MM 2016 year end.

[Pom]

How was 2016 financially?  Accomplish anything on your to-do list? MM Wins/Losses? Budget successes or failures? What's the verdict?

[Pom]

2016 was overall a financial success at Chez Pom. Emotionally, it sucked ass, but that seems to be par for our course.

-We sold or land contracted all of FIL Pom's properties which were a financial money suck. We still spent $25k in carrying costs and repairs.
-We sold our house after being on the market for 4 months. 3 days before closing, we had a flood+oil spill that seeped into our yard/neighbor's too and the garage (but only on the concrete)+need a new roof from hail damage. I thought this could financially ruin us, but we survived and came out pretty well.
-Mr. P started a new job with a pay-cut due to his industry struggling. GRATEFUL still that he was able to find a job within 2.5 weeks of being laid off. His severance package carried us with a small surplus to his new job start date.
-We bought a new house within 15 days of his new job start date and were able to secure the mortgage while still carrying the old house.
-We bought a new house the I am totally in love with for the exact same price we sold our old house for (except no pool at new house).
-His new company paid our full relo, RE fees, mortgage credits and sign-on bonus so all of that helped tremendously.
-After all the real estate sales, purchases, etc... we added a pretty hefty sum to our investments. Our 30%+ savings rate since 2010, plus RE, plus inheritance has now bumped us to 6x our HH income in retirement savings and investments. In 2004, we started out $50k in the red but we've dedicated ourselves to cleaning up our mess and slow savings (and debt) start. Our returns are ranging from 10-20% across our retirement and investment accounts so far this year. We need that after several bad years that were crucial to making up for lost time.
-We still need to tighten up our monthly budget. We've had several major repairs and home maintenance expenses to tackle this year. We need a new roof on our Michigan house next year. Overall, as long as Mr. P survives his work merger in Jan/Feb 2017, it looks like a decent outlook for next year too.

[cajunmom]

To put it bluntly, it sucked. H broke his leg on a work trip and was out of work for over 3 months. Luckily the worker's comp came through (we didn't think it would because even though it was a work trip it wasn't a work related injury) but since it did we were able to just stay afloat. We made no progress on debt payoff or increasing retirement savings plus we lost all of that time in his 401k contributions. We didn't go MORE in the hole, so that's a positive I guess! 2017 should be a good bit better, as long as he stays away from soccer balls.

[keweenawlove]

Overall, I think we end up pretty well
-We put 25% of our income into retirement.
-I hit 1x my income just after my 29th bday
-My salary has been a little frustrating. I got a grant that should give me a big pay bump but the fellowship I'm on stipulates that I can only be paid a set salary. Right now my lab is just banking that money for me when the fellowship runs out so I've got a few years of additional funding and the grant looks really good for my longterm career outlook. My university is also supposed to be hiring 10 new faculty due to a new department but they have to hire a chair first. That process has been going frustratingly slow because, academics, but I'm hoping eventually they will get posted!
-Our savings account has looked really good but it's about to take a huge hit in early 2017 because we're buying a house. I think we got a really good price on it because we're not buying at peak season. I can't wait to move in. 

[Pom]

cajunmom, oh shit I'm so sorry. That is rough. I hope he's mended with no complications. Here's to 2017!

[Pom]

@meepmeep, thinking of you and sending job vibes!

keweenawlove, that is a lovely house! Congratulations

[nicechicken]

We had a sucky ass year.

Mostly because, I was under the impression H was handling stuff on the business side, instead he was throwing money at stuff that wasn't correct.
HOPEFULLY come January, we will not be going into the red every month with the business.

I have to keep reminding myself that we got fucked by 2 employees this year, for over $25k, and that FUCKING bathroom (seriously, don't get me fucking started, IT'S STILL A FUCKING SHIT SHOW). Hopefully, H has learned that when a deal seems like it's too good to be true, it is.

We have to get on a strict budget this year.

Anyway, we basically hemorrhaged money. 2016 sucked fucking ass. 2017 has to be the year of nicechicken. It just has to be.

