The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Throw Down the Gauntlet => Topic started by: Mr_Forest on November 28, 2016, 09:20:16 PM
-
Hello all! I am new here to the community. Found MMM a little bit ago. Been reading through various threads and I really enjoyed reading the 2016 version of this thread and was very inspired by all the goals and progress that I saw. Since I am new here I realize I have a lot of poor decisions to reverse in my life. With that out of the way please post your goals for this upcoming year! Financial and non financial.
My goals
1. Stick to a budget (me and my wife are bad about this but we recently had a heart to heart and sat down for the first time and created a budget for the month of December. Budgeting really does bring your closer to your spouse).
2. Cut costs down as much as possible this year. We have lived a very luxurious life when in reality we were just creating a mountain of debt.
3. Pay off $5K worth of credit cards
4. Pay off Private student loan ($4K)
5. Find a new job. I need a job with better hours, I currently work night shift 7p-7a but I only work 3 days a week.
6. Get into graduate school to move up in my career. Once out I would be making double what I am now essentially.
7. This is probably my biggest goal this year and will be the most difficult. STOP EATING OUT AS MUCH.
8. Eat healthier. More particularly cut out red meat.
9. Exercise more
10. Drink more water.
11. Kind of random but obtain my Concealed Carry permit
I look forward to seeing everyone's goals and the progress for this upcoming year.
-
Good luck with your goals!
Let us know how the cc permit works out!
-
Several-year lurker, first-time poster here.
My 2017 goals are pretty straightforward:
1. Save 50% of take-home pay (401k to match, max HSA, the rest to student loan debt)
As a result of this:
2. Increase net worth by 30K+ (still in the negatives, but should be close to positive by the end of the year!)
3. Decrease student loan debt by 28K
-
Just started reading about a month ago... 2017 Goals:
1. Erase all debt (About $15k)
2. Savings goal of $25k
3. Make our only debt our upcoming mortgage (We inherited 2 acres, so my fiance', daughter,and I are building our own castle)
4. Cut down eating out to once per week (I'm sure this is on everyones goal list!)
5. Start and max out Roth IRA
6. Max out 401k
-
My/our goals for 2017
1. Putting 40k into our down-payment fund, getting that up to 70k by august (our condo is scheduled to be ready by then)
2. Pay off half of my student loan debt (17k)
3. Start paying into a retirement account
4. Get our emergency fund up to 5k after we move in
5. Get pregnant in 2017 :)
6. Work less in the '17-'18 season (I'm a coach so I sign contracts on a seasonal basis)
7. Finish the paper for my coaching degree by march
8. Only buy second hand furniture for our condo
I think 2017 will be a great year. I hope we accomplish all our goals and are able to keep the lifestyle creep at bay. We really like our jobs, so are not really looking to FIRE in the near future, but would like to work less and travel more. We are new to the making money part (and saving), as we have been serious athletes (in a non-profitable sport) until last year.
We hope to FIRE at about 50 (in 20 years), or at least be financially independent by that time.
Hope you all reach your goals and 2017 is a great year for everyone! :)
-
2017 goals so far in no particular order
1. Eliminate remaining consumer debt (~20k)
2. Get a decent EF built up
3. Open tfsa and max contributions
4. Motivate myself to learn new things at work to do my job better
5. Finish house renos and continue farm renos
6. Net worth of $100,000
7. Get back in better shape and healthier weight
8. Donate my mom a kidney when healthy enough
9. After all that just maybe a baby lol (still deciding)
I think after years of barely moving the needle, 2017 will be the year of big financial change and huge momentum forward. That's the hope anyways : )
-
Edited as I've thought through these goals some more. I've enjoyed being on the 2016 version and it held me accountable, so I want to continue with it again this year. For 2017, my goals are:
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
Goal 2: Reach 75K in net worth by EOY. I'm starting Jan with about a 16K net worth.
Goal 3: Pay back at least 24K to my mother, who helped pay for grad school.
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.
-
I'm in. We met 100% of our 2016 goals by mid-year and then made decent progress on our updated goals. Hoping for a similar result in 2017!
2017 Financial Goals
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: ?
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.
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.
-
This year we paid off 20k in student debt and bought a prius with cash.
2017 we just want to stay afloat. We're going try living off just my husband's income of 29k while I stay home with our upcoming child. Not a lot, but we have faith. We just want to stay current on the bills and not incur any extra debt besides medical.
-
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...
-
My single goal is to track my spending, completely. We tried YNAB but I didn't get anything much out of it; it was too complex due to the number of accounts, incomes, etc. All I really want to know, each month, is how much I spend. Well, that, and whether it is a Need or a Want, I guess. I don't 'care' about income. I'm thinking I'll just ignore any money used to invest. The only thing I'm not sure about is how to account for taxes. I think I will ignore those too, as they are not relevant when it comes to retirement income.
I guess I need to start a journal. Or a spreadsheet. I'm not very good at doing things every day, unfortunately.
-
1. Max out Roth IRA
2. Set up 401(k) to front load and max out by September 2017
3. Sell house and invest proceeds
4. Find (relatively) affordable apartment within walking distance to work.
5. Get in better shape.
6. Use new spare time for a side hustle
7. Save and invest additional $35,000 after tax
-
Since 2016 was a horrible year financially. Here's to starting over
1. At least $5000 in EF
2.) I had surgery this month (appendectomy) so I suspect incoming medical debt that needs to be paid off.
3.) Pay off $1500 cc debt.
4.) Reduce student debt.
5.) Get a side hustle.
-
I'll join in on this one,
2016 was my first year maxing out both my 401k and IRA, despite moving back to the US after a year abroad which meant buying all sorts of luxuries like a "bicycle" and a "bed." Since I managed that, I'm aiming to be a bit more aggressive this year:
Financial goals
1. Max out 401k
2. Max out IRA
3. Pay off remaining car loan ($9k)
4. Buy my own place
5. Get food alone at restaurants 1x/wk. Can exceed if it's a valued social event
Professional goals
1. Bring in 100k worth of projects
2. Present my work at 2 or more conferences
3. Continue to build professional relationships with industry partners, and funders (Ack! Vague goal!)
4. Evaluate whether working independently is a lifestyle I'd like to pursue (Somewhat vague, but a yes/no answer so I'll accept it)
-
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. :)
-
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
-
I definitely succeeded in my goal of doubling my income in 2016, so onto 2017 peach fuzz goals!
1. Continue receiving the top-tier bonus at work.
2. Track every penny. This is where I'm weakest - I am not good at watching/tracking my spending. I have Mint, but I never check it. I may have to resort to the old-school pen and paper method- that seems to work best for me in general.
3. Figure out investments (?) I'm currently still building my emergency fund, but I would like to be ready to go once I hit my goal of 6 months living expenses.
To a productive 2017 for us all!
-
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%).
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).
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.
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.
5. Get the damn TFSAs bought and maxed AND
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.
Hopefully this list will keep me accountable. Good luck with your goals, everyone!
-
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).
- Live on less than $20,000 for the year, including medical premiums (2016 with two weeks left: $17,559)
- Max out Roth IRA.
- Contribute $10,000 to a Solo 401K.
- Reduce overall alcohol-related spending from 2016 (Total spending for 2016 was $854.43, which is $71/month).
- Reduce overall fitness-related spending from 2016 (Total spending for 2016 was $829, which is $69/month).
- Continue to track expenses & publish monthly reports.
- Travel on trans-siberian railway and in Russia/China for 3 weeks without spending >$1000.
- Stop spending business expenses out of personal accounts/cards.
-
Financial Goals 2017:
1. Pay off the rest of my student loan, all $39,000 of it
2. Continue monthly contributions of $100 to my child's education savings
3. Continue monthly contributions of at least $100 (preferably $300) to my retirement savings
-
Well after we bought our house in August, I didn't meet a lot of my 2016 goals. 2017 should hopefully be less hectic.
1. Continue my use of YNAB and finally finish building up my 1 month budget buffer
2. Increase EF to $4k (on top of 1 month budget buffer)
3. Invest $8k in 403b
4. Payoff $6k of my wife's student loan all on CC
5. Plan a nice vacation (or 2) for my wife and I with the lion's share paid for by Chase.
6. Continue growing my side hustle income to $5k/yr through growth of my TeachersPayTeachers store and continued growth of my tutoring
-
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.
-
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.
