Author Topic: Saving to $10K  (Read 462540 times)

mckaylabaloney

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #850 on: June 05, 2018, 08:34:35 AM »
@Eric222 Thank you! I am slowly reading through your journal and it is so encouraging to see someone who has tackled this amount of debt and more :) Thank you for sharing your journey!

To respond quickly:

1.  I do have an emergency fund, but it's at about $5500 and I realized recently that I would feel more comfortable if it was around $10K (probably a touch excessive, but I'm okay with that), so that's one goal for the rest of this year.
2.  I've refinanced twice now :) Sofi the first time and Earnest the second. My rate is currently 3.4%, but it's variable, so it's obviously rising this year (though still well below what my fixed rate would have been).
3.  Yeah, that's what I've landed on as well. It would feel good to be done with the debt faster, but it will feel better to have a higher net worth at the end. My approach has been to max out my tax-advantaged accounts and then, after that, to throw all my extra money at my loans. I'm sure there some Mustachians who would choose to hang on to the debt, since the interest rate is fairly low, and send the extra money to a brokerage account, but I need to get that monthly payment out of my life ASAP.

Eric222

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #851 on: June 05, 2018, 11:10:06 AM »
@Eric222 Thank you! I am slowly reading through your journal and it is so encouraging to see someone who has tackled this amount of debt and more :) Thank you for sharing your journey!

To respond quickly:

1.  I do have an emergency fund, but it's at about $5500 and I realized recently that I would feel more comfortable if it was around $10K (probably a touch excessive, but I'm okay with that), so that's one goal for the rest of this year.
2.  I've refinanced twice now :) Sofi the first time and Earnest the second. My rate is currently 3.4%, but it's variable, so it's obviously rising this year (though still well below what my fixed rate would have been).
3.  Yeah, that's what I've landed on as well. It would feel good to be done with the debt faster, but it will feel better to have a higher net worth at the end. My approach has been to max out my tax-advantaged accounts and then, after that, to throw all my extra money at my loans. I'm sure there some Mustachians who would choose to hang on to the debt, since the interest rate is fairly low, and send the extra money to a brokerage account, but I need to get that monthly payment out of my life ASAP.

1.  I don't think 10k is excessive - I went for ~$25k for the EF.  It's whatever amount you think is needed for real emergencies.

2.  Yay!  Refinancing makes a huge difference with that much money. 

3.  That argument is typically for something like mortgage debt.  Student loans are pernicious.  You can't get rid of them (i.e. if you go bankrupt, etc).  There isn't an asset (other than your education) securing them.  I'm happy with my 5 year to kill them plan.   :) 

Dicey

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #852 on: June 05, 2018, 04:02:02 PM »
@Eric222 Thank you! I am slowly reading through your journal and it is so encouraging to see someone who has tackled this amount of debt and more :) Thank you for sharing your journey!

To respond quickly:

1.  I do have an emergency fund, but it's at about $5500 and I realized recently that I would feel more comfortable if it was around $10K (probably a touch excessive, but I'm okay with that), so that's one goal for the rest of this year.
2.  I've refinanced twice now :) Sofi the first time and Earnest the second. My rate is currently 3.4%, but it's variable, so it's obviously rising this year (though still well below what my fixed rate would have been).
3.  Yeah, that's what I've landed on as well. It would feel good to be done with the debt faster, but it will feel better to have a higher net worth at the end. My approach has been to max out my tax-advantaged accounts and then, after that, to throw all my extra money at my loans. I'm sure there some Mustachians who would choose to hang on to the debt, since the interest rate is fairly low, and send the extra money to a brokerage account, but I need to get that monthly payment out of my life ASAP.
Some people might consider me one of those people, but they'd be wrong. Since you're maxing out your tax-advantaged options, I think killing the SL's is the best next thing to do, especially as your rate is variable. Kill the mortgage at the expense of tax-advantaged savings or employer matches? Hell No! Kill the SL's after tax advantaged savings options are maxed? Oh, hell yes! That's no baloney, McKayla!
And a big shout-out to @Eric222 for responding. He's a very busy guy. He's a Docta, you know. And quite a successful one at that! ;-)
Oh, and one more thing: I'm a huge fan of EFs, but maybe compromise at $7500 while you're killing the SLs? Something to think about, especially if you have good credit.

P.S. I hit send, but my post didn't go through before I left the house. I see Eric's been back with similar thoughts.

Manchester

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #853 on: June 08, 2018, 03:17:03 AM »
I've had a good bit of progress last night.  My S/O is very good with excel etc and I was explaining how I'm keeping spreadsheets with targets and so on.  I explained my financial plans to her in detail.  She was really on board (which is unusual as she's definitely on the less frugal side).  She even helped me add more cool info into my spreadsheets which will make it easier to track my savings rate. :)

Spruit

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #854 on: June 08, 2018, 04:21:02 AM »
Manchester, that's really nice! It makes a great difference if your partner and you are working together towards the same goals.

