Jan and Feb are our least favorite here in Mesa ! We are leaving for a 10 day cruise out of Puerto Rico mid January ❤🎉all paid for ahead of time ! I used to love 3 pay check months and I was always so stressed about the Christmas credit card bills it’s just such a relief not stressing ! Happy almost new years everyone ! Prosperous and debt free wishes to all of you ! Glenda
Great Great January😊 I can totally understand dental bills🤦♀️ My mom 80th birthday is in January 🎉 Hubby & I are going to Aruba 01/26 can’t wait our anniversary is the 27th. All paid for no credit Woohoo
It’s gonna be a fantastic month and amazing start to the new year! You’re off and running 😊. Hope the month comes out even better than you anticipated. Let’s have an awesome 2025 🎉!
Between the big December '24 Highlander extra debt payment and the budgeted January '25 Highland extra debt payment, you will have paid off several months off the back end of the Highlander. You may think January is a ho-hum month but i think your January '25 end of the month summary will be exciting.
January looks like an excellent start to the year. I was going to suggest sending $2000 to your emergency fund and get it out of the way. But, everything looks good so maybe if there is extra income.
I was so tempted to do that! Maybe for February we can knock it out? Or maybe I’ll just out anything extra to it? I haven’t decided for sure, but we’ll get it done 😃
Awesome budget katie!! I had a 5 pay month this month.( I get paid weekly. ) I always love those kind of months cuz I can always do so much more for goals!. 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽❤️❤️❤️
The anti processed foods people have come out with the average Americaj eat 3 snacks per day; the implication being that those snacks are all processed goods. 3 snacks per day for 5 people at $1/ea comes out to $150/ month. I'm guessing that a of folks are spending closer to $2/ ea which would make thst number closer to $300/ month or more. If you want to curb grocery bills, look at both your snack purchases and also how balanced your meals are. (Inadequate volume/ calories at meal time leads to more snacking but also inadequately balanced meals drives the body for more food as it seeks nutrition.) In terms of nutrtional value for your grocery dollar, balanced snacks go a looong way too: some protien, some fat, some produce, some starch.
I can confirm, we definitely buy too many snacks! I’m sure at least $150-$200 of our monthly budget is snacks, so that’s definitely something we can work on. Especially now that snacks are so so expensive!
@KatieoftheHouse let's say you do want snacks for an assortment of valid reasons. Its what we tend to snack on more so than the snack it's self. Let's say you spend that $150 to $200. A half peanut butter sandwich and a small apple don't come free but generally the same cost and less than many of the "snack foods" out there. Personally during those pre-teen and teen years I liked a big spoon of heated dinner left overs or a bowl of oatmeal; they stuck to the ribs better. Now a half dozen to a dozen and a half chocolate chips cookies would have satisfied the taste buds better/ differently.
I am excited for you to reach your debt payoff goals ❤ After I became debt free (minus mortgage) and fully funded my emergency fund/sinking funds ($50k emergency fund, $57k “other savings”- $7k will be moved immediately to Roth IRA Jan 2nd… One change I made was switching to auto-pay biweekly mortgage payments. So, just like retirement contributions, i stopped including the mortgage payment amount in my monthly budget and paycheck (my mortgage is $3,400k/mo so $1700 less per paycheck)
Thank you so much! I cannot wait to be debt free! Props to you for getting yourself to the other side! I bet you have so much peace of mind around money though. I think that’s a great idea to do your budget after investing and your mortgage. That way it’s just automatic and you have less to think about 😊
Happy New Year Katie! We hope that the upcoming year will be awesome for you two. Today is basically the end of the year for us budget wise. When I look back at this year I really cannot believe it, but, it's all because 7 years ago we took control, ignored the many voices telling us to pace ourselves and spend some of our money rather than pay off everything. This is what we are able to do this year with no mortgage, no car payments, no credit cards, no student loans and paying close attention to what we spend: Tom's 401K (maxed at $30,000.00), Sue's 403B ($12,000.00) Taxable brokerage account ($12,000.00) HYSA ($3,000.00) Gold and Silver ($15,000.00). Total is $72,000.00 I mean this in all sincerity I believe you two will shortly be able to say the same thing. If a dummy like me can do it anyone can.
