I submitted our taxes today. We are getting back a little over $10k which is super high but most of it is from having a kid in 2021 and qualifying for the child tax credits and 3rd stimulus. 

We are putting $3k into my Roth IRA, $3k for vacation, and I'm saving $4k so I can continue to "pay myself" a monthly salary. I don't want to use it and then have a deficit later in the year without my income. So I will continue to pull and use only $500 a month from my saved buffer towards specific savings or expenses. This is working well so far and making the transition to a one income household much easier. If husband has overtime (always does) or I bring in any extra income then I don't have to pull from the buffer. I have enough saved to keep receiving my previous salary for this entire year and therefore not put any strain on our normal budget. 

I still have the original $2k I saved for maternity leave back in September. I have pulled from it a couple times and then was able to refill it with extra income. So perhaps keeping a $6k buffer seems a bit superfluous but it makes me feel more comfortable about not having a job to rely on, and we could always pull from it in a pinch. Just increasing our emergency fund I guess.

2021 was a good year for us despite the pandemic. 

2021 Goal Priorities
1.) ($3,500 / $3,500) Medial OOP
2.) Regrade Yard & Install Water Heater
3.) ($3,000 / $3,000) Vacation

We managed to complete all our goals, plus some extra ones! We gutted and redid our kitchen which was $10k+, we got a much newer car as a gift from family, we had a new baby and didn't need to take out any medical loans for our crazy high out of pocket expenses $7k+ and we managed to survive on only one income. 

2022 feels comfortable and I am unsure what goals I have. Almost everything I can think of it less about money and more about living. Which is good I think. I no longer have to have laser focus to pay down debt or save for the next big purchase... we are okay and happy. 

But here are a few easy to reach things I want to accomplish this year. 

Goal 1.) $5,000 Added to Roth IRAs

I have already put in $775 and with another $3k earmarked from our tax return this will be easy but necessary since we have put retirement on the back burner that last couple years while having and paying for children. We are nearing 30 years old and need to make this a priority. Extra income will probably also be added to this. 

We also just bumped husband's 401k contribution up to the match which is 5%.

Goal 2.) New Water Line & Bury Gutters

This was sort of part of last year's goal which got pushed back because the price of materials went from $2 a foot to $10. (Yikes!) Money is there and we will wait until prices regulate before finishing the project. 

Goal 3.) Go on Vacation

This is a reoccuring goal. We always try to take a long vacation somewhere and make memories. We have one big and several shorter trips planned this year. Approximately $3,000 for the main one. 

Goal 4.) Be More Organized

Not a financial goal but a personal one. I would really like to be a better steward of my time. Which means keeping a cleaner house, cooking more healthy meals, and wasting less of my time on things like social media and stuff that doesn't matter. This will be my first full year not working (except my web design which I am doing minimally). With our finances pretty much on auto pilot and us now being a family of four it's time to get the rest of our house in order. Which will help free me up for my last goal.

 Goal 5.) Enjoy Life

I want to spend more time enjoying the important things and things I love. Spending more fun time with the kids, such as going to the park, library, swimming. More time with my goats, more time with friends, etc. 

Here's to 2022!

Cash/Liquid Savings:

$1,214 Animal Fund ($209)
$7,537 Escrow Fund ($5,814)
$6,427 Checkings ($1,700)
$20 Car Fund ($1,805)
$1,491 HSA ($416)

$16,689 Total Liquid Savings ($9,944)

Retirement:

$45,294 DH's 401K ($34,945)
$5,463 DH's IRA ($4,892)
$15,337 My IRA ($13,741)

$66,094 Total Retirement ($53,578)

Liabilities:

-$119,044 Mortgage (-$121,847)

Assets:

$185,000 House
$20,000 in Cars (not counted in figures)

2021 Total Net Worth: $148,739 ($126, 675)
2021 Net Worth without Mortgage & House: $82,783 ($63,522)

Numbers in () are 2020 figures for comparison.

Some of the 2020 numbers are best estimate because I did not post a detailed net worth update last year. But I do have all the figures in my budgeting software. In 2021 we managed to stay out of consumer debt, went on vacation, got a newer car, paid for another baby with cash, made some significant home improvements, and I quit my job to be a SAHM! Lots of changes and we still managed to raise our net worth! Here is to hoping next year is even better!

Debts

Mortgage −$119,043.50 (-$234.37)

Savings

Roth IRAs +$20,800 (-$571)
401K +$45,294 (+$2,217)
Emergency Fund +$9,287 (-$129)
Maternity Fund +$2,000 (-$100)
Animal Fund +$1,215 (+$1)
Car Fund +$20 (-$0)
HSA +$1,491 801 (-$310)

Overall: +$1,522.37

Work's end of the year retirement deposit is the only thing that kept us in the green this month. Thankfully depsite most of these numbers being down we are actually in pretty good shape this month. There is a lot of money that I don't count or include in these numbers. We have about $3k more in our checking account at any given time that we have saved to pay for the month's bills, eating out, etc. Since I use YNAB I have enough extra money on hand to basically pay for a full month of expenses at any given time that I don't figure in the numbers above. I will make another post about year end net worth and our past and future goals.