Lately I noticed something similar in my household, non-negotiable stuff is getting reconsidered because the results get more tangible. I think persistent frugality is rubbing off eventually if it's done in a not preachy way.
« Last Edit: June 08, 2018, 03:44:23 PM by Spruit »

bcbaseballman

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #855 on: June 08, 2018, 07:10:57 AM »
It makes a huge difference if the SO is on board. Mine was not at first and it made it very difficult to make any progress. The last couple of months she has started to see that it really is not so bad living more frugally and we have been making much better progress. Instead of only adding around $1,000 to our total net worth last month we added ~$2,000 and this month I am hoping to make that around $2,500. Hopefully all goes as planned!

Imma

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #856 on: June 08, 2018, 07:37:29 AM »
Yes, it's such a big difference when you're both on board. I imagine it's really difficult to maintain a healthy relationship when there are major disagreements about money. I'm lucky that my s/o is just as frugal as me, but he's not goal oriented at all. He just doesn't buy much and has a lot of money left over at the end of the month.

He was never really interested in things like taxes, investing etc. but that's slowly changing now he's seeing my progress. The most important thing to me is that we share the same values. We never really disagree about how much we should spend on something. I can imagine it's difficult when one half of the couple wants designer furniture and the other would like to have a look at the thrift shop first.

Rimu05

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #857 on: June 14, 2018, 10:15:15 AM »
In trying to modify this post I ended up quoting weirdly...

Total net worth = -$17,876
Car loan = -$6,899
Student loan = $-27,593
Credit card = 0 (It has been bothering me so I just used my savings. I couldn't do it anymore)



401K - $13,974
Checking - $120
Savings - 2500$


I had hoped to get my savings to $10,000, but having credit card debt really was gnawing on me so I just payed it off and plan to cancel the credit card or just put it aside for emergencies. I have reset my goals a bit. I want to pay off my car at the end of the year and have $6,000 in savings then. I want to start tackling student loan soon and not just paying the minimum.
« Last Edit: June 14, 2018, 10:18:40 AM by Rimu05 »

fluffmuffin

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #858 on: June 14, 2018, 01:55:57 PM »
7/13/2017: $2,238.41
8/1/2017: $2,771.40
8/16/2017: $3,071.40
9/1/2017: $3,202.61
9/15/2017: $3,502.63
10/2/2017: $3,807.67
10/16/2017: $4,021.00
11/1/2017: $4,121.00
11/16/2017: $4,208.73
12/1/2017: $4,267.73
12/15/2017: $4,532.82
12/30/2017: $4,864.78
1/16/2018: $8,114.78
2/2/2018: $8,424.59
2/19/2018: $8,431.24
3/30/2018: $8,614.89
4/16/2018: $8,742.36
5/1/2018: $8,905.80
5/16/2018: $9,005.80

6/14/2018: $9,020.38

Missed the early June update due to vacay...and also due to vacay I have only the most incremental of incremental updates this time! We were mostly camping, but I had to get an emergency last-minute hotel room in one of the most popular national parks in the US over Memorial Day weekend. That threw a wrench in the vacation budget, but our original plan was not possible for safety reasons so it was worth every penny of the (crying a little) $250. Otherwise I would have had $250 to contribute!

LittleWanderer

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #859 on: June 15, 2018, 07:50:06 AM »
This is not going to be a good month money wise for me.  Or, well, in general.  We had to put down my dog last weekend.  :(  She was 13.5 years old and I got to have her for 12 of those years.  She lived a fantastic life.  I don't care about money in these situations - I just want the best for her.  I had someone come to the house to do it and then she got a private cremation.  I got her ashes back in a nice bamboo box.  It was way more expensive than just taking her to the vet, but I don't care.  I will probably go spread them at our favorite running/hiking spot.  I'm feeling pretty lost without her. 

Of course this happened after I decided to finally buy the fancy GPS/SOS device for backpacking.  (You can facepunch me for that one, but we do a lot of remote stuff and I decided it was dumb not to have one with all that we do.)  So June will not be a good number to report.  But going forward I will have less pet expenses (we're down to just the mostly inexpensive lizard now), so it will get made up eventually.  Unless something drastic happens (car accident, job loss, break up) I don't see what else can go wrong financially.  (Knock on wood?)  So relentless forward motion.  My net worth is still going up, but I had to borrow a couple of hundred bucks from the e-fund. 

Trifle

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #860 on: June 15, 2018, 07:58:51 AM »
I'm so sorry about your dog @MSquared.  Hugs.   

fluffmuffin

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #861 on: June 15, 2018, 08:00:55 AM »
@MSquared I am SO sorry to hear about your pup! Losing a pet is so hard, but she was very lucky to have had a person who had the financial ability to make choices based on what was best for her. I lost my soul-dog last year and I still get teary thinking about her--feeling lost is so normal. Hugs if you want them.

And like you, her end-of-life care was the last time I touched my e-fund. It came on very suddenly so there was no time to make a financial plan. But that's exactly why we have e-funds: so when these things happen, inevitably in the same month as car repairs/larger planned expense/whatever, we don't have the added stress of worrying about the finances.

haypug16

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #862 on: June 15, 2018, 09:14:26 AM »
I'm so sorry for your loss MSquared.


