I have finished 3 weeks at the new job and am liking it very much. I lucked out a lot with this and am very grateful!

During the time, I have been training & exhausted in the evenings after physical therapy for my hand. So I am just now getting around to updates (in no particular order)

- My severance from my previous employer hit my bank account today and went straight to the emergency fund! Just a little over $9.2k

- My new employer pays up to date, so I got paid one week on my first Friday with them and paid 2 weeks per normal pay schedule yesterday

-We have a lot of savings goals - one being a new to us car for my husband. We plan on putting $7k down and then 0% financing the rest. We prefer to keep savings up for the moment given so many issues this year (job loss/change, major medical bills, etc).

-Medical Fund needs to be replenished. We finally hit the out of pocket max and have about $900 left to pay in medical bills. I payment planned it out just to cashflow it instead of stealing from any other savings. Our HSA accounts have been depleted.

- Our 6 month car insurance bill is coming up. We pay it in full by cashflowing. We already have the funds ready to go and are starting to save monthly for the next one.

- CC debt is at 0% still so we are saving cash and paying down. My husbands card will be paid off by the end of the year. My card might be a month or two behind that.

- I set up a daycare FSA from my new employer. I am sad to say that they do not supplement the funding, but its still tax-free, so we are utilizing it!

- Been back on Weight Watchers and packing lunches and its been good for my waist and my wallet!

- I am part of a professional organization where I received an accreditation. To keep my certification, I need to be a member of good standing. My previous employer paid for the certification, recertification and the yearly fee. My new employer is still getting 'authorization. The organization gives a little leeway, but in case my new employer doesn't come through, I have the funds saved from overtime at my previous job.

-Spent a bit more on new clothes - needed more tops than I realized. My closet was very bare of work appropriate clothing! All cashflowed though!

-Now that I have a full paycheck, I am able to rework the budget. That will be the goal for this weekend!

Current Balances:

Debt:
Spouse Card: 8k
My Card $6.8k

Savings and Sinking Funds:
EF (after severance) $16,797.16
EF2 (different place) $21,000.00
Slush Fund (yearly expenses) $252.13
Home Upkeep Sinking $219.62
New AC Fund (we know this will be happening in the next 1-2 years) $167.47
Medical Sinking $280.62
Professional Fee Sinking $295
Memberships Sinking $13.31
Clothes Sinking $10.26
2018 Gifts Sinking $1285.89
Vacation $800
New Car Fund $6100.20
Daughter Fund (for long term savings outside of 529) $502.86

Today was my 'last payday' from my old job. The check included 4 days of work and my unused TOP payoff. No insurance/401k was taken out, so I wasn't sure how much I'd net.

Luckily, the next is 2x what a normal base check from them was. So that would cover our budget for today 6/8 and 6/24! I start the new job 6/18 and its paid every other Friday, but I don't which Friday is a payday yet.

We hope not to use any savings to cover income while transitioning between the jobs, especially since being in the hospital lost my first job and now I am unemployed for 3 weeks.

Then mid-June, I will get my severance, which we are hoping to bank!

It’s insane how much we have been spending for a family of 2 adults & 1 child for household, diapers and groceries. So far this month, we have spent $432.18. We have roughly $70 left in the budget for January. This spending doesn’t include pet supplies.
Yesterday, I did a LOT of stocking up – we had eaten down our freezer stash in December. So we needed to stock up on meats, fruits & veggies, diapers and basics.
I am meal planning my booty off. With a 2 year old who demands dinner the second we walk into the door on a work night, I use meals I made & froze or easy meals during the week. So that is what I am concentrating on. These meals will take us well into February.
This weekend, I am making lots of meals for the freezer. We will also grill some chicken for snacks/lunches for the week (we are doing Weight Watchers & trying to eat healthier).
I plan on making Korean Spicy Pork Loin Saturday night. Leftovers will also be frozen and I am going to try to make a healthy 2 ingredient bread recipe – I am going to make garlic sticks and pizza crust. Wish me luck!
Once all of this is cooked – we will have a freezer full of:

