/month in side hustle income. Total: $585, Avg: $457.  Sold my first Tradeline last month for $175.  I'm only reffing a handful of games every weekend so I can still enjoy my free time as well.  This is really the perfect side hustle for me.
-Pay for Hubs' Lasik/PRK surgery out of HSA (~$3.5K). My HSA is at $3,250 and Hubs is at $760.  We found out that Hub's HSA charges a $4 maintenance fee every month for balances below 1K so we are re-evaluating how we will pay for the surgery.
-Finally get our asses over to Madrid Spain (pay for flights w/ travel hacking points). CSR statement close 4/17.  We should have the flights purchased by the end of the month.  Also, we received some advice from a friend and might go to Grenada instead...decisions decisions.
Whoops look like I forgot to post my May Update...


June Update
-Max both 401Ks ($36K). DONE
-Rollover Hubs' tIRA into his 401K (if his company allows). DONE
-Max my rIRA and open rIRA for Hubs and max it ($11K). DONE
-Max my HSA and Hubs' HSA. DONE
-Spend <$40K for the year. Working on this for the rest of year.  We are bringing down the average but maybe not enough to meet our goal.
-Open a taxable investment account with Vanguard and contribute $15K. 13K/15K
-Make $400/month in side hustle income. We are going to blow past this goal since we will have a friend moving in with us this month.  He will pay us rent which I am counting as a side hustle :)
-Pay for Hubs' Lasik/PRK surgery out of HSA (~$3.5K). We now both have 20/15 vision! . DONE
-Finally get our asses over to Madrid Spain Taiwan (pay for flights w/ travel hacking points). Points have been awarded but a family member is going on a business trip to Taiwan so we switched gears and are going to go with them!  Tickets still not purchased though.

BeautifulDay

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #127 on: June 02, 2017, 07:48:36 PM »
1. Save EF of $8000 - $2900
2.  Live on $3500 or less per month (mortgage, utilities, spending, etc).  Remaining $1500 of take home pay goes towards savings and non-mortgage debt reduction.  Stretch goal: increase debt and saving to $1700 per month. - $3601 for May but we didn't pay the first mortgage payment yet.  With that it would be $4800- so fail.
3. Auto paid down from $16,000 to $10,000 (auto pay off in 2018 - non-mortgage debt free 2019) no progress
4. $3000 saved for new business venture. Have $500 so far. No progress
5. Carpool at least 4 of 5 days per week. carpooling every day
6. Camp 1 weekend per month in April thru October.fail- we have several trips planned for June and July.
7. Go on daily walks/bike rides done
8. Start volunteering no progress
9. Find a side job/income no progress
10. Increase networth from $90k to $120k $103,000
« Last Edit: June 12, 2017, 06:32:52 PM by BeautifulDay »

Step37

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #128 on: June 02, 2017, 10:37:53 PM »
Also a new mustachian. Have been up and down on the frugality scale for years, but especially since I started with Mint in October, I see some horrible transgressions that I have encouraged (read: forced) my family to address. My/our goals for 2017:

- pay off remaining debt ~8k - should be done by end of June
- slash grocery spending in half (500 instead of 1k - December and Jan were very bad, cooked a lot of large family meals - next time potlucks!!)
- slash restaurants/ fast food by 80%
- walk/ bike more
- save 40% of our income (and open a TFSA - was waiting on an opening bonus promo from Tangerine) so currently savings going into rrsp.

We paid off our line of credit TODAY! Woohoo! 2500 left on credit card, and will be fully paid by June 17 or slightly before. I can't believe it - I think this forum and blog lit a fire under me to squash that debt as quickly as possible - it truly became an emergency!

We improved greatly on food budget - in April we cut in half, May slightly up because of in-laws where we fed 2 more for 7 days. But we have a new normal range which is well below what it was several months ago where I didn't focus so much.

Restaurant has gone down, although not totally eliminated.

Definitely walking more, hopefully we will pick up new/ used bikes for myself and daughter within the next fews weeks (after debt is gone) so that we can bike more. So car gets a break!

