ok, well it isn't going to go away tommorrow, but I am very excited about our progress. We have paid of $19,396.85 since the beginning of the year. I am essentially putting almost 2300 a month into the loan above our automatic payment. I have shaved a little bit off into our ING account to begin the nest egg for the kitchen, but not too much. My present thinking is I will get rid of the loan before focusing on the kitchen savings. My biggest issue is that I have no idea how much I need to save. I have 30k in my head, of which we have maybe 15k in a maturing CD and funds I have hesitated to put towards the loan (yet). So we still have a ways to go. Car troubles this month and a tuition hike for DD may set us back a little bit, however, my DH will be getting a raise in July, so that is in the plus column. Also expecting a bonus check the end of July, so will divide that into play, kitchen and loan pots.
I love seeing the number go down on this loan though!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Goal check in
Well here we are several days into April and I thought it would be a good time to assess where I am for the goals I laid out what seems a REALLY long time ago.
Emotional/Relationships
My focus this year is on my husband and I am afraid I haven't taken any great steps in doing things above and beyond in this area. I thank him for doing things and I have noticed that he has made more of an effort to be home "on time" - 6 pm to me. More work to be done here.
Health
Sigh this has to be my worst area to date. I haven't gotten motivated on the weight or eating side and have seen my weight creep up to 157.5. Which means I have 18 lbs to go for my 2009 goal. Still not impossible as I lost 20 lbs last year. I have refocused with April 1st as my starting point and have done something physical for the last 6 days. I am mentally trying to tell myself that I am feeling better and I know the eating with light exercise will go a long way towards my goal. I signed up for a Zumba class and some local moms are getting together on Saturdays to walk, so those are new developments. The spring weather should help.
Nails - oh those nails. I have gone for longer stretches with keeping them untouched and since a single bad moment can pretty much wipe out a nail, I have to be satisfied with keeping them neater and longer as I work on the habit of breaking my hands being anywhere close to my mouth. So while success isn't as visible here, I do feel some progress.
Finance - ok finally some good news! We have paid of 13k of the Home Equity loan to date (not including any April payments. the loan is now in the low 20k range and I am feeling like getting rid of this debt by the end of the year is very doable. Pennies are all moving over into savings and then once a month a put down a payment after the autopay is withdrawn. (this way I see the whole impact of my payment with no interest being paid). I have taken some $$ we have and moved it into the ING account to start the nest egg for the new kitchen. If we get to the end of the year and the loan isn't paid off, I will use the money there to finish it off.
I have been mystery shopping with 165 in payments and 230 in merchandise reimbursement. My focus lately has been on grocery shops, which I just look at as 1 big coupon. This side gig is labor intensive though and not without its drawbacks. I don't have anything scheduled past tomorrow, as the shops offered lately haven't appealed to me. The good thing is that I can pick and choose.
No energy audit scheduled - boo.
No new debt - yea.
lots of learning and blog reading - yea.
I would give myself a C+ with only the debt paydown saving me from a failing grade. Hopefully the arrival of spring will find me with new energy ( I have already gotten more done on my to do lists lately) and some forward motion on the goals I haven't touched.
Emotional/Relationships
My focus this year is on my husband and I am afraid I haven't taken any great steps in doing things above and beyond in this area. I thank him for doing things and I have noticed that he has made more of an effort to be home "on time" - 6 pm to me. More work to be done here.
Health
Sigh this has to be my worst area to date. I haven't gotten motivated on the weight or eating side and have seen my weight creep up to 157.5. Which means I have 18 lbs to go for my 2009 goal. Still not impossible as I lost 20 lbs last year. I have refocused with April 1st as my starting point and have done something physical for the last 6 days. I am mentally trying to tell myself that I am feeling better and I know the eating with light exercise will go a long way towards my goal. I signed up for a Zumba class and some local moms are getting together on Saturdays to walk, so those are new developments. The spring weather should help.
