Financial Goals 2017: Budget Harder

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baquerd: Jul 2, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Reduce spending, particularly on food as it's really the main thing I can cut (I cook fancy meats all the time)

Groceries: 5800 -> 4800
Fast food: 1400 -> 800
Alcohol and bars: 700 -> 500
Restaurants: 1200 -> 1200 (no change)
Cut cord TV service: 900-> 200

Net annual savings of $2500. Got lazy last year I guess.

Here's my last years graph. Spent $70k, but $15k of that was paying off a home loan that is now gone.

Also need to adjust deductions, tax rebate getting too big.

# ? Jan 20, 2017 20:32

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# ? Apr 25, 2024 09:10

GreenBuckanneer: Sep 15, 2007

Goals:

1. get current on student loans (currently owe like....2k in order to make them current)
2. start paying regularly on the loans, and on the one I am defaulted on (Thankfully it has no interest now, but I can only pay it over the phone....)
3. make sure I just keep doing this
4. try to consolidate my discover loan, which is now at 12% interest, which is insane

I have about 80k in student loans with an income of 32.5k or so before taxes... no bach though.......rear end degree though.

I still can't budget for poo poo so I'm relying on my SO to help me budget/pay for these (mint/ynab doesn't help me, I need a physical verbal reminder)

I also have over 1k in my job's HSA, if that matters I guess...

other goals:
stop smonking (2 packs a week)
drink less (lol yeah right) probably about $100 a month budget atm
keep our food budget below $250 (we recently spent $150 this month to make 5 freezer ready meals and I can see that (even with larger portions) lasting us an entire month to feed two people)

I paid off my $410 credit card debt though!

GreenBuckanneer fucked around with this message at 06:56 on Jan 29, 2017

# ? Jan 29, 2017 06:47

BAE OF PIGS: Nov 28, 2016; Tup

I've for the most part stopped drinking (I haven't bought anything at the stores and I went out once with my gf for a packer game and spent a total of $15) this month and I'm surprised at how much it has affected my budget. I've never been a big drinker but even casually drinking adds up.

I've also lost weight which I'm sure cutting out the drinking has done.

I think if you really try to cut down on the alcohol you can save a lot of money there.

# ? Jan 29, 2017 14:52

Knyteguy: Jul 6, 2005; YES to love
NO to shirts; Toilet Rascal

Modest Mouse cover band posted:

2017 Goals:
* Stretch - Finalize piecework contract with company I've been working with to begin side gig.

Done. $45,000 in gross income this year will begin coming my way this week on a contract web development gig. Now to see how long it takes me to deliver the completed site, and hopefully I can get more side work before the year is over.

BAE OF PIGS posted:

I've for the most part stopped drinking (I haven't bought anything at the stores and I went out once with my gf for a packer game and spent a total of $15) this month and I'm surprised at how much it has affected my budget. I've never been a big drinker but even casually drinking adds up.

I've also lost weight which I'm sure cutting out the drinking has done.

I think if you really try to cut down on the alcohol you can save a lot of money there.

Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 22:44 on Jan 30, 2017

# ? Jan 30, 2017 22:41

Devian666: Aug 20, 2008; Take some advice Chris.; Fun Shoe

Devian666 posted:

I skipped last years goals due to things being too hosed and unpredictable with the infamous retaining wall of doom that I needed to have built. All the payments and debt relating to that were wiped out in December so it's a good time to get back on track.

My focus is back on my pitiful retirement savings: total retirement savings $36k

Retirement savings goal for EoY: $86k

Side goal: refinance the other half of my mortgage from 27 years to 15 years remaining.

My retirement savings are still pitiful but I have deleveraged a floating rate loan used to buy a block of shares. Progress that doesn't change any numbers.

# ? Jan 30, 2017 23:00

C-Euro: Mar 20, 2010; Soiled Meat

It's not quite February 1st but gently caress it, I'm not spending any more money in January.

