Radio silence for a few days there...because I was busy off having a baby boy! Liam was born on Wednesday and we're home from the hospital now and all doing well. He's perfect, the kids adore him and Chuck and I are figuring out how to parent three children.
I'm hoping to work on the month end reports in the next few days. Hopefully the blog won't be too stagnant for too long.
Want List Item #5 - Purchased!
And now for another tale from the Want List. Thursday afternoon we received our local paper. In there was an ad for Menards (a home improvement store) and as I paged through it I saw they had storm/screen doors on sale. Hmm. Wheels started turning.
Then yesterday morning my mother-in-law called and asked if the kids could come spend the night with her and father-in-law. A free weekend without children? Chuck and I readily accepted their offer! After meeting at lunch time and kissing the children good-bye, we set off to run some errands. I asked if we could stop at Menards to look at the doors and since I get pretty much whatever I want (spoiled, spoiled), we did. We picked out a door we liked and decided to go to Lowe's next to check what they had and prices. Turns out Lowe's only carries one name brand and boy are they expensive! We stopped at home quick to do some online comparisons and then went back to Menards and bought the door we wanted. Because of the sale and buying a lesser known brand, we got our door for $190! I was sure we'd spend at least $250 on a door so I was pleased with the price.
Chuck spent the rest of the day not relaxing without children around but installing the door! It looks terrific and now not only can we have the front door open with the screen door to let some cross-breeze through the house but we can also open the door and get a full glass view of the driveway and front yard. This will come in especially handy if the kids are playing in front and I need to feed or attend to the baby inside this summer. Perfect!
Also great? There's a 30% tax credit for energy efficiency products and storm/screen doors count so you know I'll be keeping that receipt and putting it in the 2010 taxes file for next year!
Unfortunately this means the new TV is now a few more months away from being purchased. I told Chuck we'd build the short term savings back up in hopes of having the new TV before football season starts this fall. A good goal I think!
Then yesterday morning my mother-in-law called and asked if the kids could come spend the night with her and father-in-law. A free weekend without children? Chuck and I readily accepted their offer! After meeting at lunch time and kissing the children good-bye, we set off to run some errands. I asked if we could stop at Menards to look at the doors and since I get pretty much whatever I want (spoiled, spoiled), we did. We picked out a door we liked and decided to go to Lowe's next to check what they had and prices. Turns out Lowe's only carries one name brand and boy are they expensive! We stopped at home quick to do some online comparisons and then went back to Menards and bought the door we wanted. Because of the sale and buying a lesser known brand, we got our door for $190! I was sure we'd spend at least $250 on a door so I was pleased with the price.
Chuck spent the rest of the day not relaxing without children around but installing the door! It looks terrific and now not only can we have the front door open with the screen door to let some cross-breeze through the house but we can also open the door and get a full glass view of the driveway and front yard. This will come in especially handy if the kids are playing in front and I need to feed or attend to the baby inside this summer. Perfect!
Also great? There's a 30% tax credit for energy efficiency products and storm/screen doors count so you know I'll be keeping that receipt and putting it in the 2010 taxes file for next year!
Unfortunately this means the new TV is now a few more months away from being purchased. I told Chuck we'd build the short term savings back up in hopes of having the new TV before football season starts this fall. A good goal I think!
401k Q1 Statement
Yesterday I received my 401k 1st quarter statement in the mail. I also received a notice of my account re-balance that happened on the 15th of April. I have my account automatically re-balance every three months so it always happens just after the end of each quarter. I first opened my Q1 statement and saw that my balance had grown to $113k! That's a 5.44% increase in Q1! I think that's pretty healthy for this economy. Remember my last update in January where my balance was around $106k. I was pretty stoked with that balance. Keep going little 401k!
Then I opened the re-balancing statement. Just 15 days later (from 3/31 to 4/15) my balance went up to $117k! Another $4k increase! That is so cool! And in my January post I gave myself a "goal" of reaching $150k by the end of the year. I'll keep contributing myself and I'll have to hope the economy and my allocations get me the rest of the way there. So far, this year I've gained $11k (from $106k to $117k). In the first quarter I gained $7k (from $106k to $113k). If I gain $7k in each of the next three quarters I'll gain another $21k. Add that to $113k and I'd be at $135k. That's close to $150k but not quite there. Let's hope the economy picks up even a little bit more so I can reach that $150k goal!