Mid-June Update
3/31/2017 (52,848.85)
4/30/2017 (48,076.67)
5/31/2017 (47,110.22)
6/30/2017 (46,540.28)
7/31/2017 (44,354.10)
8/31/2017 (47,236.39)
9/30/2017 (42,436.10)
10/31/2017 (33,346.78)
11/30/2017 $(28,911.53)
12/31/2017 $(24,424.13)
1/31/2018 $(20,454.43)
2/28/2018 $(18,221.63)
3/31/2018 $(14,916.69)
4/30/2018 $(9,800.88)
5/31/2018 $(7,375.85)
6/15/2018 $(6,596.24) +779.61 increase

I realized as I was updated my spreadsheet that I didn't update my Student Loan balances on my master sheet last month so my Networth at the end of May should have been higher so I made that edit here. It just makes me feel a little better about my progress last month. This negative number is getting smaller and smaller. I can't wait for it to flip into the positive. Just a few more months, either August or September I'm thinking.

Dicey

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #863 on: June 15, 2018, 09:41:35 AM »
Oh MSquared, I hope you have many happy memories and pictures of your beloved pup! I am sorry for your loss.

Imma

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #864 on: June 15, 2018, 12:47:19 PM »
@MSquared  I'm so sorry for your loss :( And this is why we have emergency funds, to be able to make the best decision in a difficult situation, not the cheapest decision.

I also don't think a GPS/SOS device is a waste of money at all. I think it's a very good investment. You're most likely never going to need it, but when you do it will possibly save your life. A friend of someone I know got lost in a very remote natural area and is missing and presumed dead. I did not know him personally, but the heartbreak of not knowing what happened to him and what he could have gone through before he presumably died was very hard on his family and friends.

LittleWanderer

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #865 on: June 15, 2018, 02:31:27 PM »
Thanks, everyone.  She was with me since I was 23 and it's been hard.  Here's a pretty recent photo of her.


Yasha

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #866 on: June 16, 2018, 09:00:33 AM »
Sorry for the loss of your pup <3

Manchester

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #867 on: June 22, 2018, 03:26:51 AM »
Hi Everyone,  @MSquared I'm sorry to hear about your dog! 

Another month in the right direction for me.  Savings are up, investments up and credit card still at 0!  I've taken out a new side hustle called matched betting.  Basically, you place qualifying/promotional bets, which guarantee a free bet.  These bets are specially selected with close matches on other bookies where you bet AGAINST the original bet.  No matter what the outcome of the race/game is, you end up winning money.  So far I've made the best part of £300 for a few hours work, it's the perfect side hustle (although I'm not sure if it's legal in other countries).  The other bonus is all proceeds of gambling are tax free in the UK!  This has affected my spreadsheet somewhat, as I have cash within my bookie accounts - I can withdraw this cash at anytime, but I'll leave it in there for now to gain leverage and be able to place more bets etc.







My N/W is up £1,066.11. 
It's my second month in a row with a £1k+ increase. 
I track how close I am to my target each month.  In April I was 54% off, May I was 39% off, now I'm 29% off.

So obviously a very positive couple of months for me.  HOWEVER.  Between now and 22/07/2018 I'm going on holiday (to see family in Greece, so shouldn't be rediculous but still an extra £1k budget towards it for me and my S/O), that means less time for my new side hustle, which could cost me around £300.  We are getting a new kitchen and bathroom which will set us back a bit as well as some other payments that have come up.  I'm also withdrawing £10k of equity from my house (hopefully).  So this could completely skew my accounts.   Let's see what happens I suppose. :)

Zola.

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #868 on: June 22, 2018, 04:55:19 AM »
Late to the party, but I am at 8650 in my Vanguard Fund, hoping to break 10,000 in four months time!

SansSkill

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #869 on: June 22, 2018, 05:44:58 AM »
Hi Everyone,  @MSquared I'm sorry to hear about your dog! 

Another month in the right direction for me.  Savings are up, investments up and credit card still at 0!  I've taken out a new side hustle called matched betting.  Basically, you place qualifying/promotional bets, which guarantee a free bet.  These bets are specially selected with close matches on other bookies where you bet AGAINST the original bet.  No matter what the outcome of the race/game is, you end up winning money.  So far I've made the best part of £300 for a few hours work, it's the perfect side hustle (although I'm not sure if it's legal in other countries).  The other bonus is all proceeds of gambling are tax free in the UK!  This has affected my spreadsheet somewhat, as I have cash within my bookie accounts - I can withdraw this cash at anytime, but I'll leave it in there for now to gain leverage and be able to place more bets etc.






My N/W is up £1,066.11. 
It's my second month in a row with a £1k+ increase. 
I track how close I am to my target each month.  In April I was 54% off, May I was 39% off, now I'm 29% off.

So obviously a very positive couple of months for me.  HOWEVER.  Between now and 22/07/2018 I'm going on holiday (to see family in Greece, so shouldn't be rediculous but still an extra £1k budget towards it for me and my S/O), that means less time for my new side hustle, which could cost me around £300.  We are getting a new kitchen and bathroom which will set us back a bit as well as some other payments that have come up.  I'm also withdrawing £10k of equity from my house (hopefully).  So this could completely skew my accounts.   Let's see what happens I suppose. :)

Nice progess!

