You are doing great with the emergency fund goal, keep at it. Try to think about how good it will feel when you are done!

Thanks, Kate! I'll definitely keep going. I can't wait to see that $20k sitting in my account!

I'm learning a very painful and valuable lesson this week. Our neighborhood has been considering some assessments for improvements. We've known about it most of the year, but I didn't really think it would happen, so I didn't save up for it. Now it looks like it will happen and we'll have to pay by the end of October. $3350.

I'm letting myself wallow in despair for a few days and then I'll move on with life. I can either ransack my e-fund or borrow it from our daughter's savings and pay her back a couple hundred per paycheck. It all comes from the same place, but I'm leaning toward borrowing it from her savings just to save myself the anguish of using up over 1/3 of my e-fund, even if it is just a mental trick I attempt to play on myself.

Between this and the car purchase, the past month has me stressed. I keep telling myself that we spent a decade entrenched in lifestyle inflation and spending almost everything extra we made, so it's going to take some time to fix that. I still think by the time I'm 40 (4.5 years away), I'll have mostly corrected the decade of overspending. In the meantime, I have to focus on long-term progress and not get so worked up about little roadblocks. I have a plan and I will succeed!

Aww, don't take it from your daughter's savings. Think of it this way, you'll be accruing debt when you have the savings to pay for it cash, and if you have to miss a payment to your daughter for whatever reason how would you feel?

Ok, wallowing in despair is not my style! I moved the money needed in October out of the e-fund account so it's out of my way and I'm ready to keep going. After all, the whole reason I want to have a large savings account is to deal with things like this. I'm sure this won't be the last time I spend some money and then rebuild the account!

Emergency fund progress-
Balance: $4,437/$20,000
Percent Complete: 22%

This puts me back to where I was in July, which was not really that long ago. A small setback in the grand scheme of things...

Emergency fund progress-
Balance: $4,795/$20,000
Percent Complete: 24%

Several unusual expenses this paycheck, so not much to add to the e-fund. Got a 1.5% "market adjustment" pay increase. Yay! Every little bit helps.

We're looking into refinancing the mortgage. Currently at 4.125%...we'll see if it's worth the fees and expenses to drop into the 3%'s.

Goal for October: $6,000 - but this depends on the refinancing project...may have to cover some expenses if we do it

Emergency fund progress-
Balance: $5,541/$20,000
Percent Complete: 28%

On track to hit $6k in October. Saw complaints in another journal that it's so much harder to save than to pay off debt. I totally agree. I can't wait until this e-fund goal is done!

The refinance is underway. We've locked in a rate and are working on all the paperwork. Our payment should go down by about $200 per month, but we're planning to just keep paying the same amount we were. I'm excited to chip away at that debt, although I want to be careful not to go overboard and neglect retirement savings. At 3.125%, plus the tax deduction, we should be able to get more for our money by investing than prepaying.

Emergency fund progress-
Balance: $6,178/$20,000
Percent Complete: 31%

Several irregular expenses coming up in November, so no clear goal to shoot for. Just hoping to save a decent amount after the one-time expenses and some Christmas shopping.

Ahhh Christmas shopping!! I always spend way too much. I will set a limit this year, I will set a limit this year....

Good luck!!

~*Val*~
http://thealmostgrownupblog.blogspot.com

Emergency fund progress-
Balance: $6,557/$20,000
Percent Complete: 33%

Not much going on. Closing in on the 1/3 mark again.

Mortgage refinance is almost complete - we should close before Thanksgiving!

Emergency fund progress-
Balance: $7,416/$20,000
Percent Complete: 37%

Nice progress thanks to a couple of reimbursement checks from work.

The mortgage refinance has closed! We went from 4.125% to 3.125% for 30 years. Once I finally made contact with a mortgage person, the whole process was amazingly easy. The refi and moving my IRA's to Vanguard will probably be my best decisions of 2012 in the long run.

Emergency fund progress-
Balance: $10,000/$20,000
Percent Complete: 50%

Woo hoo! Halfway there! No mortgage payment this month due to refinancing, so that money went into the e-fund.

Great job on the efund! Congratulations. I hope to be imitating your example next year...

CecilyC

Thanks Cecily! And I hope to be imitating your amazing mortgage payoff someday.

Emergency fund progress-
Balance: $11,948/$20,000
Percent Complete: 60%

More reimbursements, a Christmas gift from the in-laws, etc. December has been a great emergency fund month.

Happy holidays, everyone!

I've been fighting that new car bug for a while now. By the end of the year I will probably be just a hair over 200k miles on my 2004. I need to keep trying to fight it for another couple of years.

Congrats on hitting the halfway mark on the eFund.