Maybe I should move to your city! My city's rental vacancy is at .5% :(
-
Goals for 2017:
1. Max 401K (ETA January if my bonus comes through)
2. Max spouse's tIRA: Set up as monthly payments in 2016; will continue this
3. Max my tIRA through regular contributions rather than doing it at the end of the year with extra cash.
4. Max HSA
5. Lose 20 lbs
6. Pay off Solar Panels ($23K)
7. Increase payments on DW's Student Loans (Currently $31K; want to get this below $25K)
-
Goals for 2017:
1. Actually get rental #3 done and ready to rent. (Left over from 1st quarter 2016 goal. Yikes!)
Net worth increase: $35,000.
Income increase: $ 4,800.
2. Actually get old house done and ready to rent. (Left over from 2nd quarter 2016 goal. Yikes!)
Net worth increase: $ 0.
Income increase: $9,600.
3. Get Roof, Mildew/Mold, Electric, Plumbing, HVAC fixed on Flip #1. Get 50% of remaining work done. Cashflow repairs.
Net worth increase: $ 0. (Net worth increase of $25,000 to $75,000 in 2018.)
Income increase: $ 0.
4. Max my 401k. $26,000.
5. Max spouse 401k $25,000.
6. Vanguard contributions: $12,000.
So, conservatively, $86,000 net worth increase, with the heavy lifting done on another $25-75,000 for 2018.
Plus an income increase of $14,400.
As soon as rentals #3 and #4 are rented, and we have flip #1 on the market (or all the materials bought or money set aside to do so), we can declare ourselves FI.
If it weren't for flip #1, we would retire in spring of 2017, so the flip is delaying us a year, just to be on the safe side.
-
This year we finally opened an investment account! We also changed the pre-tax retirement account to 40% funds (can't do any better than that). So this year is more about filling those accounts.. goals:
1. Reach 100k net worth by September 2017 (stretch goal), or else by November 2017
2. Continue to fill up retirement accounts to the max
3. Reduce monthly grocery+household supply bills to CHF800 or less
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!
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
-
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.
Maybe I should move to your city! My city's rental vacancy is at .5% :(
Come on over! I have a place you can rent. :p
It's even discounted for mustachians!
-
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.
Maybe I should move to your city! My city's rental vacancy is at .5% :(
Come on over! I have a place you can rent. :p
It's even discounted for mustachians!
If only I would've married my Canadian ex-girlfriend when I had the chance, I could just hop on up there...
-
I started the 2016 thread, so of course I have to participate in the 2017 one!
I made a lot of goals last year and ended up changing them throughout, so this year the goal is super simple:
PAY OFF THE EFFING CREDIT CARD DEBT.
That's it. When that's accomplished, I'll move on to something else. :)
-
Good luck to everyone on their 2017 Mustache Journey!
My goals:
Pay off $3k in CC debt. Should be done in January
Pay off $2.5K in assorted debts. Should be done in February
Pay off $7k in student loans. Should be done by May
Yay! Debt free
Improve credit score
Save $24k
Be in a position to buy a house by January 2018
Read all the books in my house that I haven't read yet
Make progress towards the 1000lb club (deadlift+squat+bench press=1000lb)
Start learning a foreign language OR an instrument
Possibly use VA benefits to go back to school
-
Ah goals. Tough stuff.
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)
-
2017 Goals
Pay off credit card debt (2k on regular card, 2.5k on 0% interest until June of 2017) - Credit cards are put away and out of our wallets until we can be better with them
Increase 401k contribution to equal any raise that I receive year end
Increase e-fund from current 2k to 5k
Write a LOT of new business at work, which will increase my pay, my 401k contributions, savings rate, etc.
-
1)Hit a 50% net savings rate
2)Don't get fired from work
3)Cover 50% of annual spending from income sources outside of main job (side hustle, CC churning, Bank account churning, etc)
4) Keep Spending <$23k for the year
-
Did fantastic in 2016, building off that momentum:
1. Pay cash for wedding and honeymoon (actually I will use airlines reward credit card & pay off immediately with the saved cash, netting 2 extra round trip tickets to use for a friend's wedding).
2. Rebuild emergency fund up to $5,000 as we are new homeowners.
3. Pay $10,000 of remaining $54,000 of my student loans.
4. Save 14% of pay in 401k between me and my employers contributions.
5. Help fiance get better job.
6. More charity, more details- cluttering, more exercise and better eating.
-
After securing a 20% pay increase through a promotion and paying off my consumer sucka credit card debt I am looking forward to my net worth finally crossing into the black!
1) Have a positive net worth
2) Increase 401K contributions to 6%, excluding employer match and discretionary contribution (in 2018 I'll be able to contribute the max)
3) Pay off student loans (~17K)
4) Earn enough money through tradeline sales (piggybacking credit) to fully fund a tIRA
-
- Use cash and/or debit card only.
- Stay in budget. Be creative in resolving financial issues as they arise.
- Maintain EF w/$1K
All else should fall into place with that. I would like to ramp up EF with at least $6K ($12K would be ideal)
-
I've been reading MMM and the forums for about a year now. I'm excited to jump in with my first challenge!
1) Keep average grocery spending under $400/month (3 adults 2 children)
2) Pay off car loan ($4,500)
3) Finish paying off credit card debt ($14,000)
4) Save another $2,000 for EF (currently about $1,000)
5) Refinance private student loans ($25,000 at about 6% variable... Effing Sallie Mae/Navient. This is more than the original loan amount)
6) Reduce federal student loans (currently $83,000 at various fixed rates) by $15,000 through a loan repayment program through my work.
ETA 7) Totally forgot that it's my turn to pay the federal taxes. So save $2K for our 2016 tax liability. Might have to scale back on CC or EF to handle it.
It's going to be a looooong year. Let's do this thing.
-
Hmmm... let's see...
1. Max out all retirement accounts (my 403b and IRA; husband's 401k and IRA)
2. Grow vegetables
3. Plant 1-2 fruit trees
4. Use grocery rebates to fund half of big family outing in December (approx $200; reasonable estimated rebate income: $100)
5. Cut grocery spending in half (from $80/week to $40/week)
6. Finish monster decluttering project and don't acquire new stuff
-
Strangely enough, our 2017 financial goals involve making less money. 1) we are looking to trade out my sideline gig for one that involves less driving, even at a lower stipend, therefore a better lifestyle balance, and 2) we are looking to reduce wife's job from 5 days / 40 hours to 4 days / 32 hours, again a better lifestyle balance. She has to stay at 32 hours to qualify for health insurance. I need to mess with our cash flow a little bit before we can pull the trigger on these.
-
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
-
nice, my only real goals is:
1. Spend $0 on eating out/fast foods (so far so good, but this'll be a tough one)
the rest like maxing tIRA and 401k are on track, here's to hoping!
-
Discovered MMM late last year. Loved the 2016 Peach Fuzz Edition. Big changes for me from last year. My son was born and my wife started staying home so down to one income for the next five years.
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
Edited to add after finally linking all remaining accounts with Mint:
10. Increase Net Worth by at least $20K
2nd Edit:
11. Pay off remaining balance on cell phone installment (Pre-MMM stupid idea) Long story but boils down to Sprint not honoring their deal for a $20/month statement credit on upgraded phones. Enough calls and complaints got me a one time $400 credit equaling the remaining $20 per month for 20 months. Now I can pay off the balance early and not have to worry about losing the credit every month. Lowers my bill by over $50 per month and gives me the ability to take my current phone to Boost Mobile or Ting and get even cheaper plan if I want.
12. Open HSA if the law allows. Not currently eligible under current laws. Speculation that Trump might open up HSAs to everyone. (Fingers crossed, Good luck to President Trump. Maybe not my first choice but I wish you luck in your endeavors.)
-
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).
-
2017 Goals:
- Max out 401(k)
- Find Mustachian SO
- Max out HSA
- Max out Roth
- Mixture of 36k+ between brokerage & student loan repayments
- Refi Student Loan (done)
- Sell car and go car free (done)
- Learn C#
- Get 1+ Cash in World Series of Poker
- Lose 36+ Pounds
- Start Blog
-
2017 Goals:
- Max out 401(k)
- Find Mustachian SO
- Max out HSA
- Max out Roth
- Mixture of 36k+ between brokerage & student loan repayments
- Refi Student Loan (done)
- Sell car and go car free (done)
- Learn C#
- Get 1+ Cash in World Series of Poker
- Lose 36+ Pounds
- Start Blog
Well done casually slipping in "find Mustachian SO" in between 401k and HSA.
