September is Savings Month!

This month we are going back to the basics. Remember when we were on our strict Spending Diet? Yeah me neither. Haha. It's definitely been a while. The spending diet worked so well for us when we first started. We were able to go to Europe last summer, but after that we kind of fell off the wagon. We have still been taking out our monthly allowance ($100 each), but we've also gotten a little more lenient when it comes to eating out (and I may have had a few necessary sessions of retail therapy - oops!). Especially with our date nights. We usually try to find a good happy hour, but at the same time, it's worth it to us to spend the extra money to have that special couple time. And we probably will keep that factored into our budget just because we both think it's so important, especially as we get more and more busy with Z's school and my work (and two puppies!).

I read an interesting article this past weekend in Real Simple magazine about how women are naturally less of long term savers than men (Women & Money: Why You Need To Take Control Now). Men think more about saving for retirement and getting set up for the future, whereas women think more short term and goal-oriented. Women are better at finding good deals and saving money in the here and now. For instance, bargain shopping and clipping coupons. We're also good at saving for goals like buying a house or going on vacation, too. The article also talked about how in the past men were the bread winners, earning the money, and women decided how to spend it. It makes sense that women are in that mind set given the past and social norms. Just recently have times changed where there are actually strong women role models for saving and being financially savvy.

The article hit home for me because while I may work in tax accounting, I'm not great at finance. And, I can also identify with the short term and goal-oriented saving. For instance, when we started the spending diet over a year and a half ago, our goal was to travel around Europe. Now, we are kind of in limbo - Z hasn't had a real break in school where we can plan for a vacation (hopefully December???) and we are still a ways away from buying a house. It made it so much easier to stack away the bones when we had something to look forward to.

As for the short term saving, I am always up for a good deal - my new favorite hobby is hitting up Goodwill to find hidden treasures and give them new life. While that may save me a few bucks in the short term, it's not doing me any favors for retirement. My main take away from the article - I should be saving more for the future! At the same time, Z is still in school and it is difficult to build up any good savings - besides my 401(k) (which is probably the easiest way to save!) - when we are constantly having to buy books and supplies and tuition, etc. But at least it's something for now.

On a slightly different note, it seems like retirement, or at least the thought of it, is changing. People are living much longer now - well past the age of 65. How much money do you need to live on for 15, 20 , 25 years after that? A lot! It's kind of crazy when you sit down and add it up. What about living now? Spending your money how you want when you are young. Seeing the world while you can still walk around it without a walker. Doing the things you want to do before it's too late. I'm not saying you shouldn't save at all, but if we are starting to live longer, eventually we are going to have to start working longer (We'll be lucky if we see any social security!). Just something to think about. Mix it up a bit! :)

So, with all that said, we are going to be saving fiends this month! No more eating out (except for the allotted once a week date night), much less Starbucks, and no more impulse buys. We can do it!

What are you saving for these days? Vacation? House? Retirement? Just because? What's the easiest thing you've ever saved for? The hardest? 

Photo found here.

2012 Goals

Now that 2012 is upon us, I've been thinking about some of the things I want to accomplish this year. A couple big things, followed by a few personal goals. In the past, I haven't been great at keeping my resolutions... but this year will be different! (Don't be fooled, I say that every year.) Either way, it always feels good to set up something to look forward to and strive for. So, here are mine!

Save Money and Travel // In 2011, we traveled a lot, which I loved. I guess I never realized how much I loved it until recently. It's thrilling for me to be able to go someplace new and experience new cultures and people and places, especially places with so much history. It baffles me how long other cities have been around (read: European cities), and makes me long to see more since we don't see that a lot in the US. 

I wish our travel itinerary could be the same for 2012, but unfortunately traveling requires money, and that is something we need to build back up in the Kane household. After moving across the country twice and traveling over to Europe all within a year, our pocketbooks are hurting. Hurting, I tell ya! 

So... my goal for 2012 is not to give up traveling, but to do both of course! Save money while still traveling. My definition of traveling will just have to change a bit. Living in Arizona opened my eyes to how much we really haven't seen of Washington. Since we were temporary residents of AZ, we made it a point to get out and see as much of AZ as we could in the short time we were there.

