Save 50k single 100k couple in 2021

[centwise]

Year end review of a great year (at least, where savings are concerned):

Goal: $30,000      [STRETCH goal: $40k]

Month  Savings           
Jan       $3041           
Feb       $2700         
Mar       $4200         
Apr       $700           
May      $1200           
June     $9874           
July      $2961         
Aug       $700         
Sep       $700       
Oct       $700       
Nov  $14,227       
Dec     $1771       

Total   $42771     

RESULT:  143% of original goal! 107% of stretch goal! Hoorah!

After being made aware of a careless addition error in my earlier posts (I was just typing things in and adding up with a calculator), it turns out that I did way better than I thought. I made my stretch goal and then some! This is a HUGE accomplishment for me. I achieved a 56% savings rate. Unbelievable. Thanks to all of you for the inspiration.

Next year will NOT be like this: I have major home expenses coming up, a kid in college and hope to do some traveling. But this year's success will help to make all of that possible (without derailing my retirement savings).

Happy Holidays everyone.

[McStache]

Congrats @centwise !!!

I also hit my goal for the year (!), but still have one more (small) paycheck coming, so will do the regular update at the end of the month.

[SaucyAussie]

A little short of my goal due to the mid-year refi knocking out my mortgage principal target.  But still a great year, looking forward to 2022, thank you for posting alcon835!

401k            19,500.0     19,500.0   100.0
Catchup          6,500.0      6,500.0   100.0
Match           12,073.0     11,000.0   109.8
Taxable         31,000.0     30,000.0   103.3
Roth             7,000.0      7,000.0   100.0
Mtg Principal       -         4,000.0     -
H.S.A.           1,500.0      2,000.0    75.0
Cash                -            -        -
Total           77,573.0     80,000.0    97.0

---------------------------------------------

JAN              8,011.0      8,011.0    10.0
FEB             15,622.0      7,611.0    19.5
MAR             23,456.0      7,834.0    29.3
APR             35,541.0     12,085.0    44.4
MAY             40,299.0      4,758.0    50.4
JUN             45,555.0      5,256.0    56.9
JUL             47,012.0      1,457.0    58.8
AUG             51,470.0      4,458.0    64.3
SEP             64,660.0     13,190.0    80.8
OCT             71,128.0      6,468.0    88.8
NOV             75,864.0      4,736.0    94.8
DEC             77,573.0      1,709.0    97.0

[jiimmy]

Fell a bit short. $43,880 of the $45,000 goal. Still a great year, best yet.

[ToughMother]

Happy with the results given that we had some house-related expenses including refi/closing costs as well as savings for additional major repairs. Those savings aren’t included since they won’t help get us to FI.

As of end of 4th Quarter

Bucket         Goal | Actual
TSP        $ 19,500 | $ 19,500
457        $ 24,500 | $ 25,500
TIAA       $      0 | $  4,000
Pension    $ 15,000 | $ 14,817
Roth 1     $  6,000 | $      0 (will do before 3/15/22)
Roth 2     $  7,000 | $  7,000
Invest.    $ 10,000 | $ 15,000
-----------------------------------------
Total      $ 82,000 | $ 85,817
Progress            | % 104.7

[SotI]

Just noted that I missed my Nov update, so here is the Nov and Dec update together:


                       Planned       Actuals      % to date
Total              67,237        70,592              105.0%

Tax exempt     5,237          5,392              103.0%
EF/Accruals  19,200        19,800              103.1%
Brokerage     42,800         45,400             106.0%

So, 5% above target, that's better than I anticipated.
Will not be able to do this again due to my new work arrangement, but will celebrate a good financial year and the fact that in 4 years time, I should be hopefully comfortably retired (ceteris paribus) ☺

[alcon835]

RESULT:  143% of original goal!.../b]

...This is a HUGE accomplishment for me. I achieved a 56% savings rate. Unbelievable. Thanks to all of you for the inspiration.

Massive Congratulations, @centwise !!! That's a HUGE win!

A little short of my goal due to the mid-year refi knocking out my mortgage principal target.  But still a great year, looking forward to 2022, thank you for posting alcon835!

You're welcome! And don't be too disappointed with 97%, that's such a massive accomplishment!!!!

Fell a bit short. $43,880 of the $45,000 goal. Still a great year, best yet.

Again, Just KILLING IT! It's so great to see folks putting aside so much money towards their goals!

[alcon835]

The percentage goal for me to be on track for December is 100.00%.

