# What percentage of your income do you save?



## roadwreck (Jun 6, 2011)

This topic came up on another forum I read and I was curious what the results would be here.

Here was the question posted:



> I was curious to see if some Hivers would like to share what percentage of their gross income (salary, bonus, commissions) they save towards cash, retirement, and/or investments. I don't need to know how much you make, but I'm more interested in the percentage of your gross income (pretax) that you you save. Please don't include matches on your 401(k) or any profit sharing from your company. Only count the amount you contribute.
> Therefore, if your annual salary with bonus is $95,000 a year, and you save $9,500 annually, that's 10%.


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## wilheldp_PE (Jun 6, 2011)

I put 10% pre-tax into my 401k, and save "leftover" money at the end of each month in a high-yield online savings account. The amount varies each month depending on my spending habits.


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## snickerd3 (Jun 6, 2011)

We each put about 7% into defered comp accounts. Like wilheld the leftover money each money gets put into a money market account. doing the math about 24% total gets put into some form of savings.


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## Ble_PE (Jun 6, 2011)

Pretax I save 5% into my 401k right now (enough to get the full match), I max out mine and the mrs. roth iras, and then I put some automatically into a mma from my paycheck. All told it's probably around 22-25%, but I'm not positive.


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## MA_PE (Jun 6, 2011)

What is this "save" that you speak of?

"Leftover" money? you have got to be kidding me.

I'm glad you included the example of "percentage ".

I was totally baffled without it.


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## Master slacker (Jun 6, 2011)

10% goes to 401k

IRAs maxed out annually

8 months comfortably in the bank

All remaining funds go to mortgage


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## Road Guy (Jun 6, 2011)

I _try_ and max out the pre-tax contributions allowed

but what I put into "savings" directly out of my check is about 16% of my salary

this includes what goes into the 401K and a money markets (rainy days account)

&lt;and this is a good chuckle&gt;

if you include Social Security @ $258/MONTH then its 18%


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## RIP - VTEnviro (Jun 6, 2011)

I put 6% into the 401k, since that is what my company will match.

We try to save $200 a week, which ends to to be $10k a year. Just started that at the beginning of the year. Would like to buy a house assuming I know where I am going to live by the time I turn 35.

A lot of the spare income goes toward my MBA classes. Assuming my wife becomes a professor and I take a higher paying job in about 2 years when I'll graduate, we'd like to bump that amount up. Though I'm sure several thousand of that will go to a car for me in a couple years. I'm pushing 160k, and want to hit 200k, and seeing as its a Honda it's likely. But I'll need one at some point.

We're renting longer since we don't know where we will ultimately end up, and all the years of grad school take a toll, but the plan is to go 15 year mortgage and skip the starter house.


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## chaosiscash (Jun 6, 2011)

Combined (wife and I) we put about 25% of our pre-tax gross income in to some sort of savings (retirement, rainy day, etc). We are trying to get to where the wife's paycheck goes completely to either benefits or retirement. We should be there hopefully next year, when she graduates from the latest round of college (and subsequently, we finish off her tuition and student loans). We also keep a 6 month layoff fund in another account. I'm a contractor, so that is a requirement.


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## willsee (Jun 6, 2011)

I put 6% into my 401k

Wife puts 3% into her 401k

Rest is going to paying off debt. We have a small emergency fund but I'm hoping to be debt free, 6 month emergency fund, and in a house by the time i'm 30 (27 now). Also trying to pay off debt in case family time comes and wife doesn't want to go back to work.


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## Master slacker (Jun 6, 2011)

^^^ My wife won't be working again for at least 5 more years. We live only off my income, but fortunately we got the emergency savings completed before she became a stay-at-home-mom.


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## Ble_PE (Jun 6, 2011)

From the way it looks, Mrs. ble probably won't be working anymore unless it's absolutely necessary. With the cost of daycare around here it didn't really make sense for her to keep working anyway.


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## Dexman PE PMP (Jun 6, 2011)

With saving up for the house Im saving about 22% per paycheck, but will drop to the single digits once we close. Both my wife and I have fully funded retirement accounts (403(B)'s), so we dont contribute to that. Our "leftover" money goes towards paying down cards, cars, stu loans.