Now, I want to do that with Washington. I want to take day trips to see some of the places that I have heard of, but have never been to. Because when you live somewhere, you don't really get around to the touristy places you would if you were just visiting. There is so much to see and do in Washington and I can't wait to get started (and share with all of you along the way, of course). Here's some of my list of places to see in WA (any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!):

Mount Rainier
Forks (yes, because of Twilight - I'm not ashamed!)
San Juan Islands
Staircase
Explore more of the Peninsula
Snoqualmie Falls
Alki Beach
Leavenworth

Especially since most of the places we can see are within driving distance and can be turned in to a little day trip, it makes it easier on the 'ol checkbook (besides the obvious gas money). Plus, we can bring Buster! You know he loves to get out there and explore. 

Now for the saving part. We are re-instating the spending diet as of January 1. Remember the spending diet? From all the way back here? This worked so well for us (especially during busy season when I was working so much) that I am actually excited to start it up again. We're each getting $100 cash for the month and that is our discretionary money to spend on whatever we want. Other than that, it's just bills, food, and gas, then the rest is to savings! Time to build that savings back up so we can one day buy a house, go back to Europe, and someday have lots and lots of babies.

Get Crafty // Lately, I've been getting my stride back in the craftsy department. It's so much fun! And now with my Pinterest addiction (follow me!) it's easier than ever to gain some inspiration. I have a lot of ideas, now it's just finding the time to execute them!

In the baking department, I also want to push myself more to try new recipes. This is sometimes hard for me because I like making the good old classics (they just taste so good!), but this year I'm going to push myself harder to think outside the box.

Be Thankful // I also want to slow down a bit and just be thankful for what is around me. I got a fancy new journal for Christmas (thanks, Jenn!) so I plan on using that to record my thankfulness (kind of like my own version of this).

Picture-a-Day (or maybe, a-Week) // This is a hefty one. I might be a little too ambitious to do a picture-a-day, but I think it sounds like fun! We'll see how long it lasts, but I definitely want to do at least a picture-a-week. Won't it be interesting to look back at the end of the year and have a record of something for each day?

Along with this one, I also want to get better at taking pictures. I'm sure most of my daily pics will be with my iPhone (and instagram-ed), but I have a big DSLR camera that my dad handed down to me and I have yet to figure out how to use it on another setting than Manual.

The Usual // And then there's the usual players. The Get Healthy, the Eat Right, the Stop Biting my Nails, and all that stuff. Yes, I want to do those things, but if I don't, that's OK too. 

Well, there they are. My goals for 2012. I'm really excited about the first two. I can't wait to get out there and start exploring! What about you guys? What are your goals/resolutions/wishes/dreams for 2012?

Washington

When It Rains, It Pours

(source)

And we are definitely making it rain for the mechanics in this town. Buckle your seat belts people, this is a long one. You remember the car trouble we had with Carl last week, right? $565 later (ouch), he's running like a champ. Turns out the timing belt didn't break, it just slipped out of place but had to be fully replaced because there was an oil leak or something like that... That's about as far as I get with car talk before I start tuning out.

After fixing the timing belt, the mechanics told us we also needed a new radiator because we had a crack/leak in ours. It would only cost $275 more. Only. Well, husband to the rescue! We ordered the part online for $75 and he installed it in a few hours on Saturday. Booyah.

What's next? Well apparently poor Carl has a tire with really low tread so we'll have to get that fixed too before the big move... not a huge deal but my money tree isn't growing any faster these days.

Is that it, you ask? No, no. There's more. Now we can turn to Curvy the CR-V (yes, we name all of our cars). It was literally the day after Carl died and I'm maybe slightly superstitious, so I was passing the spot where Carl had died the night before and thinking, please just get me home today, Curvy. No more problems. I kid you not, I was accelerating after getting stuck in some traffic and Curvy started making a funny noise and shaking. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!? I couldn't believe it. I originally thought I just had a flat tire, but when I pulled over and looked (in the same spot where the tow truck picked me up the night before) there was no flat tire. Harummph.

Over the next two weeks, Curvy kept randomly doing the same thing over and over and much more frequently. It was getting to the point where at certain times I would be barely tapping the brakes and it would be stopping, or I would be accelerating pedal to the medal and the car wouldn't let me get past 50 mph and would shake. Not exactly safe on the freeway.

Fast forward to yesterday when we finally got a chance to take Curvy into the shop since Carl's radiator was fixed. The mechanic said that the brake fluid had been contaminated and the whole brake system would need to be replaced for $1,300. 

:( There are not enough frowny faces to express how sad/mad I am! The mechanics said they don't know when it happened, but was most likely when the car was last serviced (probably before we bought it). Sucky. Very very sucky.

