Enough is Enough

Sneak peek inside my madness

2012-02-05T14:22:00.000-08:00

We use ING Direct for our savings. We've used them for about nine years. I like their clean website, ease of use, etc. If you aren't familiar with the idea, it is a savings account linked electronically to your local, brick-and-mortar bank. They offer a slightly higher interest rate, and a built-in delay in accessibility of your money, which makes you less likely to pull the money out on a whim.

Back to the madness. We don't just have one savings account with ING. We have ten. Yes, ten. I know. I told you it was madness.

Here's the deal. Jenn and I each have a checking account with its own debit card. That's our small "blow money" account. The other one doesn't have access to that account, the balance info, etc. We can do what we want with it. We direct-transfer a small amount each week, something like $20-$25. each. It's for lunch money, happy hours, purchases we don't want to explain/ask permission for, etc.

The other accounts are as follows:
1) Cash cushion/emergency fund
2) Vacation fund
3) Future Purchases (things you know you'll need in the future, but you don't know when. And when you do need those things, it won't be an emergency. Think new tires, new mattress, new television, etc.)
4) Future Home Expenses; for us, this is a very long-term account. (Think "new roof 2021", "new furnace 2024", etc.
5) Spain 2019; Jenn and I have the same birthday, and in March of 2019, she'll be 40. We're putting $100.00/month in the account, and that will accumulate to about $10,000.00 by the target date
6) Cars fund; at this point, it's more a "cars maintenance" fund, but once we get 1-2 children out of daycare, we will increase the deposits substantially and that will go toward our next car(s)
7) Ben's piggy bank
8) Noah's piggy bank

Don't get too excited, there isn't a ton of money in any one of these accounts. But we are funding each one automatically each month to some degree (remember rule #3 of my rules?). If you "pay yourself first" by saving immediately at each paycheck, you'll be amazed at what you can accomplish.

See, sheer madness. But perhaps there is a method to said madness...?

In related news, if you are interested in an ING account, I think I can send you an invite/link, and if you open an ING account, you will receive $25.00 and I will receive $10.00. Let me know if you want an invite!

Madness...

Use your commute.

2012-02-05T11:00:00.000-08:00

I spend most of my drive time listening to podcasts courtesy of iTunes.

Here are some of my favorites:

1) The Dave Ramsey Show
2) The Suze Orman Show
3) Freakonomics
4) NPR Planet Money
5) NPR Businses Story of the Day

6) Motley Fool Money

$15.

2012-02-05T10:24:00.000-08:00

Sweet success. I filed my 2011 taxes yesterday, and we owe... $15.

This is your hobby?

2012-02-05T10:23:00.000-08:00

I admit it. Personal finance is my hobby. Not personal finance in general. My personal finances in particular.

I admit it. I use Quicken to track my finances. ALL of them.

I admit it. I can tell you how much we spent at Costco. In 2009. To the penny.

I admit it. If I come home with several receipts in my pocket, I can't sleep soundly until I've recorded them.

I admit it. I have other hobbies. But this one is my favorite.

My rules

2012-02-05T10:20:00.000-08:00

1) Spend less than you make.
2) Never put anything on your credit card that you won't physically have when the bill comes. No gasoline, no bar tabs, no dining out.
3) Hide your money from yourself.
4) Devise a plan.
5) Save your raises.
6) Organize.
7) Spend less than you make. Again.

Enough is Enough

2012-02-05T10:17:00.000-08:00

We shouldn't try to keep up with the Jones's, but we all do. Some to a larger degree than others. Sometimes consciously, sometimes not. We want to succeed individually, but for some reason, we also want to compare ourselves to those around us, and be more successful with our money than someone else is with theirs.

We all want to have gotten the best deal on a purchase, have saved the highest percentage at the grocery store.

Start treating your income, your savings, your assets as a means to an end. Not as a measuring stick.

Money shouldn't be intimidating. It should be useful. We should be happening to our money, not the other way around.

Enough is enough. Just right. Not too much, not lacking. Just... enough.