Alright alright alriiiight! Welcome to another rousing Challenge update post where I share everything we’ve put into our new savings account here in hopes it motivates you to do the same :) It really is unbelievable how fast these dollars add up… And I’ll tell you this much – time just keeps on going too, whether we want it to or not!
So if you’re not banking anything these days, today’s as good as a time as ever to start. At the very least, check out this new service I’m now obsessed with called Digit. It’ll take you 4 minutes to sign up and then you can go back to being lazy while it does the saving for you – hah.
Here’s what this month’s Challenge Savings balance looks like:
That’s exactly $820.65 more than we had last month in our Challenge Savings acct. Again, simply by making a few tweaks to our recurring bills and funneling all other “extra” money we receive throughout the month into it. Whether from Craigslist hustling or other ways we randomly happen across money.
It’s pretty crazy because every month I swear nothing new is going to come our way out of the blue, and every month I’m surprised all over again. A good problem to have, of course, but really makes you realize just how variable our money can be. And how much of it we end up spending if we’re not paying attention! Yet another reason why *tracking your money* is important too. It does wonders to your wallet, but also your spirit.
Here’s how much we’ve saved since starting this boring ridiculous sexy experiment:
That’s an average of $523.54 a month so far. To put this in perspective, you could MAX OUT AN ENTIRE IRA at the end of the year and still having $800 left over to do as you please. Not too bad for money you weren’t even counting on! We’ll see how long this trend lasts, but regardless I’m having a helluva time thinking about all the possibilities of what this money can get me in another 8 months… That’s perhaps the best gift of all ;)
(For those new to the site, I’ve made a strict rule with myself to *not touch* a penny of this money until the 12 months are over so I can fully appreciate the power of this Challenge Everything project. I know it’s dumb to miss out on all the earnings not having it invested, and that we’re making peanuts on our savings, but the motivational factor trumps all right now so I could care less… At the end of the year we’ll put it somewhere much more wiser – promise.)
Here’s how this $820.65 breaks down…
Cell Phones — You can read all about it here, but we basically gave up our iPhones with Verizon and switched to Republic Wireless cutting our costs from $170.04 a month to $57.46. A move we were initially scared about, but now enjoying those free $100 bills float our way monthly. (Or, at least I am ;) My wife tells me she misses her old iPhone now and says I’m lucky we’re saving so much or else she’d switch back – hah!)
Cable/Internet/Phone — This one we just blogged about on Friday, but in a nutshell we dropped our monthly bill from $170.77 down to $80.71 by making a few phone calls and changing up our setup (we had an old ass TV and upgraded to a modern one so we could take advantage of streaming online services, such as Netflix – which will soon add an extra $9 bucks or whatever going forward now that the free month is over). There’s always a chance in the future we’ll nix cable altogether, but right now we pay a few bucks more than having internet-only which we need for our careers/lives, so it’s a price we’re more than willing to pay for the joy it brings.
Car Insurance — This 15 minute move has saved us $30.59 every month for a solid 5 months now and required a single phone call to USAA (which we’ve used, and recommended, going on two decades now). That’s a solid $150 and counting. #BAM
Old TV Sold! — Our weekly Craigslist Habit continues to be in full effect! The only real habit that still remains from all of 2014 endeavors, haha… With the exception of our water jug trick – the only thing that’s FINALLY gotten me to drink a decent amt of water now after 34 years! Loving that… Anyways, here’s a pic of the TV we just sold for $80.00. The guy who bought it is putting it down in his basement so his kids can play all their video games on it :) Pretty good idea, right?
Painted Kitchen Table Sold — I WISH I had taken pics of this earlier, but alas I did not…. This table I picked up, along with 4 chairs, for like $20 bucks I wanna say a half-dozen years ago off Craigslist, and then now just flipped for a respectable $50 for the table alone :) I had painted the top of it this cool looking antique-blue before we got our latest hand-me-down kitchen table (you’d be proud of me, Serena), and then my mom took it to some antique thrift place who ended up selling it for me. I only got $35 of it since they take a 25% commission, but what do I care. I doubled my money and still have the chairs we continue to use! Score!
Toyota Lawsuit Check — This is the most random of them all this month, haha… Neither my wife nor I still know why we got this check in the mail, but apparently there was some lawsuit relating to “Unintended Acceleration Marketing, Sales Practices” we benefited from (my wife owns a 2005 Toyota Corolla) so I promptly deposited it right off my smart phone (yeah USAA!) and our account got $30 plumper. It’s like money just falls out of the skies sometimes!