Out of curiosity, why do you have matched betting as a seperate column? Is there a chance of losing money somehow that warrants keeping track of overall progress or is simply because it's in your bookie account?
And how do you find these opportunities? I'm in the Netherlands so I'd need to lookup tax/laws/regulations but this sounds like a promising side hustle.

Spruit

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #870 on: June 22, 2018, 01:42:44 PM »
Nope, too bad, the NL gambling options are not legal I'm afraid. I had a friend who was in online poker for a while but had to stop because of changing rules.

runbikerun

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #871 on: June 22, 2018, 01:47:35 PM »
As of payday today, I am one month from the magical 10k emergency fund. It's been a hell of a week - I interviewed on Wednesday for an internal transfer that would see my salary jump almost 25% and my commuting expenses fall to zero, and then today I received academic results confirming that I now have a designation that entitles me to a 6% raise. With a bit of luck, I should finish July with a full emergency fund and a major new financial target.

Trifle

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #872 on: June 24, 2018, 08:49:24 AM »
As of payday today, I am one month from the magical 10k emergency fund. It's been a hell of a week - I interviewed on Wednesday for an internal transfer that would see my salary jump almost 25% and my commuting expenses fall to zero, and then today I received academic results confirming that I now have a designation that entitles me to a 6% raise. With a bit of luck, I should finish July with a full emergency fund and a major new financial target.

Wow @runbikerun that is fantastic!  Congrats on the raise, and good luck on the transfer!

Imma

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #873 on: June 24, 2018, 11:22:51 AM »
@runbikerun wow, another person to graduate from this thread this year! Congrats on the pay rise and good luck with the internal transfer.

Manchester

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #874 on: June 25, 2018, 03:41:12 AM »
Hi Everyone,  @MSquared I'm sorry to hear about your dog! 

Another month in the right direction for me.  Savings are up, investments up and credit card still at 0!  I've taken out a new side hustle called matched betting.  Basically, you place qualifying/promotional bets, which guarantee a free bet.  These bets are specially selected with close matches on other bookies where you bet AGAINST the original bet.  No matter what the outcome of the race/game is, you end up winning money.  So far I've made the best part of £300 for a few hours work, it's the perfect side hustle (although I'm not sure if it's legal in other countries).  The other bonus is all proceeds of gambling are tax free in the UK!  This has affected my spreadsheet somewhat, as I have cash within my bookie accounts - I can withdraw this cash at anytime, but I'll leave it in there for now to gain leverage and be able to place more bets etc.






My N/W is up £1,066.11. 
It's my second month in a row with a £1k+ increase. 
I track how close I am to my target each month.  In April I was 54% off, May I was 39% off, now I'm 29% off.

So obviously a very positive couple of months for me.  HOWEVER.  Between now and 22/07/2018 I'm going on holiday (to see family in Greece, so shouldn't be rediculous but still an extra £1k budget towards it for me and my S/O), that means less time for my new side hustle, which could cost me around £300.  We are getting a new kitchen and bathroom which will set us back a bit as well as some other payments that have come up.  I'm also withdrawing £10k of equity from my house (hopefully).  So this could completely skew my accounts.   Let's see what happens I suppose. :)

Nice progess!

Out of curiosity, why do you have matched betting as a seperate column? Is there a chance of losing money somehow that warrants keeping track of overall progress or is simply because it's in your bookie account?
And how do you find these opportunities? I'm in the Netherlands so I'd need to lookup tax/laws/regulations but this sounds like a promising side hustle.

Thanks. 

I have it in a separate column because it's technically cash that I can withdraw at any time, but it doesn't fit into my other columns.  I'm tracking profit elsewhere which is slightly less than the figure above as I've deposited/withdrawn different amounts.  I have loads of spreadsheets tracking how much I've bet/won/withdrawn/deposited/transferred etc, but the only thing that matters to my NET worth is how much of that money I 'have' which is the figure above.

I've seen someone else has posted that this is illegal in the Netherlands.  Perhaps you might want to double check this, I'm thinking that our gambling laws should be quite similar because of the EU? 

I actually got the idea off this forum (the UK section).  There is a forum on the site I use and they post monthly 'profits'.  A lot of people are earning £3k per month, tax free.  Most people earn between £500-£1k per month though, which isn't bad going for a few hours work.

SansSkill

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #875 on: June 25, 2018, 03:52:34 AM »
Hi Everyone,  @MSquared I'm sorry to hear about your dog! 

Another month in the right direction for me.  Savings are up, investments up and credit card still at 0!  I've taken out a new side hustle called matched betting.  Basically, you place qualifying/promotional bets, which guarantee a free bet.  These bets are specially selected with close matches on other bookies where you bet AGAINST the original bet.  No matter what the outcome of the race/game is, you end up winning money.  So far I've made the best part of £300 for a few hours work, it's the perfect side hustle (although I'm not sure if it's legal in other countries).  The other bonus is all proceeds of gambling are tax free in the UK!  This has affected my spreadsheet somewhat, as I have cash within my bookie accounts - I can withdraw this cash at anytime, but I'll leave it in there for now to gain leverage and be able to place more bets etc.