--Pay off 3k of student loan (6k remaining; $250/mo payments) Hit this no problem.
--Stay up-to-date on car payments (13k remaining; $323/mo minimum payments). Same.
--Save up remaining $2500 owed to parents for wedding in 2015 On pace.
--Hit $750/mo minimum in side work. Put at least $500 OR half of each side check into savings, whichever is greater. $560 which is low, but I missed a week while I was in training at work. On the bright side, I can think I afford to just throw the entire check into savings without feeling anything.
--Merge 401ks from previous job and current job. Stretch: do it before I get a new job lol
--Start using some sort of actual budgeting program/software for my wife and I (recs welcome!) lol
--Maintain an "entertainment" budget of $100/month (video games, tabletop gaming stuff, movies, shows, etc. Kind of a nebulous idea, and that initial number may be too high) 76.36/100 or 91.36/100, depending on if you count e-books from Humble Bundle or not

Non-monetary goals:
--Continue lifting twice a week. Doing it.
--Run another road race after not doing one in 2016. Know what race I want to do, registration doesn't open for a couple months. Started meeting up with my running buddy and he knows another local who wants to join us!
--Finish one new book each month. James Clavell's Shogun which I technically started last year but still had like 300 pages to read in January. Really good book, there's a lot going on but it manages to stay exciting and fun to follow. Goes fast too, which is good because it's 1000+ pages. Only complaint is that there's too much to tie up at the end so the last 20% or so feels really rushed and kind of ends in media res, if that makes sense. Still, strong recommendation.
--Get rid of something every day. Been throwing a lot of paper away off my desk. Maybe not doing it every day but definitely tossing more than one thing a day on average.

C-Euro fucked around with this message at 03:55 on Feb 3, 2017

# ? Feb 1, 2017 05:31

Referee: Aug 25, 2004; "Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday."
(Wilma Rudolph)

End of January Update in bold:

IllegallySober posted:

My 2017 goal is to become debt-free by paying off $17,129.33 in debt. NOW AT $16,916.61
(Stretch goal- do this by my birthday, August 20).
(Stretch goal #2- also max out my Roth IRA).

$3,539.21 in student loan remains. NOW AT $3,457.15
$13,590.12 in credit card debt remains. NOW AT $13,459.46

Do not rack up any new debt (besides unavoidable interest charges on the above). ALL GOOD HERE SO FAR

Other personal goals:

Lose 20 lbs (so I'd weigh 170) CURRENTLY 191, GAINED A POUND. DAMMIT

Decrease restaurant/bar/alcohol expenses by 30% from 2016. Just ran the numbers for 2016 and holy poo poo. I spent $5,007.99 on restaurants and bars and alcohol. That's $417.33 a month. Every month. Jesus Christ.

30% decrease would be $3,505.59, or $292.13 per month. That's a non-negotiable for me. Has to happen. Stretch goal here is to spend less than $2,500 in both categories combined. JANUARY: SPENT $407.00. DAMMIT

Not a great month overall. Going to have to do better with planning meals in advance for work- I did this well the first half of the month but the last half wasn't great. Going grocery shopping tomorrow. The less I eat lovely restaurant food, the faster I kill debt and the easier I'll lose weight. I'm cutting beer entirely until I hit the weight loss goal and will be drinking sparingly, if at all, between now and then. February will be a better month.

# ? Feb 1, 2017 06:47

spinst: Jul 14, 2012

1. Increase net worth to 94k. Currently 75k
2. Increase emergency fund from 5.5k to 7.5k. Currently 5.8k
3. Increase house fund from 2.5k to 11k. Currently 3.7k
4. Go on a fun (overseas?) trip this summer. Spending Limit: 3k. Destination Chosen: Iceland.
5. Contribute a minimum of $2400 to my Roth IRA. $200
6. Stay debt free. Yup.
7. Lose 15 pounds. Pounds lost: 1. Meh.

