$24K Savings Challenge Updates & 2015's Savings Challenge Goal

So this Savings Challenge I do every year, well, since 2009 at least........I use the previous year's SC $ saved as an emergency fund for the following year.

IE-the money saved in 2012 was used to fund emergencies & irregular expenses in 2013 when regular income didn't cover everything.
Then at the end of following year, when all the emergencies that were going to take place had, I took whatever was left in that SC and put it into an interest bearing non-retirement account of some sort and it became "permanent". And hopefully when we retire it will be added to our sack o' money/retirement funds.

I started my personal Savings Challenge in 2009 when I was on a Yahoo group called "The Compact".  I was younger and pretty naïve about how much I could save from our income then and challenged myself to put away 60 THOUSAND DOLLARS!  Yes, 6 with 4 Zeroes after it. lolz
I didn't even get halfway there.
But you know what?
It didn't matter that I failed at my goal.
What mattered is that I saved something, right?!?

In 2009 I saved $23,865.36
We used $13,460.81 of that money in 2010 for unexpected expenses, sending the remaining $10,404.55 to permanent savings.

In 2010 I saved $34,019.88
We used $427.81 of that money in 2011, sending the remaining $33,592.07 to permanent savings.

In 2011 I saved $34,461.31
We used $2,627.16 of that money in 2012, sending the remaining $31,834.15 to permanent savings.

In 2012 I saved $28,907.08
We used $23,611.66 of that money in 2013, sending the remaining $5,295.42 to permanent savings.

In 2013 I saved $24,033.60
We used $0.00 of that money in 2014, sending the remaining $24,033.60 to permanent savings.

In 2014 I saved $27,427.06 and this will be the pot of money we draw from for any emergencies/irregular expenses in 2015, before sending whatever remains to permanent savings.

You can see from above that some years we had many unexpected expenses and most years we had few.....what we spent from the previous year's savings varied from $23,611.66 in 2012 to using $0 in 2014.
I am just thankful I DID save money because if there hadn't been that pot of money sitting in the bank in 2012, we would have had to delay or worse, put some of those expenses on a credit card!

So with 5 full years of my Savings Challenges(2009-2013) tucked away for our retirement years my total is sitting at $105,159.79.

But..........you knew there had to be a but somewhere, right?........Hubs got a generous Bonus in 2014 as well.
He gets a bonus most year's but last year's was waaaay awesomer.

We had 3 large irregular expenses last year--having our driveway re-asphalted, my road trip to the Midwest and oh yeah, we bought a new car in May.
Instead of funding these purchases with our 2013 Savings Challenge monies we used part of the bonus. 
This means we didn't spend down any of the money saved in 2013's savings Challenge.
Go us!

And after paying for these expenses with the bonus we still have $18+K leftover from that hunk of bonus money.
So I am adding it to what I saved in the 2014 Savings Challenge, which boosts our 2014 total saved to $46,193.93. 8-)))))))

Again when 2015 is over and everything is paid for, whatever is left from that $46+K will go into permanent savings for our retirement years.

Now I need to settle on a savings goal amount for 2015.
Since we actually saved $27+K in 2014(without the bonus $), I think I'll inch the bar up a bit to $28K for 2015.

$28K is very doable, given our income level.   If I keep my frugal nose to the grindstone and no big expenses wallop us this year we should make that number.

We will have some extra expenses in 2015 with home repairs(getting things ready to sell in a couple of years) and the ever present car issues....plus 1 child still in college and dependent on us(IE $$$) and another child still on our medical insurance.

I plan to keep our living expenses as low as possible without having to go into "financial desperation mode".  We won't be turning off the lights or heat or eating just rice and beans but we won't be splurging on lobster and filet mignon out at restaurants every night, lighting up the neighborhood like the Vegas strip or spending on extravagances like luxury goods and world cruises either.

So who wants to play along and save some of their income in 2015?
Figure out what you can reasonably live on and put the rest away for your retirement....or if you still have debt(and why do you still have debt at this point in your life?!?)put something extra this year toward that goal and get yourself DEBT-FREE and/or MORTGAGE-FREE.

Set whatever goal feels right for your life.  Experts have said that people who set goals do better with their money overall.  Set a goal to keep yourself accountable.  Better yet, post a goal on your blog or in a community forum online and let other people's eyes help keep you more accountable.  8-)

Yah, it might not be fun to track your expenses but if you don't know where your money is going(and with most folks the money DOES GO!)how can you know if you keep any?

Tell us your savings goal for this year and how you plan to go about achieving that number.


Sluggy


 

And Thus It Begins.....

Yes, the new year means we are at $0 satisfying our High Deductible Health Insurance Plan's deductible before benefits/co-pays kick in.
Sigh.