We were setup to be 100% debt free within 2 years, but we decided to buy the house. Under the new plan, we should have everything paid off in closer to 6 years (except the house). We lose a little money towards interest, but we think the intangables of this house are more than worth it.


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## Dexman PE PMP (Jun 6, 2011)

Wife has already admitted she would go crazy if she was a stay at home mom. We've dumped a ton of cash into daycare/preschool (as much as $400/wk), but as the kids have gotten older it's gone down drastically. We only have a couple years left with that which will help get everything else paid off.


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## RIP - VTEnviro (Jun 6, 2011)

^Student loans have been gone for year at this point...Ahhhh.


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## udpolo15 (Jun 6, 2011)

If you count the extra loan payments on my MBA loans, I save about 25% of my income.


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## willsee (Jun 6, 2011)

My wife "says" she can't be a SAHM, but I want to be prepared just in case.

I would rather her work but in the end I don't think it will be my choice.

Surprising the amount that people are saving here.


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## snickerd3 (Jun 6, 2011)

^several years here on that front...what a relief...regarding student loans


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## Ble_PE (Jun 6, 2011)

I'm still paying on student loans, but they are federal consolidated loans with a 2.5% interest rate or so. I'm not in much of a hurry to pay that off when I can save money at a higher interest rate.


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## snickerd3 (Jun 6, 2011)

willsee said:


> My wife "says" she can't be a SAHM, but I want to be prepared just in case.
> I would rather her work but in the end I don't think it will be my choice.
> 
> Surprising the amount that people are saving here.


I went nuts after the 3 months of maternity leave...the parttime SAHM was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I needed some work to keep me sane, but then the 4 days home to spend with minisnick was great. Best of both worlds. Wish I could still work PT.


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## RIP - VTEnviro (Jun 6, 2011)

udpolo15 said:


> If you count the extra loan payments on my MBA loans, I save about 25% of my income.


I'm paying that as I go. Means one class at a time, and instead of 2 in the fall and 2 in the spring, I do one each in spring, summer, fall, and winter and basically get no break. But it's not quite the same rush as my engineering masters, and I don't owe a loan company a cent. I'll be halfway home after this summer term.


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## mizzoueng (Jun 6, 2011)

I have 4% pre-tax going to my 401K, 6% w/ company match. I also have automatic withdrawls set up to put 17% (total) into savings. Any bonus I get at years end goes into savings as well.

Wifey puts about the same amount away as well, but she goes part time starting in August due to mini-mizzou2, so that number will be cut drastically.


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## Dexman PE PMP (Jun 6, 2011)

snickerd3 said:


> willsee said:
> 
> 
> > My wife "says" she can't be a SAHM, but I want to be prepared just in case.
> ...


My wife works 3 days a week. She likes the balance of being able to hang out with the kiddos a couple days, but then can go converse with adults a couple too.


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## navyasw02 (Jun 6, 2011)

Currently saving a minimum of 27% directly into the Roth IRA and the regular investment account, but usually I save as much as 40% a month by putting leftover cash in a high yield savings account. Once my wife's student loans come due, we'll probably power pay that and get debt free in about 3 years.


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## willsee (Jun 6, 2011)

I think my wife would like part time the best

She doesn't seem like she likes working full time and she doesn't like staying home full time


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## RIP - VTEnviro (Jun 6, 2011)

> My wife works 3 days a week. She likes the balance of being able to hang out with the kiddos a couple days, but then can go converse with adults a couple too.


Between at work and work at home, mine works about 70 hours a week. She has no use for ovaries.


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## snickerd3 (Jun 6, 2011)

those with IRAs are they stock/funds invested IRAs or just savings IRAs? We have been started looking into them and different banks invest the money differently. Just wondering if people had a preference for one over the other,.


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## udpolo15 (Jun 6, 2011)

VTEnviro said:


> I'm paying that as I go. Means one class at a time, and instead of 2 in the fall and 2 in the spring, I do one each in spring, summer, fall, and winter and basically get no break. But it's not quite the same rush as my engineering masters, and I don't owe a loan company a cent. I'll be halfway home after this summer term.



