We didn’t have any of the major changes this year that we had in 2013. We kept on working on the house, built of the garden, took a nice long vacation to Rio, and enjoyed time with friends. Our savings, which are largely on auto-pilot, kept building.
What we got right:
Automatic savings –Everything below happens each month without me expending any willpower, which we all know is limited. By taking myself out of the equation, it works much better and I don’t have to stress or think about it.401k. I pull out a fixed percentage of my income each month in to my 401k, and a portion of that is automatically matched. I’m getting close to hitting the annual max as allowed my law and should hit it in 2015.
- Stock. I put in a fixed amount of cash (post tax) each month to purchase company stock with gets matched after a 3 year vesting period.
- IRA. I pull 500 a month out to put in to my IRA.
- Savings Account. I also pull 500 a month from checking to savings.
Expanded garden – We continued to plant vegetables which we can enjoy this year and care for our fruit trees which we hope will provide payback for decades.
A vacation on points – We flew to Rio round trip for $150 and LA for free all from a signup bonus from the Chase British Airways card. That was a big win on the travel front.
Cooking – We ate at home a lot more than ever before in 2014. Going out was saved almost exclusively for weekends and meals with friends. We had little to no lazy nights of eating out because of poor meal planning, lack of groceries or a lack of a desire to cook. We can thank Caitlin for most of that.
What we got wrong:
Budgeting – I’m a terrible budgeter and I probably spend too much on stuff that isn’t important long-term (which is why I pay myself first). My income has afforded me the ability to have a lot of leeway on my spending and I need to be more conscious about it and cut the junk. I also need to actually track it better.
Savings – Depending on how you calculate the number, we may or may not have reached our goal of 50% savings rate. If I only count my take home I hit a rate of 44% between the 401k, IRA, stock and savings account. BUT if we include the company match we did beat 50%. So half credit on this one.
Decluttering – We need to do this. BADLY.
Reading – Since my corporate job hours have gotten longer and my commute isn’t as nice as it was in Oklahoma, I find myself a lot more braindead by the time I get home. The number of books I read this year (which I didn’t track but I will in 2015) was definitely down from prior years.