Nails - oh those nails. I have gone for longer stretches with keeping them untouched and since a single bad moment can pretty much wipe out a nail, I have to be satisfied with keeping them neater and longer as I work on the habit of breaking my hands being anywhere close to my mouth. So while success isn't as visible here, I do feel some progress.
Finance - ok finally some good news! We have paid of 13k of the Home Equity loan to date (not including any April payments. the loan is now in the low 20k range and I am feeling like getting rid of this debt by the end of the year is very doable. Pennies are all moving over into savings and then once a month a put down a payment after the autopay is withdrawn. (this way I see the whole impact of my payment with no interest being paid). I have taken some $$ we have and moved it into the ING account to start the nest egg for the new kitchen. If we get to the end of the year and the loan isn't paid off, I will use the money there to finish it off.
I have been mystery shopping with 165 in payments and 230 in merchandise reimbursement. My focus lately has been on grocery shops, which I just look at as 1 big coupon. This side gig is labor intensive though and not without its drawbacks. I don't have anything scheduled past tomorrow, as the shops offered lately haven't appealed to me. The good thing is that I can pick and choose.
No energy audit scheduled - boo.
No new debt - yea.
lots of learning and blog reading - yea.
I would give myself a C+ with only the debt paydown saving me from a failing grade. Hopefully the arrival of spring will find me with new energy ( I have already gotten more done on my to do lists lately) and some forward motion on the goals I haven't touched.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Diffence in Outlook
The concept of allowances aren't just for kids in this new world of spending less then you make. I know of a few couples in our social group that have one or both of the parents on allowances. It is their way to letting the person receiving the allowance have control of deciding what things to spend on (frivolous or not can't be opined on by another) and letting the family budgeter know that only X amount will be spent in this area. Some folks seem to spend it all during the period before the next allotment comes, others save up for bigger toys/projects. Not too unlike the difference between those that live paycheck to paycheck and those that save.
While there are days when I sigh about the latest lunch out, or question an expense, but fundamentally, my DH and I look at our money differently. We are well off, there is no doubt about that. Our salaries allow us to pay all our bills and save some each month, but we also don't spend much. Mall shopping is not a pastime, we tend to focus on the needed errands and kid events on the weekends and don't do much else. Boring, but cheap. So my husband doesn't worry about a lunch here or there (most days he and I bring packed lunches). I tend to worry more about creating habits that would be detrimental to our goal of paying off our last debt and saving to do the bigger, fun things we have planned for the future.
At the core of the difference is the perception that we are "fine" financially since I always get the bills paid and any financed debt paid off way early. While I am more immersed in the details of our income and outflow, and see the difference 200 can make in a month. What I struggle with is the fact that he doesn't spend rashly (or even buy big purchases - that falls to me), so what is my hang up? We have all read about punishing yourself on a diet all of the sudden can cause irrational eating (or spending) as a reward for being "good" for a short time. So if I let the few sodas and lunches go, will that keep the rest of our budget in lean, mean shape? It seems to, but I don't really know if it does. (my fear of entering into budget wars in another post soon) If we continue to make substantial forward progress, is that enough?
So would an allowance be more detrimental to our relationship then it would help our budget? I wouldn't want him to think I don't trust him with our money. What have you done in this area? Does one person carry the strategic money thinking tasks? How do they communicate their decisions to the other spouse?
While there are days when I sigh about the latest lunch out, or question an expense, but fundamentally, my DH and I look at our money differently. We are well off, there is no doubt about that. Our salaries allow us to pay all our bills and save some each month, but we also don't spend much. Mall shopping is not a pastime, we tend to focus on the needed errands and kid events on the weekends and don't do much else. Boring, but cheap. So my husband doesn't worry about a lunch here or there (most days he and I bring packed lunches). I tend to worry more about creating habits that would be detrimental to our goal of paying off our last debt and saving to do the bigger, fun things we have planned for the future.
