July update!
Gross income: 8966
Savings: 229*
*$1500 withdrawal from HSA was subtracted from that figure.
July savings rate: 2.6%
YTD income: 70,666
YTD savings: 3270
YTD savings percentage: 4.6%
We’re not going to make 23% but I like tracking the percents!
Sept 1 check-in (oops, missed a few months):
Roth 401(k): $5275
RothIRA: $2000
mortgage principal: $3491
Total: $10,766
gross income to date: $52,751
2023 savings to date is 20.4% of gross income - somehow still the same as in April. 
At this point, I’m not sure if this is going to change unless I decide to do an end-of-year catchup IRA contribution - though my gross income won’t increase as fast, my pay is likely going to be less for the rest of the year (fewer hours) so my retirement contributions will be less, and my property taxes just went up by something like $100/month (not unexpected, I was underpaying before) so I may put less extra toward principal (right now it’s ~$33/month, to bring my payment up to an even number). I guess we’ll see. I’m trying not to sweat the small stuff.
August Update: Earned $3,131.26 and saved $1709.54. My rent is lower which is helping with savings, but I might need to readjust my food (groceries & eating out) budget-- I keep going over budget in both categories, and as I’m trying out new recipes (which is expensive!) I think that’ll continue to be the case.
Currently at $14,663.40 / $10,000! If I want to hit $20,230, I need to save approximately $1400 over the next 4 months. This seems doable, although student loan repayments kicking in next month are going to make that a little trickier. We’ll see how it goes!
August update! It feels like we just hemorrhaged money in August (back to school is a killer!) but math says that we actually saved 4.58% of our income.
Income: $8214
Savings: $376
YTD: $78504, savings of $3646 or 4.64% YTD. I am hoping that in September we can nudge that YTD upward a little.
Depending on how you personally feel about, repayments of debt counts towards your saving rate!
Oh noooo I just realized I have been ignoring employer contributions all year! Maybe there will be a YTD on the next paychecks 
. That will raise our savings rate a smidge, I’m sure.
September Update: Earned $2,976.36 and saved $1629.49.
This month was weird-- while I technically saved a lot and followed most of my budget, I also spent a lot of money from Sinking Funds. Because the money in those sinking funds was saved up from last year, I’m not counting that spending against myself in this challenge. But it is creating weird cognitive dissonance between what I spent according to this challenge and the actual $$ I spent this month in total.
Does anyone else struggle with this? I feel like I’m much better about saving in general, but then when I spend the money that I’ve saved up specifically for something I still feel weird and guilty about it. Anyways I’m hoping to spend Budgetober reevaluating my sinking funds and setting new goals for savings.
But still on track to potentially hit $20,230 for the next tier of this challenge. Currently at $16,292 / $10,000 of my original goal.
(edited for serious arithmetic error) Belated check in! Our percentage is way higher this month because (a) no HSA withdrawals and (b) I realized I could count employer contributions as both income and savings.
Monthly gross income: 12534
Savings: 2211
Percentage: 17.6%
YTD gross: 93,890
YTD savings: 8709
YTD percentage: 9.28%
Def. not going to make 23% but I’m happy to see the numbers going up!
Nov 1 check-in (oops, missed last month):
Roth 401(k): $6224
Roth IRA: $2000
mortgage principal: $4333
Total: $12,577
I’m not 100% sure these numbers are correct.
2023 savings to date is 20.8% of gross income. Does not include company contribution to 401(k) (not that much) or possible tiny “bonus” (not really a bonus) or company elective contribution.
At this point I’m not going to make it. Final savings might end up just over half of what it was in the past two years, and I’m averaging only 17% savings rate so far. And that’s without house hunting which hopefully ends with moving some of this saved money into a down payment. 
The sad end to my savings streak.
Join one of the other challenges! Topics tagged 23-in-23
You still saved a lot - life happens.
Very Late October Update: Earned $3,344.51 and saved $1716.51 (including payment on my student loans).
Did pretty well savings-wise, though I’m still getting a handle on my utilities payments. Also I was doing the math and realized I might not hit the $20,230 challenge until I realized I’ve been forgetting to count what comes out of my paycheck into retirement as savings which is $1500 in total for the year.
So this puts me at $19,509.73 / $10,000 of my original goal, and within striking distance of the next challenge.
November Update:
This month was rough spending wise. I earned $3,150.92 and saved $764.61. This means I’ve saved $20,274.34 so far this year!!
Hey you can go to the other thread if you want!!
Hey hey the badge is FINALLY out for 23 in 2023 challenges so if I’ve missed you and you’ve reached your goal, please @ signal me and I’ll grant you the badge.
The stickers are coming soon, featuring this Year of the Rabbit cutie.
And if you’re ready for your stickers, here you go! Please fill this out!!
Dec 1 check-in
Roth 401(k): $6425
Roth IRA: $2000
mortgage principal: $4755
Total: $13,180
2023 savings to date is 20.5% of gross income.
It will come down to how much the company match is, and how much (if any) of my teeny tiny bonus (seriously) I put into my IRA.
Final check-in
Forgot the monthly check-ins (sorry). After some forensic accounting, I figured my savings rate for the year.
Total gross income: $29,976
Total savings: $16,020
Total 2023 savings rate: 53.44%
Here’s the spreadsheet where I show my homework.
Counted towards savings rate:
Didn’t count towards savings rate:
In January, I decided not to join the $20,023 challenge because my financial situation was going to change. I’ve moved countries and switched jobs three times this year.
If I’d kept track of savings every month maybe it could’ve squeaked over that line, but these results are still good.
Caveat that the rate looks super high because of:
That said, this is the first time I’ve ever tracked my savings rate and I’m happy with how it turned out. My major goal was to get my emergency fund to $10,000, which I did!
Reminder to let me know if you need to be badged and fill in form for stickers
Ok ok ok.
Dec 31 check-in
Roth 401(k): $6990
Roth IRA: $2000
mortgage principal: $5179
company contribution to 401(k): $4657
Total: $18,827
2023 savings to date is 24.4% of gross income. 
I finally dug through the records to determine the company contribution to 401(k) which happens quarterly plus one additional one near the end of the year). It was worth it, as it bumped the savings rate by quite a bit.
Saving 23% of your income is a bold move, but totally doable with some smart money management.
