Pay off student loan - 30.3% (Up .9%)
Roth 2013 - 72.3% (-)
Windows - 9.6% (-)
Sadly, my only progress is on the student loan. Which brings me to my goal for the new year.
My goal is to use what I have. Coincidentally I had recently started doing this so hopefully it will be easy to keep going. There are two main areas with which I'm concerned at the moment, my yarn collection and my food collection. I tend to stockpile when I find either a good deal or a hard to find item. I'm pretty sure my yarn collection could keep me knitting for a year. My food collection is not that big, plus I will need more produce on a regular basis. But I have a nice supply of things like dry beans, rice, nut butters, breakfast bars, that will last me quite awhile. I have also been working on the food in my freezer.
So maybe in the process I will spend less and be able to make progress on my stagnant goals.
In less good news, financially speaking anyway, I signed up for my next class assuming I'd be reimbursed for my previous class and so far it hasn't happened. I did a very poor job of reading the documentation requirements :) and need to wait until my transcript updates before I can get reimbursement. I hope that will be soon because I just paid the latest bill with my credit card so I have about a month to pay for it. If I don't get reimbursed in the next few weeks I will have to rob my savings again. Should be temporary of course but I hate to do it. Plus I should be getting my twice yearly car insurance bill anytime now.
The good news is I have no foster kittens this winter. Good on many levels, even though I miss having the little critters around. First it means hopefully our community is making a dent in the kitty overpopulation issue (I believe we are, in fact). But on another level it means I'm not feeding extra mouths, and even bigger, I'm not heating my house to a higher temperature. One might be surprised how big of an impact that can have. Just due to the especially cold weather alone this winter my heating bill has jumped.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Dividends
That time of year again, I recently received my yearly dividend payout and the last of my quarterlies for 2013. Good growth this year, up 42% over last year.
Friday, November 1, 2013
Bi-monthly Update
Pay off student loan - 29.4% (Up .9%)
Roth 2013 - 72.3% (Up 7.5%)
Windows - 9.6% (Up .7%)
I did a couple of things in the past two months to impact my financial situation. I bought a new vehicle so I now have a loan on that. It did not make my financial goal list. Obviously I intend to pay it off, but I got a superb rate on a 6 year loan (1.9%) so at this point it is at the bottom of my pile in terms of goals.
I also started my master's degree. I'm taking advantage of my employer's reimbursement but it means I have to raid the money from my savings account, finish out the course, then wait for reimbursement. So my savings will keep taking a temporary hit but I won't be putting that on the list either. Other incidentals like books and such will have to be cash flowed.
Other than that, I am slipping behind on my Roth contributions. I have been rather spendy lately. I'm working on reeling it in. If I haven't gotten where I need to by tax refund time, I'll fill it in that way. But I'm really hoping to use the tax refund for windows since that goal is going nowhere :) I'm also hoping with more of my free time being committed long term, I have less time to be spendy..lol. We'll see how that pans out.
Next up, vacation. The second this year. I enjoy traveling and the opportunity doesn't come up much so I feel compelled to make use of opportunities when they arise. Thankfully this month is a three paycheck month so hopefully I can skim off of that and cover it swiftly.
Roth 2013 - 72.3% (Up 7.5%)
Windows - 9.6% (Up .7%)
I did a couple of things in the past two months to impact my financial situation. I bought a new vehicle so I now have a loan on that. It did not make my financial goal list. Obviously I intend to pay it off, but I got a superb rate on a 6 year loan (1.9%) so at this point it is at the bottom of my pile in terms of goals.
I also started my master's degree. I'm taking advantage of my employer's reimbursement but it means I have to raid the money from my savings account, finish out the course, then wait for reimbursement. So my savings will keep taking a temporary hit but I won't be putting that on the list either. Other incidentals like books and such will have to be cash flowed.
Other than that, I am slipping behind on my Roth contributions. I have been rather spendy lately. I'm working on reeling it in. If I haven't gotten where I need to by tax refund time, I'll fill it in that way. But I'm really hoping to use the tax refund for windows since that goal is going nowhere :) I'm also hoping with more of my free time being committed long term, I have less time to be spendy..lol. We'll see how that pans out.