At the core of the difference is the perception that we are "fine" financially since I always get the bills paid and any financed debt paid off way early. While I am more immersed in the details of our income and outflow, and see the difference 200 can make in a month. What I struggle with is the fact that he doesn't spend rashly (or even buy big purchases - that falls to me), so what is my hang up? We have all read about punishing yourself on a diet all of the sudden can cause irrational eating (or spending) as a reward for being "good" for a short time. So if I let the few sodas and lunches go, will that keep the rest of our budget in lean, mean shape? It seems to, but I don't really know if it does. (my fear of entering into budget wars in another post soon) If we continue to make substantial forward progress, is that enough?
So would an allowance be more detrimental to our relationship then it would help our budget? I wouldn't want him to think I don't trust him with our money. What have you done in this area? Does one person carry the strategic money thinking tasks? How do they communicate their decisions to the other spouse?
Sunday, January 11, 2009
2009 goals for Personal Growth
This goal will be the hardest to measure. Some days I feel like I have so much to work on and other days, like things are going pretty well. I really want to keep this simple.
2008 I spent some quality time with myself, 2009 I would like to focus on my marriage. I don't have a clear plan about this, I just feel that we need to reconnect.
After 8 years of marriage we have fallen into logistics and kid news.
That's it. I want to put all my emotional energy towards me and my husband.
2008 I spent some quality time with myself, 2009 I would like to focus on my marriage. I don't have a clear plan about this, I just feel that we need to reconnect.
After 8 years of marriage we have fallen into logistics and kid news.
That's it. I want to put all my emotional energy towards me and my husband.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
2009 Goals for Finances
As I stare out into the cold rainy day reading my desperately depressing account statements I am still going back and forth on my fiscal goals for the year. I think I will go for the gusto and if I/we fall short, know we tried our best.
Goal #1
Pay off our home equity loan. About 3 years ago we took out a home equity loan to redo the master bath, create a walk in closet, replace all the windows with energy efficient ones and did some hardscaping in the yard. All told we took out 50k for these "little" projects. I have a tendency to take on several projects while I am on maternity leave, and these represent the efforts for when my dd was born in 2005. Overall, I think we derive great benefit from 2 out of the 3 of the projects and it certainly feels warmer in the house even though the thermostat is set many degrees lower. So long story short, we started to make extra payments on the loan at the end of last year and have 34k left on the account. I expect this to be a stretch because there is always something that comes up and looking at summer camp fees I expect my son's childcare expenses to rise for the school break. That being said, we have some end of year money, refunded escrow etc, that I plan to apply to help the monthly requirement.
Goal #2
Well, goal one pretty much took all of our anticipated funds, so I will leave this one a little more general. Essentially continue to educate and act on free deals, coupons and discounts where possible and sensible to reduce our monthly spending. (our grocery bill in particular is out of hand)
Goal #2.5
Get a energy evaluation done on the house. It was built in 1968, so we know there are concerns/issues and ways we can make it more energy friendly. I keep saying I am going to do this, so am now making it an official goal.
Goal #3
Continue to pursue my side gig of mystery shopping. I have seen growth in this area and feel that hasn't negatively impacted my time with family, so I am going to keep accepting assignments that seem to make sense to me. To date I am scheduled for a little over $100 in January, and I know more will pop up. Certainly not anywhere close to my full time salary, but every little flake helps.
Goal #4
This is more a reminder to stay status quo. We have no consumer debt other then the equity loan and our mortgage. Goal 4 is all about keeping it that way. No plans to buy a car, etc, so this shouldn't be too hard.
Goal #1
Pay off our home equity loan. About 3 years ago we took out a home equity loan to redo the master bath, create a walk in closet, replace all the windows with energy efficient ones and did some hardscaping in the yard. All told we took out 50k for these "little" projects. I have a tendency to take on several projects while I am on maternity leave, and these represent the efforts for when my dd was born in 2005. Overall, I think we derive great benefit from 2 out of the 3 of the projects and it certainly feels warmer in the house even though the thermostat is set many degrees lower. So long story short, we started to make extra payments on the loan at the end of last year and have 34k left on the account. I expect this to be a stretch because there is always something that comes up and looking at summer camp fees I expect my son's childcare expenses to rise for the school break. That being said, we have some end of year money, refunded escrow etc, that I plan to apply to help the monthly requirement.
