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Archive for January, 2014

52 Week Savings Update

January 4th, 2014 at 11:48 pm

I set up my challenge money to automatically transfer to my Capital One 360 account. And right on schedule, a couple days ago, $57 was deposited. This can be considered deposits for week 6 and 51.

The balance in my Challenge account is now $124. I did start in early December and have larger amounts going into the account than those starting from week one or two. So far this goal is on track. Yea!!

I'm having my green smoothie for dinner while the girls have pancakes. That will make four down, 27 to go!

Today's frugal happening was unplugging the last of the holiday lights that were on a timer outside. The only outing was a trip for our weekly groceries. I expect we will not be going anywhere for a couple of days with the really crazy cold temperatures heading this way. That will say on fuel for the vehicles, but I'm sure we will be using plenty to keep the house warm. Ack!

What is the balance of your 52 Week Savings Challenge account? Is your money in an account, or in cash? Did you do something frugal today?

Mortgage Principal DOWN!

January 3rd, 2014 at 08:18 pm

Our regular mortgage payment posted yesterday. The principal portion was $448.88. Yes! Less debt.

I just sent off the snowflakes we have accumulated in the last few days. A big snowball of a payment in the amount of $151.43!

Here's where those snowflakes came from:

I update my tickers at the end of the month, so you won't see a change there for awhile. Smile

In other goal news, I have had three green smoothies. Just twenty eight days to go. The last two days I have had pineapple in my smoothies, which I found to be very refreshing!

How are your New Year's goals coming along? Progress yet? Are you still working on goals? At least one financial goal is a good start. If you work on one you can be very focused!

January Snowballs & More

January 2nd, 2014 at 11:38 pm

I've been been busy being lazy with the family home for the holidays. I've written some posts, but I haven't paid bills for January yet...so I am slacking with my financial life. Most things are automatically paid, so no worries.

The good news is that I checked our Capital One 360 accounts today and found money!! I had a deposit of $60 which is bonus money for my Black Friday referrals. My husband had a deposit of $75 in his savings account for meeting the opening requirements on that account.

There were also two $4 checks in the mail from Vanguard today. It seems sending in $167 per month for 12 months actually exceeds the $2000 maximum contribution limit for Coverdell accounts. I think the year before I made an adjustment to one of the contributions to avoid this problem. I should just make the monthly amount $166.67. Or at least set up a reminder for January or December to make the adjustment to the amount. I'm counting these extra funds as snowflakes.

We rented another movie last night using Amazon credits, so I will match the amount and send that to the mortgage. It was $4.99.

I believe our issue with Honda is resolved and it seems we get a deal as a result. The issue was a faulty oxygen sensor. We paid out of pocket and then when I mentioned it here a reader (snafu, I believe) wondered about it being covered under warranty. We have Honda Care and yes it should have been processed with them. The dealership has cut us a check which my husband picked up today. We thought a swipe of our credit card would have been easier, but because we are claiming after original transaction the dealership needs to show a check to Honda Care. The nice thing for us is less money out of pocket for the repair by over $300 and we get the benefit of having this amount show up on our credit card and count towards our $3,000 spending requirement!!

I haven't moved all my snowflakes around or made a payment to the mortgage yet, but I'll get to it soon. It's just nice to know I have some money to put toward that goal already!

2014 Financial Goals

January 2nd, 2014 at 02:12 am

First of all, I did drink my first green smoothie for 2014 today. One down, thirty to go!

New Year's seems like a great day to get our official financial goals down in print. There is still a possibility to tweak, but here is the plan right now.

1) Accumulate $4,000 in snowflakes from any source other than my husband's income to help reach our mortgage principal reduction goal.

2) Pay down $13,992.99 in mortgage principal. This will bring us to an even balance at the end of 2014 of $X15,000.

3) Save $50 per month to be used for Christmas gifts.

4) Save $57 twice per month towards the 52 Week Savings Challenge. The funds to be deposited in my Capital One 360 Savings account.

4) Save $167 per month for each daughter for college, which is $2,000 each or $4,000 for the year.

5) Save 8% of my husband's basic pay in his TSP. This is a 1% increase from last year.

6) Save $458.33 each month for each of our Roth IRA's. This will meet the maximum limit allowed.

7) End 2014 with $20,000 or more in our emergency fund. As of January 1, we are at $19,909.05.

I feel pretty good about these. Several are easy. College and retirement have been automatic for several years, so they will not be difficult. The real stretch is finding $4000 or more in snowflakes and meeting the mortgage goal. I'm up for the challenge!

Are any of your goals going to be a stretch for you? Did you make financial goals?


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