Financial Goals 2017: Budget Harder

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

«‹›9 »

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

AA is for Quitters posted:

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!

IBR is sick, having great credit is sick, drinking too much pop will make you sick, owning a home is sick, good luck, have fun.

# ? Feb 10, 2017 14:08

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Apr 25, 2024 23:44

C-Euro: Mar 20, 2010; Soiled Meat

My student loans are currently split across two accounts- one at ~$1500 with a 5.6% interest rate (subsidized), and one at ~$4k with a 6.8% rate (not subsidized). I'm paying more than the minimum each month and have the option to allocate the excess payment into these accounts in any ratio I define. Would it be better to get rid of the smaller loan ASAP or should I whittle down the larger loan sooner due to the higher interest?

# ? Feb 11, 2017 04:47

Rocks: Dec 30, 2011

C-Euro posted:

My student loans are currently split across two accounts- one at ~$1500 with a 5.6% interest rate (subsidized), and one at ~$4k with a 6.8% rate (not subsidized). I'm paying more than the minimum each month and have the option to allocate the excess payment into these accounts in any ratio I define. Would it be better to get rid of the smaller loan ASAP or should I whittle down the larger loan sooner due to the higher interest?

Higher interest

# ? Feb 11, 2017 07:47

TouchyMcFeely: Aug 21, 2006; High five! Hell yeah!

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.

As a word of note to anyone looking to do this type of purchase, make sure you look into doing a 203k loan.

It's an FHA program designed for people purchasing or refinancing a home with the intention of remodelling it.

You get the same low down payment as a regular FHA loan but it is designed around repairing a home in poor condition.

Bank owned properties are particularly good targets for these types of loans and can be a good choice for people looking to get into real estate investing.

# ? Feb 12, 2017 13:56

Rocks: Dec 30, 2011

TouchyMcFeely posted:

As a word of note to anyone looking to do this type of purchase, make sure you look into doing a 203k loan.

It's an FHA program designed for people purchasing or refinancing a home with the intention of remodelling it.

You get the same low down payment as a regular FHA loan but it is designed around repairing a home in poor condition.

Bank owned properties are particularly good targets for these types of loans and can be a good choice for people looking to get into real estate investing.

Wow thanks thats great. We were going to do a conventional mortgage plus HELOC but this looks good too. Cheers

# ? Feb 12, 2017 19:39

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

Doesn't PMI stay on FHA loans the entire time though? I guess you could refinance but rates are really low now.

# ? Feb 13, 2017 02:43

TouchyMcFeely: Aug 21, 2006; High five! Hell yeah!

PMI works the same way with FHA loans as it does with non-FHA loans. Once you break 80(ish)% and 5 years it gets removed.

https://www.fha.com/fha_requirements_mortgage_insurance

If you want to go the real estate investor route, you can use the 203k to purchase a run down duplex, fix it up, and rent out half. Live in one side for a year, refinance into a regular mortgage, and go do it again.

Or you can take the single family home route and buy some burned out shithole, fix it up, refinance it, rent it out and go find another property to do it again.

When you go to refinance the 203k, the value of the property should be higher than what you borrowed to buy and fix it so the PMI goes away.

TouchyMcFeely fucked around with this message at 15:42 on Feb 14, 2017

# ? Feb 14, 2017 15:31

baquerd: Jul 2, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

TouchyMcFeely posted:

PMI works the same way with FHA loans as it does with non-FHA loans. Once you break 80(ish)% and 5 years it gets removed.

https://www.fha.com/fha_requirements_mortgage_insurance

That's very much not what that link says at all. It says you will pay MIP for the entire loan term unless you put down at least 10%, in which case you will pay MIP for 11 years. Of course, refinancing gets you out of that.

# ? Feb 14, 2017 20:46

TouchyMcFeely: Aug 21, 2006; High five! Hell yeah!

baquerd posted:

That's very much not what that link says at all. It says you will pay MIP for the entire loan term unless you put down at least 10%, in which case you will pay MIP for 11 years. Of course, refinancing gets you out of that.

