About Me
I’m a 31-year-old stay-at-home-mom. I am married to Mr. Penny, and together we have two kids, a 4 year old boy, Peanut, and 1 year old girl, Sweet Pea. We live on a low income in the Silicon Valley, a notoriously high cost of living region, and are working hard to get on sound financial footing, simplify and enjoy life.
This is a primarily a personal finance (sometimes more personal than finance) and frugal living blog, and I started it to track my challenge and stay accountable. Hopefully what I post is relevant and helpful for readers as well, but I am clearly not a professional and what you read here is not financial advice.
Contact Me
You can e-mail me at thesavedquarter (at) gmail (dot) com.
About The Saved Quarter
I’m writing this blog to document my journey from financial insecurity to financial independence and hope that you’ll join me.
You’ve likely heard the phrase penny wise, pound foolish used to describe a person who minds the small change without regard for the bigger picture. Unfortunately, this is where I have been thus far, and the fact that I’m not in uncontrollable debt is sheer luck. My husband and I live paycheck to paycheck, with no significant savings and no back up plan. It’s no way to live, and definitely not the way we want our children to handle their money as they grow. I am ready to take control and be both penny and pound wise.
Why “The Saved Quarter?”
Besides the obvious image of a change jar full of shiny coins, which can quickly demonstrate how small change adds up, The Saved Quarter offers a quick synopsis of my goal for 2010, and for this blog:
Save 3 months’ expenses (a quarter of the year),
or $6,000 (a quarter of our annual income.)
Of the eleven dictionary definitions of the word “save,” eight had clear connections to and help define my project.
Save
-verb, (used with object)
1. to rescue from danger or possible harm, injury, or loss
Because I am off the credit grid, so to speak, with no credit cards, mortgage, or job, and until November 2009 had only a years old single charge-off of a store credit card to reflect my credit-worthiness, my credit score is abysmal. I’m putting in the effort to rescue it now, with the goal of a score of 700 by December, 2010.
2. to keep safe, intact, or unhurt; safeguard; preserve
Our fledgling emergency fund is going into an interest-bearing, FDIC insured account that is easier for me to deposit into than withdraw out of, safeguarding it from that which would destroy it faster than Wall Street: myself.
3. to keep from being lost
Avoiding bank overdraft fees, which have been eating up a ridiculous amount of our modest income, and interest charges.
4. to avoid the spending, consumption, or waste of
I’ll be avoiding recreational shopping and making purchases only when they are needed, spending mindfully, with an effort toward lowering my family’s overall level of personal consumption, using our spending to support our values by purchasing durable products instead of those that are disposable, and creating less waste.
5. to keep, as for reuse; and 6. to set aside, reserve, or lay by
We’ll be paying our savings first rather than saving just what is leftover at the end of the month, which frequently ends up being nothing.
7. to treat carefully in order to reduce wear
Avoid paying full price on items we’ve mindfully chosen to buy by shopping second-hand, using sales, coupons, and rebates to stretch every penny.
8. to prevent the occurrence, use, or necessity of
Find ways to meet our needs that do not cost money, such as free events, bartering and trading, and borrowing before buying new.
(I couldn’t connect my goals to the last three definitions, but if you see a connection please leave it in the comments!
9. Theology. to deliver from the power and consequences of sin.
10. Computers. to copy (a file) from RAM onto a disk or other storage medium.
11. Sports. to stop (a ball or puck) from entering one’s goal.)
So 2010 is to be a year of great saving in just about every sense of the word for me and my family! We’ll be saving our quarters – the shiny coins and the dollars they add up to; 1/4 of our income for the unexpected; and our home and household from the discord that comes from poor money management.
At the same time, I am trying to consume more responsibly and make more sustainable choices, both environmentally and on my personal budget sheet. I want to have a life with more joy and less stuff.
Check out the Goals and Progress page to see how well I’m meeting my goals!
Your goals and progress is very funny and a wonderful reminder that little things add up to big things. BUT do you mean to say your income is $24,000? In The Bay Area? That is the MOST interesting part of this. Anytime you want to talk more about that I am listening. Income, your basic living costs -housing, utilities, cars, groceries, preschool. How you are managing these aspects of your financial life would also be helpful. Good luck. Looks like you are just ahead of your schedule for the $6000 savings! Reading in Belmont
Yes, our income is right around $24,000 a year, and we’re in the Palo Alto-Redwood City area. I posted where it comes from here:
I talked a little about our rent and utilities here:
I’ll post our March budget tomorrow with my February monthly wrap-up so you can see where the money goes. It’s not much, let me tell you, but we do manage to make it stretch!
Hi, I’m new to your blog and you may have answered this elsewhere (and I apologize if you have and I just didn’t find it), but when you save money from something, do you actually transfer the amount saved to another account/jar/what-have-you? So that the physical money is truly saved?
I just noticed above that you pay yourself savings first (YAY, so many people don’t do that, myself included for the longest time), so how do you save?? lol
Thanks in advance! Look forward to reading many more posts.
Rabbit, yes, I put the money in a separate account. $84 per month goes directly to my IDA. Everything else is in a savings account at my local credit union, with no debit card attached so it’s inconvenient for me to take money out. That physical money is truly saved. 🙂
AWESOME!!! Thanks for answering 🙂 I think I might try that, esp. when I come out of the grocery store and see “You’ve saved $25.” Why not put that $25 somewhere else instead of blowing it on something silly??? Thanks again!
Life’ is my fav game! i love deadlines and challenges!!!!
Lessons on life, were all out of my experiences!!!
appearances never impressed me!