Maybe you haven't noticed, but I've started some new savings goals there in the left sidebar. We now have these goals:
Emergency Fund: $20,000
Basement Finishing Fund: $25,000
New to Us Car Fund: $25,000
(Side note: Whoa. That is a whole lot of money right there. Makes my head swim a bit.)
We also have smaller accounts (Travel Fund, Christmas Savings, Short Term Savings) that we'll be funding in small amounts each month.
So, I've already explained why our Emergency Fund goal is $20,000. (six months of expenses, padded a bit)
And I explained a bit about why our Basement Finishing Fund goal is $25,000. I didn't mention in that post that we also want to put in a fireplace on the main level when we finish the basement. And that our neighbors, with a house with a floor plan identical to ours, paid $25,000 to finish their basement last year. They used a contractor while we'll be doing as much work on our own as we can. However, I think $25,000 is still a good goal. After all, after the basement is finished we'll want to outfit it with new furniture and a big TV, you know. Chuck and I really, really want to finish our basement so we'll be putting a bit of money each month into this account. The emergency fund still comes first though.
The other big goal is a new to us car, or two. Our vehicles are 10 years old (with 160K miles) and 8 years old (with 130K miles) and are starting to show their wear and tear. While neither have given us any mechanical troubles, both could use tune-ups. I don't want to derail our emergency fund saving but I also don't want to completely ignore the elephant in the room either. We will need to replace at least one vehicle in the next year or two. To that end, I'll be putting a bit of money each month into this account but, as I said above, the emergency fund will still get the biggest bump each month.
Now, what is disappointing is that there is no way we'll have enough money saved up in a year or two (if our emergency fund continues to comes first) to buy a late model or new car outright. I've accepted the fact that we'll have to finance at least some of the car purchase. (Like Trent of The Simple Dollar, when it comes to cars, reliability and safety are at the top of my list. I will not drive my children around in an unreliable or unsafe vehicle.) When the time comes to make that big purchase we'll have to weigh all our options (late model with financing, new with 0%, trade in value vs third party sale of our current vehicle, etc.).
Right now we'll just focus on saving, saving, saving.
June is going to be One Expensive Month!
I'm so thankful we no longer have any debt because June is shaping up to be one expensive month. I don't think we'll have to dip into our emergency fund but I also don't think I'll be able to save as much into it either. Why?
1 - We'll have about $350 on credit cards to pay. Part of this is $100 in race entrance fees for our next duathlon. Chuck and I did our first duathlon in May and we just might be addicted! (Chuck to the biking part, me more to running which is why later this summer, on the same day, Chuck will be doing a 30+ mile bike race while I'll be doing a 1/2 marathon) Part is the almost $180 I paid in bridal shower preparation (flowers, food, door prizes, etc.) and gifts for my sister. Part is Chuck's birthday present that I ordered online and therefore use a credit card for which to pay. All are "extra" expenses that are not part of our normal monthly budgeting. I'm glad we can stretch our budget to afford these niceties without having to worry about going into debt.
2 - Chuck's motorcycle insurance is due for the year on June 15th. That's a little over $200. I could pay just the minimum ($15) but they'd tack on a $4 service charge for that. I'd be spending almost 20% of my payment just on service charges! No, thank you. I'll just pay the whole bill and reduce my emergency fund contribution accordingly.
3 - And this is the only true use of an emergency fund out of the three - our two year old son broke his arm yesterday in an accident at his grandparents house. He'll be fine (although I'm pretty shaken up) but the trip to the emergency room out of network plus the orthopedic surgeon bills here in our hometown are sure to add up. I have no idea how much just yet which is why I'm unsure if we'll need to dip into the emergency fund or if we'll be able to cash flow the medical bills. It does put a wrinkle in the whole June budget prep though. I think I'll budget the rest of the month and then put that emergency fund line as the medical bill line and whatever I don't end up sending to doctors I'll send to INGDirect. Stressful? Yes. But thank God we had our financial house in order so this didn't turn into a financial nightmare for us.