(source)

The silver lining is that Z talked them down to around $1,100 by finding a 10% off coupon online for "first time customers." Worth a try even though we had just brought in the Camry. He said that he had already given us a break since he knew we had just shelled out some major bones last week, but gave us a 7% discount instead. Nice guy.

Also, I am really glad this is all happening now so we have plenty of time to fix it before we go on our 1,500 mile road trip back up to Washington. At least it's not ruining our travel plans or stranding us on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere in California.

Wow, this is a long post... so that's all the car trouble that's been pouring down on us lately. We should be good for like a few years, right?

Have you had any car trouble recently? Any "when it rains, it pours" stories?

May Spending Diet Update: Eh.

(source)

Today's theme : Money. And Rain.

What happened in May for our Spending Diet? A whole lotta spending. Ugh. We had to pay off the ol' credit card which included our Europe tickets. That was a hard bill to pay. The good thing was, we were able to pay it off all at once. No interest paying for us! So that is kind of an accomplishment in itself. We did have to dip into savings a bit, but that was partly what we were saving for, so I didn't feel too bad about it.

May also brought with it car problems (more on the conclusion of those later... if they ever stop!), which didn't help. Basically, I've concluded that the next two to three months we will just be hemorrhaging money, so I'm not getting too down about it. We knew this was coming (the big move/trip, not the car problems) and that's why we started the spending diet in the first place.

We're not saying we won't be sticking with the spending diet for the next two months, but I do think it will be altered in some ways, just because of all the changes (and expensive ones, at that!) going on in our lives. The good thing is, I think we both have adapted really well to the diet thus far, so our mind set is right going in to times like these. So that makes me feel a little better. Although, I think I will be doing a little bit of shopping for some new outfits for Europe. I have to look somewhat fashionable in Paris, right? :)

April Savings Update (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly)

You may remember me saying that April was going to get the "crap saved out of it," and well, it did - kind of? Allow me to 'splain.

The Good
First of all, we were able to put $1,000 in the old savings account again for April (woot!). That seems to be a recurring theme for us the past couple of months, which I think is good. But I know we can do better. Another good thing - we bought our plane tickets to Europe! We are super excited and can't wait. Especially to see my baby brother school those Germans in some American Football!

The Bad
The bad news is that while we saved $1,000 this month, our credit card bill went up by triple that (probably more) due to birthdays/Mother's day/Europe plane tickets(!). So while we "saved" $1,000, we really didn't save $1,000. But that's OK. Part of what we were saving for was our Europe trip, so it's nice to finally put our hard earned cash to use! (Side note: Why are we using our credit card at all? Well, the plane tickets are self explanatory, but for gifts we buy online to send to family we usually use the old plastic just because it's online and it makes us feel better/safer. Plus we get cash back with our Costco AMEX card!).

The Ugly
Speaking of using our hard earned cash... the real ugly part to all this was realizing a couple days after we bought our Europe tickets (to the tune of $3,000 - YIKES!), I learned that I could have bought the tickets flying though a different (and closer) airport for $400 less (cue sad Charlie Brown music here). :( I was pretty mad/disappointed/sick to my stomach when I figured that one out. But, live and learn, right? We tried calling to get it changed, but it was already too late and the change fees wouldn't have been worth it. I was mostly frustrated because we have been working so hard to save, and there went $400 down the drain... The husband keeps reminding me that nothing can be changed, what's done is done, and we are still going to Europe(!). But it still makes me a little sick when I think about it...

One thing I'm struggling with on our Spending Diet is when it comes to gifts. I like to go all out, make people feel special, and spend a little more than I should because it is their special day. But, this is not good for the spending diet. Like Anna, I am hoping to find a way to make some more homemade gifts, or find unique ways to spend less money, but still give gifts. Some how I don't think the macaroni necklace is still going to cut it for Mother's Day... (Any ideas???)

So there you have it. Another month of savings in the books! Here's to May!

Month Two: Busy Season Wins. Again.

Month two of the spending diet is finally over. March was a looooooooong month. Especially after the shorty known as February. But we survived. Barely.

Busy season is kicking my butt. I'm so ready for it to be April 15th 18th (Damn you, Emancipation Day!). I'm not trying to make excuses, but busy season has not been good for the spending diet. On the one hand, it's good that I don't have time to think about or go shopping. On the other hand, I get lazy about making meals at home and drinking the mediocre coffee at work. It's kind of like my Starbucks lattes become a need during busy season. I need them to function and have something to look forward to in the morning that starts my 12 hour work day.

