Saving our Savings

I spent 1 and 1/2 hours at the bank this morning opening a new savings account. Really.... I think the bank needs to stop spending millions on commercials saying what a great bank they are and maybe hire a few more employees to help customers. The rest of the day was spent undecorating the house, 7 Christmas trees down, 2 more to go!! Christmas village packed away and Christmas cards are sorted so I can write a note to a few folks soon!

So here is the deal for the new savings account I opened. Rambo man and I figured as best we could what we would have been paying in extra taxes if the Bush tax cuts extension had not passed in Washington, you can google around and find what bracket you would have been in and what your families savings will be. We decided to transfer the amount we would have been paying each payday into the new savings account. Before I do anything else on payday the first thing will be to make the tax savings transfer. The tax cuts are in place for the next 2 years, I figure we should have a nice little nest egg put back before the next battle begins in Washington. We have no doubt at some point all of our taxes will have to increase, how else will this country ever dig itself out of the overwhelming debt the nut cases in Washington continue to put all of us, our children, grand children and great grand children in. Our thinking is we might as well get use to not having the extra money now rather than later and at least we will be putting a little more away for whatever life decides to throw our way in 2011.

I have visions of a cute little green house with a walkway leading from the back door dancing in my head. No doubt Rambo man has his little heart set on a bit more chrome for the Harley. The reality is life is sure to get in the way of any plans we might have for the extra money, but at least we will have it put back. I know I will have to be super duper disciplined to transfer the money each payday then keep our hands off of it!! Maybe by posting our plan on this blog will be the incentive I need to stay on track!!!!!

I know many of you are looking at possible New Years resolutions; loose weight, get in shape, eat healthier, stop smoking, get more sleep and so on. We are focusing on our personal home economy. I don't see a big turn around so far in the general economy, unemployment is off the charts, home prices are not recovering, home foreclosures are still happening everyday, food prices have skyrocketed, gas prices continues to climb. Rambo man and I feel so blessed to have what we do and want to be able to share more with others less fortunate in 2011, one way to do that will be to cut out more of the fat around here. We are committed to donating to our local food pantry or soup kitchen each month in 2011. It is one small way that we can help others while keeping ourselves on a tighter budget. I know my energy level will be low after a full day with the grand babies starting in January, but putting a bag of groceries together and dropping them off should be something I can commit to.