1 - We'll have about $350 on credit cards to pay. Part of this is $100 in race entrance fees for our next duathlon. Chuck and I did our first duathlon in May and we just might be addicted! (Chuck to the biking part, me more to running which is why later this summer, on the same day, Chuck will be doing a 30+ mile bike race while I'll be doing a 1/2 marathon) Part is the almost $180 I paid in bridal shower preparation (flowers, food, door prizes, etc.) and gifts for my sister. Part is Chuck's birthday present that I ordered online and therefore use a credit card for which to pay. All are "extra" expenses that are not part of our normal monthly budgeting. I'm glad we can stretch our budget to afford these niceties without having to worry about going into debt.
2 - Chuck's motorcycle insurance is due for the year on June 15th. That's a little over $200. I could pay just the minimum ($15) but they'd tack on a $4 service charge for that. I'd be spending almost 20% of my payment just on service charges! No, thank you. I'll just pay the whole bill and reduce my emergency fund contribution accordingly.
3 - And this is the only true use of an emergency fund out of the three - our two year old son broke his arm yesterday in an accident at his grandparents house. He'll be fine (although I'm pretty shaken up) but the trip to the emergency room out of network plus the orthopedic surgeon bills here in our hometown are sure to add up. I have no idea how much just yet which is why I'm unsure if we'll need to dip into the emergency fund or if we'll be able to cash flow the medical bills. It does put a wrinkle in the whole June budget prep though. I think I'll budget the rest of the month and then put that emergency fund line as the medical bill line and whatever I don't end up sending to doctors I'll send to INGDirect. Stressful? Yes. But thank God we had our financial house in order so this didn't turn into a financial nightmare for us.
Facelift
Now that we're DEBT FREE BUT MORTGAGE(!!) I decided that Debt Marathon needed a facelift. I've downloaded a new template to depict our state of mind now. The grass is greener on the NO DEBT side of the fence. Take a look around, let me know if any links are broken, if something looks out of place, etc.
I've also renamed the blog from Debt Marathon to The Grass Is Greener. I'll keep the URL the same, mostly so I don't have to deal with moving files and such.
Let me know what you think!
I've also renamed the blog from Debt Marathon to The Grass Is Greener. I'll keep the URL the same, mostly so I don't have to deal with moving files and such.
Let me know what you think!
DFBM! DFBM!
We did it! Today, May 22nd, 2009 is our Debt Free But Mortgage day! I wrote the check last night, handed it over to the credit union people today and this was my reward:
A zero balance!
We've come a long way in 21 months! We started with over $27,000.00 in debt, as detailed here in my first post: The Breakdown. We averaged over $1300/month in debt repayments in order to make this happen. We were very, very lucky that in all that time, we didn't have to dip into our emergency fund once. Whoa. Knock on wood there!
I feel great! I can feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins. We did it! I can't believe we did it and that we did it so quickly! The future seems so open now. We can choose to build our emergency fund. We can choose to build our basement finishing fund. We can choose to save into our travel fund. We can choose to splurge and buy toys or clothes or whatever we want. It's all our choice because we don't owe money to corporations anymore! (Except for the mortgage of course - we'll keep paying ahead on that one!)
And so the next phase begins. To kick that off, I transferred $506.22 into our emergency fund last night. And next month it will see a big deposit as well. And the month after that. I'll be creating a basement finishing subaccount at ING so we can finally start saving money for that long awaited project. And I'm going to have to review our goals I set at the beginning of the year and maybe set some new ones.
We did it! I almost can't believe it!
A zero balance!
We've come a long way in 21 months! We started with over $27,000.00 in debt, as detailed here in my first post: The Breakdown. We averaged over $1300/month in debt repayments in order to make this happen. We were very, very lucky that in all that time, we didn't have to dip into our emergency fund once. Whoa. Knock on wood there!
I feel great! I can feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins. We did it! I can't believe we did it and that we did it so quickly! The future seems so open now. We can choose to build our emergency fund. We can choose to build our basement finishing fund. We can choose to save into our travel fund. We can choose to splurge and buy toys or clothes or whatever we want. It's all our choice because we don't owe money to corporations anymore! (Except for the mortgage of course - we'll keep paying ahead on that one!)
And so the next phase begins. To kick that off, I transferred $506.22 into our emergency fund last night. And next month it will see a big deposit as well. And the month after that. I'll be creating a basement finishing subaccount at ING so we can finally start saving money for that long awaited project. And I'm going to have to review our goals I set at the beginning of the year and maybe set some new ones.
We did it! I almost can't believe it!