I would have liked to have done that, but not sure I would have lasted 5 years. I maxed out the Stafford loans and took no private loans. I am on track to pay them off in 3.5 years which really reduces the amount of interest I am going to pay at the end of the day.


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## Ble_PE (Jun 6, 2011)

snickerd3 said:


> those with IRAs are they stock/funds invested IRAs or just savings IRAs? We have been started looking into them and different banks invest the money differently. Just wondering if people had a preference for one over the other,.


I have an account with Vanguard for our IRAs (hence they are stock/funds). They are typically regarded as the cheapest option for IRAs. I've also heard good things about T. Rowe Price.


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## csb (Jun 6, 2011)

I'm at about 20% right now. We refinanced our mortgage and buckled down to pay it off in about 13 years, which is almost exactly the time that I can take the money I'm spending on a house and use it to send a kid to college. After that, I'm using that money to buy drugs to doubly pad the retirement account. Most raises go straight into savings that are electronically deposited, so I don't even think about the money being mine.


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## chaosiscash (Jun 6, 2011)

snickerd3 said:


> those with IRAs are they stock/funds invested IRAs or just savings IRAs? We have been started looking into them and different banks invest the money differently. Just wondering if people had a preference for one over the other,.


Our IRA's are stock/funds. We have a financial advisor we've used since we started saving for retirement after we got married. I've been very happy with the performance of the funds he has helped us select, and from what I can tell, he doesn't really cost me that much (at least, not more than my time is worth to me to constantly watch and figure it all out myself). He also helps us select funds for our 401(k)'s.


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## Road Guy (Jun 6, 2011)

we didnt save near as much when the kids wer ein day care, so when they all got into the government schools (that are not free- but come out of property taxes) we took the $$ we used to pay to daycare and upped what we do into our 401K's and such..

we only touch the money market for times like today, when the main floor AC unit went out, and I think that bill is going to be around $2700


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## chaosiscash (Jun 6, 2011)

Road Guy said:


> we only touch the money market for times like today, when the main floor AC unit went out, and I think that bill is going to be around $2700


hmy:

$2700? Split unit or packaged? If split, both the indoor and outdoor being replaced, or just the outdoor?

I may be willing to go the long way to SC this weekend and drop by and give you a quote.


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## Dark Knight (Jun 6, 2011)

Rant opportunity....

Rant On...

We do not save a darn thing. Only one income, two college kids and a high school junior (to be a senior this Fall). Add a spending happy wife, that does not know the meaning of "Take it Easy", and there is the reason I went bald, with hypertension, and who knows what else.

Rant off...


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## Road Guy (Jun 6, 2011)

chaosiscash said:


> Road Guy said:
> 
> 
> > we only touch the money market for times like today, when the main floor AC unit went out, and I think that bill is going to be around $2700
> ...



furnace stays but everything else goes (outdoor).. thats the lowest price I have gotten and I got three quotes believe it or not.. coil is being repalced also, not really sure what that is..


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## snickerd3 (Jun 6, 2011)

Road Guy said:


> chaosiscash said:
> 
> 
> > Road Guy said:
> ...


our first summer in our current house the coil had to be replaced. It is a miniradiator looking thing that sits above the furnance. that was about a $700-800 replacement


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## johnf (Jun 6, 2011)

10% into a retirement account, but 2 highschool tuitions and 1 college tuition and a wife into all things equestrian leaves a big fat goose egg into savings. But my wife works harder than me, min 40 hrs a week, just to keep the horses. Bonus - the children don't have time to stray, with all the horse related activities. So, just a small cushion for emergencies and a long, austere road ahead, till the kids are out of school. We keep telling ourselves, just six more years...just six more *@#$#@&amp; years...


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## Master slacker (Jun 6, 2011)

Hope to get house paid off before big tuition hits...


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## chaosiscash (Jun 6, 2011)

Road Guy said:


> chaosiscash said:
> 
> 
> > Road Guy said:
> ...


That's probably not a bad price, all things considered. I think the last time I replaced an outdoor unit (~3 ton) it cost me $800 for the unit. Add in the coil and consumables and you are probably at $1200 for parts. If you know somebody with a license that can hook you up and you can sweat copper pipe, it's actually a pretty easy job to do yourself. Of course, your timeline may not allow that, given how hot it is right now.


