Even though I am trying hard to cut the budget and save wants are creeping in. As long as we stagger them it will be ok, and we aren't in any danger of not meeting our obligations.

The latest want: softball.

The partner and I paid $60 yesterday to join the a softball team in the city's league. I am choosing to look at this as an investment-an investment in our health because we will be playing and practicing weekly and an investment in our relationship because it is something else we can do together. Right now I am able to use his son's mitt, but I will probably have to buy my own soon. Other than that I shouldn't have to buy anything else except maybe some new socks and pants to play in.

The next want I'll probably wait until May for. I want to get hiking boots. The partner wants me to come hiking with him in the many local places we have, and we're definitely going to do some hiking when we go out west. So I have time to make room in our finances for a pair. I also think the boots will be a two fold investment.

As it stands I'm about $500 short for the May 10th payment, and only have $200 on my credit card. Only 8 days left to try to keep it under $1000 (I am confident I will do it!)

Net worth went up last month, mostly because of the markets. This month's goal is to increase the net worth by $6,112.98. With everything that is going on I don't think I'll make it, but I should get close.

Roof

We're spending more than originally thought on the roof, but that's because we're also replacing the soffits and gutters. After this we shouldn't have to do a thing with the roof. We've paid half of the roof's materials costs already, and will pay the rest of the the balance once the job is done. We have $7430 remaining. That will all be put on the Southwest credit card and then I will transfer $2000 to one credit card I already have for 0% interest for 12 months, and the remainder to another 0% interest/12 months card that I already have. The plan will be to pay $675/month total to pay it off in 11 months. I will pay the minimum on the higher balance and attack the $2000 card until it's done, then pay the entire $675 to the remaining card.

Summer Travel

We're going to the West Coast to visit my family. This year we're bringing my partner's son and all of us couldn't be more excited. My partner and I each signed up for the Southwest cards spend $2000 get 50,000 points. We split the first roof charge on each of our cards and will use the points to book the plane tickets for all 3 of us. We'll stay at my family's house and they have already told us they'd pay for our rental car so all we'll be responsible for is the many baseball games we want to go for and fun stuff.

The Basement Apartment

This, unfortunately, is also going to be more than we were originally hoping and planning for. This is mostly because we have changed the scope a bit. We talked to a contractor on Saturday and told him everything we want to do (both for the basement apartment and also the entire house.) We gave him a range of $8-$12,000. He said he might be able to do it for $12,000, but then we'd be replacing everything next year. He thinks $15-$18,000 is more reasonable. Since we don't want to cheap out completely (we want things functional but that will last) we've revised our plan. The partner and I already have agreed on two things to scale back on that will save us $2,000. We won't completely replace all the flooring downstairs but use what is already there and we won't try to move the electrical box. If it becomes a problem we'll move it next summer, if not we'll save that money. The contractor is going to get us a budget and timeline this week, so we'll know better about what else we can cut out or save on.

I have written out a budget assuming this project will cost the entire $18,000. We can do it, but things will be way tighter than I would like for way longer than I would like. I worry if we have too many tight months in a row that we just won't be able to keep up the steam. But I would rather plan for spending more and be surprised when it's less.

Right now the plan to pay for the renovations is to get the discover 0% for 14 months card. I believe I can get a credit limit high enough for the project but since we don't all the information yet it is a little difficult to see how it will pan out. I did my best projections but they are only guesses at this point.

The goal right now is to keep spending low and really make every dollar work for us. We are trying to cash flow this whole expenditure and not take any money out of savings, but at least we have savings should we need it.

I have a spreadsheet where I have inputted all my know monthly expenses and income until December 2016. I estimate $1500 on credit card/unexpected/living expenses due on the 7th (because that's when my main credit card is due.) As I make payments from my checking account or make other credit card payments, I add them to the spreadsheet, as well as any unexpected income. Right now I am good until May 10th, when one of the roof credit cards is due. I am short about $400. I am not too worried, because my credit card that is due on the May 7th is only $100 right now, and I think I can easily keep it to until $1000 with 9 days left to go. (On the 2nd I'll switch my credit card use to a card that won't be due until May 28th-it's a juggling act but I never pay any interest and it works for me.) Worst case scenario is I rearrange some of the more flexible payments until after the credit card is due.

So, there we have it. I have a ton more to say/think out loud about but will leave it here for now.

As expected, my net worth took quite a hit last month. We closed on our house and were quite surprised that we had to come to closing with approximately $5000 less than we were anticipating (sellers paying some costs and refunded property taxes.)

