Why I’m not meeting my 2014 Savings Goals

Its almost December and I’m just going to say what I’ve known (and probably my readers too) for some time. I’m not going to meet my 2014 Savings Goals (see post here).

Mistake #1 – Counting planned spending in the Savings Goals total.

I’ve “saved” and then subsequently spent a lot of money this year:

$1,665.94 for trip to the Dominican
$2,220.00 for backyard renovations (some of this came from income tax refund)
$1,200.00 for NYC trip
$500 for maternity clothes and maternity related items
$650 for Christmas Gifts

Total $6,215.94

While it was great not going into debt for these items, I can’t count this as savings, just planned spending.

Mistake #2 – Not realizing that priorities can change at the drop of a hat.

I had a goal to save $3,000 in an Emergency Fund. I re-routed funds when I realized that I needed more money for planned spending as things (backyard) became more expensive than I had first anticipated and we had some other issues with the house (fridge leaked, a/c stopped working, property taxes were more than we anticipated) that caused me to take out and redirect funds from this account. Its now sitting at zero

Mistake # 3 – Not making savings automatic

Now, I did set up automatic savings plans at the beginning of the year but with mistake #2 things changed and I stopped some of them (RSP one kept rolling and its, hmm, the only goal I’m actually going to meet – well other than Christmas but that’s planned spending, not saving). I still do try and keep savings as “bill payments” in my mind – i.e. I take the amount out of my paycheque before deciding how much I have left to spend. But if it came down to saving or having a balance on my credit card, the money doesn’t get transferred into a savings account and then it gets spent.

In the end …

I’m OK with how 2014 went. We saw places we’ve never been before (and first time me and T took any trips just the 2 of us that didn’t involve family in some way) and were able to stay out of debt while paying for the expected and unexpected. 2015 will be the first year I start since I was 18 that I have zero debt!

One thing I particularly want to make note of (even though I have mentioned it before) … I do have a pension through my workplace (and a good one – government defined benefit) and I am working on having some retirement funds outside of this pension (OK, at the moment I’m repaying my home buyer’s plan, but this will increase at some point). So, my retirement savings are there even if it seems like my actual savings are pitiful. Oh, and I will be getting a top-up on my

However, I know this can’t continue. I need to be able to save for longer term goals and have money in the bank for emergencies. With a kid on the way, saving for the future has never been more of a priority.

How did you do with your 2014 Savings Goals? What will you do differently in 2015?

Until next time,

Morgaine