Parenting and Examples and Spoiling and Stuff
I mentioned last week that my dad is very generous, giving us money and nice gifts often. And that I'm a daddy's girl. I've been a daddy's girl since I was a toddler, shoving my mom out of my way so I could sit by my daddy on the couch. And over the years, my love has grown for my dad but so has my respect. I try to emulate my dad as much as possible when I parent my own children. I try to have just as much patience as he did. I try to discipline just as he did. I try to lead by example in how to be a good person, just like he is.
Somehow my dad (and mom) raised three great kids who became successful adults (if I do say so myself). We're so squeaky clean none of us so much as had detention as teens. If my parents hadn't divorced when I was a junior in high school, we might have been the Cleavers.
Anyway, growing up even though I didn't have all the latest gadgets (didn't have a computer until I left for college!) or the trendiest clothes I still felt spoiled and loved and complete. I want to somehow give my children that same childhood.
And it's hard.
I want to buy them new toys and clothes and take them on fun trips and to fun experiences. I also don't want them to expect all those things to happen all the time. I want it to be just as special to take a family walk, have a family game night or watch a family movie together.
My kids are still little (4 and 2) so I have time yet (at least a little) to figure out how to balance all of that. And to learn as I go. Parenting is one big learning experiment anyway.
How do you balance all of it? Any tips or tricks to pass along?
Somehow my dad (and mom) raised three great kids who became successful adults (if I do say so myself). We're so squeaky clean none of us so much as had detention as teens. If my parents hadn't divorced when I was a junior in high school, we might have been the Cleavers.
Anyway, growing up even though I didn't have all the latest gadgets (didn't have a computer until I left for college!) or the trendiest clothes I still felt spoiled and loved and complete. I want to somehow give my children that same childhood.
And it's hard.
I want to buy them new toys and clothes and take them on fun trips and to fun experiences. I also don't want them to expect all those things to happen all the time. I want it to be just as special to take a family walk, have a family game night or watch a family movie together.
My kids are still little (4 and 2) so I have time yet (at least a little) to figure out how to balance all of that. And to learn as I go. Parenting is one big learning experiment anyway.
How do you balance all of it? Any tips or tricks to pass along?
Free $10 Project Card
The kids and I were at Lowe's this afternoon picking up some landscape and garden supplies. We had some mulch, lawn edging, potting soil, annuals, etc. It was one full cart. We were waiting patiently in line while the person checking out in front of us paid for her purchases. That was quite the ordeal with a checkbook, no I.D., a rambunctious child, a trip to her vehicle which produced a bank card but no I.D. and then a final trip to her car to finally retrieve the I.D.
The whole time we waited patiently. And we were rewarded. While we waited, a stranger came up to me and offered me her $10 project card - good for $10 off any purchase $50 or more. Yay! I thanked her and watched her leave the store empty-handed. Guess she didn't find anything she needed today. My purchase rang up as $60 - $50 and change after the $10 was removed. What a nice treat! Thank you stranger lady!
The whole time we waited patiently. And we were rewarded. While we waited, a stranger came up to me and offered me her $10 project card - good for $10 off any purchase $50 or more. Yay! I thanked her and watched her leave the store empty-handed. Guess she didn't find anything she needed today. My purchase rang up as $60 - $50 and change after the $10 was removed. What a nice treat! Thank you stranger lady!
Almost
OK, I'm going to delay the HELOC payment by one week. I could pay it this week and bring our checking account down to crumbs and fret about every dollar spent for the next week...or I could delay the payment by one week, accrue ~$2 in interest and pay the whole thing off next week. Peace of mind wins. Next week we'll be debt free. This week we'll keep the money liquid, just in case.
Now, about that impulse purchase I was telling you about in the last post...so last Friday night the kids wanted to ride in the office chair. In our house this means they wanted to spin. You know where this is going right? Being the awesome mom that I am, I spun them a little too long and Jamison, the two year old, threw up all over the chair. I mean all over it. It was a cloth office chair and well, there was no way I could get it cleaned to my satisfaction. Yes I tried our portable steam cleaner and everything. Sorry, there was just no cleaning it. So, I packed up the kids and hauled them off to buy a new chair. I know, not frugal or pf-wise in any way. I did it anyway. I now have a nice faux-leather office chair (the least expensive one the store had and it was the most comfortable for me too).
