Making Me a Millionaire

What To Do When You’ve Been Laid Off

Remember when I said there was talk of lay offs at my husband’s company?  Well guess what?  It was true and he’s getting laid off.  He has 2 more weeks of employment and then he will unemployed just like me.

All I have to say is that I am so glad we decided to take charge of our financial situation before this and that we put away the bonus he recently got instead of spending it.  My only regret is that we didn’t start sooner.  But oh well, we learn from these experiences right?

What makes our situation a little scarier is the fact that I don’t have a job either.  So when his severance runs out, we’ll be in big trouble.

So here’s a list of things we need to tackle ASAP and ways we are going to try to cut down on our spending:

1. Tell our friends and family. I know some people are embarrassed by the fact that they are unemployed and are too prideful to ask for help.  But I believe that your friends and family will not laugh at you if you are jobless.  They are more likely going to want to help in any way they can.  By letting people know you are in search of a job, you can increase your chances of actually getting one.  Your buddy from your kickball league might know of someone looking to hire in your field.  Doesn’t hurt to inform others you are looking for a job.
2. Review our finances. Because we have no idea how long it will take for him to find another job – we need to prepare for the worst.  This means taking a look at how much we’re spending each month and deciding where to cut.
3. Beef up the resume. He has already spent today working on his resume and has had several people review it.
4. Start looking for jobs. We’ve decided we’re going to open the job search to various locations around the country.  I think this will open more doors for him and increase our chances of finding a good job.
5. Get on LinkedIn. I’m a huge fan of LinkedIn.  I used to think it was pointless but my husband was once recruited on LinkedIn when he wasn’t even looking for a job and landed a great job/promotion with a nice salary increase.
6. Change our spending habits. We actually have a weekend getaway that we’re leaving for tomorrow.  Luckily, we will be in the Great Smoky Mountains where most of our activities will be outdoor (read: free) activities.  But now that we know he will be out of a job, we are going to be more vigilant with our spending.  Since I do most of the grocery shopping, I’m going to make sure we only buy necessities and try to find as many coupons as possible.
7. Sell my stuff. Craigslist, ebay/half.com here I come!

Things I will Do to Reduce Spending:

• No more clothing. I usually like to get new clothes when seasons change.  Even though I’m pretty good about getting good deals on clothing, since this is not a necessity, I won’t be spending any money on clothing as long as the hubby is still jobless.
• Cut down on juices. Juices are great but sometimes its not necessary to have that much extra sugar in your diet.  Water is free so why not cut down on the juices?
• Set my thermostat to 67. Bundling up, moving around the house and drinking green tea and soup is not that hard to do!
• Consolidate my errands. I’m going to try to save gas by grouping my errands together.  That way, I can go to the post office, then stop by the supermarket, then fill up on gas all in one trip!
• Lower my cable TV package. I love National Geographic but right now it’s not worth the extra $10 a month.
• Don’t eat out unless it’s under $10.
• No more movies. I used to be willing to go to the movies only if they were the matinee shows.  But now?  No more.  I pay $19 a month for Blockbuster All Access which allows me to rent unlimited DVDs.  I will make good use of that!

If any of you have suggestions please let me know.  I welcome any kind of advice on how to best handle being unemployed as this is a first time for us!

My Millionaire List

So I was looking around the web at personal finance blogs today to see what good advice is out there.  I came across a posting that was made well over a year ago but is such a good idea I decided to participate.  J. Money at Budgets Are Sexy proposed that we create a millionaire to do list that lists the steps that we need to reach our goal of becoming a millionaire.  Well, since my blog is centered around my efforts to become a millionaire, this was a no brainer.

And even if you have no intention of becoming a millionaire (and what sane person would not want to be one?), this is a great idea for any goal whether it be getting out of debt, saving up for a house, running a marathon, learning another language.  You get the idea.

So here’s my list….

