I’ve been really thinking about my savings in a new way recently. Before, I just put about $600 per month away in addition to two paychecks and my tax returns so far this year. Now I’ve evaluated my total savings to see where I really should be putting my money. It gives me new focus and a defined commitment of how I should be saving, why I’m saving and how much to commit each month.

Summary of Savings

EF $9046.13
Car (new) $300.00
Vacation $2283.38
HSA $1035.95

I will be able to commit just one more installment of $300 to my emergency fund next month. This is due to a furnace I bought last year so my landlord gave me a year’s worth of rent free to pay back the interest I lost but it was a better profit than if it had stayed in there so I’m not complaining. I live with a roommate so my half of the rent is $250. Then it will be $50 a month to the EF for the rest of the year until my debt is paid. I get an “extra” paycheck in October since I budget myself on two biweekly paychecks a month and that month will be three. The other 50% will go on my credit cards.

I’ve decided to take the car money that I’ve been putting away without thinking and commit to applying it only to my car replacement/repair fund. I paid off this car last year and ever since I’ve been sticking the $300 away without a thought as to its true purpose. I added it to my emergency fund but I’m too lazy to do the true math to separate it out. I had some car repairs that totaled approximately $1k which threw off what I had really saved to the penny including interest. Instead I’ll start from square one.

My vacation fund is for my trip to Orlando next week. I really hope I don’t have to use this fund. So far I’ve been paying for it out of take home pay. Whatever I’m able to spare will be left there for now. I am planning a surprise trip to Georgia to surprise my pregnant cousin on her baby shower. The ticket is going to be cheap so I’m expecting it to come out of take home pay and I won’t have to pay for a hotel or food since I can stay with my family. I’ll be adding to it monthly for next year’s trips but if it gets out of hand I’ll transfer any excess to the EF.

I have a high deductible health plan for now. I don’t know if that’s going to change since my employer may be looking into another health care plan. I’m currently committing $50 per month since I’m now using it but I plan to contribute at least $100 a month when my debt is paid. My goal is to get this fund to $1500 just to avoid the $3.95 monthly maintenance fee.

I also save my spare dollars and change when I get a twenty out of the ATM. I rarely carry cash on me and when I do I tend to spend it just because it’s there. As soon as I can I try to deposit the loose money into an old jug I’ve re-purposed as my spare cash and change bank. I try to empty it out a few times a year to add to my debt so for now I won’t count this money toward savings as long as it’s going for debt repayment.

Stay tuned for my debt payoff strategy!