Now that debt is gone, I don't see an issue saving 40% of our income moving forward!

Silkspin, you're crushing it - well done! :)

Nangirl17

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #129 on: June 03, 2017, 10:24:51 AM »

Now that debt is gone, I don't see an issue saving 40% of our income moving forward!

Awesome!

the_fixer

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #130 on: June 08, 2017, 07:33:18 AM »
Credit card debit = 0 (being paid off each week)

$12,761 into 401K so far $5238 to go then I can switch it to after tax. ETA to have 401k fully funded looks to be in early August then I switch to after tax.


1 - Pay off 6 months same as cash for the appliances we purchased for the new house due by April 04 17
$3800

2 – Pay off 9 months same as cash from furniture purchase due by July 17
$3100

3 – Figure out what to do with my old 401k and how to invest my new 401K
Post a case study
4 – Understand and implement either a Tira or a backdoor Roth that will best suit our situation
5 – Increase the amount we are saving / investing this year to $70,000 or more
401k maxed + matches + retirement accounts and the amount we pay down the house
6 – Learn to build points for travel by using credit cards to offset our vacation habit

Silkspin

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #131 on: June 12, 2017, 08:02:37 AM »
Also a new mustachian. Have been up and down on the frugality scale for years, but especially since I started with Mint in October, I see some horrible transgressions that I have encouraged (read: forced) my family to address. My/our goals for 2017:

- pay off remaining debt ~8k - should be done by end of June
- slash grocery spending in half (500 instead of 1k - December and Jan were very bad, cooked a lot of large family meals - next time potlucks!!)
- slash restaurants/ fast food by 80%
- walk/ bike more
- save 40% of our income (and open a TFSA - was waiting on an opening bonus promo from Tangerine) so currently savings going into rrsp.

We paid off our line of credit TODAY! Woohoo! 2500 left on credit card, and will be fully paid by June 17 or slightly before. I can't believe it - I think this forum and blog lit a fire under me to squash that debt as quickly as possible - it truly became an emergency!

We improved greatly on food budget - in April we cut in half, May slightly up because of in-laws where we fed 2 more for 7 days. But we have a new normal range which is well below what it was several months ago where I didn't focus so much.

Restaurant has gone down, although not totally eliminated.

Definitely walking more, hopefully we will pick up new/ used bikes for myself and daughter within the next fews weeks (after debt is gone) so that we can bike more. So car gets a break!

Now that debt is gone, I don't see an issue saving 40% of our income moving forward!

Silkspin, you're crushing it - well done! :)

Thank you! I just got my contract paid out and the money will be transferred to VISA in a few days, so we are officially CONSUMER DEBT FREE! I finish my regular job next week - I work for a non-profit that closes 10 weeks in summer. Although that income is gone for 10 weeks, my photography income ramps up as I have a pretty busy summer. I work less, but make more. I also don't pay any after school daycare, and I don't shoot during the week, so I stay home with my daughter and save on daycamp costs. What could be better? In August, hubby gets an extra 400$/month until December because one of his usual pay deductions is paid up for the year at that time so then that money goes into our pockets.

I'm so glad I can get out my happiness here. I am unable to tell this news (at the moment anyhow) to my siblings. Both of them are struggling, and I'm not sure they will ever have a mindset transformation that will allow them to get out from under debt. So I don't want to make them feel bad by heralding my great news. It may come out at some point, but I tend to minimize when I do talk about our financial situation.

Our current net worth stands at around $235,000. Although we will keep a low profile in summer because my income comes in waves, starting in September with my regular paycheque, aggressive savings will be underway.

DWW

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #132 on: June 12, 2017, 08:53:41 AM »
Great!