Because of the way we're buying the new house, my net worth has dropped (at least on paper). I put down the money for the down payment and my partner is paying the mortgage and some other expenses until we are "whole," then we will split those expenses evenly. We are joint owners of this house so I will only include my half in tracking my worth, both value and mortgage.

Here's the damage: -10,892.95

I did not make my goal of $5,942.98 by a LONG shot but I am unconcerned. My rental house's value went up along with my IRA and work retirement account. One of my beneficiary accounts was down a tad and the other down about $2,000. But the house was appraised at $5,000 more than we paid for it, so that was a helpful boost.

Going into February I will need to increase my net worth by $6,143.41 to make my goal by 35. I do not anticipate hitting this goal, but I want to get as close as possible.

As for the January budget we did pretty good this first try at a hard budget. Our biggest budget buster is food and alcohol. We don't spend on clothes or gadgets or haircuts or entertainment. We like a good meal and something to drink. But we're figuring out how to do it on the cheap. January we went over our food budget by about $20, and our eating out budget by $100. BUT we did move into a new house and ate out the first two nights and I feel like that is partly justified.

Know that we came so close last month means I am motivated to get even closer this month!

The other bad thing this month was that my car needed an expensive repair. I went ahead and did it (for a tune of $458) because I knew the longer I left it the greater chance that it would turn into something far more expensive.

Luckily not needing as much for closing provided an excellent buffer for this month and for the start of the year. I feel good about how much I have in savings and hope I can continue to stock away as much as possible before we start the repairs and renovations.

I calculated everything on January 1st but forgot to post anything.

I most definitely did not make my goal progress to increase my net worth by $5,846.02.

In fact, my net worth decreased by -$2,396.15. So that's a bummer.

One of my beneficiary accounts sent me my RMD, but I didn't deposit it until January. Overall, the markets had my accounts down but my IRA and work retirement were both up because of contributions. My credit card usage was up also, but artificially because the payment posted earlier last month to make it look like I hadn't spent as much. Other than that we had extra expenses due to buying the house-earnest money, inspection costs and appraisal fee.

January's goal is $5,942.98, but I doubt I will any where near it because of the house and they way the house will be figured into my net worth.

My partner and I are purchasing the house together. I am putting up a majority of the down payment, and he is going to pay the mortgage solely until he catches up to the amount of money I put in and we "even out". Then we will split the mortgage payments evenly. So, I will only count half of the house's value into my net worth and count half of the mortgage as my responsibility, even though I put in more than half the money to buy it. It will work out over time, but it puts a slight sprig in the wheel of my completely arbitrary goal

Here is my proposed January Budget

Rent: 413
Home Insurance: 71
Utilities: (gas and water): 150
Groceries: 250
Eating out: 100
Cell phone 75
Gas: 75
Car maintenance: 50
Health spending: 100
Long term savings: 100
Short term savings: 100
IRA contribution: 458.33
Moving expenses: 500

Projected year budget shortfall: $5,471.07

I tried to estimate high on the variable costs. The goal for this month is to keep expenses low and save as much as we can for the closing/moving/renovation costs. I have also tried to estimate those costs high. Once we move in we'll start calling to get estimates. We should be able to cash flow a majority of our renovation/roofing costs.

We have been in negotiation again with the sellers for the house we want. After the inspection turned up some significant problems, it looked like the sellers weren't going to agree to cover the costs and we would have to walk away. At almost the last minute yesterday, the sellers agreed to the new negotiated price. We are homeowners!

Now to start planning the 2015 budget. There are so many unknowns still but I have plugged into an excel sheet all the income I expect to receive and all my expenses for the year. Things like insurance, car maintenance, gas, taxes, gifts and travel costs. I am sure I have missed things but I think I have a good framework. As it stands we need to come up with an extra $5,883.07 over the year.

I am not too concerned (yet) with that number because there are so many variables that are hard to take into account right now. I am getting a 2.5% raise which should amount to $25 more per paycheck, but I am also having $50 taken out for the HSA. So I won't know what my paychecks will look like until mid January.

I have also budgeted for the renovation costs and major repairs we want to do in the spring. One of the problems we have to fix is a new roof. The inspector said we'd be lucky to get one more summer out of it. We have an estimate for a dimensional tile roof, but we think that in the future we want to put solar panels on the house. A metal roof will work much better for that. I have budgeted $10,000 for that but that's an arbitrary number because we haven't had any estimates yet.