# ? Feb 1, 2017 15:58

Nail Rat: Dec 29, 2000; You maniacs! You blew it up! God damn you! God damn you all to hell!!

Nail Rat posted:

Goals for 2017:
-Pay off 401k loan and be debt free for the first time in 7 years.

Done with this one!

Nail Rat fucked around with this message at 16:54 on Feb 1, 2017

# ? Feb 1, 2017 16:42

Referee: Aug 25, 2004; "Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday."
(Wilma Rudolph)

Nail Rat posted:

Done!

Well, now what are you gonna do with the next 11 months?

Seriously, nice job!

# ? Feb 1, 2017 16:52

Nail Rat: Dec 29, 2000; You maniacs! You blew it up! God damn you! God damn you all to hell!!

IllegallySober posted:

Well, now what are you gonna do with the next 11 months?

Seriously, nice job!

Haha well that was only one goal...gotta build the e-fund back up and save up a shitton towards a house while keeping trucking with the retiremend funding...but being debt-free finally feels good.

# ? Feb 1, 2017 16:54

Sundae: Dec 1, 2005

Progress for Jan 2017

Habit oriented
1 - Regularly using YNAB: SUCCESS.
2 - January 50% Work Adherence (At Home Time): SUCCESS. We have schedules and are working appropriately now, though with fits and starts. We're above 50%. Next stop, 80% by March.
3 - Exercise Goal: ACCEPTABLE FAILURE / DELAY. I'm currently being evaluated for a potential aneurysm, and I've been told I can't exercise at all until the hospital has sorted out wtf is happening. By mid-Feb, I expect to have clarity on this.

Expense oriented for both Sundae and Wife
1 - Putting the subsidy aside: Success for January. On Track.
2 - We didn't hit $30 per month for January on alcohol purchases due to a vacation we previously had scheduled, but we were way better than December. We're looking to hit this in Feb.
3 - Limit eating out (including lunch and dinner): We didn't hit this in January due to a previously-scheduled vacation, but we were still better than December. We're looking to hit this in February.
4 - Greed Limit: SUCCESS for January.
5 - Glutton Limit: Close to success (aka still a failure) in January due to vacation trip. We'll hit this in Feb.

Business Oriented
1-5: Too early to judge these. First update at 1Q2017 end.

Lifestyle Oriented
1 - Down 4 pounds at end of January (Goal: Lose 12 pounds at minimum. Stretch Goal: Lose 24 pounds.)
2-3: (Retirement planning goals) In Progress, no update yet.

# ? Feb 1, 2017 18:57

EAT FASTER!!!!!!: Sep 21, 2002; Legendary.

First Month's Progress

EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:

- Second car paid in full, but now 13 years old and increasingly fickle. Aim to not replace this until MBA paid in full.

By end of Q1:
- Down to 2 credit cards, neither carrying any interest. Both remaining cards paid in full today!
- Savings to 16k.10k now, but my budgeted tuition is currently serving as the remainder of our emergency fund - work has agreed to pay for my degree, terms developing...

By end of Q2:
- Personal CC debt free.Ahead of the curve!
- Savings to 32k.

By end of Q3:
- Savings to 6 months expenses, max that we can earn 2+% on in our credit union checking.
- Wife private student loan retired.

By end of Q4:
- MBA Tuition paid in full (this may adjust as my work has decided to pay for graduate degrees - plan will be similar to others who have reported keeping the tuition in savings in case a change of jobs becomes likely before my tuition is forgiven by work) we'll see
- Our 403 (b)s fully funded.

Yearly Goals:
- No new debt. so far so good!
- Be promoted to clinical assistant professor (slight pay raise). July 1 if it happens

Things we will not try to do:
- Pay anything beyond the minimum on our awful student loans - we are both eligible for PSLF in less than 5 years, so will be aiming to stick to this payment schedule, which this year accelerates to 10 year basic repayment. Payments set to increase in December 2017
- Mess around with the car situation - I�m happy with the car that I bought for my wife, although it was expensive and has a high monthly payment, it is under warranty and it feels safe for her and my daughter to get around. God but I want a new car so bad.