USAA Dividends –– This is reason #9,008 why I love and use USAA for all my stuff. Not only do they offer killer customer service and mad low rates for car insurance (as shown above) but they give you back some of the profits every year as well. I should go back and add up just how much we’ve received over the years so far, but I reckon we’d be somewhere close to the $1,000 range by now. What institutions do you know that give you back free money at the end of the year?
Sold Dart Board — This one was a shock for me, to be honest. I was scrambling to find something to post up on my usual Friday CL listing, and then stumbled across this old beaten up thing in my basement which hadn’t been touched in years. I originally picked it up to be used with my fancy metal darts I received as a groomsmen gift a while back (also never used), but then kids happened, and, well, they don’t go to well with sharp pointy things ;) So I listed it up on the site for $5.00 fully expecting to be lowered down to the buck or two I had originally paid for it at a yard sale awhile back, and in came a bite and it was out the door in a flash. Oddly enough picked up by another dad who wanted to teach his kids how to use it – hah! If only I had remembered that I had the darts to sell to him too, ugh… We met at a Wal-mart parking lot specifically so he could go in and buy some new ones :(
Website Reimbursement — This is going to sound extra nerdy on top of a whole pile of nerdness, but I’ve recently been ordained as the webmaster of our local coin club (go ahead – I’ll pause while you laugh). I had been given the task of renewing our website for one of my first duties in office, so this $15 was to reimburse me for initially putting it on my personal credit card. It doesn’t really count as “extra” money here like all the other items on today’s list, but figured I’d go ahead and add it to the pile anyways to help keep the mound growing. If you ever wondered who still uses checks these days though, it’s a safe bet your area coin clubs do ;) And also that you’d be the youngest person there if you’re anywhere below 60, sigh…
Magazine Refunds — This one’s also an interesting happenstance as no one could tell me why exactly I received this $38 and change? I had accidentally subscribed to the same magazine subscription twice in a row through Amazon (Coin World, for the triple nerd win!), and when I submitted a claim to cancel one of them and get reimbursed, I received my money and that was that. Or so I thought… A few weeks later I get this $38 in the mail, which doesn’t even align with the $25 I had originally double paid, and when I called to enquire they said all was fine because it was reimbursement for my double order. I kindly explained I had already received it, but they didn’t seem to care and rushed me right off the phone… But not before saying *all* of my orders were now cancelled? Which left me even more confused since I’m still receiving the magazine in the mail??
Lottery Ticket Winning — This was part of a Christmas gift I received from my family since they know how much entertainment I get out of playing… Especially when it’s someone else’s money ;) (Note: I scratched off $20 worth of tickets and only came away winning $2.00!)
Birthday Money — This was a lovely gift from my mother-in-law who told me to spend it on something fun, so naturally I immediately thought of this savings account ;) What’s more fun than $100 compounding over your lifetime?? (Also – another HUGE thanks to everyone who sent me complimentary birthday gifts here on this blog too. I swear to you I’m printing them off and pasting them on my refrigerator as soon as I get more printer ink!)
Guitar + Amp + Accessories — Out of all the items I’ve sold since this Craigslist mission began, these guys were the hardest to let go of. And not because I ever play them or even know how for that matter (I picked them up in 2008 to learn how to woo play, and then promptly put them back down in 2009 when I realized I really didn’t care that much), but because they’re just so PRETTY to look at! Haha… And I paid close to $400+ dollars too, which made it even harder to let go of for only half that… But I knew they were just taking up space at the end of the day, so I channeled my “would you buy it again?” declutter trick and quickly handed ’em off to their new owner who had received them for Christmas.
And that is how you save $820.53 :)
It actually took me more work writing all of this and placing in the pictures than it did to earn it – hah! But what a great reminder that there’s always something we can do to lower our expenses or bring in that extra cash, right? We’ll see how much more stuff I have lying around we can continue hawking, but at the very least we’ll have the $230 carrying over month after month by cutting all those 3 bills throughout the months… Talk about passive income/savings!
(Btw, my Craigslist ratio of stuff sold vs not is somewhere in the 75% range so far… I think that’s pretty good? And mainly due to me being OK with gradually lowering the prices until they find a new home. Why keep around stuff that you know damn well you’re not going to use anymore?)
The last thing I’ll leave you with is the whole reason we set up this separate savings account to begin with. And that was to physically SEE how all our actions would add up over time to really appreciate what we’re doing and keep us motivated. It’s one thing to say you saved $100 cutting something out, but a whole other watching $100 turn into $500, and then a month later $1,000, and then shortly after that $2,000. It all goes back to the power of time, baby!
