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Midyear Review 2013

July 1st, 2013 at 01:17 am

Still dealing with my fatigue and job burnout, but staying positive. Taking short walks about 4 times a week.

Here's what's happening in my savings world:

Midyear review numbers to compare to my sidebar:

As of Jun 2013--
Mortgage: $47,287 remaining
No credit card debt (yay!)
Retirement: $39,843, IRA (traditional)
Retirement: $157,441, 401K
Retirement: $2,711, Roth IRA
Wealth acct: $22,941
Freedom acct: $5,053
Christmas acct: $280
House repair acct: $1,498
Grandkids acct: $438
The Kid: ?? (looks like I have time!)
Education: $8,504
Creative ventures acct: $260 (for writing, arts and crafts supplies)

For my brand new 52 week savings challenge:
June, week 3: $1
June, week 4: $10

After the car purchase in May, I also had to change my tax withholding to have more income tax taken out of my paycheck (boooo!!). But better this way than to have a large tax payment at the end of the tax year. The Kid is no longer in college (boo!) so I can't claim tuition. The mortgage has less interest (both boo! and yay!?) so I can't claim that on my taxes. My, how things change over the years...

Making progress, but I still feel impatient. I want to make HUGE GRAND MAJOR progress. But little by little, I'll get there. I can complain, but who cares really? We all do the best we can.

So thanks, saving advice friends for helping me stay motivated. Happy saving everyone!!

The House and I

June 23rd, 2013 at 12:03 am

The house and I are not getting along. Of the 3 major expenses I juggle: car care, medical care and house care, I'm currently overwhelmed by the monetary care and repair required for the house.

In trying to get organized, I made an official list of all the items needed or wanted for the house--the list that I've been trying to keep in my head. The list has 70 items. Yes. That's 70 items. (?!) It's a wonder I haven't run out the front door screaming.

The list includes small items like lamps and curtains, repair items like holes in the walls, electrical re-wiring and large items like new windows, new kitchen counters and flooring and one day a new roof. When we bought the house it was nearly 20 years old. That was 15 years ago. Wear and tear is natural but costly.

I'm doing cost estimates now, which are not happy ones. But necessary to help with planning and prioritizing (and procrastination!!)


In the meantime I count my blessings. We have to live somewhere. We've been rocking that lived-in thrift store chic look for years. A few more years won't hurt while I save, save, save...

Happy saving everyone!!

June So Soon

June 22nd, 2013 at 11:36 pm

Midyear already. The year is flying by. Oh my!

I keep thinking I can do more drastic things to save more money, but nothing has come to me yet.

I'm adjusting my $20 challenge to the 52 week savings challenge which might help me focus. I wasn't staying focused--I noticed with MY VERSION of the $20 challenge I would roll the 'savings' over into the next round of spending rather than deposit the money into savings. A smaller focus might help me keep the smaller victories in my savings.

At the end of the month I'll get my numbers together to compare to my Dec 2012 sidebar. Made some progress, but also need to revisit some goals.

I just wanted to post a note and continue to encourage (and by encouraged by) my saving advice friends.

Happy saving everyone!