Usually on the first of the month I even out my savings accounts with a few dollars and cents to each account to get them to the next even $5 mark, this month my New Car Account was close to the next $1000 mark, so I put in an even out amount of $149.65 to get it to a nice even $14,000 (this includes $3750.00 that I am holding making interest on, so that is not actually included in our savings total).

Current Balance $28,210.00
+$10.00 Added cash to Home Improvements Jar
+$18.35 ING Interest
+$149.65 Even Out Amount
-$28.00 to ROTH IRA
New Balance $28,360.00

ING $25,020.00
Home Improvements(cash)$440.00
HSBC $2900.00
Total = $28,360.00

Payday! Transferred enough to the Anniversary Cruise Account so that when our last auto deposit of the year goes through (on 12/15/13) that will meet the goal for the year of $3000.00.
Also transferred over December's Escrow amount, normally do that with the paycheck on the 5th, rather then the one on the 20th, but we have enough in checking to do it now, so figured might as well get a little ahead.

Current Balance $27,535.00
+$225.00 to meet Anniversary Cruise Goal
+$350.00 December Escrow Deposit
+$100.00 to Retirement Hold Account
New Balance $28,210.00

ING $24,880.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$430.00
HSBC $2900.00
Total = $28,110.00

Couple of items had to get paid for, so went down a little. Glad to have those 2 items off the list of things to buy.

New Focus = Sept 2014 $1100/$1800

Current Balance $28,135.00
+$100.00 Anniversary Cruise
-$300.00 Hot Tub Cover
-$400.00 4 Tires for my car
New Balance $27,535.00

ING $24,430.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$430.00
HSBC $2675.00
Total = $27,535.00

We got the check in the mail from DH's Red Sox bet. Added the $100 to the Vegas Fund per his request.

New Focus = Sept 2014 $1100/$1800

Current Balance $28,045.00
-$112.00 to ROTH IRA
+$2.00 Even Out Amount
+$100.00 Red Sox Winner Bet
+$100.00 to Retirement Hold Account
New Balance $28,135.00

ING $25,130.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$430.00
HSBC $2575.00
Total = $28,135.00

New Focus = Sept 2014 $1100/$1800

Current Balance $27,445.00
+$15.99 Interest
+$34.01 Even Out Amount
+$350.00 Novemeber Escrow Deposit
+$200.00 to Sept 2014
New Balance $28,045.00

ING $25,040.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$430.00
HSBC $2575.00
Total = $28,045.00

I have been so out of the loop with my blog this month! Trying to get back into a regular routine with things now that rummage sale time is over, but have had out of state weddings, coed softball league, coed kickball league, poker nights at our house and lots of Red Sox and Braves games to watch. All we have going on right now is the World Series so should have more time now.

It's our first time to pay our Home Insurance/Taxes on our own. I am happy to say that we needed $1900.00 to pay the bill and we had $3660.00 sitting in our Escrow Savings account! So the transition from having the Escrow with the bank to handling it ourselves is going really well. Plus I put the full charge on my Discover Card, so I will get my cashback bonus on that big bill, and then of course pay it in full. That gave me one more month of time to get interest on the money with ING and then enough cashback bonus for another $50 giftcard! WIN!

New Focus = Sept 2014 $900/$1800

Current Balance $29,200.00
+$70.00 Misc Deposit to Sept 2014
+$100.00 to Retirement Hold Account
-$28.00 to ROTH IRA
+$3.00 Even Out Amount
-$1900.00 Yearly Escrow
New Balance $27,445.00

ING $24,440.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$430.00
HSBC $2575.00
Total = $27,445.00

New Focus = Sept 2014 $825/$1800

Current Balance $29,000.00
+$100.00 to Retirement Hold Account
+$100.00 to Anniversary Cruise
New Balance $29,200.00

ING $26,195.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$430.00
HSBC $2575.00
Total = $29,200.00

*ETA - After I posted I realized I was only $20 away from hitting $29K, so I went and transferred an extra $20 to Sept 2014 savings. YEAH! $29K!

Current Focus = Las Vegas $3,000/$3,000 - GOAL MET!
New Focus = Sept 2014 $825/$1800

Current Balance $28,415.00
-$112.00 to ROTH IRA
+$270.00 to Las Vegas Account
+$350.00 to Escrow Savings
+$18.35 Monthly Interest
+$38.65 Even Out Amount
+$20.00 to Sept 2014 to get to $29K!
New Balance $29,000.00

ING $26,095.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$430.00
HSBC $2475.00
Total = $29,000.00

Current Focus = Las Vegas $2,730/$3,000

Current Balance $28,340.00
-$28.00 to Roth IRA
+$3.00 Even Out Amount
+$100.00 to Retirement Hold Account
New Balance $28,415.00

ING $25,510.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$430.00
HSBC $2475.00
Total = $28,415.00

Now that school is back in full swing we can make some nice deposits to savings!
We should be able to deposit $500 in savings every 2 weeks with DHs pay. Any "bonus" money we find will be going to the mortgage payoff, not into savings. So $20K updates may be pretty boring (but HAPPY) for awhile.

