Pay off student loan - 22.4% (Up .5%)
Roth 2012 - 34.1% (Up 12.2%)
Pay back savings - share from CSA - 10.9%
Pay back savings - disability insurance - 0%
Roth is going well, pretty much right on target. I added two new goals because I yanked from savings twice in the past couple of weeks. The first was to buy a share from a CSA - community supported agriculture project. If you are not familiar with these, check them out. Basically I pay a fee to a local farmer before the season starts, then I get a share of whatever is produced from the farm. In this case, a good variety of veggies, some cage free eggs, and occasional "surprises" from other local vendors. The benefits are wonderful. The farmer I chose uses organic methods. Plus with a CSA you're generally getting the produce at the peak of freshness. And there's no energy wasted trucking veggies from Mexico or even across the country. What I'm hoping it will do for me is force me to eat a bigger quantity and variety of veggies, since my diet is a little lackluster in that department. That's the running joke in my family.. I'm the vegetarian that doesn't eat veggies.
The second is more straightforward. My once a year bill for disability insurance arrived. I'm not sure why it's always a surprise to me. It comes at the same time each year and I should be saving for it ahead but I never think of it.
I brought home a new cat this month - aka money sink hole..haha. At least they're budget friendly in the beginning. If you're ever in the market for a cat, check out your local humane society. For a slim $30, I have a spayed, vaccinated, microchipped cat that comes with a free exam at the area vet of my choosing (sort of, there's a big list to choose from but both vet clinics I use are on it :) ). That exam is $40-45 alone, and a microchip would be in the neighborhood of $25 even from a low cost event. And spaying? Pfft. Even a low cost clinic would charge $40-60. And 3 days after that my lovely dog started limping. I'm giving her a couple of days to get over it, in case it's a sprain, and then I'll check in with the vet. Hopefully there are no new goals in regards to fixing the dog. At this point I'd honestly not be surprised if it's Lymes. We'll see.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Monthly Update
Pay off student loan - 21.9% (Up .5%)
Roth 2012 - 21.9% (Up 5.8%)
I should have a little more to put in my Roth from this month's paychecks but I'll see how the groceries come out tomorrow. The fence is done and paid for, woohoo!! The tax refunds covered it with just a bit to spare. I was hoping to use the leftovers to buy a new chair but instead, I just got a bill for my mortgage's escrow account which will apparently experience a shortage. Last year I got a check for three times the amount they are asking for now, since it was so well stocked. I'm baffled as to why they didn't keep some of that as padding. It's not even like my property taxes or insurance went up, so I'm not sure how they miscalculated so badly. Apart from the escrow miscalculations, I've had nothing but good experience with them (US Bank). So anyway, business as usual. No more house projects for now. About this time next year I think I'll start saving for windows..lol.
Roth 2012 - 21.9% (Up 5.8%)
I should have a little more to put in my Roth from this month's paychecks but I'll see how the groceries come out tomorrow. The fence is done and paid for, woohoo!! The tax refunds covered it with just a bit to spare. I was hoping to use the leftovers to buy a new chair but instead, I just got a bill for my mortgage's escrow account which will apparently experience a shortage. Last year I got a check for three times the amount they are asking for now, since it was so well stocked. I'm baffled as to why they didn't keep some of that as padding. It's not even like my property taxes or insurance went up, so I'm not sure how they miscalculated so badly. Apart from the escrow miscalculations, I've had nothing but good experience with them (US Bank). So anyway, business as usual. No more house projects for now. About this time next year I think I'll start saving for windows..lol.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Monthly Update
Pay off student loan - 21.4% (Up .6%)
Roth 2012 - 16.1%
Since I skipped last month, that's actually two months worth of updates. Slow going huh? I'm plodding along. My tax refunds came in pretty well this year - $3300-ish between state and federal. I hope that covers the fence, because at this rate I won't have much cushion leftover if I want to hit my Roth goal this year. Fence estimate is coming next week so I'm crossing my fingers.
Roth 2012 - 16.1%
Since I skipped last month, that's actually two months worth of updates. Slow going huh? I'm plodding along. My tax refunds came in pretty well this year - $3300-ish between state and federal. I hope that covers the fence, because at this rate I won't have much cushion leftover if I want to hit my Roth goal this year. Fence estimate is coming next week so I'm crossing my fingers.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Dividends
I'll throw up my dividend chart too. I love the growth :) I know, it's a small amount. But we're moving in the right direction.
