Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Income & Savings in 2007

So here's something I thought would be interesting: a report on my savings from my individual income sources. The below attempts to account for every dollar that came into my coffers in 2007 and every dollar that stayed there. There's probably a little margin of error, but this is pretty thorough.

Income sources:

1. My regular salary.
My gross salary income for this year: $31,615.37. Of that, I saved $3,955.57, which is 12.51% of my gross income, in the Freedom Fund, and $2,276.70, or 7.20% of my gross income, in my 401(k), for a total savings of $6,232.27 and 19.71%. Going back through my ING records to add up the deposits to the Freedom Fund was amazing--I could see the momentum taking hold, the deposits growing. I saved $1,751.45 of my salary in the Freedom Fund in the first six months of 2007, and $2,204.12 in the Freedom Fund in the second six months. I also saved $525 in the Travel Fund, which is earmarked for later spending (so it's not in the total).

2. My freelance income.
I grossed $703 through freelance work in 2007, and have 38.24 of that left. The rest was spent on grad school-related stuff (test registration, study materials, &c.) and on my trip to France. The balance is earmarked for future spending on grad school stuff, so I saved 0% of my freelance income.

3. My 401(k) match.
It was $1,500, and, somewhat obviously, I saved 100% of it, because spending it wasn't an option.

4. My parents.
Oh, yes. Aside from the many times they have fed me and taken me to the movies this year, my parents wrote me a check for $6,000 last January. I saved 83.3% of it: $5,000 went to my Roth (topped off '06, maxed out '07), and $1,000 went towards my Travel Fund, which will eventually be spent on an adventure (so I'm not counting it as savings).

5. Windfalls.
I got a $500 gift from my aunt and a $520 tax refund. I saved 100% of each.

6. Interest.
My savings at ING earned $167.65 in 2007, and my CD at Bank of America earned $32.82; 100% of this interest was saved in the Freedom Fund.

7. Dividends.
My 401(k) earned me $29.36 in dividends, 100% of which were reinvested.

8. Pinecone Research surveys.
I made $24; I saved 0%.

All in all, my income this year totals $41,092.20 and my savings this year total 13,982.10, or 34.03% of my total income. That, I think, is a number I can be pretty damn proud of.

11 comments:

calgirlfinance said...

Great Job! It's hard to save that much money on an income like yours, especially when living in a city like NYC!

Anonymous said...

You should be excessively proud of yourself! That is a saving percentage I would love to have!

The Frugal Shrink said...

That is so amazing! Way to go!

Anonymous said...

I'm very impressed by your savings - very inspiring!

Anonymous said...

Bronx Chica- Congrats for your determination for saving and ending strong :)

Escape Brooklyn said...

Wow, your parents are very generous!

English Major said...

They sure are, escape brooklyn. I'm a lucky kid.

Single Ma said...

Wow, your savings % is impressive. You SHOULD be proud of yourself. May 2008 bring similar success!

And uh...would your parents like to adopt a kid? LOL

Anonymous said...

i love spiderpig

Aly Cat 121 said...

wow, that's great. Cuz as the old folks would say, it's not how much you earn but how much you save.

Anonymous said...

Any blog related income?
-Raymond