-
1. Increase assets by 33k
2. Pay off 100k of student debt.
3. Start a side hustle.
-
2017 seems like it will be awesome.
1. I'd like to start a solo 401k. My job doesn't have one and I do a lot of 1099 work.
2. I'd like to pay down my 403b loan to less than 20k. currently 36,000
3. I'd like to save 10k for a new roof. currently i'm ok but I don't know when it may leak.
4. I'd like to increase my investment taxable account to 20 k currently 6 k.
5. I'd like to contribute to my Roth IRA up to max.
6. I'd like to get central heat in my home currently we have space heater.
7. I'd like to lose at least 13 pounds and I'd be extremely happy if I got down a full 21!
8. I'd like to teach my kid her letters and numbers.
9. I'd like to spend less this year than last year. I was able to do this in 2016 despite extensive house remodeling.
10. I'd like to give at least 4k
-
Just posted 2017 goals on my journal. Simple and straightforward. I love simple and I can reinforce it.
So here it is:
1. Save minimum 50% of take-home pay
2. Invest 1K per month (500 in stocks, 300 cash/real estate, 200 EF)
As a result:
- Increase network by 15K minimum
- Have 8K invested in stocks
- Have an EF of 3K
- The rest in cash and real estate.
-
I'm keeping it simple.
1. Save 50% of my disposable income.
Why this should be easy:
- I'm working my tail off for a promotion and a raise that seems all but guaranteed at this point. Should kick in during the spring. Expecting about a 5-7% raise.
- For the first time in my young life, my place is fully furnished, and I have no wardrobe "needs". I could very easily finish they year with virtually zero clothing expenses, and literally no home goods expenses.
- I've slowly begun to kick my fast food habit.
Why this should be tough:
- I'm going on three trips this year, all of which I'll be spending anywhere from $1,000 to $2,500.
- My friends and family are not Mustachians. This makes it extraordinarily awkward to skimp on consumerism, like giving birthday or Christmas presents less than $50.
-
2017 Financial Goals
Goal 1: Pay off at least $20,000 of student loans by paying at least $1,500/month on student loans
Goal 2: Max out 401(k) this year.
Goal 3: Reach a net worth of $100,000 (currently about $65,000 and sure the market is about to get funky).
Goal 4: Save $18,000 in urgent emergency fund (3-6 month) (last transfer hit the goal)
Goal 5: Save at least 50% of my income (includes pre-tax savings, post-tax savings and debt repayment)
-
1. Put 30K in the house fund (it's at 30K now; aiming for 75K total)
2. Maintain a savings rate of at least 40% every month
3. Keep food costs under $350 every month
-
1. Max all our tax advantaged accounts: 1 401k, 2 IRA s, 1 family HSA, state max for 529s
2. Exercise, eat well and stay healthy.
3. Save for house remodeling
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
-
Blargh. I found this forum mid-2016 and then things at work changed (ie got crazy) and I became distracted. So I'm back and trying to get things under control again. Sorry if my goals seem lame compared to those posted by others, I fell off the wagon and it will take some time to tighten things back up!!
Financial Goals 2017:
1. Get Savings rate to 40% by year end. (Jan/Feb/Mar = goal of 25%, Apr/May/June = goal of 30%, July/Aug/Sept = goal of 35%, Oct/Nov/Dec = goal is to be at 40%). **Sooo embarrassed that my rates are so low, I'll try to hit my goals ahead of schedule.**
2. Pay off car loan (aprx $6k, I have the exact amount written somewhere but not at hand).
3. Attempt to increase my entertainment/socializing while maintaining or lowering "entertainment" portion of my budget (I can be a bit of a hermit...)
4. Focus on tax advantaged accounts (RRSP and TFSA). I won't be able to max them out this year (too much roll over from previous, less frugal years) but I'd like to make a dent.
5. Keep better track of expenses (I used to be obsessive about this so its just a matter of getting back into the habit).
I'm so frustrated that I'm basically starting from scratch. :(
-
It was about a year ago now that I first found MMM, and we made some good changes including maxing our HSA, refinancing our house, and bumping our savings rate from 36 to 46%, but we still have room for improvement. This year I want to:
-Track all of our expenses. I tracked last year, but only at the end of each month. This year we started using YNAB, and so far so good. I'm looking forward to getting a better handle on how much we're spending and reducing it.
-Increase savings rate to >50%
-Pay off student loan. I transferred it to a credit card with 0% APR for a year and am planning to pay it off by the end of the year.
-Start post-tax investing. Right now, all of our savings are in retirement accounts. We don't like having so little cash on hand, but the priority has been debt paydown and retirement savings. I'm looking forward to having access to money that isn't Roth money (I know we could pull it out if we had to, but in my mind that money is untouchable for now).
I think these things are all very achievable with some focused effort.
-
1. Save 50% of gross income (62ish% net).
2. Pay down student loans by at least 13%.
3. Save for at least two weeklong trips (domestic).
4. Get food costs down to 200/month or less.
5. Sweep any extra funds in checking to savings before each payday.
-
You've all inspired me to declare some goals for 2017!
- Continue to max RRSP and TFSA, and invest $1K/mo in Open investment account
- 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!!
- 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'!)
-
Okay, I have officially reached one of my goals, and I now make less money. I have switched my sideline gig to a new gig, closer to home. Nominally, the new gig is 25% less money than the old gig, but I have now figured that 25% of my pay at the old gig was sunk in commuting cost. So, in reality the new gig is break even. The good news is I will save mega-miles on my car and will get about 7 days of my life back by killing the commute.
-
2017 goals:
continue doing Uber Frugal Month challenges
enroll spouse in free employer health insurance plan
enroll spouse in free employer cell phone plan
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
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
-
The good news is I will save mega-miles on my car and will get about 7 days of my life back by killing the commute.
That is awesome! Can't put a price on more time. Good work.
-
End of January Update:
1. Pay off Credit Card/Personal Loan Debt: $11,885
$8,565
2. Significant Other's Lasik Eye Surgery (not factoring in insurance coverage--will update when known): $8,000
$0
3. Max out IRA: $5,500
$0
4. Save $10,000 for Electric Motorcycle
$0
Couldn't help but notice the savings goal for an electric motorcycle. Which options are you considering if you don't mind me asking?
-
My 2017 goals are pretty straightforward:
1. Save 50% of take-home pay (401k to match, max HSA, the rest to student loan debt)
As a result of this:
2. Increase net worth by 30K+ (still in the negatives, but should be close to positive by the end of the year!)
3. Decrease student loan debt by 28K
February update:
1. Saved 56.6% of my take-home pay!
2. Increased net worth by $2,556 --> on track to hit goal of $30,000 increase
3. Decreased student loan debt by $1,886 --> slow start, but have some extra paycheck months and my bonus to help me reach my goal later in the year
-
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.
-
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. - Paid off $1600 in January. This is about the average I need to hit to reach my goal, with the $800 extra coming from my tax return next month.
Reduce meals out spending by 50% by focusing on making more meals at home. - Reduced spending from last year's average by 97%.. Yikes! I spent an insane amount on food last year. I only went out to eat once in January and it was for a friend's birthday.
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. Reduced spending from last year's average by 98%.. another yikes. I was on consumer autopilot until late 2016. I went to a few sessions with a psychologist late last year and I've definitely seen a lot of improvement in how I feel about and interact with money. In January I spent $0 on clothing and shopping, and $14.38 on entertainment (movie for date night).
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. :)
January went great! I feel like it was the reset I needed to break some really detrimental habits.
-
End of January summary:
I've been reading MMM and the forums for about a year now. I'm excited to jump in with my first challenge!
1) Keep average grocery spending under $400/month (3 adults 2 children)
2) Pay off car loan ($4,500)
3) Finish paying off credit card debt ($14,000)
4) Save another $2,000 for EF (currently about $1,000)
5) Refinance private student loans ($25,000 at about 6% variable... Effing Sallie Mae/Navient. This is more than the original loan amount)
6) Reduce federal student loans (currently $83,000 at various fixed rates) by $15,000 through a loan repayment program through my work.
ETA 7) Totally forgot that it's my turn to pay the federal taxes. So save $2K for our 2016 tax liability. Might have to scale back on CC or EF to handle it.
It's going to be a looooong year. Let's do this thing.
