Eisor's Personal Finance Blog

So, I found out yesterday that I have to shell out $48.50 for a background check! They changed the policy this semester regarding our observing & student teaching. The previous policy required a $5 background check be preformed for Student Teaching experiences. Now, a $48.50 background check must be completed before doing any type of observing or teaching in a school. Although I student teach next semester, I am taking an observation class this semester.

So, the $5 fee I was expecting to pay in January, just increased $43.50 and must be paid NOW!

Lastly, my DH called Allstate to change our renter's insurance from one apartment to another (same complex). It tripled!! We downsized, and our insurance tripled! Thankfully, I called Statefarm today (who my insurance is with) and we'll be saving $16.92 a month! YAY! Also, my DH realized, he'd save about $50 every 6 months by transferring his auto insurance over as well. So, come October, we'll have all our insurance with State Farm (except my ring).

That brings me to my next subject, jewelry insurance. Currently, my engagement ring is insured on a separate policy with Jeweler's Mutual. The policy is pretty cheap, or at least I think. Our renter's insurance only covers $1,000 worth of jewelry. My ring is worth $2,500 and my DH's wedding band is $600. So, I figured the renter's insurance can cover the band and we'll keep the separate policy for my engagement ring. To increase the coverage on our renter's insurance, it would cost $2-3 a month more, and that'd still be more than our separate policy. So, no savings to be had there. (Unless I'm missing something).

I also saved more money yesterday. I am a Business Education major and my program is always changing to keep up with the technology. This semester they changed the software we are to use for my class. Unfortunately, I do not have the new software. So, I had to re-budget for traveling to my school just to do my homework. That would cost me ~$8 a trip. That costs adds up real quick. Thankfully, I found out yesterday, we can borrow the software from the school as long as we sign an agreement saying we'll uninstall it after the class is over! This is the first semester they have done this, so I'm super excited! I paid them a $10 deposit, that I'll get back when I return the software. So, "YAY!" for more savings!

Lastly, my DH just got a new job because his current employer is selling/closing. Well, he was offered a pretty nice bonus if he stayed until they closed or were sold. We decided that it wouldn't be best for him to stay, and he should accept the new position. Well, it looks like his company may be sold next week. If this happens, he'll still get his bonus! So, we are praying that it does get sold, because that money will definitely be great to put in the bank.

Ok. I've decided to start couponing and I'm ready to get started!

I stopped by my mom's house yesterday and picked up all the coupons she had. This morning I started clipping all the ones that haven't expired.

I read online about shipping expired coupons overseas to military families. I think this is a great idea. Anyone ever do this? If so, anything I should know?

My mom gets the coupons mailed to her for free. So, I looked into the mailer she gets and found more information about it. Apparently the Atlanta paper puts together a REACH Jacket which has local coupons on it. Then, inside they put some Sunday paper ads and the Sunday coupons. They mail it out on Mondays & Tuesdays for free. I'm not sure how to get on the mailing list though. I've emailed customer service and hope to receive a response. It'd be great if I could get the coupons free too! Then, I'll have two packs of coupons every week for free.

I'm super excited and how that all works out with the Atlanta paper and I can get added to the list!

Wow. It's been over a year since I've blogged here.

I definitely learned a lot my first time around at savingsadvice.com and it feels great to be back.

I re-read a few of my previous posts and I wanted to provide an update.

I did purchase a car. It's a 1996 Toyota Camry and I've had it for a year now. I bought it with 90,212 miles and it had a clean Carfax report. Unfortunately, the dealership lied to me directly regarding quite a few things and I spent two months in and out of the dealership every few days. I probably hit about 30-45 visits during those two months. But, everything got fixed and it passed emissions (which wasn't tested before I bought it!!). It's been running great since. I've put 23,000 miles on the car in one year, which is actually much less than I expected.

I also read about purchasing Stone Mountain annual passes. We did use them pretty frequently, but not enough to justify buying them again this year.

I am still attending the college that is 47 miles away. This summer and fall, my classes have been online, so I haven't been making the drive too often. So, that has saved a lot of money.

I just got married a couple weeks ago, so I've pretty much spent the entire last year planning our wedding. I'm happy to say that we were able to have a wonderful wedding for less than $5k and we did not have to go into debt.