Stretch Goals
- �second mortgage� retired ($28,000 balance starting)
- interest-carrying inelligible student loans retired (some Discovery loans totalling like $15k.)
- 457 plan launched at work (I have requested this, CEO on board and benefits officer looking into cost/benefits to launch in 2017), fully funded by both wife and I

# ? Feb 1, 2017 22:10

Grumpwagon: May 6, 2007; I am a giant assfuck who needs to harden the fuck up.

Boring but good month. Just a lot of account opening/consolidating and getting the new budget set up. Sure is nice not to have to spend ~50% of our income paying student loans like last year. Keep it up everyone! Updates inline.

Grumpwagon posted:

2017 Goals
1) NO NEW DEBT (*with a "perfect house and down payment is in order" exception). No cars, no house* - On track
2) Evaluate career change - I work Software QA, but have been gradually taking on some DevOps responsibilities. I'm going to take a week of vacation sometime in Q1 to brush up my coding skills and determine if I'd like to shift into DevOps/Dev full time - Took the week last week. Still considering options, but enjoyed coding again.
3) Consolidate last remaining solo accounts from before marriage - Just have to actually do it. - On track. Both other accounts have been linked to our main account, just need to move funds now.
4) Bring emergency fund up to $12k - Added $800/$5.5k. On track
5) Max out Roth IRAs for both of us - Opened a new account for the wife, added $1k, plus our monthly $458 each today. Technically these are 2016 contributions, but I'm counting this goal as $5500 for each of us this calendar year, NOT counting the initial $1k needed to open her account.
6) Continue funding 401ks at 10% each - On track
7) Save $40k for a down payment for a house - Created a new savings account and made the first $3636 deposit yesterday.
8) Take a vacation (~$3k) - $600/$3000 - We're thinking San Francisco this year, out of country next year, but still up in the air as of yet.
9) Increase NW to $135k/Continue ~60% savings rate - Haven't done the math yet here, but I'm anticipating we're on track this month.
10) Lose 20 pounds and keep it off - Lost 5 pounds in January. Ate like poo poo today. My eating is dumb. Back on the wagon!

Misc goals
Stay current on YNAB, stay current on birth control (i.e. no kids please), keep learning in and out of my career, keep an eye open for a good side gig that won't make me crazy. - On track, except for side gig, but I'm considering that a stretch goal

Grumpwagon fucked around with this message at 22:34 on Feb 1, 2017

# ? Feb 1, 2017 22:27

spwrozek: Sep 4, 2006; Sail when it's windy

Sundae posted:

3 - Exercise Goal: ACCEPTABLE FAILURE / DELAY. I'm currently being evaluated for a potential aneurysm, and I've been told I can't exercise at all until the hospital has sorted out wtf is happening. By mid-Feb, I expect to have clarity on this.

Dang, I hope you are OK!

Also monthly updates? What happened to quarterly....

# ? Feb 2, 2017 05:21

Sundae: Dec 1, 2005

spwrozek posted:

Dang, I hope you are OK!

Also monthly updates? What happened to quarterly....

Some of us have no lives except to count our (lack of) money.

(I honestly think I'm fine. We'll see in a few days post-MRA!

)

# ? Feb 2, 2017 05:47

AndrewP: Apr 21, 2010

Let's take a look at my goals from last year :

AndrewP posted:

- Set up a budget and stick to it. nah

- Pay off wife's car. Loan is done in September but might see what we can do to get this wrapped up faster. yeah, paid it off but not early

- Have a $6k emergency fund. I mean we reliably have at least 6k in the bank, so yeah sure

- Set up a Roth IRA. Should have done this sooner. nope

- Smaller thing, but I want to FINALLY combine checking accounts for me and my wife. Been putting this off because I need to change my direct deposit and all of my autopays, but this will make things so much easier. nope

- Lifestyle change - eat out less, get into the habit of cooking every night. SO MUCH of our money goes into eating out, because we live in a city and can walk to a ton of great restaurants. Bad habit, gotta kick it. we got Blue Apron so probably did this a bit but we still eat out plenty

Okay, so I pretty much sucked this past year in terms of these goals.