1) Keep average grocery spending under $400/month (3 adults 2 children) - "Average" so far: $202
2) Pay off car loan ($4,500) - current balance $3,909
3) Finish paying off credit card debt ($14,000) - current total balances $9,181
4) Save another $2,000 for EF (currently about $1,000) - current balance about the same
5) Refinance private student loans ($25,000 at about 6% variable... Effing Sallie Mae/Navient. This is more than the original loan amount) this goal will have to wait until the end of the year when all my consumer debt is paid off
6) Reduce federal student loans (currently $83,000 at various fixed rates) by $15,000 through a loan repayment program through my work. payment hasn't hit yet so the balance is about the same as last month, less my normal principal payment
ETA 7) Totally forgot that it's my turn to pay the federal taxes. So save $2K for our 2016 tax liability. Might have to scale back on CC or EF to handle it. - I think our tax liability is only going to be about $1,200 this year so I should be able to swing it. Saved a few hundred towards the bill this month
Overall, I'm pleased with my progress so far this year!
-
Discovered MMM late last year. Loved the 2016 Peach Fuzz Edition. Big changes for me from last year. My son was born and my wife started staying home so down to one income for the next five years.
My goals:
1. Pay off $6000 in student loans. Waiting on Bonus/Tax Return, otherwise just a few hundred.
2. Add $1000 to Emergency Fund. Done.
3. Get raise (boss says chance of 15-20%). Waiting...
4. Get bonus (10% last year). Waiting, last years didn't happen til about April
5. Save $5000 for vacation to Disney (wife's dream lol). On Track
6. Add $10K to 401K. Falling slightly behind due to error in HR.
7. Open Roth IRA. Nothing.
8. Do some home improvements. Nothing.
9. Minimize my possessions aka junk. Threw away a bunch of trash/junk and made a pile for eBay.
Edited to add after finally linking all remaining accounts with Mint:
10. Increase Net Worth by at least $20K. On track.
2nd Edit:
11. Pay off remaining balance on cell phone installment (Pre-MMM stupid idea) Long story but boils down to Sprint not honoring their deal for a $20/month statement credit on upgraded phones. Enough calls and complaints got me a one time $400 credit equaling the remaining $20 per month for 20 months. Now I can pay off the balance early and not have to worry about losing the credit every month. Lowers my bill by over $50 per month and gives me the ability to take my current phone to Boost Mobile or Ting and get even cheaper plan if I want. Nothing.
12. Open HSA if the law allows. Not currently eligible under current laws. Speculation that Trump might open up HSAs to everyone. (Fingers crossed, Good luck to President Trump. Maybe not my first choice but I wish you luck in your endeavors.) Waiting...
-
End of January Update:
1. Pay off Credit Card/Personal Loan Debt: $11,885
$8,565
2. Significant Other's Lasik Eye Surgery (not factoring in insurance coverage--will update when known): $8,000
$0
3. Max out IRA: $5,500
$0
4. Save $10,000 for Electric Motorcycle
$0
Couldn't help but notice the savings goal for an electric motorcycle. Which options are you considering if you don't mind me asking?
I have my heart set on a Zero. The S or DS model (there is a 99% chance I won't be going off pavement, but I like the look of the DS better). I will be buying used so I think the market will dictate which model I end up getting.
Go Zags!
Great choices! They are a blast.
-
Big changes and opportunities abound in the WGH household for 2017
1. Have a huge job interview next week that would kill my clown commute, allow me to cash out a massive amount of accrued vacation hours from current job and kill debt, and increase salary 43%! Prayers, luck, good juju send them my way people!!
2. Get grocery/eating out spending down from $800/month to $500/month
3. Payoff three credit cards totaling $3,800. First one dies in two weeks; only has about $230 on it.
4. Payoff car note of $4,773
5. 401k loan of $4,711 will be paid of in August
-
Big changes and opportunities abound in the WGH household for 2017
1. Have a huge job interview next week that would kill my clown commute, allow me to cash out a massive amount of accrued vacation hours from current job and kill debt, and increase salary 43%! Prayers, luck, good juju send them my way people!!
Best of luck!! Fantastic when a new job could accomplish all of those awesome things!
-
Big changes and opportunities abound in the WGH household for 2017
1. Have a huge job interview next week that would kill my clown commute, allow me to cash out a massive amount of accrued vacation hours from current job and kill debt, and increase salary 43%! Prayers, luck, good juju send them my way people!!
Best of luck!! Fantastic when a new job could accomplish all of those awesome things!
Agreed! Praying for you!
-
End of January Update:
1. Pay off Credit Card/Personal Loan Debt: $11,885
$8,565
2. Significant Other's Lasik Eye Surgery (not factoring in insurance coverage--will update when known): $8,000
$0
3. Max out IRA: $5,500
$0
4. Save $10,000 for Electric Motorcycle
$0
Couldn't help but notice the savings goal for an electric motorcycle. Which options are you considering if you don't mind me asking?
I have my heart set on a Zero. The S or DS model (there is a 99% chance I won't be going off pavement, but I like the look of the DS better). I will be buying used so I think the market will dictate which model I end up getting.
Go Zags!
Great choices! They are a blast.
That's great to hear! Do you (or did you) own one? Not only will this be my first electric vehicle, it will be my first motorcycle!
Never owned one, sadly, but spent quite some time playing with similar models. I don't think you'll be disappointed, though it's quite a bike for a first time rider.
-
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
5. Lose 20 lbs
6. Pay off Solar Panels ($23K)
7. Increase payments on DW's Student Loans (Currently $31K; want to get this below $25K)
Was able to max out all tax deductible contributions in January already. Now on to the rest of the items on the list. Can't wait to get rid of the solar panel payments!
-
1. Reach 100k net worth by September 2017 (stretch goal), or else by November 2017
2. Continue to fill up retirement accounts to the max. Almost halfway there already!
3. Reduce monthly grocery+household supply bills to CHF800 or less. Done!
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! Failed (barely biked at all due to snow)
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
February update:
Got a new job with an almost 20% salary increase! I won't start for a while, but I'll try to hit 100k by September for sure now. #3 was actually an easy win, I just had to take over from my spouse.. on the other hand I've been slacking on the meal plan, so this post is a good reminder.
-
End of January Update:
1. Pay off Credit Card/Personal Loan Debt: $11,885
$8,565
2. Significant Other's Lasik Eye Surgery (not factoring in insurance coverage--will update when known): $8,000
$0
3. Max out IRA: $5,500
$0
4. Save $10,000 for Electric Motorcycle
$0
Couldn't help but notice the savings goal for an electric motorcycle. Which options are you considering if you don't mind me asking?
I have my heart set on a Zero. The S or DS model (there is a 99% chance I won't be going off pavement, but I like the look of the DS better). I will be buying used so I think the market will dictate which model I end up getting.
Go Zags!
Great choices! They are a blast.
That's great to hear! Do you (or did you) own one? Not only will this be my first electric vehicle, it will be my first motorcycle!
I always thought it would be cool to ride an electric motorcycle especially after viewing their capabilities during IOMTT. Your Zero will be just the beginning...you may find it difficult to have ONLY one motorcycle! Already eyeing the Triumph Street Triple to keep Scarlett company. Oh yeah, Go Zags!
-
Simple goals for me, since I finally punched my student loans in the face so hard they died:
1) Save 80% of post-tax pay
2) Top up cash emergency fund to $10K
3) Max out contribution to 401K and HSA -- no excuses!
4) Reach net worth of $150K (currently around 40K)
5) Keep looking for a two-unit fixer upper and avoid the temptation to buy a face-punch worthy overpriced renovation
6) Keep grocery spending under $225 per month (average over $400 last year -- ugh!)
7) Take at least three weeks vacation to keep my sanity, so I don't quit my job halfway through the year.
Its going to be a good year, folks. Only upwards from here on out.
-
Just found MMM at the beginning of the year by luck. And I'm obsessed with the FIRE idea now
My 2017 goals:
1) budget and track every month, its been 6 years since I kept it up
2) save 40k to net worth
3) max 2016 IRAs 11k
4) Max 2017 IRAs 11k
5) Max HSA 6750
6) 401k is at 1005/month, plan to increase to 1500/month come October if my raise covers it.
