Post by wanderingback on Jun 13, 2020 20:53:05 GMT -5
Yes.
I was hoping to pay off some debt and think about/try having a kid this year. Now I increasingly feel like having a kid isn’t in the picture based on a variety of factors, including financial.
Mine have changed only because of the immediate need to do some work on my house by the end of the summer. Any money I was saving will be going towards that.
We just had our fourth kid. If schools don’t open normally in the fall and are only open two days a week, we’ll have to spend about $15k more next year than we had planned on childcare/someone to help with distance learning while we work. On top of the extra $15k we had planned daycare for the new baby. Add the fact that DH’s bonuses are gone, and they were about 2/3 of his income, and our financial situation has changed significantly. That said, we are still super lucky to have two jobs with good incomes. We just won’t have nearly as much flexibility/extra savings capacity as we’re used to.
Our charitable giving has gone up (it was lower than I would have liked before and it seems especially inexcusable right now to just sit on these resources). I hope to convince H to make this permanent.
For sure. I was aggressively paying down SLs by making double payments. In May my firm announced furloughs/lay-offs will be likely in September, so I have been aggressively adding to savings. If it looks like my job is secure in the fall, I will probably resume the double SL payments.
We just had our fourth kid. If schools don’t open normally in the fall and are only open two days a week, we’ll have to spend about $15k more next year than we had planned on childcare/someone to help with distance learning while we work. On top of the extra $15k we had planned daycare for the new baby. Add the fact that DH’s bonuses are gone, and they were about 2/3 of his income, and our financial situation has changed significantly. That said, we are still super lucky to have two jobs with good incomes. We just won’t have nearly as much flexibility/extra savings capacity as we’re used to.
We've had "new driveway" on the "eventually" list for a few years. Since we cancelled a major vacation, I suggested to H that this would be a good redirection of the money. The driveway is badly buckled due to root growth and the like - like my elderly mom tripped and fell on it, and I always have to warn people coming to the house about it. But the project will probably involve creating a parking pad where a 3rd car can park, which will involve a retaining wall and relaying a walkway that's also badly damaged from roots. And so thus it's also going to involve taking out at least one tree, possibly more.
So that's not especially fun, but it makes sense, and I'm excited if I can convince H to let me get the walkway re-laid as part of it. Plus a third parking spot will be nice. We have a 2 car garage and park both cars there, but visitors park on the street often and hike up our (buckled) driveway.
Also, 2 months ago H said, "If we survive this pandemic, let's get new den furniture." This has also been on the list for years - like over a decade. So we're probably going to go ahead with that.
Arguably we could have already afforded these, but we'd just delayed them.
DH and I have tracked annual spending for 13 years. A part of me is excited to see how low it will be by not going on vacations or random shopping (no need to buy new clothes for work when we WFH). If I did not have pets, I also would have considered finding a place to rent and self isolate with a different view. I have also gotten into a couple mini home projects but only ones I can do myself since we would not want contractors to come by now. Our jobs were not impacted and we do not have @kids, so I know we have been very priviledged in our situation.
Post by sandandsea on Jun 14, 2020 11:20:10 GMT -5
We are thinking about sending ds1 to a private school if the public school does distance learning. He’s 8 and struggles with online learning and needs a lot of help with it. We don’t have time to help and the district did a super crappy job teaching the last third of the year and really doesn’t have any plan yet for August and a ton of excuses as to why they can’t do any of the positive things other districts are doing, so I have very little faith in them at this point. That means we would be spending a lot more on school and would cut back on long term investments. Ds’s education and our sanity is worth it.
Post by simpsongal on Jun 14, 2020 11:24:00 GMT -5
Not really. We had decided to put big house projects in gear before covid and all this just confirms that decision. If only I could get my contractor to call me back....
I am saving as much $$ as I can and trying to pay down debt. I have been splitting it, but I think I am going to shift my focus to savings. I do not know if I will be employed full time anytime soon, and I want to have $$ in savings in case I am still on unemployment in the fall. I won't bring home enough in unemployment to pay all of my bills without the extra $600/week. By having savings I can use that if I need to.
I did just spent $$$$ on new window blinds though, because my cats ruined mine. It was a lot more than I was expecting, but it is easier to do it now that I am home.
Yes, in 3 main ways due to influx of cash from not paying daycare (~$3500 a month):
1) greatly increased charitable giving. mostly black-focused causes, progressive political candidates, and local food banks.