Now that I'm married and no longer living at home, I feel the need to get back on the money saving band waggon. My DH and I have a lot of financial goals & obligations. We want to do things right from the very beginning.

My DH works for a bank that will be selling or closing in the near future. He took a significant pay cut to get into the banking profession. Last week, he accepted an offer with another bank and will be making what he was before the pay cut. He'll start 9/5.

I am still working with the medical malpratice wholesaler. I actually received a raise a couple months ago.

So, right now we are working on saving money wherever we can.

We do not have cable, internet or a land-line phone.

I'm going to watch our cell minutes over the next couple months and see if we can decrease our family plan.

I am starting to collect coupons and watch the sales flyers.

We don't use our AC unless we absolutely must.


Right now our bank accounts are still separate, but we are going to try a joint account approach. We are waiting until my DH gets things set up with his new bank before we start moving our accounts around.

Right now we have an EmigrantDirect account for our savings. We plan on opening an ING Electric Orange Checking account. Then, we'll keep a local account at my DH's bank. Ideally, those will be the only accounts we will have open come the end of September.

I know this post is long, but I wanted to give everyone a basic understanding of where we are.

I plan to keep this updated on a pretty regular basis. I really want to put a lot of effort into saving money.

I did sooo much this weekend. Considering all I was able to do, I don't think I spent that much money.

Friday night 2 of my sisters were going to get their nails done. My BF called to say he was going to work late. So, I decided to tag along with my sisters knowing that it would probably be a huge waste of money, but still an enjoyable time. My mom ended up tagging along as well. We had lots of fun...plus, my sister ended up treating everyone!

Saturday, I made invitations for my sister's baby shower. My mom is covering the costs of the shower and I'm in charge of planning it. (well, for the most part) The invitations took FOREVER...but they were sooo cute. My BF and I then headed over to Stone Mountain for the evening. (Stone Mountain is kind of like an amusement park but without the rides.) We decided to get a annual pass. It ended up costing $59. But, it will definitely be worth it.

Then on Sunday I had bible study, lunch with the family and then, my BF and I ended up going back to Stone Mountain. It was fun. I bought dinner, so that cost about $16.

So overall, I only spent $75. But, the annual pass will allow us to go to Stone Mountain like every weekend and not have to pay to go to any of the attractions. It also gives my BF a discount of golf which will help him out in the long run. So, imo, it was well spent.

For the week, I don't plan on eating out at all! (Except maybe Friday night...we'll see.)

For a quick update on the car situation, I carfaxed a car I liked and was NOT happy with the results. Looks like I'm back to looking again. I did however find many ads for the specific make & model I like using Carfax's classifieds section. I emailed the dealerships and I'm waiting for a response.

I'm starting to get back on track!

After my taxes threw my finances for a spin, I started to get money back into my checking account. Then, transferring to a new school cost me a lot more money in gas which pretty much cut my checking account down again. But, it's been almost a week since my last day of classes and I already see a difference. I have money sitting my account and it MUCH more than I have charged on my credit cards (which for once is REALLY low...I've been to busy to do anything...it's pretty much just gas and a few school expenses). So, I'm getting ahead. YAY!!!

Also, I've determined that by the end of the month, I will be able to put $800 more towards my car. That leaves me with at least $6,400! YAY!

How can I put another $800 towards my car? Well, this week I will have worked 11 more hours than I usually work. Plus, during the next two weeks I will work a total of 50 hours more than usual! YAY!!! I plan on putting ALL of my extra money in savings and towards my car. I'm soooo happy!

Also, I have three cars that I have that are exactly what I want! They range in price from $5,900 to $7,495. I just need to contact the people and then check the carfax, narrow it down to the one I like, and get it checked out by a technician. I should be checking out the cars in person tomorrow. I'm so happy. This will be MY first car. I will own it. (well, my dad's name will also be on the title, but it will be MINE.) This is a huge step for me. My biggest purchase yet.

So, I ended up spending over $350 on gas during May and June (so far). That isn't bad considering I was driving over 100 miles a day. I can't wait to get my new car because the gas milage will be 40 mpg. That will help save a lot of money!!!

Ok, so it's been a while. Like I said before, I'm busy.

But, I made $121 over Memorial weekend working for my dad. Also, I worked extra hours last week making an extra $60. YAY! It's all going to my car right now.

