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Well last night I grabbed a cup, tossed my two credit cards in, filled the cup with water and stuck it in the freezer. I've been spending too much on fast food at/after work. I think this will help my wife and I try to consolidate our shopping trips anyway. I'll probably delete my credit card numbers from Amazon too. If an emergency happens I'll just go to the bank with my ID and get some cash out. Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 14:50 on Jun 5, 2013 |
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Jun 5, 2013 14:42
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| # ¿ May 6, 2024 02:29 |
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Can this still be the monthly, "I stuck to/was under my budget  " or the "I on a spending spree and went way over budget  " thread? I really enjoyed seeing other people's budgets and whether or not they stuck to them.Yeah, I went a solid month and then for some reason my wife and I fell off the wagon. Thankfully she got an unexpected bonus a couple months ago that puts us where I expected to be.
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Jun 5, 2013 16:43
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Just bumping to say that tossing the cards in the freezer really has worked. The first few days at work were tough. The clock would strike 12:00 and my brain would suddenly start going over what I was going to buy to eat that day, then I would remember that I didn't have my credit card. So I walked to the fridge, begrudgingly grabbed and apple and carried on. Today I look forward to getting an apple, carrots or a sandwich packed from home. I'm starting to realize there really isn't a need for me to carry money around (plastic or cash) on a daily basis for any reason. When I need gas I'll go to the bank with my drivers license. If there's an emergency and for some reason I really need money I'll just go to a bank with my drivers license. I pass by my bank 3-4 times on the way home each day and my wife is always just a phonecall away. Engineer Lenk posted:What's the wiggle room in your budget? Some of your other posts make it sound like you went on a financial crash-diet - which is about as successful as a food crash-diet. Yeah I gave that impression before and put some wiggle room in my current budget. If I don't meet my budget I still save quite a bit and we're happy whether we meet our budget or not, I would just rather meet my budget and save a little more each month. Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 17:54 on Jun 12, 2013 |
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Jun 12, 2013 17:44
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Looks like I have an opportunity coming up to shave $300 bucks or so off of my housing budget as we may be moving to a smaller home (probably 1200sqft instead of 1600) so I assume our utilities will decrease a bit as well. Things are going great this month. My card is still frozen and I'm still munching on healthy food I've prepared from home every day at work.
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Jun 17, 2013 17:26
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Our take home pay has shrunk somewhat since we are putting more of my wife's paycheck (50%) into her 401k for the rest of the year. I'll probably do the same thing next year because I want to see how low I can get the taxes. Based on 2013 numbers maxing a 401k and two IRAs along with our other deductions (standard/PEs) should get us down to an effective 1.5% federal and 3-3.5% state. Insane. The savings are about $4,500 Anyway, something my wife and I are doing now to save money/benefit our health is to order a single plate at restaurants and just share it. So two $10-12 dollar meals became a big $17 dollar meal at the last restaurant we were at and we were both full when it was over, usually we feel too full. I got the idea when the girl at Five Guys misunderstood me and just gave me a single large burger instead of two. So my wife and I just split it and the fries and we were fine. She's also eating more whole fruit at home and during our vacation we got rid of the sodas again so I think we're on the right track. I list my budget later, I need to make it a bit more realistic. Also vacation is over so no more eating out 
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Jul 11, 2013 14:04
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Engineer Lenk posted:Why would you try to defer tax with a trad IRA when you're already in a low tax bracket? Roth it and watch out for your contribution limits. I live in North Carolina, second highest tax bracket in the nation. I think the IRA/401k deductions affect both state and federal income. If I'm wrong I really need to drop the IRA and go back to a ROTH. Anyway here's how it looks in NC:  Standard deduction is like $6,000 and there are no other exemptions. Here's what I got using this state/federal 2013 calculator using only the standard deductions and 2 personal exemptions. I would file jointly with my wife. I'm guessing we'll have to use the standard deductions since we will be renting or will own a home completely in the future. Owed: Only standard deductions Federal/State Owed: $8,772.50 Owed: Only using 401k/Standard Deductions to Federal/State: Federal/State Owed: $4,992.50 Owed: using 2 IRAs/401k/Standard Deductions Federal/State Owed: $2,772.50 401k/IRA savings vs just standard deductions: $6000 Savings using IRAs vs just the 401k: $2220 I only want to do this for a year in 2014 (so yeah, taxes will be a little different then I'm sure) to get an IRA maxed out, then I would go back to funding my Roths. I'm also assuming that I'll be staying in an apartment or renting so there won't be a mortgage interest deduction so I'll have to use the standard. I'm sure this is probably going too far but that's why I really appreciate having you guys around to tell me I'm going to far. Part of me just wants to do this for fun, I mean I'm sacrificing a lot but still paying a higher percentage than GE and I don't get any tax credits either edit: Had to fix a few things. Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 17:29 on Jul 11, 2013 |
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Jul 11, 2013 16:33
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The thing is I currently live on $30k with my wife which includes my $12,000 mortgage and I'm quite happy. So I don't see why I need to take more than an inflation adjusted $30k a year when I retire without a mortgage. So I doubt taxes would be an issue. Everything we enjoy is cheap. Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 22:51 on Jul 11, 2013 |
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Jul 11, 2013 21:58
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Ah OK I never really thought about the minimum distributions before but that's definitely something to keep in mind. My plan was to eventually reduce (not eliminate) my tax free contributions in favor of Roths/Taxable accounts because I want to retire or semi-retire early.
Sephiroth_IRA fucked around with this message at 00:21 on Jul 12, 2013 |
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Jul 12, 2013 00:12
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| # ¿ May 6, 2024 02:29 |
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Man July sucked :| My spending habits have improved a lot but my wife and I both shared a 7 day vacation and went to restaurants the whole week, I should just expect to spend more during months I have vacations and adjust the budget accordingly. Then my wife's car battery died and had to be replaced. By the end of the month we still had savings but not as much as I expected. We're still improving though. Now whenever my wife and I eat out we just order one big dish to share instead of two, which saves quite a bit and we both are full/satisfied after the meal. We do this basically every time now and it's saved us between 5-15 bucks every time. I expect August to be much better. edit: Also I really need to ask for a raise.
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Aug 1, 2013 16:52
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