A get-things-done kind of day

We have no soccer this weekend, which is unheard of! :-) I'm going to enjoy this weekend to the fullest - no trips to pack for, no flights to catch. . . just time with my boys.

Last night we had our anniversary dinner (with the kids, of course :-)) & it was great. I planned ahead & brought our own wine (they don't charge a corkage fee), which saved quite a bit. It was still a bit of a splurge ($63 for dinner for four), but we kept things in check with the wine from home, plus ordering a few things to share from the appetizer menu. It was delicious -  Greek food - everyone's favorite!

Now I'm working on my to do list for the day. So far, I've been to Target to get a birthday gift for the party Sam is attending tonight. I'm also tackling the mountain of laundry that's sitting out.

I'd like to make muffins, make some homemade pizzas for the freezer, work out, and have some time leftover for reading. Doesn't that sound nice? The weather has cooled off, so it sounds like the perfect day to do some baking.

Nick, who will be home alone with mom & dad tonight (it's usually the opposite - Nick is the king of getting invited to sleepovers), has requested pasta & meatballs for dinner, with popcorn & a movie as his entertainment. We'll pop popcorn at home, and watch a movie we already have.

I also really need to sort out our Thanksgiving plan & menu (I'm on call, so we can't really "go" anywhere), as well as work on our Christmas budget & plan.

I hope you are all having a great weekend! What's one thing you'd like to do today?

It's Friday - jetlagged, but making progress

I got home from Beijing yesterday, so I'm feeling *very* jetlagged today. I started off my day by driving to the city (3.5 hours, with traffic) for an appointment with the Brazilian consulate, then to the office. I'd not recommend that as my first thing to do after a long trip. ;-)

Beijing was quite an experience, despite only being there for 72 hours. And now comes that catching up (with life & work) part. :-)

I'm so very, very happy it's Friday. I'm going to try & leave a bit early, so I can squeeze in some extra boy time. After that, M & I are going out to dinner with the boys (relatively unusual for us), so we can celebrate our 10th anniversary. Our 10th anniversary happened while I was in Beijing, but better late than never!

We have no soccer this weekend (shocking!), so I need to get things sorted out around the house. Here's what I'd like to (or need to, in some cases) accomplish:

1. Buy a birthday gift for the party Sam's going to
2. Sam's sleepover party on Saturday
3. Go for a 3 mile run (Saturday)
4. Go for a 5 mile walk (Sunday)
5. Strength training & yoga (Saturday & Sunday)
6. Laundry
7. Catch up on budgeting
8. Make muffins - the freezer is looking bare!
9. Make dinners for the week
10. Plan a menu
11. Catch up on expense reporting
12. Go through my work calendar & sort things out
13. Update the soccer schedule, based on revised practice times
14. Clean! The house is all cluttered & I need to clean my own areas & ensure the boys take care of their rooms.

In terms of my "40 week" project, here's where things stand. . .

My goal is to have 100K saved, as well as planning to save 45K for taxes, 15K for the 2016 travel fund, and to max out my 401K, before I leave my job. So, I need to have $160K, plus max out my 401K before June. 

Current savings = 103.9K, so 69% of my goal. I was able to add $3,000 to my savings this month, although things will get tight, as we have a bunch of upcoming expenses. Will see if I can leave most of it there. I was also greatly helped by an increase in stock price. My stock trading window opens again next week, which means I can realize some of that gain.

I added in the 401K goal, after I remembered that I used my January bonus last year to max out my 401K. Given that my return to the workforce is unknown at this point, I'd like to take this last chance to beef up my retirement before I quit. I've run the numbers, & I think I can still do all of the above - save $160K, and put $18,000 in my 401K. My retirement is in a very healthy place, but every bit helps!

That's it from my end. I'd like a nap now. :-) I hope all is well, and everyone has a nice, relaxing weekend planned!

