Goals for October

I can't believe we're here already! I need to recap my September goals, but here's what I want to accomplish in October:

Fitness:

1. Complete 1000 minutes of cardio
2. Complete 10 strength workouts
3. Complete 4 stretching workouts
4. Lose 3 pounds - will be challenging with my vacation, but we will do it!

Finances:

1. Stick to our October budget
2. Finish our 2016 budget planning
3. Stick to our vacation budget while in Hawaii!
4. Continue working on my "40 week project!"

Planning:

1. Work on 2016 family calendar & vacations

Work/Life/Balance:

1. Continue to accept no more than one late night's worth of meetings/week
2. Eat lunch away from my desk 3x/week or more
3. Book my workouts on my calendar, & *stick with them*!!

Fun:

1. Get together for a minimum of one social event with a friend
2. Sign up to volunteer at the boys school.

If this looks a lot like September, that's because it is very similar. ;-) If I can get in a consistent rhythm of doing this each month, I'll be thrilled!

What about you? What's on your list of goals for October?

Forty week project - week three

First up, I'm back from London. It was a very good trip. Travel wasn't as painful as a trip to Tokyo,  and the jet lag isn't as bad coming from Europe.

I headed from the airport straight to a soccer tournament. :-) Life as a mom! There was lots of soccer this weekend, & both boys had great games.

I'm now knee deep in work again, trying to get ready for my vacation, starting on Friday!!

As a gift to myself, I took Friday off. I'll be taking the boys to school, working out, getting my hair cut, getting a pedicure, & then heading to parent teacher conferences with the kiddos & finally picking my parents up at the airport. And then. . .  it's Hawaii time! I can't tell you how excited I am to have an entire week with M. It's been a wild month (two international trips - him to Dubai, me to London), plus the regular back to school times, firing our nanny, hiring a new one, & we just haven't had any time alone together. Cannot wait!!

Okay, so for my updates on my "40 week project".

• I had some stocks vest on Friday, but I can't see them in my brokerage account yet, so I've estimated the value. I'll sell when our trading window reopens.
• I made $47.20 on an eBay sale
• I saved $2200 from my paycheck to cover Hawaii. I believe we've already paid for the hotel (car is included), so this will be for activities, food, & hotel tax.
•  I have just over $90K saved, which is 60% of the way to goal. 
• I increased my withholding earlier in the year (both federal & state) & bumped up M's withholding as well a few weeks ago. I'm hoping that we will owe less than $25K this year, which will free up more money for my "40 week savings". 

Goals for this week & next:

1. Stay on track with the budget, particularly in Hawaii
2. Figure out our summer travel schedule, so I can add that to my 40 week savings plan.
3. Plan the remaining vacation until next summer, so I can a) budget for it and b) understand my vacation days. I'll likely need to cover some time off with vacation days, so I can keep my last stock vest.

More soon, but happy to be home!

Forty week project - week two

I'm two weeks into my 40 week project, and here's where things stand.

1) Investigate Health Insurance:
Done! It will cost $155/month to add everyone to M's healthcare plan.

2) Build a "40 week fund" & plan:
Well, I've set my sights on building a fund of $100,000 before I leave, as well as being able to fund any 2015 federal or state taxes that we may owe, and our summer plans. I'm hoping that we will owe less than in 2014, as I increased my IRS withholdings & state withholdings. But, I'm going to assume (worst case), we'll need about $45,000 for the IRS. I'm also budgeting $5,000 for the summer, although think it will be less. I want a lot of "slush" in my slush fund. :-)

So, net/net, I'd optimistically like to have $150,000 in 38 weeks. Where are we at right now? I'm currently at $82K, so around 54% of my goal. We have Hawaii rapidly approaching, which I need a plan for, so we don't dip into our savings.

Determine our "post 40 week" budget:
I'm by no means done, but I've come up with the following category groupings:

3) Categories that will decrease:

• Taxes! This should be pretty significant for us, given our current tax liability. But, I'm not planning to adjust anything until the end of 2016, if at all possible, to ensure we don't end up owing after the fact.
• Childcare. Huge decrease, both during the school year & with summer camps. I will budget some for date nights, and for a few summer camps that the boys enjoy. - Savings of $1200/month.
• Cleaning. I'll pick up the cleaning, but may retain a once/month service. - Savings of $270/month.
• Groceries. I'd like to reduce this to $550/month, but I'll be home more & I currently get free breakfast & lunch 5 days/week. So, don't know if that will net out at the same or not. - Savings of $50/month

Categories that will increase:

• Utilities? I'll be home more. Assume this will be very moderate, but bump up by $25.
• Health insurance. As noted above, $155/month increase.
• General health category, as I'd like to join a gym. Increase of $30/month. 