New goals:

- IRAs! I am GOING TO SET THEM UP THIS YEAR GODDAMMIT and max them out.

- move everything to one joint checking account. I'm actively working on this now so this is almost done finally. we've been married for over 4 years and we still have a separate checking accounts which is as stupid in practice as it is in theory

- Pay off my car. It's like 1300 bucks and the interest rate is tiny but it'd be nice to just be done with it. Probably get this done after the IRA is set up.

- Pay off most/all of my student loans. like $7800 total and the payments are very manageable but I'd like to be done with them.

- go out to eat less :haw:

AndrewP fucked around with this message at 05:59 on Feb 2, 2017

# ? Feb 2, 2017 05:56

moana: Jun 18, 2005; one of the more intellectual satire communities on the web

AndrewP posted:

- IRAs! I am GOING TO SET THEM UP THIS YEAR GODDAMMIT and max them out.

This takes like what, an hour? Get it done this weekend and max it for last year before you file your taxes. DO IT DO IT DO IT NOW

# ? Feb 3, 2017 02:55

Good-Natured Filth: Jun 8, 2008; Do you think I've got the goods Bubblegum? Cuz I am INTO this stuff!

2017 Goals (January update):

- My wife will be quitting her job next year (was a goal for last year, but we pushed it back). Need to re-assess budget before that happens. Back of the napkin says we'll be more than fine, but I want hard numbers in a spreadsheet She quit her job, money will be fine, and most importantly, she's not unnecessarily stressed every day for the first time in two years.
- 6000 in Roth IRAs
- 2000 in HSA on track
- meet company match on 401k on track
- 50/month in daughter's 529 on track
- Go somewhere nice for our 5 year anniversary
- Get some storage for the basement and clean it up a bit (spend less than $250)
- Buy a new vehicle with more than 75% cash
- Decide on having baby number 2 (more budget re-assessment)
- Help my wife make money with her business idea (gotta start small)
- Run some new electrical and Ethernet drops all over my house (need to figure out a budget for this)

Not a lot of progress yet. With the first goal being hit, I want to wait for things to settle out and see how our financial stream compares to my math.

# ? Feb 3, 2017 03:39

pig slut lisa: Mar 5, 2012; irl is good

Good-Natured Filth posted:

2017 Goals (January update):

- My wife will be quitting her job next year (was a goal for last year, but we pushed it back). Need to re-assess budget before that happens. Back of the napkin says we'll be more than fine, but I want hard numbers in a spreadsheet She quit her job, money will be fine, and most importantly, she's not unnecessarily stressed every day for the first time in two years.
- 6000 in Roth IRAs
- 2000 in HSA on track
- meet company match on 401k on track
- 50/month in daughter's 529 on track
- Go somewhere nice for our 5 year anniversary
- Get some storage for the basement and clean it up a bit (spend less than $250)
- Buy a new vehicle with more than 75% cash
- Decide on having baby number 2 (more budget re-assessment)
- Help my wife make money with her business idea (gotta start small)
- Run some new electrical and Ethernet drops all over my house (need to figure out a budget for this)

Not a lot of progress yet. With the first goal being hit, I want to wait for things to settle out and see how our financial stream compares to my math.

Tell me about your wife's business idea. I'm intrigued.

# ? Feb 3, 2017 04:58

Potrzebie: Apr 6, 2010; I may not know what I'm talking about, but I sure love cops! ^^ Boy, but that boot is just yummy!; Lipstick Apathy

Update the first!