1. Max out our retirement accounts. That means my husband’s 401k, and both of our Roth IRAs.
2. Save $400 a month. And put it into either our emergency fund or stocks.
3. Take advantage of what his company offers us. This means participating in the Employee Stock Purchase Plan and buying discounted stock.  It also means contributing to a Flexible Spending Account for our health care costs.
4. Carpool to work. My husband carpools with a nearby coworker everyday.  Not only are they saving money on gas but saving time by being able to ride in the HOV lane!
5. Never take out a loan for a luxury car. I made this mistake last year.  I am paying for it and I will never ever ever do this again.  I will never buy myself a luxury car unless I can afford to plop down cash for it after having done my part in saving and investing.
6. Limit the amount of debt. I vow to decrease the amount of debt I have.  If I have a car loan, I will do the best I can to pay it off faster than I have to.  I will also try not to make purchases that require me to borrow money (except for a house).
7. Ask myself “Do I really need this?”. This actually works!  I have saved myself hundreds of dollars this year by simply asking myself this question every time I pick up a cute shirt at the mall.  I even ask my husband this whenever he decides to come with me to Costco and randomly picks up every other item there and about 99% of the time he puts it back on the shelf.
8. Exercise & eat well. OK this may seem irrelevant but it’s not!  Healthcare costs are so high right now.  I truly believe that by taking are of my health, I am saving myself thousands of dollars in the long run.  I pledge to exercise for at least 30 minutes at least 5 days a week and to eat nutritious home cooked meals as often as possible.

OK, so I’m going to leave it at that for now and add to this list as life goes on.  I think it’s a good start and as long as I follow these steps I should be well on my way to becoming a millionaire.

The Fidelity Retirement Rewards American Express Card

I have a few investment accounts with Fidelity and for the most part I am pretty satisfied with them.  I’ve had these accounts for several years now so I wasn’t surprised when I received a credit card offer in the mail the other day.  I get tons of these and I usually rip them up and throw them out after glancing at the envelope.

The other day, as I was sorting through my mail, I noticed an American Express offer from Fidelity.  I immediately was curious because I was wondering what Fidelity could offer me via a credit card.  Surely, it’s not air miles or hotel points or gas rewards.  No.  It wasn’t any of that.  It was BETTER.

• No annual fee
• 2% of the money you spend on that credit card goes straight to your Fidelity IRA account
• No limit on the amount of money that gets put into your IRA
• You also have the flexibility to use your points for WorldPoints reward options
• You can also deposit the money into a non-retirement Fidelity account or a 529
• You only need to spend $2500 in order to redeem

This is a pretty sweet deal.  You don’t have to think about re-allocating money from your budget to help save for retirement.  Just make your purchases and know that you are saving for retirement at the same time.  I’m not saying you should forget about contributing to retirement after you get this card.  But if you’re not doing all you can do for retirement, this will definitely help.

Note: The APR on this card is 13.99%.  The card is really not worth it if you plan on having balances.  Credit cards can be great things to have and personally I prefer to use them over cash because of the rewards you get through them.  But always always always pay off your balance in full every month!  If you can’t, then this is not the card for you.

I currently use Amex for my purchases and use the points from my purchases for items you can buy through the Amex Membership Rewards program.  It’s really not the best card out there so we will be switching cards in January.  But for now, a regular Amex card is what I use.  We earn about 1 point for every dollar we spend on this card.  2,500 points earned will get us a $25 gift card at a variety of stores.  Now, compare this with the $50 that would be deposited into your account when you have 2,500 points on your Fidelity Amex card.  It’s double the rewards plus returns on your investments.  Now THAT is smart!

Income Disparities Between You And Your Friends

Back in the good old college days we were all on the same playing field.  We were all dirt poor and very happy people.  After graduation, most of us got full time jobs and started making money.  Making money is great, but money also divides.

We all have friends who make the big bucks.  Or maybe they don’t make the big bucks but they sure do like to spend like they have the big bucks.  We also have friends who are just as poor as they were in college.  Friends who can barely get by let alone come out and have dinner with you.  Or maybe you have friends who are extremely frugal and unwilling to spend a few bucks on dinner.  You don’t have to let money come between you and your friends.  And if it does, maybe they aren’t friends worth having after all.

So what do you do when your friend wants to eat at the steakhouse but you were thinking of the local pizza joint?  Or what about when you’re ready to do a group vacation and you’re looking forward to the nice hotel on the beach but your friend wants to stay at the Motel 8?  Are friendships doomed when you have different incomes?

Not necessarily.  True friends will make compromises and meet each other in the middle.

• Be respectful and mindful of others. If you’re lucky enough to be making more money than your friend, it is up to you to be aware of your friend’s financial situation and be respectful by keeping your meetings low key.
• Use your home. Throw a dinner party, have a barbecue, do movie night.  People of all incomes can come and have a good time with you.  If you are the one attending, maybe you can bring some wine or bake some cookies.
• Plan local short trips. Leave the lavish vacations to you and your significant other.  You will have a lot more control over how much you want to spend.  For trips with friends, consider a day trip that involves outdoor activities such as hiking.
• Do good. Volunteer with your friends to do good for the community.  Maybe you can help paint park benches together, or work in a soup kitchen.  Not only are you spending quality time with your friends, but you will be doing good for many.