Goal #2
Well, goal one pretty much took all of our anticipated funds, so I will leave this one a little more general. Essentially continue to educate and act on free deals, coupons and discounts where possible and sensible to reduce our monthly spending. (our grocery bill in particular is out of hand)
Goal #2.5
Get a energy evaluation done on the house. It was built in 1968, so we know there are concerns/issues and ways we can make it more energy friendly. I keep saying I am going to do this, so am now making it an official goal.
Goal #3
Continue to pursue my side gig of mystery shopping. I have seen growth in this area and feel that hasn't negatively impacted my time with family, so I am going to keep accepting assignments that seem to make sense to me. To date I am scheduled for a little over $100 in January, and I know more will pop up. Certainly not anywhere close to my full time salary, but every little flake helps.
Goal #4
This is more a reminder to stay status quo. We have no consumer debt other then the equity loan and our mortgage. Goal 4 is all about keeping it that way. No plans to buy a car, etc, so this shouldn't be too hard.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
2009 Goals for Health
I am afraid that I am not original in my desire to lose weight this year. I lost 20 lbs in 2008 and felt great. I am back up a little bit, but not too much considering the just passed holiday season. I would like to get back to my weight from last summer (144) plus a little more, so let's say 140 for this goal.
Really this is superficial because want I REALLY want to do (call it a stretch goal) is to become one of those people that enjoy exercise and all sorts of active activities. Everyone has those friends, you might even be one. I feel like I am still in the "fake it until you make it" phase of this life change. So until this happens I will be setting concrete goals that require activity for their accomplishment.
My second health goal is more then a little embarrassing, but I know I am not alone in this. At 37 years of age, I still bite my nails. Countless New Year's eve resolutions, hopes that my engagement/wedding ring might spur me, and failures have come to pass in my fight against my age old habit. (You had better believe I don't let my kids even put their fingers in their mouths!) This year I feel might be different. I had success last year with exercise, I started this resolution a little before the new year and have had success. Nail biting is worse then eating when it comes to that slippery slope as one slip up, does indeed ruin the whole nail/effort for a time of several weeks. In a week or so I plan to get a manicure to pamper my nails and myself and encourage the growth process. If I were to be totally honest (and here I am doing just that) I think the fear of the day my daughter notices my ugly nails sometime in the future is spurring this one on. Hopefully I can change the future in this case.
Financial, Developmental, and Relationship goals still to come.
Really this is superficial because want I REALLY want to do (call it a stretch goal) is to become one of those people that enjoy exercise and all sorts of active activities. Everyone has those friends, you might even be one. I feel like I am still in the "fake it until you make it" phase of this life change. So until this happens I will be setting concrete goals that require activity for their accomplishment.
My second health goal is more then a little embarrassing, but I know I am not alone in this. At 37 years of age, I still bite my nails. Countless New Year's eve resolutions, hopes that my engagement/wedding ring might spur me, and failures have come to pass in my fight against my age old habit. (You had better believe I don't let my kids even put their fingers in their mouths!) This year I feel might be different. I had success last year with exercise, I started this resolution a little before the new year and have had success. Nail biting is worse then eating when it comes to that slippery slope as one slip up, does indeed ruin the whole nail/effort for a time of several weeks. In a week or so I plan to get a manicure to pamper my nails and myself and encourage the growth process. If I were to be totally honest (and here I am doing just that) I think the fear of the day my daughter notices my ugly nails sometime in the future is spurring this one on. Hopefully I can change the future in this case.
Financial, Developmental, and Relationship goals still to come.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Resolutions or Goals
I guess it doesn't really matter what you call them, as long as you are spurred to action. Practice makes perfect so they say and after 37 years, I might be getting closer to setting concrete (specific), realistic goals that are attainable through small, but consistent steps.
Looking back
In 2008 I determined that my focus was going to be me. Sounds a little self serving, but being married, working and having 2 kids allows for lots of places for a person to get lost. Day to day routine gets set and thinking doesn't really have to come play.