I'm guessing the personal finance karma gods were watching though. When I got home from the store I found that the dog had made a huge mess and spent the next 45 minutes cleaning up with the aforementioned portable steam cleaner. Gross.
So, that $106.75 purchase was definitely not a planned expense this month. Thankfully I've collected $106.22 in snowflakes this month that will help offset that. My budget included a $500 line item for the emergency fund. I've reduced that to $400 to offset the chair purchase and then I'll snowflake everything I can to the emergency fund to try and get it above $500 like my original goal was. I'm still pretty excited that I'll be able to pay $1300 to the HELOC and $500 to the emergency fund in one month. Gotta love those three paycheck months. And snowflakes.
To the personal finance karma gods: I'll try and do better.
Now, about that impulse purchase I was telling you about in the last post...so last Friday night the kids wanted to ride in the office chair. In our house this means they wanted to spin. You know where this is going right? Being the awesome mom that I am, I spun them a little too long and Jamison, the two year old, threw up all over the chair. I mean all over it. It was a cloth office chair and well, there was no way I could get it cleaned to my satisfaction. Yes I tried our portable steam cleaner and everything. Sorry, there was just no cleaning it. So, I packed up the kids and hauled them off to buy a new chair. I know, not frugal or pf-wise in any way. I did it anyway. I now have a nice faux-leather office chair (the least expensive one the store had and it was the most comfortable for me too).
I'm guessing the personal finance karma gods were watching though. When I got home from the store I found that the dog had made a huge mess and spent the next 45 minutes cleaning up with the aforementioned portable steam cleaner. Gross.
So, that $106.75 purchase was definitely not a planned expense this month. Thankfully I've collected $106.22 in snowflakes this month that will help offset that. My budget included a $500 line item for the emergency fund. I've reduced that to $400 to offset the chair purchase and then I'll snowflake everything I can to the emergency fund to try and get it above $500 like my original goal was. I'm still pretty excited that I'll be able to pay $1300 to the HELOC and $500 to the emergency fund in one month. Gotta love those three paycheck months. And snowflakes.
To the personal finance karma gods: I'll try and do better.
This is IT!
This is our week. We will be debt free but mortgage by the end of the week. I'll be updating the budget this week and writing that check Thursday night. Watch for "the big post"!
Also watch for updates on the last post about my Dad. I have more to say on that!
And I also have a post brewing on my impulse purchase from Friday night. It was a big one!
Oh, and bridal shower related expenses. I'm spending a ton of money on my sister right now with more to come. Ouch! So much to tell you about! Just let me get over this sickness/exhaustion I have going on right now and I'll get right back to you!
Also watch for updates on the last post about my Dad. I have more to say on that!
And I also have a post brewing on my impulse purchase from Friday night. It was a big one!
Oh, and bridal shower related expenses. I'm spending a ton of money on my sister right now with more to come. Ouch! So much to tell you about! Just let me get over this sickness/exhaustion I have going on right now and I'll get right back to you!
Dad's Gift
The story of our travel fund gift...
So, you know I'm a Daddy's girl, right? No? Well, I am. Big time. And my dad loves taking care of his kids even though his youngest is 23 and lives on the other side of the U.S. and his oldest is married with two kids, a stable job, two paid for cars and a nice home. It's so bad that my Dad still even pays for a AAA membership for me. Yeah, that bad.
About three weeks ago Chuck and I mentioned (first mistake - never mention anything you want to buy around my Dad) that we wanted to buy a new portable DVD player. We went to Iowa a couple weekends back to visit Chuck's sister and brother-in-law and their newborn son. Our portable DVD player was working intermittently and we envisioned a long car drive with a 4 and 2 year old and not much entertainment. My dad and his fiancee immediately said they'd like to buy it for us because they never know what to get the kids for birthdays and Christmas. Chuck and I agreed as long as the money spent went towards any future gifts they would purchase. They promised. We'll see.
Anyway, we found a dual screen DVD player on clearance for $80 and snatched one up. My Dad came over with a check for us and I saw that he had cash with his check. I questioned him as to why and he said he wanted to give us a little spending money for when we were in Iowa but he missed us before we left so he wanted to give it to us anyway for us to use on our family vacation this summer. I thanked him (there was no way I was going to be able to turn it down) and gave him a big hug.
