Starting 2011 with $500

[jjoerger]

We are starting our New Year with $200 on our T Chek card and $300 in our checking account. All bills for January have been paid and everything else we have has been moved to our other accounts.
Our goal is to make it through the entire year without having to loan ourselves any money from savings.
Think we can make it?

 

[TeamCaffee]

I think you can do. When there is a will there is away. Good luck. I find a budget helps me plan.

 

[LDB]

If you are working most of January and have zero bills etc. before February I can't see how you won't make it unless you have REALLY made Murphy mad this year. Good luck with it.

 

[moose]

There is no way it will work out .no way .
although that money is in a separate account ,it is still readily available for use .and you did not emotionally departed from it correctly . and going to spend it .
you can give it to ME ,then you will not have to ever worry about spending it...

 

[bulldogmbm]

well i can tell u that i have less than that starting out this tear and its not starting out and i know i am going to make so if i can u can i spent the last month and half doing all those useless medical test and not getting no miles so i am really floating against the currant but i will make it although if u notice it is alot easier to not spend it if u dont have it at all lol

 

[Humble2drive]

Sounds like a fun and challenging New Year’s resolution. That is certainly possible; however, truck repair is unfortunately an expense that you do not have full control of. I would make two suggestions for this plan:

1) Make one of the “other” accounts an emergency repair fund that you can access easily and without guilt in order to keep your money tree working.
2) Make the other “other” accounts difficult to access. If it takes several steps to access the funds it will help you make it through those times of temptation. I am not judging your will power, this goes for anyone.

On another note. We met you briefly in Ontario, CA and didn’t know it until you posted your experience.
We were heading out to dinner with Jack and Donna when you came by and said you were going to DH to Texas. Makes me wonder how many EO members we run across without realizing who they are.
By the way, nice looking truck! It looks like a nice, no frills, class 8 investment that should serve you well.
Congrats and good luck!

 

[jjoerger]

Thanks Humble2drive. Were you the couple that had rented the car? Maybe next time we run across each other we will have more time to visit.

 

[Dispatcher03]

My wife and I's new years was actually to start saving exactly $1050/mo. Until $30,000 in the bank. But we start last Oct. Just made it permanent this year. So far so good. Only spend excatly what you need to be healthy and get to work. The end of that one. (Obviously aside from bills). Any extra money goes right to savings or movies and dinner depending on the amount. But minimum $1050 per month. And here recently we put a twist on it. 5% of everything spent that we shouldnt have spent immeditately gets transferred to the savings. It is strict but once you get rolling, it keeps you nice and busy and interested along the way learning new ways to save your money and dump it into savings.

 

[moose]

I would like to make a twist to the above comments .
all of this is nice and dendee ,
'as long as you donot have a high interest loan of any kind ' !

for example ,if one have a truck loan rated at 12% ,then the money in the 'saving' account is 'loosing' 12% of it's value .

the right perspective ,for an O/O ,is to understand the statue of a small business owner .

 

[nightcreacher]

I run my business on the advances I get from each load.I never go into my bank account to pay my truck bills.The advances I get will pay all my truck bills,and the expenses during the loads.The balance of my load pay goes for my house hold expenses.
If the advance on the load doesn't pay enough to take care of these expenses, then thats the main reason I will turn the load down