Then I opened the re-balancing statement. Just 15 days later (from 3/31 to 4/15) my balance went up to $117k! Another $4k increase! That is so cool! And in my January post I gave myself a "goal" of reaching $150k by the end of the year. I'll keep contributing myself and I'll have to hope the economy and my allocations get me the rest of the way there. So far, this year I've gained $11k (from $106k to $117k). In the first quarter I gained $7k (from $106k to $113k). If I gain $7k in each of the next three quarters I'll gain another $21k. Add that to $113k and I'd be at $135k. That's close to $150k but not quite there. Let's hope the economy picks up even a little bit more so I can reach that $150k goal!
Piano for Practice
If we do enroll Anya in piano lessons this fall when she starts kindergarten, then we should probably have something at home for her to practice on. My aunt and uncle have a piano at their house that they’ve offered to us many times. We could have it for free but would have to figure out how to move it to our house (about 9 miles away) and we’d have to get it tuned. Their children are grown and they have no need for the piano any longer. While that is a great long term option, I don’t want to go through all that expense in case none of our (soon to be) three children end up playing piano for any length of time. I’ve been thinking we should get a basic electronic keyboard like this one as an interim solution. Anya would have something to use for practice and it’s not something that will break our bank. If she takes to the lessons and enjoys it, then we can move the piano to our house and get it tuned. Since her birthday is in early September, maybe a keyboard would be a good birthday gift for her? I’ll keep it in the back of my mind for later this summer.
Health Assessment
My company has invited all its U.S. employees currently enrolled in their health insurance plans to take a “Health Assessment” survey. The survey is being conducted by a third party and only the results of the survey, not individual information, will be relayed back to the company. The information they are seeking is: blood pressure (systolic and diastolic), HDL (good) and total cholesterol, height, weight and waist circumference. All of this information needs to come from your doctor. The due date is May 31st to complete the health assessment. And what do you get in return? A $250 refund on health insurance contributions for this year.
There have been lots of questions by fellow employees as to what the company is going to do with this information, if your personal information is really safe, etc. Personally I’ve elected not to participate but that’s due to pregnancy – my results would be skewed, especially the weight and waist circumference measurements. If this was an option at your company, would you participate?
There have been lots of questions by fellow employees as to what the company is going to do with this information, if your personal information is really safe, etc. Personally I’ve elected not to participate but that’s due to pregnancy – my results would be skewed, especially the weight and waist circumference measurements. If this was an option at your company, would you participate?
More Restaurant Charges
Remember how I reported last week that our restaurant budget was blown for the month? Well, this weekend it got blown a little more. Chuck was out of town last weekend with the team he coaches and he had to buy his own meals on the trip. We weren't sure at the beginning of the month if he would be going, leaning towards not, so I didn't budget extra for the trip. He did end up going when it was clear that the likelihood of me going into labor over the weekend was slim to none. I haven't tallied up the exact dollars yet (that is a task for me to do this evening) but from his estimations he spent about $30 total. My frugal husband has come through again! That was for 4 meals including two beers at the after-game party Saturday night. Now we just have to make sure there are no other restaurant charges the rest of this month and reduce our spending in other categories to make up for our overage in this one. I think we can do that. Tonight I'll take a closer look at the budget to see how we're doing.
Generous Dad Redux
My dad came over for a quick visit today. His fiance was working so he decided to capitalize on this gorgeous spring day we had today by going for a motorcycle ride. He wanted to stop by and see the kids and bring them each an M&M treat like he usually does. The kids were excited to see his motorcycle at our house when we got home from church this morning. I was happy to see him too. Of course he was also there to check on me, just a little over a week away from my due date.
And while he was here with us, talking and playing with the kids, and chatting with Chuck and myself he handed me a gift card to Target. I thanked him, told him he does too much and thanked him again. He of course blew me off saying he in no way does too much. Did I tell you about the box of diapers and huge bag of baby wipes his fiance bought us a few weeks ago? They are both so thoughtful. Pretty soon my Dad left to go ride for a while before heading home. I am so lucky to have such a great dad.