2) home improvements. we invested in our outdoor space (sod, grass seed, shrubs, kids playhouse, and outdoor toys) as well as our office/guest bedroom since I'll be working from home indefinitely (traded out a queen sized bed for a twin trundle to allow for a larger desk set up).
3) beefing up savings. our cash savings has increased $7k+ since quarantine started.
ETA: we're also making a point to support local restaurants with take-out 2x a week.
Post by seeyalater52 on Jun 14, 2020 17:01:32 GMT -5
Ours have changed mildly but it’s hard to parse what is pandemic related vs @@@@ due to expecting a baby in Oct as the two things have somewhat coincided.
We are saving a lot on our commute and some other budget categories although our food/grocery spending is way up.
@@@ We spent more on the nursery than we originally intended.
We are still on track to wipe out our credit card debt by the end of Oct and to hopefully meet our savings goal, although we had a surprise expense that threw a wrench in things, as did my wife’s one day a week furlough.
Yes. Cash savings bumped to the top of our priorities and we have already doubled our e-fund from 3 months to 6. My goal is to continue to build cash (without stopping retirement contributions, of course). Financial freedom feels even more urgent.
I will also say my perspective has changed. I believe I'm in a place where I'd tell my job to shove it if I feel like they sacrificed the safety of my family.
@@@@ You should build the nursery of your dreams and indulge in any baby-related impulse you have. I am so so so thrilled for you and your wife and cannot wait to hear about baby boy's safe arrival.
Post by dr.girlfriend on Jun 14, 2020 18:11:01 GMT -5
We had just finished a major home addition, which has served us incredibly well during this time of quarantine. Now DH is going part-time, which partly fits his goal of launching some freelance stuff and partly covers our need for childcare -- our son is 11 which seems just too young to be home all day every day on his own, and his summer camp is cancelled. We had planned to go to Japan in August and that is off, but we had also planned to pay for it with my bonus at work, which is also off because my hospital is looking at a huge shortfall for this fiscal year, so that's kind of a wash. Overall, there's been a big shift in my attitude over the past few years after my brother-in-law and cousin died, both in their 40s. I've tried to prioritize our happiness over just socking away money. I do feel bad about not traveling more with DS...over the past 5 years we haven't booked any big trips because my brother-in-law was battling cancer. We planned to make up for it starting this summer, but obviously that's out, and with my husband going part-time I don't know that the future will hold much disposable income for travel either.
Post by chpmnk1015 on Jun 14, 2020 20:09:06 GMT -5
We built a home office.. something was on our to do list but w me working from home more important.. bought furniture for it too which arrives this week.
really trying to save as much as we can in case anything happens with my job..
Wow on the daycare savings! Think of how many races you could do. I accidentally quoted you and didn't mean to, so I deleted it, but it still looks like I quoted you. Sorry about that! scm1011,
DH and I had said at the beginning of the year we wanted to increase cash donations this year by 50% more than last year. We're on track to at least double for this year. Focusing on local organizations and minority run/supporting organizations.
We refinanced to a 20 year, cutting 6 years off our mortgage. So now our payments actually put more to principal than interest.
We are very lucky to be in secure jobs. I've been tentatively scheduled WFH through the EOY, so we may make some adjustments to the WFH setup for both of us to be more comfortable.
We bought a house, which was unrelated to the pandemic but ended up being good timing. We've been able to get some repairs done, buy some furniture, plant a bunch of stuff in our front yard, etc. I have definitely been a lot more willing to buy things for the house than I would have been had we been planning a "normal" year of fun activities, travel, commuting costs, etc.
Next "fun" purchases are hopefully a new TV and TV stand so we can finish setting up a workout area in our basement. I am dying for new end tables for the living room, too. I also want to replace our fridge, dryer, and windows this year if possible. Our deck needs some repairs to be "safe" according to our house inspection, so that's another potential option.
Post by covergirl82 on Jun 15, 2020 8:39:43 GMT -5
DH and I have been very fortunate to be able to continue working without an impact to our pay.
We haven't intentionally thought through a change to our financial goals, but we haven't spent as much money due to not going on spring break, not commuting to work, and not as much impulse buying or going out in general.
We just had to have a new furnace and A/C installed, so all the money we had saved from the above went into paying for the new furnace and A/C.