About my car, the one I wanted was sold to someone else. I have a couple of cars I'm interested in and I plan on calling the owners up this weekend. I also want to stop by a few car dealerships during the next week. Hopefully I'll find time in my schedule.

On a different note, I might have found some medical insurance. My family currently doesn't have any (LONG LONG LONG story). But, I feel as though I should get it. Especially with driving such a long distance so often. I can get a really good deal through school where they pay for half of it. It is only valid at the health center UNLESS you get treated on the when the health center is closed (weekends & holidays) or when you are at least 30 miles away from campus! That is great because I live 47 miles away from campus! So, I will be able to continue seeing my regular doctor and just pay the co-pay. (He's in-network...i checked.) Plus, my parents offered to help with this expense. So, I'll most likely be joining the plan in the fall.

This past week has been REALLY rough on my budget. I've been so tired, so I've been sleeping in. This means I've been leaving later and not having time to eat breakfast or pack my lunch before I go. Man, the costs have added up. I MUST get back on track. I've come to notice that eating out is the ONLY thing I'm having a hard time adjusting to.

But, I guess that is it for now...must get moving on other things.

Oh my goodness! I'm sooo busy. School is crazy. My teacher is very strange. He doesn't teach. It's very interesting. But because of this, we have to put a lot of work into the class!

So, I calculated the mpg for my sister's car. The first two tanks I ended up with 25 mpg. And this morning (my thrid time filling up) I got 21 mpg. That isn't terrible. Just not as good as I wanted. But, with gas prices declining, I'm still spending ~$10/day to go to school.

I've also looked back on my gas purchases for the semester so far, and here is how much I've spent:
5/15 $39.80
5/17 $26.00
5/20 $35.15
5/24 $29.18
Total $130.13
I started with a completely EMPTY tank. And I fill up at approx. 1/2 empty. So, So if I deduct the half a tank I don't use (~$20) I have used ~$110 of gas. For ~10 days (because it will last me through friday). So, I'm at about $11 a day not including gas usage for the weekends. I'm pretty much on budget! YAY!! (I made sure to add some extra $ to my budget to account for flucuating gas prices.)

On a different note, I'm (finally) getting into my classes that apply to my major. The only downfall with this is that I'm wanting to keep some of my books. This definitely will make college cost a lot more. I'm going to have to start deciding if it is really a NEED to keep my books. I know some of my business books won't be worth keeping because they will be outdated within one or two years.

I decided that RIGHT after classes end this semester I'm going to diligently be searching for a car! I have until June 23rd to get a new one. (May be a little longer because my dad hasn't sold my car yet!) I'm really leaning to a small car that is fuel efficient (at least 30 mpg).

Today begins my long commute to my new school. Gas went back up to $2.89. I filled up this morning and it cost me almost $40! Yikes. But, I'm prepared for it and that is what matters. I also applied for parking ($30) and that was posted to my school online account. Which I plan to pay off tonight after it posts. I realized that all along I've been calculating my mpg incorrectly. Since I will be driving my sister's car (per my dad's request), I will actually be spending more on gas than I previously calculated. My sister never kept track of her gas mileage, so I'm going to calculate it on this tank of gas. Then, I'll have a really good estimate of how much gas I'll be using this summer. Hopefully it is close to the 31 mpg I get with my normal car.

This weekend was tough. I ended up spending more than I anticipated. But, with school starting back up, I plan on getting back on track.

I found a car for sale that might be a possibility. It is a 2000 Toyota Echo in my price range. PLUS, it gets approx. 38 mpg! YAY! But, I have to find time to drive over to the dealership to check it out.

The semester has ended!! YAY!!! I had my last final last night....well, sort of. My teacher actually told us we didn't have to take the final if we were happy with our grade. I had a B and needed 103% on the final to get an A. Not possible. So I didn't have to take my final.

I now know 3 of my grades. Two B's and a C. That was a disappointing discovery, but the class was hard. I'm just waiting to find out if I got an A or B in my last class. Most likely a B though.

Yesterday I got $74 for selling back my Economics book! YAY! They aren't taking back my Accounting book because they are changing additions (What a shocker! ::eyes rolling:. But, my friend found out that she didn't pass and must take it again, so I gave her my book. (She was borrowing a friends this semester.)

Also, I got my Discover card! YAY! Just in time. I already signed up for my 5% back on gas. I calculated I will get ~50 cents back every day I commute to school!

