Well, the checks have been deposited and the money moved around. So it’s once again time to see how I did this month.
This month’s rates are pretty notable, mostly because I got a bonus. I put the whole thing into retirement, which boosted my percentages a bit. Not that I’m complaining.
So… as always, let’s see where my money went this month.
Car fund
My 2012 Honda Civic is under 88,000 miles still — long may it live. But all good things must eventually come to an end, so each month I put $300 into a fund for when I have to replace it.
This is a long-term goal, so it counts in my saving rates.
Car insurance
I put away money each month toward my annual premium so that I don’t have to take a big chunk out of savings once a year. Yay!
Right now, I’m putting $95 a month away, but since this will be paid out in less than a year, it doesn’t count in my saving rates.
Taxes
Obviously, these aren’t savings, but it is a decent chunk of my income each month. I pay both halves of FICA for what I pay myself as an employee of my S-corp, and I put away federal and state individual taxes for quarterly estimated payments. And this month, I had to pay federal unemployment, though that’s a pittance at $42 a year. But it still added up to a sizable $1,593. Ouchie. But paved roads, schools, yada yada.
Credit cards
Again, not savings, but a chunk of my income. The last few months I’ve had much higher balances than usual as things came up, but thankfully this month it was back closer to the old amounts, at just under $1,000.
Housing
I’m repaying my mom $600 a month, plus $257.50 needs to be put aside for property taxes and home insurance. Since the latter two are short-term goals, none of this counts toward my saving rates.
Roth IRA
Back to actual savings, yay! I am putting $500 a month into the account so that I max it out by year-end.
Obviously, this is a long-term goal and definitely counts.
B’s fund
A relative came out as transfemale recently, and lord knows the associated procedures ain’t cheap. She has some time yet before she’d be able to get the surgeries, as she’s still a teen.
While I don’t really know her, I do know that I can think of few nightmares worse than being born in the wrong body. So each month, I put $50 into a fund. Once she’s 18, I should have around $2,500 to donate to the costs. If she doesn’t get it immediately, I’ll just keep saving til she does.
Since I’m not saving for myself, this doesn’t count in the rates.
HVAC
Sometimes it shocks me that I’ve been in this house for about a decade now. And last year I was unpleasantly reminded that HVAC units can die after 10-12 years, though they can also last far longer than that. It’s a crapshoot.
So each month I’m putting $145 away toward a new unit. If it can hold out til year 15, I should have around $8,500 toward a new one. Since this is (please, god) an expense multiple years in the future, this counts in my saving rates.
Termite protection
I have Orkin on call to come take care of any termites, since my house seems to be a delicacy. The yearly protection is around $330 a year, so each month, I put $27.67 into an account to pay off the bill when the time comes.
Since this gets paid once a year, it isn’t a long-term goal and thus doesn’t count in the rates.
Mint
I am incredibly happy with my Mint Mobile service, but the one catch is that I have to pay for a year at a time. Which is why I put $16.78 a month into a bank account to have those funds ready. Because I’m slightly addicted to sinking funds.
Again, this is a short-term goal, so it doesn’t count in my saving rates.
Emergency fund
I’m trying to build up to an emergency fund that is equal to a year of my emergency budget. I put $200 a month into the account, but I boost it ever so slightly with my keen sense of how to make things overly complicated.
That is, I take my monthly check (and $500 in guest house rent) and deduct all of the above, a few other recurring charges auto-debited from my bank accounts and general monthly spending funds; then I round the left over amount down to the nearest $100. So $1,550 would become $1,500 and the extra $50 would go into the emergency fund.
Stunningly overcomplicated, but once upon a time I thought it was a great idea, and I’m a creature of habit so… This month the total going into the emergency fund was $219.27.
Savings & SEP-IRA
The remaining amount gets divvied up between my savings account and my retirement accounts. In this case, I put $500 into savings and that left… a lot of money.
As I said, I got a bonus, and there was some blog income. Plus I’d had a decent chunk of overtime the previous month. So I put, eek, almost $4,700 into my SEP this month. I texted Mom when I was done and told her I felt dizzy. I really, really did.
All in all
So what does that translate to?
Well, for overall income for the month — main paycheck, guest house rent, blog income and bonus — the numbers were:
Pre-tax savings rate: 55.9%
Post-tax savings rate: 64.7%
But unless you have some bad financial luck, it’s pretty easy to save found money like a bonus. The real challenge for saving comes from being able (through luck, design or, usually, both) to put away money after deducting all of your expenses from your paychecks.
So if you want to look at the unboosted (aka pre-bonus) rates, they were still pretty darn good:
Pre-tax savings rate: 47.3%
Post-tax savings rate: 58.2%
The evergreen reminder
If your rates don’t look like mine, please remember that’s not a reflection on you. I have a number of advantages that make it easier for me to save:
- High income: My boss overpays me (don’t tell him that), and having more money to start with will always make it easier to save more.
- No kids: While children are great and wonderful and pretty cute, they can also come with a big set of expenses.
- Low housing costs: I bought my place before the housing market recovered, so I’m paying hundreds less than the average American — renter or homeowner.
I’m sure there are more, but you get the general idea. It’s important to remember that no two people’s finances will be quite the same, which means it’s best not to measure yourself against others.
If you must keep track, do so against your own record. But honestly, as long as you’re doing your best to keep expenses low enough to put something away, I’d say you’re doing a good job.
How did everyone else’s money shake down this month?
Related reading:
Donna Freedman says
You may have gotten a relatively late start at saving for retirement, but you’re sure doing a lot to catch up.
Donna Freedman recently posted…Found money and hunger.