And the gift card? Was for $100. Holy smokes! How generous! I only know because I went to Target this afternoon and spent $78 of it. Yikes! What did I buy? 4 frozen lunches for this week for me to take to work, a gallon of milk, a present for Jamison (each child is receiving a little present from their new sibling and Jamison is getting "The Land Before Time" DVD), two 2-Liters of pop, sunglasses for me (I have one very old and scratched up pair) and some inexpensive baby clothes. While we have all the boy baby clothes we could need, not all of them are the correct season. Jamison was born in February so his 0-3 month clothing is all long sleeved and fleece. This baby will be born at the end of April when the weather is nice. I don't think the fleece is going to be appropriate. So, I picked up a few warm weather outfits for him. My favorite? The onesie that says "Future Rocket Scientist" on it since well, I'm an engineer and could technically be called a rocket scientist. Hee. I actually bought that one in two sizes. I love it!
It felt great to splurge a little bit without having to worry about going over budget.
Once again my dad spoiled me and my family. I am so lucky to have him.
And while he was here with us, talking and playing with the kids, and chatting with Chuck and myself he handed me a gift card to Target. I thanked him, told him he does too much and thanked him again. He of course blew me off saying he in no way does too much. Did I tell you about the box of diapers and huge bag of baby wipes his fiance bought us a few weeks ago? They are both so thoughtful. Pretty soon my Dad left to go ride for a while before heading home. I am so lucky to have such a great dad.
And the gift card? Was for $100. Holy smokes! How generous! I only know because I went to Target this afternoon and spent $78 of it. Yikes! What did I buy? 4 frozen lunches for this week for me to take to work, a gallon of milk, a present for Jamison (each child is receiving a little present from their new sibling and Jamison is getting "The Land Before Time" DVD), two 2-Liters of pop, sunglasses for me (I have one very old and scratched up pair) and some inexpensive baby clothes. While we have all the boy baby clothes we could need, not all of them are the correct season. Jamison was born in February so his 0-3 month clothing is all long sleeved and fleece. This baby will be born at the end of April when the weather is nice. I don't think the fleece is going to be appropriate. So, I picked up a few warm weather outfits for him. My favorite? The onesie that says "Future Rocket Scientist" on it since well, I'm an engineer and could technically be called a rocket scientist. Hee. I actually bought that one in two sizes. I love it!
It felt great to splurge a little bit without having to worry about going over budget.
Once again my dad spoiled me and my family. I am so lucky to have him.
Fall Activities and Priorities
More on children's activities…
There is a follow on six week soccer session in August – September that we might sign Anya up for. The first six weeks is intro to soccer while the second session is basic game play with some scrimmages and games. We don’t have to sign up for the second session until July so we’re going to see how she likes the first session in June and July and then make a decision on whether to sign her up for more or not. The second session also runs around $45 and shouldn’t be too big a bite in our monthly budget in July.
Then there are this fall’s activities. Anya really wants to take a dance class. She's old enough that this fall she will no longer be able to the preschool classes. She'll have to take the class that lasts the whole school year with the recital at the end and the overpriced costume. Ugh. But, I do think she'd enjoy it. I think this will be roughly $50/month in fees. That's...a lot of money each month for us but we won't have to spend money on her preschool tuition either as she'll be in public school kindergarten. I'm sure we can make it work in the budget.
Anya also has expressed interest in learning how to play the piano. We have a neighbor across the street from us that is a music teacher in a school and she also directs the youth choirs at our church. I'm going to ask her if six (Anya will be six in September) is a good age to start lessons and if she'd be willing to teach Anya and of course, how much it would cost. More money each month going out but somehow I don't feel as badly about spending money on my children as I do spending money on myself. I'm still wearing black dress shoes to work that have a whole in the bottom and the leather is disintegrating between the upper and the sole so each time it rains my sock gets wet. So professional looking, I know, and yet I'm having a really hard time replacing them! Anyone else have the same problem?
There is a follow on six week soccer session in August – September that we might sign Anya up for. The first six weeks is intro to soccer while the second session is basic game play with some scrimmages and games. We don’t have to sign up for the second session until July so we’re going to see how she likes the first session in June and July and then make a decision on whether to sign her up for more or not. The second session also runs around $45 and shouldn’t be too big a bite in our monthly budget in July.
Then there are this fall’s activities. Anya really wants to take a dance class. She's old enough that this fall she will no longer be able to the preschool classes. She'll have to take the class that lasts the whole school year with the recital at the end and the overpriced costume. Ugh. But, I do think she'd enjoy it. I think this will be roughly $50/month in fees. That's...a lot of money each month for us but we won't have to spend money on her preschool tuition either as she'll be in public school kindergarten. I'm sure we can make it work in the budget.