And now whenever I bitch and moan about missing a TV station here and there, or when a Craigslist person flakes out on me for the 2nd time in a row, all I have to do is log into my account and watch that big fat number cheer me right up. Works like a charm every time ;)
So remember. Challenge your expenses, sell your crap, and then bank it all away so your savings actually count. And then lastly, of course:
——-
[Photo up top by reynermedia / Doodled on by J$]
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J Money, congrats pulling it all off. It seems like 820.65 is not that bad at all. I think that old TV should cost more. It appears to be in good condition. I feel challenged by the way. I am gonna try to look for something that I can sell too.
You’re right actually – the TV is/was worth a LOT more than $80! I think we spent $900 on it back in the “before I know what I was doing” day? But sadly technology took over and an influx of these things are being sold all over the place online. I started at $200, then $150, and then $100 until I got a nibble for $80… And said screw it.
That’s a great result J-Money, but also some great effort you’re putting in to make this happen. I’ve been cleaning out as we prepare to move to our new house in just under 2 weeks, and just today popped into my local guitar shop to see if they’d take my old electric guitar and amp. They weren’t interested, but seeing you sell yours has motivated me to keep trying to sell it (I’m keeping the good old accoustic guitar though!)
We did manage to sell our old Wii console and a few games though! Cleaning out feels good, but getting bonus money for it is even better!
Oh yeah. And moving time is the *perfect* time to start decluttering :) Though, not the best time for making $$ off things because you’re in a rush and just want them out the door! Haha… Depending on how much room you have at your new place, might be worth holding back some of the more valuable stuff and hawking it when you have more time on your hands.. But *only* the valuable stuff – let the others fly out the door never to return again!
That’s a great point – we will have plenty of space to store everything (which really isn’t that much) and I’ll certainly try to max out the guitar return, as well as anything else potentially valuable. The only risk is I let it all sit there to be forgotten about for years! Perhaps I need to take on this savings challenge to make sure I stay on my toes ;)
Yes, exactly. What’s most important in the end is *actually doing it* – so you do whatever it takes to make it happen, brotha :) Maybe creating a new savings account and seeing $0.00 in it will motivate you enough?
Those were some pretty good ways to come up with an extra +$800. I especially like the random class action lawsuit check. You’ve reminded me that I really need to list a few old things from our basement on Craigs List to make a few bucks on the side.
Nicely done! I did have to laugh out loud at your position as coin club webmaster, but only because it sounds exactly like something Mr. FW would get himself into. He’s also primarily interested in old-man-hobbies and is also often the only person under 60, but his philosophy is that you can learn a lot from folks who’ve lived that long (just probably not anything about the internet).
I’m continually impressed with your epic challenge saving successes. And I realllllllllly need to start selling stuff on Craigslist!
I’m pretty sure I’ve told you this before, but your old man of a husband and I would get along famously… I’d have to re-grow my beard though so I’m not as wimpy looking as he ;)
(Also, I’m pretty sure YOU’VE told me about selling stuff on CL too and have yet to do so, *ahem*)
I have that exact same dart board. Well I did… I used it so much it finally fell apart. I was obsessed with playing the baseball game on the back. For $5… I might have to see if I can find one to replace it with.
Keep killing it J. That guitar must have been tough to part with, looked like a nice one, but if just collecting dust I’d rather have the cash too!
that was exactly it – pretty to look at but never got any lovin’!
Great job on all of the savings!!
Right now I am mad at you for winning on the lottery ticket. Every year, my Mom gets us around $20 worth of scratch off lottery tickets as stocking stuffers. It’s fun to scratch them off and every year, my sisters win and I lose. This past year, my wife won $7 and my Mom won $30. I still came up empty. I keep telling myself “this year will be my year” but it never happens. One day though I will get the last laugh when my scratch off ticket is worth $1 million bucks!
One year you need to sneak in and swap out the tickets before everyone wakes up and see what that does ;) Though, with your luck you’d probably end up swapping out your $1 Mil ticket to someone else!
Isn’t that great? Money really isn’t that hard to come across when you actively look at how you spend every single dollar! You’ll keep finding it all over the place.