You know what, you are absolutely correct. I was looking at the Previous column and not the New column. Looks like the FHA route isn't as sexy as it once was. Thanks for the correction.

Thanks ~~Obama~~ Trump!

# ? Feb 14, 2017 22:29

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 Currently $61k but with some debt to purchase underpriced shares

Side goal: refinance the other half of my mortgage from 27 years to 15 years remaining. This will be happening in March

Still a bit of work to do and I need to reserve cash for upcoming tax bills over the next few months.

# ? Feb 15, 2017 00:26

Rocks: Dec 30, 2011

TouchyMcFeely posted:

PMI works the same way with FHA loans as it does with non-FHA loans. Once you break 80(ish)% and 5 years it gets removed.

https://www.fha.com/fha_requirements_mortgage_insurance

If you want to go the real estate investor route, you can use the 203k to purchase a run down duplex, fix it up, and rent out half. Live in one side for a year, refinance into a regular mortgage, and go do it again.

Or you can take the single family home route and buy some burned out shithole, fix it up, refinance it, rent it out and go find another property to do it again.

When you go to refinance the 203k, the value of the property should be higher than what you borrowed to buy and fix it so the PMI goes away.

Looked into the 203k, you need to pay PMI on the loan, so yeah what will probably work for us is to just stick with conventional mortgage to keep the monthly payments down and then a HELOC of $50k or so. Our monthly cash flow is pretty good so we'll be OK I think.

Thanks for the suggestion though! When we find a house trust me I'll post lots of <lovely> pics of it.

# ? Feb 15, 2017 08:40

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

TouchyMcFeely posted:

Thanks ~~Obama~~ Trump!

The change was in June of 2013.

# ? Feb 15, 2017 18:45

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

spwrozek posted:

The change was in June of 2013.

# ? Feb 15, 2017 20:14

DJCobol: May 16, 2003; CALL OF DUTY!; Grimey Drawer

Let's see how I'm doing

DJCobol posted:

I'll play again this year

Goals for 2017:
Max out HSA contributions of $3,400
$279.16 transferred monthly into this account will max this out by December, so on-track

Max out Roth IRA contributions of $5,000
$211.53 coming out of each bi-weekly paycheck will take care of this, so on-track.

Dedicated house emergency fund of $2,500 because old houses could literally blow up at any second
Dedicated personal emergency fund of $10,000 because being homeless would suck if I lose my job
Done, with a decent amount left in checking and other savings as well. Previously it was all just lumped together

Up 401(k) contribution percentage from 10% to 15% by end of the year (probably after tax time)
Upping to 12.5% puts me at my budget savings goal, so I'm leaving it there

Spend tax return on hookers and blow in Vegas
I bought house stuff and boosted my primary savings after splitting out the 2 above emergency funds

Vacation to a continent that isn't North America
Budgeting for Christmas in Europe again this year, so on-track

Sell my current motorcycle
loving motorcycles

New goal:

Start saving for a new car.
Done, see above screenshot

One of my bucket list items is to buy a new car and take delivery in Europe (BMW, MB, and Audi all do this program), so I budgeted a $500 a month car payment. Right now it's going into a a down payment savings account, but that also gets me used to having a car payment in my budget again. And all the changes put me pretty much right where I want to be for my different spending categories. I started using the 50-30-20 budgeting system a few years back, but I've gradually changed from 30% wants and 20% savings to 20% wants and 30% savings.

# ? Feb 24, 2017 13:49

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

DJCobol posted:

One of my bucket list items is to buy a new car and take delivery in Europe (BMW, MB, and Audi all do this program), so I budgeted a $500 a month car payment.

1) we used to play a lot of CoD together and it makes me happy to finally find out where you post but
2) Volvo does this also, and I really cannot say enough good things about the new line of Volvos starting with the S90/XC90 in 2016 and rolling out to include the V90 and so on going forward. I don't know what you're looking for, but if it's a luxury car and not a sports car, I think you could do a lot worse than Volvo. The interiors are as well appointed as I've ever experienced, the tech is A1, the autonomous driving scales from absolutely amazing (adaptive cruise etc.) to pretty cool future tech (highway "autopilot"). Plus instead of being in Germany you get to go to Sweden!

