SavingSteve's 52 Week Challenge Thread

[SavingSteve]

Hooray! I finally have the $1K in my account. Now the bonus deposits will go to my credit card. Next week moving forward I will just stick with the challenge sheet amount.

Week 13 challenge sheet deposit: $47
Bonus Deposits: $109

Challenge sheet total: $425
Account balance: $1000.09

[deedee421]

WooHoo! Congrats on making it to $1000!!!

[SavingSteve]

After much thought I've decided to send the rest of my 52 week challenge deposits to my Capital One credit card. It's great to save but that card has a $5K balance on it and I'm trying to stick with the challenge AND follow the Dave Ramsey baby steps.

Mr. Ramsey says that I need to be 100% focused and intense on my debts from smallest to largest. My $1K mini-emergency fund is finished so now it's on to the debt snowball. When I read the book at first I thought it was stupid to pay a lower balance when I have another card with high interest. But now that I feel a sense of achievement from my small 1K emergency fund I see why. Each small success will build my confidence and fuel my motivation and desire. By the time I get to the larger balances I will be really feeling a sense of achievement. That I can DO THIS!

So today I sent my challenge week 14 $46 to Capital One. Along with my temporarily redirected 401K contribution of $125. The market is sky high right now so maybe by the time I finish this snowball we will have a large correction.

Maybe I should start a separate thread for the snowball thing.

Thanks everyone for your support!

[~~Darci~~]

Congratulations on reaching your baby efund goal of 1K That is great

I hope you keep posting and we can continue to see your success. It's very motivating!

[deedee421]

I agree with Darci. Please keep posting your progress with the challenge/debt snowball. We'll celebrate with you when you are credit card debt free!

[deedee421]

Hi SavingSteve, I'm checking in to see how you're doing with the debt snowball. I hope it is going well.

[SavingSteve]

Thanks for inquiring deedee that's nice to see someone is interested. I was starting to feel like my posts were becoming repetitive so here's an update now that we're half way through the year.

My 52 week saving sheet is half finished. I've been sticking with the challenge every week and my total is up to $684. The left side is totally filled up with deposits.

The debt snowball is slow but steady. I've been paying a minimum of $125 each week to my credit card which was maxed out at $5K now I have a balance of $3450 so I'm getting there...

For a while I was confused about whether I should go "all in" like Dave Ramsey says and not save the money from the challenge just send it to the credit card. But I read this book everyone was talking about called The Richest Man in Babylon and it says that I should save 10% always no matter what. I decided that the 52 week challenge deposits were small enough for me that continuing to save them would not slow my debt snowball enough to make much difference. I'm continuing to save these small amounts and also sending $125-$200 per week to the credit card.

Looking forward to posting that that credit card is payed off!

[krantcents]

Congratulations! When you make savings a priority, you are on the right track to prosperity. I have been a lifelong saver and it has provided me many more choices in life. Saving early allowed me to buy my first house at 27 years old in Los Angeles. I used my savings to invest in income property and I watched it grow into business that helped me achieve financial freedom by 38 years old.

I recommend setting up a payroll deduction and setting up a budget to help you reach your financial goals. A payroll deduction makes it automatic and provides discipline in your savings. The budget will help you plan your spending and help you make decisions about how you spend your money. Good luck.

[~~Darci~~]

Steve,

So glad to see your updates. I feel like my posts are repetitive too but it's good to get it out there for the world to see and that you are making a commitment and sticking to it!

Also, I think you are doing beyond terrific! You are sending $125-200 a WEEK to the credit card AND saving $ EVERY week that's over $500 a month that was doing what before? Like I said, AWESOME!

[deedee421]

My comments would have been similar to Darci's comments, so I'll just say "ditto" and great job! I had not heard of "The Richest Man in Babylon", so I'll see if I can find a cheap (or free) copy. Thanks for the tip!

[~~Darci~~]

How are you doing Steve?

[SavingSteve]

Well it's week 41 and I have been sticking with it but not posting as much as I maybe should. I just saved $34 and my total is up to $1134. This challenge is a great way to become a compulsive saver. I'm looking forward to each week putting money away!

[SavingSteve]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Today I deposited $30 for this week of the challenge. I'm about to hit $1300
I also sent the Last payment to one of my credit cards that recently had a $5,000 balance. That really felt good.
Tomorrow I'm going to log in and spend some quality time staring at that big fat zero!

[deedee421]

Happy Thanksgiving Steve! Congratulations on paying off your credit card and for sticking with the challenge!

[SavingSteve]

Today is the last day of 2014 and I actually finished the challenge. I made my last deposit for the $1378 last week but decided I wanted to finish with $1500 so I made two bonus deposits before today.

So now Im going to start the 52 week challenge again in 2015 with $1500 and my new goal is $3000

Thanks deedee for your regular posts it kept me interested. Once I got started I found myself really looking forward to making that weekly deposit. The challenge truly has helped me develop regular saving habits.

If you're thinking about doing the challenge dont hesitate or come up with reasons why you can't or shouldn't.

Just start now!

And happy new year to everyone.