39 weeks ago I started this silly little blog hoping that some people would check it out and leave some comments, but my 2 main motivations were actually keeping an even crazier documentation of what I did with my money (for my own benefit) and my hopes that laying out my insane budget would encourage some people that read it to save some money in ways that they hadn't thought of. It was never meant as a way to puff up my chest and say 'look what I have' because truth be told, I still feel broke and stress about money almost all the time. Let see exactly what has happened over the last 9 months...
Counting this weeks contributions I now have $1334.42 in my 401k. I will admit that I'm not good at true long-term saving and I have no clue what will happen and if I will be ready for retirement at all when/if that time comes. However at last so far this year I have put aside a chunk of money that I really didn't miss and hopefully that money has worked for me and earned some interest. Next time I get a statement for my 401K account I'll try and remember to mention it here.
Me meager $20 a week set aside toward a vacation has added up to $780! Now again I'll admit that the vacation that my wife and I are going on next month is going to cost more than $780, but since I have been doing the $20 a week thing for more than just the last 9 months I'm actually in pretty decent shape as far as paying for the trip (plus my wife paid for the plane tickets already). If nothing else look at what the $20 a week has gotten me and start today with even $5 or $10 a week for yourself!!
I have $85.90 in a piggy bank on my fridge that was all free money courtesy of the state of Massachusetts! Yes, I did invest a small amount of time in bringing the cans to the supermarket, but other than that its free money! Even if I didn't save any of it I could have bought lunch with it once a month or something. If you drink anything that comes in deposit cans or bottles please return them. If you don't your basically throwing money in the trash every week!
I have put aside $500 toward paying my quarterly loan. Again I will admit that I pay $200 per quarter so based on 2013 I am behind on how much I should have put in the account, but since I started the year with money in the account I am doing fine. I will most likely put aside another $100-$150 before the end of the year and that will leave me all set to make the 4th quarter payment and set me up okay for the 1st quarter of 2014. Even though this is not actual money 'saved' it was set aside prior to me needing it which meant a bill I could pay on time with no stress!!
This year I have put $200 in an account in case my cat gets sick. As now now Beetus is as healthy as a 13 year old 21 pound cat can be and I really hope he stays that way for a long time, but unfortunately we all know that animals get sick and vet bills are never cheap! Like I said Beet is healthy, but his legs are getting tired from carrying so much weight for so many years and he might need a check up soon. He is pretty much at the point where he doesn't jump up on anything on his own anymore... poor Mr. B!
I've mentioned before that my money market is what I really consider to be my savings account. Money goes in and with the exception of a significantly planned purchase or an emergency, it doesn't come out! So far this year I have added $2027.41 to that account. I think that in a world where so many people live check to check and struggle every day saving that much is pretty good and its actually the number that I am most proud of.
Lastly is the money set aside for car repairs and future car purchases. My wife's car is on a lease and it ends in March of next year so we will be looking for a car and will most likely make a purchase rather than another lease, but we still have to figure out exactly what we want to do. No matter what we do the $1477.40 that I've put aside so far this year will be a big help. I'll tell you that by the end of the year the amount in that account will not be much different than it was at the end of 1012, but I also had to have multiple car repairs done this year. So if I was able to maintain a reasonable balance in the account and pay for tires, brakes and a few other things without stressing over a giant bill then I consider it a success!
Now if you take the money that I have saved (or put aside) so far this year it totals $5070.71 which is 15.27% of my gross income (24.28% of my net pay). Again, this is not about 'look at me', but look at what I did and think about how you can try to do the same. Start small... just start!
Ok... with all that being said, lets get to this weeks income and where it went.... I got a check for $612.82 ($39.12 went into my 401K) and since its the last week of the month its the week I drive the people at the bank crazy and show up with 1 check and 4 deposit slips! I will be putting $200 in my money market account, $200 in my car savings account, $25 in my potential vet bill account and the remaining $187.82 in my regular checking account. Not a bad week! Here is the wrap up....
Here is the week 39 wrap up:
$39.12 to my 401K
$20.00 to my vacation fund
$25.00 to the vet bill account
$200.00 to the money market
$200.00 to the car repair account
Which makes the 2013 totals:
$1334.42 in my 401K
$780.00 in the vacation fund
$85.90 in the piggy bank
$500.00 in the quarterly loan payment account
$200.00 in my vet bill savings
$2027.41 in my money market
$1477.40 in my car account