Bucket	Goal	Current
401K	$19,500	$19,500
Match	$3,500	$4,953.58
Roth 1	$6,000	$6,000.00
Roth 2	$6,000	$6,000.00
Brokerage	$12,000	$23,959.27
Dividends	$200	$393.20
Mortgage	$18,500	$18,865.45
Savings	$6,000	$7,271.12
Goal	$71,700	$88,862.62	121.15%	(+21.15% to goal)
Stretch	$100,000	$88,862.62	86.86%	(-13.14 to goal)

Update:
I hit every financial goal I set out for at the beginning of 2021. I not only hit them, I blew them out of the water tot eh tune of 121.15%!! That's almost $90k saves...that's bonkers!!
 
After my raise, I added a stretch goal that was missed by -13%, which is a pretty big miss. I honestly should have hit it and I was pretty sure I'd pull it off even as recently as October. Unfortunately, a few large, unexpected home repairs plus Q4 commissions coming way below expectations meant I wasn't able to finish the year as strongly as I wanted.

But still...what a year! I've never tracked or prioritized savings the way I did this year and what a HUGE payoff for doing so! We would not have saved this much if I wasn't tracking it month-over-month and didn't have the motivation and support of everyone here. I'm definitely doing this again in 2022.

If anyone wants to start up the 2022 thread, please go ahead, otherwise I'll do it later this week once I finish my new savings goals. I only ask that you post the link here if you do decide to kick off the 2022 post, so that we all know where to go next year!

[zeli2033]

Year End Update

401k 1: $19,500 / $19,500
Match: $2,346/ $4,160
401k 2: $19,500 / $19,500
HSA: $7,100 / $7,100
2021 Roths: $12,000 / $12,000
Cash (Efund/House DP): $37,916 / $25,000
HELOC Principal: $48,573 / $50,000
============================
Total: $146,935 / $125,260 (117.3%)

Well we smashed through our goal, which is excellent. I wish we'd been able to invest more instead of it going to cash savings/HELOC debt but frankly, w're proud of the massive progress as this is the year we bought a house in a VHCOL. We have some additional house maintenance coming up early next year so we are holding onto a bit more cash than is ideal but it will be wiped out pretty quickly. Looking forward to seeing what we can get up to for next year :)

Congrats to everyone else who also made some stellar progress!

[philli14]

             |   401k    |    tIRA   |    HSA    | Brokerage |  Savings  |   TOTAL   |
GOAL         | $  19,500 | $   6,000 | $   3,600 | $   5,900 | $  15,000 | $  50,000 |  PROGRESS |

JAN          | $   1,500 | $   6,000 | $   3,600 | $   3,000 | $  -9,600 | $   4,500 |  %    9.0 |
FEB          | $   1,500 | $       0 | $       0 | $   1,700 | $       0 | $   3,200 |  %    6.4 |
MAR          | $   1,500 | $       0 | $       0 | $       0 | $   4,600 | $   6,100 |  %   12.2 |
APR          | $   2,322 | $       0 | $       0 | $       0 | $   4,300 | $   6,622 |  %   13.2 |
MAY          | $   1,557 | $       0 | $       0 | $       0 | $   1,250 | $   2,807 |  %    5.6 |
JUN          | $   1,500 | $       0 | $       0 | $       0 | $   2,200 | $   3,700 |  %    7.4 |
JUL          | $   1,554 | $       0 | $       0 | $       0 | $   3,100 | $   4,654 |  %    9.3 |
AUG          | $   1,517 | $       0 | $       0 | $       0 | $   2,900 | $   4,417 |  %    8.8 |
SEP          | $   1,677 | $       0 | $       0 | $       0 | $   2,900 | $   4,577 |  %    9.1 |
OCT          | $   2,347 | $       0 | $       0 | $       0 | $   3,000 | $   5,347 |  %   10.7 |
NOV          | $   1,891 | $       0 | $       0 | $   1,200 | $   1,500 | $   4,591 |  %    9.2 |
DEC          | $     635 | $       0 | $       0 | $       0 | $   3,000 | $   3,635 |  %    7.3 |

YTD          | $  19,500 | $   6,000 | $   3,600 | $   5,900 | $  19,150 | $  54,150 |  %  108.3 |

Last update of the year. An amazing year. I will be bowing out of next years challenge due to a change in how my wife and I will be tracking expenses, but will likely return in 2023. Happy new year all!

