Being financially responsible can sometimes be 'boring' but it feels good!

**khaski** · 01-04-2012, 10:18 AM

Not a 'we paid one off' post but a success on our end none-the-less....hubby has his own machine shop he works part time out of our garage. Where we live, NH, small businesses don't pay any taxes until they hit a certain income level- then it's 8.5% due (ouch!). Our state has no 'regular' income tax. We are VERY good about putting away taxes when $ comes into the business, we put away 30% to cover federal and state taxes- though we've never hit the income level to have to pay the state, we plan for it anyways. We thought we'd have to pay taxes to NH for 2011....hubby met with our tax guy last night- nope, just came in under the amount. So after paying our fed. taxes for the quarter, we have $4349 'extra'!

Now, we're planning a vacation to the Carribean next Dec, IF we save up enough to do it. Hubby is also itching for a 'project car'. This amount could have covered either in full, and boy, was it tempting....but we were good, we put $4k towards opening a Roth IRA for hubby! We are behind on our retirement for our age, so to be able to put 4k out of the 5k allowed for the 2011 tax year into a new roth is exciting to me! The last $349 extra we split between the vacation, next new car, and 'fun car' accounts.

A warm vacation or toy for hubby would have been fun, but I do feel good and proud of us we did the 'right' thing instead of the easy 'fun' things! Our vacation and 'toys' will come, but it feels good to put it towards our future. A success, in my book! and I'm not counting it towards my savings goals for the year, since it was totally unexpected!

Just a few years ago we would have 'blown' this money without a second thought or even if we had just become debt free as we did in Oct., would have spent it on 'fun' because we 'deserve' it after working so hard to become debt free. Tallied up our liquid worth mentally last night- while it's small # to many, it's a big # to us as we've never had that much $ saved before....EVER!

sorry to ramble, but it feel soooo good- both to have that unexpected $, and to be responsible with it unstead of catering to our whims!

**Lady_V** · 01-04-2012, 10:43 AM

You did great! I know first-hand how "boring" it can seem to others, but those same people have no idea how it feels to NOT be paying every penny out to someone. A vacation that you don't have to sell an arm and a leg to pay for feels SOOOOO much better!

Just so you know... I took a cruise to the Caribbean islands, flew out of Logan to San Juan. If you are careful while on-board, a cruise can be a lot more affordable than a hotel. Bed, meals, entertainment, a different port-of-call every morning. We're taking a cruise in July (on Carnival) and we can each take a bottle of wine and a 12 pack of soda in our carry-on bags. Soda cards are available for something like $8/day, but coffee, tea, iced tea and lemonade are free. If we want a soda, we can go back to our room. We also thought about drink coupons, but I am not a drinker, and OldMan said he would be happier sipping the wine we brought from home on the balcony, than spending $$$ for a glass at dinner.

JetBlue flies out of Logan and flies to San Juan... they usually have low, LOW prices (I flew home from Baltimore for $39)

**nodmicks** · 01-04-2012, 12:14 PM

You should be so proud of yourselves!

**khaski** · 01-04-2012, 01:11 PM

Thanks Lady V- we are looking at going to the Dominican Republic to an all-inclusive...air fare would be the biggest expense for the 4 of us, I'd fly out of Logan or Manchester/Boston....seems either way we route through NYC or Miami...will look into Logan-San Juan-the DR- may be cheaper (I hope, other wise last I looked it was $700-800 EACH-yikes!),

**Ceashels** · 01-04-2012, 01:50 PM

You and your husband are made of awesome!!! Congratulations for laying more of the foundation for your future; it shows a keener perspective of where your are at now and where you want to be in the future.

Kudos to you both.

I think you can have fun celebrating your success with some Caribbean jerk chicken wings, some pina coladas and some steel drum music in the background.

*disclaimer - I am not responsible for what happens in your celebration.

**tmjsquared** · 01-04-2012, 04:08 PM

Khaski - your post was very inspirational! I am sure on this journey I will become discouraged and tempted to buy things once our budget loosens up, but I am ready to be an adult now (at age 42...) with my finances. Thanks for posting things like that b/c it keeps me motivated. My biggest challenge is going to be with my kids and saying "no" to them. I've implemented an allowance and have vowed to say "take it out of your allowance" if they want something.

I have a small success story...in November I rec'd a bonus from and paid it straight to a loan. It was a great feeling once I finally did it, but I can't say it was easy. I sent the payment in FAST to avoid the temptation of buying things.

Thanks again!

**hmcart** · 01-04-2012, 05:23 PM

That is awesome! We usually have a pretty decent tax refund each year and with our budget looking so well we will be able to put it into some very needed repairs on our house and into an older pickup truck that Dh will use for the rare times we need a second vehicle and he will have a vehicle to haul stuff in. We will be paying cash for it of course but it feels good to be able to do that and not have so much debt to worry about!