My N/W is up £1,066.11. 
It's my second month in a row with a £1k+ increase. 
I track how close I am to my target each month.  In April I was 54% off, May I was 39% off, now I'm 29% off.

So obviously a very positive couple of months for me.  HOWEVER.  Between now and 22/07/2018 I'm going on holiday (to see family in Greece, so shouldn't be rediculous but still an extra £1k budget towards it for me and my S/O), that means less time for my new side hustle, which could cost me around £300.  We are getting a new kitchen and bathroom which will set us back a bit as well as some other payments that have come up.  I'm also withdrawing £10k of equity from my house (hopefully).  So this could completely skew my accounts.   Let's see what happens I suppose. :)

Nice progess!

Out of curiosity, why do you have matched betting as a seperate column? Is there a chance of losing money somehow that warrants keeping track of overall progress or is simply because it's in your bookie account?
And how do you find these opportunities? I'm in the Netherlands so I'd need to lookup tax/laws/regulations but this sounds like a promising side hustle.

Thanks. 

I have it in a separate column because it's technically cash that I can withdraw at any time, but it doesn't fit into my other columns.  I'm tracking profit elsewhere which is slightly less than the figure above as I've deposited/withdrawn different amounts.  I have loads of spreadsheets tracking how much I've bet/won/withdrawn/deposited/transferred etc, but the only thing that matters to my NET worth is how much of that money I 'have' which is the figure above.

I've seen someone else has posted that this is illegal in the Netherlands.  Perhaps you might want to double check this, I'm thinking that our gambling laws should be quite similar because of the EU? 

I actually got the idea off this forum (the UK section).  There is a forum on the site I use and they post monthly 'profits'.  A lot of people are earning £3k per month, tax free.  Most people earn between £500-£1k per month though, which isn't bad going for a few hours work.

Are the promotions posted on the forum? Or are you just actively looking for promotional bets?

I haven't looked into it too much yet, but one thing I do know about Dutch law is that they differentiate between online gambling and offline gambling, with the former being illegal per se. Though facilitating gambling online is legal to a degree, most lotteries allow you to join and pay electronically, without ever seeing even a physical ticket. So I probably need to read more into it.

Manchester

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #876 on: June 25, 2018, 07:18:47 AM »
@SansSkill

Yes, I'm using a company called Profit accumulator.  But there is another big company here in the UK called Oddsmonkey.  Once someone signs up to profit accumulator it gives you step by step instructions on what to do to gain promotional free bets with different bookies.  These are called Sign Ups.  There are 74 of these.  Then you have Casino sign ups.  There are 52.  Once you have completed  both of these you move onto reloads.  These are offers such as 'Bet £10 on England to win the world cup, and we'll refund your bet if you lose' etc.  They use these different offers to make money (because using exchange betting sites you can bet against this happening).  There are currently 125 reload offers available, but that updates daily.   You can look for promotions perosnally, but profit accumulator have a team who check all the T&C's of each offer and tell you which ones are profitable or not.

They also supply calculators which tell you how much to bet on your exchange sites etc.  There is a forum where administrators help you with any questions.  That costs £17.99 per month or £150 for a fully year.





Imma

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #877 on: June 29, 2018, 10:03:19 AM »
Savings:
July 31:                 €2400
August 30:            €2000
September 27:       €1300
October 30:           €1400
November 30:        €1600
December 29:        €1100
February 1:            €1100
February 28:          €1300
March 29:              €1300
April 30:                  €800
May 29:                 €2300
June 28:                €3500

Investments:
July 31:                 €1985.37
August 30:             €2095.00
September 27:       €2253
October 30:           €2461
November 30:        €2622.06
December 29:        €2661.50 (didn't do the monthly transfer yet)
February 1:            €3021,56
February 29:          €3101,58
March 29:              €3160,54
April 30:                €3439.66
May 29:                 €3729.27
June 29:                €3890.53

Total:
July 31:                  €4385.37
August 30:              €4095.00
September 27:        €3553
October 30:             €3861
November 30:          €4222.06
December 29:          €3761,50 (+ 740 unpaid salary = 4501.50 )
February 1:             €4121,60
February 29:           €4401,58
March 29:               €4460,54 
April 30:                 €4239.66
May 29:                  €6029.27
June:                      €7390.53

Goals for 31 December 2018:

Savings:            3000   €5000
Investments:     €4500
Total:                €7500    €9500

Finally got my tax return and hit my original savings goal! Generally late spring / early summer is when my savings are highest. I get a tax return, an extra month's wages from work and lots of overtime during this period (I've already worked €250 worth of overtime and I'm scheduled for another 3 weeks of overtime, which will bring in €750) .


