I’m totally gonna succeed with this challenge this year. Last year I was trying to do the $20,220 challenge but then was hit with a $7k HVAC repair – see net worth chart below.
Sure is nice to see that in short order my net worth rebounded after that huge repair – contrast with my past, where I lived paycheck to paycheck, a $7k repair would of been DEVASTATING; not happy about having to pay that for the repair but feel a great sense of accomplishment that I recovered from it quickly. I also have a sense of peace that I have a solid HVAC system which should last me 20 years with proper maintenance, knowing it only costs about $30 per month when you save up for 20 years. (I’m also saving on energy costs in both the summer and winter, due to a more efficient system; happy about that since utility bills have gone up at least 25% over the past two years, due to inflation.)
(I put the repair on two credit cards, both having a 0% APR on purhchases for 15 months – also got an average cash back rewards bonus of 1.25%. One card still has a $3800 balance, but zero interest until July. I could of paid off the credit card already but instead have that $3800 in money market earning 4.5% APR… I’ll withdraw the cash needed to pay off the credit card about 2 weeks before the 0% APR promotion ends.)
My big accomplishment in February was finally setting up YNAB! And my partner is very on board with it.
February
Mortgage principal: 568
Student loan: 350
Cash savings: 2000
Total YTD: 4836
I’m making estimates about cash savings; that’s how much we added to the “savings” bucket. There is more money available in the checking account but I have it earmarked for future spending instead.
It really is wild to see how little of our mortgage payment is towards the principal right now.
We are successfully in the red two months in a row. What giant surprise expenses with March bring?! At this rate I may be going over all expenses and working out what to cut by the end of the month.
Jan + Feb update:
Retirement savings: $4327
Savings account: $2354
I’m planning to max out the IRS limits on retirement contributions for this year; after that my hope is just to come out in the green on my household’s bank accounts, since we’re planning some big expenses and a possible move.
February check in:
End of month cash left over: -1296.88 (because of I-bond purchase below)
Retirement: $1257
Other investments: $5150 (bought a round of I-bonds)
Total: $5110.12
We added another $3200 for a total so far of $7,583. This included a slightly higher refund than expected, but little by little we might make this goal. We’ll see!
March check in! It was a high income month for me, plus our state tax return came in this month.
End of month cash left over: $2137.80 (including $687 from state taxes)
Retirement: $670.63
Other investments: $150
Total: $2958.43
Total: $4,378.16 21.64% to the goal at 33% of the way through the year
Also, to be accountable: this next month (May) I will move at least $25,000 of savings to a high-yield savings account. I’m losing money to inflation in my current crappy APY savings.
Added another $1567 this month and now up to $9150 for the year. That was lower than I hoped but I had to write a $14k check to the preschool for next year this month too, so it is what it is. Childcare is rapidly becoming essential.
April monthly check in, featuring our federal tax return and more I-Bonds
End of month cash left over: -$1367.79 due to another round of I-bonds
Retirement: $1174.77
Other investments: $5150
Total: $4956.98
As planned, we dropped my 457 contributions even further in February to build up cash for paving our driveway ($21K and it still hasn’t happened but we’re hoping for next week) and to save $$ to cover the summer months when we don’t get paid. Got those covered (not counting as savings here since we’re going to spend it this year).
Can’t pay cash for a new vehicle as well right now, but my Jeep’s transmission is maybe not slipping / not slipping much anyway, so we’re just waiting to see on that. We’ll get something more fuel efficient once the paving’s done, but will try to wait until we have the cash, sometime next winter or later. Not planning to replace the transmission since the vehicle is fast approaching 300,000 miles.
Numbers update:
Monthly savings Feb-May:
Mine:
HSA: $347.50 (for a YTD total of $1737.50)
457Roth: $50.00 (YTD $1200.00)
Pension: $406.25 (YTD $2008.75)
His:
HSA: $347.50 (YTD $1737.50)
457Roth: $500.00 (YTD $5277.46)
Pension: $303.00 (YTD $1512.00)
Plus annual (not monthly, total for the year) employer contribution of $350 in each HSA
That gets us a YTD total of $14,173.21 in paycheck savings, plus we maxed out both our Roth IRAs at tax time for a total of $15,000 because we’re old and can make the catch-up contributions. That’s a grand total of $29,173.21.
We did it!
Won’t go too much higher this year because of the paving, but we’ll max out the HSAs, keep doing the $500 in his 457 because his retirement accounts are far lower than mine, and maybe even be able to ratchet that up some in the fall.
but happy to say I am now on track to max on my 401K, plus I have a bit of an emergency fund.
but I am here anyway.