You and Sue have definitely accomplished some amazing things! I think you are anything but dumb. It takes a smart person to look at where they are and recognize that they need a change. And then you made it happen! I’m very inspired by your journey 😊
Actually Katie, again, in all sincerity, I find your diligence and discipline to likewise offer inspiration. Even for Sue and me, it is not always easy to stay focused. 👍👍
Hey, I got a little project for you. Your have stated somewhere that Marc and you would sometime in the future have him stop working at a PA sometime. For arguments sake lets say that is 15 years. At that point, while he isnt working full time, he likely still have some income. Figure out what that amount will be per month, or per year.. (current dollars) And subtract that from amount from your desired montly expenses, but of course not including any debt, that would be paid off by then . As you are a great budgeter, this should be easy for you. Now what ever that amount is per year, multiply it by 25, and that is what he amount your need to retire early. Its related to the 4%"rule" that states with the correct portfolio mix, you would be able to not have your money outlive you. (ie, 25 times your expenses for your size of portfolio ) is equivalent to taking 4% of the portfolio to pay for those expenses. So at this pont you know how much you, at a minumum should be needing to cover expenses. (I am assuming this would be beyound when the kids had gone to college, but if it isnt the calcs get somehwat more complicated. So I am going with that assumption. Now, I would like you to take the current balance of your portolio and determine it FV in 15 years, at lets say 7% growth. (let me know if you dont know how to do that and I will enter the excel forumla). Separetly do another calculation of a regular revenue stream (PMT in Excel formulas) of you what you plan to invest per year. And as I suspect it will be, the amount you plan to invest after debt payoff is much more, than separate it into two revenue steams. Of course it wold require you to calculate multipe FVs if you do. (again, I could provide you all the formulas.) Now add all lthose FV values together. How much larger is your portfolio going to be than the amount you need to cover those 4% of expenses)? I bet it is MUCH bigger. Probably triple. Now is a good time for you to do this calc, as you want to know BEFORE you say to yourself, "why did Invest that amount" or regret not using the money for other purposes. I am not saying this would be a problem, (I think you know where we are), but this projecct will help you in long term planning. And I bet for you, this exercise wont take that long, and would be educational and maybe fun.. Maybe you would share this on YT, with or without your actual values. So I know right now you are focusing on debt. But when your done with it. (in months), it would be better to know how much you should be putting to investment. A big question at least for me, is do you have stuff that would increase that monthly expenses dramatically. (You own the home, and if done right wil also own your cars by then too) Oh dont forget when Marc and you get to be Social Security age, you would have that income too. Let me know if you have questions or comments.
You think so? I’ve never really thought we were frugal, but we are trying to spend less while paying off debt for sure! We’ll be living more once the debt is paid off for sure ☺️
I think this is what she is doing. She is currently trying to save for next school year. Then enough for books and uniforms. She plans in July to begin saving the total amount divided by 12.
Yes, what John said! I have been saving all year, but honestly not enough, so I’m trying to front load a bunch now so that I don’t have to worry about this year and then in July I will start saving for the next year, but this time, it will be more even like a monthly bill because I’ll then be “caught up.” Essentially, that’s what I should have been doing all along, but I didn’t save enough each month, so I’m “behind.” This bonus and the January “extra” check will put us back on track though, and I should be able to keep it pretty consistent after that. Of course, they’ll go up intuition every year, and I’ll never know exactly how much I need for books, etc, but I can get close!
Your debt goals are massive!! I am excited for your January progress. 🎉🎉
Thank you, Debra! I think January will be a great month 🙂
Happy New Year's and yay for a 3 paycheck month. That's a great way to start off the year. 2025 is going to be a great year, I know it :)
Happy New Year to you, Brooke! I think 2025 is going to be a great year as well 🎉🙌🏼💕
Happy New Year, Katie! 🤗❤️ Awesome start of the year with an extra paycheck!🎉
Happy New Year, Rox!! 🎉❤️
Looks like this will be a great month. Hope you had a wonderful holiday
I hope you did, too, Eva! Thank you 💕
Starting the year off with a magic month 👌👏🙌💪 awesome!
Right?! I’m so excited about that!
Outstanding! When you get rid of the debt, your net worth is going to soar!
Yay! That will be nice 😀
Jan and Feb are our least favorite here in Mesa ! We are leaving for a 10 day cruise out of Puerto Rico mid January ❤🎉all paid for ahead of time ! I used to love 3 pay check months and I was always so stressed about the Christmas credit card bills it’s just such a relief not stressing ! Happy almost new years everyone ! Prosperous and debt free wishes to all of you ! Glenda
Oh the cruise will be so much fun! And even better since it’s already paid off 🎉 that’s so wonderful, Glenda 🥰
Great Great January😊 I can totally understand dental bills🤦♀️ My mom 80th birthday is in January 🎉 Hubby & I are going to Aruba 01/26 can’t wait our anniversary is the 27th. All paid for no credit Woohoo
Heck yes to a no debt vacay! And what an amazing birthday to celebrate for your mom 🎉❤️🥰
It’s gonna be a fantastic month and amazing start to the new year! You’re off and running 😊. Hope the month comes out even better than you anticipated. Let’s have an awesome 2025 🎉!
Thank you, Laura! I hope we both have a wonderful 2025 and all of the finances fall into place 🎉☺️
Between the big December '24 Highlander extra debt payment and the budgeted January '25 Highland extra debt payment, you will have paid off several months off the back end of the Highlander. You may think January is a ho-hum month but i think your January '25 end of the month summary will be exciting.