Because those of you who are on tighter budgets are less flexible with your spending habits, it is up to those of you who have a little more to come back down to earth and meet your friends.  Not only will you keep your friends but you will free up some more cash for saving and investing!

Do You Have Enough In Your Emergency Fund?

We recently heard gossip that my husband’s group will be laying off some folks.  Boy are we glad we put his bonus into our emergency fund.  Even though we have about $15,000, we are still a bit worried that it won’t be enough.

Why you really should be building up your emergency fund. I know analysts say things are getting better, but fact is, there are still plenty of people getting laid off.  You just never know when you will be next and you really don’t know how long it will take you to find another job.  It’s best to be prepared and avoid a financial disaster.

How much should you have in your emergency fund? This depends on a lot of things.  You want to take a look around and see how long people in your industry with a similar level of experience as you have taken to find another job.  College friends are a good place to start.  Looking at ours, we noticed that some of them have been laid off and unemployed for as long as whole year.  So we take worst case scenario and prepare for it.

expenses per month  x  12 = emergency fund

$3,000 x 12 = $36,000

Assuming your total monthly expenses are at $3,000…you’d have to build up around $36,000 to give yourself a full year to find a job.  Now of course, this does not mean you are to spend the next 11 months traveling the world.  This is a just in case stash of cash for you in the event that you are looking and looking and looking and you’ve got nothing.

During better times, oh like in the late 90s, you would have been fine having just $10,000 in that account.   But these days, you’re better off being as conservative as possible.

Don’t Pay Taxes If You Don’t Have To

Sure, most taxes are unavoidable.  They leave you feeling powerless and maybe even robbed.  But not all taxes are equal.  The consumption tax surely isn’t.  Because when it comes to consumption taxes, we do have a say on how much we are going to pay in taxes and how frequently.  Limit your consumption and you limit your consumption taxes.

I was born and raised in New York and my family continues to live there today.  I no longer live in New York but I do visit a few times a year and when I do, I make sure I do as much of my clothing shopping as possible.  Why?  Because you can buy all the clothes you want (as long as it’s under $110 per piece) and not pay a single penny in taxes for it!  It really does pay to hold off on your shopping for the right tax free opportunity.

I urge you all to do this if you plan on visiting states that don’t tax clothing.  Here’s a list of states that don’t tax you on clothing.

Alaska – no sales tax.

Connecticut – no tax on clothing under $50.

Delaware – no sales tax.

Massachusetts – no tax on clothing under $175.

Minnesota – no tax on clothing.

New Hampshire – no sales tax.

New Jersey – no tax on clothing except fur.

New York – no tax on clothing under $110.

Oregon – no sales tax.

Pennsylvania – no tax on clothing.

Rhode Island – not tax on clothing.

If you don’t live in any of the above states, you might be lucky enough to live in a state that has tax free holidays every year. Here’s a list of states that offered tax free weeks/weekends in 2009.  Most of them are offered right before the fall school season in August.  The list I compiled is based on my online research.  Do make sure you find out what the dates are and whether your state will be participating in a tax holiday this year.

• Alabama
• Connecticut
• Georgia
• Iowa
• Louisiana
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• New Mexico
• North Carolina
• Oklahoma
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Vermont
• Virginia
  

Why I Love My Costco Membership

A few years ago, Costco came to my neighborhood and planted itself within 5 minutes from my house.  So after hearing all the rave reviews about the great deals and excellent customer service Costco offers, I decided to join.  For the last 3 years, I had a Gold Star membership for $50 a year that gave me access to buy high quality items at competitive prices and a lot of times in bulk.  I bought my SLR camera, my bedroom furniture and many other big ticket items from Costco.  One day when I was checking out at the register, the cashier told me I had spent more than $3000 already and I would benefit from upgrading to an Executive membership that offered cash back rewards.  I told her I would think about it and upgrade if I felt it was a good idea.

How does a household of 2 manage to spend so much money at Costco?  Well, like I said…we bought bedroom furniture off Costco.com.

After looking through our previous year’s expenses, I decided that upgrading my Costco membership was very much worth the extra $50 a year.  I plan on spending at least $2500 this year at Costco so that I can get my $50 cashback reward!  Here are great things about Costco and the Executive Membership benefits.