3 Family meal servings of meatloaf muffins
2 Family meal servings of Taco Meat
2 Family meal servings of Sloppy Joe
2 Family meal servings of honey sesame chicken
2 Family meal servings of barbecue chicken
1 Family meal serving of Korean Spicy Pork
4 Family meal servings of Potstickers (premade frozen)
1 Family meal serving of fajita chicken
2 Family meal servings of Turkey meatballs

On days I work remote, I cook a hot meal – so that will be when I do a balsamic honey pork chop and some pretzel crusted Dijon chicken. We also have turkey meatballs in the freezer (precooked) and will use that with pasta one night.

Each week, I will meal plan out of what we have to work with, and there will always be room to switch things around.

This week:
Sat 1/20: Korean Spicy Pork Loin (leftovers will go in the freezer), brown rice & veggies
Sun 1/21: Beef taco salad
Mon 1/22: Fajita Chicken & peppers
Tues 1/23: (husband’s late night): Fend for yourself – (ends up being potstickers a lot of the time)
Wed 1/24: Turkey Meatballs & pasta
Thurs 1/25: Balsamic Pork Chops
Fri 1/26: Sloppy Joe & pasta

It's been a while since I've posted - been super busy these last few months. We moved in July, finally got a renter into our townhouse last week, I am working OT, but not as much as before, been sick off & on and generally been living a lot.

We have had a LOT of social obligations. Never dull for me!

-My daughter turned One this month. We had a little party that my mom paid to be in a restaurant (she HAD to do my nieces and didn't want to be seen as favoring my sister's kids - that was her choice).
-Last weekend, I was at a bachelorette party.
-This weekend, my husband is going to the bachelor party.
-In September, we are attending a housewarming for friends (child friendly event)
-In September, we are attending a friend's house party (kid friendly)
-In October, we have 3 weddings - 2 out of state

We also are waiting for the rental income to come in. We have a renter, but are also using a property management company. Because of the renter starting mid-month and the PM fees, we won't see a full month's rental income coming to us until the middle of October, which will go to the 11/1 mortgage payment.

I have lots of cashflowing/savings goals -
-cashflowing budget deficit
-cashflowing wedding events/gifts/travel
-save 1 month Rental Mortage buffer
-save 1 month New Mortgage buffer
-Save 5k Rental Efund
-Cashflow tickets to an event in Oct
-cashflow new furniture

Fun stuff, people! I will say, that we are not revolving any credit card debt as we have been spending a lot. I am so thankful for overtime!

I also want to note that usually I buy Christmas gifts all year long - but not this year as I didn't want to move all the stockpile of gifts! So I need to get busy on that

Today is payday. This check includes my bonus and raise.

I had lowered my 401k contribution to just the match for this paycheck only. I already have increased it back to 16% for the next check.

With this check, I have been able to put aside the following:

$4279 to new home fund (cashflow, overtime plus bonus)
$155 Medical Savings
$80 2016 Gifts
$13 Membership savings
$15 Emergency Fund
$5 Clothing Fund
$20 Automobile savings
$31 cash savings
$130 Slush Fund
$50 Home Upkeep Fund



MARCH Savings (since I won't be paid again until 4/1)TOTALS are as follows:

New Home $4,857.32
Efund $15
Slush Fund $130
Home Upkeep Fund $50
Medical Fund $170
Automobile Savings $20
Vacation $20
Longwood $13
Clothing $10
2016 Gifts $109.25
Nephew Car $16.90
Baby Savings $10
529 $10
TOTAL for March: $5431.47



2016 Mini Goals (Goal End Date 4/30/2016)

*Goals are the dollar amount I want to add to these accounts and not the new total*

1. Extra Splurge on CC $155/$155 Goal
2. Car Savings $310/$343 Goal
3. Medical Savings $470/$493 Goal
4. Nephew Savings $45.19/$486 Goal
5. Efund $104.53/$936 Goal
6. New Home Fund $8300.76/$10,334 Goal

Our household expenses have skyrocketed lately - partially due to baby and part due to being home more. I am working hard to make every purchase be as productive as possible.