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## csb (Jun 6, 2011)

It's always good to remind myself when it's negative 10 degrees in the winter that I won't need to pay for AC in the summer.


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## CincinnatiControlsGuy (Jun 6, 2011)

20% into Roth 401K and probably another 10% into my Schwab account. However, I have no debt, kids, house payment, and my car is cheap/used. I have to save like it's going out of style as I really can't see working into my 70's. I envy those of you getting it done with kids and SOs that spend a lot. That would break me for sure.


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## Supe (Jun 7, 2011)

Was saving roughly 40%, sometimes more, prior to buying the house. With the typical new home expenditures, that's dropped to 10-20% on any given two weeks, but will crawl back up after the settling in.


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## roadwreck (Jun 7, 2011)

I'd never added it up as a percentage until yesterday. I'd always just looked at my savings goals in terms of dollar figures so it was a bit surprising to calculate it as a percentage of my gross income.

My budgeted savings, which I have set up to automatically withdraw and go to various accounts, is 45%. About half of that goes to retirement accounts (IRA's or 401k's) the other half goes to various savings or investment accounts. In reality I end up saving more then that since I typically have money leftover in my monthly spending allocation, and that eventually finds it's way to some savings account.


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## Road Guy (Jun 7, 2011)

get your wife preggers and all that will go away


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## roadwreck (Jun 7, 2011)

which is why it's all the more important to sock it away now right?


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## MA_PE (Jun 7, 2011)

Road Guy said:


> get your wife preggers and all that will go away



:true:


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## willsee (Jun 7, 2011)

I must have made some wrong choices in life to barely be able to save anything.

I'm also paying 60% of my income to debt right now


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## kevo_55 (Jun 7, 2011)

MA_PE said:


> Road Guy said:
> 
> 
> > get your wife preggers and all that will go away
> ...


:true: lusone:


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## Flyer_PE (Jun 7, 2011)

The BC (Before Child) savings rate &gt;&gt;&gt;After Child savings rate. The other major hit was that we decided to do the stay-at-home-mom thing which clamped the income side of the equation at the same time the expenses increased.


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## jeb6294 (Jun 7, 2011)

I'm in the same boat as a lot where my wife is staying home with the boys right now. Still, I manage to put away about 6% that the Gov't matches for retirement and right now while my salary is inflated I am maxing out my TSP contribution which is just over $16K per year. The TSP is basically just another retirement plan that lets you invest pre-tax $$$ into different investment accounts. I am also diverting $1,000 every paycheck (bi-weekly) straight into my savings account at the credit union right now too just to have some mad money put aside for once.


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## Road Guy (Jun 7, 2011)

I also do $40 / paycheck into my own personal double secret account thats just for me.. sad.. but it does add up after a while..


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## willsee (Jun 7, 2011)

Road Guy said:


> I also do $40 / paycheck into my own personal double secret account thats just for me.. sad.. but it does add up after a while..


Wife and I get $20 a week for 'blow' money to do whatever with. I never spend mine so when we went on our cruise I had about $300 to gamble with.


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## Master slacker (Jun 7, 2011)

We never spend any money and I stress out over the smallest purchases. :true:

And using the mortgage payoff spreadsheet, I can see how much interest I will NOT be paying due to my additional principal payments now. I never have been a "here and now" money man. I've always looked down the road for the biggest payoff.


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## Ble_PE (Jun 7, 2011)

Flyer_PE said:


> The BC (Before Child) savings rate &gt;&gt;&gt;After Child savings rate. The other major hit was that we decided to do the stay-at-home-mom thing which clamped the income side of the equation at the same time the expenses increased.


This is very true. We're lucky that I got the job I did before we had kids, because my pay now is almost double what it was at the consulting company I was working for. If I had it to do over I would have been saving a lot more than we did, but you live and learn.


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## Supe (Jun 7, 2011)

willsee said:


> Road Guy said:
> 
> 
> > I also do $40 / paycheck into my own personal double secret account thats just for me.. sad.. but it does add up after a while..
> ...