1.  High quality items at great prices. I try to be frugal but I will very rarely skimp on quality so I can save a few bucks.  I would much rather have a good quality shirt I can wear over and over again than a poor quality inexpensive shirt that will rip in the wash.

2. Easy to make back what you spend on membership. So you might think that spending $2500 a year for a 2 person household is ambitious.  I thought so too at first but now I know it’s not a stretch at all.  Costco sells just about everything you could ever need at home -household products, groceries, office products, electronics, sporting goods, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals….everything.  When you combine all these categories, do you spend a total of at least $2500 a year?  Probably.

3. Costco gas. Very very rarely do I ever find a gas station with gas that is cheaper than Costco gas.  Costco gas is usually .10 to .20 cents cheaper per gallon than other gas stations.

4. The food court. A gargantuan slice of pizza for 99 cents.  A hot dog and soda for $1.50.  These are 2 examples of very tasty food for very cheap.  I don’t recommend eating this everyday, but each weekend when my husband and I shop at Costco, we will have a filling lunch here for $2.49.

5.  Clothing. Ok, so if you are the fashionista type, maybe Costco is not for you.  But if you are looking for comfortable stylish clothing that will not go out of style in a few months, this is the place!  I got a Calvin Klein tunic sweater today for $19.99.  The hubby got a Nike golf fleece jacket for $26.99.  Not bad at all!  I also saw men’s Citizen jeans for under $100.  I consistently see great deals on fleeces and jackets at Costco.

6.  They have organic food and eco friendly products. No, you don’t need to go to Whole Foods if you want organic food.  I regularly buy my organic milk, organic orange juice (which btw is the best orange juice I have found in any store so far), organic rice and organic chicken from Costco.  They have many many more products which I occasionally buy too.  They also have lots of great health foods like pomegranate juice, fruit juices, Cliff bars, etc.  I’ve also seen eco friendly cleaning products and laundry detergent too which I have yet to use but will try one day.

7.  Free samples. OK so I usually steer clear of processed foods as much as possible but I will admit…there are days when I go to Costco on an empty stomach and am quite satisfied by the time I leave the warehouse.

8.  Revolving/seasonal products. If you go to Costco today, you will very likely find Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations.  In January…I guarantee you’ll find something else.  I noticed that Costco will change around their products and have random items in their stores I have never seen before.  They’ll be there for a few weeks and then be replaced with another new and random item.  One week you’ll see golf clubs, the next week it’ll be a massage chair, then maybe a vanity and so on.  It keeps things exciting.

9.  Excellent customer service. It’s not a secret that you can return anything you bought and there will be no questions asked.  I have a friend who said he bought his SLR camera there then brought it back in the box a year later and traded it in for a newer model.  I’m not saying you should do this but its an example of good customer service.

10.  Costco.com. If you’ve never been to Costco.com, go now.  An enormous number of products, and reviews you can check before your purchases.

11. Coupons. I love coupons.  Every month members will get a new booklet containing several pages of coupons on popular products.  I look forward to receiving these coupons every month as they offer very good discounts (you can get Charmin toilet paper for almost the same price as the crappiest cheapest toilet paper at your local supermarket).

Things you should know as an Executive Member:

• The 2% cash back is on pre-tax amounts
• You won’t get cash back rewards for cigarettes, alcohol, gasoline, stamps, food courts, membership fees, costco travel, insurance services. But yes, you do get rewards for purchases made through Costco.com.  Click here to look at additional info on the costco site.
• At the end of your membership year, you will receive your cashback rewards in the form of reward certificates.  You can use these at the register at your local warehouse on merchandise only.
• The cap on your annual cashback reward is $500.  That means if you spend over $25,000 that year in Costco, you will still only receive $500 back.
• If you want to upgrade but you just paid for your gold star membership a few months ago, Costco will give you the upgrade at a prorated price.

….and if you are a die hard Costco fan…..

….then sign up for the American Express Costco True Earnings Card.

• no annual fee
• 3% cashback on dining and gas, 2% back on travel and 1% back on everything else.

This is actually a great deal especially for those of us who shop at Costco a lot, drive around a lot and eat out a lot!