Categories that I'd like to/need to reduce to afford our new lifestyle:

• Travel. I still want to have some flex here, so we can visit family & enjoy our vacation house more. But, need to cut this back by $4,000
• Boys activities. They play soccer, which is super expensive, but are also doing some after school activities & I may need to cut back on the non-soccer activities. No plans to cut back on soccer right now. They both LOVE it. Reduction - $700
• House. Keep spending on all house related stuff to $1,500. Reduction - $500. This includes all three houses, so not sure if this is reasonable.
• Taxes. Plan to keep our current budget (which is $5K, ha ha, as we paid drastically more than that last year) at $5,000. No change.
• Personal. Drop by $200. 
• Auto. Drop to $1,500. We may also consider selling our third vehicle. We use it very infrequently. Savings of $500.
• Boys college. Remains the same.
• Charity. Remains the same.
• Clothing (entire family). Cut back by $500.
• Christmas. Cut by $500. 
• Boys all. Bucket category for field trips, lunch money, etc. Remains the same.
• Gifts. Cut back by $500.
• Summer camps. Cut from $2500 to $1500. Savings of $1,000.

With all of the changes above, we're still short $3,300/month from M's salary, given our current expenses. We'll be doing a few things to offset this. 1) that's what my "40 week slush fund" is for - to offset the gap & allow me to take time off. 2) I do plan to work again, but want to find something much more flexible and part time. Once we have an assessment of the tax impact, that will also help us understand what the true gap is going to be.

Any recommendations on how we can get a better understanding of our revised tax impact, after the changes? Our income will go down by ~50%. Suppose I should just bite the bullet & set up time with our accountant. 

What did we spend this week (9/8-914/15)

Here's how we did with our weekly spending! I was on my own with the kiddos, so we ate out more than usual.


9/8 - No spend day!

9/9 - $2.59- milk

9/10 - $33.11 - Chick-Fil-A. Dinner out after a super late practice.

9/11

• $15 - "fun" money I send my Aunt every month. (She is disabled, my parents help take care of her)
• $13.33 - produce stand. Kale, cucumbers, radishes, bananas.
• $72 - utilities at our vacation house
• $36.41 - pizza, after another super late practice. 

9/12 - $152.12 - Costco, groceries

9/13

• $75 - access to the nanny service to find another nanny
• $42.33 - gas
• $10 - parking at the airport, when we picked up M

9/14 - no spend day!


All in all, a much cheaper week than last week. ;-) We spend a total of $451.89. Not too shabby.

How about you? How much did you spend? Do you track your weekly spending?

Happy Saturday!

We have three soccer games today. Sam is substituting for the team one level up (he's thrilled ;-)), so we have soccer from 9:45-5:30 (breaks in between). I also need to get in a workout - yoga, & maybe 30 Day Shred? I'd love to go for a walk while the boys are warming up for soccer, but the game is not in an area that's pleasant to walk around, so we'll see.

Here are a few things that happened this week:

1. It was a bit of a scramble, but I meal planned all week.
2. I made $47.20 (after postage, but not eBay fees, yet) on a gift that M got me for my birthday but didn't fit (sunglasses. They rubbed against my cheeks. I have a very round face ;-))
3. I worked out yesterday! It's been a rough week with my childcare situation, but I managed to make a workout happen.
4. We have a new nanny! We're still trialing her out. I'm paranoid at this point, after our last nanny. But, things seem to be going very well.
5. I leave for London on Monday, & haven't even started thinking about packing. I need to get sorted out.

That's about it. It's going to be blazing hot for soccer today. Hope you are all getting ready for a great weekend!

Forty week project - week one

For the first week of my "project", I'm going to start building a list of all of the things I need to do/investigate as we get closer to the end goal. So, here's what I've come up with!