I have also budgeted $10,000 for the renovations we want to do. We had a contractor look at the space and told him what we want and he said it could probably be done around $6,000-$7,000 but I would rather estimate high because there are always problems.

We currently rent so we are looking to find someone to take over our lease. I've budgeted that we'll be paying the mortgage and the rent through March. Hopefully we will find someone to take over before then and if we do that's $825 we don't have to find.

After we put in the MIL apartment in our basement we will look for a tenant. I have estimated that we will get one in August, but if we get one before that could be up to $1000 extra.

I've budgeted $75 for gas each month but I only fill up my tank every 2-3 weeks and at the prices right now I should only spend $50. But who knows how long gas will stay this low.

I also didn't account for the 2 extra paychecks I get during the year. And the budget right now has us paying for the homeowners insurance for the year but the sellers have agreed to pay our closing costs (which include insurance for a year) so I will probably be able to deduct that.

The budget includes contributions to my IRA (non-negotiable, I am not cutting back on that unless I am in a dire financial situation) and contributions to other savings accounts. I want to be able to save as much as I can and keep a health emergency fund, but obviously I might have to sacrifice some of the monthly savings in order to pay off the renovation costs. When we get better estimates I will post about how we plan to pay for it. Right now it's looking like a combination of paying for some of it cash and the rest on 0% interest credit cards (and making sure to pay it of 2 months before the deadline is up to be positive we don't pay any interest fees)

Right now the game plan is to keep spending to the absolute minimum and to start planning for the changes to the house We are so excited to start making this house our home!

...or the next several months.

First, the market has been very volatile and I have been depending on my money in the market appreciating to make my monthly goal. I'm not concerned about the long term effects of this month-I am not planning on touching any of this money for 30-40 years. There will be plenty of time to make up for this month's losses.

The other thing is that my partner and I are buying a house. We settled on a price with the sellers on Saturday and this week will be used to get the mortgaged settled and start the inspection process. We agreed to a price $5000 higher than I wanted to pay, but when we ran the numbers it added very little to the monthly payment. I was most concerned about the down payment at that price. It is going to make for a couple of tight months. The mortgage payment itself, though, should be right around what we are paying in rent so that won't be a burden at all.

We are paying a very fair price for the house. When we decide to move from our town we can easily rent it out for $500 more than the mortgage. We have some upgrades planned for it over the next couple of years. This year we are turning the basement into a "bonus room" with a kitchenette and full bathroom. It has an exterior door and we think we can rent it out easily once the work is done. We live in a college town and our house is in a very desirable neighborhood for grad students.
We'll update the kitchen and bathroom next year. Both will add significant value to the house and make it more attractive if we ever want to sell it. We plan on keeping it forever but if we need to we're reasonably sure that we'll be able to at least get our money back if we ever sell.

We are trying harder than we have in the past to tighten our belts. We had a fantastic grocery trip to Aldi and are set on dinners through Thursday. We are probably eating our last meal out on Tuesday. This is a planned meal-a celebration for me finally graduating with my TWO master's degrees. (They were held up until I finished my thesis. I got confirmation last week that my thesis has been accepted!)

We're being more mindful with the heat settings and are cutting back on alcohol consumption. I'm going to push my braces start date back a month so that I have a little more wiggle room in my budget (though the HSA should take care of 80-90% of it.) We're thinking of fun things we can do at home, or cheapest things out when we work from home and just need an excuse to get out. All in all, we're heading in the right direction. I am going to try to start updating more regularly to make sure I/we stay on track.

I technically made my November goal of increasing my net worth by $5,850.98. Here's how it worked out.


House: +1359
Beneficiary accounts: +1235.26
IRA: +551.66 (458.33 deposit + 93.33 market appreciation)
Work retirement: +66.78
Short term savings: +1307.04 (1300 deposit + 7.04 interest)
Long term savings: +406.72 (100 deposit + 306.72 market appreciation)
Credit cards (paid in full each month): -2408.35

...The credit card total is a little misleading. I scheduled a payment for the 1st, so my total spending on the credit card is down significantly, but the corresponding amount has not been taken out of my bank account yet. I technically did not make my goal this month, but since I run the numbers the same time every month I am going to count it. I will probably not make my goal for next month.

December goal: increase network by $5,846.02.

