2018: The Official Savings Challenge
Copied from and linked to the old...ahem...more mature forum here with the blessings of speaking_of_art , who is this year's steward of the spreadsheet.
Hi Everyone!
Welcome to the Savings Challenge for 2018 - spreadsheet (which hopefully will work!) can be found here.
Thanks to @Budget_Ninja for creating the spreadsheet and @angiegypsy for hosting last year's challenge, which was a huge success with $726, 926 saved.
All are very welcome to join in, no matter the size of your goals/ savings purpose etc - claim your line on the spreadsheet and add your goals for the year to the thread below, then check in every month to update your progress on the spreadsheet and the thread. If you have a journal, you can also link this on the spreadsheet.
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Oct check in: I've officially hit my 2018 goal! I might need to move some funds from savings categories to other categories this month because I'm traveling a little, but I'll still hit my goal this month either way. So the savings for the rest of the year will be nice cushion for 2019...which I will need because my partner and I are expecting! So lots of new expenses with a baby due this spring. So much to plan for! One month at a time.
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october so far:
$80 -emergency fund
$80 - stork fund
$25 - maternity pension
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I had extra money from my tax refund so added a bit extra to my Oct amount. I won't make my target saving goals for this year. But this year was not about hitting the savings goal, instead it was about learning 2 new habits:
- I wanted to teach myself no matter my debt load, I should always set something aside towards savings
- Don't touch the savings pots, no matter my debt load
Both these goals were met, in fact I actually increased the amounts I put into my saving pots. This year has been extremely successful. Next year I will develop more concrete goals as I now have confidence I have the ability to meet them.
Savings
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
TFSA
0
0
10
10
20
20
20
20
20
20
Investment
0
0
0
20
20
20
20
20
40
20
6 Month Buffer
10
10
50
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ISuckatMaths Adding Nov
TFSA: 20
INVESTMENT: 10
6 MONTHS: 10
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October check in. Took a family trip early in the month and paid cash for it. Still able to put $450 into savings to put us over 1 month of savings in our EF. Progress. Now coming into the holiday season its time to buckle down and pay extra attention to the budget!
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November 2018 Check-In (cross posted in both forums - link)
$629.04 in extra income last month, predominantly allocated to savings categories, has eliminated my forecasted savings gap and brought me up to 94.72% of my 2018 stretch goal this month, within an easy $1,020 of hitting my annual stretch goal next month. I'm going to coast across the finish line in December. Fist pump!
Extra income: $332.20 from health insurance plans, $47.03 (stupid) carbon tax rebate, $112 in redeemed store loyalty rewards, $100 surprise loan payment from my sister, $27.81 in bank interest, and $10 for filling out online surveys. -
November so far:
$10 -emergency fund
$80 - stork fund
$28.70 - maternity pension
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Nov check-in: Despite having met my goal last month, I've still been able to sock away more this month. I'm preparing for hospital and other medical expenses for next year, and to be able to buy baby stuff without adding debt. Hopefully, I won't have to buy much because my baby nephew is quickly growing out of a lot, but I know I'll have to buy so much more than I'm currently ready for. Hoping to save even more next month and early 2019. It's stressful, but at least I have YNAB to help me keep track of everything. One month at a time...
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I am checking in; not sure when my last post was! Savings is going fine, but just ran out of time to post here. Biggest thing to share here is that my Christmas category is fully funded! SUCH a great feeling. Hope everyone is doing well.
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I just hit my goal - one month early. Yay! I'll continue to save in December, of course, and I think this means one thing - be even more aggressive in my savings next year. :)
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November check in:
Added $250 to savings, not as much as we would have liked, but took my 5th week paycheck from the month to fund Christmas shopping. We are trying to stay under that amount so we may be adding more when we are done buying, but for now just the $250 to savings. That's better than nothing and Christmas will be funded with CASH.
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Decreased payments in nov 40 and dec 30, as I was pushing to increase debt payments.
I'm not sure what I'll plan for savings in 2019. I hope I can maintain up to $100 towards savings. I'll finally be getting proper wages this coming year, so that should help me in creating proper savings.
Congratulations to everyone! Savings seems to be a harder thing to do and maintain. To have stuck to it the whole year deserves recognition. Hope to see you next year! Enjoy the last month of 2018!
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Reading these updates are so uplifting. So many successes for 2018 - congrats to all!
I was able to exceed my savings goal for 2018, hitting 110% of my goal. Because of that, I was able to avoid adding to my debts and pay outright for IVF, vacation, add to my emergency fund, and fully save for my rainy day funds for the year. So freeing!
I'm already planning for my 2019 savings goals: 1 year of daycare so I'm funding at least 6 months in advance, all baby stuff (delivery, maternity leave, etc), continue adding to my emergency fund so I can get to at least 6 months saved (eventually want 10-12 months saved, though - one month at a time), and funding all of my rainy day categories for 2019. Still trying to calculate what this will all be, but this is a good start. Again, congrats to all who saved in 2018!
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December 2018 Check-In (cross posted in both forums - link)
Stretch goal met and surpassed it by $480. Hooray!
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passed my goal by 5%!!! So excited! Paid CASH for Christmas! also paid off ALL our consumer debt! I love YNAB! Starting the 2019 savings challenge now! WOOT!!! Congrats everyone for everything you accomplished this year! Even if you didn't quite make your goals, even if you fell short by a lot, you worked a plan, and you can do it again in 2019. Heading over to the new challenge!
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Navy Blue Unicorn Congrats on exceeding your 2018 goal and paying cash for Christmas! That last part is something I find so stress reducing.
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Dec check in:
finished the "year" at nearly 50% of my goal, which is good by me.
saved $455.51 to my goals this month:
Emergency Fund: $185
Stork Fund: $141.12
Maternity Pension: $129.39
A total of $1435.14 saved since March.
I will keep the challenge going in 2019, with new goals (baby is due in Feb, so I won't need a category for the stork fund, that will be drained; and I will start paying my pension monthly while on mat leave instead of saving for it).
see all you savers in the 2019 challenge!
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FOR THE RECORD..... drumroll please..........
Here are the Final Results of the 2018 Savings Challenge:
93 YNABers signed up 12 months ago with a combined goal of saving $1,205,820.00 USD by the end of 2018.
By the final month, December 2018, and with only 30% of the original participants still reporting at the end -- intense saving is not for the faint of heart -- the savings reported totaled $785,680.00 USD, which is a whopping 65.16% of the original goal.
We are amazing!
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HappyDance that's pretty amazing. A third of those who started saved 2/3 of the total original goal.
How did they do compared to their own goals?
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MartyH
The attrition rate was more gradual, each month a few more stopped coming back to check in, so it wasn't entirely left to the 1/3 to save it all. But of 33 still doggedly checking in in the last quarter of the year, 28 of them hit 100% of their goal or surpassed it by a good margin.
Saving is hard work = = = > > > all those pesky spending decisions along the way.
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That is flipping awesome '18 Savers! I'm even more pumped to be part of the 2019 challenge now.
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HappyDance Thanks! Just sticking with updating spreadsheet monthly and posting in the forum ensures you stay more focused on your goals. Otherwise, life creeps in and gets in the way. Staying focused lets us control our money.
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