save 3 months worth of expenses

Well, i guess the first thing to do would be to know what dollar amount that would be:absolutes and then extras….......needs versus wants.

Mortgage
Insurance
Electric/water/sewer
phone/cellphone/internet
softener exp
TV
credit card
sears
vehicle payment
fuel
heat for house

Hmmmmm, this is going to take a while!!

I had to use my bonus to finish this off, but it’s done, finally! Next step is to have buffer in my current account…

Okay so the goal was to save up 3 mo worth of expenses, which I did in 4 months. Now, I’m going to spend it. Haha, no really.
-A big ol’ chunk into my Roth IRA
-Another chunk into my AG Edwards account
-I need new skis – I’ve got to research what’s out there and decide what I want
-I want a new lightweight jacket (spring skiing-ish)

HOORAY FOR EFFECTIVE BUDGETING!!

putting $250 from today’s paycheck into savings, as always…
two BV checks to deposit…

And that should do it!!

I’ve got one month socked away already. This is not counting my NH savings account, or investments. I opened my VT savings account in mid-November. So in 2 months I saved one month’s worth – and that includes the holiday stretch!! At this rate, I’ll be up to 3 months by May, no problem!

All of my BV checks go directly to savings. I’ve been transferring $200 from checking to savings the day after each paycheck, and I’m still carrying more in checking than I need. I think I’ll up it to $250, or maybe even $300. Thanks to the magic of online banking, I can easily transfer it back to checking if I ever need it there.

Edit – Actually I’ve got one and a half months already!

Changing this from “be financially self sufficient” to “save 3 months worth of expenses.” I think this is a little more realistic in the short term, and will definitely be easier to measure progress, since I know what my monthly expenses are!

Probably a long way from self sufficient, but I’ve got a good chunk of savings built up.

...and then I spent it. :-)

I’m actively working to get it back up to pre-holiday levels before the summer time. ING is a great place to store cash that’s not too easily accessible. Make it even tougher on yourself and lock it in a GIC.

That way, when you do want to spend you’ll realize that you’ll have to wait a week before you see the cash anyway. It’ll make you rethink whether or not you really need it.

The goal: $5400