These goals might start to get harder to reach because I have gotten the process rolling for getting braces. So far it has only cost me $32 and I have used my HSA to pay for it. I'll be getting another deposit in my account next month, and it might have about $1000 in it by then, but I'll have to either start contributing to it, or using some of the money I've saved in my short term savings account. I've been putting $500/month in there for the purpose of braces so it is definitely planned spending.

Still need to get the food spending under control. I have been working on a project that has been especially stressful and need to devote as much time to it as possible. Hopefully that will end tomorrow morning and I can tackle the food spending with renewed vigor.

Yesterday my partner and I independently came to the conclusion that we need to stop eating out so much. We both looked at what we've spent our money on in the past 30 days and both of us have spent an entire paycheck on food and drink (including groceries). That is absurd. To be fair, we went out of town one weekend and had guests for two weekends and that just is not normal for us. I am glad we are both on the same page now-it is hard to hold to your guns when the other is encouraging you to do something you'd like to do anyway.

I stopped at the grocery store for a quick top up trip. I am going to have to start planning better because I feel like I am always at Kroger. Today I bought olive oil, but when it rang up it was $2 more. Last time I was at Kroger my oranges rang up wrong but I didn't think it was worth the effort for 42 cents. Two dollars is apparently the magic number for me. They checked the price and since it was labeled wrong (or didn't ring up correctly?) I got the bottle for free. That felt pretty good.

Now we have a fridge literally full of leftovers plus all the fruit and milk and coffee we consume daily and I don't see the need to go out to eat for some time or to grocery shop until the weekend.

I had a very spendy weekend. I spent more yesterday alone than I did all of the previous week.

Winter is here and I am not a winter girl. I have decided to take a new approach this year and just embrace the cold. I am starting to upgrade my winter clothes so I won't be so miserable. I started with a jacket yesterday. I bought a Northface one for $160-more than I have ever spend on a single article of clothing in my life. However, it is keeping me toasty and will last for years to come so I see it as a good investment.

I think we may finally start cracking down on how many times a week we eat out. I think 1-2 is perfectly reasonable given our income and lifestyle. We eat out WAY more than that. But I think my partner and I are on the same page now and are working together better to plan meals. Well..prepping meals. We plan them but then when we get home from work we're both exhausted and it's just easier to go out for dinner.

Paying off my debt early was such a relief but it was so unexpected that I hadn't had time to really think about what I wanted to do with my money. Before all my spare money went towards my student loans. All of the money I had coming in during the month had a job and it was easier to stay away from expensive temptations when thinking about how much money in interest I was paying each month.

My debt was student loans for a graduate degree ($22,000 before any interest) and $7600 for a used car. I was paying $140 for my car each month and $1000-$1200 for the student loans. They never had a chance to come out of deferment, so there was no regular payment.

I am hoping that my savings goal will help with assigning a job for all my dollars.

I am not doing as great at not spending as I think I should be, but I haven't gone overboard yet. My best friend and her SO came to visit last weekend and I haven't seen them in 1.5 years. We ate out at every meal, bought several packs of beers to drink at home, and went to almost all the good bars in town (have to save something for the next visit!) It felt good not to have to worry about whether I had to money for such splurges and to just enjoy our time.

Today is payday and I have transferred another $100 to my savings account. I'm going to try to do that every payday in addition to my regular beginning of the month transfer. It will probably go towards paying for braces, but we're also looking at buying a house soon so it won't hurt to have extra for a down payment/closing costs.

Somehow I managed to increase my net worth by $6,366.78. Well above my goal of $5,856.

Here's how it breaks down:

House: +$4,395
Beneficiary accounts: +1143.62
IRA: +516.21 ($458 monthly contribution + $58.28 in market appreciation)
Work Retirement: $66.15
Short term savings: $5.81
Long Term savings: $1197.45 ($1000 monthly contribution + $197.45 market appreciation)

However, even though my assets increased, my "debt" also increased too. I don't carry balances on my credit cards (ever) but I did have a spendy month. We went to an out of state wedding and we also have a terrible weakness for eating out. I also paid my property taxes in their enirety this month when I usually pay them in 2 installments. I had the money so I felt it was the right decision. So my checking account had about $1000 less in it than this time last month.

Credit cards +389.25

I definitely can't count on the house to make these type of gains every month but it was great this time! My goal for November is now $5,850.98.

We don't have any plans to go out of town in November so the credit cards should see significantly less use. In October we went out of town 2 weekends. We're also going to try to not only start eating at home more often, but to start freezing left overs for easy lunches. I don't often eat out at lunch but I feel bad every time I do.