7) pay cash for home improvement 3500 and travel 1500
Smaller items:
Reduced spending by:
cutting my own lawn after tax season 100/month
Getting a new cell phone provider currently 91/month
Eating out less currently budgeting 85/month
Generally reducing footprint (gas, utilities etc)
Increase side hustle
eBay sales
Odd jobs on Craigslist
-
End of January Update:
1. Pay off Credit Card/Personal Loan Debt: $11,885
$8,565
2. Significant Other's Lasik Eye Surgery (not factoring in insurance coverage--will update when known): $8,000
$0
3. Max out IRA: $5,500
$0
4. Save $10,000 for Electric Motorcycle
$0
Couldn't help but notice the savings goal for an electric motorcycle. Which options are you considering if you don't mind me asking?
I have my heart set on a Zero. The S or DS model (there is a 99% chance I won't be going off pavement, but I like the look of the DS better). I will be buying used so I think the market will dictate which model I end up getting.
Go Zags!
Great choices! They are a blast.
That's great to hear! Do you (or did you) own one? Not only will this be my first electric vehicle, it will be my first motorcycle!
I always thought it would be cool to ride an electric motorcycle especially after viewing their capabilities during IOMTT. Your Zero will be just the beginning...you may find it difficult to have ONLY one motorcycle! Already eyeing the Triumph Street Triple to keep Scarlett company. Oh yeah, Go Zags!
What kind of bike is Scarlett?
I have a feeling you are right about this just being the beginning!
My name is Metric, and I have problem.... :D
-
Goal 1 :Finsh Car - Done Jan 30th
Goal 2 :Finish studies & payoff fees - Done Feb 1st
Goal 3 :From $63000 ,save another $148500 this year - in progress
Goal 4 :Continue saving 73% of salary every month - in progress
Goal 5 :Get a new Girlfriend lol - in progress
-
End of January Update:
1. Pay off Credit Card/Personal Loan Debt: $11,885
$8,565
2. Significant Other's Lasik Eye Surgery (not factoring in insurance coverage--will update when known): $3,538
$0
3. Max out IRA: $5,500
$0
4. Save $10,000 for Electric Motorcycle
$0
Couldn't help but notice the savings goal for an electric motorcycle. Which options are you considering if you don't mind me asking?
I have my heart set on a Zero. The S or DS model (there is a 99% chance I won't be going off pavement, but I like the look of the DS better). I will be buying used so I think the market will dictate which model I end up getting.
Go Zags!
Great choices! They are a blast.
That's great to hear! Do you (or did you) own one? Not only will this be my first electric vehicle, it will be my first motorcycle!
I always thought it would be cool to ride an electric motorcycle especially after viewing their capabilities during IOMTT. Your Zero will be just the beginning...you may find it difficult to have ONLY one motorcycle! Already eyeing the Triumph Street Triple to keep Scarlett company. Oh yeah, Go Zags!
What kind of bike is Scarlett?
I have a feeling you are right about this just being the beginning!
A leftover 2014 Ninja 300 SE ABS that I picked up for a steal through the Costco Auto program in 2015. There is very little that compares to being on a motorcycle and there are so many options currently in existence to keep the good times rolling for decades to come. Once you accomplish your higher priority goals, you will not regret treating yourself to a Zero motorcycle!
-
I enjoy seeing people's progress! Here is where I am at.
- Continue to max RRSP and TFSA, and invest $1K/mo in Open investment account have been maxing rrsp, but due to an unexpected ~month long sick leave I will be a little behind on this in the next couple months
- 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!! still have no idea how to do this, but I won't get my refund for another month anyway...
- 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'!) Success so far!
-
Saving goals: (which will put me at a cozy 50% savings rate)
- Max out 401(k) (paycheck deductions already set up, will happen by end of August)
- Max out Roth IRA, which will happen this month!
- Save an additional $2k a month through all of 2017
Spending goals: (or rather, not-spending goals)
- No beauty/cosmetics/skincare buying unless I use up everything in a category! I have ~15 lipsticks or so, which will last close to forever…I want to concentrate on using up what I have, instead of being tempted by new things
- No book buying until I've read or resold all the ones I own already! Library books are free and multitudinous
- Cut my clothing spending (I'm embarrassed to say how much it was last year, but I definitely want to halve it at least)
- Have a frugal two-week trip to Europe (I've already booked the tickets—I plan to stay with friends/hostels, which should help a lot!)
-
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
-
Last year we made some pretty amazing changes that will set us up this year to hopefully kick some butt.
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/right-size-my-life/
We are new to this but set the bar high for our first full year into focusing on our finances as we want to keep the ball rolling and start slow traveling / working part time as soon as possible.
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
Post a case study
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
-
February Updates in Bold:
2017 Financial Goals
Goal 1: Pay off at least $20,000 of student loans by paying at least $1,500/month on student loans (On Pace: Paid 11,000+ on student loans so down to $28,500 from 39,919)
Goal 2: Max out 401(k) this year. (On target)
Goal 3: Reach a net worth of $100,000 (currently about $65,000 and sure the market is about to get funky). (On Pace: Net worth up to $73,000 and some change)
Goal 4: Save $18,000 in urgent emergency fund (3-6 month)
Goal 5: Save at least 50% of my income (includes pre-tax savings, post-tax savings and debt repayment) (On Pace.)
-
Joining! Our 2017 financial goals are pretty limited, mainly about maintaining the status quo while we work through huge life transitions -- we just moved to NC, HB quit his job to start a business, and I am remote working in NC until I can find a permanent job here.
Maintenance
- Maintain living off on last month's income
- Maintain a 16K emergency fund - About 4 months expenses
- Maintain tracking expenses via YNAB
New
- Live off of 1 income with no new debt
- Move to NC - Completed Feb. 2017.
- WT find a new job in NC by EOY.
- HB establish business in NC.
- Save for house down payment - Not sure of exact figure needed but likely will do this from sale of mobile home
- Save 10% of WT salary for retirement in 401(k)- Bumped contributions up to 6%, 4% match in January.
Maybe
- Pay off truck - current balance around ~6200, but loan is at 1.99%
-
Did fantastic in 2016, building off that momentum:
1. Pay cash for wedding and honeymoon (actually I will use airlines reward credit card & pay off immediately with the saved cash, netting 2 extra round trip tickets to use for a friend's wedding).Reached funding goals
2. Rebuild emergency fund up to $5,000 as we are new homeowners.
3. Pay $10,000 of remaining $54,000 of my student loans.
4. Save 14% of pay in 401k between me and my employers contributions. I am doing my share- fiance just started job and hasn't updated his yet
5. Help fiance get better job. Completed
6. More charity, more details- cluttering, more exercise and better eating. In Progress
Overall doing pretty good.
-
Joining you :)
We've already hit major milestones this year. I'm currently closing on a small rental and we bought our house last week.
We don't know when exactly the current owners will move out. They need to find a place that is suitable for disabled people and have time until December. So, either this year or early next year the renovations will begin. The budget for that is fixed and set aside, so it has no influence on my everyday finances.
My goals for this year:
1. Put € 1000,00 into emergency fund consistently every month to € 15.000,00 (currently 5000)
2. Lose another 15 kg. Already lost 5 kg since December with Weightwatchers.
3. Finish my PhD thesis.
4. Consistently save another € 400,00 a month into investments. More after emergency fund is fully funded.
5. Optimize my budget and consistently budget.
6. Find a workout routine that works for me. Right now it's either 6 times a week or nothing. Not good.
-
Paid off the $3800 0% interest appliance loan this weekend
Have everything in place for my backdoor Roth so once I reach my pre-tax 18K max on my 401K I am going to start funding the backdoor. $4800 in my pre-tax 401k so far for the year and will bump up the % as soon as I get the furniture 0% loan paid off
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
-
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.
-
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.
March 1 update
Max RRSP - estimated $7,500
Max TFSA - $5,500 -Done
Add $14,000 to emergency fund/leave of absence fund -Added $5000 so far
Add $2,500 to canoe/hiking/adventure fund -Knocked out $1550 of this budget by finding good deals and spending only $860
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
Other non-number financial goals:
Rent basement suite! -Done
Find a trusted friend who wants to rent my spare room.
-
March updates in green.
Discovered MMM late last year. Loved the 2016 Peach Fuzz Edition. Big changes for me from last year. My son was born and my wife started staying home so down to one income for the next five years.
My goals:
1. Pay off $6000 in student loans. Waiting on Bonus/Tax Return, otherwise just a few hundred. Just a few more hundred.
2. Add $1000 to Emergency Fund. Done. Still done.
3. Get raise (boss says chance of 15-20%). Waiting... Still waiting...
4. Get bonus (10% last year). Waiting, last years didn't happen til about April Still waiting...
5. Save $5000 for vacation to Disney (wife's dream lol).On Track On track, but might not be going.
6. Add $10K to 401K. Falling slightly behind due to error in HR. HR fixed error but will fall slightly behind for year unless I get my raise.
