July Wins/losses

[simpsongal]

Enjoying our monthly check ins

Also the half way point in the year - how are the annual goals going?  Other big 2024 goals?

pandce.proboards.com/thread/640419/2024-goals (if you didn't have a goal in the thread feel free to add one and we'll do a final check in at the end of the year).

[simpsongal]

Win: DH got an unexpectedly large bonus and a decent raise! I've also kept my spending in check, lots of money is going to debt payment and our pup's chemo treatments.  I'm still tackling sunk cost/cheap projects e.g., painting, organizing.  I also set a goal to use up toiletries and lotions - all my sephora free samples and whatnot.  I don't think I'll need to buy new face items until the fall, maybe even black friday.

ETA W/L: These are both technically losses but could have been worse, hence the "W/L" characterization
Splash guard fell off my car, I managed to get it to the mechanic, the reattached it and other things for like $70.  
Our AC unit leaked all over the basement floor.  Looking like a nasty clog we were able to repair all in for $600 (including a part replacement too).  I'll take it for a 20 yr old unit....hoping to get 2 more years out of our furnace & AC.

Loss: The heat wave will surely yield huge electrical and water bills.  
Property tax rates went up (annoying b/c values have increased so much, raising rates is an extra kick in the teeth).  Expecting an escrow shortage notice next month and another increase to amortize/roll into our mortgage payment.

2024 Goals c/p: [bolded re where we're at]
Ours will be pretty renovation focused...
- finish the reno ~March - outstanding costs at the start of the year are about $72K [yup - that was about right though remaining costs were higher]
- pay off 0% CC by end of the year (opened Oct '23, 15 mos 0%) - balance $19K at start of the year
[balance hit $20K by March.  We're down to $11,800 - on track to pay it off by October if not earlier]
- network & apply for new job by COY
[eh, I've looked....we'll see - w/the possible change in administration IDk]
- fund kids' 529s ($4K each)...[I'd prefer to delay this a year but DH won't]
[LOL - not happening this year b/c of dog chemo]
- work on estate planning w/mom
[never seems to happen]
- "reach" goal - buy a baby grand piano
[nope - not this year, too many expenses]
- throw a catered Christmas party
[hopefully still on the table - I want to spruce up my living room and buy a new kitchen table]
- fund a vacation in Jan '25
[maybe?  DS reeeaalllly wants to go somewhere and there's a school break in Jan that's ideal]
- *adding: help mom redeem her pension

[aspentosh]

July 

-One of H's retirement accounts hit $1m on its own. He was waiting and waiting and waiting. 
-We're going to a new National Park for minimal costs ($300 hotel for two nights) on our way to a mostly free family vacation next week. So for 11 days of travel we are out $300 for lodging, maybe $100 for EV charging, and groceries.

2024 goals (C/P)

1. Continue maxing 401k for and Roth IRA for both of us. Successful so far.
2. Continue saving each month to 529 and ideally increase it again. Haven't increased yet, but still saving.
3. Figure out the new/salary/expenses for H. He's currently virtual and we only have one vehicle, but he's at least going hybrid so we might need a second vehicle.... though hoping not. And if he takes a pay cut we need to figure out where that money is coming from. Despite some HUGE bumps in the road, he's hybrid enough that we are making do with one car. Not sure what that will look like after July 31st (long story), but keeping everything crossed. 
4. Take a big spring break trip to Arizona (most of this is already booked). Failed on this. We cancelled the trip because his job situation was up in the air and I was stressed about the cost. BUT we just took a killer trip to St. John for my 40th. 
5. Get H's truck loan to under $5k. This is a bit of a stretch, especially if his salary decreases, but I'd really love to have this loan paid off by mid 2025 (we took it out in January '23). I hate debt. The plan is to pay it off by March 2025. We're not close to $5k yet, but should be very close by the end of 2024.
6. A couple smaller home projects and purchases (driveway sealing, a new entry mirror, redoing some cabinet faces). This has been our biggest success. We actually have done all of the listed items plus: new vanity in powder room, wallpaper in laundry room, whole new flagstone entryway path and stoop (a big project we were able to make work). 
7. Lastly, I want to continue being conscious about where our money goes. Not buying something because it's on sale or buying three of something because I loved the first one. Really minimizing waste and impulse purchases. I think we're doing well with this. Quite a few pieces of my workout clothing are showing age and need to be replaced and I am being very mindful about the cost (shopping sales, not necessarily going with a cheap brand) and doing it in stages. I've created a document with "to be purchased" items listed out and it allows me to really think things through (want/need) before just buying.