Anyways, blah blah blah... busy season sucks. I think we all know that by now. The bad news is, we weren't able to save any money this month. I know, right? Epic fail.

APRIL FOOLS! Yeah, that was my un-inspired attempt at an April Fools joke. We were actually able to put $1,000 in savings this month! We might have been able to do a little more, but we did veer off a little bit due to the fact that I needed new glasses (more on that next week), the parentals visited, my dying computer needed a little help, etc. Overall, we feel pretty good about our March savings. Not great, but not bad.

I'm ready for April, though. April better watch out. It's going to get the crap saved out of it!

Happy Friday!

Month One: Success!

We did it! Our first month on the spending diet and I can proudly say it was a success. Woooohoooo! Go us.

I think a big part of why we did so well on the spending diet is because of our tax refund. We got a lot of money back and were able to pay off all our credit card debt with our refund. Such a great feeling!

Beyond paying off our consumer debt, we were also able to put a little something something into savings for our Germany trip (see more about that here).

Here's a few things I learned over the past month:

1. Not spending isn't as hard as I thought. It actually felt good. Probably better, I would say, than spending a lot. Maybe I'm not the shopping addict that I thought I was, or maybe I'm more of a saver and just never knew it, but working towards saving, towards a long term goal, is very satisfying.

2. There are cheap things to do for fun. Being on the spending diet forced us to be creative. It made us both get out of our comfort zone and come up with new ideas for fun. We went on a lot of walks with the pup, we found a cheap movie theater that shows not-quite-rentals for only $3 (find it here), we started a puzzle, we played some scrabble and cribbage, we scored free tickets to a golf tournament, we hung out with some new friends, we went on hikes, and we caught up on some reading.

3. I don't need it. I think a lot of the things I used to buy I bought just to spend money. I would go to Target to "take a look" and then end up picking up more than a few things I didn't really need. Just because. It was nice, but not good for the 'ol pocketbook. Now I definitely think twice before I spend money.

4. Cash is king. At the beginning of the month, we each took out $100 in cash as our "allowance." Just by using cash instead of my debit/credit card, I automatically spent differently. Having that cold hard green paper in my hands made me want to save it instead of spend it - I worked hard for the money! I didn't want to squander it here and there, I wanted to make sure I spent it on meaningful things. Being able to see the cash "disappear" when I spend it brings spending back down to a reality for me, versus just swiping my card and not thinking about the consequences.

Meanwhile, the husband and I had a little side bet going (gotta keep it spicy!). Who would have the most money left out of their allowance at the end of the month? I bet it's not who you think it is... I was actually surprised, but I had a whopping $8 and the hubs only had $1. Booyah! I win! (I'm not competitive at all).

Overall, the spending diet was a really good experience for us and helped us buckle down and save. We decided to continue the spending diet for March, and probably after that as well. Here's to another month of saving!

It's That Time Again

"The hardest thing in the world to understand is income tax." 

~ Albert Einstein

This quote is up on the wall at work. I have to admit, it does make me feel slightly better about my job. If Albert Einstein thinks income tax is hard, then I don't feel so bad when I can't figure something out. But it is that time again... time to file your taxes! It's also the time when I'm working 55-60 hours a week, six days a week. Only seven more Saturdays to go!

On the up side, we got our tax refund last week. Woot! And I am pleased to announce that with our refund we were able to pay off all of our consumer debt. Booyah.

Obviously this helps us out a lot with our spending diet. Now whatever is left over at the end of this month we can put directly into savings for our Germany trip (see more about that here). Otherwise, our spending diet is going pretty well. We are over half way though February and I have about $20 left of my $100 monthly allowance. I've only had Starbucks a few times (thank you, Mom, for the gift card), I haven't bought any clothes, shoes, or bags, and I haven't even had the urge to go shopping.

Ok, I lied about that last one. Today I actually went to the mall since I got a Macy's gift card for Christmas. But, I am happy to report that I didn't buy anything and wasn't even that tempted. Only nine more days to go and I'm feeling good about finishing out the month strong!

Have you tried turning it off and on again?

Well, we are two weeks into the spending diet (or savings splurge as i like to call it) and we just turned in our cable box as we had originally planned here. That means bye bye DVR, bye bye HD, bye bye On Demand, and bye bye nice menu that tells us when all our shows are on. This will be good for us though! It will not only force us to watch less TV, but we will also save about $30/month. Go us.