$20 won't get you much blow!


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## willsee (Jun 7, 2011)

I live in Kentucky...we do the cheap stuff


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## roadwreck (Jun 7, 2011)

Supe said:


> willsee said:
> 
> 
> > Road Guy said:
> ...


lol, I was thinking the same thing!


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## Capt Worley PE (Jun 7, 2011)

I'm convinced the gov will find a way to seize the savings plans. there's just too much money out there for them to ignore.


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## csb (Jun 7, 2011)

roadwreck said:


> which is why it's all the more important to sock it away now right?


Wait, are you guys talking about money or something else?


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## jeb6294 (Jun 7, 2011)

Just to be fair, before I came over here we were doing the standard paycheck-to-paycheck thing. My sole retirement was the 5% minimum it took to get full matching. Since I've been here, I've made enough to pay off our cards and the equity loans. The wife still has plans (I hope) of going back and finishing her clinicals and working again once the boys are a little older. Once that happens, we'll probably sock most of her paycheck away and just keep a bit for fun money.


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## Dexman PE PMP (Jun 7, 2011)

Master slacker said:


> We never spend any money and I stress out over the smallest purchases. :true:
> And using the mortgage payoff spreadsheet, I can see how much interest I will NOT be paying due to my additional principal payments now. I never have been a "here and now" money man. I've always looked down the road for the biggest payoff.


I have an excel spreadsheet that has all of my accounts/loans/cards/etc calced out. I have my budget (checking acct) established through the end of the year (maintaining a 6-9month minimum look-ahead), while I have each of my cards forcasted out to payoff (September). I have tabs setup for each of my loans that show calc out exactly how much of each payment goes towards interest/principal on a payment-by-payment basis and they are each setup with the ability update in real time with the application extra money (including calcing out how much interest is saved). Right now all of my loan payments are rounded up so that I'm paying them off early as well as making the checking budget easier to forcast.

This thing is the product of over 4 years of editing and tweaking, and if I lost it I would be financially screwed...


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## csb (Jun 7, 2011)

I started using mint.com and I love it. I've used it since January and it is so easy to use.


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## roadwreck (Jun 7, 2011)

csb said:


> I started using mint.com and I love it. I've used it since January and it is so easy to use.


Interesting, what's the catch? Seems like a pretty cool service to offer for free.


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## MA_PE (Jun 7, 2011)

csb said:


> I started using mint.com and I love it. I've used it since January and it is so easy to use.


It's funny because some financial advisors I've met recommend using free online services (like mint) to handle household finances. I just can't bring myself to put personal finance information in one place on a remote public server. Intuitively it just sounds like something that will turn around and bite me someday.


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## wilheldp_PE (Jun 7, 2011)

I also use Mint, but I don't like the interface as much as I did Quicken. But Quicken discontinued support of the version I was using, and annoyed the shit out of me trying to get me to buy the new one...so I'm boycotting them. Mint is offered for free because they are always trying to push different financial products on you. Their advertising is a little aggressive IMO.


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## roadwreck (Jun 7, 2011)

MA_PE said:


> csb said:
> 
> 
> > I started using mint.com and I love it. I've used it since January and it is so easy to use.
> ...


Yea, I was thinking much the same thing. The prospect of putting all that information out there and in one place is a little off-putting .


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## snickerd3 (Jun 8, 2011)

wilheldp_PE said:


> I also use Mint, but I don't like the interface as much as I did Quicken. But Quicken discontinued support of the version I was using, and annoyed the shit out of me trying to get me to buy the new one...so I'm boycotting them. Mint is offered for free because they are always trying to push different financial products on you. Their advertising is a little aggressive IMO.


still using quicken 2004 here


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## Master slacker (Jun 8, 2011)

Like Dex, I created my own spreadsheet to track and forecast expendatures and how I can actually spend excess dollars. Mortgage payoff &gt;&gt;&gt; student loan payoff for now. I can't stop adding conditional formatting, etc...