Anya also has expressed interest in learning how to play the piano. We have a neighbor across the street from us that is a music teacher in a school and she also directs the youth choirs at our church. I'm going to ask her if six (Anya will be six in September) is a good age to start lessons and if she'd be willing to teach Anya and of course, how much it would cost. More money each month going out but somehow I don't feel as badly about spending money on my children as I do spending money on myself. I'm still wearing black dress shoes to work that have a whole in the bottom and the leather is disintegrating between the upper and the sole so each time it rains my sock gets wet. So professional looking, I know, and yet I'm having a really hard time replacing them! Anyone else have the same problem?
April Budget Extras
I’ve alluded to the April budget having some expensive, one-time line items in it. You’ll see the full budget in a couple weeks when I do the April Budget report but there are two areas where we’re spending significant money this month.
The first is medical bills. Typically we have $0 medical bills or maybe a $25 co-pay if have a well child visit scheduled or something like that. This month though I have bills to pay for my gestational diabetes counseling and follow up appointments. I believe the total is somewhere around $260. Ouch! We have $3000 in an HSA that we could use for these bills. However, that money is earmarked for the birth hospital bills. If there is money left over then I’ll submit these bills for reimbursement and put that money in the emergency fund. For this month, we’ll absorb them into our budget (thanks to Chuck’s tutoring income).
The second is summer activities fees for the kids. Anya has expressed interest in playing soccer this summer. Since we pulled her out of gymnastics in December she hasn’t been involved in any organized activities. Our community education department has a six week long session on basic soccer for kids aged 4-5. It was a $45 registration fee. We signed her up at the beginning of April and she starts in the middle of June. She’s very excited. The other summer activity is swimming lessons. It’s important to me that my kids know how to swim. I signed them each up for lessons this summer. The sessions are eight weeks in length and were $58 each. $116 just on swimming lessons! I signed them up in early April for these too and they also start in June. So we’re spending over $150 on summer activities fees this month. Once again, these are being paid with Chuck’s tutoring income. I’m glad we didn’t have to make any hard decisions about what to fund and what not to fund.
The first is medical bills. Typically we have $0 medical bills or maybe a $25 co-pay if have a well child visit scheduled or something like that. This month though I have bills to pay for my gestational diabetes counseling and follow up appointments. I believe the total is somewhere around $260. Ouch! We have $3000 in an HSA that we could use for these bills. However, that money is earmarked for the birth hospital bills. If there is money left over then I’ll submit these bills for reimbursement and put that money in the emergency fund. For this month, we’ll absorb them into our budget (thanks to Chuck’s tutoring income).
The second is summer activities fees for the kids. Anya has expressed interest in playing soccer this summer. Since we pulled her out of gymnastics in December she hasn’t been involved in any organized activities. Our community education department has a six week long session on basic soccer for kids aged 4-5. It was a $45 registration fee. We signed her up at the beginning of April and she starts in the middle of June. She’s very excited. The other summer activity is swimming lessons. It’s important to me that my kids know how to swim. I signed them each up for lessons this summer. The sessions are eight weeks in length and were $58 each. $116 just on swimming lessons! I signed them up in early April for these too and they also start in June. So we’re spending over $150 on summer activities fees this month. Once again, these are being paid with Chuck’s tutoring income. I’m glad we didn’t have to make any hard decisions about what to fund and what not to fund.
Restaurant Budget Blown
I know I've been missing around here for the last week or so. No good reason. I'm 38 weeks pregnant tomorrow and in the evenings I don't want to blog. I want to sit on the couch and not think or move because I'm tired and sore and whaaaa, woe is me. Heh.
Anyway, I think we've officially blown our restaurant budget for this month. I haven't tallied up the numbers yet but we're close if not over. And we're only approaching the middle of the month! I'm not going to feel badly about it at all though. Not one ounce of it.
First, on Saturday it was my mother's birthday and I took her and my sister and the kids out for lunch to celebrate. That was my gift to her. After lunch we strolled around my hometown, checking out the local shops and going to the city park. It was a great day and lunch was very reasonable (3 adults, 2 children and only $25).