[niq]

W: DOWN TO ONE KID IN FULL TIME AFTERCARE

L: half day camps were a garbage fire, I signed everybody up for full day and aftercare on Monday. So much for my attempt to save money and promote self-sufficiency.

All of my 2024 goals involved spending money. We bought a car, but we haven't done anything on the home reno front.

[sadlebred]

1. Be in a better financial position. This will mostly come from trying to quit bleeding money every month and increasing savings. Also quit discretionary spending. I will redo my budget later in the spring.

Uh, no. I made a good/poor life decision the other week and bought a new ebike. It ain't your granny's ebike....So far I'm in for, well, it wasn't cheap. FOMO (see: #heartproblems)

2. Try to have the side gig bring in some additional money. I run a website for a hobby I am in. I also need to identify some new revenue streams for it. (On hold til mid 2024)

Nope! Rolling from open heart surgery in Jan. to hand surgery in August on the right and probably Dec. on the left. My website will bring in about the same amount of money this year as it did in 2023. Expenses look to be about 5% higher.

3. Try to get my health stable. Main priority this year. I am thankful for good health insurance.

Sort of happening. Kinda. Not really. I met my OOP Max by the 2nd week of January, so healthcare the rest of the year is "free" for me. I'm up to at least $300,000 in bills this year. I stopped adding it up in April.

4. Save, save, save! I want to build back up my e-fund to 6 months (this will take me more than 2024, probably 2025 as well).

Nope, new ebike...I have been saving more monthly, though. I met my goal of putting more every paycheck into savings. I decided to do sinking funds for each thing I wanted to save for as well as a bit into a general savings account.

5. Contribute more my ROTH.

I'm up from .5% salary to 1.5%. I'm trying to make up for my company reducing the 401K match from 6% to 4% as of Jan. 1.

Upcoming things: Yearly escrow shortage in July. I'm hoping not too much since I reduced the cost of my homeowners insurance & my property value didn't go up. Several days off of work for the hand surgery. I'll probably use vacation to avoid having to file a disability claim at the low percentage they give us. I also reduced my car insurance by about $20/month. My car is still worth a bit too much to drop collision.

L: I bought a new ebike. It needs accessories like a cute handlebar bag and a "feed" bag. These are actually useful to carry what I need to carry. Good ones start around $50. Other accessories will probably total about $150 more (mini pump, maybe a saddle bag if one from my bin doesn't work). It's only July 2. Something will blow up now, of course.

W: I used a set of new pedals and one of my favorite bike saddles--both from my bin of parts--to save about $300.

[heygrey]

July Win: H got a small raise starting July 1. It's not a lot, but it's something.

2024 Goals
1) Holiday to Yellowstone. It's within driving distance and should be $2,500.
     - Leaving in a few weeks! We got a new credit card and were able to use points for 4/6 nights. I have $900 USD cash squirreled away that we can use for gas/food which will help with the insane exchange rate right now. Overall it's going to be a pretty budget trip. 

2) Bathroom Reno 2.0. I'm budgeting $5,000.
     - We're going to punt this down the line. I painted and hung some art which makes the space tolerable. I spent $0 by using stuff we had. 