# ? Feb 24, 2017 16:38

DJCobol: May 16, 2003; CALL OF DUTY!; Grimey Drawer

EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:

1) we used to play a lot of CoD together and it makes me happy to finally find out where you post but
2) Volvo does this also, and I really cannot say enough good things about the new line of Volvos starting with the S90/XC90 in 2016 and rolling out to include the V90 and so on going forward. I don't know what you're looking for, but if it's a luxury car and not a sports car, I think you could do a lot worse than Volvo. The interiors are as well appointed as I've ever experienced, the tech is A1, the autonomous driving scales from absolutely amazing (adaptive cruise etc.) to pretty cool future tech (highway "autopilot"). Plus instead of being in Germany you get to go to Sweden!

I am a doctor IRL? Nice! What's up man?

I like some of the Volvos. My old boss had an XC90 that was very, very nice. But they don't offer a discount on their cars like the other programs do. I priced out the Audi S5, MB C-class coupe, and BMW 4 series/M4 and the discounts range anywhere from 5%-10% off a lower MSRP price than US MSRP.

# ? Feb 24, 2017 17:38

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

DJCobol posted:

I am a doctor IRL? Nice! What's up man?

I like some of the Volvos. My old boss had an XC90 that was very, very nice. But they don't offer a discount on their cars like the other programs do. I priced out the Audi S5, MB C-class coupe, and BMW 4 series/M4 and the discounts range anywhere from 5%-10% off a lower MSRP price than US MSRP.

Don't you get a huge discount from the current weak Swedish krona if you go Volvo?

# ? Feb 24, 2017 17:51

SlapActionJackson: Jul 27, 2006

Potrzebie posted:

Don't you get a huge discount from the current weak Swedish krona if you go Volvo?

Not directly, no. You're still purchasing a USDM car from your local dealership, priced in dollars. You just pick it up from the factory instead of waiting for it to come to you.

# ? Feb 24, 2017 20:33

KYOON GRIFFEY JR: Apr 12, 2010; Runner-up, TRP Sack Race 2021/22

The new Volvos are the way to go for people with more money and taste than they know what to do with, unless you really want performance

# ? Feb 24, 2017 21:10

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

KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:

The new Volvos are the way to go for people with more money and taste than they know what to do with, unless you really want performance

Apparently the combination electric gas engines are real monsters (like 450 horsepower) but for the price they'd charge you, you could get a C63, an M3 or a lightly used E63.

# ? Feb 25, 2017 00:35

KYOON GRIFFEY JR: Apr 12, 2010; Runner-up, TRP Sack Race 2021/22

EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:

Apparently the combination electric gas engines are real monsters (like 450 horsepower) but for the price they'd charge you, you could get a C63, an M3 or a lightly used E63.

Volvo has never really figured out/cared about the handling part of the equation even if they occasionally build a fast car. Even the Polestar stuff isn't quite up to par.

# ? Feb 25, 2017 16:27

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

DJCobol posted:

One of my bucket list items is to buy a new car and take delivery in Europe (BMW, MB, and Audi all do this program)

How does this work? You fly to Europe, pick up the car, drive it around for awhile, drop it off at a port, and ship it back to the US?

# ? Feb 25, 2017 16:32

spinst: Jul 14, 2012

End of February Update!

1. Increase net worth from 72k to 94k. Currently 78.2k
2. Increase emergency fund from 5.5k to 7.5k. Currently 6k
3. Increase house fund from 2.5k to 11k. Currently 4.7k
4. Go on a fun (overseas?) trip this summer. Spending Limit: 3k. Passport Renewal Sent. Total Spent so far: $130
5. Contribute a minimum of $2400 to my Roth IRA. $400
6. Stay debt free. Yup.
7. Lose 15 pounds. Pounds lost: 1. Meh.

