I'm so glad to be back! I missed checking in with the forum while it wasn't working! @Sarah, the SaverLife Facebook page hinted at an upcoming contest but so far I haven't seen an announcement. Fingers crossed for an opportunity to win big!
@Candice Thanks! I've set it on auto debit when my paycheck deposits so I wont have to think about it. I've set a goal to increase contributions over the course of the year slowly.
My debt paydown is on track and my short term debt should be paid off by the end of this month! In preparation for that, I've created my template budget for 2022, including my increased retirement contributions. I bought a new planner for 2022 and filled it out with my first three months of goals/tasks.
I got the same error trying to login as well; I assume someone updated something and missed a comma or semicolon and crashed everything :) That's usually how those things go.
I didn't get the position I applied for but all is still well. The bright side is…I have a lot of vacation planned so I can spend time with my son and attend his school events and now I can still attend. 
Since I'm going to visit family for the holiday, I really need to review and tighten my budget. I usually overspend on food since I'm vegetarian and my family isn't.
Besides holiday gifts, what items do you tend to overspend?
@Sarah, I love new planner day! Doesn't it feel great to get all of that stuff done ahead of time? So satisfying, lol
@Candice, always gotta look at the bright side so I'm glad you were able to do that with your job situation. Also, it's not easy to put yourself out there so don't forget to congratulate yourself on that!
As far as overspending on items, mine is always on food. In the past I had a problem with buying shoes but I took care of that addiction about 10 years ago and now I only have 1 pair of tennis shoes, 1 "fancy" pair, and 1 pair of boots. My son seems to have inherited that obsession from me, though - he has purchased 5 pairs since he started his job this Summer. Some lessons you just have to learn the hard way I guess.
Why what?
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Why don't they put surveys anymore
Good question, @Khethiwe! I would love the opportunity to complete more surveys for points. Some new content would be great.
@Sara B: Congratulations on starting the 529 account. Also, on nearly paying down short-term debt. That is huge!
@Khethiwe I assume they do not do surveys often unless they are thinking/debating on adding a feature/how to better help users…but I cannot really recall having a survey for points on this website. I do recall a little about a purple box that would pop up asking questions if people wanted to answer.
Almost year's end. I am trying to figure out how I want to setup my budget and debating on if opening another account would make it easier or more difficult for managing my sinking funds.
Katie, I was just talking to my mother about my tennis shoe addiction when I was in college. I was interning at a really famous fitness center (where the NBA teams practice) and they would allow us to have the same discount as employees. I had a full time job in addition to the internship and purchased a lot of shoes. Now, many many years later I still have a tendency to splurge on heels if I look too long at the Nine West website but I keep looking at my account and I really want to take vacations again (after the pandemic and variants) so, I'll be barefoot in a beautiful place.
Kristen, I say go for it!! If it doesn't work out you can always close the account but it's been my experience that different accounts work better for goal setting.
@Kristen, multiple accounts helped me with my sinking funds last year. It took a couple hours to figure out the categories, goal amounts, and monthly contribution amounts in a way that would fit in my budget but it was worth it. I'm going to make some changes to it next month for 2022 because things are always changing (such is life ️) and I'll be closing a couple of them that it turns out weren't used like I thought they would be.
Yeah we need more ways yo earn points.
I agree Francisco!! But everything is a process. Maybe as more donations roll in they will be able to offer a variety of points and debt payoffs.
I used to "play" on a crowd funding app that asks trivia questions for student loan and mortgage pay offs (I won't mention the name) but even even through joint efforts I wasn't able to maintain a high enough spot to get any type of payment to apply to my debt… so I stopped playing. Hopelessness used to get the better of me. Now I am used to the fact that the debt exists and I will have to pay for it, lol.
It's all good to have surveys and other opportunities for a big payoff, but at what point do/should we settle into the fact that the debt exists and that we have the responsibility to pay it? However, I'm really hoping the PSLF pays off (as originally promised) since I've done well over 10 years in public service…but after being denied a few times and told that 10 years of payment won't be credited, I'm settling into the fact that I may have to pay the remaining balance which will be okay.
Katie, I stopped using one credit union because things weren't working out as expected but when I decided to have a portion of my pay sent to that account automatically (despite the extremely low savings interest rate), I still saved significantly more than having one savings account. I hope all works out and you're able to use the sinking funds as designated. Push forward, my friend!!
I'm sorry if I sound too much of a downer in this post but I'm trying to focus on the reality as it is and not as I want it to be.
Good morning! The kids start 2 weeks of winter break this week. We're focusing on free/cheap activities like baking and watching holiday movies. We don't have any snow yet and probably won't during break. Maybe we'll decorate with paper snowflakes. What other low-cost things do people do?
@Candice P: "If it doesn't work out you can always close the account…" «< Why did I not even think this was an option! Thank you for the advice.
…[A]t what point do/should we settle into the fact that the debt exists and that we have the responsibility to pay it? For me, it is the moment I am considering/going into debt. Sure, try for those payoffs if you can, but I would consider those more of "extra payments" than I would "this part not my part" thing.