Potrzebie posted:

Goals
Keep savings as % of income at or abve 25%
So far so good. Savings for January was 42.5% (50.6% if mortgage counts). This will probably not be repeated too many times this year; not quite half of it was a one time windfall. There will be two more windfalls at least thoguh. Tax returns and renumeration from the housing society board.

Open a tax-advantaged account for baby, buy index funds monthly
Papers signed and posted long ago. The bank is not in any particular hurry to get back to me.

No more online gambling
Fail. But the fail resulted in me winning a tournament, hence the windfall in savings. No new money is entering the gambling account, so I will be net plus for the year.

Learn a thing; see if thing can be used to create side income
This is not relevant until june

Start to transition portfolio from individual stock to index funds
No progress. This is not a good time to transition the stock I have. Later will be better!

Get wet and cold
No progress! Infant swim is wet and hot and fun, but it is in no way exercise.

Other stuff
Have a nice vacation
We are beginning to plan for a week come spring, and another week in summer.

Sleep

Go debt free
Not sure that this is a good idea tax (or investment) wise; but if we have been good and lucky enough by the end of 2017 when our morgage is due to be renegociated it might be nice to just pay it off and never look back.

Make baby 2
Baby 1 needs sibling to boss around.

# ? Feb 3, 2017 08:36

AndrewP: Apr 21, 2010

moana posted:

This takes like what, an hour? Get it done this weekend and max it for last year before you file your taxes. DO IT DO IT DO IT NOW

Huh, I didn't realize I could still do this for last year. Probably can't max it out right now but I can put a good chunk in. Thanks for the tip.

# ? Feb 3, 2017 14:38

Good-Natured Filth: Jun 8, 2008; Do you think I've got the goods Bubblegum? Cuz I am INTO this stuff!

pig slut lisa posted:

Tell me about your wife's business idea. I'm intrigued.

I suppose I was a bit cryptic, and it sounds more grandiose than it actually is. She's a very crafty person and makes her own decor for everything (our wedding, birthday parties, her sister's baby shower, etc.). She always gets compliments on stuff she makes, so she wants to start a store to sell it. Not a new concept for a business by any stretch.

# ? Feb 3, 2017 17:23

pig slut lisa: Mar 5, 2012; irl is good

Good-Natured Filth posted:

I suppose I was a bit cryptic, and it sounds more grandiose than it actually is. She's a very crafty person and makes her own decor for everything (our wedding, birthday parties, her sister's baby shower, etc.). She always gets compliments on stuff she makes, so she wants to start a store to sell it. Not a new concept for a business by any stretch.

That's really great! Best of luck to her.

# ? Feb 4, 2017 04:26

Guest2553: Aug 3, 2012

Guest2553 posted:

My big picture goals for the year are to increase family net worth to 220K and stick to a budget. We currently have about 180K between savings/roth/401 and are aiming to save ~24k, throw our ~10k tax return at it (we went from zero to maxed 401k after sitting on a lot of cash), and expecting 5-6k in gainz/dividends. Only saved 1500 in Jan because there were a bunch of one-off expenses like maternity clothes, winter clothing, and baby stuff. I'm expecting this rate to drift up over the year so I'll call us on target for savings so far. Net Worth ticked downwards because of the market though.

I recently moved from lovely public housing (which allowed me to save like a boss) to an actual house worth living in (which costs twice as much but allows me to actually like where I am). Between that and an imminent babby expenses will go up, but I want to keep spending under control and know where my money is going. We started tracking expenses to see what money was going where which will help us create a realistic budget

Stretch goal is to develop some sort of side hustle.I have an idea worth investigating but don't have the time to follow up on it yet.

Non-financial goal is to regularly work out to get (back) in shape, also to maintain some semblance of work/life balance.My job is super busy but I've managed to leave work at work so far this year, which gives me time to do things like hobbies and regularly work out. Something something positive feedback loop.

# ? Feb 4, 2017 17:03

AndrewP: Apr 21, 2010

AndrewP posted:

Let's take a look at my goals from last year :

Okay, so I pretty much sucked this past year in terms of these goals.