Nice work sir! I’m with you on the reason #9,008 to love USAA. We got our dividends last month as well and went straight into savings for us. Sure, it’s not a ton of money but who on earth gives you money back like that simply for doing business with them? At any rate, I think that’s a fairly good ratio for CL. We usually end up right around that number when we’re selling so I’m in good company. :)
Hey hey, shout out to painted furnitire! :) Yes, you should have had a pic! I love this Challenhe series. You have reminded and inspired me to go through my own house and sell off whatever I can. I just got fired :). Now I am officially a full-time blogger (at least until I find a new job maybe). I’ll need this extra dough!!
PS. We still need to link up!
Serena @ Thrift Diving
yes we do, missy!!
I’m glad you got fired cuz this next YOU is going to be even awesomer ;)
I totally got that Toyota lawsuit check too! I thought it was super sketchy and definitely wondered if my car was possibly about to kill me… as I deposited that sucker.
I’ve also decided I’m a fan of scratch off lottery tickets as holiday gifts. I totally made $5 on one from my aunt and thought it was a world of better and a lot more fun to scratch off than some of the odd things family members have given me over the years – although it is totally the thought that counts and I appreciate that!
I’m telling you, best stocking stuffer gift ever!!!
As part of my move, I will be downsizing. To cover the cost of moving and things that will actually fit into my apartment, I am selling on Craigslist everything I can. It’s been great covering the cost of almost everything. It’s also taught me the importance of not being attached to material things, oddly enough.
Not odd at all!! That’s spot on – we always think we’ll miss stuff but we rarely do. So good for you for dumping it all and improving your life/finances at the same time :) Congrats on the new gig!!!
Your ingenuity and stick-to-it-iveness are amazing, J$. Not to mention your salesmanship skills. What on earth did you say to the cable company to lop off $90+ from your bill? Every time I try I get some circular argument that results in a “sorry, you’ve already got the most economical plan.” (Now more than $190. a month for “triple play.”)
Selling stuff on Craigslist? Neat, but who’s got the time? Right now drumming up sales for my book is top priority. (Speaking of which: http://www.amazon.com/Would-You-Mind-Repeating-That/dp/0989812405 ). Please check it out if you haven’t;) And kudos for being such an inspiring role model.
I just call them every month until I eventually get what I want :) Though I do have to drop parts of my plans too at times – maybe you’re already on the lowest plan?
Yes, selling stuff on Craigslist isn’t always the quickest, but fortunately it has a lot of side effects that more than make up for it.
My absolute favorite is the coin club. Way to stand out to the ladies!
(especially the ladies IN the coin club – ow ow!)
I’ve been receiving TV Guide since I moved into my house……5 years……..and never paid a cent for it. and it’s not on my cable bill either. go figure.
well that’s random, haha…
I didn’t even know people still read that?
Awesome month!!! Our challenge everything savings account is at $650, but I confess that I have mostly just automated the savings I know and I haven’t pushed for more. Part of that was a big financial hiccup that happened at the end of November and we needed to patch things up around there. That being said, I really want to up my eBay/Craigslist game for 2015, so I hope to start catching up with you soon!
I hope you do – I need some one to compete with me to raise my game even more!
You make me want to become a USAA member, but unfortunately, I can’t. Dang it! Nice work on blowing up this savings challenge. That’s how it’s done and you have motivated me to go postal on my bills.
Great $$$ making, JS! Great consistency. Gotta get my butt in gear and start relisting. My husband and I just put away our Christmas and put aside a ton of stuff to sell at a garage sale this summer. I used to put up every single scrap of holiday paraphernalia we had just to say we used it. Thanks to my husband’s good influence, this year we only put up what we really liked and then decided we would sell the rest even though the other stuff was in good condition. I think it’s interesting that the majority of the “to sell” stuff if mine, but that’s another story. :) We have been preparing for this garage sale since November of last year and plan to have a blow out once the “season.” starts. The other thing I plan to do is go to a local furniture and home goods consignment store to sell the stuff that I don’t think will sell on CL, or is too bulky and large to sell on Ebay. Our goal is $3000 this year. Okay. I said it. We’ll see! :)
Ooh la la $3,000 would be nice! I love the idea of picking stuff up cheaper from other places and re-selling higher yourself. Not only does it make you more money, but it’s fun!!! And if you ever come across any old coins, you better save them for me :)
This is awesome! I just lowered my health insurance from $218 to $167, thanks to open enrollment and subsidies. I now have free internet from our apartment complex. I got $100 from my aunt and will use that to invest for the first time ever! I’m very excited. Keep up the awesome work, J!
Alreet alreet!