3) Two extra payments on our mortgage. More would be better.
     - I have 3x sitting in savings, waiting a couple months to pull the trigger. See: new goal. 

4) Stretch goal - make a small second income from catering. We've catered for several friends' parties, but the logistics of moving beyond that is intimidating.
     - Still just catering for friends. Enjoying it, learning a lot, and making a little extra money. 

Adding a goal - pay off new vehicle (will extend into 2025). We were planning to buy in ~2 years, but my car forced our hand early. We traded, put some cash down, and financed the rest. We can easily have the new car paid off in 2 years, but I'd love to have it done sooner. 

[Roc A Bee]

I’m not sure wins or losses yet. I need to get further into the month to figure that out.

My 2024 goals were:

1. This is a roll over: finish updating my name on accounts. I did the major but there’s a few still hanging on.

2. I may buy a car from my stepmom this year. If I do, I’ll work to get it paid off quickly. Until then, I’m saving as I can towards a bigger down payment.

I haven’t done a thing with #1 but I did buy my stepmom’s care in cash. So far so good!

[mainelyfoolish]

W: July 1 my raise takes effect.

L: My DC16 now has a driver's license and our car insurance doubled (even with them driving a 12 year old minivan and getting a good student discount).

[sadlebred]

I'll add another win (really? Something will break or blow up soon for me...)
W: I'm getting money back from escrow from last year, and my mortgage payment went down a bit.

[chpmnk1015]

July w/l:

W/l: we are still in alaska.. been amazing. Our plans have been derailed here and there w fires and stuff... so, while we didn't see everything we wanted, still was amazing. And we are getting refunded some money which I hope will.cover pretty much what we spent here the last 10 days sooo...wash?

I'll have to look at goals..the link is bringing me to something weird...but may just be my connection

[heygrey]

Win: The bank that holds our mortgage no longer wants to manage escrow for property taxes so the balance of our account was returned to us and our mortgage payment dropped by ~$140. I can earn interest on that money myself and next year I can pay taxes by credit card to get the points.

(ETA) Another Small Win: Canada apparently thinks families need more money this year. We get monthly disbursements for dependent children called Canada Child Benefits and ours went up $100/month even thought we made more money last year. 

[themoneytree]

Loss: Massive unexpected tax bill.
Win: Bigger than expected bonus.

We are doing ok so far. It has been a spendy six months setting up the UK house for visiting my mom who has Alzheimer’s as well as monthly flights over.

The tax bill was also not ideal and neither was having to buy a used car for my mother in law (although we will be reimbursed for that).

Our mortgage payoff savings fund is growing, albeit slowly. Just over $1000 per month going into that. The plan was to add some money from bonus too but I’m not sure how successful we will be with that given the size of our tax bill.

[melmel4854]

Pay off at least 1 credit card- I am just over $600 away from paying off my first credit card! I have a long way to go with the others, but I am so excited about this one!


Rebuild my savings account- Still continuing to slowly add to my savings. The kitties had some vet stuff going on and I took some $ out of savings to pay for that. Better than putting it on a credit card!


Reduce spending in the areas of nonsense shopping, eating out and take out food.- STRUGGLING in this area! I am doing good so far this WEEK, but not so far this year.

[melmel4854]

Win- I got paid $500 to take care of a dog for a week and I have two more dog sitting jobs lined up this month.

Loss- Mortgage payment went up $100 due to escrow shortage

[chpmnk1015]

Updates for Yearly goals:

Main one is to save, save save and i have a number written in mind (saving ok- will know more after next month but i dont think we will get to the number i had in mind)
Roth IRA for DH and i by Oct (DH is done and mine is halfway there- so should be ok).
1K into stocks (nothing yet and this may not happen..)
1K into an investment account BFF runs.. (done 100 so far.. rest may not happen.. )
Vaca Fund to 10K after the big vaca we are taking this year (halfway there- which is incredible because we just did Alaska but was able to cashflow that)
1K into each kids account- (Prob wont happen)
Roths for the kids (at least what they earn). (will happen - but prob once we know their earnings and are working on our taxes before deadline)
if i get a raise, raise my 401k by 1%- (Not happening. got a low raise and just didnt do it.)

