Struggling to be debt free

I have a car that is 13 to 14 years old.  It is starting to have some issues here and there so I am thinking about replacing it.  Since I have kept my car for so long, I plan to buy a brand new car, again (I can hear the gasps from the personal finance community, but I don't care.) I was hoping to take advantage of some of the year end deals, but nothing is interesting to me.  I have researched and researched and I cannot find a car that I WANT to buy.  I have test driven an Acura MDX, a Honda Pilot and a Volvo XC60.  I am thinking about  test driving a mazda CX9.  Everything is expensive and nothing appeals to me. Also, why are cars so expensive? The Honda Pilot looks like a van now. It's weird. I did like the Honda Passport, but no Passports were on the lot.  The MDX is pretty expensive with no real added features.  I can get a fully loaded Honda for the same price without paying for the Acura name.  The XC60 is expensi...

I got a Holiday bonus check at work yesterday!!! I was totally shocked and so excited!!  I plan to write a super nice thank card to both of the partners and send it out today. I think this is the largest bonus I have ever received, I grossed almost $5,200 and I am taking home almost $4,000 ($3900 and some change). I plan to give some to my mom and sister, put some in my car replacement fund, put some into my retirement fund, give some to charity and finish replacing the EF used to purchase the new HVAC. I am incredibly thankful for the bonus and I want to pay it forward!

Where did November go?  I kept trying to get online and post, but time kept eluding me.  End result? There were absolutely no posts for November.  Anyways, it is Winter now and it has been pretty chilly in Florida (in the 30s).  I don't have time for a long post because my time management skills suck.  I just wanted to update that I will make my charitable donations goal for the year!  My goal is $400 and I am at $383 for the year.  I will make a donation to a Christmas charity and be done for the year.  Next year that goal will go up to $500.  I have been reading blogs, but have not been able to comment.  Everyone PLEASE congratulate Double Debt Single Woman for paying off her debt!! She is debt free!!!!   Also, please congratulate Lucy at A Dime At A Time as she is debt free as well!!  Congratulations to both of these hardworking women! (You can find the links to these blogs in my blog list to the right).

Happy Halloween to all those that celebrate.  I have been out of town, but hopefully will make it back home in time to hand out Halloween candy. Otherwise, I do not have any spooky plans for Halloween. I have been eating a lot of candy leading up to the holiday so I'll be happy to get the candy out of my house!!  However, I did manage to get a work out in while traveling this week (way to go hotel fitness center) so that should ;) balance out the Halloween candy consumption. Truly, I can't want to get back home and sleep in my own bed. I submitted my November mortgage payment and it was the first one in quite some time that did not include an extra principal payment. :(  I am currently cutting back on my extra payments to rebuild my emergency fund (thanks new hvac unit). The mortgage is down to $189,107.  It didn't even drop down to the next $1000 (face palm).  Hopefully, it won't be long until my EF is back where it should be.  I loved making payme...

In addition to paying off my sister's $3,000+ furniture bill, the new HVAC (which works great by the way)I have paid about $800 for a crown because I cracked a tooth.  Oh, I also had a super expensive car repair as well! Yes, I have paid out over $15,000 in cash over just a couple of months. Thank GOD I paid off all of my debt (other than my mortgage) because otherwise I just would not have been able to cash flow any of this stuff.  When it rains, it pours.  So of course, now I have to replace all of the money that I have spent. Which means I will not meet my retirement savings goal for this year.  Or really any other money related goal for the year.  My plan is to stop my retirement contributions (I still had about $3,964 left to contribute for the year) and stop paying extra (approximately $500) on the mortgage.  All of the extra money I can muster will go towards recouping the cash that I have spent.  I think, generally, I would not stop ...