I'm off to Beijing tomorrow, and update on my "40 week plan"

In case you missed the first post on my 40 week plan, you can catch up here.

I have an early flight to Beijing tomorrow (my 6th international trip of the year, with one more on deck, in case anyone other than me is counting). ;-) This one involved copious amounts of time at the Chinese consulate in the city. SO, so many hours lost at the consulate. But, I'm cleared for takeoff tomorrow, supposedly. :-) We'll see once I get to the airport.

In big news, I'm about $700 short of having $100K saved for my big project. WOOHOO! I am so excited about this. :-) I'm making big progress on my plan to leave at the end of June. Honestly, the trip to Beijing & my upcoming trip to Sao Paulo, although painful, are just further motivation to keep all possible spending in check and save, save, save.

In other news, I have one child at a sleepover, one watching Harry Potter. I've made homemade pizzas, both boys won their soccer games (eldest scored two goals today), I've made muffins, packed for my trip, gone on a run, and generally just had a nice day.

Hope it was a great Saturday for everyone!!

I kind of forgot about my 2015 goals

I saw another blog post, and decided that maybe I should take a peek & see what I hoped to accomplish this year. And, maybe get a reality check? ;-)

• Financial
• Meet with a financial advisor - nope. Probably not going to happen. I have a very specific goal that we are working toward. 
• Save $50,000 towards a downpayment for a house in California - we are not saving towards this goal, but we are well above this is our savings account. We're saving it for other things. 
• Put $10,000 in the boys college accounts - we scaled this back, in light of other financial goals. We put $2500 in. 
• Pay $55,000 towards our mortgage principal(s) - we're at $28K, so definitely not going to hit this. But, we're saving for me to leave my job. 
• Save for our 2015 travel budget in advance - done. 
• Stick to our monthly & yearly budgets - For our monthly budget, we are at 75% spent, with 79% of the year elapsed, so we are under our budget!!!  For the yearly budget, we are at 68% of budget (excluding taxes ;-))!!!!! 

• Re-plan our yearly budget categories - Yes! I have two budgets - while I'm working, and after for 2016. This is both our yearly & monthly categories. 
• Family
• Look for more opportunities to have fun with the family. - I don't think I've done a terribly good job at this. We've done a lot of fun things, but we're also really busy and enjoy down time. 
• Be more present with the kids. - eh? I'm pretty good until the later part of the evening, and then I'm so exhausted, I'm like a zombie. 
• Come up with a five year plan that minimizes my need to work in my career (open to other work options). - Oh, yes! And, I've accelerated this to be June of 2016.
• Fitness/health
• Lose 10 pounds, bringing my weight to 135. If this goal sounds similar to last year's, that's because it is. I managed to lose 8 lbs, and then gained it back during the second half of the year. Sigh. - :-( That's all I'll say. I've gained 4 pounds. The traveling, jet lag, breaking of my routine does me no good. 
• Run another half marathon. - I was supposed to run one this weekend, but I'm headed to Beijing. I will not be training for a half this year. I still have another week long trip. Not only are the trips an issue, I'm very jet lagged when I get back & have a hard time getting back into my routine. 
• Track my food/exercise every day. - So far, yes. 
• Complete 10,000 minutes of cardio - I'm at 70% complete, with 79% of the year elapsed, so I need to pick up the pace. 
• Complete 100 strength workouts. - Yes! I'm already at 107 strength workouts!
• Complete 75 stretching workouts. - Definitely no. I'm at 15. :-( 
• Work/career
• Keep better perspective at work/reduce stress. - I haven't reduced my stress, but I have a plan. :-) 
• Reduce my hours. - definitely not. But, ditto above. 
• Giving back
• Figure out a way to volunteer. I'd like to volunteer at the boy's school, as it's important for me to be connected. But, the hours are terrible. I need to be a bit more creative about options. - I've volunteered twice this year. So, some, but definitely not what I'd like. 
• Increase our charitable giving by 25% - oh yes! We've doubled our charitable giving. 
• House
• Declutter each room in the house - yes! 
• Clean out the garage - we did about half of it, before M threw it in the towel. Considering it took us 10 years to get to that, I'll take it. I'll keep the task, because we have more work to do.
• Personal/creative
• Have one date night with M per month - yes!
• Learn a new skill. I'm thinking of learning a new language, but would be fine with anything: sewing, knitting, expanding my baking, etc. - I haven't done any of this. I forgot about this goal, to be totally honest.
• Make time for my friends! Do something social at least once per month. - I've done something most months, so I'll give myself a .75
• Read 50 books. - I've definitely read more than 50 books!