Thanks, Terry! I do think it will be an exciting start to the year! ☺️
Happy Friday Katie! Great video. Yay for magic months!!!
Thank you so much!
Hi Katie, great bwm! Woo-hoo Magic month! Great ur expecting to exceed ur 50% to saving and debt goal 😊
Thank you, Stephanie! January is going to be so good! I hope 😬😂
January looks like an excellent start to the year. I was going to suggest sending $2000 to your emergency fund and get it out of the way. But, everything looks good so maybe if there is extra income.
I was so tempted to do that! Maybe for February we can knock it out? Or maybe I’ll just out anything extra to it? I haven’t decided for sure, but we’ll get it done 😃
I love 3 paycheck months also. Mine is also in January and August. I love August paycheck because it's also vacation month. Great budgeting ❤❤❤
It’s a great way to start the year! And heck yes to another one in August for vacation month. That’s super exciting 😃
Awesome budget katie!! I had a 5 pay month this month.( I get paid weekly. ) I always love those kind of months cuz I can always do so much more for goals!. 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽❤️❤️❤️
Heck yeah! That’s so good in December with the holidays ☺️
A great way to start the month, yay.
Yes! It should be a good one 🤩
Your budget looks amazing! Looking like a great start of 2025
Thanks, Sara! Hopefully it will be a good kick off to 2025 😄
Thanks for the pep talk about the fresh start!!
Anytime ☺️
Hey Katie! ❤😊
Hope you had a great Christmas!🤍✨️🎄🤗
We sure did, Hailey! Thank you, and I hope you did, too ❤️❤️
Awesome way to start the new year! 😊
Thanks, Tonya! I hope so 🙂
Yay!! A magic month 😊😊
Great way to start the year! 😃
The anti processed foods people have come out with the average Americaj eat 3 snacks per day; the implication being that those snacks are all processed goods. 3 snacks per day for 5 people at $1/ea comes out to $150/ month. I'm guessing that a of folks are spending closer to $2/ ea which would make thst number closer to $300/ month or more. If you want to curb grocery bills, look at both your snack purchases and also how balanced your meals are. (Inadequate volume/ calories at meal time leads to more snacking but also inadequately balanced meals drives the body for more food as it seeks nutrition.) In terms of nutrtional value for your grocery dollar, balanced snacks go a looong way too: some protien, some fat, some produce, some starch.
I can confirm, we definitely buy too many snacks! I’m sure at least $150-$200 of our monthly budget is snacks, so that’s definitely something we can work on. Especially now that snacks are so so expensive!
@KatieoftheHouse let's say you do want snacks for an assortment of valid reasons. Its what we tend to snack on more so than the snack it's self. Let's say you spend that $150 to $200. A half peanut butter sandwich and a small apple don't come free but generally the same cost and less than many of the "snack foods" out there. Personally during those pre-teen and teen years I liked a big spoon of heated dinner left overs or a bowl of oatmeal; they stuck to the ribs better. Now a half dozen to a dozen and a half chocolate chips cookies would have satisfied the taste buds better/ differently.
Yay for a magic month! I like how 2025 is starting for you guys!! Let’s hit our goals!
Thank you, Ang! Let’s gooo!
Happy New Year
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year, Katie! Working on my '25 goals. I have the Dory song in my head... Just keep swimming 😂
That’s an accurate song for me, too! Just keep going and we’ll get there 😅😂
I’m looking forwards to how the magic months going to work.
Me too! I hope it’s a good one 😀
I am excited for you to reach your debt payoff goals ❤
After I became debt free (minus mortgage) and fully funded my emergency fund/sinking funds ($50k emergency fund, $57k “other savings”- $7k will be moved immediately to Roth IRA Jan 2nd… One change I made was switching to auto-pay biweekly mortgage payments.
So, just like retirement contributions, i stopped including the mortgage payment amount in my monthly budget and paycheck (my mortgage is $3,400k/mo so $1700 less per paycheck)
Thank you so much! I cannot wait to be debt free!
Props to you for getting yourself to the other side! I bet you have so much peace of mind around money though. I think that’s a great idea to do your budget after investing and your mortgage. That way it’s just automatic and you have less to think about 😊
love all the philly sports hats behind you😂
Haha those are my husband’s 😂🥰
@@KatieoftheHouse we are big fans in my family so I approve 🤣
@@simplifinance5154 oh he’d love you then 🙌🏼😂
Very good income that’s very good
Thanks, Deborah! I’m grateful for it and for my husband who works hard for it 🥰
Happy New Year Katie! We hope that the upcoming year will be awesome for you two.