I have been trying for weeks to get a post up.  If it's not one thing it is another! I swear this has been a crazy fall and I am already over it.   It seems like the firm is back to 3 (plus) months to reimburse for travel expenses.  Really? It drives me crazy that I have to wait for so long to get reimbursed.  I am more irritated right now because I have been shelling out money like crazy!  My oldest sister (Sister A), who is 50 years old, has always been irresponsible with money.  Well last year, she purchased a new mattress and frame on credit.  It was one of those furniture deals where if you pay if off in a year you don't pay any interest.  I did the same as did my other sister (sister B).  Sister B and I paid off our furniture months in advance and did not pay a single penny of interest! Thanks, furniture store! Of course, Sister A did not.  The deal ends on December 8, 2019.  Which means everything ha...

Last year I opened an Ally Savings account because the rates were higher and rising fast.  I had not problems with the account and it was easy to open.  Recently Ally has dropped its rates down to 1.90%.  My old trusty My Savings Direct ("MSD") account has, thus far, remained at 2.4% so I moved all of my savings back over there.  I earn over $25 a month in interest at MSD.  Marcus was another savings account that I looked at last year and it is offering 2.0% on savings accounts.  I'm sure that MSD will eventually drop its rates along with all of the other banks. I am keeping my Ally account open as an alternative and I will move money between the 2 accounts depending on which is offering a higher rate.  FYI- I don't plan to go back and forth over a 0.1 of an interest rate.  Only if there are bigger and sustained differences.  I waited until there was a half a percentage difference until I switched back to MSD.  What online sav...

In July, I had my annual eye exam.  I got a new prescription for my contact lenses and learned that I qualified for a $75 rebate. I have worn the air optix night and day lenses for over 10 years.  This year there was a $75 rebate from the parent company Alcon. Unfortunately, it was not an instant rebate taken at the register.  It was one that you had to submit documentation and wait for your rebate.  I figured it would be a painful process, but it was not!  I had to submit my receipt, my upc code from my contact lenses and documentation of the date of my appointment.  I was able to do this all online and received a claim number.  Within a matter of weeks, I received confirmation that my rebate was approved.  I was only given an online visa card   I requested a physical card to be sent through the mail and it arrived less than 2 weeks later.  I have not decided how to spend my $75 rebate, I may wait to use it for Christmas shop...

August is slipping away from me.  I don't know where the entire month went! Just a quick update on my charitable contributions.  A few years ago, I made a promise to myself to increase my charitable giving.  I knew many people who made less money than me.  Those people never gave a second thought about donating to causes, however, I always did.  I decided I needed to do better.  This year, my charitable contribution goal is $400.  I increase this number by $100 every year.  So far this year, I have already given $383!!! It's only August!  I should easily make my goal of $400 for the year.  Ten years ago, I would have thought it impossible to give even $50 a year.  I was mired in credit card debt, student loan debt, etc.  I am very happy that I am fortunate enough to give money to charitable causes.  I hope that my giving continues to increase over the years.  It's my small way of making the world a slightly be...

I have maxed out my 2019 Roth!! I'm about to head out so this post will be short.  My contributions for the year were as follows: 1/15/19 $1,000 2/18/19 $500 3/15/19 $800 4/15/19 $1,100 5/15/19 $750 6/15/19 $443 7/15/19 $600 8/15/19 $807

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. ON TRACK!!! I have contributed $5,193 to retirement this year. Only $5,807 left to go.  While I am a little further behind than I would like I am happy to have contributed as much as I have.  This has been an expensive year!! I plan to max out my Roth next month.   2. Increase replacement car fund to $12,000. This is at $11,549!! I am almost at my goal.  I may scale  the amount I contribute after I reach $12,000, but I will keep contributing.   3. Give a minimum of $400 to charity. This is an increase of $100 from last year. I have donated $278 so far this year!! Over half way done.    4. Increase Emergency Fund to $20,000. I have not contributed anything to my EF fu...