Then, Chuck's grandfather had a stroke Saturday evening and we spent the entire day yesterday down in Rochester (about 1.5 hours from our house in the Twin Cities metro area) being with him and the extended family. We ate out lunch and dinner since we were so far from home which greatly excited the kids. They love eating out - chocolate milk for everyone!. But with the inexpensive lunch at McDonald's on the way down there after church ($13) and the dinner out with the extended family at TGIFriday's (I think around $45 but Chuck paid the bill so I'm not sure how much he added for tip.) we're in the $83 dollar range for this budget category. Our budget? $75. So, not over by much but we are over. Oh well. Sometimes life throws you curve balls. At least Chuck's grandfather is doing well (his mind is there, his body will need some therapy to recover) and it was a nice day spent with family we don't see very often. Please, if you're so inclined, say a prayer for Chuck's grandfather, that he is able to recover and enjoy what time he has left (he's in his late eighties if I remember correctly).
As for the rest of the month, I do believe we'll be eating at home! And if I have this baby soon I don't think that will be a problem. We won't want to be straying too far from home anyway.
Anyway, I think we've officially blown our restaurant budget for this month. I haven't tallied up the numbers yet but we're close if not over. And we're only approaching the middle of the month! I'm not going to feel badly about it at all though. Not one ounce of it.
First, on Saturday it was my mother's birthday and I took her and my sister and the kids out for lunch to celebrate. That was my gift to her. After lunch we strolled around my hometown, checking out the local shops and going to the city park. It was a great day and lunch was very reasonable (3 adults, 2 children and only $25).
Then, Chuck's grandfather had a stroke Saturday evening and we spent the entire day yesterday down in Rochester (about 1.5 hours from our house in the Twin Cities metro area) being with him and the extended family. We ate out lunch and dinner since we were so far from home which greatly excited the kids. They love eating out - chocolate milk for everyone!. But with the inexpensive lunch at McDonald's on the way down there after church ($13) and the dinner out with the extended family at TGIFriday's (I think around $45 but Chuck paid the bill so I'm not sure how much he added for tip.) we're in the $83 dollar range for this budget category. Our budget? $75. So, not over by much but we are over. Oh well. Sometimes life throws you curve balls. At least Chuck's grandfather is doing well (his mind is there, his body will need some therapy to recover) and it was a nice day spent with family we don't see very often. Please, if you're so inclined, say a prayer for Chuck's grandfather, that he is able to recover and enjoy what time he has left (he's in his late eighties if I remember correctly).
As for the rest of the month, I do believe we'll be eating at home! And if I have this baby soon I don't think that will be a problem. We won't want to be straying too far from home anyway.
Kids' Savings Accounts
Jolie asked on my budget post if the 529 accounts for the kids are educational savings accounts. I answered her in the comments that yes, they are. And then I realized that I don't talk much about the kids' savings accounts. You see the line items in the budget every month but I don't report on how much we have saved for them or what the goals are for them or anything.
Each child has a savings account which is a subaccount at INGDirect. Each month I deposit a dollar for each year of age they are so Anya gets $5 and Jamison gets $3 each month. I used to transfer more but that was one area of the budget that was reduced when Chuck was laid off. Any money they get for their birthday or Christmas is transferred to these accounts too. Right now Anya has $508.63 and Jamison has $416.77. We don't have a set goal for these accounts. We could decide in the future to use them for educational expenses, a first car for them or something else entirely. I like having a bit of money set aside for them though. I had a large amount in a savings account when I graduated from high school and I used it for college expenses which reduced the amount of money I had to borrow in student loans. For now we'll add a bit to the accounts and decide later what the money will be used for. And if all else fails, this could be tacked on to the emergency fund if that was depleted. Really though this money if off limits and we'd have to be in some pretty dire straits to think about touching it.
We also have 529 accounts for each child. These are the educational savings accounts that have tax advantages set up by the government. Each month we deposit $25 into each child's account. I wish we could save more for them but right now we just can't. Anya currently has $1319.53 in her account and Jamison has $1011.61 in his. It will be a while (13 years!) before Anya has to use hers for any college or trade school expenses after high school so we have time yet to grow this account. Upping the contributions is on my list of things to do along with save more for retirement for Chuck. Until we can though, we'll grow them slowly with a small contribution each month.
Each child has a savings account which is a subaccount at INGDirect. Each month I deposit a dollar for each year of age they are so Anya gets $5 and Jamison gets $3 each month. I used to transfer more but that was one area of the budget that was reduced when Chuck was laid off. Any money they get for their birthday or Christmas is transferred to these accounts too. Right now Anya has $508.63 and Jamison has $416.77. We don't have a set goal for these accounts. We could decide in the future to use them for educational expenses, a first car for them or something else entirely. I like having a bit of money set aside for them though. I had a large amount in a savings account when I graduated from high school and I used it for college expenses which reduced the amount of money I had to borrow in student loans. For now we'll add a bit to the accounts and decide later what the money will be used for. And if all else fails, this could be tacked on to the emergency fund if that was depleted. Really though this money if off limits and we'd have to be in some pretty dire straits to think about touching it.