After the summer we normally start a new project around the house. We might have started our yearly project a bit early .... we suddenly stopped having electricity in a part of the house (most of the area downstairs). So far, the electrician's bill is about €200 and it's still not working. They have managed to return the electricity in the kitchen and dining area, so that helps a lot. It's only the TV area that's without power now and we don't watch TV a lot in the summer. We are now breaking down parts of the wall in search of a junction box that we believe might be faulty. The electrician will return on Wednesday and we hope to have located the junction box ourselves before then so they can start fixing it straight away instead of spending more time making holes in the wall. We will temporarily fill in the holes when we're done, but the area will eventually need to be plastered again. Luckily, that was still on our to-do list. All in all I'm budgeting €500 for the short-term work. My insurance is of course claiming this is not something they cover, but once the work is done I'll send it in formally and we'll see. Luckily I am a member of our national homeowners association and I'll give them a call next week to see what they think. The yearly €25 membership fee has already saved us so much money over the years.

Spruit

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #878 on: June 30, 2018, 05:03:23 AM »
NW numbers:
Dec (2-12-17): 4171
Dec (22-12-17): 5937
Jan (1-1-18): 4398
Feb (5-2-18): 5067
Feb (23-2-18): 6445
March (30-3-18): 5191 6032
May (29-5-2018): 7682
June (30-6-2018): 8000

Steady climb upwards, just the way I like it :) Also for our joint account shows we are the richest we've ever been (finally beat the number before we went spending on limb dog and the car last year). I will likely slow down a bit with saving over the coming months, as I like to visit friends and family a bit more in the summer (which means € on transport, eating icecream and the like etc.)

@Imma, I didn't know the VEH had a legal service? Have been visiting their website more and more while preparing to buy a house... eventually. Very useful! Also finally joint a union, now that I'll be sticking in my current field for sure.

Edit: and then I went out and got new hiking shoes. My 10-year old pair were really done, so it's not an impulse buy. Still, -260 euro. Ah well. Number adjusted.
« Last Edit: June 30, 2018, 08:59:22 AM by Spruit »

SansSkill

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #879 on: July 01, 2018, 12:24:38 PM »
January:
Checking account: €2073.70
Saving account: €500.00
Investment: €495.06
Total: €3068.76

February:
Checking account: €1978.53
Saving account: €987.22
Investment: €495.06
Total: €3965.75

March:
Checking account: €1810.04
Saving account: €1500
Investment: €1448.95
Total: €4758.99

April:
Checking account: €2095.95
Saving account: €3000
Investment: €2007.78
Total: €7103.66

May:
Checking account: €1801.27
Emergency Fund: €3000.00
Amortization Fund: €74.18
Goal Fund: €0.00
Investment: €2632.87
Total: €7508.32

June:
Checking account: €1902.13
Emergency Fund: €5000.00
Amortization Fund: €64.18
Goal Fund: €0.00
Investment: €3102.06
Total: €10068.37

Well, looks I'm done, and faster then expected, by my original estimate I'd be done by the end of August.
I'll be on holiday the latter part of the month but most if it is already paid for, so I don't expect to fall back down again.

Hirondelle

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #880 on: July 01, 2018, 12:30:01 PM »
Good job Imma, Spruit! Great to see you meet your goals and have steady NW increases.

SansSkill; congrats on graduating the thread! Come join us in the race to 100k :)

haypug16

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #881 on: July 01, 2018, 01:57:53 PM »
Congrats SansSkill! See you over in the next race.

June 2018 Update
3/31/2017 (52,848.85)
4/30/2017 (48,076.67)
5/31/2017 (47,110.22)
6/30/2017 (46,540.28)
7/31/2017 (44,354.10)
8/31/2017 (47,236.39)
9/30/2017 (42,436.10)
10/31/2017 (33,346.78)
11/30/2017 $(28,911.53)
12/31/2017 $(24,424.13)
1/31/2018 $(20,454.43)
2/28/2018 $(18,221.63)
3/31/2018 $(14,916.69)
4/30/2018 $(9,800.88)
5/31/2018 $(7,375.85)
6/30/2018 $(5,735.59) +1,640.26

Not too bad this month. I checked my average for the year and I'm averaging a monthly increase of just over $3K which is my goal. So I'm still on track to hit zero between August/September and $10K by year end. Next month may be a small increase though. I'm buying a new living room set (Ikea) and my DD will have fall classes to be paid through the 529 plan so I need to have a frugal month aside from those 2 items. At least I have a small raise coming this month!

Spruit

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #882 on: July 01, 2018, 02:47:14 PM »
Congrats SansSkill!

mckaylabaloney

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #883 on: July 01, 2018, 03:12:23 PM »
1/1/2018: $(170,956.12)
2/1/2018: $(166,849.63)
3/1/2018: $(161,395.88)
4/1/2018: $(156,590.44)
5/1/2018: $(152,997.61)
6/1/2018: $(149,175.48)
7/1/2018: $(143,748.22)

This was actually kind of a spendy month; I didn't add quite as much as it appears because my 401k contribution hit my account earlier than usual -- so the jump from June to July reflects two months' worth of 401k contributions instead of just one. But hey, still significant progress even accounting for that. My investment accounts just ticked over $50K, which feels great. And next month, my student loans will finally drop below $200K, which will also be a great milestone (though a much more depressing one).

