Inspirational Recaps of Goals Achieved

[Otacon]

Aloha All

I'd like to start a thread to deter me when I'm tempted to just swipe my credit card for no other reason than retail therapy.

Anyone wishing to share an experience in which they sweat blood and tears to reach a goal, please feel welcome to do so in this thread.

Thanks

[Fizgig]

Well, I'm kind of proud of myself for how I've done this year, so here goes. (For background info, I'm a 29 year old single professional woman. No serious debt problems - $2000 remaining on student loans, and my mortgage.)

I've never had a well stocked emergency fund, and in the past few years it started to make me pretty nervous. I managed to save a small house downpayment a few years ago and bought a nice, affordable home in late 2004. All that responsibility made me realize I NEEDED THAT FUND. 2005 I still just dorked around and didn't save much, but in 2006 I got serious.

I decided that my minimum EF would be 4 months of necessary expenses - $7200. My ideal fund would be 6 months or $10,800. At the beginning of the year I trimmed my budget way down and set ALL the excess income to automatically transfer to savings. There was no margin of error for me to bust the budget, and I decided that I would NOT, under any circumstances, transfer money back from the EF.

So far I've kept that promise, even in hard months like when my dog had a $200 vet bill, and a $300 car repair. I cut back all other spending to accomodate, and when my checking account got freaky low I just didn't spend anything, even on groceries. (Make do with what's in the cupboards, ya know?)

As of now I'm at $6000, and will reach my minimum goal by early November. If my yearly bonus is what I'm expecting, I might even make my ideal goal by the end of the year. Woo hoo! That will be such a huge relief.

[Otacon]

Well done Fizgig, thanks for your response, I will definitely be reading and re-reading it in times of need!

[Broken Arrow]

I keep mine in the signature.

I'm actually close to completing my full emergency fund objective. Crossing my fingers, it will only be a few months away? That would be a massive achievement on my part and would be the first time to do so in my entire life.

[Otacon]

Good luck BA, I'll be routing for you!
I think I should consider an emergency fund, could you tell me what prompted you to go for it?

[Ima saver]

When I got married, we had nothing, literally nothing, but one car with a car payment. We rented a furnished one bedroom apartment for a year.
I took 1/3 of my small paycheck every week and immediately walked it over to place in a savings account. I bought nothing for myself, no clothes, no shoes, nothing. I saved everything I could. The following year I had saved enough for a down payment on my first home. It was brand new 3 bedrooms, 2 baths! (By the way, I made $1 an hour back then)

[Otacon]

$1 an hour?! If you can do that with such an amount - remain so disciplined, then I don't doubt I will be able to sacrifice and be able to purchase a car a year from now. Thank you IS, truly inspirational.

[Ima saver]

I credit my early years as a wonderful learning experience for me. Buying that house really set me up to be financially free some day. I worked hard, and paid that house off by the time I was 31. I then sold it and built a bigger one, with no mortgage.
I have never made over minimum wage to speak of, and my husband has not been a large wage earner either. Our current house is paid for and worth a minimum of 1/2 million.
Our secret was to not waste money on things we really did not need. We didn't run out to buy a vcr when they first came out and cost $1000. When we lived in florida, we had no cable, we watched 3 channels.
We have tried to always save as least 10% of all we made. When we got a paycheck, we always paid ourselves first, then paid the bills.

[Broken Arrow]

Originally Posted by Otacon

I think I should consider an emergency fund, could you tell me what prompted you to go for it?

In a word?

My ex.

Okay, that's two words, but I digress.

All joking aside, an emergency fund is something I think everyone can universally agree on in this forum. Perhaps there's a difference in opinion as to the size and makeup of an EF, but I think it's almost suicide not to have something-- anything-- in place.

Ordinarily though, I would prefer to pay down debt. However, I have mused about this change in direction in a recent blog entry.

[Ima saver]

I certainly agree that an emergency fund is very important. I have almost always had a minimum of $5000 in the bank, even 30 years ago! Now I like to have at least $50,000 in the bank, knowing I could live on that for at least a year! I keep much larger sums than that, but it is for paying cash for the spec house we are building!

[jodi]

Well, no specific incident to recall, other than financial security, I guess. When DH and I got married, we agreed to always save $500 in an account for emergencies. When I got my real estate license and sold my first big house, we put $2000 aside. We bought a starter home in a city, then decided to move back to the rural area I grew up in when we were ready to have kids. We started socking away more for a downpayment, at the same time putting the max into our Roth IRAs. DH and I were both making about $25k - in our best year, we made a little over $60k combined.
We spent two years in our house, sold it for $2k more than we bought it, and moved in with my parents until we could find a plce (we're still here, but that's another story!). At this point, we had maxed out our Roth contributions, had roughly $30k in cash, and had been married 3 years.
We never did buy that house, but we did buy one car with cash ($8k), a second car with a $5k downpayment, braces to save DH's teeth ($4400), gave a family member some much needed money for an emergency ($4500), and still maintained a $10k emergency fund. Our investments are now worth over $30k - the power of starting early (I am 28 and DH is 29). DH has been out of work for 15 months now and has been able to return to school to start a new career. Our EF stands at $8500 after all this time. It's existence has been the reason that my DH could return to school and not have to take the first job that came along.
Stick with us, and you will find that your goal is not only achievable, but surpassable. There are a ton of great folks here who will be an inspiration to you!

[Otacon]

Thank you Jodi, very inspirational response, now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to print your message and stick it to my refrigerator door!

[Ima saver]

It is not how much you make that counts, but how much you keep!

[Otacon]

Originally Posted by Ima saver

It is not how much you make that counts, but how much you keep!

good on you for keeping us grounded Ima!

[Ima saver]

My highest pay was about $8400 for one year! You can do it!