1. Build a "new life" budget. Figure out exactly what we need to make, which areas we can cut, etc. There are some obvious changes (taxes will decrease, childcare will go down, I will get rid of the cleaning lady, etc) to take into account.
2. Figure out how much it will cost to enroll me, plus the kids on M's insurance plan. I should be able to figure this out quickly, as we work for the same company.
3. Figure out an exit date that allows me to capture a final quarterly stock vest (6/25). Maybe a combination of vacation days & working an extra week after the boys are done with school.
4. Build a summer budget & plans to ensure we have enough "flex". 
5. Live off of our "new life" budget as much as possible, as early as possible. Obviously, we won't be able to cut down childcare until I stop working, but we may switch to a bimonthly cleaning, etc, to try & save more & prepare ourselves.
6. Get a grasp on how much we will owe in taxes in 2015, as taxes due will make a major dent in my current savings.
7. Determine how much "flex" money I need in our savings in order for the "40 week project" to be a go. Actively track over the next 10 months.
8. Evaluate whether I can max out my 401K in 2016 with my bonus before I quit. . . this one will be totally dependent upon the new budget numbers. 
9. Look for areas of our existing budget to cut back asap, so we can start building up a nice cushion.

I think that will be enough. ;-) I'm super, super excited. Any other tips to share? :-)

The 40 week project

And no, I'm not pregnant. ;-) I'm embarking on a 40 week project that I'm very, very excited about. My goal in 40 weeks is to quit my job, take the summer off, and then think about next steps. I do not want to go back to a full on, demanding career, but I will likely explore consulting or something part time starting next fall.

This is a huge, huge step for me & I'm very excited, nervous, etc. There will be a lot of work & planning that will need to go into getting our family financially ready for this life change, & I'll be blogging about my progress to stay the course & stay on track.

I've been in a burn out mode for quite some time, and next summer will mark my 19th year working full time in a very demanding industry. I'd like to make it to 20 (because round numbers are fun ;)), but I'm way past the point of being able to commit to another year.

As I look at our lives & my energy level when I come home from work every day, it's clear that our lives are out of whack with our stated priorities. And, I'm just ready to make a change and spend more time with my family. It's crazy, right? Most people take time off when their kids are infants (I didn't - I went back to work when Sam was 16 weeks old, and N was 12 weeks old), but I've never felt more like now is the right time for me to spend with them. They notice my absences more, they pick up on my stress level when I come home, and they need me. They need an attentive & available parent who is not overwhelmed every night, traveling, and getting on calls in the evenings several times a week. It's just not working for us.

So, what's next?!! Well, I'm going to break the 40 weeks into phases, of course. First up is to build a rough draft of a financial plan & figure out exactly what it would take to get us there. The 40 weeks is roughly tied to when the boys get out of school, as well as a stock vest that I'd like to earn at work.

I'm really nervous about this, so please share any advice, input, etc!

It's been a long week

Ahhh, yes. A very, very long week. Our nanny is not working out & I have to urgently stop using her & find someone else. I worked from home today, but next week is going to be super dicey & the boys have no school on Friday. Plus, I leave for London in 10 days. So, yeah. The trauma of finding a new nanny. Don't want to get into the specifics here, but it was critical that we stop using her right away. :-(

M has been out of town for 10 days, but is back tomorrow. I will be so grateful to have him back. We haven't even been able to chat at all other than a very brief 5 minute call. You forget how much you enjoy having someone in your life until they are gone! That's a good thing that after 10 years, I still miss him when he's away. :-)

And, work. Lots and lots and lots of work on a huge project, squeezed in between everything else in my  life.

But, being stressed about everything never helped anyone, so hear are five good things about the week:

1. I handed off my enormous project. Last night, at 10 pm!!
2. My youngest son got selected to take part in a competitive goalie program, which he's thrilled about.
3. Both boys love reading & have really started to read advanced books for their ages. I'm a total bookworm, so this makes me very happy.
4. We went 10 days without any grocery shopping! 
5. I ordered pizza for dinner & I'm having a glass of wine, ready for the weekend.

On to the weekend! We have two soccer games tomorrow, then a trip to the airport, plus Costco. Oh boy, Costco. ;-) Two more soccer games on Sunday, plus an interview with a new nanny. Cross your fingers!