Next up, vacation. The second this year. I enjoy traveling and the opportunity doesn't come up much so I feel compelled to make use of opportunities when they arise. Thankfully this month is a three paycheck month so hopefully I can skim off of that and cover it swiftly.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Monthly (or quarterly) Update
Pay off student loan - 28.5% (Up .9%)
Roth 2013 - 64.8% (Up 26.2%)
Windows - 8.9% (Up 1%)
Oops, skipped a couple of months there. But it makes it look like I made a bunch of progress :)
Financial thoughts are swirling here. I've been eyeballing a different vehicle. I wasn't planning to go there for a couple of more years but I'm getting antsy! Unfortunately that means I haven't put away any cash for such transaction so it would mean a loan. Do I really want another loan? And I think I'd have to spend a bit more than I'd want to, in order to get what I really want. A good compromise might be waiting a few months and stashing cash in the meantime. The hard part is there are not a lot of used vehicles of the sort I want available locally. Seems like you catch them off their 3 year lease or you catch them much further down the line with a pile of miles. But if I wait till after the new year I'll be fighting the people wanting to use their tax refunds.. Plus it'd be nice to have this vehicle in time for winter.
Then there are the windows. I haven't been saving money as I should for those. Toying with getting an estimate so at least I have a solid goal. I'm really aiming for spring and wrapping it up with my tax refund. I'm thinking that's a bad time to ask them to come out though for the same reason it's a bad time to buy a car in spring.
Then there's school. I've been thinking about getting a master's on and off for a long time. Last time I looked into it, I couldn't find an option that suited me in terms of timing, location, course work, etc. But I think I've found my match this time. Getting my stuff together now and we'll see how that pans out.
Roth 2013 - 64.8% (Up 26.2%)
Windows - 8.9% (Up 1%)
Oops, skipped a couple of months there. But it makes it look like I made a bunch of progress :)
Financial thoughts are swirling here. I've been eyeballing a different vehicle. I wasn't planning to go there for a couple of more years but I'm getting antsy! Unfortunately that means I haven't put away any cash for such transaction so it would mean a loan. Do I really want another loan? And I think I'd have to spend a bit more than I'd want to, in order to get what I really want. A good compromise might be waiting a few months and stashing cash in the meantime. The hard part is there are not a lot of used vehicles of the sort I want available locally. Seems like you catch them off their 3 year lease or you catch them much further down the line with a pile of miles. But if I wait till after the new year I'll be fighting the people wanting to use their tax refunds.. Plus it'd be nice to have this vehicle in time for winter.
Then there are the windows. I haven't been saving money as I should for those. Toying with getting an estimate so at least I have a solid goal. I'm really aiming for spring and wrapping it up with my tax refund. I'm thinking that's a bad time to ask them to come out though for the same reason it's a bad time to buy a car in spring.
Then there's school. I've been thinking about getting a master's on and off for a long time. Last time I looked into it, I couldn't find an option that suited me in terms of timing, location, course work, etc. But I think I've found my match this time. Getting my stuff together now and we'll see how that pans out.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Monthly Update
Pay off student loan - 27.6% (Down .2%)
Roth 2013 - 38.6% (Up 6.6%)
Pay back savings - plumbing - done!
Windows - 7.9% (--)
So my mortgage escrow refund came and I replenished my savings. It's a good feeling. Skipped this month's student loan payment 'cause I can. :) I'm waiting on a different check this month. I cashed in some stock that spun off a stock I've owned forever. I hate managing individual stocks so I dumped it, even though it was kicking butt. But now I can dump that in my roth when it comes. Not much else happening, which is good in my book. Happy summer!
Roth 2013 - 38.6% (Up 6.6%)
Pay back savings - plumbing - done!
Windows - 7.9% (--)
So my mortgage escrow refund came and I replenished my savings. It's a good feeling. Skipped this month's student loan payment 'cause I can. :) I'm waiting on a different check this month. I cashed in some stock that spun off a stock I've owned forever. I hate managing individual stocks so I dumped it, even though it was kicking butt. But now I can dump that in my roth when it comes. Not much else happening, which is good in my book. Happy summer!
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Monthly Update
Pay off student loan - 27.8% (Up .4%)
Roth 2013 - 32% (Up 4.4%)
Pay back savings - plumbing - 24.1% (--)
Windows - 7.9% (--)
Do you ever get that spiraling or downhill feeling? Starting to feel that. This blog is a great check in for me.