I finally reached 78%LTV (loan to value) on my home.  That means no more private mortgage insurance (PMI) and I cannot be more excited!!! My PMI payments were $115.37 a month.  My first payment on this mortgage was on July 1, 2013 and it took me 6 years to reach 78%.  I plan to use that $115 a month to save for expected home repairs such as a new AC unit (pretty much a necessity in Florida).  I am already paying an extra $448 a month extra in principal each month.  The crazy part is that I reached 78% early.  I reached 80% LTV at the end of January 2019.  According to my mortgage payment, I was not supposed to reach 80% until September of 2020.  . I've already paid thousands for PMI since 2013. Imagine if I followed the schedule put forth by the mortgage company.  The process for reaching 78% LTV was simple.  I just paid extra principal payments on my mortgage each month.  At the beginning of February I received a letter from...

I am burning through money this year! This year has already been super expensive.  I paid off my new bedroom furniture and mattress which totaled over $7,000.  This was super expensive, but I don't regret one penny of it.  My back used to hurt every morning when I woke up and now I get up in the morning pain free! My 15 year old mattress (I'm pretty sure I got that mattress in 2003) needed to go.  In the past 2 month I paid:  $110 for the dentist  $338 for the eye doctor (exam and new frames)  $160 for another dentist appointment  $254 for car repair services  $212 for contact lenses Once I write it all out it is easy to see why I haven't even made half of my retirement contributions for the year. That is over $1,000 in expenses just for June and July.  It is expensive to live and work in this day and age.  I travel all over Florida so I need my car to stay in good repair and I will not sacrifice necessary car mainten...

Here's where the numbers stand. Savings- $12,916 Emergency Fund  $12,721 Online Savings Account/$7,721 of that amount is for my Car Replacement Fund/$5k is for my EF $4,282 Online Savings Account #2- all car replacement  $32,885 Retirement- Roth IRA  $7,966Taxable Brokerage (Retirement) $865 Travel Fund (Work) $875 pet fund  $39 medical fund $0 furniture fund $0 Slush fund $9 car repair fund $467 Freedom Fund $152 cell phone fund $1,375 A/C fund $11 Mom Fund Home- $294,334-per zillow               Total (not including home): $74,563               Total (including home): $368,897 Liabilities- Mortgage $192,594                                  Total (not including mortgage): $0                    ...

Just a quick update on my retirement savings for the year.  I am behind, but I am surprisingly okay with it.  Well okay may be too strong of a word.  I'm not as upset about being behind on my contributions as I thought I would be.  I just believe that I will hit my goal (or close there to) by the end of the year.  My contributions for 2019 are as follows: 1/15/19 - $1,000 2/18/19 - $500 3/15/19 - $800 4/15/19 - $1,100 5/15/19 - $750 6/15/19 - $443 All of these contributions have gone into my Roth. I have achieved a milestone, my retirement account balances hit over $40,000!!  My balance as of today is $40,852!!! My goal is to hit $50,000in total balances by the end of the year.  I have $6,407 left to contribute to meet my goal of $11,000 in contributions for the year.  I don't think the market will cooperate with my goal, but I just plan to get shoveling the money into my accounts.  Each year I raise my contribution goal an...

I apologize for the unexpected blogging break!  Please know that I have been reading along with your blogs (but unable to comment from my phone) for the past 2ish months.  I have had some family medical issues and an overload at work.  Things appear to be evening out for now and I am greatly appreciative.  I will do an update on my 2019 goals soon as it is almost the end of the 2nd quarter. However, I am down about 8lbs and my retirement account balance has hit a milestone of $40,000!! I was hoping that this would be the year that my retirement accounts hit $50,000, but I don't think that is going to happen.  There is too much turbulence in the markets. I still have over $6,000 to contribute for the year.  I have had so many medical expenses this year, I'm not sure that I am going to meet my retirement contribution goal.  I am getting new eyeglasses, contacts, I see the dentist quarterly now, I have to have a deep cleaning on my upper right teet...

