I picked the wrong year to move to DC.
The blue car is ours. The person next to us dug their car out the next day, and naturally dumped all of their snow onto our car.
One thing I can say is that being snowed in definitely helps our entertainment budget! Too bad we’ll be spending all that money on heat.
I just entered this contest at ING Direct. If you’re an ING customer & at least 18 years of age, you can enter for a chance to become a blogger for their We The Savers blog. If chosen, they’ll deposit $200 per month into your savings account!
The application is a little time-consuming (part is to write what will likely become your first blog post), but if you’re blogging anyway (& many of my readers already have blogs), you might as well see if you can get paid for it!
Also, if you don’t have an account at ING (and I am not getting any extra money or extra entries or anything like that for saying this), I think they have a great interface. Their customer service is great (and I’ve never actually had a problem, this was just from when I had to change my name), and while the savings account interest is slightly lower than other online banks, it’s worth it because they also offer CDs, checking, and investing through Sharebuilder.
Anyway, I just wanted to pass the information along! I discovered the contest completely by accident, and I might have missed it if I hadn’t been randomly clicking around on the website.
Let me know if you enter! Good luck!
There’s a pedometer competition going on at my company site right now. I’m on a team with 10 or so of my coworkers, and we all wear pedometers and try to walk 4 miles every day. One coworker has gone a little crazy trying to beat everyone else – he consistently has been walking 7+ miles per day, although before I think he was probably walking about 2.
This is good for him, and I’m glad he found something to motivate him. However, he now uses it as a point of superiority. If I take a day off running (especially on the weekends, where I’m typically couchbound, reading or watching movies) and only get 2 miles, he’ll announce it to the office. What he ignores, of course, is the fact the I average over the required 4 miles per day (usually closer to 5 or 6), and some of mine is running, which isn’t counted completely (since the pedometers are calibrated for walking). He also ignores that the only change I’ve made since the competition started is walking to a bathroom that’s farther away.
I told him we’ll see if he can keep his mileage up after the pedometers are taken away.
So what is the point of this story? I see some parallels between my coworker and the PF blogging community (this isn’t at anyone in particular, although it may be inspired by the comments I see on other blogs). It’s easy to motivate yourself, when you first start to worry about money, to dive in and put in 100% effort toward saving. It’s easy when you have a specific goal to work toward - paying down debt or building an emergency fund. It’s easiest when you need to save to survive. In these cases, cheap one-ply toilet paper seems like an easy sacrifice, elaborate money-saving schemes don’t seem like too much effort, and you look forward to that two-hour walk every day.
To these people, those of us who have been consistent with our finances all along seem like we’re slacking. Maybe we don’t have that drive to save more and more, because we’ve found a natural pace that still allows us to meet our goals. And maybe there’s more going on behind the scenes – perhaps those 1,000 steps on our pedometer are from a full sprint. (It’s not a perfect metaphor.)
To Accomplish, February 2010
1. Save all but $200 of my bonus.
I am a firm believer that bonus money is extra money. However, since I really want to meet my savings goal for this year, I’m going to put most of it into savings. Chad and I will each get $100 added to our fun money balances, though, just so we don’t forget to enjoy the fruits of our labor!
2. Don’t spend any money on new clothes.
The exception is that I can buy something new for the bar/bat mitzah in March. My hope is that a black dress I wore to a wedding a few years ago still fits, and all I’ll need is some new accessories – I’m thinking a wide emerald green belt. (By the way, if anyone knows where I can find a dressy wide emerald green belt, let me know!)
3. Run at least 12 miles per week, and have 2 weeks where I run 6 miles.
I don’t know how you’re supposed to work the mileage incrementing when you’re training, but 12 seems like a reasonable next step after 10 miles. I think I might have been getting close to this goal anyway. I also want to try to get some longer runs in. Last month I did a few five-mile runs, so the next goal is six. My biggest problem during the longer runs? I get bored! The weather has been bad, so I’m running on a treadmill for an hour. So. Boring.