Dicey

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #884 on: July 02, 2018, 12:06:56 AM »
Next month may be a small increase though. I'm buying a new living room set (Ikea)...
Congrats on the raise and the progress. Chiming in to offer a frugal tip. Have you checked Craiglist for the Ikea items you're considering? Because everything has a name, it's easy to look for something on the secondary market. I once saw an Ikea bookcase at a consignment store. I thought the price was too high, plus I needed two of them. I checked CL, found one of each in two different cities and now I have a matched set for just a little more than the consignment store wanted for one, and for way less than buying new at Ikea.

However, if your wish list includes upholstered pieces, Ikea's tend not to hold up all that well, so used, unless very gently, may not be your best option. Maybe you do some of each and still save a few buxx.

Hirondelle

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #885 on: July 02, 2018, 12:09:22 AM »
I second Dicey, 2nd hand Ikea stuff is the best! There's whole facebook groups devoted to it here and I'm still very happy with my couch at half the price :)

bcbaseballman

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #886 on: July 02, 2018, 07:32:43 AM »

2018
1/31 : (5949.05)
2/28 : (5288.30)
3/31 : (4273.93)
4/30 : (2592.07)
5/31 : (629.70)


6/30 : 1,206.77 !!

In the green for the first time!! I did have to take about $300 out of my emergency fund this month but my debt went down almost $1,700.00 and my investments went up $543.

Fell good to be in the positive net worth number!! Keeps working all you people in the negative you will be there before you know it!

Congratulations @SansSkill keep checking back on us but never look back for yourself.

 

haypug16

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #887 on: July 02, 2018, 07:56:04 AM »
Next month may be a small increase though. I'm buying a new living room set (Ikea)...
Congrats on the raise and the progress. Chiming in to offer a frugal tip. Have you checked Craiglist for the Ikea items you're considering? Because everything has a name, it's easy to look for something on the secondary market. I once saw an Ikea bookcase at a consignment store. I thought the price was too high, plus I needed two of them. I checked CL, found one of each in two different cities and now I have a matched set for just a little more than the consignment store wanted for one, and for way less than buying new at Ikea.

However, if your wish list includes upholstered pieces, Ikea's tend not to hold up all that well, so used, unless very gently, may not be your best option. Maybe you do some of each and still save a few buxx.

Yup I checked craigslist and the type I want didn't come up and to be honest used furniture kind of grosses me out. The whole set new is about $1,000 so not bad. I'm slowly trying to get our home looking like a "grown ups" house with matching furniture and curtains. The living room is my first project. 

SansSkill

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #888 on: July 02, 2018, 07:58:46 AM »

2018
1/31 : (5949.05)
2/28 : (5288.30)
3/31 : (4273.93)
4/30 : (2592.07)
5/31 : (629.70)


6/30 : 1,206.77 !!

In the green for the first time!! I did have to take about $300 out of my emergency fund this month but my debt went down almost $1,700.00 and my investments went up $543.

Fell good to be in the positive net worth number!! Keeps working all you people in the negative you will be there before you know it!

Congratulations @SansSkill keep checking back on us but never look back for yourself.

I'll be waiting for you in the other thread, at the rate you're currently killing it it shouldn't take too long!

Dicey

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #889 on: July 02, 2018, 08:47:18 AM »
Next month may be a small increase though. I'm buying a new living room set (Ikea)...
Congrats on the raise and the progress. Chiming in to offer a frugal tip. Have you checked Craiglist for the Ikea items you're considering? Because everything has a name, it's easy to look for something on the secondary market. I once saw an Ikea bookcase at a consignment store. I thought the price was too high, plus I needed two of them. I checked CL, found one of each in two different cities and now I have a matched set for just a little more than the consignment store wanted for one, and for way less than buying new at Ikea.

However, if your wish list includes upholstered pieces, Ikea's tend not to hold up all that well, so used, unless very gently, may not be your best option. Maybe you do some of each and still save a few buxx.

Yup I checked craigslist and the type I want didn't come up and to be honest used furniture kind of grosses me out. The whole set new is about $1,000 so not bad. I'm slowly trying to get our home looking like a "grown ups" house with matching furniture and curtains. The living room is my first project.
But this is the MMM Forum! Spending $1k on brand-new living room furniture when you have < $10k saved is face-punch worthy. It looks like you just dug yourself out of a hole (Congratulations!) and you have a raise coming (Yay), which are both wonderful, but spending $1k on a depreciating asset at this point in your financial journey is a huge mistake if FI is truly your goal. This has Consumer Sukka written all over it. Sorry, someone had to say it. It's much better to have your finances look like "grown-ups" than your living room.

At least I hope you can tell it's a gentle face punch and not a roundhouse.

LittleWanderer

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #890 on: July 02, 2018, 09:49:32 AM »
June emergency fund update: $4236 (-$494)

Time to go back up. 

Imma

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #891 on: July 02, 2018, 11:25:16 AM »
Congrats @SansSkill on graduating! And good job everyone else :)

@haypug16 Dicey is kind of right, but I know how you feel. Our house looks exactly like that. I consider myself to be quite frugal and not a consumer sucka but I wish I had matching curtains. In the living room we have two different curtains in one window and it hurts my eyes. Although we're slowly replacing furniture we dislike with cheap/free (used) furniture we like, our place certainly doesn't look like a "real grown up" place. On a bad day I hate having people over and I longingly look at my neighbour's house - we both bought old houses in need of a LOT of TLC, she bought it almost two years later and hers looks Pinterest-worthy now. On a good day I remember all of that material stuff doesn't matter, because true friends visit to see us, not our furniture, and the lady next door can't afford to repair the fence that broke in January, while I have almost a year's expenses in the bank and a lower mortgage.