I am going to go through each of the savings accounts 1 by 1, and make the deposits to each specific account till the goals is met. First one I am going to focus on is Las Vegas (we don't have a trip planned, but will probably go again next summer, we usually go once a year).

Current Focus = Las Vegas $2,730/$3,000

Current Balance $27,840.00
+$500.00 from DH's paycheck to ING Las Vegas
New Balance $28,340.00

ING $25,435.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$430.00
HSBC $2475.00
Total = $28,340.00

OK....SIGH! This is ridiculous. So if you read my blog regularly you are aware of the situation with DH's paychecks. But for those who are new to me....My husband is a teacher, and he only gets paid 9 months of the year from the school. In the summer he works for a seperate summer job. The summer job pays through 8/15 each summer. The school paychecks normally don't start until 9/15. So that means each year at the end of the summer we have a 30 day gap with no pay at all for DH. After a few years of dealing with a cash flow issue due to this, we wised up and started a seperate savings account that we use for that time frame, and then re-save for the next year. Well this year I had the money all saved up...and then HAPPY SURPRISE DH got paid on 8/30 by his summer job! We were very surprised, but assumed that this was due to different pay weeks/time frames, and didn't think much of it. We were just happy that we didn't have to take that money out of savings to cover the gap. So that was 2 weeks ago. Then yesterday DH gets a call from the HR dept at his summer job, BAD SURPRISE, they paid him in error. Forgot to turn off his salary (most of their employees are year round) at the end of the summer. We have to pay back the paycheck. LAME. Soooo....so much for keeping that money in savings. I transferred it out of savings today, and will have to mail them a check for it next week. C R A P P Y

Current Balance $29,250.00
-$112.00 to Roth IRA
+$2.00 Even Out Amount
+$100.00 to Retirement Hold Account
+$100.00 to Anniversary Cruise
-$1500.00 Payback Summer Paycheck
New Balance $27,840.00

ING $24,935.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$430.00
HSBC $2475.00
Total = $27,840.00

YEAH we made it till the first school payday without having to take any money out of savings! So many years DH didn't get paid from school or his summer job for this month gap, and then we were struggling with our cash flow, so finally I start saving seperatley for that, and now all of the sudden he gets paid this time...WTH...lol. Oh well I am so happy we didn't have to take that money out and will just leave it in savings for next September in case we need it then.

Current Balance $29,000.00
+$250.00 to Home Improvements
New Balance $29,250.00

ING $25,945.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$930.00
HSBC $2375.00
Total = $29,250.00

Current Balance $28,855.00
+$13.73 ING Interest
+$61.27 Even Out Amount
+$70.00 to Short Term EF to get to $29K
New Balance $29,000.00

ING $25,945.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$680.00
HSBC $2375.00
Total = $29,000.00

Current Balance $28,155.00
+$350.00 August Escrow Savings Deposit
+$350.00 September Escrow Savings Deposit
New Balance $28,855.00

ING $25,800.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$680.00
HSBC $2375.00
Total = $28,855.00

Got back on track with the Escrow deposits. We have received the bill for the yearly home insurance, but it's not due for a few more weeks.

Current Balance $28,075.00
-$28.00 to ROTH IRA
+$8.00 Even Out Amount
+$100.00 to Retirement Hold Account
New Balance $28,155.00

ING $25,100.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$680.00
HSBC $2375.00
Total = $28,155.00

We should know by next week how much we will need to take out for the pay-gap. After that paychecks start and we can start going back up at a decent pace again.

It's getting to that time where we need to use the money in our "Sept 2013" savings account. This account is specifically to cover the time frame from DH's summer job till the school year, when he misses one paycheck, thus does not get paid for a month. After a few years of not planning for this I finally wised up a few years ago and started a seperate account so when that time comes each year we have the funds to cover the gap. This year I have $1830 in that account. I anticipate taking out the $1800 and putting it in checking (we will see how the numbers pan out, if we don't have to use all of it then we won't), but I shouldn't need the extra $30 that the account has made in interest/even out deposits. So I took $25 out of the account and put it in the Mortgage Checking to go towards Septembers Principle Payment, and left the other $5.00 as I don't want to have a $0 balance. Hoping we can have a large chunk left from the $1800 and then will decide if we want to leave it in savings for next years paycheck gap, or apply it to the mortgage.

