Fiscal Friday: Planning for the year

So...just so we are clear. It isn't Friday. I am a tad I mean a wee...I'm just late with this post! Honestly, I just plain forgot! However, the time helped me as I decided on my topic for the month: planning expenses for the year. I guess this is a budget? Really, I'm working to identify those annual/semi-annual/quarterly expenses that occur. I would forget about these expenses, so when they showed up, it would feel like a setback.

So far, I've identified some of those expenses:

Annual Expenses

Car registration

Junior League dues

Semi-Annual Expenses

Home insurance

Pet wellness visits (including shots)

Quarterly Expenses

Misc Insurances

My goal this month is to identify these expenses that take me by surprise every.single.year.

Make sure to visit Christina and Katie to see what they are talking about for Fiscal Friday!

Fiscal Friday: Breaking up is not so hard to do

It's Fiscal Friday! Today's post the time that J went on two dates then broke up with a financial planner.

A good friend had referred us to a financial planner they had used. We have been working hard on paying down debt and starting to save. However, we had never seen a financial planner before. We figured this was as good a time as any.

I won't mention the company, but know that it was an insurance company.

Anyways, J went for a consultation. During the meeting, the planner asked him to gather our relevant information. This would be information on insurances, retirements, mortgage, and any other financial information. It was during this time I came clean about having a couple of random rollover IRAs (more on that in another post). They discussed our short and long term financial goals. One of our short term goals was to set up life insurance for J.

A second meeting was held to review the information gathered. Or so we thought. It was at this meeting that the planner (who was just doing his job) tried to sell some additional insurance to J. He also asked J if he would be willing to move his money out of our current financial institution.

The above gave J reason for pause.

Then J decided to research the company. After reading a couple of different sources, we discussed the findings. One striking item was the business model where reps are encouraged to sell whole life policies at hefty sums for large commissions.

More power to them.

But it didn't sit well with us. So J wrote a firm, but polite email to let him know to stop all actions on our behalf. After a couple of conversations, we finally parted ways.

Maybe this would have been beneficial for us. Perhaps we made a mistake. But we had to go with what felt right.

Timing is a funny thing. The following week, my Fidelity rep for my 403(b) was at my work. I made an appointment to look at my retirement accounts. He was extremely helpful on many items and provided guidance on ways that we could maximize the tax benefits of my retirement account.

Make sure to check out Katie and Christina as they share their Fiscal Friday stories!

Fiscal Friday: Credit Karma

It'’s Fiscal Responsibility Friday! Today, I wanted to share a website that has been wonderful in supporting my quest to be fiscally responsible.

J told me about Credit Karma after seeing a feature on MSNBC about the site. Credit Karma is a website where you can monitor your credit score.  I usually check mine once every couple of months, but you can check it more frequently (once a month). Seeing my credit score is not the only benefit of this website. I also like seeing a summary of my/our credit cards and student loans. Even those credit cards that do not have a current balance are listed as long as they are still active accounts. 

**On a side note, writing out my debt (credit cards, school and at that time, my car loan) was one of the scariest things I have ever done. Seeing all your burden written out is very sobering.

Back to Credit Karma, since facing my debts head on, I like having a way that I can monitor my progress. The graph that represents the movement of my credit score is incredibly encouraging. Watching the total debt amount reduce is also a great motivator.

Here is a picture of my actual Credit Karma page (with the numbers blurred out as I’m not THAT brave yet!)

Please note that I am not a financial professional and this post is merely to share my personal experience with Credit Karma. This is not a sponsored post. I am just a happy user of the site!

Make sure to visit my friends Katie and Christina as they will be sharing their thoughts on fiscal responsibility. Join in the conversation by using the hashtag #fiscalresponsibility on Twitter!

Fiscal Friday: Perception

Most days, I think I am a fairly confident person, unencumbered by others' opinions of me. However, there are days where I completely disappoint myself.

Wait, isn't this supposed to be a "Fiscal Friday" post?

It is. I promise! Just hang for a minute.

While on a business trip, my coworker and I went to Nordstrom. Somehow, we found ourselves in the Prada boutique. Then someone who sounded just like me, proceeded to inquire about the cost of a Prada bag. Not only did I  the person who looked and sounded just like me inquire, but also walked around with the bag. What did I (let's be real here) do, but pretend what it would be like to carry an expensive bag. Then I started telling some cockaninny story that maybe I would ask my husband to buy it for me.

Um...NO.

Who was this person saying this crazy business to the Prada salesperson?

I know me. The real me. The one who wouldn't ask for that because it isn't fiscally responsible. The one who knows that would pay for several months of pre-school.

But the words were falling out of my mouth at a rapid pace. For some reason, it MATTERED to me that the salesperson and my co-worker would even remotely think that this bag would be a viable option. Their perception of me mattered.

And that, my friends, is why being fiscally responsible will always be at the forefront for me. Becoming complacent may mean I'm one glass of champagne away from a big and unnecessary purchase. Because when I least expect it, someone else's perception of me may be the reason why I say "yes" to the Prada.

Have you ever felt the need to spend for this reason? Join in on the conversation by commenting or using the hash tag #fiscalresponsibility on Twitter.