7. Open Roth IRA. Nothing. Should be done in March
8. Do some home improvements. Nothing. Cleaned garage to get to miter saw (progress?)
9. Minimize my possessions aka junk. Threw away a bunch of trash/junk and made a pile for eBay. Only baby clothes on eBay so far. Not big $$ but at least some space.
Edited to add after finally linking all remaining accounts with Mint:
10. Increase Net Worth by at least $20K. On track. Bad month. $500 in tires, $350 in medical, and a $1000 check to the girl scouts (at least I'll get most of that back) made my net worth take a hit but still a positive $527.64 movement
2nd Edit:
11. Pay off remaining balance on cell phone installment (Pre-MMM stupid idea) Long story but boils down to Sprint not honoring their deal for a $20/month statement credit on upgraded phones. Enough calls and complaints got me a one time $400 credit equaling the remaining $20 per month for 20 months. Now I can pay off the balance early and not have to worry about losing the credit every month. Lowers my bill by over $50 per month and gives me the ability to take my current phone to Boost Mobile or Ting and get even cheaper plan if I want. Nothing. Nothing yet.
12. Open HSA if the law allows. Not currently eligible under current laws. Speculation that Trump might open up HSAs to everyone. (Fingers crossed, Good luck to President Trump. Maybe not my first choice but I wish you luck in your endeavors.) Waiting... Still waiting...
-
My 2017 goals are pretty straightforward:
1. Save 50% of take-home pay (401k to match, max HSA, the rest to student loan debt)
As a result of this:
2. Increase net worth by 30K+ (still in the negatives, but should be close to positive by the end of the year!)
3. Decrease student loan debt by 28K
February update:
1. Saved 56.6% of my take-home pay!
2. Increased net worth by $2,556 --> on track to hit goal of $30,000 increase
3. Decreased student loan debt by $1,886 --> slow start, but have some extra paycheck months and my bonus to help me reach my goal later in the year
March update:
1. Saved 65.1% of my take-home pay!
2. Increased net worth by $3,161 for a total of $5,717--> on track to hit goal of $30,000 increase
3. Decreased student loan debt by $1,912 for a total of $3,798
New stretch goal: Hit $0 net worth by the end of the year. Currently sitting at -$29,241.
-
Since 2016 was a horrible year financially. Here's to starting over
1. At least $5000 in EF
2.) I had surgery this month (appendectomy) so I suspect incoming medical debt that needs to be paid off.
3.) Pay off $1500 cc debt.
4.) Reduce student debt.
5.) Get a side hustle.
2017 Goals are looking horrible
1. $1000 in my EF
2.) Medical bills came, about $2500 in total, I highly doubt I'll pay these off. Going to be very anti-mustachian and put this on a 0% credit card with a sign up bonus
3.) Credit card debt is paid off. It increased to 2500 with the medical bills and I also had some car maintenance. I simply just paid this off with EF.
4.) Reduce student debt - Honestly, I only increased the contribution about $10. Currently paying $215 on this
5. No side Hustle and currently not in a position to get one.
Things I've done outside my goals
1.)Upped 401K contribution to 10% from 6%
2.) Started learning Spanish.
Goal added
Open up a Roth with Vanguard and contribute at least $2,000 to it.
-
2017 Goals
Pay off credit card debt (2k on regular card, 2.5k on 0% interest until June of 2017) - Credit cards are put away and out of our wallets until we can be better with them
Increase 401k contribution to equal any raise that I receive year end
Increase e-fund from current 2k to 5k
Write a LOT of new business at work, which will increase my pay, my 401k contributions, savings rate, etc.
Credit card debt all but gone - have about $500 remaining on the 0% card, which has to be paid off by the end of June, which won't be a problem
Next, we are either tackling the E-Fund or paying down more debt.
I didn't raise my 401k, only got a 2.9% raise, which isn't much.
Credit cards are still put away though, and haven't been used since I posted the post above
-
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.
-
Joining in- better late than never
Lots to do to get my finances in better order but a lot has been in flux since January. So now in a position to predict the rest of the year. 2017 goals.
1. Save EF of $8000 - $800 so far
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.
3. Auto paid down from $16,000 to $10,000 (auto pay off in 2018 - non-mortgage debt free 2019)
4. $3000 saved for new business venture. Have $500 so far.
5. Carpool at least 4 of 5 days per week.
6. Camp 1 weekend per month in April thru October.
7. Go on daily walks/bike rides
8. Start volunteering
9. Find a side job/income
10. Increase networth from $90k to $120k
-
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.
-
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
-
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 and Feb 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)
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)
-
2017 Goals
Pay off credit card debt (2k on regular card, 2.5k on 0% interest until June of 2017) - Credit cards are put away and out of our wallets until we can be better with them
Increase 401k contribution to equal any raise that I receive year end
Increase e-fund from current 2k to 5k
Write a LOT of new business at work, which will increase my pay, my 401k contributions, savings rate, etc.
Credit card debt all but gone - have about $500 remaining on the 0% card, which has to be paid off by the end of June, which won't be a problem
Next, we are either tackling the E-Fund or paying down more debt.
I didn't raise my 401k, only got a 2.9% raise, which isn't much.
Credit cards are still put away though, and haven't been used since I posted the post above
Credit card paid off, which leaves us with $0 of credit card debt!
I've stacked $1,400 away in my 401k to date, which I'm awfully happy with, shouldn't take too long and I'll be over $50k total invested in my 401k's (old employer and current employer)
Savings account is at $2,100 - not great, but we are really focused on increasing that by bringing down our spending, which my wife is totally on board with.
-
March Update
2017 Financial Goals
Goal 1: Pay off at least $20,000 of student loans by paying at least $1,500/month on student loans (On Pace: Paid $15,930.10 on student loans so down to $23,962 from $39,919)).
Goal 2: Max out 401(k) this year. (On Pace)
Goal 3: Reach a net worth of $100,000 (currently about $65,000 and sure the market is about to get funky). (On Pace: Net worth up to $80,500 and some change).
Goal 4: Save $18,000 in urgent emergency fund (3-6 month) (Done. Plus $4,000 for cushion)
Goal 5: Save at least 50% of my income (includes pre-tax savings, post-tax savings and debt repayment) (On Pace)
February Updates in Bold:
2017 Financial Goals
Goal 1: Pay off at least $20,000 of student loans by paying at least $1,500/month on student loans (On Pace: Paid 11,000+ on student loans so down to $28,500 from 39,919)
Goal 2: Max out 401(k) this year. (On target)
Goal 3: Reach a net worth of $100,000 (currently about $65,000 and sure the market is about to get funky). (On Pace: Net worth up to $73,000 and some change)
Goal 4: Save $18,000 in urgent emergency fund (3-6 month)
Goal 5: Save at least 50% of my income (includes pre-tax savings, post-tax savings and debt repayment) (On Pace.)
-
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!!
-
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
-
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
-
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.
-
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.
-
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
-
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
-
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! =)
-
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.
-
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
-
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
-
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.
-
Great job WinterSkies!
-
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%
-
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...
-
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.
-
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
-
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
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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! :)
-
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)
-
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
-
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!
-
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!
-
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.
-
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
-
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! :)
-
Now that debt is gone, I don't see an issue saving 40% of our income moving forward!
Awesome!
-
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
-
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.
-
Great!
-
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.
-
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
-
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
-
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.
-
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)
-
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.
-
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
-
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
-
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.
-
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
-
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!
-
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!
-
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.
-
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
-
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.
-
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
-
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.
-
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)[/s]. 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.
September 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. Hahaha, yea we are getting no where near this goal. Our home flooded and our deductible alone is 10K. Total spend for the year is probably going to be closer to $60K. Womp womp. FAIL
-Open a taxable investment account with Vanguard and contribute $15K. 23K/15K. DONE
-Make $400/month in side hustle income. Home flooding=no more renter. Picking up some more soccer games so I might be able to still meet this.