Looking at this, I can definitely figure out where I haven't spent my time this year (cough *my health & fitness*). It's so good to check in & remember what I still have to do, with just 2.5 months to go. What about you? Did you set goals for 2015? How are they going? 

October - mid-month goal check

October is trucking along, so how are we doing on those goals?!

Fitness:

1. Complete 1000 minutes of cardio - 670 minutes, thanks to my great (and fit!) vacation
2. Complete 10 strength workouts - 5 workouts
3. Complete 4 stretching workouts - 7! The most *ever* in a month
4. Lose 3 pounds - will be challenging with my vacation, but we will do it! - hoping I can achieve this, but didn't lose anything on vacation

Finances:

1. Stick to our October budget - looks reasonably on track
2. Finish our 2016 budget planning - not yet! A must do!
3. Stick to our vacation budget while in Hawaii! - we were $51 over, so I'm counting this as a huge win!
4. Continue working on my "40 week project!" - have added in some extra funding sources, but need to tighten up the plan & budget.

Planning:

1. Work on 2016 family calendar & vacations - yes! have been working on this, created the template calendar & need to solidify a few more dates.

Work/Life/Balance:

1. Continue to accept no more than one late night's worth of meetings/week - mostly looking good, but still a few areas of improvement
2. Eat lunch away from my desk 3x/week or more - I haven't done this at work, but I ate my lunch by the pool in Hawaii? ;-) 
3. Book my workouts on my calendar, & *stick with them*!! - mostly, yes! And, lots of bonus fitness on vacation.

Fun:

1. Get together for a minimum of one social event with a friend - I need to get something planned. October may be hard with traveling. 
2. Sign up to volunteer at the boys school. - yes, although my schedule has been tricky & I've yet to actually make it. 

So far, I'd call this a success. More work to do, of course, but I feel like I'm on track for the month. How about you? How are your October goals going? 

Back from an amazing vacation

M & I went to Hawaii for our 10th anniversary, and had an absolutely amazing time! Seriously, it was wonderful & we had a perfect, relaxing time. Here's what we did!

• Mountain biked down the volcano
• Canoed, kayaked, & snorkeled. Saw some lovely sea turtles.
• Played tennis. My first time in nearly 20 years.
• Hung out by the pool & at the beach
• Sunrise walks along the beach
• Yoga - the hotel offered free classes
• Water aerobics, barre class - again with the free classes. LOVED it!

We also just chilled out & spent time together, catching up on life, having happy hour, and generally enjoying life. It was the best. My parents were with the kids, and they had a great time as well. The boys love Nana & Papa time. :-)

And, in terms of our budget, we were over by $51.77, which is so close, I'll take it! Although I would not describe this as a "budget" vacation, we did have a budget & tried to stick to it by it. Here are a few ways we saved money:

• We opted to have happy hour instead of dinner every night (much cheaper, and fit with our schedule anyway), and we actively researched inexpensive deals
• Bought wine & snacks for our hotel room
• Mostly ate breakfast & lunch with groceries we purchased (we ate out once for lunch & did a smoothie for breakfast)
• Shared meals
• Reduced our activities to just one (the one M most wanted to do -  sunrise on Haleakala, followed by the mountain biking)
• Took advantage of lots of free activities at the hotel!