Not bad overall.. we are doing a couple things not in the budget which has hurt some of these things...

[minzy]

My goals for the year were:

*I think we’ll be getting a new to us car. I’d like to give more away (focus on environmental issues), and spend meaningfully on experiences/thoughtful gestures.*

My husband swapped his hybrid for an electric recently so no more gas cars for us. I have not given very much away yet this year but I tend to backload that anyway. I am going to inherit a sizable amount of property soon and have started looking into some type of conservation/donation with it, which may scratch both the giving and the environment pieces. In terms of spending meaningfully so far this year, it turns out it is not so much money, but time. My father is dying, and, with a saint of a husband, I have moved to be with him. My dad needs a ton of help and my sister and I are now completely managing what remains of his life. He is mostly cognitively intact, thankfully, but it is still kind of like having a newborn again, i.e., lots of concern over caloric intake, bowel and urination outflow, outfit changes, outings in the car, naps, transfers between bed and chairs, etc. I am not sure how much time we have left and it can be stressful as hell day-to-day, but I am generally “glad to be here,” as the Blue Angels say. I do not think I will regret spending my time this way, though it’s been a few months now, and I am really starting to miss my own little family. I think they’ll be coming back for another visit soon.

Unrelated, I have somehow hit three years (today!) back to work after my decade staying at home and should be getting another raise this month. So despite barely doing my day job lately (thank god for banking leave during COVID), I’ll bring in a few more thousand a year.

[mlkgls]

W: I hit another new 401k goal this week and I’m really starting to see the benefit of compounding interest in my retirement accounts. I made a pretty modest salary for much of my career, but I started as soon as my first job would allow. It’s still fairly modest by MM standards, but the amount sometimes makes my eyes pop a little. 

L: My homeowners insurance annual premium is due next week. 😭 I live in a 30yo averaged size home for the area, in an average neighborhood, and it’s jumped another 40% this year, with no claims. $5500 is just over 1% of my home value and the yearly real estate taxes are probably close to another 1.5%. I was hoping my parents would eventually move up here from hurricane alley, but I think they’re probably priced out at this point. 

L: Our dream cruise to Alaska leaves in a few weeks and I’ve spent way too much $ in the last week on items I think we may need. I haven’t purchased anything so far that we won’t use up or wear again, but sheesh it’s starting to add up. I’m still debating on whether I truly need waterproof hiking shoes or if I can get away with trying to waterproof my skechers. lol. 

[fryjack2]

I want to be more mindful of spending. We put everything on our CC and pay off it off every month, but I could be more conscious of what we spend. Eat at home more often, take breakfast to work, etc. It would add up and there are much more exciting things we could do with that "saved" money.

Having an extra adult and baby in our home since March has not helped. We have been doing a lot of convenience eating out  and funding/giving them funds for their daily life needs. 

Open a Chase Sapphire Reserve card. Or whichever one gives global entry.  Did this and have already used global entry twice  

Meet with a financial planner and invest outside of retirement accounts. I say this every year and have yet to find one

We met with someone from Fidelity. Not an actual FP that we will use, but was a start.   We have a second meeting set up, but we need someone who is more knowledgeable. 

[chpmnk1015]

Jul 6, 2024 9:27:42 GMT -5 mlkgls said:

L: Our dream cruise to Alaska leaves in a few weeks and I’ve spent way too much $ in the last week on items I think we may need. I haven’t purchased anything so far that we won’t use up or wear again, but sheesh it’s starting to add up. I’m still debating on whether I truly need waterproof hiking shoes or if I can get away with trying to waterproof my skechers. lol. 

