Struggling to be debt free

Hi Everyone, I hope you had a wonderful holiday.  I am still on vacation and enjoying my time off.  I hope to be able to get back to reading and commenting on my favorite blogs soon.  (For some reason the comments from my phone will not post??)  I just wanted to pop in very quickly and post about my raise. My boss called me on the second day of my vacation to let me know that I am getting a raise starting January 1, 2019.  My salary will now be $90,000 (up from $85,850)  I received my last raise in August of 2017 ($80,850 to $85,850) so I am pleased about the increase in income.  Based on the online calculators, I should receive an extra $118 per paycheck (an increase of $236 per month).  I need to figure out what I want to do with the increase in income for the 2019 year.  Probably a combination of mortgage pay down and savings. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful and Merry Christmas!!!

This is not really a Christmas-y post, but I wanted to post it before it slipped my mind.  I read a very sad article about another lawyer, a successful one, who committed suicide. Being a lawyer is such a hard and stressful job and even the Florida Bar has initiated several programs directed towards mental wellness. Even successful lawyers take their own lives due to the stress.  The link to the article is here .  I do not necessary agree with all of the statements in the article and I recognize it is one sided, but it gives insight into the practice of law and the mental health of lawyers.  It shows why I want to retire from practicing law as soon as I possibly can. 

It's December!! I'm feeling pretty excited as I only have 7 more days to work this year.I will have about 12 consecutive days off!! December is usually pretty stressful, but I think I am slightly ahead of where I normally am by this time.  I still have a good bit to do, but I don't feel overwhelmed.  Anyways, here are my goals for December 1. Finish Christmas Shopping 2. Wrap presents 3. Finish filing papers in the office 4. Put up Christmas Decorations 5. Clean out Office 6. Figure out 2019 Financial (and other goals). 7. Pull together a post on how I did on my 2018 goals. 8. Prepare a Net worth update.  9. Read 2 books.  How are you doing on your year end and/or Christmas preparations? Are you on target or falling behind? 

I made my December mortgage payment last week and my mortgage balance finally dropped under $200,000!! The current balance is $199,275!! I was beginning to think it would never get out of the $200,000s.  I am ahead of my amortization schedule by about a year and a half.  I'm at 80.7% LTV.  SOoo close to 80% and so close (relatively) to dropping PMI.  I have one more mortgage payment to make before the end of the year (my 12/31 payment), so the balance should drop down to the $198,000s. My mortgage at the beginning of the year was at 208,908.  So about a $10,000 drop in principal for the year!