4. Do yoga 2x per week.
I have learned my lesson. I’ll also continue with the 30-Day Shred, but no goals for that because I have been doing a crappy job with it. You wouldn’t think it would be so hard to fit in a 20-minute workout! My biggest problem is that I say, “Have to Shred tonight!” and then all of a sudden, it’s 10:30pm. Sleep always wins.
5. Finish the 1,000-page Stephen King book my Mom got me.
It’s Under the Dome, and every time I look at the cover, I think of The Simpsons Movie. I can’t help it!
January was a good month! I worked a bunch of overtime, and if I keep it up, I might actually be able to reach my savings goals for the year. Even better, I haven’t completely abandoned any of my resolutions.
1. Reconcile all bank accounts. Almost.
Somehow, everything I owed my sisters and everything that was owed to me sort of evened out. I might still owe < $50 to my sister, but at this point, it’s up to her to let me know. The discrepancy between my budget and bank account remained at the end of 2009, but I’m giving myself a clean start for 2010.
2. Don’t spend any money on new clothes. Done!
My original goal was that I could buy accessories, just not clothing items. After reading QLGirl’s post on how submitting to wants makes it harder to resist them the next time, I’m wondering if perhaps I shouldn’t be going cold turkey.
However, I have to go to a really fancy bar/bat mitzvah for Chad’s cousin’s in early March. It’s going to be hard enough resisting buying a new dress for the occasion, and I think being unable to dress my old black lace dress up will officially drive me over the edge. I think I’ll continue with this version of the goal next month.
3. Run at least 10 miles per week. Done!
I’ve figured out that going to the gym right after work is the only thing that works for me. As soon as I get home, I want to sit on the couch and watch Mad Men on DVD and surf the internet.
4. Do yoga 3 times per week. Fail.
I only went to a few of the classes at work (I was on a special assignment at work and had to miss them) and didn’t do any of my DVDs. I also joined Well-Heeled for the 30 Day Shred. Doing that + running was hard enough. Adding an hour of yoga seemed over the top. Plus, Chad actually agreed to Shred with me, so it made it all the more appealing.
5. Get our apartment livable again. Kinda?
We’re waiting for the insurance company to reimburse us for the estimated cost of making new couch cushions, but then it will almost be like we’re adults!
6. Combine bank accounts. Done!
I thought I was a good saver, but Chad is better. And he wasn’t even working for 6 months! I was pleasantly surprised, although now I have some further questions about how we should handle these accounts going forward.
My company gives a yearly bonus based on their earnings. This year is smaller than some of the previous years, but a little extra cash is always nice.
I was talking with my coworkers today, as we were trying to decide how much our bonuses would be. A few of us thought they’d be really low – no more than a couple hundred dollars – and one youngish guy, Jeff, said he’d rather get nothing. Not that he wouldn’t take the bonus (a response to my offer to take his bonus money if he found it so distasteful), but that he thought a low amount might be more insulting than anything.
I said I’d never be insulted by getting extra money. After all, if they’re going to tell me that I get a bonus as part of my compensation package, I expect to get something, even if it’s just $100 or so.
What do you think? Is there a bonus or raise amount so small that getting it would be undesirable?
Jeff & I also had an interesting discussion about salary vs. other perks, but ‘ll save that for another time.
On my last post about our updated net worth (I hope you guys didn’t think I was bragging, I was just honestly excited about it and I didn’t think there was anyone else who would care. I told Chad and his response was lukewarm, and since he actually has a vested stake in it, I didn’t think anyone else would be as excited as me!)
Anyway, Tom left a comment saying,
Dang, you guys have done a tremendous job saving!
You’re rich!
Which was nice, but I think I mentally kind of bristled at the term “rich” being applied to me. I don’t feel rich. If I was rich, I would be able to buy that dress I want, I wouldn’t have to fight with Chad every time we go over our grocery budget by $15, and I’d be able to buy a house without worry about having enough of an emergency fund left over. After all, about half of our net worth is tied up in retirement accounts, which we can’t touch for another 25 years.