A few of my favorite things

I love hearing from others on what their favorite things are, so here are a few of mine. Some of these are frugal, and some aren't. There are no affiliate links, nor have I been paid to recommend any products. These are just some things I enjoy! :-)

1. Zella workout pants. I got my at Nordstrom during the half yearly sale. Currently priced at $26.40. If you wear workout pants a lot, these are, by far, the highest quality ones I've ever found. I've purchased cheaper ones, and they fall apart after repeated washes. I love these for running, yoga, & generally running around. (I do try to keep the yoga pants wearing to fitness related activities. ;-)) Another big advantage of these pants? They hold in your jiggly parts. Or, rather, my jiggly parts at least.
2. Brooks Ghost running shoes. I had a long love affair with Asics Gel Kayanos, until both of my recent pairs developed a large hole in the back (inside lining) & gave me severe blisters on my long workouts. No good. I found the Brooks shoes on sale at Nordstrom. Nordstrom isn't where most people would probably look to find running shoes, but they will accept returns if the shoes don't work out, and I love their policies generally. I got mine on sale for around $80 a few weeks back. Still extremely expensive, but worth it if you run regularly.
3. A mini thermos for packing lunches. Not the exact one we have (I got ours at Target on clearance. It's a Teenage Mutant Ninja turtle variety, which the boys aren't huge fans of, but . . .clearance. ;-)) This is a lifesaver in our house when one of the boys (usually N) wants leftovers rather than a sandwich.
4. This sunblock for your face. My lupus medicine makes me even more susceptible to the sun, plus we live in California, & I'm outdoor a lot. This sunblock doesn't leave a thick white residue, blends in well, & doesn't make me break out.
5. The library! We love, love, love the library & check out 20+ items a month as a family. I'm a pretty fast & voracious reader, as are the boys. We also check out movies sometimes as well. Our library is in walking/biking distance, so we can usually get in a quick workout & free entertainment. Win/win!

What about you? What are a few of your favorite things? 

What did we spend this week? (9/1-9/7/15)

I'm trying to get back into a better routine on our tracking. It helps me stay a bit more in check. ;-) Here's what we spend over the past week:

9/1 

• $100, cash for my sister's birthday. We normally don't exchange gifts, but someone smashed in all of the windows on her car while we were out our relay last weekend, & she had to cancel a planned birthday trip to afford the replacement cost. Just wanted to help her out a little.
• $2.74 - postage to mail my sister her card, a project N made for her and returning a shirt that accidentally came home with me last weekend

9/2 

• $32 - fingerprinting for the boys school. I have to get fingerprinted to be able to volunteer
• $20 - lunch money for N
• $303.20 - four tickets to Portland for Christmas. The flights were really inexpensive, and I used a credit in my Alaska Air account to offset the rest of the cost
• $18.91 - replaced a soccer ball. At a game last weekend, S kicked a friend's ball & it went over a fence & down into a ravine. The game finished after dark & we couldn't find it & the field was 30 miles from our house. 
• $13.99 - a new fitted sheet for N's bed. His Ikea sheet is off of his bed every morning when he wakes up, as the elastic is wrecked.
• $2747.87 - final payment for our Hawaii hotel for our anniversary in October

9/3 

• -$115.38 - reimbursement from my dependent care account. Still getting reimbursed for summer camp, as I didn't have enough money in my FSA account in June. 

9/4 

• $360 - payment for the nanny for one week

9/5 

• $63 - water payment
• $183.50 - three months of N's after school art class
• $30 - cash for N, as he went to a water park with a friend. I sent money to cover food, etc.

9/6 

• $60 - bought two, one-hour massage credits at work. I'll add a tip when the time gets closer
• $500 - donation to the boys school
• -$87.50 - returned a pair of shoes. Ordered two sizes online & returned the ones that didn't fit.
• $33.97 - two bras at Target
• $30.32 - two birthday gifts for parties the boys are going to

9/7 

• $250 - bike tour in Hawaii
• $14.95 - urbansitter. Forgot to cancel, & forgot that I had an account while I was looking for a nanny. Canceled this morning, but they won't reimburse me. #stupidtax

We didn't even buy groceries this week, and our spending was insanely high. Total spend = $4561.57, with the majority being planned travel & then a donation. Super eye opening for me to track. I need to start doing this consistently. 