BeautifulDay

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #133 on: June 21, 2017, 09:10:49 PM »
1. Save EF of $8000 - $3596
2.  Live on $3500 or less per month (mortgage, utilities, spending, etc).  Remaining $1500 of take home pay goes towards savings and non-mortgage debt reduction.  Stretch goal: increase debt and saving to $1700 per month. - not looking good
3. Auto paid down from $16,000 to $10,000 (auto pay off in 2018 - non-mortgage debt free 2019) $15,161
4. $3000 saved for new business venture. Have $500 so far. $570 Fail - sort of. Was hoping to be at $1870 :(
5. Carpool at least 4 of 5 days per week. carpooling every day
6. Camp 1 weekend per month in April thru October. 2 trips in June 
7. Go on daily walks/bike rides done
8. Start volunteering no progress
9. Find a side job/income no progress
10. Increase networth from $90k to $120k $102,495 right now


Posting mid month because it's been a crazy month/week financially.

The bad- Several large expenses this month.  Earlier this month we had 2 big expenses. Replaced shattered windshield in car, not cracked - completely shattered. (Dang trucks without mud flaps) Annual vet bill including medications for the whole year.  And then this week... Replaced the compressor on the AC $1800 gone-poof. But with 110degree temps we are happy for the repair.

the good- we get an extra pay check this month.  That will pay for the AC fix. But I wanted to put that money towards the business venture. Oh well at least we aren't going to touch the EF. And today I received notice that I'm getting a 3000 raise. That will help me to boost 401k savings and give me room to save for the business venture.

I might end the month wil a little on the credit card. But it should be gone before interest gets applied.  Lots of ups and downs but we keep moving forward.
« Last Edit: June 21, 2017, 09:12:30 PM by BeautifulDay »

lemonverbena

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #134 on: June 22, 2017, 01:29:59 PM »
2017 goals:

continue doing Uber Frugal Month challenges
enroll spouse in free employer health insurance plan DONE
enroll spouse in free employer cell phone plan DONE
pay off car loan $7825 by June end of year
stop paying for preschool $396/month by June DONE
grow most of our veggies and fruits EH, WELL, WE GROW A LOT OF FRUIT ANYWAY
buy leftover roofing materials on Craigslist, DIY new roof this summer NOT HAPPENING
DIY mold removal this summer MIGHT BE UNNECESSARY
start working at a paying job (I'm currently a full-time parent) in September HIRED
set up tIRA DONE
and contribute to reduce MAGI to qualify for healthcare stipend "extra savings" level
Additional goals:
move $1,000 into separate emergency account DONE
cancel landline no longer needed for side-gig DONE
cancel Microsoft Office no longer needed for side-gig DONE
set up HSA
pay off roof replacement loan by June end of year
Max out SEP IRA, then rollover to tIRA

DWW

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #135 on: June 26, 2017, 03:20:40 PM »
Goals for 2017-
May 1 Update
1. Max out HSA (6750) Done
2. Max out ROTH for Wife and I (11000) $1000 left
3. Have total savings rate of 45-55% -Currently at 64 percent
4. Purchase first rental property signficant savings toward this just waiting for right deal

Update

1. HSA Done
2. Wife's Roth Done
3. Saving rate on target
4. Deciding on Rental

recklesslysober

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #136 on: June 29, 2017, 01:28:08 PM »
I'm only 6 weeks in - love the peach fuzz title!

My goals:
Pay off at least $20,000.00 of my remaining $119,000.00 student loan debt.
Reduce meals out spending by 50% by focusing on making more meals at home.
Reduce clothing/entertainment/shopping spending by at least 50% by finding free ways to entertain myself and by addressing the psychological issues behind my shopping habits.

This is the first year that I'll have a full year of data to look back on. Very excited to start a new year in YNAB and be able to compare spending to track improvement. :)

3 months later..

Student debt is now $112,300 down from $119,200. $6,900/$20,000 = 35% so I'm about 10% ahead!

In 2016 my meals out average was $290.12/month. (I know, I'm floored now looking back on that number.) This year so far.. drumroll please.. average of $7.24/month. 98% reduction.

In 2016 my clothing/entertainment/shopping average was $766.19/month. (Again, wow.) This year so far.. average of $223.28/month. 71% reduction.