Body
I resolved to lose weight, actually starting my exercise routine in Oct 2007 as a way to "ramp up". On New years day, I joined millions of others in thinking harder about what I put into my mouth. I was rewarded with a 20 lb loss by July and felt much better. Tiring of looking at the scale for my feedback, I declared to a friend that I wanted to run a 5k. I knew my friend wouldn't let me off the hook and in October, I walked/ran my first race. It was lots of fun, but I walked quite a bit of the route (I chose a hilly route, but didn't train for hills.)
Mind
I also wanted to read more books. I read every night, but stick to Time or Sports Illustrated so I can get through an entire article before turning off the light. I have been following a book club's picks and tried reading them, but hadn't gone to a meeting. I got to my first in the Fall and had a fantastic time. November had a conflict (still haven't read the book), December they didn't meet, but I have already finished the book for January.
Fiscal
I wanted to continue to put my family on solid fiscal ground. I haven't talked much about that yet here, but hope to share goals and progress on this topic with you all. My focus was to pay off the Highlander, which we did. I also ended up with an end of year refinance which took us from 24 years to 15 years and knocked 1.25% off our rate. While our monthly payment went up a little bit, we will save thousands in interest charges. I also started to aggressively pay down our home equity loan (our only debt except the mortgage now). It stands at 34k at the end of the year, but with no other items to distract us, I believe we can pay it off in 09. (whoops, a new goal slipped in there). We also dramatically increased our 401k/403b contributions to close to the max allowed per year.
Toasting 2008
All in all, I was happier with 2008 then I expected to be with all the doom and gloom in the media. I felt like I made some progress on me and set a foundation for my relationships with others. We are lucky though in that we both have good jobs, that for now seem stable and allow us a good headroom each month for me to divert funds to paying off debt (and soon to growing assets). More in my next post about my focus for 2009 and some of the goals I have noodling around in my head.
Looking back
In 2008 I determined that my focus was going to be me. Sounds a little self serving, but being married, working and having 2 kids allows for lots of places for a person to get lost. Day to day routine gets set and thinking doesn't really have to come play.
Body
I resolved to lose weight, actually starting my exercise routine in Oct 2007 as a way to "ramp up". On New years day, I joined millions of others in thinking harder about what I put into my mouth. I was rewarded with a 20 lb loss by July and felt much better. Tiring of looking at the scale for my feedback, I declared to a friend that I wanted to run a 5k. I knew my friend wouldn't let me off the hook and in October, I walked/ran my first race. It was lots of fun, but I walked quite a bit of the route (I chose a hilly route, but didn't train for hills.)
Mind
I also wanted to read more books. I read every night, but stick to Time or Sports Illustrated so I can get through an entire article before turning off the light. I have been following a book club's picks and tried reading them, but hadn't gone to a meeting. I got to my first in the Fall and had a fantastic time. November had a conflict (still haven't read the book), December they didn't meet, but I have already finished the book for January.
Fiscal
I wanted to continue to put my family on solid fiscal ground. I haven't talked much about that yet here, but hope to share goals and progress on this topic with you all. My focus was to pay off the Highlander, which we did. I also ended up with an end of year refinance which took us from 24 years to 15 years and knocked 1.25% off our rate. While our monthly payment went up a little bit, we will save thousands in interest charges. I also started to aggressively pay down our home equity loan (our only debt except the mortgage now). It stands at 34k at the end of the year, but with no other items to distract us, I believe we can pay it off in 09. (whoops, a new goal slipped in there). We also dramatically increased our 401k/403b contributions to close to the max allowed per year.
Toasting 2008
All in all, I was happier with 2008 then I expected to be with all the doom and gloom in the media. I felt like I made some progress on me and set a foundation for my relationships with others. We are lucky though in that we both have good jobs, that for now seem stable and allow us a good headroom each month for me to divert funds to paying off debt (and soon to growing assets). More in my next post about my focus for 2009 and some of the goals I have noodling around in my head.
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