Travel/trips = 72% of the spend for the week. ;-) 

What about you? Do you track your weekly spending? Does it help you stay on track?

September goals

I'm always late to the goal setting party. Sometimes it's tempting to give up if you are starting late, but I find that when I set goals (even later in the month), it still usually motivates me to work harder.

So, let's do it, September!!!


Fitness:

1. Complete 1000 minutes of cardio
2. Complete 10 strength workouts
3. Complete 4 stretching workouts
4. Lose 3 pound

Finances:

1. Stick to our budget
2. Finish our 2016 budget planning
3. Determine what to do with stock vest money

Planning:

1. Book all activities for Hawaii
2. Continue thinking of mid/long term plans for Seattle house & our location
3. Build several options for me to consider taking time off/going part time
4. Work on 2016 family calendar & vacations

Work/Life/Balance:

1. Take a work life balance class (funded through my employer
2. Continue to accept no more than one late night's worth of meetings/week
3. Shorten all planned work travel
4. Find creative options to have my more senior staff cover additional travel
5. Eat lunch away from my desk 3x/week or more
6. Book my workouts on my calendar, & *stick with them*!!

Fun:

1. Get together for a minimum of one social event with a friend
2. Sign up to volunteer at the boys school.

That's it for me! How about you? What are you hoping to accomplish in September?

August Goals - How Did I Do?

I had such lofty goals for August! So, how did I do?

Goals for August:

1. Complete 1000 minutes of cardio, 15 strength workouts, & 5 stretching workouts. I have my relay coming up, & just joined a running club, so this should be doable. - Okay, so I achieved the cardio, with 1,020 minutes, helped greatly by my relay last weekend. I did 7 strength workouts, and 1 lonely stretching. So, I'll give myself partial credit. 
2. Commit to my running club. I've never run in a group before, & I'm a little nervous/anxious that I might embarrass myself. - Major fail. Work is just not allowing for this right now. (I know, I know.) I truly am trying to get things together at work, and have made some progress, but it's review time & planning for Q4, which is our biggest season. Honestly, I also didn't enjoy running at lunch time in the 90 degree weather. Would prefer early mornings or evenings. 
3. Complete my relay, have fun, & relax & enjoy the experience more this year, rather than stressing about the details. - Yes! Had a great time, didn't sweat the small stuff (despite being incredibly sweaty ;-)) & enjoyed the experience. 
4. Figure out what to get M for our anniversary. I'm thinking of experiences in Hawaii, rather than a gift, so I need to get thing planned. - Mostly planned, but am also thinking of a road bike, so need to get that sorted.
5. Stay on track with our budget. - Nope. Over by $353. 
6. Put more thought into our plans for our Seattle house (selling, keeping), plus our long term plan here (renting, buying, etc) - I don't know that we made much progress on this. It's a *long* conversation & planning process. We've tossed around ideas, but haven't come to any decisions.
7. Menu plan. For reals. For the entire month. - Yes, but when I went out of town, M was a little liberal with the plans. ;-) 
8. Plan a fun activity for Labor Day weekend. - I have a few things up my sleeve!
9. Figure out work & personal travel through the end of 2015. - Yes! Booked our holiday tickets this week & got a great deal!
10. Start planning our 2016 budget, including tweaks to our categories, budget amounts, etc. - Yes, about 75% of the way there!
11. Call to see if we can reduce our car insurance. - Yes, & I saved $836 for the year!!!!! Big win of the month!!
12. FIND A NANNY!! School starts in 2 1/2 weeks, & I'm starting to panic.  - Yes! :-) 
13. Seriously get more balanced in the work/life balance equation. It's pretty bad right now. Some goals I'm thinking of related to that:
1. One night (or less) a week with evening calls. It's super hard to come home, make dinner, squeeze in family time, dreading the knowledge that I have to put in another couple of hours starting at 8:30 pm. - I think I'm mostly there with the one night/week or less.
2. Amp up my recruiting efforts. I'm already spending 15 hours/week on this, but i have 3 people manager roles to fill, and once I fill them, my life will be MUCH easier, my evening/morning calls will be reduced, & I can travel less.- Have one offer out for my London based role. 
3. Minimize travel to only urgent/super important tasks. - Gave a flat out "no" to a strong arm request to go to Bangkok (helped greatly by the fact that it conflicted with M's trip, & have re-assigned two other trips (India & Taipei) to my teams. Still left with London (but, shortening), China, & Brazil. Going to try & keep all of the trips shorter than originally planned. So, progress? 
4. Work out 5 days/week. This requires getting up earlier, making time for my afternoon runs, etc. I must prioritize my health! - *cough*. No. Fail

So, as with most months for me, it was a mixed bag. Some wins, some not so good areas. But, those are opportunities for September, right? :-) How did you do on your August goals? Do you have any goals that you are carrying over to September?