Much more progress than I expected! I think I'm experiencing lifestyle deflation. :)

I'm continuing to work at it. I'd like to get the clothing/entertainment/shopping category under $200 for sure, maybe lower, and start working on other categories like groceries.

At the six month mark..

Student debt repayment is now $12,900/$20,000 = 65%, balance $106,300. Actually hoping to pay $25,000, and should be at a sub-six figure balance by the next update.

Meals out average is $56.76/month - still an 80% reduction from last year.

Clothing/entertainment/shopping average is $316.53/month - a couple of big purchases this summer disrupted my plans but still a 60% reduction from last year. Hoping to increase this with some future low spending months.

Groceries are also down but only by about $20/month. Still on track to save about $4,200 on food this year from last year.. shocked.

Will check back in at the end of September and then December.

wintertell

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #137 on: June 30, 2017, 08:40:13 AM »
We just sold our house! I don't have the exact numbers in as the money is still in transit, but we will be able finally start living on incoming income, rather than draw down on our emergency fund.

Joining! Our 2017 financial goals are pretty limited, mainly about maintaining the status quo while we work through huge life transitions

Maintenance
- Maintain living off on last month's income  - Starting in July
- Maintain a 16K emergency fund - About 4 months expenses - Replenish with house funds
- Maintain tracking expenses via YNAB - YES

New
- Live off of 1 income with no new debt  - YES
- Move to NC - Completed Feb. 2017.
- WT find a new job in NC by EOY. - In progress but picking up the pace of applications
-  HB establish business in NC. - In progress
-  Save for house down payment - Not sure of exact figure needed but likely will do this from sale of mobile home - Will have about 20/45-50k in a downpayment, but house goal is likely on hold for a while.
-  Save 10% of WT salary for retirement in 401(k)- Bumped contributions up to 6%, 4% match in January. - YES - Trying to convince HB to bump it up to 15% total and keep it there for the foreseeable future. My company bumped their match up to 5% so we are currently contributing 11% to retirement.

Maybe
- Pay off truck - current balance around ~6200, but loan is at 1.99% - Paying the truck and the car off with house funds. We will be debt free in a matter of a week or two!

Revised 2017 Goals:

Maintenance
- Maintain living off on last month's income
- Maintain a 15K emergency fund
- Maintain tracking expenses via YNAB

New
- Live off of 1 income with no new debt - Ongoing
- Move to NC - Completed Feb. 2017.
-  Sell house - Completed Jun. 2017.
-  WT find a new job in NC by EOY.
-  Move to target area of NC once WT gets new job.
-  HB establish business in NC.
-  Pay off all debt - car and truck, current balance about 20K.
-  Save 15% of WT salary for retirement in 401(k)- Aiming for 10% contributions, 5% company match (maybe - have to convince HB)
-  Save for house down payment (on hold)

Cookie78

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #138 on: July 03, 2017, 09:33:32 AM »
2017 financial goals:

By August 3rd when my 1 year leave of absence starts:

Max RRSP - estimated $7,500
Max TFSA - $5,500 (already sitting in the bank waiting until Jan 1)
Add $14,000 to emergency fund/leave of absence fund
Add $2,500 to canoe/hiking/adventure fund
Add $1,300 to Cook Island fund

I also wanted to save:
$10,000 for camper fund
$5,000 for Syrian refugee family sponsorship fund

But the rental vacancy in my city is 40% at the moment, and one of my tenants gave notice yesterday, and another one is threatening to leave, so the last two goals might be a casual fun work income goal for the later part of the year, or maybe for 2018.

Other non-number financial goals:
Rent basement suite!
Find a trusted friend who wants to rent my spare room.
July 3 update

Max RRSP -Done
Max TFSA - $5,500 -Done
Add $14,000 to emergency fund/leave of absence fund -Added $11000 so far
Add $2,500 to canoe/hiking/adventure fund -Done
Add $1,300 to Cook Island fund -Added 200 so far.

