Pot of Possibilities December - Best YEAR Yet!

Time for the final Pot of Possibilities report for 2020!!

Here are our December contributions which include excess funds from two of our YNAB categories, Emergency Fund and Car Maintenance. 

12/1 Paycheck $310

12/15 Paycheck $310

Interest earned $81.74

USAA reward $3.16

Amex Reward $38.71

Chase reward $19.83

US Bank reward $3.50

Subscriber USAA $151.06

FB Sales $50.00

Pinecone Surveys $9.00

Venmo Bonus $5.00

Subtotal $982.00

Excess EF $4,314.00

Excess Car Maint $2,591.00

Excess Subtotal $6,905

December Total $7,887.00

YTD Total $20,003.44   

POP Total $92,087.37

Our best year yet with contributions, where we exceeded $20,000 saved in one year towards our Pot of Possibilities! Yes, yes, I did squeeze a couple extra categories for another $75 to get this number over $20K. We have now also reached a milestone of over $90K saved. Just under $8,000 to reach the $100K milestone. 

We have three years until my husband retires from the military and we have a move expected to take place in 2021. What will be our final Pot of Possibilities total be at that time? Stay tuned for the progress!

More Savings?

The goal for us is always saving as much as possible while we have the income, so my mind is often contemplating how to find more cash to add to our Pot of Possibilities. Saving now, will give us options later!

Two balances in our YNAB budget caught my attention this week. I am considering bringing them both to zero. The funds would get allocated to our Pot of Possibilities. 

Car Maintenance:

Begin 2020 Balance $1,623

Saved $275/mox12 $3,300

Total Spent in 2020 $2,332

Ending 2020 Balance $2,591

We were able to cover the expenses with the amount we save normally. Plus we saved nearly an extra $1000 over of what we spent. We didn't zero out last year, so we have an accumulated balance that is more than what we spent in 2020. We can adjust several ways. 

Option one, we simply don't save in this account for 2021. This would be $275 a month we could set aside, saving $3,300 in 2021. 

Option two, we could zero the account and continue to save monthly. We could keep saving the same amount or we could adjust the amount down to the average spent in 2020 which was just under $195 per month, that would allow another $80 set aside monthly adding another $960 for the year. 

I'm leaning toward Option two with lowering the amount we save monthly. There is a possibility we would have expenses that exceed the annual savings, but we do have money elsewhere if absolutely needed. 

Another line item in the budget I'm looking at: 

Emergency Savings

Begin 2020 Balance $686

End 2020 Balance $5414

We have other savings contributions we make regularly, but this account is a place to cover months where spending exceeds what we budget or if we spend less than we budget. Overall we spent less than we budgeted in 2020 by $4,728! I have already eyed this account as a place to pull some cash to cover some of our daughter's spring tuition in January. Specifically, I will move $1,375 to the tuition balance. This will leave $4,039 we can move to the Pot of Possibilities. And it's possible that at the end of this month, I will have a little bit more to add to that as well. 

To wrap up, we will move $2,591 from car maintenance and $4,039 from emergency savings to our Pot of Possibilities. That is a total of $6,630! 

I will also lower the monthly car maintenance contribution to $195 and save an additional $80 monthly to our Pot of Possibilities in 2021. 

So very thankful for more savings! 

Cash Flowing In

A mid month update with some money flowing in...towards the Pot of Possibilities of course!

It's that time of year where our auto insurance company, USAA, sends us a subscriber distribution. This years amount was $151.06. It seems larger than usual, but I may not be remembering right. It's never the same so doesn't really matter. 

I sold several things on Facebook and have an additional $50 into our pockets! There has been lots of decluttering here this month, much of the items just given away off the front porch. I figure it gets the items in to the hands of someone who wants it the fastest! 

I also figured out the new cash payout system for Pinecone Research, a website called Wallet. I had $9 in survey rewards from November than I finally figured out how to get into our bank. Not really a fan, and this may keep me from participating in the future. Yes, little amounts add up, but is the time and effort worth it any longer. 

I also redeem our monthly $3.50 in rewards for making our AT&T internet payment with US Bank. It's the only thing I charge with them to get the 5% rewards. I need to double check I don't have another card I could use to get an equivalent reward. 

My husband was promoted last Friday in a ceremony with a quick cake reception and then a smaller dinner party later in the evening. We had the best time. Promotion means increased pay. The earliest we will see it is January 1, but we don't have a lot of faith that they are going to process the change within 30 days after watching several others not get paid on time. It will show up eventually, and I will attempt to trust that it will be timely. 

Everyone likes money flowing in right? How is your cash flow this month? More out than in or the opposite? 

Retirement Milestone Reached

My husband's promotion order was published and effective on December 1. I will pin on his new rank tomorrow at a ceremony. The paycheck should be reflective by January 1. Fingers crossed as some in this unit have had delays of months. 

On the same day, our retirement accounts hit a new milestone of $800K. Specifically, the total was $801,476.16. There's something about that number that gives me faith we will eventually have $1,000,000 in retirement funds and possibly by the time my husband retires in three years. 

He tells me his retirement paycheck will be about $60K a year. A million dollars or more should supplement that quite nicely! I predict he will end up with a full or part time job within the first year of military retirement, he gets really antsy not having something to do. It's either that or dive into some expensive hobby! I could get him busy with things to do around the house, but I'm not sure that will be satisfying enough. 

How are you feeling about your retirement savings progress? Do you need to make some adjustments? 

POP Contributions November 2020

These are the contributions to our Pot of Possibilities for November:

11/1 Paycheck $310

11/15 Paycheck $310

Interest earned $80.10

USAA reward $6.00

Chase reward $6.71

US Bank reward $3.50

2 Chase settlement cks $150.00

Wells Fargo refund $5.00

Ibotta reward $20.30

November Total $891.61

YTD Total $9,716.44

POP Total $81,800.37

I made a prediction last month that we will get to $82,500 by the end of the year and we are still on track to do that. Who hoo!

I'm still pondering a way to get to $85K. We have the $2,400 we received as stimulus money in April. I set it aside to potentially assist with our daughter's education. I have other money to use first, so it seems silly to not add it. That alone will get us to the $85K goal. 

Okay, let's add it!!  Revised list of November POP contributions. 

11/1 Paycheck $310

11/15 Paycheck $310

Interest earned $80.10

USAA reward $6.00

Chase reward $6.71

US Bank reward $3.50

2 Chase settlement cks $150.00

Wells Fargo refund $5.00

Ibotta reward $20.30

Stimulus $ (April) $2,400.00

November Total $3,291.61

YTD Total $12,116.44

POP Total $84,200.37

Now look at that! Just under $800 to make it to the $85K goal. We seem to average close to that in contributions every month, so I expect we will make it. Even if short by a little bit, I will add to it and make it happen! 

See you in January to report the end of 2020 POP contribution results!

November 2020 Interest

November interest report!

NFCU $69.56

FNBO $10.37

USAA $0.17

Total $80.10

That interest is piddly for the amount of money we have in cash. I expect in 2021, we will start diverting future cash flow to stock investments. Income is increasing and to keep that money in cash will not serve us long term. 

Interest is added to our Pot of Possibilities!