That’s when I realized that I probably am rich.
I don’t just mean rich in terms of the genetic lottery winnings I have compared to a person living in a third-world country. I don’t just mean that in comparison to the homeless or the working poor. If you gave a bunch of middle-class Americans my net worth and earnings information, I’m sure they’d overwhelmingly say I’m rich.
Five years ago when I was still in college, this would definitely have been beyond my wildest dreams. Three years ago, when I was still struggling to pay off my car loan, my student loans (which are still around to this day), and my credit card, I think I would have said this is rich. One year ago, while the stock market was tanking and Chad and I didn’t even talk about how much money we had, I don’t think I could have guessed we’d be into six figures of net worth.
Now? It doesn’t feel like much.
After all, Chad is still not working, and I find myself worrying about saving much extra. After all, when the savings are divided into their sub-accounts, one for the car we’ll need to buy when Chad starts working, an emergency fund in case something happens to me, our house downpayment is still insufficient. I still can’t afford a pair of Louboutins. I’d say we’re OK, maybe, not comfortable, but OK. Rich? Nah, I wouldn’t say rich. Rich people could buy a car in cash without dipping into other savings. Rich people don’t have to choose between a dress for a black-tie event and their savigns goals.
I know my readers are rolling their eyes a little bit now. It’s sort of like whining that my tiara is too heavy and my diamond shoes are too tight.
But remember how far away being debt-free seemed? Remember how you thought that once you didn’t have those loans over your head, the stress would go away? Remember how far away having $500 for an emergency fund seemed?
There’s always something more to chase, there’s always another goal. It keeps us from stagnating, but I think it has also kept me from ever really feeling the accomplishments I have made, from appreciating those milestones. I follow my 2009 Review with 2010 Goals and never stop to think about what accomplishing those 2009 goals really means.
Right now, my “rich” is Chad working. When he does start, though, this will expand to mean other things – a house down payment big enough for a real house, buying his car with cash, buying something full-price at Anthropologie. Once we get there, it will be a paid-off house, a million in retirement savings, a college fund for our (hypothetical) kids. I’ll keep moving the bar, and maybe we’ll never be what I consider “rich.”
If you looked at the little chart of my net worth recently, you might have seen it make a huge jump up, essentially doubling.
No, I haven’t won the lottery. Chad and I just finally combined our savings accounts, and he has granted me permission to obsessively track his accounts in addition to my own.
Luckily, he is as good with money as I am, although he is less neurotic obsessive organized than me.
I spent a few hours at the dentist on Friday, getting a filling repaired. It cracked in the middle of the work day, and I had to take the day off to get it repaired. Total cost: about $130.
Now, I’m going to make a confession that many people will probably find disgusting. I haven’t been to the dentist since college – about 5 years ago. I know. It’s gross.
This is related to a genuine terror of the dentist. On Friday, I sat in the chair with my shoulders tense, sweating bullets as the faces of the dentist and his hygienist loomed above me. At one point, he was putting some special apparatus in my mouth and his grip slipped, creating a loud sort of crunching sound. I jumped about 3 feet in the air. You guys, I honestly thought it was my tooth shattering into a million pieces. Even as the dentist reassured me that it was just his tools, I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes.
(By the way, I’m pretty sure I can trace this fear to the time a dentist attempted to drill my tooth without Novacaine (!!). There’s also the studies that say redheads are resistant to anesthesia.
“As a result, redheads tend to be particularly nervous about dental procedures and are twice as likely to avoid going to the dentist as people with other hair colors… Redheads really do require more anesthesia, and by a clinically important amount.” Source.
So at the very least, I have an excuse.)
Anyway, the dentist was very good. I spoke to him ahead of time about the no-Novacaine experience, and he shot me up with so much that I couldn’t feel the whole left side of my face for about 3 hours afterwards. I made an appointment to go back for a proper cleaning. I’m sure I’ll need a lot of work done, but my goal is to get to a point where I’ll only need the twice-yearly cleaning. If I’d been more vigilant in the past, any issues would have been caught much earlier, or might never have happened at all.
