Struggling to be debt free

It's January 18, we are half way through the month!! I figured I would do a mid- month check in on some of my goals.  I am plugging away at the retirement funds, I added $1,000 to retirement from my 1/15 paycheck and it felt good. Only, $10,000 more to go for the year.   I love putting money away for the future and I know that I am extremely fortunate to be able to do so.  I feel so much for the federal workers who are not getting paid right now, due to the government shutdown.  I have contributed $100 to charity this year.  I gave $50 to my law school and $50 to St. Jude's.  My goal is to give $400 this year, I am already a quarter of the way there!!  I hope to be able to make a charitable contribution every month. Even if it is only $1.  I should probably try to take some clothes to goodwill every month too.    My escrow review statement arrived via email this morning and, of course, there is a almost $200 shortage.  The p...

Here's where the numbers stand. Savings- $12,916 Emergency Fund  $12,487 Online Savings Account/$8,947 of that amount is for my Car Replacement Fund/$5k is for my EF $1,946 Online Savings Account #2  $23,585 Retirement- Roth IRA  $6,666Taxable Brokerage (Retirement) $788 Travel Fund (Work) $800 pet fund  $5 medical fund $2,096 furniture fund $73 Slush fund Home- $308,598-per zillow               Total (not including home): $61,362               Total (including home): $369,960 Liabilities- Mortgage $198,399 Furniture (0% financing) $4,300                                  Total (not including mortgage): -$4,300                     Total (including mortgage): -$202,699         ...

  At the beginning of 2018, I set some goals for myself.  Let's see how I did. 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.  PASS.  I contributed $10,760 total.  My balance did not reach $35,000, due to the uncooperative stock market.  2.Increase EF to $18,500. PASSISH.  My E-Fund ended the year with a total of $17,916 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 the end of the year.  The ultimate goal is to have the balance paid down to $197,500 by the end of the year so that the PMI will drop off the mortgage. PASS!  I actually added about $400 extra to the mort...

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...