Plus, we have this amazing little thing called Instant Watch from Netflix, which is pretty awesome. We have already been catching up on some of our favorite shows. Right now we're on a Parks & Recreation binge, as well as this show called The IT Crowd. It's a British comedy and it's hi-larious. Here's a little clip... Enjoy!

A Good Start



At least I can pretend, right?

So far so good with the Spending Diet. I have managed to go a whole week (well, work week so far) without having Starbucks. Some of you may be thinking, Really? Is it that hard? Well, for me it is! Being from Seattle, I love a really good cup of coffee. It makes life just that much better. That warm caffeinated goodness is my favorite way to start the morning. But for a long time, I've been feeling guilty about my coffee buying habits. $4 a day on a fancy latte is usually justified in my mind. I work hard. I make money. I deserve this! It's only $4 a day. Well, let me break it down for you. That's $4/day, $20/week, $100/month, and $1,200/year! Just on coffee!  (And that's not counting weekends). I knew this was something I could easily cut out of my spending habits, but never really wanted to. Until now.

First, I tried making coffee at home. That didn't last long, because as my husband can vouch, I am always running late in the mornings. That or I forget to grab my coffee on the way out the door. Unless he makes it for me, it ain't happening (and he drinks decaf now... not a fan). Then I had an epiphany. What about drinking coffee from work? I never used to drink coffee from work, but now is a whole different story. I realized we have a Kuerig coffee machine at work. Perfect! Now, it's not the greatest coffee in the world, but it will do for now. It has to do for now. Must. Save. Money. My new favorite flavor is "Coffee People's Donut Shop Coffee." It tastes pretty good and it gets the job done. All in all, I've realized that not having Starbucks every single day is not that big of a deal. But this is only the first week. Talk to me at the end of February.

Our Spending Diet

I stumbled upon this blog a few weeks ago after seeing an article on CNNMoney.com. Anna Newell Jones is the author behind andthenshesaved.com, a blog about saving money by means of "The Spending Fast" and this year, "The Spending Diet." I was instantly hooked. I read every post in one weekend! I was inspired by Anna's will power of going a whole year without spending on "wants" but only "needs." She gave up brand name foods and eating out, lived by her "make do and mend" motto mending the clothes she had instead of buying new ones, made homemade gifts, and even passed up a cheap plane ticket to Portland (that takes will power!). She outlined specific guidelines to follow and stuck to them, saving about $18,000 by the end of the year!  Amazing!

Since our move, Zach and I have been struggling to get our savings habits back in order. The move, as well as transitioning down to a single income while taking out more student loans each semester hasn't helped out our savings account. We definitely have some dinero in savings, but we aren't where we'd like to be. We have things we want to do (buy a house), places we want to go (Europe, please!), and hopefully a family to support one day (don't get excited yet, mom).

Can I go back here please? Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Italia

So starting today, for the month of February we are going on our own "Spending Diet." Here are our guidelines (basically the same as Anna's guidelines):

Our Spending Diet

Can Spend Money On:

Rent

Utilities

Internet

Cell Phone

Car Payment

Gas

Insurance

Food

Food for the Pup

Netflix

Cannot Spend Money On:

Starbucks :(

Clothes

Handbags

Shoes

iTunes Music

Video Games

Movies

Eating Out

House Decorations

Toys for the pup

Anything we can live without

We each get $100 cash allowance for the entire month to spend on whatever we want. (We're not that good yet)

To cut down costs as much as possible, we decided to drop our cable and only use our Netflix Instant Watch (it's awesome!) to get our TV fix in. Other than that, we will just try to live as cheap as possible. Our main goal is to eliminate all our consumer debt and save some money to do some of the bigger things we've been wanting to do/accomplish.  Wish us luck!

Hello!

Thanks for stopping by!  I decided to create this blog because of a few things that have recently inspired me to live a better life...

1. I found this amazing blog about Anna Newell Jones and how she saved over $18,000 in one year.  (I want to do that!) Inspired.

2. I started reading this book "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin.  (I want to get happy!)  More inspiration.

3. I started listening to KLove Christian Radio Station on my way to and from work (That's one hour each way on my commute.  Not ideal.).  Guess what??? Inspired again!

Overall, I am inspired to get out there, try new things, stop being such a lazy bum, and enjoy life!  I hope you enjoy my journey! Oh, and posts about my mischievous puppy, Buster, my new photography hobby (don't laugh at my bad photos...), and any other random shenanigans/rantings/ideas might also be posted to this here blog.  Stay tuned...