Now, back to the Executive Membership.  If you do sign up for this membership, be sure that you are committed to spending that $2500.  I now buy all my household products and the majority of my groceries from Costco.  If there is anything out there that I plan on purchasing, I will check Costco.com before I make a purchase to see if it is available through them.  If you want to buy a plasma tv, a camera, a laptop, or any kind of electronic, I recommend getting it from Costco.  If you don’t like it, if it’s broken or you simply have buyer’s remorse, all you have to do is return it for a full refund.  I’m not so sure you can do the same when you buy an expensive gadget from Best Buy.

If you do sign up for the Executive Membership and decide you don’t want it anymore or realize you aren’t able to spend the $2500 to make up for the membership fee, all you have to do is cancel your executive membership and ask for your full refund.

What To Do With A Bonus

Today is a very long awaited day for us.  My husband is receiving the second portion of his retention package!  So about a year ago, while his company was undergoing some changes, he was offered a monetary package for staying with the company another year.  We said sure, why not?  He got the first part of his package after staying 6 months, and today he received the 2nd half of his package.

What did we do with the first package?  Well, if I break it down this is what happened to package #1.

• Trip to South America
• A nice piece of jewelry
• A down payment on a leased luxury car

I know.  What on earth were we thinking??  That was us back then.  Present day us is *hopefully* smarter than that.

I was looking forward to this second check because I wanted to get started in being avid savers again.  So what am I going to do with the money?  I’m dumping it all into ING to increase the size of our emergency fund.  That will hopefully put me at around $15k.    Having learned the hard way what not to do with retention packages/bonuses, I now know what the best things to do with bonuses would be.

1. Pay off non-mortgage debt.  Depending on what the interest rates are on your loans (and during these times they are most likely higher savings rates), I would pay off the highest rate loan you have first.
2. Contribute to your retirement accounts. Hopefully you are contributing the maximum into your 401k.  If not, get on it NOW.  The next best thing you can do is contribute to your Roth IRA accounts.  Max it out if you can.  Remember if you make over $166,000 as a married couple you are not eligible to contribute.  So if you are making under $166,000, make sure you contribute as much as you can especially if you expect to rise above the $166,000 cut off anytime soon.
3. Build your emergency fund. I don’t care if the economists say we are out of the recession now.  You can still lose your job, you can still get sick, you can still get in an accident and you can still lose a loved one.  Be prepared.
4. Invest. Now is a great time to invest.  If all your other areas (meaning retirement, emergency fund, etc.) have been getting enough attention, look into some stocks.  Now is a great time.
5. Charity. I’m a strong believer in karma.  If you are doing well right now, it’s a good idea to give back.

What I have learned NOT to do with my bonus:

• spend it on materialistic goods that don’t really offer much value (ie. luxury car, jewelry)
• spend it before I receive it (yes this is how we were able to plan the South America trip.  We anticipated the funding for it and went ahead on the trip before we got the money).
• spend every penny of it.

I think its a good idea to spend a little bit of your bonus just to celebrate or to reward yourself.  What I did with our last retention package was NOT smart.  This time around, I plan on saving most of it but have no problem going out to dinner with the husband for a nice quiet celebration.  We will of course be enjoying wine beforehand!

The True Cost of Eating Out

My husband and I are both foodies.  We had grand plans to travel the world and eat at every 3 star Michelin restaurant.  We did…until after eating at Le Bernardin in New York and running up a $527 tab (not to mention transportation costs to get to NY) when we realized we would go bankrupt if we kept this up.

After tracking our expenses for about a year, I learned that we were spending approximately $600 a month on food.  It wasn’t so much the price of the dinners as it was the frequency of them.  On a bad month when we partook in fine dining, our dining expenses went as high as $1200.  But on most months it hovered around $600.  We were eating out 5-6 times a week.  He was occasionally going out for lunch too.

What is the true cost of $600 a month spent on dining?

Say instead, you only spend $200 on dining and put the remaining $400 into a savings account with ING.  That’s $4800 a year put into savings.  Now even if the interest rates were to stay at it’s sad current rate right now for the next 30 years,  this is what it would look like:

After 1 year:

Invested: $4800
Interest earned: $28.70
Total: $4828.70

After 5 years:

Invested: $24000
Interest earned: $783.32
Total: $24783.32

After 10 years:

Invested: $48,000
Interest earned: $3,230.12
Total: $51,230.12

After 30 years:

Invested: $144,000
Interest earned: $32,000.88
Total: $176,000.88

Now, putting it in a ING account with 1.3% interest is very conservative.  Chances are, the interest rates will go up.  Now say you put your money into a mutual fund and it generates about 6% of a return for you.  By cutting down on dining out, not only are you trimming your waistline but you’re growing your nest egg.  This is what 30 years with 6% will do for you.