Boy, I have I been busy lately!  I have been neglecting this poor little blog.  I hope to have a chance to catch up with my blog reading this weekend.  Frankly, I am considering calling in sick tomorrow.  I have 2 meetings and 2 conference calls on Friday. So if I don't want to go into work, tomorrow is my only day.  Anyways, on to the point of this post! I calculated my anticipated savings rate today,  it is about 22% of my net pay.  I've read a lot of FIRE blogs and most indicate that savings rate is the most significant factor in reaching financial Independence.  Based on my anticipated savings rate, I want to try and increase it to 25% by the end of the year.  I need to develop a new method to track my savings.  This will be a hard goal to balance with my goal to pay down my mortgage.  My job is crazy (it'll have to be a whole separate post) and stress ridden.   I really need to see the needle start to move to...

Here's where the numbers stand. Savings- $12,916 Emergency Fund  $12,552 Online Savings Account/$7,552 of that amount is for my Car Replacement Fund/$5k is for my EF $3,160 Online Savings Account #2- all car replacement  $29,255 Retirement- Roth IRA  $7,617Taxable Brokerage (Retirement) $803 Travel Fund (Work) $850 pet fund  $5 medical fund $1,274 furniture fund $0 Slush fund Home- $304,669-per zillow               Total (not including home): $68,432               Total (including home): $373,101 Liabilities- Mortgage $195,623 Furniture (0% financing) $850                                  Total (not including mortgage): -$850                     Total (including mortgage): -$196,473    ...

Yesterday was International Women's Day.  On twitter I read several threads about women lawyers dealing with inappropriate male bosses, yet overcoming their situations and continuing on into their legal careers. I thought these stories were inspiring and many were shared by very strong women.  These women were no shrinking violets, but they were overwhelmed with the situations that they found themselves in. I thought I would share my experiences here. When I first started practicing law, I worked for an older man (somewhere around 50).  He previously had been an entertainment lawyer in Miami, Florida.  I don't even know how to describe this man.  He was scum. We worked in an area of the law dominated by women.  Most of our state contacts were women. He hit on women that he was attracted to, yet he was married with a kid.  He was probably more than twice the age of the women (just fresh out of college) that he was hitting on.  One girl repor...

It's March, which means that it is almost Spring!! I cannot wait for longer days and more sunshine.  I hope to get back to more (and longer) walks after work. I have a few goals for March 1. Fertilize the lawn 2. Put at least $750 towards retirement 3. Get passport paperwork completed 4. Put $1,000 towards furniture bill. 5. Treat the lawn for ants/insects 6. Get some filing done in the office 7. Go on a trip to a city I have never been to before. 8 Book a cruise. 9. Donate money to charity. I am going to count #9 as completed as I donated $50 to the local legal aide organization on Thursday, but it did not process until Friday (March 1st). Happy Monday, Everyone!

Hey Everyone, it has been awhile!  I have been having some internet problems and computer problems and by the end of the day, I just don't have the energy to fool around with computers.   Everything is back up and working now! Does anyone have any interesting weekend plans?  I plan to work in the yard.  I need to clear out the flower beds, etc. There are lots of weeds and bugs to deal with here in Florida.  I may even cut the grass this weekend.  The temperatures are supposed to reach the 80s this weekend.  I also need to clean the garage and the shed and the back porch and and and..... On to the finances. I contributed $500 to my Roth IRA this month.  This was only half of what I contributed last month.  However, I only have $4,500 left to contribute for the year.  Don't forget the contribution limit increased to $6,000 this year!  Once I max out my Roth I will move on to my taxable account.  I paid $1,000 toward...

                    I filed my income taxes early last week and I will be getting a $112 refund.   I am so incredibly excited that I don't owe any money!! I looked back through my bank statements last year to see the amount of my tax refund.  Last year I received a $1,184 refund.  That's over a $1,000 drop from my tax refund last year.  The only reason I have received a refund over the last few years is because of my mortgage/home ownership. Previously, I was pretty much breaking even.  However, due to the changes in the tax code, I took home an extra $2,400 last year.  That plus the $112 refund results in approximately $2,500 more take home pay for me!! That's approximately an extra $1,300 in take home pay (after subtracting out my $1,184 over payment) as compared to previous years.  Happy Tuesday!!

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...