@Katie P: "What other low-cost things do people do?"
I find local libraries a huge help. Not only can you read books for free, but many libraries offer some movies and audio books. I am uncertain about other libraries, but the ones in my city also do "enrichment" programs; usually these programs are geared towards younger children, but they offer some ideas at least.
Depending on location (and weather), there's also museums and playgrounds. You already covered arts and crafts with the snowflakes.
Thanks for the ideas, @Kristen! I used to go to the library every weekend prior to covid but I haven't been back since they opened back up - I should get back into that routine
@Candice, you made a really good point about saving more with multiple accounts versus just one - I noticed that about myself, too. I have 6 savings accounts right now and have increased the scheduled deposits a few times over the past 6 months. I think if I just had one account it would seem harder to increase the savings amount because I would be looking at the total. For some reason, increasing the savings deposit by $5 each seems easier than increasing one account by $30, even though it's the same amount, lol.
Hi
Interesting point
Hi @Precious and @Hoi! Do you have any finance topics that you'd like to talk about?
I asked you all a lot of great questions yesterday but the system timed out before I could submit, LOL. Now I can't remember what I asked. I hope everyone is having a great holiday week and finding new ways to save.
Be well!!
I'm not sure but why
Happy holidays to you too, @Candice!
Alright, I did it - I changed my 401k contributions from 4% to 15% starting Jan 1st. It's a little scary reducing my take-home pay and I might have to cut down on my other savings goals but I've gotten my expenses as low as they can go and I was afraid of lifestyle inflation following my recent wage increase. This way the money is safely in retirement and I won't have the temptation to touch it. 2022 is the year of the retirement savings for me!
I have been out of the loop for a minute! Hope everyone is staying healthy and festive!
@Katie That's awesome! I just increased mine from 5 to 7% for my next paycheck. My plan is to increase to 9% in about six months; I am aggressively paying down a car loan (which I had hoped to have paid off by now) and the timing should line up at about 6 months for a payoff date. I have a 100% and vested match at 4% so I am planning on increasing to 11% by this time next year to get to 15% and to contribute anything else to Emergency fund/Investments/529.
My short term debt will be paid off tomorrow! I'm super excited. My Christmas bonus was a bit less than I hoped for (still more than last year) but enough to get goals crossed off my list. I've got my new 2022 budget ready to go! Super hyped to hit more goals this next year.
I was talking to some coworkers about investing in cryptocurrency (of which I am skeptical) and somehow ended up opening a Coinbase account. They really do give you actual crypto for taking their "lessons" and $5 in Bitcoin (which is a ridiculously small amount of bitcoin) for your first deposit. I have put in $75 of my own money (which is the most I felt comfortable with and could make work with my budget); so far I am a little ahead. I have the basics of how crypto works out (There is a good podcast called Money Please that reviewed how blockchain worked in a really simple way). There are so many types of coins out there it is super intimidating so if anyone has any good podcasts/resources to recommend I would be grateful!
Also good to hear that we've got another extension of student loan payment deferment. I am now planning on moving most of that payment into my daughter's 529 and our emergency fund.
I ran into a couple articles on student loan debt comparing rates of return to loan interest rates. The premise was that at a certain interest rate (8-10%), its actually better to invest in long term investments than to pay extra to the loan. Mathematically, it does make sense, but I am unsure if I will change my strategy.
@Candice: I hope you can remember the question [or ask new] again without time-out. You always have such thought provoking topics. Happy holidays to you, too!
@Katie P: That's great! I have yet to increase mine (though I have gotten a pay increase) because I am hoping to use the pay increase to reimburse a family member for my education. I definitely understand the "its a little scary reducing my take-home pay" feeling. Great job on acting despite the fear!
Sara B: I have finally reached my savings goal of investing in cryptocurrency myself and have been looking at Coinbase. (Decided I will do so at the start of the new year so I have more time to understand the taxes that involve "gifts" of cryptocurrency and such. Thank you for confirming that Coinbase does indeed offer some portion of crypto for learning. It is always nice to hear from someone I've interacted with (however small) before.
I created a Stash [Investing] account this week since the investing platform I have been using requires an amount that I've learned it hard for me to reach [and feel comfortable investing]. Like Katie mentioned: for some reason it's easier to save 5 dollars [20 times] than a single 100. And this way, hopefully, I'll be able to take advantage of cost averaging and time-in-market better (though the fee is a bit higher).
@Kristen I also use Stash and have been pretty happy with it. They do a pretty good job of curation of ETFs. I currently carry a mix of ETFs that cover domestic stocks (~54%), Foreign Stocks (~16%), a real estate trust (~20%) and Bonds (5-10%). There are a few single stocks in there, but I have been trying to steer clear of putting all my investments in one stock/company. I pulled the relative percent from an NPR podcast that featured the gentleman who runs the Harvard endowment. He gave his very specific mix and I adjusted it a bit for what was available on Stash ETF wise. So far so good, although it's a bit of a down period thanks to Omicron.