We also have 529 accounts for each child. These are the educational savings accounts that have tax advantages set up by the government. Each month we deposit $25 into each child's account. I wish we could save more for them but right now we just can't. Anya currently has $1319.53 in her account and Jamison has $1011.61 in his. It will be a while (13 years!) before Anya has to use hers for any college or trade school expenses after high school so we have time yet to grow this account. Upping the contributions is on my list of things to do along with save more for retirement for Chuck. Until we can though, we'll grow them slowly with a small contribution each month.
April LIBOR Update
The LIBOR rate as of this week is 0.95000. It's up slightly from last month's rate of 0.85063 but I'm still pleased with how low it is. If it stayed here + 2.25% would be 3.2 and rounded to the nearest 1/8 would be 3.25%. That would be a very nice interest rate to have for a year! Three more months to keep an eye on this before our new rate is officially reset in the middle of July.
2010 Goals Review - March Edition
Time to take a look at our 2010 goals and how we did against them in February. Here they are:
- Keep emergency fund above $6000. Our emergency fund is now over $7800! So far, so good!
- Stay under budget each month this year. Shoot! Our first miss! We were $105 over this month. Must. Do. Better.
- Save all Chuck's unemployment benefits for tuition money. Done! Check! We've saved all unemployment benefits but have used some of his tuition in our budget and not saved all of that.
- Always have at least $250 in short term savings. Yep. Still do.
- Save at least $100 each month into our emergency fund. Done. We saved over $200 this year from our budget plus snowflakes.
- All extra money (snowflakes) goes to the emergency fund. Done! Our $342 snowflake this month went straight to the emergency fund.
- Money going to other savings accounts must be done only after the $100 goes into the emergency fund each month. Done! $25 went to Christmas savings after our emergency fund had it's contribution.
- Post at least 15 times here. Once again I posted 15 times.
Temptation
"Anonymous" left an interesting question on my March Month End post.
Hmmm. The answer? Nope. Actually until the question was asked I'd never even considered it. Yes, it's going to be a really long time before we're able to travel or finish the basement. But I've never thought about taking that money and using it for other things. Ideas are being put in my head!!
Honestly? I want to leave the travel budget alone. Even though we won't be going on a far away or big vacation this year I would like to bring the kids to a local waterpark hotel this summer or this year some time to stay overnight or two and play and that cost would come from the travel budget. And Chuck and I still really want to take a kid-free vacation in 2012 to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. If I "steal" the money out of the travel budget to pay for other wants, those things will be less likely to happen. In fact, I should be putting money into the account if that 2012 trip is going to happen! 2012 will be here before we know it!
Now, about the basement fund. This one is so far off from happening (years at this point) that sure, we could use the basement fund to buy the storm door ($250 based on recent price shopping for the style that I want) since it is a home improvement and really, that's what the account is there for...but the storm door is want. We've lived in this house for five years this summer without the storm door so we don't "need" one that badly. We can wait. It's good for us! Ha. Anyway, if I leave the money there and don't spend it elsewhere then it's also just another little cushion should the bottom drop out and I lose my job or the emergency fund gets trashed due to some other unforeseen circumstance.
Good question though! I guess I'll keep it in the back of my mind but I won't act on it now.
Do you get tempted often to just put your basement fund or travel fund into short-term savings (for example) to do the storm door or buy the TV sooner?
Hmmm. The answer? Nope. Actually until the question was asked I'd never even considered it. Yes, it's going to be a really long time before we're able to travel or finish the basement. But I've never thought about taking that money and using it for other things. Ideas are being put in my head!!
Honestly? I want to leave the travel budget alone. Even though we won't be going on a far away or big vacation this year I would like to bring the kids to a local waterpark hotel this summer or this year some time to stay overnight or two and play and that cost would come from the travel budget. And Chuck and I still really want to take a kid-free vacation in 2012 to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. If I "steal" the money out of the travel budget to pay for other wants, those things will be less likely to happen. In fact, I should be putting money into the account if that 2012 trip is going to happen! 2012 will be here before we know it!