Today is basically the end of the year for us budget wise. When I look back at this year I really cannot believe it, but, it's all because 7 years ago we took control, ignored the many voices telling us to pace ourselves and spend some of our money rather than pay off everything. This is what we are able to do this year with no mortgage, no car payments, no credit cards, no student loans and paying close attention to what we spend: Tom's 401K (maxed at $30,000.00), Sue's 403B ($12,000.00) Taxable brokerage account ($12,000.00) HYSA ($3,000.00) Gold and Silver ($15,000.00). Total is $72,000.00
I mean this in all sincerity I believe you two will shortly be able to say the same thing. If a dummy like me can do it anyone can.
You and Sue have definitely accomplished some amazing things!
I think you are anything but dumb. It takes a smart person to look at where they are and recognize that they need a change. And then you made it happen! I’m very inspired by your journey 😊
Actually Katie, again, in all sincerity, I find your diligence and discipline to likewise offer inspiration. Even for Sue and me, it is not always easy to stay focused. 👍👍
@@thomaschew2191 I appreciate that, Thomas, and I’m glad to be of help 😃
Highlander is gonna be paid off in no time!!!!
I hope so! 😬
Great ❤ Video
Thanks, Heather!
New subscriber ❤❤
Yay! Thank you!
I swear I thought I commented!! Oh well, yayyy for 3-pay month! 😂 😂
I think you did 😂❤️
Hey, I got a little project for you. Your have stated somewhere that Marc and you would sometime in the future have him stop working at a PA sometime. For arguments sake lets say that is 15 years. At that point, while he isnt working full time, he likely still have some income. Figure out what that amount will be per month, or per year.. (current dollars) And subtract that from amount from your desired montly expenses, but of course not including any debt, that would be paid off by then . As you are a great budgeter, this should be easy for you. Now what ever that amount is per year, multiply it by 25, and that is what he amount your need to retire early. Its related to the 4%"rule" that states with the correct portfolio mix, you would be able to not have your money outlive you. (ie, 25 times your expenses for your size of portfolio ) is equivalent to taking 4% of the portfolio to pay for those expenses.
So at this pont you know how much you, at a minumum should be needing to cover expenses. (I am assuming this would be beyound when the kids had gone to college, but if it isnt the calcs get somehwat more complicated. So I am going with that assumption. Now, I would like you to take the current balance of your portolio and determine it FV in 15 years, at lets say 7% growth. (let me know if you dont know how to do that and I will enter the excel forumla). Separetly do another calculation of a regular revenue stream (PMT in Excel formulas) of you what you plan to invest per year. And as I suspect it will be, the amount you plan to invest after debt payoff is much more, than separate it into two revenue steams. Of course it wold require you to calculate multipe FVs if you do. (again, I could provide you all the formulas.) Now add all lthose FV values together. How much larger is your portfolio going to be than the amount you need to cover those 4% of expenses)? I bet it is MUCH bigger. Probably triple. Now is a good time for you to do this calc, as you want to know BEFORE you say to yourself, "why did Invest that amount" or regret not using the money for other purposes.
I am not saying this would be a problem, (I think you know where we are), but this projecct will help you in long term planning. And I bet for you, this exercise wont take that long, and would be educational and maybe fun.. Maybe you would share this on YT, with or without your actual values. So I know right now you are focusing on debt. But when your done with it. (in months), it would be better to know how much you should be putting to investment. A big question at least for me, is do you have stuff that would increase that monthly expenses dramatically. (You own the home, and if done right wil also own your cars by then too) Oh dont forget when Marc and you get to be Social Security age, you would have that income too.
Let me know if you have questions or comments.
Thanks, Jon! I took a screenshot of your comment so I can delve into the numbers 🙂
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks for watching 😊
❤
Thanks for watching 😀
💕💕💕
Hi, Shawna 💕
I think you’re being awfully frugal for your income, but if that helps you feel better about clearing the debt, then that’s fine.
You think so? I’ve never really thought we were frugal, but we are trying to spend less while paying off debt for sure! We’ll be living more once the debt is paid off for sure ☺️
Why don’t you take the school tuition and divide it by 12 and save for it monthly? (treat it like a bill)
I think this is what she is doing. She is currently trying to save for next school year. Then enough for books and uniforms. She plans in July to begin saving the total amount divided by 12.
Yes, what John said! I have been saving all year, but honestly not enough, so I’m trying to front load a bunch now so that I don’t have to worry about this year and then in July I will start saving for the next year, but this time, it will be more even like a monthly bill because I’ll then be “caught up.” Essentially, that’s what I should have been doing all along, but I didn’t save enough each month, so I’m “behind.” This bonus and the January “extra” check will put us back on track though, and I should be able to keep it pretty consistent after that. Of course, they’ll go up intuition every year, and I’ll never know exactly how much I need for books, etc, but I can get close!
❤
Hi, Chelsea 💙💙