Target has a deal on toilet paper - I was able to get TWO packages of 48 Double Rolls for $29.25. They have a subscription promotion, I used my Redcard Debit card.

Then I used a $25 gift card I earned on a diaper deal from the other day. After all that, I paid $4.25 out of pocket for 96 double rolls of toilet paper. Can't beat that deal!

I also got a great deal on paper towels as well. Two Bounty Huge Rolls (set of 8)at discount for $26.59. I used a $20 gift card from my deal the other day, paying $6.59 out of pocket.

We still have $20 in Target gift cards from the Diaper deal. I am keeping an eye out for a good paper towels deal LOL

I also was notified by babies'r'us that their promotion for our Baby Registry has hit. They gave us a $169.38 gift card to use there by Feb 23, 2016. That will go a long way! We also still have $200 in BRU gift cards that we have been gifted. I hope to use them well.

I met my gifts/Christmas budget goal for 2015 and have started on 2016.

For the 2015 budget, the funds were made up of automatic savings of $60 per month, small amounts of cashflow and some from alternative income.

2015's alterative income has included:

$10 from Gyft
$350.69 Credit card rewards
$36.23 Ebates
$76 Chang jar
$20 Bing Rewards
$10 MyCokeRewards
$28.35 Settlement check
$49 insurance reimbursement
$40 inbox dollars
$25 Mypoints

TOTAL $645.27

Can't beat that!

Any further extra money is going to my 2016 Gifts/Christmas fund.

So far, I have:

1365 My Points (Goal 3500-3700)
332 Bing Rewards (Goal 475 for next $5 AGC)
2420 Recyclebank points (no goal exactly)
$10.20 Inbox Dollars (GOAL $30)
1572 Mycokerewards (Goal 1400 for $20 gc)
$6.61 Shopathome
$6.31 Ebates

My Oct, Nov & Dec's auto budget ($60/mo) is going directly into the 2016 fund for a nice jump start. I already had set aside some overtime funds as well. More family to buy for with all the new kiddos (my new little one, my sister-in-law's new baby, etc)

Lots of things to update! First, my personal retirement accounts have totaled above $75k. $75,844.51 to be exact! My husband’s 401k is approximately $32,000. I am waiting on access to his 401k to really take a look.

Today was payday. I paid household bills – Car payment $230, Car insurance $97.10, electric/gas $133.45. Some bills aren’t due yet, but the funds are designated to pay them when ready: Water $35, trash $20, Cable

I paid off one of my last 3 credit cards ($193.07) and put an additional snowball of $121.83 to the 2nd to last credit card on the list!

My sinking funds will automatically deduct in the next few days:

-$20 Vet fund
-$10 Jewelry Insurance
-$20 Vacation Fund
-$30 Sewer/HOA
-$20 Medical
-$25 EFund
-$20 Clothing

I have also designated funds for gas $40, groceries $200, personal items $20, beauty $25, Netflix $8 and entertainment $259.11; Entertainment is high because I have rolled over extra from last month.

An update on my Sinking Funds/ Savings with Capital One 360:

New Home Fund: $5829.92
Holidays/Christmas $297.56
EF (being replenished) $366.31
Sewer/HOA/AAA: $281.77
Home Repairs $151.12
Jewelry Insurance: $14.80
Vet: $60
Medical $140.99
Auto expenses $0.04

I have free money pending that will go into my Gifts sinking fund.

- Ebates check $36.23
- TD CC Rewards: $88.05
- $5 Credit card credit from a promotion (asked for a credit balance refund on it)

Fun Note: My Car payment will be paid off in August! I am not including it in my snowball because its being paid off so soon and its 0%.