Ok, so I've talked before about how I utilize the Savings Challenge monies I tuck away each year.
I save and save in one year and then, in the following year, if we have any bills/costs not covered by our regular yearly income, we use that previous year's savings to apply toward the following year's costs. At the end of the following year, anything left in the previous years Savings Challenge gets put into an investment account and becomes "permanent savings".
Basically we use last year's savings as our emergency fund to pay for any current year's costs we can't cover with the current year's regular pay.
I've been doing this since 2009 and it seems to be working out quite well for us.
In 2009 we saved $23,865.36.
In 2010 we spent $13,460.81 of that 2009 money on various expenses(a used car purchase, a new fridge and a couple of vacations).
At the end of 2010 we had $10,404.55 leftover of the 2009 money and it got tucked away to permanent savings.
In 2010 we saved $34,019.88.
In 2011 we spent only $427.81 of that 2010 money toward a quick trip to OC.
At the end 2011 we had $33,592.07 leftover of the 2010 money and it got added to the 2009 "leftovers" for a grand total of $43,996.62 tucked away to permanent savings.
In 2011 we saved $34,461.31.
In 2012 we spent $2,627.16 of that 2011 money toward a used car purchase and 2 mini-vacation trips.
At the end of 2012 we had $31,834.15 leftover of the 2011 money and it got added to the 2009 & 2010 "leftovers" for a grand total of $75,830.77 tucked away to permanent savings.
In 2012 we saved $28,907.08.
In 2013 we spent 23,611.66 of that 2012 money toward a rebuilt car engine, home renovations/repairs and supplies, a road trip to the Midwest and a new/replacement HVAC system for our house(the last item accounted for about half of all that spending).
At the end of 2013 we had $5,295.42 leftover of the 2012 money and it got added to the 2009-2011 "leftovers" for a grand total of $81,126.19 tucked away to permanent savings.
In 2013 we saved $24,033.60.
In 2014 we spent ZERO of that 2013 money. Up until 2014 any bonuses Hubs received at work were directly dumped into our kid's college funds account. The 2013 Bonus was when we finished funding the college account, so we could apply the 2014 Bonus toward expenses we couldn't cover with the regular income in 2014. This meant the 2013 Savings Challenge monies didn't have to be touched as long as the 2014 Bonus could cover any out of the ordinary expenses that year.
At the end of 2014 we had the whole $24,033.60 leftover of the 2013 money and it got added to the 2009-2012 "leftovers" for a grand total of $105,159.79 tucked away to permanent savings.
In 2014 we saved $46, 193.93(a chunk of which was leftover Bonus money we didn't spend in 2014 since we had finished funding the college account).
Hubs got a Bonus this year and after buying a new used car we still have approx. $14K left to cover a bathroom redo in 2015. If we don't need to touch the 2014 savings in 2015, at the end of 2015 we could have tucked away to permanent savings(when added to the 2009-2013 "leftovers") an incredible $151,353.72.
If we keep trending along this path, by the time Hubs retires in 2+ years(and if he receives a Bonus in the next 2 years similar to what he received in 2015)we could have an additional $211K saved for retirement in addition to everything we have been putting away all these years into the actual retirement accounts.
If you had asked me when I started this scheme in 2009 if I'd be able to save this kind of cash I would have laughed in your face.
This just proves that by putting small amounts of money away, over time, you can achieve a financial goal.
I know many are not in the position to save tens of thousands of cash a year but you CAN save something no matter how much your income is a year.
The point is to JUST START TODAY!
Put away something every month.
Don't live TO your means, live a bit BELOW your means.
Save what you can and on a regular basis, every month.
Sluggy
I save and save in one year and then, in the following year, if we have any bills/costs not covered by our regular yearly income, we use that previous year's savings to apply toward the following year's costs. At the end of the following year, anything left in the previous years Savings Challenge gets put into an investment account and becomes "permanent savings".
Basically we use last year's savings as our emergency fund to pay for any current year's costs we can't cover with the current year's regular pay.
I've been doing this since 2009 and it seems to be working out quite well for us.
In 2009 we saved $23,865.36.
In 2010 we spent $13,460.81 of that 2009 money on various expenses(a used car purchase, a new fridge and a couple of vacations).
At the end of 2010 we had $10,404.55 leftover of the 2009 money and it got tucked away to permanent savings.
In 2010 we saved $34,019.88.
In 2011 we spent only $427.81 of that 2010 money toward a quick trip to OC.
At the end 2011 we had $33,592.07 leftover of the 2010 money and it got added to the 2009 "leftovers" for a grand total of $43,996.62 tucked away to permanent savings.
In 2011 we saved $34,461.31.
In 2012 we spent $2,627.16 of that 2011 money toward a used car purchase and 2 mini-vacation trips.
At the end of 2012 we had $31,834.15 leftover of the 2011 money and it got added to the 2009 & 2010 "leftovers" for a grand total of $75,830.77 tucked away to permanent savings.
In 2012 we saved $28,907.08.
In 2013 we spent 23,611.66 of that 2012 money toward a rebuilt car engine, home renovations/repairs and supplies, a road trip to the Midwest and a new/replacement HVAC system for our house(the last item accounted for about half of all that spending).
At the end of 2013 we had $5,295.42 leftover of the 2012 money and it got added to the 2009-2011 "leftovers" for a grand total of $81,126.19 tucked away to permanent savings.
In 2013 we saved $24,033.60.
In 2014 we spent ZERO of that 2013 money. Up until 2014 any bonuses Hubs received at work were directly dumped into our kid's college funds account. The 2013 Bonus was when we finished funding the college account, so we could apply the 2014 Bonus toward expenses we couldn't cover with the regular income in 2014. This meant the 2013 Savings Challenge monies didn't have to be touched as long as the 2014 Bonus could cover any out of the ordinary expenses that year.
At the end of 2014 we had the whole $24,033.60 leftover of the 2013 money and it got added to the 2009-2012 "leftovers" for a grand total of $105,159.79 tucked away to permanent savings.
In 2014 we saved $46, 193.93(a chunk of which was leftover Bonus money we didn't spend in 2014 since we had finished funding the college account).
Hubs got a Bonus this year and after buying a new used car we still have approx. $14K left to cover a bathroom redo in 2015. If we don't need to touch the 2014 savings in 2015, at the end of 2015 we could have tucked away to permanent savings(when added to the 2009-2013 "leftovers") an incredible $151,353.72.
If we keep trending along this path, by the time Hubs retires in 2+ years(and if he receives a Bonus in the next 2 years similar to what he received in 2015)we could have an additional $211K saved for retirement in addition to everything we have been putting away all these years into the actual retirement accounts.
If you had asked me when I started this scheme in 2009 if I'd be able to save this kind of cash I would have laughed in your face.
This just proves that by putting small amounts of money away, over time, you can achieve a financial goal.
I know many are not in the position to save tens of thousands of cash a year but you CAN save something no matter how much your income is a year.
The point is to JUST START TODAY!
Put away something every month.
Don't live TO your means, live a bit BELOW your means.
Save what you can and on a regular basis, every month.
Sluggy