# ? Feb 25, 2017 16:38

KYOON GRIFFEY JR: Apr 12, 2010; Runner-up, TRP Sack Race 2021/22

pig slut lisa posted:

How does this work? You fly to Europe, pick up the car, drive it around for awhile, drop it off at a port, and ship it back to the US?

Yes, usually the company puts you up for a bit or gives you some track time, a tour of the manufacturing facility, etc. the shipping to the US is covered.

The terms are different for each company but if you look up European Delivery Programs for any of the major Euro luxury brands you'll find out a lot more than I can provide.

# ? Feb 25, 2017 17:17

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

Good month here. We almost failed our 1st goal, made substantial progress on our 2nd, completed our 3rd, and stayed on track for the rest. 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, but sort of on a technicality. We put an offer in on a house but were outbid. Because of this goal though, we bid asking only, despite knowing it was likely going higher.
2) Evaluate career change - Requested at least a part time DevOps transfer in my self-eval. Meeting with manager will take place in mid-March.
~~3) Consolidate last remaining solo accounts from before marriage~~ - Funds moved from both major accounts. Leaving the smallest account as is, for wife's ~~divorce fund~~ self-admittedly irrational emotional security reasons. Considering this done.
4) Bring emergency fund up to $12k - Added $1300/$5.5k. On track
5) Max out Roth IRAs for both of us - $1832/$11000. On track.
6) Continue funding 401ks at 10% each - On track
7) Save $40k for a down payment for a house by 1/1/18 - $7272/$40000. On track. Trying to do $3636 a month to finish with 12/1 paycheck. Adding as a stretch. $3333/mo puts us on track to finish with 1/1 paycheck.
7 Stretch) Save $3636 a month to finish with the 12/1 paycheck - On track
8) Take a vacation (~$3k) - $900/$3000. Might have to make a balloon payment here, depending on when we schedule our trip. We usually travel in Sept/Oct though, so it'll mostly be funded by then.
9) Increase NW to $135k/Continue ~60% savings rate - On track for both. At ~96k NW, which puts us ahead of schedule, but a lot of that is market gains. Savings rate is on track.
10) Lose 20 pounds and keep it off - Lost 4.5 pounds in February for a total of 9.5 so far. On track, and I'm excited about that, but losing the weight is rarely my problem.

Misc goals
Stay current on YNAB, stay current on birth control (i.e. no kids please), keep learning in and out of my career, and (stretch) keep an eye open for a good side gig that won't make me crazy. - On track. If I get this DevOps transfer, that's going to count as my side gig, as I have a bunch to learn there (but it should come with a bump in pay after training).

# ? Feb 27, 2017 17:06

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

EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:

Current Figures -
- Approximately $390,000 of student loans, of which only $20,000 not eligible for forgiveness through qualifying payments. We are going to put some of our tax refund toward these loans illegible for forgiveness
- Approximately 6 months into a $280,000 mortgage, $28,000 of which exists as a �second mortgage� which will require a balloon payment at year 5 and draws monthly interest payments of at 4% but has no penalty for prepayment, and $252,000 of which exists at 3.2% on a 5/1 ARM. Our long-term goal is to have this paid in full or refinanced in less time than it will take for the ARM to vary. We've given considerable thought to how to approach this loan, and will be paying the balloon as soon as is feasible but will probably refinance the remainder onto a 15Y fixed.
- Auto loan dwindling down.
- Second car paid in full, but now 13 years old and increasingly fickle. Aim to not replace this until MBA paid in full. Winter update, I did some TLC on this car and it's behaving better. I don't know how long it will last but it's getting me to work every morning.
- Matched 403 (b)�s from our employer matched with 10% to our 5%, as well as post-tax money making up the rest to our maximum eligible. Unchanged.

By end of Q1:
- Down to 2 credit cards, neither carrying any interest. Now zero, although we opened two new cards (both autopay in full every month) to take advantage of cash back at Costco and Amazon.
- Savings to 16k. 24k into March.