[rebel_quietude]

I love this thread! It's awesome to hear about people crushing their goals. Even if a stretch goal is out of reach, I look at people's numbers and am amazed with what they've accomplished!

Finishing the year better that I thought, but not quite to my original goal (much less the stretch). Right now I'm sitting at $47,324, or a 38% savings rate. Not as good as some years, but . . . after 15k of medical expenses, I'll take it.

Whelp . . . it looks like I'm going to flunk out of this one for the first year since 2017.

Despite a mid-year promotion (after which, if obtained, my stated goal was 60k), I'm currently projecting $44,452 on 31 December. I'm owed a significant amount in pending reimbursements, but I don't think it's going to be enough to put me over the line.

p.s. Started a new thread for 2022!
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/2022-savings-goals/

[McStache]

December Update:
Bucket         Current / Goal
401k          $ 19,500 / $ 19,500 <-- done
401k Match    $  6,882 / $  6,750 <-- done
Roth IRA      $  6,000 / $  6,000 <-- done
SEP IRA       $  5,075 / $  5,075 <-- done
HSA           $  3,600 / $  3,600 <-- done
Taxable       $ 50,895 / $ 49,075 <-- done
------------------------------------
Total         $ 91,952 / $ 90,000 <-- done
Savings Rate    89.3%

January       $  5,744    6.4%
February      $ 10,919   12.1%
March         $ 16,599   18.4%
April         $ 24,530   27.3%
May           $ 29,447   32.7%
June          $ 38,134   42.4%
July          $ 47,000   52.2%
August        $ 55,601   61.8%
September     $ 64,688   71.9%
October       $ 73,767   82.0%
November      $ 82,461   91.6%
December      $ 91,952  102.2%


An end of year raise got me comfortably over the finish line! Next year will be an interesting race as I'm taking the second half of the year off from work. So I'll sprint in the beginning, then have negative savings for the second half. Maybe I'll eke out 50K, but we'll see where life leads me.

[ca-rn]

Year end tally for 1.

401K with catchup-26K
RothIRA w/catchup-7K
Taxable-214K(?)  Took total purchased YTD minus 401k/RothIRA (all funds at Vanguard)...If that's correct, wow!  Invested small windfall (60k) and whittled down too large EF/hoarded rental income into taxable (about 60K) total about 120K. 
Ibonds- 10K

Total- 257K!


By far the largest amount invested in a year so far.  For the past several years, did invest about 100-130K (FT/saved cash to buy weekend house- decided not to buy) but those fat years are over- next year will definitely be alot lower- no more windfall/fat EF/working PT from here on out. 

Goal for 2022 is fully fund 401K/RothIRA/Ibonds=43K +7k taxable= 50K total.

[TyGuy]

Year end review of a great year (at least, where savings are concerned):

Goal: $30,000      [STRETCH goal: $40k]

Month  Savings           
Jan       $3041           
Feb       $2700         
Mar       $4200         
Apr       $700           
May      $1200           
June     $9874           
July      $2961         
Aug       $700         
Sep       $700       
Oct       $700       
Nov  $14,227       
Dec     $1771       

Total   $42771     

RESULT:  143% of original goal! 107% of stretch goal! Hoorah!

After being made aware of a careless addition error in my earlier posts (I was just typing things in and adding up with a calculator), it turns out that I did way better than I thought. I made my stretch goal and then some! This is a HUGE accomplishment for me. I achieved a 56% savings rate. Unbelievable. Thanks to all of you for the inspiration.

Next year will NOT be like this: I have major home expenses coming up, a kid in college and hope to do some traveling. But this year's success will help to make all of that possible (without derailing my retirement savings).

Happy Holidays everyone.

Congrats, this is a huge accomplishment!!

[TyGuy]

               |   401k    |R-IRA (2020)|R-IRA (2021)|  Brokerage  |  Savings  |   TOTAL   |
GOAL       | $ 19,500 |      $ 6,000     |     $ 6,000      |    $13,500     |   $5,000    | $  50,000 |  PROGRESS |

JAN          | $  1,685 |       $     0       |     $     0        |     $      0       |    $  500    | $  2,185  |    %   4.37   |

FEB          | $  1,461 |       $  500      |     $     0        |     $      0       |    $    0      | $  1,961  |    %   3.92   |
 
MAR         | $  1,860 |       $  5,500   |     $     0        |     $      0       |    $    0      | $  7,360  |    %   14.72 |

