2023 budget planning
June 18, 2024
I started this at the end of 2022! Added 2024 notes.
I’m tinkering a little with our 2023 spending/saving/investing budget. Most of it worked well this year so it’ll just be small tweaks.
Investing
In the first two quarters will be focused on maxing out PiC’s 401k. We usually opt to make high contributions in the year from his paycheck and add any bonus he might receive. This reduces our take home pay significantly. We experience shortfalls almost immediately on the same spending/savings plan that we used the month before so I have to nearly cut the auto-investing from cash flow until the 401(k) is done. Goal: max out a 401k and hit my arbitrary personal contributions goal for the brokerage. The arbitrary goal may be whatever I set for 2022. Or not. I’ll pick a number in March.
2024: We maxed out PiC’s 401k in the first quarter as usual. Then, a week ago, I got some information from a friend that I had never even dreamed of. I always assumed the company match was based on how much you contributed, period. Friend pointed out that some companies only match what you put in per paycheck so if you’re doing what we’ve done, making larger contributions at the start of the year, we’re possibly losing matching funds. I’m still trying to get the information from not helpful HR reps and to wrap my head around this for 2025.
Cash savings
Split between saving to spend (on property taxes) and saving to invest in our brokerage. In the first months of the year, cash savings will be dramatically reduced. I used to fight this tooth and nail because it felt like a failure but that was too self blaming. We can’t save and invest at the same rate for every account all the time. We make decent money, but not THAT good. Once the 401k is maxed out, the cash savings rate can inch back up. This felt like a duh but I needed someone to point it out so I still have my money issues.
2024: I don’t know how this feast and famine effect evened out by this year. I’d tinkered a lot with our savings auto-deposits and maybe found the right average amount to achieve that. Seems like I should know how I got here but … 🤷🏻♀️
Big spending:
We have both regular and irregular big ticket items to plan for. In no particular order: travel (including dogsitting which is $$$$) – annual, my life insurance policy – annual, a UPS for the router – one time, a power station for the house – one time. Maybe a car if one can be had for anything like a reasonable price.
2024: we still haven’t bought the UPS but the power station for the house was set up to take the place of that UPS. We plugged the router into the Yeti and it’s plugged into the wall so our service isn’t knocked out by a short power outage. I wouldn’t call the car purchase a reasonable price but I also know now that nothing was ever going for anything like my idea of a reasonable price. 2020 and 2022 me were blissfully ignorant of what a racket the car buying experience would become.
Monthly: Daycare and mortgage and property tax.
2024: same same and same.
Giving
We don’t budget specifically for giving because we just give every month. I treat it like our other monthly spending. As long as I don’t go over the aggregate monthly spending limit, then we can give / spend. I switch between just outright giving out of cash flow or opting to not buy some things for myself to reallocate those funds to worthy causes. The latter is a fine trade because mutual aid is important.
2024: also same. Though with Sera’s ill health, I have had to be less generous to others. We’re spending thousands each month for her. It’s painful in an abstract sort of way.
Giving my time
In this situation, my time is more valuable than my money. If I spend my time fundraising for the Lakota families effectively, we can collectively pull together a larger pool of money and then I can get that aid directly into the hands of families who need it. I’m still considering how we might do this in 2023 without the boosting effect of Twitter.
2024: still true. I’m lucky that there are still core supporters who remember the project and help now and again.