I needed to refill some rxs earlier this week.  Only one was REALLY costly..................

Once our bennies kick in I co-pay between $45 and $50 for this script.
So I am out of pocket $335.39 for 1 prescription.
ouch.
Well, really our HSA is out the money.

I now have a pattern for drug refills since having to go onto this health insurance plan with a high deductible......beginning of the year, when I have to pay full freight, I transfer everything over to Walmart that's on their $4 refill list.  Once the deductible is satisfied for the year, I transfer every drug back to Rite-Aid that will have a $5 co-pay there.  I am paying $1 more per refill but the convenience of having these filled in town is worth that much.

Thankfully 2 of my other rxs are of the generic $4 variety and need to be transferred to Walmart and filled next week.
But I do have 1 more rx that won't need filling until the end of Feb. but this cost may top $470.  There are no generics for this one sadly.
8-(

Hopefully by the time that one needs refilling I'll have enough new deposits into the HSA to cover it.

Sluggy

 

Weis Shopping This Week

There were some deals this week at Weis(PMITA)Markets that I wanted to get in on so I went out this morning before the snow flew to shop.
If you shop at Weis you may want to get in on some of these offers.

I hadn't planned on buying paper products/cleaners but this Buy $30/Get $10 Deal paired with coupons I had was too good to resist.........

 

 

This all came to $30.72(sale prices-I never try to run off the reg. shelf price on Kimberley-Clark stuff at Weis anymore because last time the Catalina didn't generate when I did).
Subtract the $5 of Qs and I spent $25.72(plus tax).

Between the $6 I already have spent on Huggies wipes on  a trip to Rite-Aid, and the items here that qualify for the SavingStar "Buy $30/Get $5 Kimberley-Clark" rebate, I have enough to have earned that $5 reward into my SavingStar account.
$25.72, subtract the SavingStar $5 Refund, and I am at $20.72 OOP.

Add in the Catalina that the machine spit out............

And this lot of products "cost" me $10.72.
Good deals for TP, towels and dishwashing liquid.

Then I did the Customer Appreciation Sale Deal(buy 8 select items and pay .88¢ ea.).  Some of the select items are on sale $1 this week if you don't buy 8 at a time, some are regularly priced at $1.29 or more.
Here is what I got..........

4 whole grain variety Barilla pastas
2 Spaghettios w/meatballs(for College Boy)
2 Weis facial tissues
Total with sale........$7.04
I used 2 x .75¢/2 Barilla Qs(coupons dotcom)which double to $1/2 so paid $5.04 OOP, making each item .63¢

I goofed up on this.
I should have gotten 3 Spaghettios and 1 facial tissue instead.  This would have kicked in a SavingStar Q for .40/3 Spaghettios and my per item price would have dropped to .58¢ each.
I may go back with 2 more Barilla Qs later this week and do this deal again utilizing the SavingStar Q too.

I also bought this stuff.......

The hot cocoa mix is to replace the less fresh box in the Giveaway box.  I have a Q for .40¢/1 which doubled to .80¢ off the cocoa plus it was on sale.
That's how we roll around here............ ;-)

The Oreos are for College Boy.
On sale for $1.97 this week and I had .50/1 IPQs that doubled to $1 off each, so Oreos for .97¢ a bag.

Weis had Furmano's tomato products(the big cans)as part of the Customer Appreciation Sale for .88¢ each, however there was a blinkie box hanging off the shelf, with $1/3 Qs for Tuttorosso tomato products AND the Tuttorosso's were on sale for $1 a can.  After the Q was applied the Tuttorosso's were only .66¢ a can making them a better deal than the Furmano's at .88¢ a can.

If I hadn't had my trusty calculator with me to do the math I might have bought the less good deal.

The halal chicken was $5.24 after $2 instant meat discount Q on it, making it just over $1 a lb.
Both OM Deli meat trays had $2 instant meat discount Qs on them so I splurge on a lb. of deli meat for $6.98.  Much cheaper than the deli counter meats which were $10 or so a lb.

This applesauce was also a good deal this week.
On sale for $1.37 each, limit of 4(I am lucky to see applesauce in cups for $2 a package here).

I had 4x .75¢/2 Musselman's ManQs from the 1/4 inserts(thanks to my sister in-law not wanting them!).  I used 2 Qs and will go back later this week to use the other 2.
So each package, after the Qs doubled to $1, cost me .87¢.
Sweet!
Hubs likes to take these in his lunch.

I had 2 x $1/2 Hanover frozen Veggies Qs and they were on sale $2 each so the veggies cost me $1.50 a bag.  These are the "premium" gold and silver line of veggies.

The Helluva Good cheese was BOGO and I had a .55¢ ManQ that doubled up to $1, making each block of cheese $1.09 and a half($2.19 for both).