After he left that night I counted the money. He had given us $200 in cash and a check for $100. We snowflaked the $20 to the HELOC and the $200 went into our travel fund. I'm very grateful to have such a terrific dad.
So, you know I'm a Daddy's girl, right? No? Well, I am. Big time. And my dad loves taking care of his kids even though his youngest is 23 and lives on the other side of the U.S. and his oldest is married with two kids, a stable job, two paid for cars and a nice home. It's so bad that my Dad still even pays for a AAA membership for me. Yeah, that bad.
About three weeks ago Chuck and I mentioned (first mistake - never mention anything you want to buy around my Dad) that we wanted to buy a new portable DVD player. We went to Iowa a couple weekends back to visit Chuck's sister and brother-in-law and their newborn son. Our portable DVD player was working intermittently and we envisioned a long car drive with a 4 and 2 year old and not much entertainment. My dad and his fiancee immediately said they'd like to buy it for us because they never know what to get the kids for birthdays and Christmas. Chuck and I agreed as long as the money spent went towards any future gifts they would purchase. They promised. We'll see.
Anyway, we found a dual screen DVD player on clearance for $80 and snatched one up. My Dad came over with a check for us and I saw that he had cash with his check. I questioned him as to why and he said he wanted to give us a little spending money for when we were in Iowa but he missed us before we left so he wanted to give it to us anyway for us to use on our family vacation this summer. I thanked him (there was no way I was going to be able to turn it down) and gave him a big hug.
After he left that night I counted the money. He had given us $200 in cash and a check for $100. We snowflaked the $20 to the HELOC and the $200 went into our travel fund. I'm very grateful to have such a terrific dad.
April Month End
Another end of the month has arrived. I like month ends when we've made significant progress. This was certainly one of those months!
Debts:
HELOC: $1,299.82 (-$1,562.56) - Talk about making a difference! We paid more this month than we still owe! $1038 of that was budgeted and the rest was snowflakes. Don't ya just love a good snowstorm!
Savings:
Emergency Fund: $2,033.42 (+4.83) - Just watch this account take off now! I have a few dollars budgeted to put in this fund this month because we won't need every penny from the budget to pay off our HELOC. Isn't that exciting! I get to start on the emergency fund this month!
Short Term Savings: $204.80 (+50.80) - No firm plans yet for this money. Maybe we'll just save it and use it on our vacation in July. Maybe we'll buy those bathroom window blinds. Maybe I'll blow it on shoes. Heh.
Travel Fund: $661.39 (+220.55) - This fund got a bit of a boost this last week thanks to my Dad. I'll tell you about that soon.
Christmas Savings: $331.49 (+0.41) - Poor little Christmas fund. Don't worry. You'll get some attention soon!
Our NCN chart went from 89.7% to 95.32% this month. Um, can you say incredible? That purple slice of buy is so tiny now! I can't wait for it to be gone, gone, gone. I should start a count down to the 15th. That's the day I project I'll be giving that final check to the HELOC. 14 days to go, right!?!
Debts:
HELOC: $1,299.82 (-$1,562.56) - Talk about making a difference! We paid more this month than we still owe! $1038 of that was budgeted and the rest was snowflakes. Don't ya just love a good snowstorm!
Savings:
Emergency Fund: $2,033.42 (+4.83) - Just watch this account take off now! I have a few dollars budgeted to put in this fund this month because we won't need every penny from the budget to pay off our HELOC. Isn't that exciting! I get to start on the emergency fund this month!
Short Term Savings: $204.80 (+50.80) - No firm plans yet for this money. Maybe we'll just save it and use it on our vacation in July. Maybe we'll buy those bathroom window blinds. Maybe I'll blow it on shoes. Heh.
Travel Fund: $661.39 (+220.55) - This fund got a bit of a boost this last week thanks to my Dad. I'll tell you about that soon.
Christmas Savings: $331.49 (+0.41) - Poor little Christmas fund. Don't worry. You'll get some attention soon!
Our NCN chart went from 89.7% to 95.32% this month. Um, can you say incredible? That purple slice of buy is so tiny now! I can't wait for it to be gone, gone, gone. I should start a count down to the 15th. That's the day I project I'll be giving that final check to the HELOC. 14 days to go, right!?!
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