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## Flyer_PE (Jun 8, 2011)

snickerd3 said:


> wilheldp_PE said:
> 
> 
> > I also use Mint, but I don't like the interface as much as I did Quicken. But Quicken discontinued support of the version I was using, and annoyed the shit out of me trying to get me to buy the new one...so I'm boycotting them. Mint is offered for free because they are always trying to push different financial products on you. Their advertising is a little aggressive IMO.
> ...


I update to the new version of Quicken every two years. I have it set up to pull financial information directly from the bank and brokerage accounts and they both stop working when my version of Quicken gets three years out of date. I did some snooping on their web sites and found notes claiming it's some kind of security issue. My guess is it's more likely Intuit trying get me to buy a new copy. In my case, it works.


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## snickerd3 (Jun 8, 2011)

we don't use the automatic info transfer so until the program corrupts itself we have no intention of upgrading.


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## Flyer_PE (Jun 8, 2011)

If I wasn't too lazy to manually track dividends and interest in the brokerage accounts, I'd probably still be using the 2004 version too.


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## Dexman PE PMP (Jun 8, 2011)

Master slacker said:


> Like Dex, I created my own spreadsheet to track and forecast expendatures and how I can actually spend excess dollars. Mortgage payoff &gt;&gt;&gt; student loan payoff for now. I can't stop adding conditional formatting, etc...


I don't have much in the form of conditional formatting, but I do like to use different colors to highlight certain things.


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## csb (Jun 8, 2011)

At this point all of my banking info is online. Having mint.com datamine it was a little nerve wracking for me at first, but I've come to peace with it. There's no actual account numbers on the site and most of my accounts require to me to log back in every once in awhile for security. There's different passwords for all of them. So far the benefit is greater than the potential cost. I tried using Quicken, but kept forgetting to input info.


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## roadwreck (Jun 8, 2011)

I took a look at mint.com last night and I'm pretty impressed. I'm still leery of giving it access to all my accounts, but I can definitely see how it could be a useful tool.


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## wilheldp_PE (Jun 8, 2011)

Flyer_PE said:


> snickerd3 said:
> 
> 
> > wilheldp_PE said:
> ...


That's the reason I quit using them. It would be easy to issue/sell a small, cheap security update for Quicken if that were truly the reason they discontinue the online account updates. They just wanted to build in a way to keep fleecing their customers. I refuse to play their game. Quicken '04 had all of the features I wanted or needed, and I had absolutely no reason to upgrade. They discontinued support and online updating for it, so I discontinued my use of their products.


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## MA_PE (Jun 8, 2011)

wilheldp_PE said:


> Flyer_PE said:
> 
> 
> > snickerd3 said:
> ...


That'll teach 'em!!!


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## wilheldp_PE (Jun 8, 2011)

MA_PE said:


> That'll teach 'em!!!


I'm sure they couldn't care less, but I feel better about not wasting my money on their products.


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## pbrme (Mar 7, 2012)

.../ bump/...

Have an IRA from previous 401k rollover but it gets no current contribution. My new company has a Roth 401K matches up to 5%, and this is what I'm currently doing b'cus it's free money. After bills and such I put another 28% into savings. Post taxes my accountant suggested I should contribute more to the IRA and Roth, so I'll be playing with these numbers in the near future. I'd like to be in the same direction of MasterSlacker, and have 8 months of cushion, but the wife's been a lifer in college nursing, and it's tough on only one major income.

My goal this month is to readjust my leftovers to maximize my retirement accounts % or whatever the government ceiling is, have a Benji each month to play with stocks, and sock the rest into the MMA. Will status this in a few months to see how it's going.

We also track and forecast with a home spreadsheet, and it helps to know where your money goes. One big help for me was to give myself a weekly wallet for spending money cash (ei. lunch money, beer, smokes, scratch tickets, date nights, blow etc.). It gave me a tangible way to see my allowance and not just blatantly swipe the plastic.

Edit: Cash


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## engineergurl (Mar 7, 2012)

wow, I missed this the first time.

I don't have a retirement plan or pre-tax savings plan, actually, I'm pretty dependent on my husband for the long term plan. I know it sounds risky, but it's actually pretty well thought out and we have revised it as life changes. We saved up a years worth of what my salary was when we first got married, and that money has never been touched, EVER. Until recently we purchased savings bonds every single paycheck. We are attempting to pay off all debt outside of our mortgage and a car loan in the next year. Retirement pay will start coming in sometime in the next 4 to 8 years depending on how long the hubby continues to serve and should something happen to him, I'll receive 55% of his retirement through the survivor benefit plan.

