Last January 1st I wrote:
My predictions for 2014 were all accurate. We did sell the house and get a condo, and our monthly bills went down (by much more than 10%). And we got the expected windfall. Apart from banking that, our savings rate has otherwise stayed the same this year as it was in 2013, at around 15%.GandK wrote:I'm certain that 2014 will be better financially. We haven't been able to sell our house yet, but we're still trying, and once we downsize into a condo our monthly bills will decrease by about 10%. Also, we expect a nice windfall sometime in the June-July timeframe (a lucrative case that G has been working on for quite some time will settle then). Even if we saved no other money at all this year, that windfall would make our 2014 savings percentage higher than 2013's.
The big accomplishment for 2014: this was the first year our net worth went up by 6 figures. I'm pleased to say that only 40% of that number was deposits; the rest was growth. Another note: apart from a tiny forced pension contribution of G's, this is the first year we have not contributed any money to qualified/retirement plans. That snowball is now rolling all on its own, and our focus has shifted to building the taxable sum that we need to get G retired too.
2015 Predictions
This year's savings and growth will be less. We have medical bills coming for one of the kids (surgery after a broken leg), and our health insurance plan is less than generous. We expect the final bill to be $10k-$12k. G will have 2 daughters in college at the same time this fall. I believe the younger will get a free ride academically, but there will still be associated expenses. We are paying $6k this year for the elder; I anticipate paying roughly half that for the younger***. And we have a big tax bill coming from last year's unusually large income.
With no major windfalls on the 2015 horizon and some large bills coming due, I estimate this year's savings and growth will be about $75k, much less than 2014's. Our overall net worth should rise by $100k. We've tweaked our budget lately to increase our savings rate to 20%, but the bills will rein in our progress. It will suck to go backwards from 2014, but it's very cool to be far enough along our journey that I'm fairly certain our net worth for the year will rise by more than I made while working.
Talk about getting a place in Florida has died down. I don't think we will discuss it again until our next visit to Florida.
On the writing front, after a year of waffling, I've decided to pursue traditional publication instead of self-publication. Therefore, my 2015 writing goal is to finish editing book one of my series and find an agent for it.
Finally, from the "first world problems" arena, G accidentally broke my phone a few days ago. And phones are the one thing in my life that I'm a princess about. I insist on owning a high-end, high-quality, recent model non-iPhone. (A holdover from my software development days when I actually needed such a thing.) So replacing it won't be cheap at all. I'm thinking Xperia. Luckily, my birthday is this week.
*** Our agreement with all of our children except the youngest is that if they will commit to a path that will allow them to graduate debt free, we will pay one third of their college expenses. Their other parent is also responsible for one third, and the child must pay for the remaining third through scholarships and/or work. The other caveat: we're not going to take loans out either... we have way too many kids to cover everyone's full price college tuition at trendy private schools. Our third of the costs has to be doable within our budget. If they want to take a different path and they take out student loans instead, they get nothing but books and fees from us. (After paying off student loans into his late thirties, G is very passionate about this issue!) Anyway, the 2 that have hit college so far have happily agreed to the no debt plan, and have received enough in scholarships to cover their third and then some, making college costs extremely reasonable, and we've just split the remaining bills with their mother. #3 starts college in the fall. Of the eight, she's been our best student so far, and we anticipate more of the same low-cost goodness in her financial aid packages. And in case you're wondering, the youngest child is an exception because he's the only one who's both of ours. We plan to pick up two thirds in his case, leaving him with one third of the burden like his siblings.
Our property value will certainly go up, if it hasn't already, but that's insufficient consolation for being nudged into thinking about my favorite fattening food every day. And right after I got myself back into good shape, too.
When I treat myself to a slice, I get it to go and divide it into 7 pieces so I can have one each day. Then it's only 132 cal/serving and I get to have it 7 times instead of once.