Tuesday, April 16, 2013

A few updates about our financial monthly and yearly goals.

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 I started working on this post yesterday but never got to finish it. My thoughts are with the people in Boston - the innocent victims of hate. This tragedy seems so senseless, and my heart aches for all of them. But I'm so grateful for all the volunteers who were brave and willing to help without hesitation. These amazing men and women were ready to help others even in the face of danger. May God bless and comfort all the victims and their families!


Whoever stole our spring, give it back!!! It's been so cold and dark in the last few days. We got hit by another winter storm, and it's been snowing a lot in the last two days. I feel like a snail hiding in my shell right now. I have no desire to clean, or cook, or work. I didn't even create a menu for this week. I think we will eat what we have, and I'll make some easy comfort food like soups and salads.

On the other hand, we have some updates on our financial goals. My husband received another bonus. He gets bonuses quarterly, and we never know how big it's going to be. Usually it's somewhere between $500 and $2500. This time he had good three months, and his bonus was $1900. Because most of our tax return will go towards the necessities, we decided to put most this of bonus (minus tithing) towards our savings goals. If you look on the right side where the progress bars are, I (finally!) updated all of them. The numbers include all of the savings from the 1st of January until now.

Because our vacation fund is almost full, we also looked at booking a trip to Bear Lake in August. The water should be the warmest then, and we hope to score some delicious raspberries too. It will cost about $300-350 for 1 bed 1 bath condo for 2 nights (which is usually plenty for us because kids refuse to sleep in a new place :). Our vacation fund usually includes gas and the food we will buy too.

Another vacation we plan to take some time in summer is a 2-day getaway to Las Vegas (for just the two of us). We should have enough money left for it because we are not going to gamble. We actually want to go visit a few of our friends who live in the suburbs of Vegas some of which we haven't seen in almost ten years. We are excited to have a little time for ourselves but we are yet to plan the details of this trip.

I'm so grateful for so many blessings in our lives, and that we are able to work on our financial goals. And I'm grateful for my amazing husband who works really hard to provide for us. We don't have much but we have plenty enough.

 We also added another $300 for car repair fund (I don't have a progress bar for it) because we will need some oil changes and transmission fluid flushes on both of the cars pretty soon. And then we'll keep fingers crossed that nothing else will go wrong with the cars for a while.

And that's where we are. I will not include the bonus money into our planned financial goals for this month (or it would be too easy, right :). I don't have a good update on it yet but the plan was to make $300, and I'm right on track. And how are you doing on your financial goals? Are you planning any vacations/staycations this year?

PS- and I know, some of you asked about my progress bars. The tutorial is coming, I promise :)




20 comments:

  1. Lena,
    I love these updates of yours! We are so alike, as I have monthly and yearly financial goals that I stay on top of...AND I tithe, too. I will also disclose that, last December, we began tithing off of gross pay - not net pay as we had always done (not knowing it should have been off of gross). Since then, we've seen the Lord do amazing things in our finances. We aren't where we want to be yet, but we're headed in the right direction. I am so thrilled for you and your family, that you're on track and thriving. I really mean that.

    XOXO,
    Meredith

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    1. I agree with Meredith - and that it's so neat to see God bless when we obey Him! Sometimes when we look at the budget, it doesn't seem like giving back to God will fit, but it's amazing to see Him provide. I love how transparent you've been with your goals. Keep it up!

      PS - in answer to your above question, we just got back from our little vacation!

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    2. Thank you Meredith, you are so sweet :) I'm constantly on a budget and count every penny but tithing is something absolutely non-negotiable for me because I've seen so many blessing in my life from paying it!

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    3. And Danielle, I like how you put it- that we give it BACK to Him because He is the one who blessed us with everything we have. We just return a small portion if it :) I noticed that when we pay tithing, we always have enough. And sometimes we miraculously get money from unexpected sources when we really need it!

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  2. Congratulations on the bonus! You guys do so well with your financial goals. I decided to do a personal Boston marathon on Monday and clean my entire house in one day. I didn't quite finish. It's so sad about the bombs.

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    1. I don't think I can ever clean our house in one day :) Especially with kids! Just today I cleaned the stove in the morning, and then two more times because somebody constantly spilled something on it! I sometimes feel that cleaning is all I do!

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  3. Lena, that's going great! It's April and your side bars look really amazing, I'm sure you'll complete your goals sooner than you think ;) And congrats to your husband for this bonus! I'm really happy for you and your family!

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    1. I hope to reach all of our goals before the middle of summer. But we'll see! I do have one more thing in mind that I would love to save for but now I don't even dare to dream...

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  4. For vacation this year, we were planning to visit Mt. Rushmore. However, that got too complicated and expensive. Now we're going to New Mexico. Can't wait!

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    1. Visiting Mt. Rushmore is definitely on my bucket list! But I think you will enjoy New Mexico almost as much!!

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  5. GO YOU!!! Steady Fredy is the name of the game. I LOVE the baby fund numbers, about time to get busy getting that bundle in the oven! Ha

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    1. I know...but it seems like it's not exactly up to us right now...:( But it will be in the right time, I know that.

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  6. I just went to a RS budget, retirement planning and couponing night. I was thinking of you lots. It went long and I didn't learn anything new - but it reminded me of when you taught a similar class - I learned something from you :) Anyway, it's always good to have a reminder of the things we can be doing to save money and prepare for the future.

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    1. I'm glad I could be useful for something :) Just kidding. But I'm always happy to share everything I know with others because I wish somebody taught me all these things when I barely came to the country...

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  7. Lena, your progress is so amazing! Praising God that your husband was able to get a great bonus for his hard work!

    I did not plan an menu this week either. Nathan is out of town so the girls and I will be eating what we have. :D

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  8. LOL, I should have read through your post all the way before I tried to figure out how you did your progress bars. You are doing great on your fund budgets. I used to do that and fell away from it the last few years.

    I haven't made a menu this week either, and the result will be spoiled food in the fridge I'm afraid. It's so warm and muggy here that all my energy is sapped by noon.

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    1. I will post a tutorial, I promise!! I just need to sit down and figure out how to right it better :)

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  9. Sorry... I didn't take your spring. We have summer days to share, if you want them! And wow, congrats to husband on that bonus. That's awesome.

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    1. Please, please, send some summer days my way!! We had a beautiful March but this April is just awful with a constant mixture of rain and snow :( I'm ready for some long and steady warm weather!

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