Then I bought this treat because it's my birthday and it was on sale.......

$5.99

And here is the only thing I bought at Weis that was FULL PRICE.........

A bag of Coleslaw shreds for $2.49
Yah, I could have bought a head of cabbage and cut it down myself but being frugal with other items let's me be a spendthrift with a bag of coleslaw and not have to worry about it. lolz

This bag will see us through 2 meals......with fish and then again with bbq sandwiches.

My savings rate over regular retail was 45%, I earned 20 gas points and that $10 OYN order Catalina Q.

Sluggy
 

Looking at Making Some Financial Moves

Since I had pulled up financial accounts to see what the interest earned in 2014 was, I noticed that in my Capital One 360 accounts I have spilled over the $250,00 FDIC insured amount.  Not wanting to have a portion of my ASSets hanging out there in the wind and not covered(see what I did there? lolz)I need to move some money into a new savings instrument/institution.

Neither of my local financial institution with brick & mortar locations have rates that would induce me to put more funds into them.
Not even close!
In fact, I swept the credit union savings account and made a large deposit into Cap One 360 last year, which is what put me over the insured limit.

So I am shopping for the best CD rate I can find to move some funds into.  Funds numbering as much $ as I feel won't need to be accessed in the next year or two before Hubs retires. This isn't our nest egg by any measure.  It's just extra money I've tucked away that last 5 years that needs to earn as much as it can without being gambled.

All of the college money needs to stay liquid in Cap One but all the rest is up for review on where it should be sitting and growing.
Cap One 360 gives me .75% with a lot of liquidity(2 day turn around) so the college money stays put.  It's the best rate with almost total liquidity out there I've found.  8-)

But I'll like to find some place I can earn more on the $ that doesn't need to stay liquid-ish.

Bankrate is showing 1.15% for a 1 year rate through 2 banks & 1 credit union.  Both banks are online entities(1 well known, 1 I've never come across before)and the nearest location of the credit union is in NJ(it also has an online presence which I could use).

I think Hubs can make some "catch-up" deposits into his retirement account as we didn't fully fund it early on when the kids were babies and money was tight.
I'll check into that this week and talk to Hubs to see if he wants to put some of this money there too.

Does anyone out there have any recommendations for what institution to put this money into?
I am not interested in putting this $ into the stock market, just a CD or something. Got enough $ in the market already, this pile is being kept in "safe" ventures since we are so close to retirement.

Thoughts?

Sluggy

1st Giveaway of 2015!

It's time for my first Sluggy's Boring Blog Box Giveaway of 2015.

As suggested by various readers in 2014 this Giveaway box will be chocked full of "Items that Come in Handy During the Winter Time" stuff.
Check it out..........

Contac flu & cold medicine
Yogi Throat Coat tea
Vaseline lotion
Box of facial tissues
Box of hot chocolate
Hall's cough drops
Excedrin migraine pills
Alba tropical fruit lip balm
And then two items to help you FEEL better--
Mary Kay body smoothing scrub
Flipz dark chocolate covered pretzels

*I'll replace the box of hot cocoa pictured with a new box before I mail it out.  The box I pulled from the stockpile is past it's "freshness" date so it will be replaced. 8-)

I'll leave this giveaway open until January 28th, Wednesday, at 11:59pm.  The next day I'll put all the valid entries into a container and draw out a name and that person wins.

There is a limit of ONE ENTRY per Day by leaving a comment on this blog post.

To get a BONUS entry, you can do this once---

Post about my Giveaway on your own Blog or on Facebook with a link to this post.  This will earn you 2 additional entries for each action.  Please leave 2 additional comments on this blog post for each additional Bonus entry. 


 Disclaimer--This giveaway is open to those with mailing addresses within the US or Canada only.
If you are in Canada, you will receive a smaller box of goodies, as the shipping rates internationally are ridiculous and I am not taking out a mortgage on my house to pay to ship this stuff.  ;-)

**
If you need this shipped to Canada, I'll have to change the box and it's contents a bit.  I can ship a plain box weighing up to 4lbs. via 1st class mail, which, while more than the flat rate Priority to US addys, is still affordable.  These prize boxes usually weigh 7 or more lbs. when full, so if the winner is in Canada, I'll let them pick and choose which of the items they prefer sent in their box, until the box weighs 4lbs.  I hate to have to do this(not ship ALL prizes to them)but I would hate it even more to exclude them totally from entering the giveaway.

***NOTE***
Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you in your comment.  If you're not a registered Blog User with your contact information on your User page, please put your email or email me your email addy privately when you leave a comment or something so I can get ahold of you if you win. If I can't contact you then you can't win.  Thanks!

So let's get this started!

 

Sluggy