Wow, can you believe it's the last day of January?? Today it was so warm here, it felt like spring! I really enjoyed playing outside with my boys, making a snowman and having snowball fights. It was awesome! I wish it would stay like this for the rest of winter...Wouldn't that be nice!
I thought today I would update on our savings goals for this year (you can see most of them on the side of this blog). January was not an easy month for us financially when it comes to our regular income. But I mentioned before that it wasn't a bad month for us overall. And that's because even though our paychecks were cut, Hubby still got a Christmas bonus and a last quarter bonus. And I received a 2-month paycheck for my part-time job and a couple of tiny checks for some secret shopping assignments. Combined, it was quite a substantial amount. Hubby's regular paycheck only covers day-to-day expenses, so all this extra income is the only way for us to set money aside for anything else. So after tithing we split all the extra income, and that's where we are after January:
1.Vacation fund- $502. Our original goal was $1200 for a 3-2 day trip to Las Vegas for two of us and a family trip to Bear Lake. But we actually hope to keep it lower. Our friends who live in the suburbs of Vegas offered to let us stay with them, and we think we will take them up on it. But we would love to take them out to thank them, and they have 3 kids, so it will not be cheap. Still cheaper than two nights in a hotel :)
2. Baby fund- $1450. This is almost a priority for us right now, and that is where the biggest chunk of money went. We just want to have this money ready for when we need it whenever this time will be. It's taking us a little longer to get pregnant this time around but we have a good feeling about it. It will happen when it should happen!
3.Christmas fund- $80. It's not much but it's only the end of January. I feel pretty comfortable that we'll have enough saved before the end of summer.
4. Car fund- $200. And we really need to boost it! We got a flat tire the other day on our car, and the rest of the tires are so old that we need new tires :( At the moment we are down to one car but it's OK. I hate driving in winter. But we will still need to figure it out very soon. I might have to put my salary for January to car fund to cover the difference.
We also set aside $200 to work on our half bath. I'm excited to start on this project in February. More pictures are coming, I promise!!
So here is where we are. I think, it was an awesome month for our savings goals. We shouldn't have much progress in the next two months because, first, Hubby only gets a bonus quarterly, and second, we don't know if we will end up owing taxes this year. But we are hopeful that we can break even.
Do you have any financial goals this year and did you make any progress on them in January?
Lena,
ReplyDeleteI love your posts! And, yes, I JUST made progress today when I paid off ONE of my student loans!! I've been sending $43 a month to The Univ. of Tulsa for the last 9 years. But, I had the good fortune to pay the loan off early (today)! We also got to pay off 2 credit cards and I'm hoping that this year we'll have ALL credit card debt paid off. I think we are reading each other's minds, as your posts literally reflect what is going on in my head. I'm about to create a debt chart, and I sat down and opened your blog first. Crazy!
P.S. Thanks for the kind words on my dining area reveal.
This is awesome!! I'm so happy for you. We don't have any debt (other than mortgage) at the moment, and I'm really trying hard to keep it this way :) And great minds think alike, right? :) I think debt chart is an awesome idea. I like charts and lists for everything, and I think when you visualize it, it's easier to reach your goals.
DeleteYou & hubby are such good planners & savers, Lena. Good job on your savings.
ReplyDeleteThank you Cindy!
DeleteGreat month for you!! Congrats I am doing the 52 week challenge with Cindy, so far so good. Not sure what the total will be yet for the low/no spend right now we are at $300.00 hope to bump that up today!
ReplyDeleteYou are doing awesome! I love the 52 week challenge, I would love to do it next year. This year it's a little too steep for us, especially on those weeks when you need to save $50+ :)
DeleteI'm glad you got out to enjoy the snow. Snowmen and snowballs, what fun!
ReplyDeleteOh, that was such a beautiful day!! That's the kind of winter I like :)
DeleteI feel you on the car fund! We are hoping to add to our during tax season. My husband really needs a different car. I think you are doing well on your goals so far :)
ReplyDeleteWe will need to start saving for a new car soon too. Our small car already has 120000 miles on it, and with my husband's job it increases every day :( I hope you get a nice refund this year!
Deletewe need to do some serious saving. My youngest will start college in the fall and tuition/room/board will be about $45000! Holy crap, its an awesome school, but that's a LOT! She is super smart and they have offered her a generous scholarship, but still...its going to be interesting :o
ReplyDeleteYikes, that's a lot of money!! Did you look into grants too? My husband got quite a bit of money in grants that really helped us to outweigh tuition expenses when he was in school. Does she have a job?
Deletenope, she doesn't have a job. She will have to get a job at school. One nice thing about the school she is looking at: any student who wants a job gets one on campus. My son went there too, he worked as a tutor his freshman year and sophomore years, (studied in Norway his junior year )and as a senior was a tech support computer nerd.
DeleteAs soon as we get our taxes filed, we can fill out the financial aid form.
That's great that she can find a job on a campus. It's always nice! I have a few friends who did it too.
DeleteHi Lena, you are doing great!
ReplyDeleteWe have several financial goals- to increase our savings, to pay off our house quicker and to save specifically for Christmas. We are only a month into it but so far, we are making good progress.
I'm excited for you! It pays off to start early, don't you think?
DeleteWow you really are doing great. Babies come in Gods time not ours unfortunatly. I remember getting pregnant with Tarra when I had totally given up the the week before and then boom...
ReplyDeleteI will be praying. Babies are always a blessing :)
Thank you Judy! My first one was an oops baby (5 weeks after we got married), with the second one it took us a month to get pregnant but this time around it takes a little longer. I will be perfectly fine with two boys if it's the way it's supposed to be but I feel there is going to be another little one joining our family. We'll see :)
DeleteYou're doing great so early into the year, Lena!! I had a great month with savings, truly blessed!! God is good! Our savings will be dropping from here on in, but i'm going to do what I can count my blessings every single day! :)
ReplyDeleteOur savings will be slowing down from now on too, especially if we end up owning taxes this year :( But I agree with you, we are very blessed with what we have!
DeleteWhat a great start to 2013 you had! :)
ReplyDeleteI think you have great goals and you are doing awesome. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteThank you, my friend!
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