Fiscal Friday: Two Steps Forward. Two Steps Back

When I was writing the title to this post, I couldn't help but think of this guy:

Picture courtesy of www.ugo.com

While I was on maternity leave, I used my sick and vacation time to continue receiving a paycheck. After some calculations, I determined I only needed to pay myself around 60% of what I normally made to pay the bills. It was during this time that I landed my current role, which paid more than my old job. So when I returned to work, the increase was not only the difference in salary between the old and new job, but I was used to only 60% of my old salary.

J started a new job as well and we committed to not get used to the increases. Instead, we would pour it all into debts: credit cards and car payments. We paid our cars off and paid off a large amount of debt. Things were progressing better than I anticipated!

That's when things took a turn. While we were in Asheville, J's car went kaput. His car was around 8 years old. The money we would have had to pay in for repairs just didn't make sense financially. Long story short, we got a new car. Eight months of blissful (aka zero car payment) had ended.

It is a setback for sure. However, I am positive we will continue our progress. We just have to stay on task.

It's Fiscal Friday and I'd love to hear if you've ever experience a setback in your road to #fiscalresponsibility! Join in the conversation by commenting or using the hashtag #fiscalresponsibility on Twitter.

Fiscal Friday: Coming Clean

Before I get started, does this blog post title make you think of the song by Hilary Duff??

For this week's Fiscal Friday, I'm inspired by C's post from a couple of weeks ago.  Just how did I get into debt?

I'm going to be as honest as I can deal with. :)

Girls' Weekends

In the late 1990's and early 2000's, I went on a lot of "Girls Weekends". Usually, my friends and I would head to Orlando to see a concert (ching ching), stay at a nice hotel (ching ching), eat at Macaroni Grille (hey, we were young!), and shop at the Florida Mall. I'd say every other trip would include going to Pleasure Island.

Do the math.

I don't regret the concerts, just the money! I think we saw N'Sync at least 5 times. Then 98 Degrees. Savage Garden. Enrique Iglesias, BB Mak, Christina Aguilera, Britney....and on and on. Oh, I also saw Dave Mathews Band, Barenaked Ladies (at least 3x), Billy Joel, etc etc. HOw crazy to even recall any of that!


Shopping

I'd say it started when I lived in Chicago. I was going out all the time (well there goes the money) and feeling like I just HAD to purchase a new top, earrings, jeans, etc etc for those occasions. I've always had a small case of the wants, but it really blossomed in Chicago. I also got introduced to the makeup counters at Nordstrom. Help me!!!

Long Distance Relationship

I did a lot of flying when J and I were in a LDR. I believe this was money well spent. However, it definitely added up. Investment with an emotional return?

This is the first time I've written these reasons out. This was not as scary as when I added up my debt for the first time a few years ago. But still.

Do any of these reasons sound familiar to you?


Be sure to follow our conversation on Twitter by using #fiscalresponsibility !

Fiscal Friday: Short and Long Term Financial Goals

It's Fiscal Friday!

As I mentioned before, I tend to to get the "wants" more that I care to admit. However, I have found one way to keep me on track to be fiscally responsible. Like many people, I love to make lists. This particular list is of my short and long term financial goals. My hope is that I can divert my desire to shop for things I don't need by thinking of the goals I want to meet.

Short Term

October 2013 vacation
Pay off last credit card (8 more payments!)
Make Christmas shopping list for family including a budget

Long Term

Save for my kid's school (pre-school then college)
Go to Italy for J's 40th birthday

Looking over this list, I know I need to add things like grow an independent retirement fund. I do contribute to my company's 401k plus we have a pension plan, however it isn't enough.

So when I look longingly at a new handbag or shoes, I hope this list will continue to keep my on track.

Do you have short and long term financial goals?

Just what does #fiscalresponsibility mean?

If you follow me on Twitter, you may see me use #fiscalresponsibility on some of my tweets. What does that mean? I suppose each person I tweet with has their own specific definition. Here is mine:

Fiscal Responsibility - Practicing sound and purposeful spending. Paying down debts.

I started using this hashtag when tweeting with others about not shopping. Then it evolved to tweets on "smart shopping". Then we started tweeting about paying off debts (student loans, car, credit cards). 

It had become a support group!

But why?

Let me backtrack. I've always loved shopping. I loved the thrill of the hunt. However, my case of "the wants" really went nuts when I started reading more blogs and tweeting. I was seeing daily posts of the newest Lilly Pulitzer dress, Tory Burch shoes, Kendra Scott earrings...and I WANTED IT ALL. Deep down, I wanted to feel the excitement that I saw in the dozens of comments from other people on these purchases.

Then I had a crazy month where I had no clue what I was really buying.

So enough was enough. This group of tweeps provides positive reinforcement when I meet fiscal milestones. They can talk me off the ledge of buying a ridiculous want. Really--it is the same excitement I would get more buying something new.

Let me be clear. This is not to say that shopping is bad. Or that we should be judging people who shop a lot. Everyone has the right to spend their money as they see fit. But I've found a group that helps to encourage me to make sound fiscal decisions for me and my family.

So feel free to join in on Twitter when you want to chat on #fiscalresponsibility !