We haven't been paying much in extra payments on the mortgage like we had planned to, as we're waiting until we feel a bit more comfortable with the economy to start making extra payments again. We are looking at refinancing our mortgage and home equity loan into one loan, which is supposed to lower the payment, based on information we received from our credit union. If we do refinance and have a lower payment, we'll continue to pay at least what we're currently paying on both loans to work on paying the mortgage down more quickly.
Yes, we are using vacation money to work on a few more house projects since we’re spending so much time at home. We’re prioritizing which ones to do next. We just installed a large patio out back and will either add a fence, get a new driveway, or have a garage/above living space built next! We’re thinking about refinancing our house too and I definitely need to set up wills/trusts through my work legal plan.
seeyalater52, I am so excited for you two. I know this has been a long, painful road for you. Agree with scm that you should have the nursery of your dreams! ----
We have cancelled three trips so far this year to the tune of at least $10k. Some of it was used to pay off my car (just over a year into the loan) and the rest was saved as we are a single income family.
We have taken on some house projects recently because we have been home. Completed a stair railing redo in April and now we are doing board and batten in our hallways. Both DIY.
We've also been making bigger donations to Black owned businesses and charities.
Otherwise, though, no real change. We had wanted to redo our master bathroom this year but I don't really want people in my house so that is pushed to next year at the earliest.
DH and I are both working from home in some manner or another until EOY at the earliest. We had been hoping to limp along on our HVAC system another year or so, but with both of us home, we decided it makes sense to just expedite that replacement, so that was a big chunk of change, the majority of which came out of our vacation fund... which worked out well, since we cancelled our trip.
DD's school next year is... a nightmare. Our district never really put together a distance learning program, and the last few months of school were completed only by putting my job on the back burner (thankfully, my work was actually pretty slow at the time while my clients tried to figure out what they heck they were doing). My expectations the district for the next year are pretty dismal, so we are probably going to have to shell out for private school.
We are very fortunate that our jobs are still stable.
We've been thinking about selling our house and moving closer into town. Because of some issues unrelated to covid, we decided to accelerate our timeline and hopefully move next spring. Since then, the higher-ups at H's job have signaled that they may be open to letting him WFH 3 days/week, in which case we would want to stay here.
We had been daydreaming about a big trip to Europe, but between covid and saving toward a new house, that's probably off the table for now.
Yup, as a lifelong renter in nyc, we’re now looking at homes in NJ. My H can wfh indefinitely which is not doable in our 2 bedroom apt with two kids underfoot. I’m dyinggggg for more space and a yard now that everything in the city is closed.
Post by dragon's breath on Jun 15, 2020 12:02:00 GMT -5
No real goal changes here. I really want to get a house built while rates are low, so trying to figure out how to save even more toward that, and debating on whether or not that means selling the current house to help fund it (I could live in a fifth wheel on my property-- have the fifth wheel, working on getting running water again, and then building a shed to store things, since the pole barn is halfway taken up by the fifth wheel).
Once the house is built and finances settled on that, I'll go back to focusing on saving more toward retirement. I'm far enough ahead that I'm not concerned, but cut my contributions way back about 2 years ago to have more money "now".
Outside of road trips, travel was already on pause, to redirect money toward the house. A big two-week trip with my dad and brother was canceled, but hopefully we can set another one up again next year.
Post by ellipses84 on Jun 15, 2020 23:16:46 GMT -5
I don’t think my financial goals have changed as much as the plans for the year and timeline has changed. I got laid off and DH was furloughed. He’s going back to work soon and I haven’t been in a rush to find something new due to childcare issues. I’ve had a couple interviews and have a plan B and C with former employers if I don’t find something new by September.
I was in a total panic about finances when I was laid off, but between severance, a bonus payout and the extra federal money, we were able to beef up our e-fund. We aren’t paying for daycare and our rent was discounted, but in August our expenses will go back to normal and our income will be less so we’ll start eating into the e-fund. We were supposed to move into a bigger, more expensive home in May, but put that on hold until October. It has sucked being in a tiny place with everyone home all the time but it was the cheapest option. Ideally I’ll have a new job by then and we can route some of the e-fund money to pay off some debt. We actually paid the last of DH’s student loans during this time, and are still paying mine, although I may defer them.
The next big trip I have planned is 1.5 years out. We had a lot of small trips planned this year for milestone events, but most were canceled. There’s a rescheduled wedding in October we can drive to and a flight in December we could use airline vouchers for (but may not be comfortable going at that point).