Author Topic: "Found" $1000 per month just lying around in checking  (Read 5046 times)

ChrisLansing

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"Found" $1000 per month just lying around in checking
« on: April 10, 2014, 07:07:07 AM »
I feel stupid, mostly because I was stupid, about not tracking my money closely.    After listing my income and (temporarily) fixed expenses I find our income is $1000 a month more than our outgo.   Had I been paying attention I'd have been putting that aside instead of leaving it in checking and eventually spending it on some splurge or some "emergency".   I just transferred $1000 from checking to savings, and will do so every month.   

We are not high income people, yet we have a spare thousand a month.    Along with some other automatic deductions from pay our savings rate is now 36% of income.   Next we work on the food expenses.  Then transportation.   I bet we can get our savings rate to 50% by the end of the year.     

Amazing what can be done if one is "awake".     

reginna

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Re: "Found" $1000 per month just lying around in checking
« Reply #1 on: April 10, 2014, 07:17:32 AM »
That's great Chris! An amazing start!

ChrisLansing

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Re: "Found" $1000 per month just lying around in checking
« Reply #2 on: April 10, 2014, 07:30:15 AM »
Thanks reginna.    I'm simultaneously "geeked" and ashamed.   

Rebecca Stapler

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Re: "Found" $1000 per month just lying around in checking
« Reply #3 on: April 10, 2014, 07:43:57 AM »
Awesome! Just be glad you did actually catch it. You can't change the past -- just move on from here :)

samburger

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Re: "Found" $1000 per month just lying around in checking
« Reply #4 on: April 10, 2014, 07:47:55 AM »
$1,000! Incredible!

You're not alone, though. When I first started watching our money, I discovered that we made $800/mo more than I realized. I made the same mistake you did: The $800 lived in my checking, destined to be spent on a splurge or slowly eroded by a bunch of small reckless purchases. My first few drafts of the budget didn't even include it because I automatically considered it "slush" money. SLUSH MONEY!

It still blows me away to think that I could make and spend about $10k/year and not notice.

ChrisLansing

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Re: "Found" $1000 per month just lying around in checking
« Reply #5 on: April 10, 2014, 08:11:24 AM »
It blows my mind too. I bet this happens to a lot of people.     

I knew we made more than we spent, but I thought it was only a little more.   I'm almost done crying now :-)    It's like I got a huge raise.   All of it is now going to savings.     I need to start thinking about how to invest it. 

HAULIN3

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Re: "Found" $1000 per month just lying around in checking
« Reply #6 on: April 10, 2014, 08:58:34 AM »
Like Dave Ramsey says, make a budget for the following month, every dollar has a name, on paper, on purpose... It's like an instant raise!  You just need to stick to the budget.. I love it!

Thegoblinchief

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Re: "Found" $1000 per month just lying around in checking
« Reply #7 on: April 10, 2014, 12:24:51 PM »
Depending on your employer, it's probably the wrong time of year to change 401(k) allocation, but fund your Roth. Everything extra should go into an index fund, unless you're saving up for a house or large purchase, in which case keep it in savings.

Saving money is just the first step. Make your little green employees WORK :)

travelbug

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Re: "Found" $1000 per month just lying around in checking
« Reply #8 on: April 10, 2014, 10:17:53 PM »
Wow! At least it's found, not lost.
Now it's found imagine the possibilities...

HairyUpperLip

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Re: "Found" $1000 per month just lying around in checking
« Reply #9 on: April 11, 2014, 07:53:51 AM »
Don't be hard on your self at all. Just be glad you found it and realized it. You'll believe in all this stuff even more knowing it's already "saved" you another $1000 a month. That's a fair amount. Good job sir.

gomike

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Re: "Found" $1000 per month just lying around in checking
« Reply #10 on: May 01, 2014, 09:24:30 PM »
If you can put that in the roth, $5500 for you and $5500 for your wife.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!