New goals:

- IRAs! I am GOING TO SET THEM UP THIS YEAR GODDAMMIT and max them out.

- move everything to one joint checking account. I'm actively working on this now so this is almost done finally. we've been married for over 4 years and we still have a separate checking accounts which is as stupid in practice as it is in theory

- Pay off my car. It's like 1300 bucks and the interest rate is tiny but it'd be nice to just be done with it. Probably get this done after the IRA is set up.

- Pay off most/all of my student loans. like $7800 total and the payments are very manageable but I'd like to be done with them.

- go out to eat less

I'm gonna update these because maybe I'll actually, like, do them

- IRA: Setting my wife up with a 2050 Target Date Vanguard Roth IRA. Going to put $2500 in it for 2016 and then have an auto-payment of ~$450 a month to max it out from then on.

- Set up an auto-payment of $500 a month to my TSP. Along with what I already contribute + matching this should be close to maxing it out

- Fix my tax withholding - usually we owe on federal and get a state refund that balances it out. This year the taxes on last year's refund means we net owe like $650. This blows. I need to withhold more.

- ~~joint checking account~~

- Extra $500 a month toward student loans to kill them this year

- Probably just pay my car off on schedule in like 4 months. It has such a paltry interest rate anyway.

- Limit eating out to $300 a month. and bring my lunch to work most days.

- Call Comcast and ATT to try to get a lower monthly bill. Somehow I'm paying like $200 per month for each and that seems insane. Actually I think I'm just cancelling cable altogether.

- Sign up for the Chase Sapphire Reserve card so I can get 100,000 bonus points to help offset the cost of one of our trips this year.

# ? Feb 5, 2017 19:09

BEHOLD: MY CAPE: Jan 11, 2004

100,000 points CSR is dead sorry

# ? Feb 6, 2017 23:31

pig slut lisa: Mar 5, 2012; irl is good

BEHOLD: MY CAPE posted:

100,000 points CSR is dead sorry

Can still apply in branch through March 12, unless I missed some news

# ? Feb 7, 2017 00:04

AndrewP: Apr 21, 2010

pig slut lisa posted:

Can still apply in branch through March 12, unless I missed some news

what I'm banking on

e: heh

# ? Feb 7, 2017 00:29

EAT FASTER!!!!!!: Sep 21, 2002; Legendary.

AndrewP posted:

what I'm banking on

Financial Goals 2017: What I'm Banking On

# ? Feb 7, 2017 13:55

BAE OF PIGS: Nov 28, 2016; Tup

I really really want the CSR, but I'm having trouble hitting $500 for the unlimited freedom card, so I probably shouldn't apply for a card that I would need to spend $4,000 on.

# ? Feb 8, 2017 11:50

The Big Jesus: Oct 29, 2007; #essereFerrari

I didn't make any goals for last year but still managed to get decent things done. Hopefully I can do better with some goals!

1) Max Roth IRA
2) Max HSA
3) Put enough in 401(k) for company match
4) Get emergency fund to $7500
5) Figure out where I should put my emergency fund.
6a) Get into an MBA program
6b) Get a couple roommates
7) Get down to 175 lbs before my buddy's wedding at the end of May. Slim fit suit here I come... (Literal stretch goal: before my brother's wedding at the end of April)

# ? Feb 8, 2017 20:04

BAE OF PIGS: Nov 28, 2016; Tup

Are those the order of your goals? I'd put company match 401k first.

# ? Feb 9, 2017 02:40

Nail Rat: Dec 29, 2000; You maniacs! You blew it up! God damn you! God damn you all to hell!!

Nail Rat posted:

Goals for 2017:
-Pay off 401k loan and be debt free for the first time in 7 years.
-Increase emergency fund to $10k.
-Max out 401k.
-Max out IRA.
-Max out HSA.
-$20k to house down payment fund.
-Increase net worth to $150k(assuming no big market collapse). Of course this is just a combination of the above goals but it would feel good!