This got me thinking about preventative maintenance. I’ve no doubt I’ll need a lot of work done, even though my dental hygiene is better than that of most of the people I know (except for FB!).
The same thing applies to lot of areas in your personal and financial life. Car maintenance is probably one of the most obvious – getting your oil changed regularly keeps the engine healthy. Woe to anyone who ignores the check engine light!
Preventative maintenance also applies to your health, and more than just your teeth. The next time you go for doughnut #2 (I’m not judging here, I almost always go for doughnut #2) or consider skipping the gym, just tell yourself that you’re going to do your preventative maintenance and pick up an apple or those weights.
“That’s awesome, Sarah,” my readers are saying, “but aren’t we supposed to be talking about finances? Right? Because isn’t this a personal finance blog?” (Well, a. I know none of my readers would ever start a sentence with because, and b. No, this is totally a fashion blog, at least 50%!)
So here are some steps you can take for preventative maintenance of your finances:
Can you think of any other examples of preventative maintenance you can do in your financial or personal life? Share them in the comments! (Also, shelter costs.)
The statistics for New Year’s resolutions are disheartening. About half of us make resolutions, mostly about money, weight, work, and relationships. Of those resolutions, only a quarter make it past the first week of January. Only 46% make it past the first 6 months. One in four people fail every New Year’s resolution they set.
So why bother setting these yearly goals? The statistics also suggest that setting a goal and making a plan to reach it mean you are ten times more likely to achieve it compared to someone who doesn’t explicitly state their goals.
It was hard to figure out goals for 2010. Much like in 2009, where there was so much uncertainty (Would I quit my job and go to school full-time? Would I find a new job? Would we move?), there are a ton of unknowns this year. Chad still hasn’t found work, and while I’m still optimistic, I can’t make a plan based on anything. He could get offered a job in January, or it could take a few more months. The offer could be comparable to his salary in LA, or he might have to take a paycut. I’m still a fan of him going back to school full-time (although I think he needs to do it for a better reason than just that he hasn’t found a job yet), but if he chooses that path, it could be a significant blow to our savings.
Anyway, the best way to do badly in 2010 is to let uncertainty paralyze me. Therefore, here are my 2010 goals, presented as though nothing will change. If something does change, they can always be revised!
Financial
1. Max out my 401K.
Accomplishing this should be relatively easy. I’m currently set up to have the correct amount taken automatically, so I would have to make an effort to go in there and change it. I don’t foresee that happening unless there’s some sort of emergency.
2. Max out both of our Roth IRAs.
If Chad doesn’t find work, our income will be laughably low (which is when the Roth is most effective). If he does find work, saving for retirement will still be important. This is one goal that’s unlikely to change, unless we find ourselves in a situation where we need liquid cash.
3. Combine our savings accounts.
Seeing the big picture will help us in any future goal setting. I expect his cash savings to be about even with mine.
4. Save $5,000 in addition to Roth IRA contributions.
This is about $3,000 more than I projected we’d be able to save this year. However, by keeping discretionary spending low and with some of the overtime opportunities I expect to have this year, I think we can make it.
5. No buying new clothes until April.
I mentioned that Chad signed us up for a 10 mile run, along with his parents and his sister. I don’t want to embarrass myself by not finishing, so I intend to train. Hard. It’s probabl that being on a regular running schedule will help me shed some weight (at least some of those pesky holiday pounds), so buying more clothes at this size isn’t that smart.
Since I know myself, I know I’ll only start to get antsy if I say I can’t buy anything new. Therefore, the ban will be only on clothes. I can buy accessories (shoes, belts, jewelry) and possibly a new winter coat if I find a decent one on sale.
6. Earn $1000 on top of wages from my job.
I suspect that most of this will come from savings account interest, but I’d like to try to find an additional stream of income, whether it’s through an additional part-time job or through the blog.