So this month I refinanced the house. I had been thinking about it but didn't want to go back into a 30 year loan and the rates had just start going up about when I decided I could probably squeeze into a 20 year. Then my broker hit me up with an offer on a 30 year loan and I figured I may as well since rates were still not much better on 20 year loans.. So I did, and it unfolded while I was on vacation. The appraisal allowed for the costs to be rolled in. I don't think I should have done but then I didn't really ask for it to be handled differently so .. feel like I totally slid backward there. The plan for now is to keep making my old payment so I can regain ground sooner rather than later.
And now my escrow refund is due back anytime. I should probably pump that into the mortgage but right now I'm very tempted to finish paying back my savings from last year's plumbing incident. How overdue is that? lol
My Roth was back on target at the beginning of the month but progress is slip sliding also. I think I'm ahead on my student loan so I might just skip a month and redirect that to the Roth.
Windows are going nowhere and won't this month. Kitty needs a dental cleaning one of these months.. Still need to sit down and consider where my money's going. Not ready to go into full blown budget analysis but I do need to see what's up and if there are holes that can be plugged.
Roth 2013 - 32% (Up 4.4%)
Pay back savings - plumbing - 24.1% (--)
Windows - 7.9% (--)
Do you ever get that spiraling or downhill feeling? Starting to feel that. This blog is a great check in for me.
So this month I refinanced the house. I had been thinking about it but didn't want to go back into a 30 year loan and the rates had just start going up about when I decided I could probably squeeze into a 20 year. Then my broker hit me up with an offer on a 30 year loan and I figured I may as well since rates were still not much better on 20 year loans.. So I did, and it unfolded while I was on vacation. The appraisal allowed for the costs to be rolled in. I don't think I should have done but then I didn't really ask for it to be handled differently so .. feel like I totally slid backward there. The plan for now is to keep making my old payment so I can regain ground sooner rather than later.
And now my escrow refund is due back anytime. I should probably pump that into the mortgage but right now I'm very tempted to finish paying back my savings from last year's plumbing incident. How overdue is that? lol
My Roth was back on target at the beginning of the month but progress is slip sliding also. I think I'm ahead on my student loan so I might just skip a month and redirect that to the Roth.
Windows are going nowhere and won't this month. Kitty needs a dental cleaning one of these months.. Still need to sit down and consider where my money's going. Not ready to go into full blown budget analysis but I do need to see what's up and if there are holes that can be plugged.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Monthly Update
Pay off student loan - 27.4% (Up .6%)
Roth 2013 - 27.6% (Up 18.8%)
Pay back savings - plumbing - 24.1% (Up 11.6%)
Windows - 7.9%
On the surface it looks like I'm humming along sort of as planned. In reality, my tax refund didn't go at all as planned...lol. By the the time I covered the electrician, the chest freezer, the boarding bill that will be coming for vacation, and an unexpected vet bill, there's really not much left for windows. I also rounded out my Roth for 2012. But that's okay. No regrets. For the record, chocolate poisoning for a small dog can run in the neighborhood of $1000 so put your chocolate far out of reach :) If you're anything like me, you know your dog's abilities but occasionally you get a little um, complacent.
I need to sit down and consider my spending. In the past I've been able to rather easily manage to put $350+ into my Roth each month. I haven't been able to do that since December. I know I covered some big bills but they were expected and I should have been able to plan for those. And that was in January or something. So I probably have a money leak I'm ignoring.. Plus I have another big once-a-year bill coming in May that I should be planning for and I'm not.
Happy Easter, happy spring!
Roth 2013 - 27.6% (Up 18.8%)
Pay back savings - plumbing - 24.1% (Up 11.6%)
Windows - 7.9%
On the surface it looks like I'm humming along sort of as planned. In reality, my tax refund didn't go at all as planned...lol. By the the time I covered the electrician, the chest freezer, the boarding bill that will be coming for vacation, and an unexpected vet bill, there's really not much left for windows. I also rounded out my Roth for 2012. But that's okay. No regrets. For the record, chocolate poisoning for a small dog can run in the neighborhood of $1000 so put your chocolate far out of reach :) If you're anything like me, you know your dog's abilities but occasionally you get a little um, complacent.
I need to sit down and consider my spending. In the past I've been able to rather easily manage to put $350+ into my Roth each month. I haven't been able to do that since December. I know I covered some big bills but they were expected and I should have been able to plan for those. And that was in January or something. So I probably have a money leak I'm ignoring.. Plus I have another big once-a-year bill coming in May that I should be planning for and I'm not.
Happy Easter, happy spring!
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