[konapoppy]

Overall, 2016 was pretty good to us financially.
- I increased my salary by 40% with a job change
- We refi-ed our mortgage from 4.5% to 3.5%
- Our retirement accounts increased

The only major expense we had was the 18k or so in medical bills for IVF and other treatments.

2017 may take a MAJOR hit though, since H is miserable in his job and we both agreed he can quit without a job lined up if he gets desperate. We are lucky enough that we can make it on my salary, but savings and fun stuff will be minimized.

[Pom]

@meepmeep, konapoppy, good thoughts for you both. Extra prayers said too.

nicechicken, sometimes we learn the most from the expensive, shitty lessons. I tell myself that anyway. Wishing you a good year ahead.

[Deleted]

I had a few major money sucks:
-dog had neck injury and broken tooth $900
-Chiro and Physical Therapy for "sciatic nerve issues" which made it worse $1,145
-MRI co-pay for said hip after therapy failed $540
-Took on 9K worth of student loans with half being direct sub loans
-Car's battery took a shit along with some other stuff $1000

Some MM wins:
-No other debt beside student loans
-Took retirement contribution from 10% to 13%
-Successfully completed a year of YNAB
-Enrolled in FSA for the first time for 2017 (yay adulting)

Total...I'm only up 2K net worth from last year due to the 401K losses and taking on student loan debt

Next year goals:
-Save for a down payment on a house
-Get 401K up to 15%
-Cash flow summer semester for school (3K)
-Get a promotion

[littlemisssunshine]

I hope everyone's 2017 is much better than this one! 


Overall we came out ahead for 2016. We fully funded H's 401k, both of our IRA's, and had an additional $20,000 to put away into mutual funds. I haven't checked the rate of return on our funds, but I'm just going to assume we have't completely lost our shirt.  I lost my largest client with my property management company to the rate of $1600 a month, but it's allowed me to not have to put DD into daycare, so I consider it a win. We paid off H's car early so our only debt is the mortgage. 

We cash flowed the hospital bills of having our first baby to the tune of $9000. And that's with 'good' insurance! We are looking to do an addition to our house to add a sunroom and giant walk in closet to our master bedroom, however it will be around $25,000. We'll be saving money for that next year. 

[niq]

I am headed to the bank to move an absurd amount of money from one bank account to another. Then we can pay off the last of msniq's student loans and contribute to the 529.

I also started moving ESPP and RSU shares into various index funds. Short term returns seem driven by investor euphoria at Dodd-Frank repeal or apathy, plus Trump's twitter feed*

The company's stock tanked, so while it was nice for a few days to see two commas in the statements, I never really had that money except on paper. Still, it would be nice if the stock at least got back to where it was when I joined -- at that level, we were at "8 years will pay off college for two kids" but now it's probably more like 10-12, or I need to have a couple of good performance years and/or a promotion.

Our spending seems to be about $1K/month higher than what the budget spreadsheet, and that's when we're doing almost no shopping. A lot of that is food -- we are eating out or ordering delivery/takeout a lot more, which I should have anticipated since msniq is super pregnant.

*sidenote: The fact that Trump's tweets can move markets says something ultra depressing about markets.

[divanerd]

2016 turned out ok after all...
Relocated closer to family LCOL
Sold our first house
Found new jobs and I got promotion
Savings goal met and improved
Increased 4yo 529 plan finally

[Roc A Bee]

I think I did ok. I finished paying myself back from a large home purchase I made in summer 2016.

I finally upped my retirement to 20%. After my divorce and several raises, I was hovering around 13% before.

I got a promotion to a management position. So I'm getting raises again.

I was able to save for vacation and Christmas in advance.

[flygirl22]

Pretty good financial year. Next year might be more interesting.

Save or Donated 25% of our net salary this year after maxing 401Ks, would have been closer to 40% if we hadn't done the major backyard remodel, this is the first year I tracked that so it will be interesting where that goes from here.

Hit a major milestone in my 401K.