So, we just got back from Alaska, We returned a lot of stuff we didnt end up using.. we wore sneakers everyday...didnt use the laundry line or hooks so returned those too... we lucked out though w no rain and 60-70 degree weather... So maybe when you get back if you keep receipts and tags on you can return some stuff?

[mlkgls]

Jul 7, 2024 12:24:38 GMT -5 chpmnk1015 said:

Jul 6, 2024 9:27:42 GMT -5 mlkgls said:

L: Our dream cruise to Alaska leaves in a few weeks and I’ve spent way too much $ in the last week on items I think we may need. I haven’t purchased anything so far that we won’t use up or wear again, but sheesh it’s starting to add up. I’m still debating on whether I truly need waterproof hiking shoes or if I can get away with trying to waterproof my skechers. lol. 

So, we just got back from Alaska, We returned a lot of stuff we didnt end up using.. we wore sneakers everyday...didnt use the laundry line or hooks so returned those too... we lucked out though w no rain and 60-70 degree weather... So maybe when you get back if you keep receipts and tags on you can return some stuff?

How accurate were the weather forecasts? It’s looked like most of our ports were in the 40s-50s this week, which is chilly for me. I’m going to take a small puffer jacket, but if it becomes necessary I was planning on buying one of the jackets everyone seems to mention in the cruise groups. 

I’ve been debating buying hooks, but might wait until Prime Day and hope for the best. I can see the clutter bothering me if everything is just strewn about, but all other purchases will either be used for the upcoming school year or used eventually. My H is the biggest offender here; he keeps throwing items onto the pile when we’re looking for DS. Excuse me sir, you already have clothes! 

[chpmnk1015]

Jul 7, 2024 21:33:11 GMT -5 mlkgls said:

Jul 7, 2024 12:24:38 GMT -5 chpmnk1015 said:

So, we just got back from Alaska, We returned a lot of stuff we didnt end up using.. we wore sneakers everyday...didnt use the laundry line or hooks so returned those too... we lucked out though w no rain and 60-70 degree weather... So maybe when you get back if you keep receipts and tags on you can return some stuff?

How accurate were the weather forecasts? It’s looked like most of our ports were in the 40s-50s this week, which is chilly for me. I’m going to take a small puffer jacket, but if it becomes necessary I was planning on buying one of the jackets everyone seems to mention in the cruise groups. 

I’ve been debating buying hooks, but might wait until Prime Day and hope for the best. I can see the clutter bothering me if everything is just strewn about, but all other purchases will either be used for the upcoming school year or used eventually. My H is the biggest offender here; he keeps throwing items onto the pile when we’re looking for DS. Excuse me sir, you already have clothes! 

Well it was supposed to be cold and rainy all week so not accurate for us at all.. we wore shorts and tshirts every day...we wore pants and a sweatshirt really only in glacier bay. We sometimes would put on a sweatshirt here and there and on part of our land tour but not often

[midwestmama]

July:
No major W/L at this time.

2024 Goals Check-in:

1. Put $10K in a 12-month CD (5% interest) - plan to do this Jan. 2. (We have 1 CD which will mature on Jan. 1, so we'll roll that balance into the new CD and take from our savings what is needed to make up the difference between that amount and $10K. We have another CD which matures in early March, and hopefully we can still get a good CD interest rate at that time to reinvest it in another CD.) ETA: Done! (Jan. 2)
2. Pay off DH's truck loan in April with some of our bonus money. This will mean we have no more active car loans, and our only debt would be the mortgage. (Anything left from our bonuses will go into savings for possibly a big trip in 2025 and/or home improvements.)
July update:  Done - loan was paid off in April.
3. At this point, the plan is to take the monthly truck payment and apply that $ to our mortgage principal each month. (Would essentially result in double-paying the principal each month. We would like to have the house paid off by the time DS graduates high school in 4.5 years. This plan would just about get us there.)
July update:  Doing this, but have not made full double payments in all months since April due to summer travel expenses, but goal is to be able to make double payments September and going forward.
3. Save $200 per month toward saving for car for DS.
July update:  We ended up buying DS a car already because DH found a car and had huge FOMO about it.  We will save the $10K CD and use that for buying DD a car in a year or so.  (Will reinvest in a 6 month or 1 year CD when it matures at the beginning of 2025.)
4. Maybe bump up 529 contributions for each kid by $25/month, after my merit increase in April.
July update:  This was done.  We are now contributing $200 each month to each kid's 529.
5. Declutter (donate and sell) and reduce impulse purchases. (I did not do a good job on this in 2023, so it is a repeat goal from 2023.)
July update:  This continues to be a struggle for me.  Hoping I can get motivated the second half of 2024 to make clear improvement in this area.