On a not so exciting note...school starts back up in less than a week. But, that's not what we are celebrating!!!

YAY!

Comparing April to March, I spent $30 less eating out and $30 less on gas!! Although, it went to paying off my taxes, it still allowed me to not have to get into my savings.

It just shows I am making some progress. Especially since I didn't start cutting back until half way through April. May should definitely have great numbers!

Today was my accounting final! Now, I only have one left. Let me just say that, this final cost me a little bit of money. I ended up studying until 1:00 am. Because of this, my friend and I needed to go somewhere and it was 9:00 pm. We ended up going to Waffle House. And you can't just go to WH without buying anything. So, we both ended up getting dinner. I treated. My friend had a coupon so, the meal ended up being $7. But, that was including a REALLY REALLY nice tip. (We couldn't just sit at the table and not give a good tip.) But, it got busy and we pretty much got kicked out around 11:00 or so. We ran over to steak and shake and they were packed. So, next stop IHOP. We went there and I got dessert. I had to order something. But, my friend treated this time. So, it didn't cost me anything. We ended up stopping at 1:00 am. I then got up this morning at 5:00 am (AHHHH!!!). I got gas (for $2.64!!) and ended up buying a quick breakfast. Then, downtown I went.

I thought that I would regret going out Friday night, but it was really needed. It is sooo much easier to study when I'm not at home and those places are really all that is open at those hours of the night. I didn't really spend that much and I justify it as a much needed break. Hehe.

BTW, I should be finding out my accounting grade on Monday. I think I'm going to end up with a C in the class. My first C. That's no fun. But, I knew going into this semester it was a possibility. I took the 4 hardest classes of my major in one semester! (I had to because they are prerequisites for everything else!)

Also, I already know for sure that I have one B. Just waiting to find out the rest of my grades.

Today I spend money, but I made money. I went out to lunch. This is still the thing I'm having the biggest problem with. But, I'm definitely making progress. I ended up staying 30 minutes late at work. Plus, I went in 30 minutes early. And, I went in early on Tuesday. So, my paycheck is going to look pretty nice next week. Also, since I had to stay late a work, I had to cancel my chiropractic appointment. This, in turn saved me ANOTHER 30 miles! Yay!

Also, I figured out what I'm getting my mom for mother's day and I'm going to end up spending $20. I feel good about that.

I got an email today saying that Discover has approved my application and I should be receiving my card real soon. It's going to arrive before school starts! YAY! I'm going to sign up for the Cashback Bonus they have going right now, which is 5% back on gas. This is good until June 30th. It's better than nothing. Plus, I wanted another card for emergency purposes.

So, today was a pretty good day. Tomorrow should be just as good. I think it will be my FIRST no spend day. I don't plan on going anywhere tomorrow. I can't. I will be working for my dad's company in the morning (I'm pretty much his secretary) and then studying, studying, studying!!! My accounting final is at 8:00 am on Saturday and I MUST get a B on it!

So, yesterday just was NOT a good day, spending wise, for me. I spent more money than I should have. So, after lunch today, I must stop spending.

I will be saving some money tonight, though. I was supposed to go the 20 miles to my Accounting review session tonight. However, my teacher had to bump it up 3 hours and I will no longer be able to attend. That means that is 40 less miles I will be traveling. Which is 1.33 gallons less. Which is a savings of $3.63 (I was able to fill up for $2.72 on Tuesday!! )

So, I guess that is a plus. Hehe. I'm trying. But, I AM going to get back on track. No spending this weekend! That's my goal. Considering I can't go anywhere tomorrow night (I MUST study!!), this shouldn't be to hard.

I made approximately $134 today.

This morning I worked for my dad's company and should be making around $50. Then, I sold back two of my textbooks (one more to go and it is worth $75) and got back $84.

I unfortunately spent some as well. I bought a salad and some chips for dinner because I was sooo hungry. Then, that made me thirsty, so I ended up buying a drink.

Oh yeah, an update on last night. I ended up going to Target last night with my little sister. We had lots of fun. While I was there, I remembered that I needed to go card shopping. So I ended up getting 3 Mother's Day cards, 2 college graduation cards and 1 anniversary card. Then, my BF needed dish soap, so I got it for him. I also bought my little sister some icee flavoring and then some dinner.