By end of Q2:
- Personal CC debt free. Ahead of schedule!
- Savings to 32k. We will be close to 6 months expenses, but unfortunately are above the amount that can draw interest on our accounts. Going to have to put this somewhere else.

By end of Q3:
- Savings to 6 months expenses, max that we can earn 2+% on in our credit union checking. Need to find another place to put "emergency fund" savings that earns interest.
- Wife first private student loan retired. This one seems like it's going to be tough.

By end of Q4:
- MBA Tuition paid in full. Work's agreed to it but hasn't PAID it yet, I have the full tuition saved, but I don't have to pay anything until May, so there's some wiggle room moving forward.
- Our 403 (b)s fully funded. This one just "happens."

Stretch Goals
- �second mortgage� retired ($28,000 balance starting). This is our next goal after my wife's private student loan.
- 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. I've talked to the right people about this, but no progress yet.
- Have my paid-off car last another year. So far so good.

# ? Feb 27, 2017 19:29

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 second!

Potrzebie posted:

Goals
Keep savings as % of income at or above 25%
27.3% for February. Got an unexpected 3% raise this month as well.

Open a tax-advantaged account for baby, buy index funds monthly
The papers did not successfully reach the bank. New papers signed and posted.

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
On a short three day vacation right now!

Sleep

Go debt free
Looking at purchasing a house...

Make baby 2
Baby 1 needs sibling to boss around.

# ? Feb 27, 2017 20:07

balancedbias: May 2, 2009; $$$$$$$$$

So, at the start:

balancedbias posted:

Awesome, I welcome the new thread, and the hopes for a new year!

Honestly, the list is usually boring because I do so much on autopilot, but there is a bit of drama to start the year that (for once) has nothing to do with my family.
I'm going to make more money and be miserable for Q1! How does that happen? I'm doing double the work, but I get paid extra to do so!

1 - Max the 401k and 457

2 - Max the IRAs

3 - MAX THE HSA! I have access to an HSA! Finally! (Nobody at work really knows why this made me so excited during open enrollment)

4 - Continue funding 529 at 250/month

5 - STRETCH - pay off that ~20K car loan. I'm taking this one back on myself; based on family dynamics, getting rid of this by the end of next year will recreate the type of cash flow that will allow a bit more breathing room and use as an unofficial family emergency fund. I don't think Trump got my letter to get an exemption from economic policy and outsource my parents/siblings/in-laws.

Updates!

1 - On Track

2-DONE (actually it was done the first week in January because there's no reason to wait on IRAs if you know that you will make enough to cover them)

3 - :derp:

The rules for HSA eligibility include not being covered by other insurance before you would meet the high deductible.
"Honey, am I still on your plan?
"Yeah, in case you rage quit work one day"
"Well, poo poo."
I got her to drop me from her plan (surprisingly painless) and it's retroactive to the start of the year (she was told they do this regularly and its usually either for an HSA or divorce).

4-On track

5-HAHAHAHA no progress, at least not officially. All of the HSA deposits will be my responsibility, so I have to pick my own custodian and I'll just deposit the full contribution. After that's done, I'll put dents in this one. Inefficient tax refund ahoy!

# ? Feb 28, 2017 01:24

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

2017 Goals (February update):

quote:

- 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
- 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 Decided on a cruise. Going to book next month
- 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) We're going for it. My wife got a new part-time job at the local YMCA, so we can get heavily discounted child care if we need that in the budget
- 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)

A little bit more progress. But still seeing how things shake out with my wife's new job situation.

# ? Feb 28, 2017 03:39

dreesemonkey: May 14, 2008; Pillbug

February update:

dreesemonkey posted:

2017, like most of my annual goals are not very challenging. We make ok money, have a mortgage but no other debt, two kids in daycare, and we're saving moderately for retirement and kid's education so I feel we're hitting all the high points.