Monthly Update
Pay off student loan - 21.2% (Up .4%)
What I call my emergency fund is definitely up over the top of my goal so I'm dropping that one off the list. The fence fund as I believe I mentioned last month was wiped out for the cat. I haven't yet started rebuilding that one so I dropped it off. I don't think I'll put it back up. I'm hoping for a tax refund that covers it in one swoop. That leaves the list pretty paltry, especially since I'm making almost-minimum payments on the student loan. I'll throw my 2012 goal up next time for good measure. I spend all of my "fat" this month between the aforementioned cat and also I got a good deal on a tv so I used the paycheck leftovers for that. I'm ready to dig in for the new year! I've been pretty spendy lately..
What I call my emergency fund is definitely up over the top of my goal so I'm dropping that one off the list. The fence fund as I believe I mentioned last month was wiped out for the cat. I haven't yet started rebuilding that one so I dropped it off. I don't think I'll put it back up. I'm hoping for a tax refund that covers it in one swoop. That leaves the list pretty paltry, especially since I'm making almost-minimum payments on the student loan. I'll throw my 2012 goal up next time for good measure. I spend all of my "fat" this month between the aforementioned cat and also I got a good deal on a tv so I used the paycheck leftovers for that. I'm ready to dig in for the new year! I've been pretty spendy lately..
Friday, December 30, 2011
Yearly Goals
2011
1. Net worth = $45,000.
2. Pay back what I owe myself - around $700 to my Roth and around $900 to my savings.
Done & done!
2012
1. Put $4,000 into my Roth.
There are no net worth goals this year. I realized I don't like those goals because I have so little direct control. The stock market can swing so much, and even if I ultimately chose the right mutual funds for me, it wouldn't matter that year, I would suck, or rock, depending which way the wind blew. So anyway, I'm excited about the new year. And tax season is coming, one of my favorite times of the year. Happy New Year!
1. Net worth = $45,000.
2. Pay back what I owe myself - around $700 to my Roth and around $900 to my savings.
Done & done!
2012
1. Put $4,000 into my Roth.
There are no net worth goals this year. I realized I don't like those goals because I have so little direct control. The stock market can swing so much, and even if I ultimately chose the right mutual funds for me, it wouldn't matter that year, I would suck, or rock, depending which way the wind blew. So anyway, I'm excited about the new year. And tax season is coming, one of my favorite times of the year. Happy New Year!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Monthly Update
Pay off student loan - 20.8% (Up 1.2%)
E-fund 2 - 116.8% (Up 19%)
Fence - 77.8% (Up 26.1%)
The student loan goal is up a little extra as I made November and December payments this month. I hit my goal on the back up emergency fund, woo! I shifted some of my primary emergency fund into the backup because of my last post - moving $1000 from a CD to a GNMA bond fund. But also the market bounced back a little bit. So, I'll be taking that off the monthly update. I might add a few dollars to the primary fund over the next couple of months but it seems as though I had that one slightly overstocked in cash equivalents. As well, the time has come to use the "fence" fund on the cat, so that goal will be starting over..lol :) Hopefully third time is the charm on that one. If nothing else, January is a 3 pay check month and in February I should be getting a hopefully decent tax refund. Between those things, I think the fence fund should be knocked flat. Woo hoo! I'm not sure what goal will be next. I'll be thinking about that..
E-fund 2 - 116.8% (Up 19%)
Fence - 77.8% (Up 26.1%)
The student loan goal is up a little extra as I made November and December payments this month. I hit my goal on the back up emergency fund, woo! I shifted some of my primary emergency fund into the backup because of my last post - moving $1000 from a CD to a GNMA bond fund. But also the market bounced back a little bit. So, I'll be taking that off the monthly update. I might add a few dollars to the primary fund over the next couple of months but it seems as though I had that one slightly overstocked in cash equivalents. As well, the time has come to use the "fence" fund on the cat, so that goal will be starting over..lol :) Hopefully third time is the charm on that one. If nothing else, January is a 3 pay check month and in February I should be getting a hopefully decent tax refund. Between those things, I think the fence fund should be knocked flat. Woo hoo! I'm not sure what goal will be next. I'll be thinking about that..
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