I am pregnant with our first child, due in early March so I'm sure next year will be a lot different with daycare costs and leave consideration. DH was also promoted at work this past year. He has been on bonus guarantee through the end of this year and next year he will be on his own. We expected his salary to drop slightly from his previous hourly position (lots.. of OT), but we'll see how it all shakes out.

[goldengirlz]

Professionally, things have been great. I changed industries (same job function) and saw my salary go up more than 55%. DH also got a promotion.

In terms of overall net worth, we bought and started renovating a house (and we live in the VHCOL Bay Area) so we took a hit on cash. We're not planning to sell anytime soon but I suspect we bought at the peak so that's annoying from an equity perspective. Still, we've been diligent about saving/investing and still managed to take some awesome trips so I can't complain.

[starlily]

It mostly sucked, but things are starting to look up. Hope the momentum keeps going!

[sfy]

Wins
-Investments are doing well
-Good year in terms of bonuses
-Our relative who has needed our financial help no longer does

Losses
-DH's company stock is down more than 10% from this year's high
-We still haven't sold our house and moved, and meanwhile, housing prices are increasing. On 12/1, we decided on a very final 6 month timeline for this. We have to go.
-Had to replace DS's car

Budget is humming along for the most part. We traveled less this year, which helped, but definitely not worth it lol.

[Deleted]

Overall, we're finishing out pretty well.

- Paid off all debt except our student loans (car and a bit of CC debt). Not having a car payment is nice.
- We hit our cash savings goal (of only 10k) that we wanted in savings before focusing on other longer term saving. We should be able to start putting more money into retirement and other shorter term big goals (like buying a condo or house in a few years).
- For the first time in my adult life, I'm feeling pretty relaxed about money. Which means I need to stop buying things, lol. But I feel like we're in good shape and I don't need to worry at all. If we want to do or buy something (within reason), we can. So that's a big life goal we've hit IMO.

Of course there have been some smaller setbacks, like spending probably around 2k for both of my dogs to die earlier this year, a couple of unexpected car repairs, etc. Without those we'd be a few thousand dollars further ahead, but I guess that's life.

[Susie]

How's "I don't know" for an answer?  So much has changed this year.

In April, Hobbes turned 5 months and started daycare to the tune of almost a mortgage-payment-a-month.  Ouch.

In July, Calvin found out he was losing his job.  His last day was in September.  OUCH.

In October, he started a new job.  Sigh of relief, but

Same title, different employer, 5 figure pay cut.  OUCH.

In November, I was offered the opportunity to buy into my firm.  OMFG.

In December, Calvin was offered a five figure raise (effective 1/1) that will take him back to just over what he was making at his old job.  Whew.

In January 2017 I will blow the cash that I had initially saved up to renovate our house, then scrapped that plan to keep it in reserve pending Calvin's job search, on the down payment for my buy-in.  This is simultaneously great career news and a really not-fun way to spend this cash.

In the midst of all that, we paid off one student loan, grew our retirement savings, got Hobbes to her first birthday happy and in good health, and I lost my mom and didn't lose my shit (completely).  

I am ready to call it a draw with 2016, and say GOOD DAMN RIDDANCE, and welcome 2017.

[sadlebred]

2016 can just go away.
-Too many dental and healthcare bills with good insurance for both. Putting more $$ into my FSA in 2017 to finish out the non-cosmetic dental work.
-a few house maintenance issues in the last 8 weeks, but they needed to be done

[melmel48]

2016 has been anything but a financial success and it is all out of my hands. 2017 isn't going to be any better, but I am trying very hard to make things positive! I know I can do this.

[L]

Meh...
Negatives
-had a lot of expenses/repairs/replacements/maintenance, tons at home & a few at the rentals
-DD4 I put in preschool F/T which is kind of pricey (50% more than regular tuition for the older kids)
-took lots of vacations & traveled, much more than we usually do which resulted in CC debt (now paid off)
-bought a new car

Pluses
-we had no major medical/new births for once in a long time
-we had zero vacancy in any of our rentals & excellent tenants
-DH made partner/principal so his salary/bonuses/stock went up a lot
-I'm not working but I've made some progress on possibly getting back in my profession if/when I want to.
-Net worth hit a big milestone

[Poppy]

It was a good year for us, we were lucky not to have any big unexpected expenses and overall were very fortunate. We haven't been tracking our spending so that's gotten a little inflated. We agreed to re start the budget tracking in the new year.