2017 Goals
1. Continue moderate retirement / 529 savings - On track
2. Acquire a newer ~$20k vehicle for me. Fullsize truck or SUV to replace our second car / truck (both vehicles high miles and truck cannot fit family). Hoping to only finance about half of it. Have ~$3500 saved thus far. - Been going back and forth a lot with what to do. Saved about $8500 so far, should be over $10k in march with a third paycheck. Likely going to try to find something and pay cash so we can concentrate resources on house projects.
3. $1200 in principal-only mortgage payments - $100 so far
4. Bump up emergency fund to $15k from about $13k - Not much doing here
5. Stretch goal: Pay off newly acquired vehicle from step 2. - Might be a moot point.

# ? Feb 28, 2017 14:00

BAE OF PIGS: Nov 28, 2016; Tup

BAE OF PIGS posted:

Current figures: 30 y/o making $45,000 a year. A little over 10k in student loan debt, no other debt. About $16,000 in retirement currently, and need to start aggressively contributing to it in the next few years. Currently focused on getting rid of student loan debt however.

Pay off my two smallest student loans (~$1250 and ~$1800), leaving me with just two other student loans (currently at ~$3800 and ~$3400). Look into refinancing remaining student loans. Get my emergency fund to $7500 (currently at $6500).

Work as much overtime as possible until I get a raise in Aprll (boss is saying he'll put in for a big one because of my job performance), at which point I'll probably be moved back to salary (got bumped to hourly/non-exempt in November).

Take the bus to work more, avoiding expensive downtown parking. I should be transferring to a new location in April/May for work so I won't be working downtown anymore after that and the new location will have actual employee parking, so at that point I won't even need to include parking in my budget, but my fuel budget will have to increase, though not by as much as my parking budget will decrease.

Put myself into position to be completely debt free at some point in 2018.

hard to tell if if my specific goals are progressing the way I want them to, but I am working a lot of overtime, and I've been paying very little for parking so far this year because I've been taking the bus or working at another location where I can drive and park for free. I also just opened an ally saving account so I can put my savings into something that earns more than .03% annually. And my emergency saving is up to $7150, so I'll hit my goal easily.

my ynab reports make it look like it's working though.

# ? Mar 1, 2017 02:35

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:

1) we used to play a lot of CoD together and it makes me happy to finally find out where you post but
2) Volvo does this also, and I really cannot say enough good things about the new line of Volvos starting with the S90/XC90 in 2016 and rolling out to include the V90 and so on going forward. I don't know what you're looking for, but if it's a luxury car and not a sports car, I think you could do a lot worse than Volvo. The interiors are as well appointed as I've ever experienced, the tech is A1, the autonomous driving scales from absolutely amazing (adaptive cruise etc.) to pretty cool future tech (highway "autopilot"). Plus instead of being in Germany you get to go to Sweden!

What's up former MW goons. Maybe we can go play Hush sometime and relive of days of spamming various soundboards through XBL. GT was TraderStavros if you recall.

Now my post vvvvv

# ? Mar 2, 2017 17:27

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

Missed the start of the year so will kick it off now. Here is where we were at on December 31. Will post an update in the next day or so.

2017
Current Figures
Age: 36
Emergency Fund: $1K
Current Salary $112K + 15% variable comp
Monthly Savings Rate: $ -
401k $61K
Retirement Accounts $91K
Unvested Perf. Shares $27.5K - ~12% of my comp is paid out in after-tax performance shares that vest after a few years. First payout is 2018
529s $40K
House $306K
Mortgage $(202K)
Student Loan $(31K)
Auto Loan $(20K)
HELOC $(6.5K) - Furnace/AC replacement last summer, being paid off with March bonus/tax check
0% Credit Card $(800) - Cursed impulse purchase, done with these purchases
Net Worth: $265K - Excludes working capital like checking accounts

Goals
Increase Emergency Fund to 1 month after-tax income - $6K (on fence to include YNAB categories or not... I sock away a lot for expenses that occur infrequently like insurance, travel soccer for my son, etc.)
Increase Monthly Savings rate to $250/mo (based on 2 paycheck months, leave 2 'extra' paychecks for savings/projects)
Increase 401k Match to 3% by year-end - pulled out on this as we weren't saving each month and burning cash to get stability Increase taxable investment rate to 3% by year-end - Goal is to bring in some investment income that I can tap into before age 59.5
Begin Side Hustle to generate at least $250/mo in income
Question all assumptions and look for opportunities to make big headway - I have some ideas that I'll share when I get them fully formed