Invested: $144,000
Interest earned: $257,806.02
Total: $401,806.02

The amount of interest you have earned is double the amount you have invested!  This is what you are missing out on when you choose to eat out so often!  True, eating out is fun…but is it worth almost half a million dollars to you?

How to Cut Down on the Cost of Eating Out

1) Learn to cook. Cooking can be therapeutic.  It can be fun.  It can be an activity that you do with your partner.  If you think it’s too much work to cook for just 2 people, you are wrong.  With just 30 minutes in the kitchen, you can make a mean lasagna that will feed the 2 of you for the next 2 days.  Go and pick up a cookbook (or better yet – search for free recipes online) and pick something out for dinner tonight.

2) Don’t be a pig. At most restaurants, an entree alone will give you 1,000 calories.  So is it really necessary to order an appetizer, side dishes and dessert too?  Stick with just the entree and don’t even think about soda.  Charging you $1.50 for a drink that is harmful to your health is not worth it.  Water is free and it’s so much better for you!

3) Save the alcohol for special occasions. Alcohol is the biggest rip when it comes to the food and hospitality industry.  I try to avoid alcohol unless we are out celebrating a special occasion.  If you have an absolute craving, go pick up a bottle of $10 wine and have some before dinner!

4) Learn to love hole in the wall restaurants. Some of the best restaurants are those that shun the fine dining atmosphere.  They are usually inexpensive, casual and have some of the best food in town.  I love using Yelp to find these types of restaurants.

5) Go ethnic. Like hole in the wall restaurants, many authentic “international” restaurants offer tasty meals at a great price.   In most cities, there is usually a Chinatown or International Boulevard where you can find good authentic eats for cheap.  My personal favorites are Vietnamese pho, taquerias, noodle houses, ramen shops, dim sum restaurants, and all you can eat Indian buffets.

6) Invest in tupperware and brown bag your lunch. My husband likes a nice warm hearty meal for dinner.  A typical warm hearty meal can usually feed about 4-6 people.  So what do I do?  Put the rest in containers and that’s lunch for the next day!

7) Use Restaurant.com. Go to Restaurant.com, type in your zip code and search for restaurants in your area that offer gift certificates that you can buy for just a fraction of the price (usually 20-30% of what it’s worth).  I have bought $25 gift certificates for just $2!  Be sure to read the fine print as some restaurants will require you to spend at least a certain amount or buy at least 2 entrees in order to use the gift certificates.

Buy cereal….or canned soup. I prefer not to eat a lot of processed foods but sometimes they come in handy if you are short on time or if you’re just plain tired and don’t have it in you to cook.  Cereal, tuna fish, canned soup, ramen are all good alternatives if you just don’t feel like really cooking.  I would lean more towards the tuna fish than the ramen for obvious reasons.

9) Go have lunch instead of dinner. If it’s the weekend and you’d like to have a meal out, opt for lunch.  Lunch menus are usually cheaper than dinner menus.  There’s also less of a crowd during lunch.

10) Check the menu before going out. Most restaurants will have their menus online so you can see what the prices are before you arrive at the restaurant.  Pick your food before you get there and vow to stick with it and you’re less likely to make an emotional (and expensive) impulse decision once you’re at the restaurant.

Cutting down on your dining out expenses can be rough and requires a lot of discipline…especially when you are accustomed to the dining out lifestyle.  But if I can manage to do it, anyone can.  The hardest part is usually the first month.  But once you get used to eating at home, it will seem like a special occasion to you when you go out to eat.  Now, my husband and I will go out to eat about once a week at an inexpensive restaurant (usually small ethnic hole in the walls) but we will occasionally splurge on our anniversary or birthdays.  The best thing about our efforts is not just the amount of money we have managed to save, but also the confidence we have now from knowing we are doing what’s best financially and knowing we are capable of relying on ourselves when it comes to cooking food!

Where I’m At

Here’s my starting point.  This is where I’m at in October of 2000.

It’s not a bad starting point.  But considering this is what we’ve accumulated as a double income couple who has been working for nearly 10 years, it’s not great either.  I do want to focus on our cash reserves.  I want to have about $50K in there for emergencies.  I don’t want to have to pull money out of our mutual funds or stocks at a loss if something happens and we need money.

As for reaching the $1 million goal…here is where I stand.

12% there….88% more to go!