Now, about the basement fund. This one is so far off from happening (years at this point) that sure, we could use the basement fund to buy the storm door ($250 based on recent price shopping for the style that I want) since it is a home improvement and really, that's what the account is there for...but the storm door is want. We've lived in this house for five years this summer without the storm door so we don't "need" one that badly. We can wait. It's good for us! Ha. Anyway, if I leave the money there and don't spend it elsewhere then it's also just another little cushion should the bottom drop out and I lose my job or the emergency fund gets trashed due to some other unforeseen circumstance.
Good question though! I guess I'll keep it in the back of my mind but I won't act on it now.
March 2010 Budget Report
Here is our budget from March:
Ouch!!! We are over $100 in the hole this month. Our first time going red since we've been on our reduced budget (meaning since December). Why did we do so poorly this month? Let's review some of the numbers:
Auto Insurance was green this month. Our policies renewed this month and they adjusted our amounts. I'm going to make a call about the car insurance. I'm not sure why it would have gone up. We haven't had any accidents or tickets (ever - both our records are 100% clean of tickets!) and we pay more for car insurance now on the 10 year old car than we do on the 6 month old truck!
Gas is over by $0.99. I'm not going to worry about that. Our budget for April is $225 to account for Chuck's work and coaching daily trips.
Groceries is over by $22. What can I say? We were simply over budget. And it's not like we purchase a lot of junk food. It just takes money to feed a family of four. We eat a lot of pasta and other low cost meals and we buy the fruit that's on sale that week (a lot of oranges lately) and frozen vegetables when they're on sale usually too. We'll keep an eye on this for April. We've stayed under the $375 budget the last three months so hopefully we can keep it under that again. If I see this number creeping up though I'll adjust the budget up. Maybe it's just a bit on the too tight side.
Household is over by $38. This is one area where we do typically go over budget. Part of this budget was some of the baby supplies we purchased. Nothing in this budget was really a splurge so we'll just have to keep a better eye on this budget.
Discretionary was also over by $57. Again, there was no splurging. Some of this was baby supplies. $66 was for Turbo Tax. $65 was for an oil change and tire rotation. $30 was for my sister's birthday gift. Almost $70 was in prescriptions for my gestational diabetes. It just all adds up. OK, there was one splurge - $1.07 for a Redbox movie and $36.95 on garden seeds! Again, I'll keep a better eye on this budget this month so we don't go over.
And there you have it. A rough, expensive month. There are a lot of expenses coming up in April too but hopefully I've accounted for them all - or at least all that I know of right now! Anything else will have to be carefully managed in the budget. I'm already taking money out of savings to pay our tax bill. I don't want to have to take out more because we can't stick to our budget!
Ouch!!! We are over $100 in the hole this month. Our first time going red since we've been on our reduced budget (meaning since December). Why did we do so poorly this month? Let's review some of the numbers:
Auto Insurance was green this month. Our policies renewed this month and they adjusted our amounts. I'm going to make a call about the car insurance. I'm not sure why it would have gone up. We haven't had any accidents or tickets (ever - both our records are 100% clean of tickets!) and we pay more for car insurance now on the 10 year old car than we do on the 6 month old truck!
Gas is over by $0.99. I'm not going to worry about that. Our budget for April is $225 to account for Chuck's work and coaching daily trips.
Groceries is over by $22. What can I say? We were simply over budget. And it's not like we purchase a lot of junk food. It just takes money to feed a family of four. We eat a lot of pasta and other low cost meals and we buy the fruit that's on sale that week (a lot of oranges lately) and frozen vegetables when they're on sale usually too. We'll keep an eye on this for April. We've stayed under the $375 budget the last three months so hopefully we can keep it under that again. If I see this number creeping up though I'll adjust the budget up. Maybe it's just a bit on the too tight side.
Household is over by $38. This is one area where we do typically go over budget. Part of this budget was some of the baby supplies we purchased. Nothing in this budget was really a splurge so we'll just have to keep a better eye on this budget.
Discretionary was also over by $57. Again, there was no splurging. Some of this was baby supplies. $66 was for Turbo Tax. $65 was for an oil change and tire rotation. $30 was for my sister's birthday gift. Almost $70 was in prescriptions for my gestational diabetes. It just all adds up. OK, there was one splurge - $1.07 for a Redbox movie and $36.95 on garden seeds! Again, I'll keep a better eye on this budget this month so we don't go over.