-Pay for Hubs' Lasik/PRK surgery out of HSA (~$3.5K)[/s]. We now both have 20/15 vision! . DONE
-Finally get our asses over to Madrid Spain Taiwan (pay for flights w/ travel hacking points). Flights and Hotels booked. We will be in Taiwan for 2 weeks come November. DONE
-
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
Revised Goals as of June 2017:
Maintenance
- Maintain living off on last month's income YES
- Maintain a 15K emergency fund YES
- Maintain tracking expenses via YNAB YES
New
- Live off of 1 income with no new debt - YES
- Move to NC - Completed Feb. 2017.
- Sell house - Completed Jun. 2017.
- WT find a new job in NC by EOY. In progress
- Move to target area of NC once WT gets new job. Dependent on above.
- HB establish business in NC. YES No income yet, though.
- Pay off all debt - car and truck, current balance about 20K. Completed July 2017
- Save 15% of WT salary for retirement in 401(k)- Aiming for 10% contributions, 5% company match (maybe - have to convince HB) - FAIL - Didn't convince HB but we are saving some each month in cash.
- Save for house down payment (on hold)
-
Can I join for Q4 goals?! Limited in what can be accomplished in 3 months, but here we go.
- Pay off the $7200 in debt that's mysteriously accumulated
- Only eat out (coffee included) at work when it's a treat/with a friend
- Get personal (non-housing) living expenses down to $3000/month - it's a start!
- Exercise 3x/week
- Add at least $1500 to stash
- Get a raise, or a commitment for a raise in Jan
-
Can I join for Q4 goals?! Limited in what can be accomplished in 3 months, but here we go.
- Pay off the $7200 in debt that's mysteriously accumulated
- Only eat out (coffee included) at work when it's a treat/with a friend
- Get personal (non-housing) living expenses down to $3000/month - it's a start!
- Exercise 3x/week
- Add at least $1500 to stash
- Get a raise, or a commitment for a raise in Jan
Oh my god.. step 1 should be figure out how $7,200 of debt mysteriously accumulates....
Otherwise as soon as you pay it off it'll mysteriously accumulate again and you'll be back to square 1.
This game is about changing habits, not about patching things over without fixes root causes.
-
Can I join for Q4 goals?! Limited in what can be accomplished in 3 months, but here we go.
- Pay off the $7200 in debt that's mysteriously accumulated
- Only eat out (coffee included) at work when it's a treat/with a friend
- Get personal (non-housing) living expenses down to $3000/month - it's a start!
- Exercise 3x/week
- Add at least $1500 to stash
- Get a raise, or a commitment for a raise in Jan
Oh my god.. step 1 should be figure out how $7,200 of debt mysteriously accumulates....
Otherwise as soon as you pay it off it'll mysteriously accumulate again and you'll be back to square 1.
This game is about changing habits, not about patching things over without fixes root causes.
I was being a bit facetious. The $7200 was acquired because property tax bill and home insurance bills both hit in August, and at the point we were still on one income. Then the opportunity came about to invest in the company I work for, so $10,000 went to that yesterday (reasonable valuation on that is actually closer to $20,000, but it is a higher risk investment so I won't know whether it pays off for at least 3-4 years). It's planned debt.
-
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.
Q3 update: looking at monthly averages, have now gone slightly UP from 2016 spending on each of these. The next few months should help to reduce those numbers again, but likely not quite to the “goal” level. I am okay with this, though, as the savings rate is excellent (and these numbers weren’t crazy before).
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!!
Q3 update: still done. No regrets!
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.
Q3 update: holding steady. Urge to shop appears to be dead. WIN.
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.
Q3 update: yup, WeightWatchers still works. Everything fits again. Thrilled to have finally gotten back to where I’ve wanted to be, now just need to stay on top of it.
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.
Q3 update: done. 2018 max contributions are set aside and ready to go in on Jan. 2.
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.
Q3 update: sold the high MER stuff from my account (in May, I think) and proceeded to piss around and do nothing about buying EFTs until early September. That was really stupid, but not catastrophic in the scheme of things. Have not done my husband’s account yet, but will not repeat the mistake of letting that much of a chunk of cash sit and earn ZERO. At least the high MER funds are still going up! Will take care of that this month.
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.
Time to look at this again and update. Q3 comments inserted above...
NW update: up another 59K for a total increase of 134K in nine months. This shit really works. Savings rate roughly 75%
-
1. Save EF of $8000 - $5168 won't make $8000 by year end
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. Will be just over $4000 for both Sept and Oct. not so good :( we went on vacation and spent around $1000 for a trip to Washington DC. Cost was split between Sept and Oct.
3. Auto paid down from $16,000 to $10,000 (auto pay off in 2018 - non-mortgage debt free 2019) $13,534 won't make $10,000 by year end
4. $3000 saved for new business venture. Have $500 so far. $1900 I think we will make this goal
5. Complete -we are regularly carpooling
6. Camp 1 weekend per month in April thru October. none
7. Complete- now walking several times a day
9. Increase networth from $90k to $120k $117,523
-
Sold my clown car today! I did not put it down as a goal as I really went back and forth on selling and was not sure if I would have enough badassity to pull it off but the dead is done.
Taking the extra 11K and investing it as well as the ~ $550 per month it will free up each 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
-
Can I join for Q4 goals?! Limited in what can be accomplished in 3 months, but here we go.
- Pay off the $7200 in debt that's mysteriously accumulated
- Only eat out (coffee included) at work when it's a treat/with a friend
- Get personal (non-housing) living expenses down to $3000/month - it's a start!
- Exercise 3x/week
- Add at least $1500 to stash
- Get a raise, or a commitment for a raise in Jan
Update!
Pay off the $7200 in debt (that I accrued when investing into my company) --> down to $3000. On track to pay off by EOY.
Only eat out (coffee included) at work when it's a treat/with a friend --> 95% there!
Get personal (non-housing) living expenses down to $3000/month - it's a start! --> yes!
Exercise 3x/week --> barring a couple weeks taken down by the flu, yes!
Add at least $1500 to stash --> this will happen after I pay off #1, but it may inadvertently happen through nothing of my own doing if some unexpected family money comes through.
Get a raise, or a commitment for a raise in Jan --> asked for it (+$13k), boss agreed, need to get it in writing/determine timing.
-
Hi Everyone!
Here is my end of year report (because realistically I won't be reporting over the Christmas season!)
You've all inspired me to declare some goals for 2017!
- Continue to max RRSP and TFSA, and invest $1K/mo in Open investment account DONE!
- 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!! DONE!
- 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'!) almost ... I spent less than $30
All in all, a great year.
I hope there will be a 2018 version - it has been encouraging seeing people's progress!
-
Only a few weeks left!
Pay off the $7200 in debt (that I accrued when investing into my company) --> down to $2000. Christmas spending made it hard. Will be paid off by EOY.
Only eat out (coffee included) at work when it's a treat/with a friend --> 75% there.
Get personal (non-housing) living expenses down to $3000/month - it's a start! --> yes!
Exercise 3x/week --> barring a couple weeks taken down by the flu, yes!
Add at least $1500 to stash --> this will happen after I pay off #1, but it may inadvertently happen through nothing of my own doing if some unexpected family money comes through. --> unlikely to happen until January.
Get a raise, or a commitment for a raise in Jan --> asked for it (+$13k), boss agreed, need to get it in writing/determine timing. January 1!
-
Don't think much will change by the end of the month, so here are my final figures.
1. Save EF of $8000 - $6104 coming in short, but so thankful that I can live two months on my efund. Never been able to say that before
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. Well this was ambitious. made this goal right after buying a house and didn't know how new expenses would pan out. $3800 is probably a more realistic goal. $3500 or even $3000 is doable, but uncomfortable. Will adjust goal for 2018.
3. Auto paid down from $16,000 to $10,000 (auto pay off in 2018 - non-mortgage debt free 2019) $12,840 won't make $10,000 by year end
4. $3000 saved for new business venture. $3750.
5. Complete -we are regularly carpooling
6. Camp 1 weekend per month in April thru October. none
7. Complete- now walking several times a day
9. Increase networth from $90k to $120k mint has us at $130,188.
All in all, I'm proud of the progress made in 2017. This was a very hard year. Lots of change and stress. But the year is ending well and I expect 2018 to be even better.
2018 goals
1. Save EF of $13000 - top priority but I have a feeling that we will have to replace the AC next summer. If so, I'll come up short on this. In which case my goal will be $9000.
2. Live on $3800 or less per month (mortgage, utilities, spending, etc.)
3. Max Roth IRA and Open DH's Roth IRA.
4. $9000 saved for new business venture by July.