I also wanted to save: -neither of these are going to happen this year
$10,000 for camper fund
$5,000 for Syrian refugee family sponsorship fund

Other non-number financial goals:
Rent basement suite! -Done
Find a trusted friend who wants to rent my spare room.

Looks like I'm going to barely squeak by. I spent a lot of money on fixing up my house and yard the last couple months, which was important. Also I decided to try kite surfing in the Cook Islands which will require a little extra money in that category.

monstermonster

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #139 on: July 03, 2017, 12:21:25 PM »
Doing great on spending, terrible on income goals. Oops.

Really looking forward to this year, after the chaos that was 2016 personally & politically.

Financial Goals 2017
  • First and foremost and hardest: grow the business so it's enough to live and save off of. Earn $60,000 total between W2 job ($27,000) and business ($33,000). Almost guaranteed not to happen at this rate unless my kickstarter does spectacularly
  • Live on less than $20,000 for the year, including medical premiums (2016 with two weeks left: $17,559) - on track
  • Max out Roth IRA. - maintain mild hope I will accomplish this, currently have contributed $1000, at current income rate will not happen
  • Contribute $10,000 to a Solo 401K. - not happening, only making ~$25,000 or so for the year
  • Reduce overall alcohol-related spending from 2016 (Total spending for 2016 was $854.43, which is $71/month). - So on track, spent an average of $7 per month mainly on sparkling water, have not drunk alcohol all year
  • Reduce overall fitness-related spending from 2016 (Total spending for 2016 was $829, which is $69/month). - on track, but barely (gym initiation plus new shoes)
  • Continue to track expenses & publish monthly reports. - on track
  • Travel on trans-siberian railway and in Russia/China for 3 weeks without spending >$1000. - on track
  • Stop spending business expenses out of personal accounts/cards. done

beantown

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #140 on: July 05, 2017, 11:20:09 AM »
First half of the year results. Some pretty big life changes like becoming the sole provider while my partner goes back for more schooling will make my original goals unrealistic for the second half of the year.

Goal 1: Maintain a 60% savings rate using the definition of (pre-tax savings + matches + post-tax savings + debt repayment)/ (gross income +matches - taxes). This year I had an average of around 45%, but I've received a raise and will get 401k matching next year, so hopefully can bump this up
Half Year Results: 58.5% for first half of year. Decreasing this goal to 40% for second half of year.

Goal 2: Reach 75K in net worth by EOY. I'm starting Jan with about a 16K net worth.
Half Year Results: Currently at 51.8K, so I'm about 5K ahead of plan

Goal 3: Pay back at least 24K to my mother, who helped pay for grad school.
Half Year Results: Paid back 10K this May. Revising goal to 20K for the year instead of 24K

Goal 4: Donate 1% of net income. As someone who has only haphazardly donated in the past, I want to determine what causes I care about and start getting in the habit of donating more regularly.
Half Year Results: Not doing so great at this. Currently at 0.5%. I think I'm okay with that for the year

Alps

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #141 on: July 13, 2017, 12:59:26 AM »
1. Reach 100k net worth by September 2017 (stretch goal), or else by November 2017 - Almost at 91k! This looks quite doable now :)
2. Continue to fill up retirement accounts to the max. Less than 20% left!
3. Reduce monthly grocery+household supply bills to CHF800 or less. Mostly on track.
4. Create an optimized four week meal plan, ideally reducing spending to CHF600-700
5. Bike to work 3 times (i.e. all times) a week instead of 2 times. Never take the car to work! Except for January this was achieved. Also it is way easier now with the new job.
6. Change car insurance on time, check for cheaper health insurance
7. At the end of 2017 check if better index funds have become available somewhere - Found a new, cheap way to invest.

