survey this!

[poodah]

For some reason I've been up to my eyeballs in surveys and forms lately. Maybe it's in the air with tax season. Kaiser sent me a customer satisfaction form, my building sent a dissatisfaction with building form, a some large academy sent a form for department demographics, and then the Settlement Administrator sent me a refund form. The refund

Comments

[lilamp]

wow, that is awesome savings! you guys are inspiring to those of us who are completely clueless and in denial when it comes to money.

[poodah]

Thanks! It feels a "too little, too late" to me. I hadn't been saving much of anything prior to our big push. I had my 403(b) going and about $3-5,000 in ready cash for emergencies and that was it. I spent what I earned dollar for dollar and thought I was awesome for not being in debt. Once I got this job back in 2005, I started to save but immediately jumped into a house (thanks for a down payment from my parents). That put me at square one.

Together, Jeff and I have big money plans--we have to pay for a wedding, honeymoon, emergency savings (as Jeff works in an industry that may be slowing down--he's an electrician), and yearly Roth IRAs. That $1700 feels like barely a drop in the bucket.

[lilamp]

even when i was single and debt free living in a cheap studio apartment i never had that much cash in reserve! now we have zero savings + credit card debt and are trying to figure out how to pay for a wedding... my last period of unemployment had far greater ramifications than i realized at the time, and now we are both making good money but somehow living month-to-month. i finally made an appointment with a credit counselor though. being in denial and trying to ignore the situation has made it much worse than it should have been alas.

[poodah]

It sounds like you're making the right first step. At least you know things need to be different, which, from the books I've been reading, is not always the case for most Americans.

As Smart Couples Finish Rich author David Bach says "As adults trying to make our lives better, we tend to be too hard on ourselves. If you financial life is not yet where you want it to be, that's okay--you're about to change that. Stay positive. Remember, the hardest part of changing things is... decideding to change. You've already made that decision. So give yourself a break--and some credit"

I read that this morning and forgave myself a little for not being the financially savvy person I think I need to be right now.

I also recommend reading finance books and blogs. There are a lot of folks out there giving advice or clearing their debt or both. I found it really inspiring and helpful.

[scentedwoods]

Oh shoot, I found that once and I can't remember where -- it was a government site that talked about how much families spend on food per month.

From what I recall, you're doing awesome. I'd frankly be happy with where you're at rather than pick into that $300 discretionary. It's easy to get disgruntled.

Congrats on what you've done so far!

[poodah]

Thanks! I feel like we need to save more because of the wedding coming up and the honeymoon, Roth IRA funding and emergency funds for when the building industry slows around here. Being on my own and spending what I earned with little saved seemed fine. Now that we're caring for two, it feels like we want so much more for ourselves.

We may not be able to save more, but this weekend we're going to talk about it.

[scentedwoods]

I'm sure that saving for the wedding is an extra bit of financial stress right now. Maybe more than saving more you could talk about saving when?

As in, after the wedding we'll have X more dollars that would could put into the Roth for 6 months, then we'll funnel it into the emergency fund for the next 6 months. It'd be easier to see progress if you focus on one thing at a time.

[poodah]

It's funny, but to me this doesn't feel stressful at all. It's actually super fun. The thought of saving and saving makes me feel great. I'm getting off on it and that's why I'm all concerned and want to save more.

But with that said, I will keep what you said in mind and not let my new convert to saving put undue stress on Jeff. Right now, I'm trying to save as much as possible and seeing where the chips fall. Once we return from the wedding, that's when I want to put certain saving/investing plans in motion.

[thatgirljj]

You know, I wouldn't push to do better. $1700 a month is pretty awesome! (I assume that's net and you're putting additional funds into your 401k?) I'd be pretty cool with your $300 discretionary, our discretionary is higher (though our income is a little higher), and you don't want to scrooge yourself into hating the budget.

One thing I would do though, is put car maintainence into the budget rather than having it be discretionary. One emergency could fuck you for a few months if your car decides to be a little bitch about it.

[poodah]

That is net--I'm putting 10% in my 403(b) and Stanford matches 10%. Jeff can't put anything in his 401(k), but the union is putting a small token amount in and once he turns our as a journeyman he can contribute AND he'll have a pension.

It's true, we don't have a car budget, but his car is pretty new (2004, 50K miles) and neither of us need it to get to work. Also, we have a 'slush' fund for emergencies like that.

[anonymous]

I got that same credit card class action letter. I've received several class action notifications in the past for various things, but this is the only one I responded to. I went online and requested my $25.

oops! That was me

[prairiegurl]

I got that same credit card class action letter. I've received several class action notifications in the past for various things, but this is the only one I responded to. I went online and requested my $25.

Re: oops! That was me

[poodah]

Did you get your money yet?

Re: oops! That was me

[prairiegurl]

Nope, but I only did it last week. If I get the money by the end of 2008, I'll be somewhat impressed :)