Struggling to be debt free

At the end of June I was just shy of $30,000 in my retirement accounts.  Just a few weeks ago , I finally hit $31,000 in my retirement account. Now, at the end of August, I have over $33,000 in my account.  Again, huge surprise, I was contemplating buying some additional shares of VTI and I logged into my account to see how much I paid last time and boom! My balance was over $33,000! There has been no update on the new work my boss was looking to get.  Still keeping my fingers crossed that he gets it, only because then I can negotiate for a raise.  I would love to get my salary into the $90,000s.  I would really love to negotiate a raise between $5,000- $10,000.  Most lawyers are not as highly paid as people think.  I am hoping to transition into an in house counsel positions, eventually.   I think after all this time, I am tired of litigation.  I did manage to settle that case that was worrying me.  However, I have a trial s...

I had an epiphany the other day about work (i actually had 2, but will only write about one for today's post).  My boss likes to incite controversy.  He deliberately takes jabs at his assistant and uses me as the stick.  Over the years that I have worked at this firm, he and his assistant have developed a very close relationship.  Uncomfortably, close.  Apparently, that is normal for him as he had the same relationship with his previous assistant.  His current assistant has stated that she feels like his girlfriend and his mother.  For some reason, however, he likes to try to incite jealousy in his assistant.  For example,  a few weeks ago, My boss told me that we needed to talk about a comprehensive listing of defenses for each type of case that we defend.  I went ahead and prepared a memo listing everything I could think of so as to not to waste time.  I left a copy on my boss's desk for him to review.  Well, the next da...

/ It's always something, isn't it? A few weeks ago I was driving to a mediation a couple of hours away and my tire pressure light came on and began rapidly blinking.  This happened to me once before and so I knew that it meant that the batteries in the tire pressure sensors were dead. However, last time the blinking went away on its own and I did not have to replace the sensors. Well, I wasn't so lucky this time.  All 5 of the sensors died (yes including the one in the spare tire).  I contemplated not replacing the them because my car is 12 years old and previously, I had driven a car for years without sensors in the tires.  The problem, for me, became the incessant blinking of the light on the dashboard.  It drove me crazy and I could not stand to look at it for hours at a time while driving around to different cities.  It's a dumb issue, I realize, but I just couldn't take it. So I coughed up $322 at the local discounted tire shop for new sensor...

Wednesday was payday and I was able to put $1,418 towards my retirement contribution goals for the year!  My goal for the year was to contribute $10,500 towards retirement this year.  I only have $1,382 left to contribute in 2018.  I should be able to finish this off in September (fingers crossed that Murphy does not pay me a visit). In case you were wondering (and I would because I am a nerd ), I have been tracking my retirement contributions for the year.  They are as follows: 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    $1,000 7/1/18      $100 7/12/18    $25 7/16/18    $1,000 7/25/18    $25 7/30/18    $50 8/15/18  $1,418 I have already been thinking about how much I sh...

Just another quick post this morning.  I just happened to login and check my retirement account to make sure that a transfer that I initiated at the end of July fully processed.  I was so surprised to find that the total balance was over $31,000.  Just last month (on 7/20) I was celebrating the fact that I finally reached $30,000.  I know these numbers will continue to ebb and fall, but I love surprises like this.  Also, just in case you did not know, Dave Ramsey is hosting a contest on his website for two people to win $5,500.  Just the amount needed to max out your Roth (if under 50 years old). I entered because I love free money!!

Ally just raised its rates to 1.8%!! I opened my online savings account in June of 2018 and the rate was 1.65% A day or 2 later Ally raised the rate to 1.75%.  Now less than 2 months later Ally has raised rates again to 1.8%.  I am totally a fan at this point! This is not a sponsored post.

I realized, in June, that I have been averaging a $1,100 a month contribution to my retirement accounts. Towards the end of July, I was $50 short of making that goal for the month. I was really disappointed that I was not going to meet or exceed my new informal goal.  However, on the last day of the month, I received a travel reimbursement and I put $50 of that into my retirement fund.  Goal met!!! I love the little good things like that. Over the last few months I had been noticing an occasional squealing sound in my car.  I was worried about what else could be going wrong in my now 12 year old car.  Last weekend I washed out my car and cleaned the inside.  I also went for a drive with my mother, opening the vents on the passenger side of the car.  Low and behold, the sound stopped!! #moneysaved I've made some progress on a case I have been working on at work.  Very bad facts for my client.  The case is difficult and stressful, but I thi...