Half-year update:
As expected, the new job helps a lot with savings. So quite on track for the 100k goal!
Regarding the meal plan, I've scrapped that goal. Trying to create a meal plan was zero fun for me, and nobody in the family likes eating according to a meal plan (including me). So for the moment this is off the table.

the_fixer

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #142 on: July 30, 2017, 10:11:25 AM »
Credit card debit = 0 (being paid off each week)

$15,783 into 401K so far $2217 to go then I can switch it to after tax. ETA to have 401k fully funded looks to be 2nd pay check of August then I switch to after tax.

Had a few setbacks but I think we will still meet our goals.


1 - Pay off 6 months same as cash for the appliances we purchased for the new house due by April 04 17
$3800

2 – Pay off 9 months same as cash from furniture purchase due by July 17
$3100

3 – Figure out what to do with my old 401k and how to invest my new 401K
Post a case study

4 – Understand and implement either a Tira or a backdoor Roth that will best suit our situation
5 – Increase the amount we are saving / investing this year to $70,000 or more
401k maxed + matches + retirement accounts and the amount we pay down the house
6 – Learn to build points for travel by using credit cards to offset our vacation habit
« Last Edit: August 02, 2017, 06:11:18 AM by the_fixer »

marioarm2

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #143 on: July 31, 2017, 07:05:05 PM »
Only been a few days since I've discovered Mr. Money Mustache and I'm feeling fired up!

My peach fuzz goals for 2017:

1. Pay off my entire credit card debt ($6,600 @ 0% APR for 21 mo.)
2. Reach $1k in my savings account for an emergency fund
3. Pay at least $15k on my student loans (currently $90k @ various interest rates)
4. Exercise at least 3x a week via walking, hiking, kettlebells, etc.
5. Cut down eating out to 1-2x/month

Yeah, I was a little too optimistic in December ;)

Here's where I'm at now:
1. CC Debt down to $3,677.25 (-$2,922.75)
2. Emergency Fund - $550
3. Student Loans down to $86,138.74 (-$3,861.26)
4. Exercise 3x/week - Check!
5. Cut down restaurants, but increased fast food/Wawa - No good!

Cookie78

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #144 on: August 01, 2017, 01:13:00 PM »
2017 financial goals:

By August 3rd when my 1 year leave of absence starts:

Max RRSP - estimated $7,500
Max TFSA - $5,500 (already sitting in the bank waiting until Jan 1)
Add $14,000 to emergency fund/leave of absence fund
Add $2,500 to canoe/hiking/adventure fund
Add $1,300 to Cook Island fund

I also wanted to save:
$10,000 for camper fund
$5,000 for Syrian refugee family sponsorship fund

But the rental vacancy in my city is 40% at the moment, and one of my tenants gave notice yesterday, and another one is threatening to leave, so the last two goals might be a casual fun work income goal for the later part of the year, or maybe for 2018.

Other non-number financial goals:
Rent basement suite!
Find a trusted friend who wants to rent my spare room.

Aug 1 update

Max RRSP -Done
Max TFSA - $5,500 -Done
Add $14,000 to emergency fund/leave of absence fund -Done
Add $2,500 to canoe/hiking/adventure fund -Done
Add $1,300 to Cook Island fund -Added 200 so far. Should be able to top this up tomorrow after I get paid

I also wanted to save: -neither of these are going to happen this year
$10,000 for camper fund
$5,000 for Syrian refugee family sponsorship fund

Other non-number financial goals:
Rent basement suite! -Done
Find a trusted friend who wants to rent my spare room. -Two potential options, hoping to finalize by Friday

Barely made it. Spent a lot fixing up houses including spending $2200 on new windows tonight.
Feelz so good!

Alps

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #145 on: August 11, 2017, 01:00:56 AM »
Just had to share here - we currently don't have that much in index funds, I would estimate about 50k. But this month was the first time I noticed an effect - we saved 3.5k, but net worth increased by 5k!!