--$20K Update --
Current Balance $28,100.00
-$25.00 ING Sept 2013 Interest Balance
New Balance $28,075.00

ING $25,020.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$680.00
HSBC $2375.00
Total = $28,075.00

--Mortgage Checking--
$15.00 Mortgage Checking Balance
+$25.00 Sept 2013 Savings Interest
=$40.00 New Balance

Current Balance $28,000.00
+$100.00 to Anniversary Cruise
New Balance $28,100.00

ING $25,045.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$680.00
HSBC $2375.00
Total = $28,100.00

Current Balance $28,060.00
-$112.00 to ROTH IRA
+$7.00 Even Out Amount
+$45.00 to Short Term EF - to keep us at $28K
New Balance $28,000.00

ING $25,045.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$680.00
HSBC $2275.00
Total = $28,000.00

Current Balance $28,020.00
-$28.00 to ROTH IRA
+$3.00 Even Out Amount
+$15.01 ING Interest
+$49.99 Even Out Amount
New Balance $28,060.00

ING $25,105.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$680.00
HSBC $2275.00
Total = $28,060.00

Summer money shortage is hitting harder then I thought it would.....on the plus side, we are working hard at not eating out as much now that we are back from vaca. I challenged myself to no fast food for a month, and have not had any in 4 days. It's going good so far.
I borrowed some money to a friend, they are going to be paying me back $60 a week till it's paid back and then I can put that back into savings.

Current Balance $28,820.00
-$500.00 to Checking Account
-$300.00 Borrowed to friend
New Balance $28,020.00

ING $25,065.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$680.00
HSBC $2275.00
Total = $28,020.00

Well we didn't win it all in Vegas, but we didn't do too bad either. Still got a really nice total and if we can make it till school starts hanging on to that we will quickly be over $30K once DH starts getting his school pay! I made calls to 3 different places for an estimate for underground sprinkles, but have not heard back from any of them yet.

Current Balance $26,170.00
+$2200.00 Money brought back from Vegas
+$350.00 July 2013 Escrow
+$100.00 Anniversary Cruise
New Balance $28,820.00

ING $25,865.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$680.00
HSBC $2275.00
Total = $28,820.00

Took the money out of savings for the Vegas trip....ouch! We never re-play any of our winner money, so I know we will be bringing something home....hopefully a lot to go right back into savings!

Current Balance $29,180.00
-$112.00 to ROTH IRA
+$100.00 to Retirement Hold Account
+$2.00 Even Out Amount
-$3000.00 Vegas
New Balance $26,170.00

ING $23,315.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$680.00
HSBC $2175.00
Total = $26,170.00

Current Balance $29,130.00
+$15.77 ING Interest
+$34.23 Even Out Amounts
New Balance $29,180.00

ING $26,325.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$680.00
HSBC $2175.00
Total = $29,180.00

Current Balance $29,155.00
-$28.00 to Roth IRA
+$3.00 Even Out Amount
New Balance $29,130.00

ING $26,275.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$680.00
HSBC $2175.00
Total = $29,130.00

Current Balance $29,255.00
+$100.00 Retirement Hold Account
-$200.00 from Short Term EF to checking
New Balance $29,155.00

ING $26,300.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$680.00
HSBC $2175.00
Total = $29,155.00

DH and I had our 6 year Anniversary this week.

Current Balance $29,155.00
+$100.00 Anniversary Cruise
New Balance $29,255.00

ING $26,400.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$680.00
HSBC $2175.00
Total = $29,255.00

Current Balance $29,010.00
-$112.00 to Roth IRA
+$2.00 Even Out Amount
+$100.00 to Retirement Hold Account
+$155.00 to Las Vegas Fund
New Balance $29,155.00

ING $26,400.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$680.00
HSBC $2075.00
Total = $29,155.00

We went to Deadwood for the weekend for a "school's over" trip. Had lots of funs and DH had some great wins. We can home up $245.00. Normally I would do something productive with this like putting it in savings or against the mortgage, but decided to let DH keep it for fun money since he does so awesome with meeting our goals and being frugal.

Current Balance $28,615.00
+$17.95 ING Interest
+$27.05 Even Out Amounts
+$350.00 June 2013 Escrow Deposit
New Balance $29,010.00

ING $26,255.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$680.00
HSBC $2075.00
Total = $29,010.00

Current Balance $28,515.00
+$100.00 Retirement Hold Account
New Balance $28,615.00

ING $25,860.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$680.00
HSBC $2075.00
Total = $28,615.00

Well we were naughty....DH is approaching the end of the school year (4 more school days!) and has been very antsy (if you think your kids are bad, you should see the teachers!)...and it has been raining here for 5 days straight...I just had to get out of the house. We went to the casino, which we should not have done since we are going to Deadwood at the end of May...and we got our butts kicked. DOH! But in the interest of being honest and holding myself accountable, I gotta put the numbers out here. You know, I really do think my blog helps us save so much...cause all I was thinking when we were losing was "Oh man, I have to share this on my blog, how embarassing!" :P

Current Balance $28,885.00
-$370.00 Casino Losers
New Balance $28,515.00

ING $25,760.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$680.00
HSBC $2075.00
Total = $28,515.00