For many many years I had steadfastly created a budget which accounted for all income coming in and every penny going out. I was proud of my budget despite many persnickety remarks from loved ones who for better or for worse had to accept the budget as part of their daily lives. I recognized early on how the budget saved us from financial ruin several times over. Over the years however as I crafted each budget, I began to lose touch and discipline with its essence. Not unlike a scary halloween movie where at first everything is peaceful, safe, and without worry; before long, unsettling events within our "financial haunted house" unfolded. A few examples include: credit cards which were once always paid in full each month were now being paid over a years time, less and less money was being transferred to our savings account each month, and expenses which once were anticipated a few months in advance were now unexpectingly materializing out of the blue. Fortunately, FORUM helped us get back on track by emphasizing the basics: examine our expenses and remove what we could go without. Living within the budget became fun again under FORUM's tutelage, support, and long term financial plan. While it may take awhile to regain a solid financial footing, FORUM representatives helped us take baby steps at first until we were ready to move on to the next level. Thank-you FORUM!
 
Adam

I have always been a saver, but now I am taking saving to the next level.  My next large goal for the next seven years is to be able to pay cash for a house.   I have opened up a joint account with my sister and will do automatic monthly deposits and also deposit the money that I would have spent on birthday gifts and Christmas gifts for my sister.    She is doing the same for me.  I have also opened up a Common Cents account and a Weekly Club account.  These accounts are fun ways to save money.  Thank you Forum for offering these fun accounts. 

Emily

Time after time, my husband and I take a few steps to get back on track financially, but then before you know it, we've taken a few steps back.  Well, it has FINALLY (and unfortunately) come to the point where we have no choice but to make changes.
 
We just welcomed our first child to the world in April 2009, adding a lot of love to our hearts, but taking just a few extra dollars a month from our already tight budget.  I posted some of our money saving tips for welcoming a new one on the Save It Up blog.  We've switched to off-brand formula, shop consignment, borrow what we can, and are currently looking for him home day care which would cut about $400 out of our monthly costs.  We started cutting coupons (to my mother's joy), ESPECIALLY for baby products.  We knew things had changed when we checked out at K-mart (not a place we typically go, but they had triple coupons that day), one of our coupons didn't work, and we stopped at customer service to clear up the problem..saving us a whopping $1.50.  (Before this day, and our current situation, we would've just left and forgot about the savings.) 
 
Also in the saving arena, we applied for $5 movie cards for those few times we get a date night.  We lowered our cell phone and cable plans to save around $75 extra dollars a month.  We drink more water.  I'm finding ways to loose this baby weight that don't cost money.  My husband golfs during the week at 2-for-1 deals.  We signed up for copuons and rewards from our favorite restaurant.
 
Unfortunately, we both have student loan debt, but with low interest rates, we'll pay minimums there until we can afford to put more into it.  Our credit card debt became overwhelming, so we consolidated to lower interest cards, then cut them up!  We are very excited to think that in about 2 years we will be free from those hefty payments each month.  In addition, my car will be paid off.  There is hope!!
 
I'm slowing teaching myself not to spend as much.  As August approaches, we will go back to our "get cash out upon pay days and get nothing more once that is gone," which helps me limit myself.  I tend to make "exceptions," so that is something I need to work on.  I know in my heart that I have what I need, and the things we can buy are nothing compared to the things we know, feel, and experience.
 
Our major goals: move in two years and start a college fund for our lil' one
I think those are worth working toward!
 
-Christy

The save it up challenge has really made me reevaluate my spending. Until I filled out the budget worksheet, I believed that I was a "thrifty" person. Then I noticed all of the extras I have been spending unnecessarily. Just making the decision to eat at home one extra day a week is going to save me at least $80 a month!

In my quest to save even more, I have noticed that there are coupons, not only in the newspaper and magazines that I read, but there are websites dedicated to this. There are promotions offered everywhere! Before I make any purchase, I do a little research on the internet. I have found that you can, almost, always find a deal. If you only save a dollar, it's still a dollar saved.

I am glad to see this challenge offered, I believe it will help me, as well as any other person who may try it.

Thanks Forum!
Tammy

This SaveItUp program from FORUM is sheer genius. My husband and I are really excited about participating in it, and neither of us are particularly money-minded folks. However, we got married this past year and some of our lousy financial habits of the past caught up with us. So, 2009 is our year to get on track. We're already making progress, slowly, but surely. We're paying off high-interest credit cards with our tax return, we're planning meals and grocery trips so we don't eat out as much, we're planning errands and outings so we use only one vehicle and do things as fuel-efficiently as possible, and we're working on making our home as energy-efficient as possible. 

It feels really good to see us making noticeable progress when we look at the numbers on paper. And the SaveItUp program has only motivated us further. This program is great for FORUM and for its customers. I have never had the experience with other banks where they develop products and programs FOR the customer. It has always felt like other banks were trying to get something FROM me. This program and the FORUM attitude are both very impressive. And very much appreciated. Thanks!

When my husband and I started dating in December of 2006, we both had MASSIVE amounts of debt and HORRIBLE spending habits. I had good credit because I had always made payments on time, but I still had loads of unnecessary debt. My husband had awful credit and bills in collections and thousands of dollars in back taxes for both the state and federal governments. After we had dated for a while, we started to sort our financial messes out, but after we got engaged we really got tough about it. We sat down with my mom, a budgeting queen, who had been telling me for years to take more care with my spending. 

Unfortunately, all that sound advice had fallen on deaf ears until this point. She helped us create a budget, which was not as difficult as anticipated. We found out that we were actually making enough to cover all of our bills, groceries, fuel, pet needs and even a weekly dinner and a movie. Regardless, we had been coming up short in our funds each month. So we started to examine our cash spending habits and realized we were blowing tons of money on eating out, on snacks, on random unplanned purchases, etc. The key for us was to start keeping track of those things, and limiting them in a BIG way. We aren't fabulous financial examples quite yet, but we are definitely heading in the right direction. We have taken our debt down by over $10,000 since December of 2006, and we are almost at a place where we will have only mortgage and student loans to focus on. Those are debts we can handle, and with all the bad debt eliminated, we can pay down the mortgage and student loans even more quickly.

Thank you.
-Amanda & Neal