But, I still feel like I did pretty good. I used to go into Target and buy so much stuff. I left with things that I will actually use.

Last night ended up being fun. I personally didn't spend any money. My BF and I came back to my house and cleaned my room. Then we went out with a couple of my friends to the movie. (He paid for the movie...hehe.) My friend is a manager at Pizza Hut, so she had a pizza in the car. (Free dinner!!! YAY!!) And she was kind enought to bring me Dr. Pepper. Aren't friends great?!?

Today, I was going to take my little sister shopping. We weren't actually going to buy anything (yeah...right....i'll keep telling myself that!). I just wanted to do something to get out of the house and we always have fun trying on clothes and stuff. BTW, she's only 10 but LOVES fashion and LOVES shopping. I mean, what do you expect when she has four older sisters. But, anyways, we didn't end up going. Not sure why though, I think it is because I ended up getting online and I think my parents are taking her out to the movies.

So, I didn't spend any money today. That's cool. I don't know what I'm going to end up doing tonight, but I probably won't spend any money.

On a side note: Just recently my BF started a fairly strict diet. Because of this he can't really eat out. It just ends up being to much work. This is really nice because we would always take turns paying whenever we went out on a date. It definitely has saved me a LOT of money.

Another quick note:
I determined today that my absolute latest deadline for buying a car is June 23rd. That is when my sister returns from Italy and needs her car back. So within the next month, I will begin diligently searching.

I applied for parking a couple days ago for fall semester. It got me thinking of my expenses for school. I calculated what summer semester is going to cost me and here is what I discovered:

Summer:
Gas - $10/day x 35 days = $350
Parking = $30
Textbooks = $100
Total = $480

Fall:
Gas - $10/day x 20 days = $200
Parking - $10/month x 5 = $50
Textbooks = ~$300
Total = ~$550

Note: Gas only includes getting from my house to school. It does not include work or errands. Also, for fall semester it does not include gas that I will need for observing local schools.

But, today my mom told me that my dad is planning on trying to help me out a little with the money for gas. Although, I also realized that I should be ok for Summer. If he still wants to contribute, I'll probably save it for Fall.

I just can't help but imagine where I would be if I didn't have my tuition paid for through a scholarship. It would be very very difficult to be going through college without any debt.

I realized AGAIN tonight how much LASIK is really a NEED. It isn't even a want anymore. I really do need it. And in my opinion it is worth EVERY penny. My eyes are TERRIBLE! I mean absolutely horrible. To give you mind picture, you can stand two feet in front of me and if I don't have my glasses on, your face is a blur. That is TERRIBLE! I can't where contacts anymore because they were making my eyes so sensitive to the sun that I couldn't even open my eyes if they were in. Apparently as your eyes get worse, the more sensitive they are to the sun. Glasses for me are so outrageously priced. I have to get the thinnest lenses they make, thus equally at least $130 for the lenses alone. That's crazy. Then, I can't have just one pair, because if something happens to one...i'm screwed. I can't drive, I really, honestly can't function. So, I have to keep both pair with me at all times. It honestly is risky for my ability to function to rely on a small item that is made of thin wire or plastic. LASIK is a must. If it works for me, I will no longer be in this situation. I'm believing I'll have enough saved up to get LASIK by 2008, hopefully before I'm married. We'll see.

Sorry, random ranting. My glasses just got bent tonight (I haven't even had them very long) and it just reestablished the fact that need LASIK.

Let me first start off by saying I got paid today! That was definitely needed. I also was able to pick up three extra hours at my regular job (which is the better paying job) YAY! So, that will add some fluff to next week's paycheck. It was definitely a blessing.

Secondly, I saved some money tonight! YAY! Our town does movies throughout the summer downtown, in the park. So, they were showing Robots tonight. My mom and sister went out to dinner before, but I kindly declined. Instead, my boyfriend and I packed a picnic (and saved some more money). It was definitely fun and Robots is a really funny movie.

Overall, I think today was a pretty good day. Tomorrow, my boyfriend is treating me to a few hours at the driving range. So that won't cost me anything. And then tomorrow evening, I'm heading to see the Braves play the Mets for only $2.50!!! That's what I call a GREAT deal.