5. Camp 1 weekend per month in April thru October.
6. Increase networth from $130k to $170k
7. Pay down auto from $12,840 to $8,000. - right now I'm prioritizing saving over debt reduction. Has a really low interest rate.
*Modified with final figures for the year
-
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)[/s]. 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.
September 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. Hahaha, yea we are getting no where near this goal. Our home flooded and our deductible alone is 10K. Total spend for the year is probably going to be closer to $60K. Womp womp. FAIL
-Open a taxable investment account with Vanguard and contribute $15K. 23K/15K. DONE
-Make $400/month in side hustle income. Home flooding=no more renter. Picking up some more soccer games so I might be able to still meet this.
-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). Flights and Hotels booked. We will be in Taiwan for 2 weeks come November. DONE
EOY 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. Year end total has us at $63526 which includes 10K deductible, 4 months of rent (on top of our mortgage) and other various flood expenses (new mattress, dehumidifiers, cleanup/demo materials). FAIL
-Open a taxable investment account with Vanguard and contribute $15K. 25K/15K. DONE
-Make $400/month in side hustle income. Combination of refereeing, TL sales, 2 months renting brings us to ~$475/mo average DONE
-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). DONE
We were able to accomplish almost everything except for the spending goal which we mostly exceeded due to the flood. All of our savings, investing, and side incomes are pretty much automated/scheduled at this point. We have consolidated all of our accounts and we don't have any big upcoming planned medical expenses for next year. At this point, our main goal for next year is just to focus on our spending. We won't be able to get close to the 40K target since we still have to buy appliances and furniture for the house and we still have to pay 3 months of rent in 2018 but we still have fat to trim so maybe 50K would be a good target.
-
2017 goals:
continue doing Uber Frugal Month challenges OFF AND ON
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 APR 2018
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 CONTRIBUTED SOME, BUT DOUBT I'LL QUALIFY
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 DON'T QUALIFY
pay off roof replacement loan by June end of year JANUARY 2018
Max out SEP IRA, then rollover to tIRA CONTRIBUTED SOME, BUT WON'T MAX, WILL ROLLOVER BEFORE TAX TIME
2017 saw a major health diagnosis for my spouse (plus the accompanying medical bills) and the change from SAHP to part-time/low-paying but highly-satisfying employment for me (plus side gigs). Hoping to see more slow but steady upward financial progress in 2018!
Also hoping to join you all for a 2018 version of this thread!!
-
Final check in of the year!
Revised 2017 Goals:
Maintenance
- Maintain living off on last month's income - Went over some months but do this in general.
- Maintain a 15K emergency fund - YES
- Maintain tracking expenses via YNAB - YES
New
- Live off of 1 income with no new debt - YES
- Move to NC - Completed Feb. 2017.
- Sell house - Completed Jun. 2017.
- WT find a new job in NC - Completed Dec 2017
- Move to target area of NC once WT gets new job. - In progress, complete by Jan 1
- HB establish business in NC.- Has done the paperwork but needs to focus on getting in income.
- Pay off all debt - car and truck, current balance about 20K. - Completed July 2017
- Save 15% of WT salary for retirement in 401(k)- Aiming for 10% contributions, 5% company match (maybe - have to convince HB) - Nope, HB didn't go for it.
- Save for house down payment (on hold)
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)
-
Verdict on 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). Did not happen- but I did earn $25K gross from the business, so I could've done worse.
Live on less than $20,000 for the year, including medical premiums (2016 with two weeks left: $17,559) - on track - Not quite, but my total came to $22K including premiums, and I will get ~$2.4K back from health care subsidy at tax time because my income was so low, so ALMOST.
Max out Roth IRA - did not earn enough, but put away $2,000
Contribute $10,000 to a Solo 401K - did not earn enough
Reduce overall alcohol-related spending from 2016 (Total spending for 2016 was $854.43, which is $71/month). - Spent $69.39 for the entire year, did not drink alcohol at all.
Reduce overall fitness-related spending from 2016 (Total spending for 2016 was $829, which is $69/month) - success, spent $754.89
Continue to track expenses & publish monthly reports - did so
Travel on trans-siberian railway and in Russia/China for 3 weeks without spending >$1000[/li][/list] - No, I spent over $3,000 and added 11 countries to the itinerary, turns out my estimated expenses were overestimates
Stop spending business expenses out of personal accounts/cards - done
-
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. Paid off $30,000!
Reduce meals out spending by 50% by focusing on making more meals at home. Reduced by 85%!
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. Reduced by 30%. Would have been more but I ended up replacing both my cell phone and my laptop this year. I exceeded my debt payoff goal so I'm happy with my progress!
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. :)
-
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.
Q3 update: looking at monthly averages, have now gone slightly UP from 2016 spending on each of these. The next few months should help to reduce those numbers again, but likely not quite to the “goal” level. I am okay with this, though, as the savings rate is excellent (and these numbers weren’t crazy before).
YE: groceries up 1% and restaurant/alcohol/entertainment UP 19% - FAIL!
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!!
Q3 update: still done. No regrets!
YE: 2016, spent $4938 on life and LTD; 2017, received $1387 refund on the life policy (LTD was canceled partway through 2016)
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.
Q3 update: holding steady. Urge to shop appears to be dead. WIN.
YE: replaced gym shoes today. Have joined 2018 No Clothes Buying thread to stay strong (it’s not difficult, but it is nice to discuss with and motivate like-minded people).
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.
Q3 update: yup, WeightWatchers still works. Everything fits again. Thrilled to have finally gotten back to where I’ve wanted to be, now just need to stay on top of it.
YE: still attending WW meetings as many weeks as possible to keep this a top priority (and my weight is staying at my goal). It’s well worth the small time commitment.
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.
Q3 update: done. 2018 max contributions are set aside and ready to go in on Jan. 2.
YE: still done.
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.
Q3 update: sold the high MER stuff from my account (in May, I think) and proceeded to piss around and do nothing about buying EFTs until early September. That was really stupid, but not catastrophic in the scheme of things. Have not done my husband’s account yet, but will not repeat the mistake of letting that much of a chunk of cash sit and earn ZERO. At least the high MER funds are still going up! Will take care of that this month.
YE: JUST got husband’s high MER funds sold/EFTs bought this week. Later than I wanted, but still got done in 2017!
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.
Time to look at this again and update. Q3 comments inserted above...
NW update: up another 59K for a total increase of 134K in nine months. This shit really works. Savings rate roughly 75%
YE: NW up nearly 210K - 30% market gains and 70% saved from income and personal company dividend. 72% savings rate. Great year.
-
Wanted to close out my 2017 goals. Results below:
Goal 1: Maintain a 60% savings rate using the definition of (pre-tax savings + matches + post-tax savings + debt repayment)/ (gross income - taxes). In 2016 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
Result: Did not make 60% as my partner's job situation changed, but came in at 54% for the year
Goal 2: Reach 75K in net worth by EOY. I'm starting Jan with about a 16K net worth.
Result: Crazy market helped me reach $98K, which was totally unexpected
Goal 3: Pay back at least 24K to my mother, who helped pay for grad school.
Result: Paid back $20K - still have another $20K to go
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.
Result: This fell off the rails towards the second half of the year... I think it might have ended up being more like 0.3% or something for the year.
Overall I would give myself a B+ for last year - I think there were financial situations I couldn't control or anticipate but ultimately my net worth still went up far higher than I expected
-
2017 seems like it will be awesome.
1. I'd like to start a solo 401k. My job doesn't have one and I do a lot of 1099 work. I got a new job with a 401k so i was able to max my contributions
2. I'd like to pay down my 403b loan to less than 20k. currently 36,000I brought it down to 13k last month
3. I'd like to save 10k for a new roof. currently i'm ok but I don't know when it may leak.roofer looked at it and rec cleaning it
4. I'd like to increase my investment taxable account to 20 k currently 6 k.got it to 17k
5. I'd like to contribute to my Roth IRA up to max. unable to contribute
6. I'd like to get central heat in my home currently we have space heater. unable to complete
7. I'd like to lose at least 13 pounds and I'd be extremely happy if I got down a full 21!gained 2 pounds
8. I'd like to teach my kid her letters and numbers. still has trouble with end of alphabet and 7-10 but not bad for 3
9. I'd like to spend less this year than last year. I was able to do this in 2016 despite extensive house remodeling. 24k reduction
10. I'd like to give at least 4ki gave 6k including family
overall a great year