August budget wrap up

I'm finally getting around to taking care of all my month end activities. :-) Here's a quick look at how we did on our August budget.

Short story, we were over by $353. 

The good news first. We were under in the following categories:

• Childcare, by $300. Our nanny didn't start until the 2nd week, when school began.
• Entertainment, by $50, which is our entire monthly budget. We had a lot going on this month, so didn't get around to spending this.

We were over in the following categories:

• Dining out, by $162. Bleh. We had one expensive date night, plus a bunch of smaller meals out when I was at my event last weekend (I treated everyone to breakfast) & M took the kids out multiple times when I was gone, as he was juggling multiple soccer games, etc.
• Groceries, by $341. I'm frankly just embarrassed by this one. M does the majority of the grocery shopping (the bigger, Costco sized trips). I know that August had one more Saturday in it (we do all of our shopping weekly, on Saturdays), which made a big difference. We also bought fresh fish twice to grill, which is pretty far out of our normal budget.
• Rent, by $200. Our rent is now $200/month higher, but I still have a set monthly 2015 budget. I'll officially increase this category in 2016, & figure out which categories to reduce accordingly.

We had a few other categories where we were over or under by smaller amounts, but nothing notable.

So, what am I going to do about being over budget? :-) The real question, right? Getting down to brass tacks, how am I going to improve? Here are my ideas for the month:

1. No grocery shopping this weekend. Should be easy. The fridge has plenty & I want to eat down our existing stores anyway. This should save $85-100 (average trip)
2. Minimal dining out. This could be trickier. I have a work trip coming up in a few weeks, and M tends to eat out more with the kids when I'm gone. But, if we don't have a date night, that should still work out okay.
3. No planned spending in some of our other categories: liquor, toiletries, etc. 

It still may not make up the gap, as our childcare is increasing & we have the rent increase. Soccer practices & drop off schedules just generally mean our nanny this year is working about 15-30 minutes/day longer than last year, which adds up quickly. 

How do you adjust when you go over budget? What is your go to plan to make up the difference? How did you do with your August budget?

Fun & frugal weekend plans

I'm looking forward to a long weekend with the boys! A LONG weekend!!! Ahhhh, yes. A bonus day!

I finished a first draft of a huge project at work, and feel pretty great about my progress. I didn't get a chance to go the gym, but a small price to pay for not having to worry about it over the weekend.

As for the rest of the weekend, here's what's on the agenda:

• A few workouts - the boys want to practice their 5K time 
• Yoga - at least once!
• Laundry. I know, I'm a thrill a minute ;-)
• We're heading to an outdoor movie event/potluck at a friend's house tomorrow. I'm planning to bring fresh fruit salad & something else. Maybe a pasta dish. Haven't quite decided yet. 
• Clean out the fridge
• A trip to the library
• Catching up on my budget
• Work in the garden, get it ready for fall, & use/freeze all of the fresh fruit & vegetables
• I'm NOT planning to go to the store. If I can skip a week, maybe we will get caught up on our grocery spending! That would be amazing

I started the evening off right by making a "clean out the fridge" dinner. The boys had two leftover hot dogs & pasta, while I took a giant zucchini & sauteed it with leftover sausage. I added eggs, cheese, salt & pepper. It was fantastic, & frugal. ;-) 

Hope you have fun & frugal weekend plans.

Extreme family fun

My family competed in Portland to Coast last weekend and had an amazing time - all 129 miles! Who cares about the 90 mile an hour winds & rain at the beach? ;-)

Everyone had a blast, from my 65 year old dad, to my 13 year old nephew! Here are a few pics of the fun:

The bottom picture is of my adorable parents. :-)

Anyway, I was out of town all weekend & now I'm struggling to get caught up. I'll be back soon with a summary of my August goals & new fresh, shiny goals for September!