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This has certainly been a memorable year for everyone. And for some, finances have been tight and pinched as job losses, furloughs, and hour reductions dried up income sources; for others, the booming stock market (driven mostly by mega companies who provide delivery services) has caused dramatic gains in Net Worth. We are well aware of the good fortune we have to mostly be in the latter category, though we did not hit most of the targets I set for 2020.
Most of the final months of 2020 were consumed with catching up on work tasks I’d fallen behind on during our family crisis mode and taking over the daily caregiving tasks of my mother’s post-stroke recovery. We also had a challenging, but enjoyable, holiday season owing mostly to the difficulties of the ongoing coronaviruse pandemic. Of course, my blog has been sadly neglected during this time, but I have been making some modest financial progress. I intend to return to monthly debt updates/financial progress posts in this year, rather than the quarterly reports, but I do need to wrap up my 2020 financial year as a whole to feel unstuck.
Adjusting to the long-term nature of the pandemic, since vaccination will likely not be completely effective for “normal life” until at least spring, has required us to create new routines and reexamine our values and priorities. We are so very blessed that we have been able to make it through difficult times with increased love and connections in our family as well as forward financial progress (even though it has been slower this year).
Financial progress from Quarter 4 (September-December):
- Began using YNAB (You Need a Budget). This is a popular budgeting software. I have used the free tracking softward Mint for about a decade, but after reading Jesse Mecham’s book about the philosophy of YNAB (affiliate link if you want to try it), I decided to give it a try. I’m loving it; it has completely changed my relationship with budgeting and spending money. I will write a whole post about that soon.
- Applied for a refinance for our mortgage. This should be completed by the end of January and again, deserves its own post. Ultimately, the refi should result in the following things: lower interest on the loan, more flexibility in cashflow with a smaller minimum payment, and the ability to pay it off faster by putting more towards the principal each month. I ran the numbers and the loan should save us about $35K in interest and 3 years for repayment, based on our current repayment plan.
- Kept Christmas spending reasonable. Our kids have had such a challenging year, it was tempting to go wild. We checked our values and made a few well-loved choices.
- Debt Progress: Here are the numbers for the end of December:
- Balance Transfer 1 (0% through March 2021): $2,790
- Balance Transfer 2 (0% through April 2021): $4,800
- Balance Transfer 3 (0% through August 2021): $5,300
- Grad School 1 (5.5%): $1,598.47
- Grad School 2 (5.5%): $4,244.73
TOTAL Remaining: $18,733.20
Amount paid off this quarter: $1,264.27
Amount paid off TOTAL: $25,522.58
2020 Goal Accomplishment (feel free to disregard if you had a rotten year):
We have a healthy savings account again. Our emergency fund/sinking fund is now large enough to easily get us through a month or two of no income. We might use some of that to payoff the credit cards before the 0% expires, but I want to wait until we’re through the school budgeting cycle and I know more about my job security for next school year.
Overall in 2020, we decreased our total debt by $9,139.77, though only $3,000.87 of that was our targeted debt reduction. This was less than our plan of $15,000, but I’m happy that we are making clear progress.
We increased our giving this year by more than 2% of take home pay, though quite a bit of that was the personal loan we forgave to a family friend in March. I am proud that increasing our giving has been a major part of our financial plan. We’re now at the rate I want to maintain until this debt payoff is finished.
I did not buy any clothing in 2020. Clothing shopping ban, completed! In some ways it was “easy” because of the shut down, but I also found it a bit challenging because I was not pleased with my “loungewear” selections, which were mostly ratty pj-stuff and exercise wear, the cute stuff of which was uncomfortable. I broke my ban in January to purchase some yoga pants and joggers that have remained on my “want to buy” list all year long. I will try to do this every year, and only purchase clothing in a very thoughtful way going forward.
I gave up on decluttering physical objects, but I did deactivate Facebook around September and don’t have any interest in reactivating it, so I’ll call that a win. I also slowed down a lot this year, though that was more imposed than intentional. However, I embraced the process. I will be very selective in what we bring “back” when we return to “normal.”
We also saw a net worth increase of 39%, mostly due to increased college savings, debt payoff, and a bananas market. Our net worth has minimal impact on our daily lives, but can present a useful picture of where we stand. Still under the Millionaire Next Door formula for wealth accumulation, but getting closer.
As a final note, I am so glad to put this horrible year behind us. I know that 2021 has had some bumps in the road already, but I am clinging to hope and peace as we usher in the next decade.
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