Missed a day.
Yesterday had it's ups and downs. I received my Christmas bonus and it was much much more than I thought it would be. That was fun. I took it directly to the bank, then transferred it directly into my savings. I feel really good about that. My goal is to save $4000.00 a year for the next 3 years which will give me roughly $20,000.00 in savings which will hopefully be sufficient enough for a down payment on a house. This is the plan:
-Save $38.50 a week which equals $2,000.00 a year.
-I get paid hourly, not salary, so there are 4 "extra" weeks in the year. Those paychecks will go directly into savings because if I can make due on the normal 4 paychecks a month all of those other months, why should I need that extra money? (sure, it would be fun to splurge those months, but I have a GOAL) That should be around another $2,000.00 a year.
-Now, I know that there is always the possibility that I will need to dip into my saving for say car repair, or if the dog gets hurt and needs medical attention. This past year I have dipped into my savings to buy a new bed - $700.00, and to buy the puppy - $700.00. Oh, there was also my sister's wedding. I withdrew around $500.00 for things like my dress, the shower, a gift, etc. Wow, now that I look back, that was a lot of money to spend out of savings, but if I look ahead I don't see any major purchases. Aside from all that withdrawing I'm starting the new year off with $2,000.00 more than I started with last year.
- Then there are also other little perks such as bonus's and stuff. My boss is very good to me, so if next year I receive even a fraction of what I got in bonus's this year, I'll definitely come out way past my goal. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
- There's always the the idea of picking up a second job, but with the dog's needs I don't feel like that is a viable option at this point.
Now the only trick is to get Brodie on a savings plan as well. I mean, I'm not trying to predict the future, but I'm absolutely positive I want him in mine. I can only speak for myself though. We'll see.
I'm so very excited about this challenge. I like a challenge, so that's what I'm going to call it. I challenge myself to save $4,000.00 a year for the next 3 years. (when I lived with my parents for a year I was able to save $7,000.00 in one year, damn, those were the days)
Now if only the vet didn't cost so much. We took Dylan for what they told us the past two previous visits would be his last booster shot last night. Turns out, the woman said he's going to need one more in 3 weeks because they give them up until they're 4 months, and he's only 3 and a half months now. WHAT!!!! Also, they didn't tell us that he needed a "follow up" on the deworming that he got the last visit. Oh, don't forget his monthly heartworm pill. On top of all this, he has been making this weird hairball hacking noise which the vet thinks could be either kennel cough because it's "going around" or an upper respiratory infection even though his chest sounded fine, and gave us liquid anti-biotics to give him twice a day. All in all, what I thought would be a $50.00 vet visit turned into a $111.00 vet visit. Ouch. Ugh. Errr. Brodie paid this time because I paid the last time and for things like wee wee pads, food, treats and toys. I guess you can't avoid it, puppies are expensive. I love my little Dylan to death though, so it's worth it.