You are a MACHINE! Like the money saving terminator. I got an old motorbike in my shed I have been keeping for a project (like I will get my soft Excel hands dirty!). Text has just gone off to a local mechanic to get her up and running again and then off to eBay. Cheers for the kick up the arse!
Mr Z
PS – the guy rolling in the money in the photo is well creepy :)
haha yeah – I didn’t realize it until after I posted it up that it’s a bit, ehmm… risque. Oops.
(And I almost spit out my coffee at “like I will get my soft Excel hands dirty!” – hilarious!)
Haha yeah, risque is about right! :D
PS – thanks for adding me to the NW list over on rockstar!
Very impressive. It pays to get down in the trenches and economize!
Nice job. There were some random ones this month too, haha. :)
J$,
I just read your interview by Forbes. Very cool, my friend. Keep spreading the good word!!
Best regards.
Thanks man, I’m still pinching myself from it :)
Wow! Again, very impressed and jealous with your money-making schemes!
What an impressive month of savings. This is a cool challenge not just in how much is saved but also the potential for thinking differently about money, possessions, and savings potential. We have so much stuff I want to get rid of but I don’t know if anyone would buy it. Thanks for sharing.
There’s only one way to find out ;)
And what doesn’t sell just donate it! (And keep receipts come tax time…)
You’re way better with found money than I am. For whatever reason, unexpected money burns a hole in my pocket.
I think J’s right that having a separate account for the $$ is key. I spent over a decade spending windfalls on whatever came up — it was extra food money, I bought a dress, whatever, whatever…if it was around, i found a use for it. For almost a year now, I’ve used extra income exclusively for funding my IRA. I keep a very strict list of every bit of extra that comes in, move that amount into a dedicated savings account, and whenever the balance reaches $250 I move it over to the IRA. Having a clear plan for the side stuff is much more critical than natural frugality, it seems to me.
Yep – you said it perfectly.
Nice job! Awe so sad you sold the guitar though. I had big plans for a guitar/ukulele band and a whole big US/Europe/Asia tour planned. There goes that dream!!!! :( :)
not to worry – I can always pick one up from a yard sale for $20 this summer! just call me J. Cash! (Get it? Like “Johnny” Cash? sigh…)
Hey, J! I was re-inspired by your article, specifically the part about selling things. See, the hubs and I have an annual Vegas trip every January (I go for work and he tags on and we make a mini-vacation out of it). This year, I started selling things back in October on a Facebook garage-sale-style site and on Craigslist, hoping to fully cash fund our trip. I was very happy with the amount we gathered (about $700 including some Christmas money we received). However, your article reminded me to post a few things last night. Now, if everyone meets me today, that’s another $85! So, thank you for the inspiration. Keep it coming! I think we’ll pay for every vacation this way. All one of them we take each year. HA!
Way to go!!! Exactly what I want to hear! :)
Wow, well done! As someone else said, a very inspiring update, especially the selling stuff – I have a load of unwanted stuff that I should sell on ebay – perhaps I need to designate a day, like your ‘Friday CL Listing’ to start listing things on ebay!
yes – that’s key.
without that hard deadline/day you just never get around to doing it!
I haven’t even read this whole thing yet, I just saw the USAA screenshot and wanted to come here and say that I LOVE USAA! Okay, carry on. Lol.
haha, nice… been a member for like 18 years or something! My favorite company out there!
This WAS REALLY inspiring. I have it in my head that I have “nothing” to sell. I have a guitar I found on the street that I restrung and never play. I also have a keyboard that I play once every 2 years, might keep that one though. But You put up and accepted $5 for a dart board, I wouldn’t even have thought that $5 would matter. But this article shows me it’s more about the mind set and the habit then the actual dollar amount, plus it helps you declutter and I love that.
Thank you!! You’re always an inspiration!
YES! Mindset first – for sure. The money is nice too of course, but it’s all so FREEING feeling and a nice rush every time one more thing leaves your house.
Start looking around your house when you’re walking room to room and get started! :)
You are kicking ass. We did something similar in 2014 where we made decisions that saved us over $1,500 month or $18,000 for the year. It adds up really quickly. However I still think we have plenty of room to cut…I still can’t believe how much money we are spending.
I just started tracking everything more closely with my first of many monthly net worth reports like you put out on your blog. I include Gross Income, Expenses, Net Worth, and goal tracking to pay off the mortgage in 7 years or less (before we are 35).
I will have to go and check out Digit that you mention above.
Keep crushing it dude!
Yeah man, let me know what you think of Digit!
And love everything you’re tracking and setting up over there – sounds like you’re killing it :)