At the beginning of January we were able to transfer $3,200.00 into our savings account. After that we paid some of our debt from this account ($3k to be exact), leaving us with only about $200.00. At the beginning of February we transferred $2,800.00 into savings. After I get paid on March 2nd, I’m hoping to at least transfer $200.00 to savings. Our goal is to put $1,000.00 into savings each month, but my husband had surgery last May and we ended up having to pay $800.00 this month for something that insurance would not pay.

My husband came to me and said, “The bill they sent said we can just pay $200.00 each month until it’s paid…” I cut him off and said, “NO! Pay it now!” I think he was going to go on to say “but, we should pay it all now, don’t you think?” (Or something like that). I was annoyed by the fact that we had to make this payment and just wanted it out of our lives instead of more debt two weeks after we had officially gotten out.

Basically, the $1,000.00 that we were hoping to transfer this month has been cut with hopes of just $200.00 because of that $800.00 bill we had to pay. Hopefully, we won’t have any other surprises and can continue to transfer $1,000.00/month to savings after March.

We might slow down toward the end of the year when we have the sinking funds funded and have saved up enough money to refinance because right now my husband works 2 nights a week overtime (minimum) so that we have that $1,000.00/month surplus. His normal shift is from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. When he stays over he is there from 3 p.m. to 3 a.m., which gives him 8 hours of overtime a week. He also wakes up with our son every morning while I’m at work. He is such a trooper for all he does!

Our goals for 2015 are pretty basic, but important. This will be our first official year of putting our finance together as a married couple. So, we hope to be able to achieve these goals well before the end of the year – based on how we are doing so far.

#1 Become debt free except the house - $4,044.24
#2 Fund our sinking funds - $6,814.00
#3 Save enough money to refinance our house - $2,000.00

We completed goal #1 on January 26, 2015. We had an attorney from my husband’s custody case for visitation with his daughter from a previous relationship. After that case taking two and a half years (insane!!!!) he paid his attorney over $9,000.00 in total. We had $3,800.00 left at the beginning of 2015. His attorney told us that she would accept $3,000.00 as a payoff amount! He owed $214.24 to the courthouse for that same case, which he thought he had already paid but hadn’t. We owed a gal that did a class for us before we got married (it was required) $30.00. We took that class in August of 2014 and as our finances weren’t combined at the time, we both thought the other had paid it. Once I realized she hadn’t been paid I delivered the $30.00 to her home in person. So, all of that was paid in January of this year. Debt free!!!

Here is a list of our sinking funds for this year:
1. Personal Portfolio $2,000.00
2. Christmas $500.00
3. Vacation $1,000.00
4. Phone Plans $1,000.00
5. Car Insurance $520.00
6. Car Registrations $200.00
7. Kids birthdays $500.00
8. Clothing $500.00
9. Summer lessons $80.00
10.Vehicle Maintenance $300.00
11. Sports/Dance/School Pictures $180.00
12. Software for taxes $34.00
TOTAL $6,814.00

We have already paid out $645.19 out of our sinking funds account, which leaves us with $6,168.81 unpaid. Sitting in our “sinking funds” savings account right now is $2,920.18, which then leaves us with only $3,248.63 to save. We are hoping we can have everything saved for our sinking funds before June and then we can save the $2,000.00 for the refinance over the summer.

There are a few items that we forgot to include in our “sinking funds” account. Those funds are family pictures, pets (shots and grooming), gifts for people outside of our home (birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, etc.), and holidays (Halloween costumes, fireworks for the 4th of July, etc.). I figure that after we add all of that in our “sinking funds” amount would have been around $8,000.00 for this year. We will add them in for next year, and don’t worry, our kids will get to dress up and go trick-or-treating, the dogs will get their shots and groomed, and other couples will get their wedding gifts. We simply forgot them this year. We will probably handle them just as we do the other sinking funds, but we may not finish funding the account that extra $1,200.00 until after we do the refinance.

Is the total amount of our sinking funds insane or what?! Do you have sinking funds?

It's been over a year since I have posted here. Life got busy with wedding planning, baby, work, and life in general.

I like to think that we have come a long way since then. So, I'll tell you all where we are today. When I started this page, we owed my husbands attorney (for visitation with his daughter) approximately $5,500.00. We then found out that there were some fees at our county's courthouse that my husband was suppose to pay and didn't realize it. Those fees added up to $214.24. We then had to take a class through our church before we got married. That class only cost us $30.00, the problem was that my husband thought I had paid it and I thought he had - lack of communication.

In January of this year, we owed his attorney $3,800.00. She accepted $3,000.00 as a payoff. I paid the courthouse and the gal for our pre-marriage class in the second half of January and we sent a check to the attorney on January 21st and it cleared the bank on the 26th.

Therefore, as of January 26, 2015, we are debt free except our house! WOOT WOOT!!!! No better feeling!

Now, my husband bought his house in 2009 before we got married for $88k. That loan will be $80k by Summer. The interest rate on that is 5.25%... YUCK! After we have funded our "sinking funds" this year we will be saving $2,000.00 to refinance our house. We hope to pay the house off in 15 years - before our son graduates high school.

We have $70,000.00 to our name. This includes husbands 401(k), both of our Roth IRA's, and other investment accounts we have. It definitely feels good when you hit a savings milestone. Helps us see that we're really getting somewhere.

My husband is a little discouraged as our budget will always be tight until there is no more child support or house payments. That day will be amazing, but I try not to think about it too much as we need to enjoy our lives now and the time we have with our young kiddos.

I hope everyone here had a wonderful and productive 2014 and that 2015 holds great things for all of you!