Stretch Goals
Increase Monthly Savings rate to $500/mo (based on 2 paycheck months, leave 2 'extra' paychecks for savings/projects)
Begin Side Hustle to generate at least $500/mo in income
Increase Emergency Fund to 2 month income - $12K

We have been 'budgeting' for years. But it's more like we've been tracking in YNAB since 2011 and not holding to our budget. At the end of the year my wife and I finally got on the same page and decided to start approaching our finances correctly and are already making great headway in Jan/Feb. With some different changes we have made and are about to make, on top of an upcoming raise I think we are on the brink of being able to achieve the first monthly savings goal pretty quickly.

# ? Mar 2, 2017 17:38

C-Euro: Mar 20, 2010; Soiled Meat

Quick February update-

--Pay off 3k of student loan (6k remaining; $250/mo payments) On track.
--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 Same.
--Hit $750/mo minimum in side work. Put at least $500 OR half of each side check into savings, whichever is greater. $830 off a pretty low number of actual assignments, which is an improvement (and I missed a week for on-site work training).
--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) 97.08/100. Thanks Humble Freedom Bundle for making me drop $30 on games, hopefully this means there's less I want to buy in Steam sales this year.

Non-monetary goals:
--Continue lifting twice a week. Doing it, and I even added a weekly yoga class.
--Run a road race. 10-mile race happening May 7th, training on track. Running buddy is moving away later this month
--Finish one new book each month. Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five. I don't know if I actually liked it? Definitely want to re-visit it sometime in the future, this was my first Vonnegut so maybe I just don't "get" his style.
--Get rid of something every day. Fell off this a little bit this month, but scored a ton of empty cardboard boxes from a local shop so the Great Closet Purge of 2017 is hopefully going to happen soon.

In other financial news, my wife has a job offer to get out of the postdoc loop, with a much better offer (higher pay and no need to move out of the city) hopefully coming by this time next week from a different set of interviews. Taxes were filed before March for the second year in a row, with the return going towards cosmetic fixes for my car and travel costs for a conference/honeymoon in June :buddy:

# ? Mar 3, 2017 05:23

Tyro: Nov 10, 2009

MW crew wassup. CadmiumKoala here.

I was not feeling good about my goals, money is tight and I haven't been getting nearly as much overtime so far this year as I expected, but on review I am meeting all the non-stretch goals so far. And that reminds me to get off my rear end and mail the financial planning stuff to my lawyer this week.

Tyro posted:

2017 Goals:

Continue to max my TSP and IRA
Max Healthcare FSA and Childcare FSA
Complete financial planning (will, medical directives)
Continue on IBR on my student loans for PSLF
Establish and fund 529 plan, minimum $100/month. I expect to contribute more but we don't gain anything from the state tax deduction so it's not a huge priority compared to the retirement savings.

Stretch goals:
Pay off wife's student loans (approx $29K)
Max wife IRA
Contribute to wife 401k once it's established

# ? Mar 3, 2017 13:00

dreesemonkey: May 14, 2008; Pillbug

C-Euro posted:

--Finish one new book each month. Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five. I don't know if I actually liked it? Definitely want to re-visit it sometime in the future, this was my first Vonnegut so maybe I just don't "get" his style.

I too just read this as my first Vonnegut book (a month or two ago) in an attempt to read some "classics" that I've heard of and I had more or less the same overall reaction to it. I'm not a real serious book literary dude so maybe I'm just not into it enough to "get" it. This is all I could think of while reading it:

If you're looking for something else to read, the other books/novellas on this streak (before going back to stephen king) so far have been:

To Kill A Mockingbird - 5/5
1984 - 3/5
Animal Farm - 4/5
Of Mice and Men - 5/5
Slaughterhouse Five - 2/5
Fahrenheit 451 - 5/5

# ? Mar 3, 2017 14:05

No Butt Stuff: Jun 10, 2004

On the other hand, I enjoyed it, even though I don't really like Vonnegut's style.

