As part of buying the house, we completely imploded our 2017 financial plans. And, as you lovely readers know, I'm a planner. Not having a plan for 2017 (and beyond) is unsettling (to say the least) for me. Although this plan may not be perfect, it's a must for me to start roughing out our remaining expenses in 2017 & the next 12 months, plans to pay for them, and other larger scale planning for our lives & budget.
Background: we typically use our paychecks to cover all standard expenses, and either bonuses or stock from the previous year to cover what I'll describe as "yearly expenses". Yearly expenses are things like: travel, summer camps, home repairs, taxes, etc. Because we wiped out our entire savings for our down payment, this year will be trickier & require much more cash flow management.
Here are the known expenses for the remainder of the year:
- Taxes
- A new cash flow/slush fund
- Yearly expenses for the remainder of the year
- A small 401K loan that I took out to cover a few house projects before we moved in
- Our trip to Hawaii
And, the available sources of funds:
- Stock grants (typically monthly, but our vesting schedule is varied)
- Bonuses (these are actually paid in January, so it's fudging the 2017 numbers a bit to include them. However, I'm trying to plan the next 12 months, so in that case, it makes sense to include.)
The good news is that I now have a plan for all of the known expenses, and have around $30K left. That's critical, as I'm confident there are other house expenses lurking.
We will tweak the budget as needed based on M's new role, when the transition process is completed. I feel so good once I have a plan for all of the expenses, the money, and a match between the two columns on my spreadsheets. ;-) What about you? How far in advance do you plan?
Good for you for setting up a new plan, but better that you know it can be tweaked as need be!
ReplyDeleteAll of the best laid plans require modification, I've learned
DeleteYou'll also have your Seattle house sale, so I am sure you will have this in great order soon. Not on the same scale as buying a house with a huge down payment, but I understand sort of the feeling when we pay our $13,000 for the Roth. Whoosh, a year of putting aside for that expense i gone in a single swoop.
ReplyDeleteThat's actually my next post! Our plan post-house sale. It's always exciting to see big chunks of progress, but scary at the same time. All of that money gone at once
DeleteHubby and me are planning our first trip sometime in Nov or Dec and are trying to decide what's better in terms of getting a good feel for the islands. Option 1 is a 7 day cruise on Pride of America (first time cruisers also), option 2 is picking 1 island and exploring in depth.
ReplyDeleteA little background on us, we're in our 40's/early 50's and not big on a lot of physical activities such as hiking, surfing, biking, etc. We like doing sightseeing tours, cultural events, and hanging out at the beach/pool. A cruise sounded great until I realized how small the cabins are and considering hubby snores so bad that I don't think I'd get much sleep. The ship does have the single suites so that might be an option or we just pick one island.
Question is Which one??? Oahu seems like the best pick as it doesn't seem like the other islands have enough of the type of activities we like to keep us active/interested for a whole week. And I really don't want to spend too much of my vacation on planes island hopping. Is it feasable to fly to say, Kona, for the day, do some sightseeing and be back to Oahu that night without being totally exhausted the next day? Help!! Any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated. Please Feel free to contact us at Maria Comes to Town