[ssmjlm]

Wins:
DH got a small raise and is back on OT, which will be nice since I need 2 new tires and can leave the money in the car fund.
Our liquid efund was back over $10k, which is good considering we had to replace our HVAC, my car AC, and had some pool opening upgrades we did.

Loss:
My kid made the dance company and OMG is it expensive. She has to get a company jacket and bag, plus dancewear.
We are having the house pressure washed and all exterior trim repainted, plus some repairs. It's going to be about $3500.

[sometimesrunner]

Wins: Received a check of almost $5k in the mail yesterday with our escrow refund. We paid the taxes prior to year-end and I totally forgot, so this was a fantastic surprise.

Loss: Bought a new sectional (that I LOVE LOVE LOVE), finally received the invoice from the pool guy for opening our pool plus their June services, and had to pay for H's vehicle registration, so our CC bill was gigantic.

[brooke77]

W: Our spending was down a bit last month, so we had a lower than normal CC bill.

L: I just got back from a spendy vacation.

Goals check-in:

I wanted to contribute to DS 529, which I have been doing. I also wanted to add extra mortgage payments, which I have been doing. I have not yet made our estate plans or met with a financial advisor. I will look into the estate planning ASAP.

[chpmnk1015]

L: dds sweet 16 was last night.. it was a lot.. but everything is paid now, so I can get back to just saving now vs saving for this

L/w: alaska was amazing... we got 800 back for excursions that got cancelled..stunknwe missed them but that means we didn't have to touch Vaca fund and just cash flowed those weeks..

L: dh is away next week w son which means no money from him next week

[gt7301b]

Big loss: water line leak that cost us ~ $5k.  However, I got multiple quotes and it was significantly cheaper than the first quote of $14k.

Win: We used points for our flights and 4 nights of our upcoming vacation.

[sadie]

W: My promotion and raise are effective July 1.

L: 4 weeks of camp payments x 2 plus first semester of tuition for my EdD program due.

W: work tuition benefit should cover this semester's tuition.

2024 check-in

1. Buy some CDs and pay off my husband's last school loan with my husband's bonus
!Done! This one felt good!

2. 529s
Not yet

3. Bedroom carpets. Do something about the backyard after we sell swingset.
No new carpets yet. Minor work on yard, needs more work.

4. Continue to pad savings/plan out roof replacement timing
Saving at a decent clip.

[ssmjlm]

Our $3500 paint quote turned into $5k with rotten wood due to poor drainage by the builder and now some odd looking flashing on both corners of our screened porch that DH SWEARS I won't "see" after a couple weeks.

Oh and our master tub faucet is leaking from we think the hot water. We already had the cold fixed a few years ago. I hate delta plumbing fixtures.

I need to get a couple plumber recs. Our plumber from the builder is no longer doing repairs/maintenace, only new builds. Makes me wonder why considering all of the issues we've had in our house.

[chpmnk1015]

W/L: Amazon prime day? Lol.. have gotten some good stuff on things we will need- but now its all at once... lol. Did use all the GCs that DD got for bday for her stuff soo...