And "so it goes" most definitely happened. Have you never hung out with college students?

# ? Mar 3, 2017 14:51

dreesemonkey: May 14, 2008; Pillbug

No Butt Stuff posted:

And "so it goes" most definitely happened. Have you never hung out with college students?

Oh I'm sure it did, I just meant for me, I thought t me it just seemed self-referential or pretentious or something. I get it, I just didn't care for it.

ON-TRACK FINANCIAL TOPIC:
Aligning with my 2017 financial goals, I'm hopefully going to look at a vehicle this weekend. It's not exactly what we were looking for, but it's too cheap ($8100) to not check it out. If it could last us 5 years that would be a big win (shouldn't be a problem since it's a secondary vehicle), and I could move forward with buying a big ol' shed for our house this year.

# ? Mar 3, 2017 15:11

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

January Update

2017 Goals
Increase Emergency Fund to 1 month after-tax income - $6K - Up to $1,700
Increase Monthly Savings rate to $250/mo (based on 2 paycheck months, leave 2 'extra' paychecks for savings/projects) - Saved $311 this month!
Increase 401k Match to 3% by year-end - No movement, waiting to free up more cash flow / get annualraise
Begin Side Hustle to generate at least $250/mo in income Pursuing options and vetting ideas
Question all assumptions and look for opportunities to make big headway - Got some movement on this that will free up >$400 a month in cash flow! Will share details shortly

Stretch Goals
Increase Monthly Savings rate to $500/mo (based on 2 paycheck months, leave 2 'extra' paychecks for savings/projects)
Begin Side Hustle to generate at least $500/mo in income
Increase Emergency Fund to 2 month income - $12K

# ? Mar 6, 2017 12:24

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Apr 25, 2024 23:44

Sundae: Dec 1, 2005

End of February Update

Habit oriented
1 - YNAB: Regularly using and reconciling. ON TRACK.
2 - Better Time Accounting: Just blew it to high hell because we got a puppy. GOAL NEEDS TWO MORE WALKS AND IS SCARED OF THE CAT.
3 - Workout Schedule: I've finally been cleared to exercise again. Hooray, no aneurysm! PERMISSIBLE RESTART

Expense oriented for both Sundae and Wife
1 - Put aside $2,500 every month: ON TRACK
2 - Stop spending stupid amounts of money on alcohol: We cut our stupid by more than 50%, but that's still too much. March needs to be better. STILL A DRUNKEN FAILURE
3 - Limit how much we spend eating out to no more than $148 a month: This is so stupidly hard here because of how expensive eating out is, for like anything here. Tiny burrito? $14 please! We spent like $180. Way down from before, but still too high. FATTY FAT FAILURE
4 - Greed Limit (ooh shiny purchases): $200 for both per month. SUCCESS.
5 - Glutton Limit (ooh tasty purchases): $100 for both per month. SUCCESS IN A WAY. (Feels weird to have an eating out budget that we blew and an 'eating stupid poo poo' budget that we somehow didn't. I should probably merge these.)

Business Oriented
1 - Publish three new stories per month, minimum. Wife will assist. NOPE. FAILURE. Only published one in February.
~~2 - Publish two new novels in 2017, minimum.~~ Dropping this goal. Change of plans.
3 - Grow short story author mailing list by 500 names in 2017. TBD.
~~4 - Grow novel author mailing list by 500 names in 2017.~~ Dropping this goal. Change of plans.
5 - Put aside all non-tax and non-expense income from side business as savings. So far so good!

Lifestyle Oriented
1 - Lose 12 pounds at minimum. If I fail at this, I loving suck. Down 4 pounds still.
2 - Financial Advisor Session by End of February: Company advisor couldn't meet with me until March 9th. I scheduled the meeting in February, but it'll happen this Wednesday. ON TRACK

# ? Mar 6, 2017 19:51

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

«‹›9 »