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Savings Queen

2013- TOTAL SAVINGS NEEDED FOR THIS YEAR: $168,050
TO PAY FOR EXPENSES:
Converting Real Estate IRA into Roth (pay .44% tax on $289K in rental house IRA acct) $130,050
Hubby's Jaw Surgery $15,000
(reduced to $7,000 since it's covered)
Emergency Fund $30,000

WHAT WE HAVE NOW:
7/9/13: $166,804 (including rental house account) OUCH! WE WENT DOWN!!
5/22/13: $168,511 (including rental house account)
5/3/13:$163,755.00 (including rental account)
4/17/13: $160,447.67 (including rental account)
4/1/13: $142,719 (including rental account)
3/17/13: $136,131.38 (including rental house account)
2/24/13: $128,516 in savings

WHERE WE ARE ON APRIL 17, 2013: Still need $14,602.33 to meet $170,050 yearly goal by April 15, 2014 ($1,216 per month - 12 months from April 1, 2012 - April 1, 2013)

Savings Goals:
Hubby's paychecks $2,478 X 26 wks = $64,428
My savings $1,500 mo. X 12 = $18,000
By March 1, 2014 hubby and I should meet our savings goal of $175,050 and have $50,097 in extra savings (this will give us an emergency fund of $80,097). Next year we hope to convert the remaining $100K of the real estate IRA into a roth and will need about $45K to do that. We will easily be able to meet that goal during 2014!

WHO ARE WE (money wise)?
I am a wife and mother of two grown sons. I own a business & my husband has a good job and we have done some things right (pd. off mortgage, pretty good 401Ks, more than $100,000 in savings, 9 mostly paid off rental houses (10 units). Previously we used a VISA card but now we are only using our debit card.

Most people would say we are in great shape which we are, however, I also have a tendency to overspend money at times (sometimes I worry I have a spending problem).

I want to learn to appreciate what I have and stop frittering money away. With me it is usually either wild overspending or total frugality. I want to learn to live a more balanced financial life, in the middle.

SPENDING/SAVINGS GOALS:
* Continue to stay off EBAY!!! DONE
* Write down all expenditures DONE
* Continue to use the debit card, not the charge card GOT RID OF CHARGE CARD! DONE
* FIND OUT WHAT WE NEED TO LIVE EACH MONTH! Develop a spending plan. DONE
* Continue to save my DH�s
paychecks and live on mine
DONE
INVESTMENT GOALS:
* Gather all figures for 401K,
IRAs, banks accounts DONE
* Create a Net Worth Statement DONE
* Use real estate (rentals) to produce income of $7,000 a month in income tax free

GOAL: Turn the rental account into a ROTH in 2013 so all rental income will be tax free. This is a BIG savings goal for us! We need $120-$160K to pay the taxes on this 400K account. (we have have to convert 280K of the account this year and 100K next year so we will still have some emergency fund money left)

INVESTMENT GOALS: Get our 401K invested in safe mututal funds
FEB - Created a plan and are dollar cost averaging to get back in over the next six months.

Opinions on Starting a DA Meeting?

January 13th, 2011 at 12:15 pm

Day 10 of writing it all down and following my spending plan. Yeah!! Yesterday I bought gas and the friend I went to lunch with insisted she pay for my lunch for my birthday...now I feel indebted to her and would rather have paid my own tab, but that's another story.

Another friend and I are thinking about starting a Debtors Anonymous meeting. I am really not much of a debtor, probably due to our higher income, but I certainly have had a spending problem at times in the past. Does anyone here have experience with the DA program? If so, do you think it's helpful?

Posted in Budgeting, Credit Cards, Debt, Investing, Personal Finance, Retirement, Saving Money, Shopping | 9 Comments »

9 Responses to “Opinions on Starting a DA Meeting?”

Ima saver Says:
January 13th, 2011 at 05:11 pm 1294938691
1294938691

Sorry, no experience with DA.
Petunia 100 Says:
January 13th, 2011 at 06:08 pm 1294942085
1294942085

I have a friend who treats me to lunch on my birthday, and I treat her to lunch on hers.
Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
January 13th, 2011 at 06:41 pm 1294944080
1294944080

Have you been participating in their online site? There used to be a blogger here who was a high income, high spender, (also had what -for me- would be phenomenal savings) who seemed to have gotten lots of backbone and organization against her undesired traits from Debtors Anonymous. I had the impression that she just used the online site.... Don't have any idea if it could be better in person, sorry.
Savings Queen Says:
January 13th, 2011 at 07:03 pm 1294945388
1294945388

Thanks Joan of the Arch, I don't really think my problem is not knowing what to do, as I do know what I should be doing and do it some of the time. I will check out their on line site!
rob62521 Says:
January 14th, 2011 at 12:30 am 1294965004
1294965004

Do you have many friends who would want to join your DA? So many of our friends would never admit they have money issues yet they sit around and complain about not having enough money.
rob62521 Says:
January 14th, 2011 at 12:30 am 1294965028
1294965028

And, happy birthday!
Savings Queen Says:
January 14th, 2011 at 01:14 am 1294967678
1294967678

Rob, You are so right about that! Money is so hush hush...no one hardly EVER talks about it. I only have the one friend who wants to do it and she knows someone who used to do it and wants to start again. I think DA is really for people who have a compulsion to spend money. Basically, you do much of what we do here. In DA they write down what they spend each day and live on a spending plan. The only difference is you meet with the group once a week to become accountable. By the way, I did go to a phone meeting this morning which was on the DA site. It was VERY interesting and a great reminder to stay financially sane. Thanks for the bday wishes!
Jerry Says:
January 14th, 2011 at 04:33 pm 1295022839
1295022839

Ha! DA made me think of "Dumbledore's Army," because I am kind of a nerd. The OP is right, money is nearly as hushed up as talking about someone's sexual proclivities, and it leads to people getting into deep debt and not knowing how to manage it properly. I know a number of people living in huge houses with beautiful cars who don't own a thing, and they have no insurance of ever making financial progress... it is all about keeping up with their neighbors and not about actual progression.
Jerry
Savings Queen Says:
January 15th, 2011 at 11:29 am 1295090944
1295090944

Jerry, You are so right! That keeping up with the Jones is killing so many people! Fortunately, although we do have a nice looking lifestyle, we were also kind of frugal in that we paid off our house and were satisfied rather than going out and getting another mortgage and getting a more impressive house. I am sure most of our friends have whopping mortgages and lots of credit card debt and I feel lucky that we don't. I just need to stop frittering away money and using what we have much more wisely.

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Savings Queen's Personal Finance Journey

A Spending Queen Learns to Change her Spendthrift Ways...One Day at A Time.

Opinions on Starting a DA Meeting?

9 Responses to “Opinions on Starting a DA Meeting?”

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