2017 Finances Check-In

One of my big goals for this year is to really focus on my finances - not because they're in shambles but simply because, I think like for most people, they could be better. I could spend less here, save more there, and so on. I outlined my goals here and plan to check in at the end of every month (January is here):

Goal: Have $30,000 in savings at the end of 2017.

Progress: The good news is that we are 60% of the way to this goal and the amount of money in our savings account has doubled from what it was at the end of 2016. The bad news is that I actually thought this would be an easy goal and that we'd be much farther along by now and able to exceed that amount by the end of this year. To be honest, the reason we're not farther along is that our (meaning my) spending habits haven't really changed.

Goal: Put any and all rent income into savings.

Progress: We finally got renters in April (we own a condo that had been vacant since July of last year)! We decided to use a management company this time rather than self-manage, and of course that came with a lot of fees and other things that are probably a waste of money, so it took a few months for the income we get from rent to stabilize. Unfortunately, we haven't been using that extra money for savings. We need to wait another month to make sure that the amount we get stays consistent - once we know exactly how much it will be each month, I'll set up an automatic transfer into our savings account so that I never even see this money.

Goal: Budget for travel. 

Progress: Finally, something I've been getting right! Our big trip this year was our anniversary trip to Belize. We paid for our flights and the resort back in December, but I knew the trip itself would still be really expensive since we'd need to pay for all food, excursions, etc. All year I had been planning to spend all the money to do all the things, but two days before we left we decided that a) we were only there for a short time and wanted to spend more time at the resort relaxing rather than being on the go the whole time, and b) we'd rather save the money anyway. We were also able to get our parents to watch Bane (so no paying a dog sitter), and I decided to use some credit card points we had racked up to cover some expenses, so altogether we ended up spending about $1200 less than what I had budgeted for!

Goal: Budget for running and triathlon expenses. 

Progress: I signed up for some expensive races in the first few months of the year, and my bike ended up needing about $300 of unexpected repairs in April, so I've spent a lot of money on this so far this year. The summer months shouldn't be as bad since I've already signed up for all the races I plan to run from now until October, and Ben also finally unjoined the Y which cut that bill almost in half (it's still ridiculously expensive especially for one person who already belongs to two free gyms, but I need the pool!).

As far as gear, I haven't bought any new clothing items this year except for my annual new green shirt for Shamrock, a rainproof cycling jacket, and a $12 Wonder Woman sports bra impulse buy at Target. I still want all the running clothes, but I have more than enough of everything that I need. I also have 3 new pair of shoes sitting in my closet (I bought 2 during a 40% off sale, and another pair when I went out of town and left mine at home), which I had budgeted for, I just bought them all a lot sooner than I expected. On the plus side, they should last me until well into next year.

Goal: Donate monthly. 

Progress: 

Goal: Get back to a more minimalish purchasing approach.

Progress: I went on a mini shopping date with my mom when I was home one weekend and that resulted in some decidedly unminimalish purchases. I don't know what it is but being in the city, I actually don't go shopping like...ever, unless I need something specific and even that's rare, so when I'm home and there are stores with things to buy (and not a lot else to do) my brain is just like...buy all the things!

Things I bought this month that I didn't really need:

• $52 on this wake-up light/alarm clock thing. I have been having a hard time waking up in the morning and feeling really tired even when I do finally get up, so I decided I would give this a shot. Not a need per se, but investing in my health and happiness is never wrong in my book.
• $13 at Bath and Body Works. I went there twice in 2 weeks this month (two weekends in a row when I was home), and the second time was just to exchange something I bought the week before but I ended up also walking out with a candle.
• $131 on that shopping trip with my mom, which included a pair of shoes, 3 pair of sleep/lounge pants, a Tervis tumbler that I really didn't need but it has mermaids on it (mermaids are the city of Norfolk's symbol or whatever so they are everywhere), a blender bottle, and a lunchbox for work. In my defense, I didn't buy anything that I really didn't need, which isn't to say that I needed any of, but that I didn't not need it, like the coffee cup and sports bra I almost also purchased but put back. I don't go shopping often/ever but when I do I am definitely a haul kind of person, but the damage during this one wasn't even close to a lot of previous ones so at least I'm getting better!

Our grocery bill is ridiculous, as always, but at least we switched credit cards and are now getting 6x back on groceries! Although this month hasn't been a smashing success, it's definitely been a solid start to the year and I hope it continues on in the next month!