What isn't really included in the plan is the money I squirrel away into an account that is unknown to him (I'm sure he probably has one too). Because we keep our bank accounts separate, I have much more control of my own savings, but I make sure I put away at a minimum $1200 a year. This savings I do use for the times when we need it, and have shocked the hubby out of his pants twice so far by being able to "pull cash out of my a$$".

After this year, I'll probably start putting about 70% of my paycheck into some sort of IRA or savings account or combination. I know we should have been doing things more consistently, but our lives change so much, so often that it works better for us to tackle it this way.

Edit: Recently meaning sometime this past year on the savings bonds... they changed things on us.


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## Dark Knight (Mar 7, 2012)

-10%


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## Chucktown PE (Mar 7, 2012)

We're just now able to start saving again. I'm actually trying to pay a car off a year early so what I would be saving is applied to that. Once I pay that off I'm going to be debt free except for the house and I'll be able to max out Roth IRAs for both me and Mrs. Chuck. That'll be a little less than 10% of my salary. I'm also starting college funds for the 3 kids which will be another 5% of my salary.


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## Supe (Mar 7, 2012)

Effective April of 2011, between the new house, Junior, and the GF living with me, I effectively don't save shit.


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## pbrme (Mar 7, 2012)

^ are you referring to junior's Giraffe adventure?

BTW have you restored the mess, aside from that huge hole in your wallet?


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## Supe (Mar 8, 2012)

Nope, still waiting on contractor's to get back with their estimates so I can fight the insurance company. In general, food for 3 mouths, utilities for 3, etc, all add up in a hurry. Plus piecing in furniture and general home reno's add up quickly. Of course last night, my POS $2k Samsung refrigerator showed its first signs of shitting the bed. Apparently there's a design defect where the defrost sensor doesn't work, so ice ends up building up around the condenser fan and triggers a slow, painful death. I've silenced it temporarily by forcing a manual defrost/power freeze (some trick I found on youtube), but the damn thing sounded like an idling Harley last night.


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## Capt Worley PE (Mar 8, 2012)

Dark Knight said:


> -10%


Someone pointed out to me yesterday that because of no COLAs for the past five years, we're -10% on salary from where we should be. And everything's a lot more expensive now.

No fun. No fun at all....


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## Chucktown PE (Mar 8, 2012)

Supe said:


> Effective April of 2011, between the new house, Junior, and the GF living with me, I effectively don't save shit.


I know this is probably a ridiculous question, but does GF (BTW, nice to see she had upped her acronym status from MIAF to GF) get any child support from Junior's biological father. I thought they could suspend visitation if he doesn't pay?


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## mudpuppy (Mar 8, 2012)

I missed this the first time around too. I'm saving about 24% of my income after tax, since all of my savings are in after-tax accounts--Roth IRA, Roth 401k and cash. That's roughly equivalent to 35% before tax if I was contributing to a traditional IRA and traditional 401k (and after tax for the cash accounts).

I've been using Microsoft Money to track my financial transactions since 1996, and I'm OCD about putting everything in there. They stopped making MS Money a couple years ago but offered a Sunset Edition for free, which I continue to use. The online updates no longer work, but I found a workaround using some PERL scripts.


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## Dexman PE PMP (Mar 8, 2012)

Between the new house, taxes, and a handfull of other random expenses, I got nothin'. I had been putting away ~25% after tax in order to get the down payment for the house, but the mortgage payment for the new house is now higher than my previous house rent by about the same amount as I had been putting away. Plus, I'm trying to collect some funds to pay off this year's tax bill (~$3k) as well as funds to finish out the backyard landscaping. I currently have a fenced in dirt yard (the fence being the last drain on the savings), with the irrigation system, sod, &amp; patio being the next expenses to incur this summer.

Once I get through this landscaping crap, I should be back on schedule to get the credit cards paid off by the end of the year and trying to get the student loans &amp; cars paid off within the next 2-3 years.


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