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2015 Goals: - Save $10k towards new house fund. - Max out Roth IRA for wife and self. - Take advantage of matching contributions for 401k. - Stick to new budget - Reduce stress levels and amount of clutter in the house.
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Dec 15, 2014 16:31
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| # ¿ May 12, 2024 12:10 |
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2015 Goals: - Save $10k towards new house fund. On track. Wife's extra income from consulting is helping this out. - Max out Roth IRA for wife and self. On track. Starting in February, we're adding $1000 to our Roth IRA accounts, alternating between mine and my wife's. We'll do the final $500 each in December. - Take advantage of matching contributions for 401k. Not able to do this until April-ish, when I'll have 90 days at my new job. The match is astounding, 50% matching up to 12% of my income. - Stick to new budget Doing pretty well overall. We've had some car repairs (stuck caliper, bad battery, miscellaneous wear items) but I've been able to do the repairs myself so it hasn't been too expensive. The real kick in the balls was a $2,000 tax bill that was quite unexpected. We both had our exemptions at zero, but I had us change them to the single rate to make sure this doesn't happen again next year. - Reduce stress levels and amount of clutter in the house. This is the best one so far. My new job is pretty awesome and the company is very laid back. I've also gotten to do some traveling and will be building up reward points at hotels and airline miles. This will make vacations cheaper in the long run. The wife has been doing a great job of holding everything together on her end, and I've been trying to do more around the house. I used a free weekend to do all 6 loads of laundry that she was backlogged on, and try to cook and do the grocery shopping. Considering she will earn nearly twice what I will this year and is going through grad school at the same time, I should be worshiping the ground she walks on.
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Feb 23, 2015 16:10
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P.D.B. Fishsticks posted:I actually have found (work) travel and reducing clutter to go hand in hand. Once I began spending a significant percentage of my nights in hotel rooms, I learned very quickly how little stuff I actually needed. This is very true! I travelled to San Francisco for a week recently and was able to get everything I needed into my carry-on bag and backpack. I even brought running gear, which was awesome. Pro tip: stuff your running shoes with socks and deodorant or whatever you can fit in there that doesn't need to be sanitary.
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Feb 24, 2015 14:20
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2015 Goals - Half year checkup - Save $10k towards new house fund. On target. We're house-hunting now and have decided to keep our old property to rent out. We'll be able to put the full 20% down on the new home, and can always sell the old home if we have a financial crisis. - Max out Roth IRA for wife and self. Mine is maxed out. She's been dragging her feet on getting the transfer stuff set up. Need to bug her about it again soon. - Take advantage of matching contributions for 401k. Done! 50% match up to 12% from me, so I'm saving 18% of my salary in a 401k.  - Stick to new budget Doing great overall, but my wife has had some lapses. She expressed resentment at my new job affording me so much more free time while she's busier than ever, so she's been stress-spending. - Reduce stress levels and amount of clutter in the house. Stress on my end is great, but the stress between us came to a head a few weeks ago. As this is BFC and not E/N I will spare the details. More work needed on this front.
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Jul 1, 2015 17:02
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2015 Goals - 2/3 year checkup No longer needed, we closed on the house last week! We actually didn't even spend the full amount saved on the down payment (while still putting 20% down). New house payment is lower than anticipated, as well. - Max out Roth IRA for wife Mine is maxed out. She's still dragging her feet on getting the transfer stuff set up. I bugged her about it while she was on vacation, but she still has not completed this item. Done! - Stick to new budget We will need to re-evaluate the budget with the new house. We are keeping the old house and renting it out, so this should be a net positive to our expenses. The wife has gotten back on board with keeping her discretionary spending under control. - Reduce stress levels and amount of clutter in the house. We have reduced a bunch of junk, and have started moving non-essential items to the new house already. We have some work to do on the new kitchen, and lots of paint/minor repairs. We have hired contractors to do the big jobs, and there will be plenty of stuff to keep me busy for the rest of the year.
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Sep 1, 2015 19:59
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Close enough for an end-of-year update: 2015 Goals: - Save $10k towards new house fund. Done! New house purchased and we still have a good 6 months emergency fund left. We're renting the old house out, with renters moving in on Saturday. - Max out Roth IRA for wife and self. Done! - Take advantage of matching contributions for 401k. Done! - Stick to new budget We just made a new budget this past week with the rental income/expenses, so I tentatively mark this one done. However, a budget is always a work in progress, so this will be a high priority in 2016 as we prepare for starting a family. - Reduce stress levels and amount of clutter in the house. Done! We've donated, sold, and thrown away a lot of stuff. Once spring comes around we'll be cleaning the attic and garage out more. I still have some minor "honey-do" projects at the new house, but I'm actually very pleased with how things are going. 2015 was a year of big changes for me. I started a new job, got a new home, and bought a new (used) car. 2016 is the year the wife graduates with her master's degree, and the year we start trying to get pregnant. All in all, I'm very happy with how things are going and am looking forward to the new challenges.
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Dec 16, 2015 19:54
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| # ¿ May 12, 2024 12:10 |
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SpelledBackwards posted:
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Dec 17, 2015 19:27
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