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Struggling to be debt free

Happy Thanksgiving!

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- November 25, 2017

Just a quick pop in to say that I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving (US readers)! I had a great time with family and I am looking forward to Christmas!

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Taxes

- February 03, 2016

I finally received all of all my paperwork so that I could file my taxes. The final numbers show that I will receive a refund of $1,613. There were a couple of issues that were irritating to me about filing my taxes. First, I'm glad that I don't owe any money, but I hated to see all of the interest that I paid for my mortgage. I paid over $7,500 in interest for the privilege of having a mortgage. Sigh. Second, I paid over $500 in student loan interest last year. I was able to take a $28 deduction for that student loan interest. Wow, seriously. Apparently the IRS saw fit to reduce the amount of the deduction you can take for student loan interest based on your income. I'm not trying to be political here, but why are you punishing people who have higher incomes? I think some IRS regulations should be the same across the board. I tend to think if I have student loan debt it's because I'm not in a position to ...

Update on 2025 Goals

- July 26, 2025

1. Pay mortgage down to under $120k. I currently owe just over $135k I am paying an extra $500 a month on my mortgage. I also hope to get a bigger year end bonus and apply a portion of that to the mortgage this year. I am now down to $124,000 and something (need to find the exact number) on my mortgage. 2. Increase contribution to 401k to 10% from 8% I currently am contributing 8% of my $168k salary. I expect a 5% raise to $176k. I will increase my 401k contribution to 10% of my new salary. My raise was to $175K. I increased my 401k contributions to 10%. 3. Increase savings account (Marcus) to $50k, currently at approximately $40k I've always had anxiety over job loss. I hope to keep a $50k savings account for my emergency fund and household expenses. My savings account is over $50k now. 4. Max out Back door Roth Contributions Complete! 5. Lose 30lbs Ugh! 6. Read 12 books I need to get a count on books read. 7. Take one trip Done! My friend paid for everyt...

New Year, New Goals!

- January 03, 2019

Happy New Year Everyone!! I hope you all had a wonderful new year's day. It's already the third day of the year and I am just getting around to posting my goals. Here goes: 1. Put a minimum of $11,000 to retirement. ($6,000 to Roth and $5,000 to taxable). I am loving the increase in contributions to the Roth. It's $6,000 this year, in case you have not heard! The $11,000 goal is an increase of $500 from last year. 2. Increase replacement car fund to $12,000. 3. Give a minimum of $400 to charity. This is an increase of $100 from last year. 4. Increase Emergency Fund to $20,000. 5. Pay down mortgage principal so that the PMI can be removed. I'm so close, only 5 or 6 months to go! 6. Read 12 books 7. Lose 20lbs 8. Increase social activities. 9. Learn coding. 10. Learn more about my family history. 11. Meditate. 12. Be kinder and more patient. 13. Increase FI/FU fund to $1,200. 14. Figure out my purpose in life. What are your goal...