DH and I started the year with a negative net worth-(-$21,800) to be exact. We will be finishing the year with a net work of $382 to the positive! I wanted to end this year with a positive net worth, even if it was only be a few hundred dollars, and we did it! Unfortunately, we didn't do quite as much debt pay down this year as I had hoped, but we did make progress, which is the important thing.
Next year, I just want to keep moving in the right direction. The mortgage and the student loans HAVE to go down, so I know we'll make progress there :p There credit cards are the hard part, but I know we can keep them going down too.
With DH's next paycheck (his 'extra' one this month since this is a three paycheck month), I am going to add $1180 to our emergency fund. This will put us at $1500. From then on, I want to add $110 every paycheck. If we get through next year without ever having to touch the emergency fund, we'll end 2011 with $4360 in it, which would meet my goal of having $3000 in it by year end 2011. Heck, that even gives us a little bit of buffer to still meet our goal in the event of an actual emergency!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Oh boo.....
I was going over our numbers for our taxes tonight, and I completely forgot that this is the year we have to start paying back the $7500 first time home buyer's tax 'credit' DH and I got when we bought our house. Basically, $500 gets added to our tax liability every year for 15 years. If we had bought 6 months later, we would have been eligible for the $8000 tax credit that didn't have to be repaid. Oh well. What's done is done, but I can't believe I completely forgot about it.
Without considering the $500, we'll owe around $100 on our federal taxes and get back around $300-$400 on our state. That puts us $200 to $300 to the positive, so considering the $500, we'll need to pay $200-$300. That's not too terrible, but I like for everything to come out as even as possible. I'll need to go back and make sure I'm not missing any deductions of course once I have all of our tax documents, but it's nice to know ahead of time what to expect come tax time.
Without considering the $500, we'll owe around $100 on our federal taxes and get back around $300-$400 on our state. That puts us $200 to $300 to the positive, so considering the $500, we'll need to pay $200-$300. That's not too terrible, but I like for everything to come out as even as possible. I'll need to go back and make sure I'm not missing any deductions of course once I have all of our tax documents, but it's nice to know ahead of time what to expect come tax time.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
I don't really like one of my best friends anymore....
This is not even close to being related to finances, but I just have to rant: I do not like one of my best friends like I used to. Myself and 3 other girls have been best friends since our freshman year of high school. Of course, we have had a few spats, a few differences along the way, but nothing insurmountable.
One of these girls just gets on my nerves lately. She has basically said I am "wasting" my life by having a baby at a young age. She doesn't want to have children till she is 30-35, if at all, which is fine, but please do not insult my and my DH's carefully planned life choices. DH and I have our reasons as to why we wanted to have a child now, just like she has hers for why she doesn't want kids till later in life. She constantly makes comments about how my baby boy will grow up to be an inconsiderate jackass like all men are (she's married BTW, supposedly happily). Yeah, last time I checked, my DH is an awesome, thoughtful guy who intends to raise his son to be the same way.
She just rubs me the wrong way a lot lately, and some of the things she has said to me are downright insulting and hurtful.
In financial news, DH and I are still spending a bunch on eating out! No surprise there, with the random food cravings I have. Last night, it was hot dogs at like 11 PM. At least hot dogs are a cheap craving to fulfill! I still need to post a debt update. I have been so lazy about keeping up with it lately. I know it's important to keep track so I stay accountable, but my mind is just elsewhere right now!
One of these girls just gets on my nerves lately. She has basically said I am "wasting" my life by having a baby at a young age. She doesn't want to have children till she is 30-35, if at all, which is fine, but please do not insult my and my DH's carefully planned life choices. DH and I have our reasons as to why we wanted to have a child now, just like she has hers for why she doesn't want kids till later in life. She constantly makes comments about how my baby boy will grow up to be an inconsiderate jackass like all men are (she's married BTW, supposedly happily). Yeah, last time I checked, my DH is an awesome, thoughtful guy who intends to raise his son to be the same way.
She just rubs me the wrong way a lot lately, and some of the things she has said to me are downright insulting and hurtful.
In financial news, DH and I are still spending a bunch on eating out! No surprise there, with the random food cravings I have. Last night, it was hot dogs at like 11 PM. At least hot dogs are a cheap craving to fulfill! I still need to post a debt update. I have been so lazy about keeping up with it lately. I know it's important to keep track so I stay accountable, but my mind is just elsewhere right now!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Goals for Next Year, Take 2
I've had a chance to talk to DH about our goals for next year. I have a few things to add, and a few more specifics to add. My itch has gotten better, so thankfully I have been able to back off the Benadryl. My head feels so much clearer now.