Tass

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #892 on: July 02, 2018, 12:25:09 PM »
Could buying used furniture but getting it cleaned be a manageable middle ground? If it still costs less than new and that's what you need to feel comfortable with it, it could be worth investigating.

Just brainstorming though - we're on our third free secondhand couch.

fluffmuffin

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #893 on: July 02, 2018, 12:53:09 PM »
7/13/2017: $2,238.41
8/1/2017: $2,771.40
8/16/2017: $3,071.40
9/1/2017: $3,202.61
9/15/2017: $3,502.63
10/2/2017: $3,807.67
10/16/2017: $4,021.00
11/1/2017: $4,121.00
11/16/2017: $4,208.73
12/1/2017: $4,267.73
12/15/2017: $4,532.82
12/30/2017: $4,864.78
1/16/2018: $8,114.78
2/2/2018: $8,424.59
2/19/2018: $8,431.24
3/30/2018: $8,614.89
4/16/2018: $8,742.36
5/1/2018: $8,905.80
5/16/2018: $9,005.80
6/14/2018: $9,020.38

7/1/2018: $9,112.55

Effing vet bills. I was literally JUST last week thinking, "hmm, moneypit dog hasn't cost any extra money recently," and then bam, $200 to the vet this morning. The good news is that I could cash flow it without dipping into the moneypit dog's e-fund...the bad news is that it ate up what would have otherwise been a nice catch-up boost for the house. That seems to be a running theme.

Also, big news: my SO and I got officially engaged! Planning to knock out the last $1,000 on the house fund, and then start saving aggressively for wedding stuff.

I will not weight in on the couch debate, since I am not pro-used soft furniture after a bedbug issue in an old apartment building.

mckaylabaloney

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #894 on: July 02, 2018, 03:17:20 PM »
Congrats, @fluffmuffin !!

Moonwaves

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #895 on: July 03, 2018, 01:52:00 AM »
BoI savings a/c: 70.00
DiBa ETF: 597.03
CmzBank savings a/c: 700.00
Total:  1,377.03

Annual expense accounts down to 730 and 270 but that is of course what they're there for. In this case, 170 went to paying my portion of year-long program with a dietician (two installments of 50 and 40 to be paid at a later date - my health insurance pays for the rest of it) and 130 for my flight back to Germany in June. Still have to arrange a flight over to Ireland but will figure that out at the weekend. Needed to book the return before all the cheaper seats were gone. Kind of annoyed that it took so long to sort out holidays with work and that new job is so much less flexible on when I take holidays so that I'm booking peak season tickets, but I'll put up with it for this year and see what I can do differently next year when new boss has taken office. And hopefully an invoice or two will be paid soon so that I can top up my annual expense accounts again and get my emergency fund up to 1,000. Still good to see even a small amount of progress upwards.

BoI savings a/c: 80.00
DiBa ETF: 772.38
CmzBank savings a/c: 850.00
Total:  1,702.38

Annual accounts currently sitting at 650 and 150, respectively. Holiday in May ended up being a lot more expensive than planned. My sister wanted to do up mum's grave, which has been a bit neglected (I am positive my dad paid for maintenance in perpetuity or something like that when she died, but apparently that actually only means a couple of decades of it being spritzed with weedkiller every once in a while or something). And of course the stones covering it are one of the most expensive types. We just bought enough to top up the very bare spots but it was still a fair chunk of change. I had been trying to gently persuade my sister that I didn't have to be at the christening but it turns out she wants me to be godmother to one of the twins, so I kind of have to be there. The only dates that work, for a multitude of reasons, are ones where I cannot even get a half-day free from work so it means a Friday evening flight out and then Sunday evening back, which is never the cheap option. Oh well. It's a year where I'm placing my priorities more on family than savings and I know that. It will be nice to see my other sister and her kids who will be there from France as well. It has been over a year since I saw them.

bcbaseballman

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #896 on: July 03, 2018, 07:15:36 AM »
Congratulations on your engagement @fluffmuffin !!


Imma

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #897 on: July 03, 2018, 12:06:34 PM »
Congrats @fluffmuffin !

And @Moonwaves : you're still making progress, and family is important. I'm sure it will be a lot of fun seeing your sisters and nieces and nephews, and being asked as a godfather is a big honour.

haypug16

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #898 on: July 09, 2018, 08:14:50 AM »
Thanks for the face-punch. I have done yet another online search for the living room set I want. I did find the sofa and will hopefully check it out this week, saving a couple hundred bucks. The love-seat I also found in a different color so would need to purchase the matching slipcover for it and that would actually bring it up to about the cost of a new love-seat so I will mostly order this new.

Hirondelle

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Re: Saving to $10K
« Reply #899 on: July 09, 2018, 11:41:58 PM »
Good job haypug! That's another little step closer to thread-graduation :)

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!