Budget Breakdown May 1-15

Friday was payday so it's time for another budget breakdown!

$1,561 mortgage
$330 cell phone
$60 pet plan
$100 mother's day
$200 spending
$100 gas
$180 new car fund

The minimum payment on my mortgage is $1,469, so this payment includes about an extra $91! I love paying extra on my mortgage, I just hate that it is so little.  I can't wait until I can really start paying this thing off. 

I got my sister to make some changes to the cell phone bill, so it dropped about $40.  I still have to work on her to make a few more.  I really want to get this thing down under $300 a month.  Any extra money saved will go towards the mortgage.

I finally was able to put another $180 into my new car fund! Whoohoo! I have about $360 total.  Slowly, but surely I am making progress on putting aside money for a new car. My hope is to have $2,000 by the end of the year. 

Oh and still no luck finding that debit card!

Traveling and Job

I have so many things I want to put up posts about, but I simply have not had the time.  I have been traveling all over the state for the last few weeks.  I was up at 4:30 yesterday morning to get ready and left the house about 6:15 and did not pull into the house until 8:53p.m.  I am so tired and I have so much to do. 

I still hate my job, but I have not seen or heard about any interesting or new positions.  I can't even really think about it right now.  The dynamic in the office is the same.  Most of much of the staff is generally not in the office and while there is some irritation from the higher ups, nothing is done about it.  A few weeks ago, I worked a 14 hour day traveling (hearing and 2 depositions) and then came into the work the next morning and there was no support staff present.  Which meant on top of doing all of the administrative tasks I normally have to do (logging billiable time, travel reimbursement documents, etc,) I also had to answer the phone, get the mail and, of course, do my billiable work.  It's pretty ridiculous.

I can't wait to come home and sleep. Zzzz

Lost Debit Card

I lost my debit card.  I have no idea how or where and that is very unlike me.  I'm really not sure if it was stolen or I simply lost it.  I feel like such a mess and so irresponsible.   Just when I was starting to feel like a responsible adult (I mean I opened and fully funded a Roth IRA and everything!).

However, it was easy to deactivate and order a replacement card.  In 5-7 business days I will have a new card and life will be normal again. Has anyone else ever misplaced a debit card?  Did you find it anywhere? I need some ideas of where to look for the old card. It's driving me crazy that I can't find it.

Budget Breakdown April 16-30

$170 utilities
$100 groceries
$100 gas
$1,327 emergency fund
$200 pet expenses
$200 spending
$33 alarm
$250 house/furniture
$150 mom.

The utilities were low this month!  It's probably the last month for the low bill though.  It's already starting to get hot in Florida.  It might be in the 90s this week.

I pulled $3,900 from my emergency savings to put into my Roth IRA for my 2015 contributions. (Had to beat that April 18, 2016 deadline.) So now I am in the process of paying that money back to my emergency fund before I start making contributions for 2016.

Slowly, but surely I am making progress. I'm impatient and would like everything done right now, but slow and steady wins the race. Right?

I maxed out my (2015) Roth!

I contributed $5,500 to my Roth for 2015 and I'm so excited!! I just beat the April 18, 2016 deadline and I can't wait to see my retirement funds grow and grow.  Hello retirement, here I come!

I also purchased my first vanguard mutual fund, it was a $3,000 minimum investment. (Geez, kinda steep!) I can't wait to see how much I will have saved in just a few years from now.  Ya'll wish me luck with this investing thing.  I am learning so much everyday.  I am already planning what fund I want to purchase with the next $3,000 that I get in my retirement account. 
 
Now I just need to find $5,500 in my budget for my 2016 contribution...

UPDATE: So I logged into my vanguard account this morning and I already lost a penny! I know, it's long term investing-but it still hurt.  I am going to have to resist the urge to check the balance everyday.  

Making a Difference

Hey Guys!  I am being featured on Canadian Budget Binder's Making a Difference Series today.  You should check it out along with Mr. CBB's other helpful and interesting posts about being frugal.   I hope to see you guys over there (http://canadianbudgetbinder.com). 

Seriously, just check out today's post (4/9/16) and scroll down until you see the Making Difference Series. (Then go back to the top and read the entire post- it has amazing tips about spring cleaning with a toddler!)

Budget Breakdown April 1-15

$1,519 mortgage
$372 cell phone
$60 pet plan
$100 groceries
$200 spending
$100 gas
$100 retirement
$80 car

I was able to put an extra $50 on the mortgage this month. Yay! I know it's not much, but I figure every extra little bit will help me pay off the mortgage faster and I'll be a little closer to being financially independent.

After much cajoling (arguing) my sister has made some unknown changes to the cellular phone bill.  All I know is that the bill should be reduced for the next billing period.  I don't know by how much and I don't know what changes she made.  Only time will tell.  Any extra money will go to the mortgage next month.

Gosh darn it, I will cancel the pet plans this year and just save the cash!! I think the first one I can cancel is in July.

I was able to put another $100 towards retirement.  That makes the total for my 2015 Roth contributions $1,600.  I should be able to add a little more from my April 15 paycheck.  I will pull the rest out of savings so I can max out my Roth for 2015.  Sigh, I hate pulling money out of savings-even if it is to put into other savings.

Roth IRA

Last night I actually sat down and opened up a Roth IRA through Vanguard.  It was super easy.  I haven't bought any shares yet as the funds that I would like to participate in all have $3,000 minimums.  I transferred over $1,600. I only have about 2 weeks to get the remaining $3,900 into the Roth for 2015.  I really just want to get the $5,500 into it for 2015.  Then I can work on getting the $5,500 for 2016 over the course of the next year.  I would love to end 2017 with $16,500 for retirement.  It would really make me feel like I am getting caught up on all of the years I missed out on saving for retirement.

Anyways, maybe I will take the money out of my emergency fund and then replace it over the next few months.  I hate to take money of out my emergency fund, but I don't know any other way to make the numbers work.