Ok, I guess I can't just leave on that note and not explain how I'll be getting such a great price. Well, Turner Field (where the Braves play) has a $1 Clark Howard section (the seats are the worst and there is NO chance of sitting closer), and then the general upper level is $5. But, if you buy tickets on game day and you have student ID, you can get buy one get one free seats for any level (except the $1 seats). So, all my friends and I are going to head up there for a cheap night at the ball park.

So, I thought I would elaborate more why my taxes were so high.

Last year I had three W-2s and one 1099. Up until October, I was a contract laborer with my company. And, three different people ended up paying me throughout the year. Then, working for the same company, I ended up getting hired by the staffing company that my company contracts with. It is all a bit confusing. But, to set things straight, I didn't get taxes withheld until October.

As a matter of fact, I've ALWAYS owed money. Every job I have had has been contract labor.

This year I paid over $1000 in estimated taxes, so I didn't realize I would still owe as much as I did. I just wastn't prepared. But I used a tax program to calculate my taxes. And I also did them by hand, because I thought it was high as well. But, it was correct.

When you are contract labor you are consider self-employed, so you have to pay 15% FICA. (The employee's portion and the employer's portion.) So, it adds up.

Sadly, I'll face the same issue again because with my second part-time job, which I started this year, I am contract labor again. But, at least this time, I'll have money set aside.

I'm currently at a point where I feel like I am completely broke. I'm sitting in class right now and I'm going over my finances. I've been using Microsoft Money for the past couple months to track my expenditures. I currently have about 6 months of records in.

Since I feel like I have no money to spend right now, I asked myself "Where does it all go?"

I noticed that, yeah, my Food: Dining Out was pretty high. But, for the past 2 weeks, I've turned that around. I've been trying really hard to pack my lunch and cook dinner more.
I then noticed that I was spending a lot at Walmart & Target. This was all clothes and other household stuff (also known as JUNK). But I also noticed, I haven't gone shopping for clothes or JUNK in almost 3 weeks.
Pretty much, I noticed that although I've MAJORLY cut back spending the last couple weeks, I still haven't gotten ahead at all.

Then I realized...those darn taxes are still kicking me in the butt. I ended up owing a total of $694 to the government. For me, that is a LOT of money. Almost a whole month's income!!

These taxes just really messed me up. I finally decided to get my finances together and I've been working so hard to save money. And now I have nothing to show for it.

I now see the benefit of budgeting money for things. Had I set aside money every month for my taxes, I would not be in the position I am in now.

I thought I would elaborate more on my current situation with my car.

I have been saving for a year now for my car. My dad, in order to help me out, has agreed to match what I save up to $3000.

I currently have $2200 that I've saved. Plus another $500 that was given to me. My dad told me he will go ahead and give me the $3000. That leaves me with a total $5700 for my new car. Also, my dad has agree to buy $1300 of the car (which I can later buy back from him). This leaves me with a total of $7000 for a new car.

I'm very confident that I can get a really good used car for this amount of money.

Also, I've now figured out that I will not be needing a new car until June. This gives me some time to find the best used car for me.

Once I get active in searching for a car, I will post more updates.

This is my first posting on my blog! YAY!

My journey began a few short weeks ago when I first found savingadvice.com. My original plan was to transfer my limited amount of savings into an Emigrant Direct account. I spent about a week looking into this and the day I finally decided to do it, things changed.

Apparently my dad isn't too fond of the idea of taking my 1992 Nissan Sentra on the 100 mile trip everyday to school. Which means, it's time for a new (used) car.

At first this seemed like the end of my savings. However, my sister is studying abroad this summer and brought up the idea that I use her car while she is gone! Great idea!!!

I still need to buy a new car, but this buys be a little more time. I think I'm going to reconsider the idea of putting my savings into a Emigrant Direct account.

On a side note, here are my upcoming expenses that I'm trying to save for:

Very Short Term: (within the next couple months)
1. Summer semester - ~$500
2. Fall semester - ~$800
3. New Car - ~$7000
4. A few minor medical expenses - ~$150

Short Term: (within the next couple years)
1. Wedding - ~$5000
2. Honeymoon - ~$2000
3. LASIK - ~$2500
4. Dental Work - ~$5000
5. Tuition for my last semester in college - ~$3000

Long Term:
1. Retirement
2. Home (purchased with cash)

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned because I plan to keep updates on the progress of my saving for all my goals.