I started out well at the beginning of this year. I saved $4000 to replace my roof. We have never had so much money in the bank. We were also debt free. I sort of fell apart afterward. I booked a beach house on my credit card. I am not saving like I should be. I need to get refocused. I hope to keep updates as I meet my goals. Below are the goals I would like to see happen before the new year begins. Thanks for any support or comments.
1) EF of at least $2500~1972.18 so far
2) Christmas fund of $500~286 so far
3) extra house payment of $800~0 so far
4) repay vacation debt: $1390 left to pay
5) save money for tree removal $0 of $900
6) new car fund: $0
OK. I have checked my balances as of today. Here are the changes.
1) EF of at least $2500~1890 so far (this one went down because my car insurance for 6 months was due)
2) Christmas fund of $500~286 so far-$314
3) extra house payment of $800~0 so far$9
4) repay vacation debt: $1390 left to pay
5) save money for tree removal $0 of $900
6) new car fund: $0
Congratulations - you made a mistake financially and took on some consumer debt.
That makes you human. Everyone over the age of 12 has made mistakes with money.
Hopefully the vacation was a good one - but now you also know that NEXT year, you can SAVE for the vacation and pay cash, saving yourself more money overall and feeling a lot more secure about it at the same time, right? RIGHT?
Hmm - that ended up being gentler than I expected...
well you realized you needed and extra push to get started,that better then i am sometime i need a big shove and some one to keep on shoving me.But i know we are at the right place fv.
I personally would take small/no/close-to-home vacations till I had a generous EF. But that's our family's financial personality; we're not comfortable unless we have a good cushion. We have no debt outside of the mortgage, and work to keep it that way. It's true that my DH makes a good income, but he didn't always; when he didn't, we didn't have the extras. We have wiggle room now, but haven't forgotten "those" days, so we're always careful.
I agree with shorter and cheaper vacations. I guess we were so excited about meeting such a huge goal we felt more freedom than we should have. I also rationalized it by saying it was for EVERYONE. I invited:
1-my parents that make less than us and have tons more debt.
2-my teen sister who works 4 hours a week
3-my brother that just got out of college and had no job
4-friend of the family going to Afghanistan shortly afterward
We could afford it more than they could,
but no more excuses. Time to get back on track. Bills will be here soon. I will let you know how much is paid.
My edited post didn't save since the server was busy for so long, but I wanted to add that you are on the right track by taking stock right away. You've already proved that you can do it -- look at the great stash you already had! You already know how! (And, you already know that coming here is oh-so-wise )
My sister has an incredibly kind and generous heart, too, and had to learn the hard way not to pay everyone else's way through life each and every time. She's still probably -- no, definitely! -- overly generous, but she's learned to take care of herself, too. It's incredibly important since she's in her 40s and single.
Don't worry! We take good care of her, too! She's a sweetie!
QS - you definitely have a much better handle on things than I do ----I'm glad that you started this thread for you and the rest of us!!
I have been on FV since March 2009, have made some good progress, but still have not got all the financial info down on paper in one place to use as important info all the time. I truly need a tremendous kick in the bu** to just do it.
1) EF of at least $2500~1890 so far
2) Christmas fund of $500~286 so far-$514 (up by $200)
3) extra house payment of $800~0 so far$15 (up by $4)
4) repay vacation debt: $1067.15 left to pay(down by $322.85)
5) save money for tree removal $0 of $900
6) new car fund: $0
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