Any financial/budget/spending resolutions for the New Year

[tikilyn]

We have a ton of them!

1. sell our house, so we can build on our land
2. take proceeds of house and payoff debt
3. and this is a big one.... STAY OUT OF WALMART!!
4. another big one Quit Starbucks ( this one is for my waist line!)

 

[Judique]

Absolutely none.

Youngest graduated from college week before last. For the first time in years we have no debt, no dependents. Retirement is on track. I have everything I need or want. House complete remodeled and re-roofed this year. I have enough money in the bank if I need a new heater/air conditioner, water heater or average priced car I can do it. Our bills are at the level that one pay check can cover them.

Kind of scary.

So, what's the plan?

I only ask because I am in a similar situation and have been for awhile.

But, my other paycheck keeps disappearing anyway. Where does it go???

Okay - that's my 2015 plan and resolution - to find out what I'm doing with paycheck #2 each month!

 

[Adidas187]

We are on track to pay off all debt by the end of 2015.

I also have the wheels turning for a Dec. trip to WDW.

Possible "new" car??.... Depends on how fast the debt is paid off.

 

[robinb]

I'd like to start using YNAB for my family. I use it for my mom since I handle her money and bills for her so I have a good idea of how it works. Our bills are harder since we put so much on the credit card(and pay it monthly).

 

[tvguy]

So, what's the plan?

I only ask because I am in a similar situation and have been for awhile.

But, my other paycheck keeps disappearing anyway. Where does it go???

Okay - that's my 2015 plan and resolution - to find out what I'm doing with paycheck #2 each month!

The plan is to bank what we don't spend...some in savings and we will also put catch up money in our 401k's. The goal is to build up savings specifically to pay for medical insurance from age 62, when we hope to retire (5 years from now) until age 65 when we qualify for Medicare and a Medicare supplement.
The Affordable Healthcare act has made it hard to estimate exactly what insurance for that time frame will cost. Medicare and medicare supplements are pretty predictable. Otherwise, the investments our financial adviser has us in are locked in to pay us just a hair above what we take home now working.

 

[StephMK]

I want to be more conscious about our spending this year. We have gotten more loose with our funds and need to tighten back up a little. We watch the big bills but need to reduce the eating out again & last minute things that end up costing more. Setting goals will help stop that kind of spending. I have YNAB and need to get it fully set up and running.

Our goals -
1) pay off some debts - on track to pay off in 15 mo., would like to push to do it by the end of this year. Most 0% for home improvement stuff.
2) beef up savings
3) start saving up for new kitchen floor
4) use YNAB so I will see how our spending choices affect our goals and be more motivated to meet them.

 

[ronandannette]

We really need to start "thinking" about money again. 2014 was a year of massive recovery for us financially and we let ourselves relax (after 7 years of chronic pressure). We also bought and reno'd a home in a whirlwind-short time frame in the last quarter. DS finished private high school (no more tuition) and one of our cars is paid off. Our expenses have changed significantly (not necessarily increased overall though). After several months of flying by the seat of our pants we will be sitting down to really see where we are and where we go from here.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

We just bought a freezer so I will buy food in bulk to freeze

Put $10k down on the mortgage

Put every dime I make at my new job, down on the mortgage. and pay the house off in 2017!
Now that I am working I am rolling the thermostat back while I am at work.

Continue to shop using Ebates and strive to beat the $510 in cash back I got in 2014 by shopping with them.

 

[Deffenm]

Our goal for 2015 is to make a budget and stick to it! We had a rough 2014 and all the debt I paid off is now back plus a little more. So my goal in 2015 is to pay off debt again and never go into credit card debt ever again. I also need to personally be more stern and say NO. I give in too easily to my DH and kids when they want something and then I have to figure out how to cover the expense as we are single income family, DH stays home with kids.

If I don't get our finances under control I will never be able to retire.

 

[neatokimmo]

This is the first year of our 3 year plan. We broke it down into phases. I pay off my store in April. Then we have some other big items to sell, hopefully at least one a year. Then we get to trade in our old cars (seriously, the 12 year old 170K mile van is the "new" car) for something more reliable.

It will work if we stay on budget. I have to watch my small items, it adds up so fast.

 

[neatokimmo]

We just bought a freezer so I will buy food in bulk to freeze

We cut a ton of money off our grocery bill with our small chest freezer. We buy case meats at Sams really cheap (boneless chicken breast was $1.69), and bags of veggies when they go on sale. I love it, and I love never running out of what we need.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I'd like to start using YNAB for my family. I use it for my mom since I handle her money and bills for her so I have a good idea of how it works. Our bills are harder since we put so much on the credit card(and pay it monthly).

We use our credit cards for everything as well and YNAB makes it simple! I always know that I have the money in checking to pay the cc's in full each month.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

My DH changed jobs right at the end of 2013. He is in sales so 2/3 of his income is from commission and bonuses. The job change was rough. He left about $40k in commission behind at the old company (why they can get away with that is beyond me) plus we had to live off salary alone until the new job started producing the commission and bonus income. On top of that we had a big medical emergency requiring immediate surgery that was very expensive since the surgeon on call was out of network, we were balance billed. Not cool! Finally in nov I paid off every bit of debt we had accrued during this change over. Yay! Started 2015 with a clean slate. I just bumped 401k back up to the company match. I also increased our hsa contribution. Plan for this year is to increase emergency fund and retirement even more. Also, DD15 will need a car soon. I may get a PRN job (currently a SAHM, but also an RN) working a day per week just to help out since my littlest angel is in pre-k now. It gets complicated for me to work since DH travels a lot for work himself so we will have to think about it. Overall, I am glad 2014 is over and looking forward to a positive 2015!

 

[Miss Whimsy]

I have both debt-busting and savings goals:

1) get rid of my last student loan and the first of my 3 CC debts

2) save up to $1000 emergency fund, $1000 in loose/general savings, and $1000 towards a Macbook

3) accomplish Disney trip in February without acquiring any new debt (totally on track for this!)

4) stop acquiring STUFF--I live in a small apartment and am always tripping over stuff, so I'm making it a goal this year to stop acquiring new stuff, which will help with both budget and clutter (side goal, get rid of stuff!)

 

[Colleen27]

1.) Increase my income. This is partly financial, partly academic since I do need to be building a professional portfolio as a graduation requirement anyway.

2.) Stop stressing over money. We've weathered some really terrible financial setbacks with less stress than I find myself expending now over relatively minor bumps in the road. That is counterproductive and needs to stop!

3.) Plan better. My first semester back to school was far more expensive than it had to be, mostly on convenience purchases like lunches out (that I don't even enjoy - I hate most fast food!), prepared food or restaurant dinners when I didn't think to thaw something or plan ahead for a late evening, etc. Reining in the "stupid tax" of library late fees and buying things that I forgot at home along with getting a better grip on the overall food budget will free up a decent chunk of change.

2015 is going to be a very expensive year for us, lots of camp and travel plans on top of tuition x 3 (two private elem, one college), so I'm not setting specific savings/long term planning goals. I am taking the approach of getting the little things right and trusting that they'll add up to measurable results in the bigger picture.

 

[barkley]

We cut a ton of money off our grocery bill with our small chest freezer. We buy case meats at Sams really cheap (boneless chicken breast was $1.69), and bags of veggies when they go on sale. I love it, and I love never running out of what we need.

this evening I did an inventory of our freezer. I had a rough idea of what was stored in it, but when I actually started listing it all by category I realized that I can likely go without purchasing little more than dairy, produce and the odd item (spices, oil and such) for at least the next month or two