M surprised me by upgrading to first class on the return flight home, which is why we were very slightly over budget. It was a wonderful treat. :-) 

Here are some pictures of the fun!

Me, on one of our many sunrise hikes. . . 

Views from our lunch out. . . who can resist this amazing view?

Sunrise on the beach

Sunrise from the top of a volcano. The pictures don't do it justice - it was amazing!

The beach where we got married, ten years ago!

Now I'm back to reality, planning for two more complex international trips before the end of the year (for work), as well as getting my budget sorted out for 2016.

September goals recap - how did I do?

Oh, September. You were quite a challenge. :-) We fired our nanny, scrambled to find another one, M was in Dubai for 9 days, I was in London for a week. . . it wasn't exactly a banner month for "getting things done". That said, I made the decision to embark on my "40 week project" (aka, quit my job at the end of the school year), which is easily the biggest decision I've made, career-wise. . . ever!

Here's how I did (or, rather, didn't, in some cases :-)) do on my goals!

Fitness:

1. Complete 1000 minutes of cardio - oh my, oh my. I almost ended the month in the 300s. This was a VERY difficult month for me to get in workouts, as I was leaving early quite a bit to cover for our lack of nanny, then leaving early to train up a new nanny, then traveling. But, I pulled it together & ended the month with 525 minutes. Not great, but a huge improvement over where I thought I might be. 
2. Complete 10 strength workouts - yes, managed to get in 11 workouts! I find that keeping my hand weights out & visible makes all of the difference. I need to start adding in some squats as well. Making it part of my daily routine is the secret.
3. Complete 4 stretching workouts - Nope. One stretching workout.
4. Lose 3 pound - I wish. I gained two pounds, so that's 5 pounds from where I wanted to be! :-( 

Finances:

1. Stick to our budget -not quite. We actually did pretty well on most categories, but a few things put a wrench in our plans. 1) I paid our old nanny a full week's worth to go away & never come back, as I didn't give her notice. 2) We had a day without school & I paid the new nanny to stay with the kids. 3) Our new nanny charges $2 more/hour, which adds up. All told, we were over by $275. We did great on all categories outside of childcare, including groceries!!! :-) Huge win there.
2. Finish our 2016 budget planning - Still working on this, especially with my new "40 week" project. 
3. Determine what to do with stock vest money - I have this answered! Save for when I leave my job. 

Planning:

1. Book all activities for Hawaii - Done!!!! 
2. Continue thinking of mid/long term plans for Seattle house & our location - we'll continue this conversation, but focused right now on the end of the summer timing with my job.
3. Build several options for me to consider taking time off/going part time - Yes! We're actively exploring this. 
4. Work on 2016 family calendar & vacations - I have a calendar started, but I'm a long way away from a full picture of 2016.

Work/Life/Balance:

1. Take a work life balance class (funded through my employer) - done! And, signed up for a deeper version of this class in January.
2. Continue to accept no more than one late night's worth of meetings/week - Yes :-) 
3. Shorten all planned work travel - Yes, was able to shorten my London trip
4. Find creative options to have my more senior staff cover additional travel - eh. I managed to have someone else cover India, Taipei & Tokyo/Seoul. I'm still on the hook for 1-2 trips to China + Brazil. 
5. Eat lunch away from my desk 3x/week or more - I don't think I've been perfect at this, but *much* better. Probably a 75% success rate.
6. Book my workouts on my calendar, & *stick with them*!! - Not for the first three weeks, but I managed three workouts this week so far!

Fun:

1. Get together for a minimum of one social event with a friend - Yes! I went to a hike/brunch & had a great time.
2. Sign up to volunteer at the boys school. - Yes!

So, a bunch of mid-progress items, a few wins, and a few losses. Not too bad, considering the month I've had. I'll take it!  How about you? How have you done with your goals over the last month? And, happy October! Go set yourself some new, fantastic goals!

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? :-)