Struggling to be debt free

I don't know about everyone else, but throughout my life I often seem to be in opportune (or inopportune) places to hear sensitive, scandalous or private information.  No, I'm not eavesdropping, sometimes people will voluntarily reveal information to me- maybe because I'm the only other person around.  Sometimes it is said in such a place that I am unable to avoid overhearing the information.   Due to the nature of the information I have been made privy to I cannot disclose it to those close to me as it would ruin friendships, working relationships or simply be construed as gossip.  I'm not the type to want to cause drama in the lives of my friends, family or work relationships. So, your beautiful ears (or eyes rather) will get to hear the random secrets and lies that I hear. I figure my blog can act as my stress relief/venting place for all of the craziness I hear. A lot of these stories also provided valuable financial lessons.  So this is ...

Thank goodness for the weekend!! I cannot wait. This is just going to be a stream of consciousness post, so forgive me in advance.  Monday was payday and I was able to sock away another $1,000 to retirement.  I also made another $25 donation to charity.  I am over $225 in donations for the year. I hope I surprise myself this year and get close to $400 in charitable donations (baby steps people!).  Only time will tell, maybe, just maybe, we will get bonuses this year.  That will definitely up my charitable donations as I believe in spreading the good!  I always give my sister and mother a portion of any bonus I receive.  This year I would also like to give some to charity.  My retirement contributions so far this year: 1/15/18    $1,390 2/15/18    $610 3/15/18    $1,270 4/16/18    $765 4/27/18    $55 5/11/18    $55 5/15/18    $1,355  6/15/18 ...

I probably shouldn't post this, but I am planning to ask my boss for a raise.  Yes, I know that I received a raise a year ago.  No, I'm not being greedy.  Here's the back story: my boss is actively seeking to take on a new client (A company) with a diverse, widespread and large book of business. The company has cases throughout the State.  I have been supportive in assisting him with obtaining this client. He definitely needs to build his brand.   I helped him to submit a proposal, informational paperwork and encouraged him to attend meet and greets with the company big wigs so that he would be awarded the contract. Now, it looks like he pretty much has the contract.  He has intimated that he wants me to run this project. Undoubtedly, if he secures this contract I will have an even larger work load.  I'm already busy.  I think it's only fair if I am compensated with a raise.  I'm trying to think of a fair compensation arrangement, but...

Another short post!  A few weeks ago I opened a savings account with Ally because it was offering a 1.75% rate.  Right around that time I saw that a company named Marcus was offering 1.8%.  I figured I would stay with Ally for a bit before rushing over to check out Marcus.  So far Ally seems okay.  It's offering a higher rate than my old savings account so I am pleased.  I was worried for a few days because at the end of June because no interest posted to my account.  As I clicked on various links on the site I saw that the statement cycles ended on the 15th, so I figured I would wait until today to see if any interest posted.   It did!  I received $9.58 for a partial month of parking my money.  That's more than I received for having my money parked for an entire month in my former savings account! I will keep you updated on how Ally works out for me.  FYI- this is not a sponsored post.

Here's where the numbers stand. Savings-  $11,650 Emergency Fund  $11,761 Online Savings Account/$6,587 of that amount is for my Car Replacement Fund  $25,722 Retirement- Roth IRA   $3,188 Taxable Brokerage (Retirement) $269 Travel Fund (Work) $716 pet fund  $57 medical fund $1,991 furniture fund $367 Slush fund Home- $299,385-per zillow               Total (not including home): $55,721               Total (including home): $355,106 Liabilities- Mortgage $203,877                                  Total (not including mortgage): 0                     Total (including mortgage): -$203,887           Total Net Worth(not including mortgage): $55,721     ...

At the beginning of the year, I set some goals for myself.  Let's see how I am doing. 1. Add $10,500 to retirement savings with the goal of having $35,000 saved for retirement by the end of the year.  $5,500 will go into my roth ira and $5,000 will go into a taxable account. Come on stock market growth and no recession! Last year I contributed $9,500 so this will be an  increase of $1,000.  So Far I have contributed $6,500 towards retirement this year.  $5,500 of that went into my Roth IRA.  $1,000 to my taxable account.  I still have $4,000 left to contribute towards retirement for the year.  2.Increase EF to $18,500. I added just a little to my EF, but then I had to spend $335 for the garage door repair.  I will focus on this after my retirement savings for the year are done.  3. Pay an extra $290/month toward principal on the mortgage.  My easily reachable goal is to have the mortgage paid down to $200,000 by ...