Financial
1. Increase retirement savings from 11% of household income to 13% of household income. We'll do this by increasing my IRA contributions $1200 next year ($100 a month) and by increasing DH's 401K contributions by 1 percent.
2. Pay off all consumer debt by December of 2011. In order to do this, we will need to pay $1520 (starting in January) a month to it, every single month. I think we can do this if we are a little more diligent about tracking our spending and reigning it in when our numbers get high
3. Start 529 plan for baby boy. I don't care if we only put $10 a month into it, I just want to get it started. DH said we should try put $25 a month into it. This is less than a dollar a day. If we do this, we will add $300 to it next year. Not a huge start, but a start, none the less.
4. Have $3,000 saved in emergency fund by year end
5. Track our spending every single month and stay within budget guidelines
Personal
1. Lose all baby weight, plus 25 pounds
2. Go out on one baby free date with DH every two weeks. I want to make sure we make time for each other and our relationship. I don't want to be on those couples where everything falls apart after having a baby-you know, the ones who never go out together any more, never have intimate time together, don't communicate. Relationships require work to keep both partners happy, and I imagine this is even more true when things change a lot in a short time (ie. having a baby!).
Financial
1. Increase retirement savings from 11% of household income to 13% of household income. We'll do this by increasing my IRA contributions $1200 next year ($100 a month) and by increasing DH's 401K contributions by 1 percent.
2. Pay off all consumer debt by December of 2011. In order to do this, we will need to pay $1520 (starting in January) a month to it, every single month. I think we can do this if we are a little more diligent about tracking our spending and reigning it in when our numbers get high
3. Start 529 plan for baby boy. I don't care if we only put $10 a month into it, I just want to get it started. DH said we should try put $25 a month into it. This is less than a dollar a day. If we do this, we will add $300 to it next year. Not a huge start, but a start, none the less.
4. Have $3,000 saved in emergency fund by year end
5. Track our spending every single month and stay within budget guidelines
Personal
1. Lose all baby weight, plus 25 pounds
2. Go out on one baby free date with DH every two weeks. I want to make sure we make time for each other and our relationship. I don't want to be on those couples where everything falls apart after having a baby-you know, the ones who never go out together any more, never have intimate time together, don't communicate. Relationships require work to keep both partners happy, and I imagine this is even more true when things change a lot in a short time (ie. having a baby!).
Friday, December 3, 2010
Goals for Next Year
Normally, goals make me feel refreshed and remotivated-not today. I have this nasty itch, and the doctor has me taking Benadryl since it is safe during pregnancy, but it sure does put me in a fog. And when I am in a fog, I feel VERY apathetic. I guess I should look up last year's goals and see how they went, but I just don't feel like it at the moment. I'll just focus on next year for now!
Financial
1. Increase retirement savings from 11% of household income to 13% of household income. We'll do this by increasing my IRA contributions $1200 next year ($100 a month) and by increasing DH's 401K contributions by 1 percent.
2. Pay off all consumer debt by December of 2011. I need to crunch the numbers to see what we need to pay every month to make this happen.
3. Start 529 plan for baby boy. I don't care if we only put $10 a month into it, I just want to get it started.
4. Have $3,000 saved in emergency fund by year end
Personal
1. Lose all baby weight, plus 25 pounds
2. Go out on one baby free date with DH every two weeks. I want to make sure we make time for each other and our relationship. I don't want to be on those couples where everything falls apart after having a baby-you know, the ones who never go out together any more, never have intimate time together, don't communicate. Relationships require work to keep both partners happy, and I imagine this is even more true when things change a lot in a short time (ie. having a baby!).
Financial
1. Increase retirement savings from 11% of household income to 13% of household income. We'll do this by increasing my IRA contributions $1200 next year ($100 a month) and by increasing DH's 401K contributions by 1 percent.
2. Pay off all consumer debt by December of 2011. I need to crunch the numbers to see what we need to pay every month to make this happen.
3. Start 529 plan for baby boy. I don't care if we only put $10 a month into it, I just want to get it started.
4. Have $3,000 saved in emergency fund by year end
Personal
1. Lose all baby weight, plus 25 pounds
2. Go out on one baby free date with DH every two weeks. I want to make sure we make time for each other and our relationship. I don't want to be on those couples where everything falls apart after having a baby-you know, the ones who never go out together any more, never have intimate time together, don't communicate. Relationships require work to keep both partners happy, and I imagine this is even more true when things change a lot in a short time (ie. having a baby!).
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