20 for 2020 September Check-In Part 2

 

Welcome back to installment 2 of September’s 20 for 2020 update. In my last post I reviewed the first 10 goals of our 20 for 2020. Here’s how we are doing on the last 10…

1.       Open, and use, a Health Savings Account for The Husband’s braces.

Pass: This is done! The Husband’s company loads all the money at once, even though it is only taken from his paycheck each pay period. The braces are paid for in full (we got a 5% discount for paying all at once) and The Husband loaded a little extra money to pay for doctor’s appointments throughout the year! We have used this account for other small co-pays and it has been nice to have the money there and not have to figure it in to our budget. This may be something we continue next year, but at a much lower contribution rate.

 

2.       Increase my 403b contributions by $100 sometime during the year.

No progress here: Still no action on this goal.  Planning to do this in September. September is our open enrollment, so I have to make some changes there anyway. This one took a while, but hopefully this month!

 

3.       Increase The Husband’s 401k contributions by 3% by the end of the year.

Pass: With the arrival of August and The Husband’s work-aversary, we have upped his total 401K contributions this year by 3%. He is very close to maxing out his 401k contributions. Next year should do it and then we can start upping my contributions! Currently, The Husband contributes 16% to his 401K with a 3% match from his company. They also give him 6% profit-sharing on the first paycheck of the year. Next year, his contributions will be maxed out and then we will work towards upping my contributions.

 

4.       Have one billing period where I don’t charge ANYTHING (except autopays) on my credit card.

Fail: For whatever reason, this seems impossible to us! Still struggling to do this and the pandemic and quarantining and social distancing are not helping. By necessity we have had to purchase more online which requires us using a credit card.

 

5.       Have a successful “No-Spend” September.

On-track: We’ll see. Now that September is here, we have started our No-Spend month. With my dad’s illness, last year’s No-Spend September was anything but. We are planning for this year to be better!

 

6.       I want to drink the loose-leaf tea I already have and not buy anymore until I am only down to 3 flavors.

Back-On-Track: I bought loose leaf tea once and have since been drinking what we have. I also “shopped” my mom’s cupboards as she is staying with us and have been drinking some of her flavors, but I didn’t buy any more. This is still the same. We have bought tea bags but no loose tea.

7.       Add all our “subscriptions” to our monthly budget.

Pass: All done! Going forward, all our “subscriptions” or monthly recurring charges are an item line on our monthly budget sheet.

 

8.       Don’t spend any money, out of pocket, on supplies for my classroom. (This does not include lessons I might choose to purchase.)

On-track-ish: This one suddenly got much easier! You don’t need to supply your classroom if you aren’t in it! I have bought some curriculum from Teachers Pay Teachers and I did buy some pens and pencils during Back-to-school shopping just because they were so cheap. As I have no students in my classroom, I clearly didn’t need them. They were an impulse buy… Bad Brunette Getting Out of Debt!

 

9.       Keep current (monthly) with what I owe The Kids.

Pass:  The Kids did some more work for us over the last month and I made sure I tallied up what they were owed and paid them all out! We broke it down into savings, spending, and tithing and I am now current with what I owe them! Same… Doing well here!

10.   Check in on my financial goals monthly.

Fail: This should have been easy but I have massively failed here! I’d like to blame the pandemic for this but I really can’t. It gave me more time, not less!

Overall, I’d give myself a B. I am “passing” on 11 of 20 goals, on track with 3 more, “failing” with only 4 of our goals, and due to the pandemic, 2 have become null and void. I’m feeling pretty good about our overall progress. We still have a long way to go but are improving our overall financial situation.

Overall my successes are in mostly the same categories and so are my failures… Must do better. Must put in more effort!

I can’t stress enough the fact that if we are successful with these goals, we will definitely be creating a firmer financial foundation!