Of course I've always observed our invested money loosing and gaining value, but it never amounted to much. This time though was really unexpected, in that I added the totals and there was an extra 1.5k around - since we are spread over several accounts, and I sometimes save extra bits and pieces over a given month, I really had to do the math to figure out it was indeed coming from investments. That is so cool! *Knowing* how index funds work, and *experiencing* it yourself really are two different things.


the_fixer

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #146 on: August 26, 2017, 07:43:30 PM »

Credit card debit = 0 (being paid off each week)

BAM! 401k maxed now onto after tax :)


1 - Pay off 6 months same as cash for the appliances we purchased for the new house due by April 04 17
$3800

2 – Pay off 9 months same as cash from furniture purchase due by July 17
$3100

3 – Figure out what to do with my old 401k and how to invest my new 401K
Post a case study

4 – Understand and implement either a Tira or a backdoor Roth that will best suit our situation
5 – Increase the amount we are saving / investing this year to $70,000 or more
401k maxed + matches + retirement accounts and the amount we pay down the house
6 – Learn to build points for travel by using credit cards to offset our vacation habit
« Last Edit: August 26, 2017, 07:46:17 PM by the_fixer »

Rhoon

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #147 on: September 02, 2017, 04:58:05 PM »
Goals for 2017:

1. Max 401K (ETA January if my bonus comes through) Complete.
2. Max spouse's tIRA: Set up as monthly payments in 2016; will continue this Ended up just Maxing it out in 1 shot. Complete
3. Max my tIRA through regular contributions rather than doing it at the end of the year with extra cash. I'm border line unable to contribute to even a Roth -- so I'm canceling this. Removed.
4. Max HSA No longer qualify
5. Lose 20 lbs
6. Pay off Solar Panels ($23K) Paid off
7. Increase payments on DW's Student Loans (Currently $31K; want to get this below $25K) Paid Off

4. No longer qualify for an HSA as my insurance plan was changed.

Refinanced my house and pulled the equity out and paid off the Solar Panels and Student loans. Didn't expressly eliminate the debt, just rebalanced in a better tax deductible strategy -- also was able to keep my same low 3.5% interest rate vs the 6% I was paying on the other two debts.

Now to concentrate on weight loss for this year.

BeautifulDay

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #148 on: September 08, 2017, 10:41:57 AM »
1. Save EF of $8000 - $4300
2.  Live on $3500 or less per month (mortgage, utilities, spending, etc).  Remaining $1500 of take home pay goes towards savings and non-mortgage debt reduction.  $3523 - feels like an accomplishment.  Even donated some money this month to a cousin who was in a bad car accident.  Without that I'd be under.
3. Auto paid down from $16,000 to $10,000 (auto pay off in 2018 - non-mortgage debt free 2019) $14,383 but not sure if we will get to $10k by the end of the year
4. $3000 saved for new business venture. Have $500 so far. $1200
5. Complete -we are regularly carpooling
6. Camp 1 weekend per month in April thru October. none in July or August :( 
7. Complete- now walking several times a day
9. Increase networth from $90k to $120k $107,786

Mongoose

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Re: 2017 Financial Goals - Peach Fuzz Edition
« Reply #149 on: September 14, 2017, 02:32:30 PM »
1. Stay out of credit card debt (and all non-mortgage debt). Emerged in 2016. Still holding out! A record for us!
2. Paid out of business (while keeping day jobs). One quarter time salary being paid. Business is increasing so we hope to increase this soon.
   Minimum: one person half-time
   Full Goal: one person full-time
3. Special travel savings (to keep being able to visit family easily). Amount: ? $0
4. Car replacement fund: goal $6000 (for when our ancient cars finally die). We are keeping our ancient cars as long as possible. This may have a limited reasonable time since they both have 300-350k miles on them.The old cars caught up with us. We did save this amount but ended up spending that plus a bit more to repair one and replace the other.
5. Increase personal savings (stretch goal: start a Vanguard FI account). We have gone from a negative savings rate to saving around 10% but it is in retirement accounts (to get match).

Stretch goalsNot yet.
1. Paid out of business: two people full-time.
2. Business emergency fund: $30-50k.

Ok progress but slower than we were hoping for. We're still on a good path though so I'm pretty happy with it.