And there you have it. A rough, expensive month. There are a lot of expenses coming up in April too but hopefully I've accounted for them all - or at least all that I know of right now! Anything else will have to be carefully managed in the budget. I'm already taking money out of savings to pay our tax bill. I don't want to have to take out more because we can't stick to our budget!
March 2010 Month End
Well, I'm glad this month is over. March turned out to be a pretty expensive month for us. You'll see that in the upcoming budget report. April is also going to be expensive but at least this month I feel a bit more planned about the whole thing. Anyway, here is how we stand at the end of March:
Debts:
Truck Loan: $29,043.30 (-$440.05) - Same old, same old. Regular payment made. Onward and downward on the regular payment schedule for this 0% interest loan.
Savings:
Emergency Fund: $7,850.53 (+561.87) - Three months in a row with big contributions to the emergency fund. I can't ask for more than that. Most of this month's increase was due to the medical payment reimbursement. Unfortunately I'll be taking some money out of this account in April to pay our taxes. I'll keep doing what I can to build it up.
Short Term Savings: $733.95 (+50.02) - Getting closer to that new TV! Of course now I want to re-prioritize the list so I can get a screen/storm door for the front door of our house before the TV. Spring is here and it would be nice to have the front door open to get some cross-breeze through the house without having to let bugs in too!
Travel Fund: $275.04 (+0.26) - Sad little neglected account. Someday you will be used again!
Christmas Savings: $283.81 (+25.25) - A small increase for this month. I won't be able to put anything in here in April and then I'll be out on maternity leave and our budget will get very strict to limit how much money we need to use from our emergency fund to cover the unpaid portion of my leave so I'm afraid this account won't see any more deposits until I'm back to work and receiving regular paychecks again. That will be July/August. At that time I'll have to add $50-$100 a month in order to meet our goal for this year.
Basement Finishing Fund: $402.85 (+0.37) - Someone asked me this week if we'd started on our basement yet. *sigh* No, we haven't. And it will be a while before we do. One day I'll be able to put some money in this account. It just won't be this year most likely.
Tuition Fund: $3,778.03 (+1084.95) - So far so good! This is a nice chunk of money to have set aside for school. Another $263 is in the transfer process right now which will bring this account to over $4K! A year from now hopefully it will even be double that so we have a big amount set aside when Chuck starts school.
Our savings accounts grew at a healthy rate this month. I love all the + signs! There will be a couple months of - signs coming up and then later this summer they should all go to the + signs again. We'll keep our goals in front of us so we can grow and grow these accounts.
Debts:
Truck Loan: $29,043.30 (-$440.05) - Same old, same old. Regular payment made. Onward and downward on the regular payment schedule for this 0% interest loan.
Savings:
Emergency Fund: $7,850.53 (+561.87) - Three months in a row with big contributions to the emergency fund. I can't ask for more than that. Most of this month's increase was due to the medical payment reimbursement. Unfortunately I'll be taking some money out of this account in April to pay our taxes. I'll keep doing what I can to build it up.
Short Term Savings: $733.95 (+50.02) - Getting closer to that new TV! Of course now I want to re-prioritize the list so I can get a screen/storm door for the front door of our house before the TV. Spring is here and it would be nice to have the front door open to get some cross-breeze through the house without having to let bugs in too!
Travel Fund: $275.04 (+0.26) - Sad little neglected account. Someday you will be used again!
Christmas Savings: $283.81 (+25.25) - A small increase for this month. I won't be able to put anything in here in April and then I'll be out on maternity leave and our budget will get very strict to limit how much money we need to use from our emergency fund to cover the unpaid portion of my leave so I'm afraid this account won't see any more deposits until I'm back to work and receiving regular paychecks again. That will be July/August. At that time I'll have to add $50-$100 a month in order to meet our goal for this year.
Basement Finishing Fund: $402.85 (+0.37) - Someone asked me this week if we'd started on our basement yet. *sigh* No, we haven't. And it will be a while before we do. One day I'll be able to put some money in this account. It just won't be this year most likely.
Tuition Fund: $3,778.03 (+1084.95) - So far so good! This is a nice chunk of money to have set aside for school. Another $263 is in the transfer process right now which will bring this account to over $4K! A year from now hopefully it will even be double that so we have a big amount set aside when Chuck starts school.
Our savings accounts grew at a healthy rate this month. I love all the + signs! There will be a couple months of - signs coming up and then later this summer they should all go to the + signs again. We'll keep our goals in front of us so we can grow and grow these accounts.
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