Which will be important because we've also decided to attempt to both go part time. It's definitely not the norm in our industry so I'm a little terrified about what this is going to do to our careers and there's a good chance one or both of our employers will say no, but... it could be amazing so we're going for it. Fingers majorly crossed.

ETA hugs to those who've had major challenges and/or losses this year.

[tacom]

Mixed.

-Based on last week's numbers, net worth grew by 15% which is lower than previous years
-Biggest hit was H walking away from a ~$40-65k net year-end bonus to start at his new job. He'll get a smaller sign on bonus but we haven't received it yet. Supposedly this decision should pay off in the long run, but who knows.
- We've spent $$$ like we were expecting that bonus. The lifestyle creep is real.


If we were in Chicago I'd be happy with the growth, but I don't know if I can live in NYC forever. And I know H can't keep up this lifestyle forever. So I feel guilty, because we *should* be socking away much more cash to provide him with the flexibility to walk away if/when he hits his limit. We have to figure that out.

(PDQ #s)

[followyourarrow]

It was a bad one. Lots of medical bills, Arrow had several unplanned medical bills, a dose of bad luck, and a few bad decisions that I've learned from.

2017 can be better and start anytime.

[raangoli]

Well I'll say that this year has surprised me to no end.

I had a baby in a blizzard 9 weeks early. Thankfully somehow we did not end up with a huge medical bill for her 5 week stay in the hospital.

I stayed home longer than I wanted and lost 3 months of salary.

I went back to work and essentially lost my job 2 months later. Two weeks after losing my job, I found a new one with a 20% salary increase.

We almost lost my dad in October but thankfully he's fine now.

Finally, my personal investments have been doing well, which I'm very surprised about.

Add me to the list of people who will be glad to put this year behind them.

[teatimefor2]

I'll play:

Mixed:
-finally have approve to fix our home AND won our lawsuit against previous owners BUT town didn't tell us about engineering costs which were five figures out of pocket and unable to recoup;

-DH is about to sign a huge deal next week which should set him up for a promotion and pay raise next year;

-a top real estate agency contacted me and asked me to join them. Since I'm due with baby number three, they are happy to accommodate me. I take the course in January.

-Our rental property was a bit more expensive than expected to get it ready for market, but we've accepted an offer scheduled to close in January.

-Lots of highs and lows emotionally but the year is ending setting us up nicely for a good financial 2017, I hope!

[Deleted]

In one word, rollercoaster!

-DH graduated in May and didn't get hired anywhere until November.
-DH got his "dream car." It's not MM at all but it's what he's always wanted and he literally plans on keeping it the rest of his life (it won't be a daily driver for long)
-We unexpectedly and very quickly bought our first house, thanks to a small down payment gift from his grandparents. We have enough left to cashflow some small repairs and projects.
-I got a 3% raise this week
-I took out $8k in loans for grad school even though I didn't want to.
-We have a teeny amount of CC debt again (mostly house related). It WILL BE GONE in 2-4 months.
-We have some vet bills that are interest free for a while on Care Credit (including bills for our now deceased cat, which is really sad to think about)
-I have a fledgling freelance career, and got a raise and a bigger project from my only client
-We can now make a real budget with some predictability, actually consistently save, and increase our IRA contributions!

At ages 32 and 34 I feel like we have finally arrived.

[dellabear]

2016 was okay for us. We have stable, predictable incomes and do a decent job of saving and budgeting - by no means perfect, but I'm reasonably happy with where we are. We hit our savings goals and are living within our means during my extended mat leave.

I'm looking forward to 2017 as we are both in line for raises, which will be retroactive, so we'll get a small lump sum which will go into the (currently empty) fun money fund. So I can start dreaming about how to spend that. Plus the extra money on every pay will be nice for when daycare fees start up.