APR         | $   1,675 |       $     0      |     $     0        |     $     31      |    $  500    | $  2,206  |    %    4.41  |

MAY         | $   1,945 |       $     0      |     $    500     |     $      0       |    $    0      | $  2,445  |    %    4.89  |

JUN         | $   3,312 |       $     0      |     $    500      |     $    100     |    $   100    | $  4012  |    %    8.02   |

JLY          | $   2,590  |       $     0      |     $   1,500    |     $      0       |    $  400     | $  4,490 |    %   8.98   |

AUG         | $  1,902  |       $     0      |     $  1,500     |     $      0       |    $  100     | $  3,502 |    %   7.00   |

SEP         | $   2,481  |       $     0      |     $  2,000     |     $    600     |    $    0      | $       0   |    %   10.16  |

OCT         | $    589   |       $     0      |     $     0        |     $     100     |    $  1,500  | $  2,189 |    %   4.38   |

NOV         | $     0      |       $     0      |     $     0        |     $     250    |    $  1,005  | $  1,255 |    %   2.51    |

DEC         | $     0      |       $     0      |     $     0        |     $    7650    |    $    0      | $  7,650  |    %  15.3    |
 

YTD        | $ 19,500 |    $   6000     |    $   6,000    |    $    8,731  |   $ 4,105  | $44,336 |   %  88.67  |


Added in a retirement account that I forgot I had been contributing to automatically, which brought me just short of my goal. Overall, I am very happy with the year! I refinanced my house and did some unplanned renovations, which ultimately kept me from achieving my goal, but will help me reach my goals in the coming years. I have one big expense to start the new year and then I'm buckling down with hopes of reach $50,000 by November 2022 (stretch goal!). See you all in the next thread!!

[trc4897]

Good work everyone!

Adding a column to finish out the year - Savings Account Balance Increase. Started the year pretty low and it is now where I want the emergency fund to be. Beat our goal for the year - see you all in 2022!

Bucket	Goal	Actual
401K #1	$19,500	$19,500
Match #1	$3,556	$3,556
401K #2	$19,500	$19,500
Match #2	$4,837	$4,837
Roth 1	$6,000	$6,000
Roth 2	$6,000	$6,000
Brokerage	$5,000	$6,000
Mega Backdoor Roth	$31,474	$33,885
Mortgage	$12,000	$12,525
Savings Acct Increase	$5,000	$7,565
Total	$112,867	$119,368
Percentage	100%	105.8%

[SaucyAussie]

Hey all, I see a lot of us have jumped over to the "2022 savings goals" thread -

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/2022-savings-goals/

[pasadenafr]

Bucket            Goal         Current
--------------------------------------
401k        $19,500.00      $19,500.00
Roth 1      $28,750.00      $28,750.00
Brokerage   $45,000.00      $57,514.57   - $45k was the stretch goal (up from $35k). $55k was the stretch-stretch goal :) New unofficial goal was $60k
401k Match   $9,750.00       $9,750.00
Roth 2       $6,000.00       $6,000.00
HSA          $3,600.00       $3,383.26
Savings          $0.00           $0.00
--------------------------------------
Total      $ $124,897.83 

Progress                        110.92%

[not started] - [on track] - [behind] - [completed] - [exceeded]


Moving along... Finished saving for next year's Backdoor Roth (if it still exists) and saved another $2.2k in brokerage. I won't reach my mega-stretch goal of $60k in brokerage due to, hmmm... vacation, but that's ok since my original goal in January was $35k and I blew that out of the water :)

Aaaallriiight, here's the final tally for 2021!


Bucket            Goal         Current
--------------------------------------
401k        $19,500.00      $19,500.00
Roth 1      $28,750.00      $28,750.00
Brokerage   $45,000.00      $57,514.57   - $45k was the stretch goal (up from $35k). $55k was the stretch-stretch goal :) New unofficial goal is $60k
401k Match   $9,750.00       $9,750.00
Roth 2       $6,000.00       $6,000.00
HSA          $3,600.00       $3,600.00
Savings          $0.00           $0.00
--------------------------------------
Total      $125,158.83

[not started] - [on track] - [behind] - [completed] - [exceeded]


Didn't reach my mega-stretch goal of $60k in brokerage, because, well, my vacation back home cost me a lot more than budgeted lol. It was worth it.

I started the year with a total goal of $102k, and finished at $125k. I'm pretty damn proud of myself! Next year will probably be a lot less than that, judging from what I'm seeing at work...