Changing my goals a bit, because I realized it's kind of silly to put all my eggs in the house basket when I'm bare minimum another 2 years away from a down payment after this year, possibly more. It'd be good to get a taxable fund going as well now that I'm in the clear financially and able to (more or less) max retirement funds, that way I have some compounding growth that I can tap into before I'm old if need be.

Revised Goals for 2017:
-Pay off 401k loan and be debt free for the first time in 7 years. (DONE)
-Increase emergency fund to $10k.
-Contribute at least 16k to 401k before employer match. STRETCH GOAL: Max out 401k. I know theoretically I should make sure to max this before doing any of the below but...I feel a lot better about my retirement situation than my liquid assets. If I end up eating cat food I doubt it'll be due to not tax protecting 2k more when I was in my early 30s.
-Max out IRA.
-Max out HSA.
-At least $17k to house down payment fund. STRETCH GOAL: $20k.
-Contribute at least $4k to a new taxable investment fund. STRETCH GOAL: $5k.

I'll be opening the taxable investment fund (vanguard) and house fund (ally) sometime next month with modest amounts which I'm pumped about.

I could hit all my stretch goals pretty easily if I get a typical bonus and a typical raise, but last year's bonuses sucked across the board in the company so we'll see. Cutting cable in May will help!

Nail Rat fucked around with this message at 21:04 on Feb 9, 2017

# ? Feb 9, 2017 16:20

The Big Jesus: Oct 29, 2007; #essereFerrari

BAE OF PIGS posted:

Are those the order of your goals? I'd put company match 401k first.

Nah just a list. Just maxed IRA. Got my 401k poo poo together (good lord my company has terrible default settings/options). Next two paychecks will max HSA but I gotta figure out where to invest with that.

# ? Feb 9, 2017 21:02

Rocks: Dec 30, 2011

i don't know if this is the thread for it, but my wife and i are buying a house this year. saved up $150k and it's going in on a down payment for a $750k fixer upper. hope to turn it around for $1M in 2-3 years. god bless.

# ? Feb 9, 2017 23:01

pig slut lisa: Mar 5, 2012; irl is good

Rocks posted:

i don't know if this is the thread for it, but my wife and i are buying a house this year. saved up $150k and it's going in on a down payment for a $750k fixer upper. hope to turn it around for $1M in 2-3 years. god bless.

Congrats and RIP in advance

# ? Feb 10, 2017 00:22

Devian666: Aug 20, 2008; Take some advice Chris.; Fun Shoe

Rocks posted:

i don't know if this is the thread for it, but my wife and i are buying a house this year. saved up $150k and it's going in on a down payment for a $750k fixer upper. hope to turn it around for $1M in 2-3 years. god bless.

Congratulations on purchasing your future money pit. Even if you bought new it would consume a lot of money. On the upside there is a level of satisfaction with owning your own house.

# ? Feb 10, 2017 01:39

Dr Jankenstein: Aug 6, 2009; Hold the newsreader's nose squarely, waiter, or friendly milk will countermand my trousers.

Welp, finally got approved for a (secured) credit card, vantage score 3.0 instantly jumped by 100pts. It's sad when even the Discover It didn't want me, so I picked the one with the lowest annual fee ($29).

Low interest rate, but no intentions of carrying a balance. Strictly for day-to-day spending (ie, pop at work)

One step closer to having decent credit by the time I have enough saved for the downpayment on a house.

Also, I got the IBR consolidation for my loans done. Hooray for $0.00 payments!

# ? Feb 10, 2017 04:55

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# ? Apr 25, 2024 09:10

Rocks: Dec 30, 2011

Devian666 posted:

Congratulations on purchasing your future money pit. Even if you bought new it would consume a lot of money. On the upside there is a level of satisfaction with owning your own house.

Thanks!

# ? Feb 10, 2017 04:57

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Financial Goals 2017: Budget Harder

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