Work/Career
1. Exceed expectations on my year-end performance review.
More importantly, exceed my own expectations. That might sound weird, but I tend to not try as hard as I probably should. Usually I can skate by because I’m smart and technically knowledgeable, but just because I can slack off and still impress my bosses doesn’t mean I should.
2. Create at least one new tool to do my job.
I actually already have an idea what I’m going to do for this, the only question is how to implement it.
Blogging
1. Average at least 2 posts per week.
No major life changes coming up this year, so no excuses!
2. Increase traffic by at least 50%.
If I’m thinking of trying to earn money with this blog, it makes sense to drive more traffic to it. To accomplish this, I will start by doing the following:
a. Posting more. Any blogger knows that you get more visitors on the days you post. I prefer the bloggers who don’t have long stretches of time between their posts, and I’m sure others feel the same!
b. Enter carnivals. I always assumed that carnivals were something you were chosen for – if you wrote good content, others would magically discover it and link to it. If the difference between my favorite posts and my popular posts is any indication, I need to make sure more people see those posts I really like.
c. Comment more. That makes it sound like I’ll be leaving lots of useless comments for the sole purpose of being more popular, but that’s not actually true. The only reason I’m not doing this now is that the computers at work won’t let me leave comments on blogspot blogs (weird, right?). This just means that I have to carve out time at home to read & comment!
Miscellaneous
1. Read 10,000 pages in books.
This is roughly one book per week. I did the read-50-books-in-a-year challenge in 2007, but I read a lot of crap that year. This way, I’ll be more motivated to read worthwhile books since I won’t worry about screwing up my average by choosing longer ones.
2. Run the whole of the 10-mile race in April.
I can totally do this if I stick to the training plan I have in my head. I think there are enough incentives to actually doing this (the thrill of victory, the mockery of Chad’s dad if we don’t, his offer to pay for our entry fees only if we run faster than a 14-minute mile, and having to admit to the whole internet of my failure) that I’ll manage to stick to it.
I know I haven’t gone over my goals from December, nor have I posted my 2010 goals yet. Rest assured that they are both coming! I have a good idea of what I want to do in 2010, it’s just a matter of typing it out. December’s wrap-up will have to wait until I’ve figured out all the various gift expenses I owe or am owed by others.
1. Reconcile all bank accounts.
This means balancing the books on those gifts! Since there’s a discrepancy in my 2009 money tracking, I’m going to wipe the slate clean for 2010, but that means I need to get rid of all of my 2009 leftovers.
2. Don’t spend any money on new clothes.
Since I really don’t have as much money to play with this year, I am going to try to go until April without buying new clothes. I was thinking of allowing myself to buy accesories – belts and whatnot – and maybe a new winter coat, but nothing else until my birthday.
You know what makes this goal hard? The fact that almost all of my clothes currently smell like smoke.
3. Run at least 10 miles per week.
For some reason, Chad decided that signing us up for a 10 mile race in April would be a good idea. Since the race cost almost $40 for each of us, we really have no other option than actually running it. I really don’t like running, so I’m starting out small and I’m going to work my way up to running more.
4. Do yoga 3 times per week.
This shouldn’t be too hard to meet. I have a class at work 2x per week, so it’s up to me to find one extra day to do some of the yoga DVDs I bought for Christmas vacation. This is no great hardship – I’m finding that I really like doing yoga!
5. Get our apartment livable again.
It’s looking like our insurance covers a lot of what we’ll need to do. We’re getting our clothes sent out to be cleaned, but there’s still the matter of our couch cushions and mattress. By February, I hope to have forgotten that there was ever a fire.
6. Combine bank accounts.
We’re current in the process of combining our savings accounts. This is mostly because it’s easier than changing my name with ING – they make you mail stuff in, and I don’t think I’m organized enough to remember to do that. Not to mention that it really will be easier to know how far along we are in savings if we decide to buy a house, or if Chad decides to go back to school full-time.
Stay tuned – my 2010 goals are coming!
