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Math is hard

January 8th, 2015 at 02:22 pm

As in, math is hard on you because when it comes to money it shows you the cold hard truth!

I got my statement and my IRA contribution totals for tax year 2014. I've put in $2685. On the surface, that doesn't seem bad, but then I realize I need to find a way to put away another $2815 before April 15.

My Jan and Feb freelance checks will total $1390, which means I still need to generate $1425. Sure, I could technically take it out of savings, but we've been dipping into reserves a lot. I'd like to minimize what I have to take out, if anything at all.

I'm hoping if we're really really good with the budget, I can fund it out of the bank account. I can also take on an extra $150 assignment in February and March, for another $300.

Why is it so hard to save once you have a mortgage and kids???? We were rolling in money before the kids came along! Wink

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments »

7 Responses to “Math is hard”

  1. NJDebbie Says:
    January 8th, 2015 at 02:29 pm 1420727392
    1420727392

    It is hard, but I feel that kids cost more when they are teenagers and college age. You are already ahead of the game because you are saving for college. We did not and we found ourselves cash flowing college tuition. You are doing great!

  2. ThriftoRama Says:
    January 8th, 2015 at 02:31 pm 1420727480
    1420727480

    I was just talking to my aunt and uncle about college. My cousins are 20 and 22. They just paid for one to get through and are paying for the second. One went to private college, one to public. They had many interesting insights. Our goal, which sounds great on paper, is to have $100k per kid for college by age 18, and they're saying that would barely cover four years today. Ugh. It seems so hopeless!

  3. NJDebbie Says:
    January 8th, 2015 at 03:29 pm 1420730942
    1420730942

    Both of my boys attended community college and then transferred to a state school to finish up. I think in total, we paid about $45K for my oldest and will cost us about $50K for my youngest who is now entering a four college. There are ways to minimize the cost.

  4. ThriftoRama Says:
    January 8th, 2015 at 03:51 pm 1420732260
    1420732260

    Well, the silver lining is that we will have the house paid off in the next three years, and that will give us a lot more free money every month to save, whether for college or otherwise. I'm hoping that will help us boost reserves to cover college or whatever else life throws at us.

  5. rob62521 Says:
    January 8th, 2015 at 07:59 pm 1420747148
    1420747148

    Remember the adage "two can live as cheaply as one?" Well, that was a lie as you know. And kids cost money and although the media and feds claim otherwise, we do have inflation.

  6. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    January 9th, 2015 at 02:09 am 1420769382
    1420769382

    Community college might be an even better option now - I heard that Obama is making a proposal to make CC free in exchange for students working (didn't hear the details on it.) So that could really cut down on the costs!

  7. ThriftoRama Says:
    January 9th, 2015 at 03:26 pm 1420817212
    1420817212

    Looking at how much we had saved for the kids, we're doing okay, but not anywhere near on track to be at 100k by college. I mean, it's only 12 years away!! Time is creeping up on me.

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