Struggling to be debt free

 Hi Friends!   It's been such a long time since I have been able to blog! I hope you are all doing well.   My new job has taken up so much of time time. It's a very difficult job. I definitely only plan to work here for a max of 10  to 11 years.  The hours are killer and I don't want to be working 12 to 14 hour days everyday in my 50s and 60s. My goal is to retire from this job at 48 or 49 and take a much less stressful job until retirement. (Unless I get fired or demoted.)  The job does pay well and definitely has incentives to encourage people to work hard. In my first 7 months of employment I have received almost $8k in bonuses. I don't expect my bonuses to be anywhere that high in the future. So the plan is to really work hard for as long as I can and invest/save that money to push myself toward early retirement.  Right now my roth and my brokerage account have about $95k total in them.  I have 5 more months before I am able to parti...

  Updates!! I have not blogged since March! The last few months have been a whirlwind.  Last I left off, I updated you all that I had been offered a promotion.  It's a lot more work and very stressful, but I like it.  I'm always busy and I think that helps me function better. My base salary is now $150k a year.  That feels unreal.  I haven't had time to do much else.  I have been working like crazy.  My investment accounts Roth and brokerage are just shy of $90k. That was my old yearly salary at my former firm.  I loved investing in my Roth, but I can't do that anymore.  I need to look at backdoor Roth options. For now, I am just contributing to my brokerage account.   My car, I did purchase a car in August of last year.  I financed almost $12,000.  As of today the balance is down to $3,975.  I will be paying it off in the next month or 2.  My savings account is up to about $6,400.  (I had taken most of...

  This is just a quick, short post. I have been at my new job for 1 month and I am now getting a promotion. I'm happy and overwhelmed at the same time. I'll find out all the details on Friday. Everything is confidential for now. Long story short, last week I got a call. I figured it was a spam call.  I was busy working.  About 10 minutes later, I saw a linkedin invite from the "big boss".  I thought to myself, "how cute, his assistant is linking all the new people". I kept working and responding to emails in order.  I then thought maybe I should accept the invite now.  I did and I had a message from him asking me to call him.  I was a little freaked out. I picked up my cell phone and I had a text from him. I also had a text from my immediate supervisor telling me that the "big boss" was gonna call. I got super freaked out. I called him immediately and was extremely stressed.  He was super chill and asked me if I would be interested in the promotio...

  I have just completed my first week at my new job.  It's very different and also, somehow the same.  It's litigation and that definitely makes things challenging but it is also keeps things familiar.  My boss is very responsive and pays attention to detail.  I've not had that in a long time.  My first week was busy, lots of trainings and some hardware issues.  Everything is getting easier with each passing day. I did get some billable time in and that was nice.  A whole 6 hours on Friday! My cats keep me company during the day and working from home so far has been nice.  It's been so long since I changed jobs.  Almost 10 years.  It feels so weird and there is so much to figure out and consider.  My goals for 2021 will change but I won't be able to figure out the changes until I settle in a little bit more.  I need to find a short term ACA plan for 45 days until my new health insurance kicks in. Normally, I would not worr...

  This is updated.  I had some emails inquiring about more details. Updates are in all caps.  I did it, I quit my job.  I will begin my new job in less than 2 weeks.  It's scary jumping ship and I am having a lot of anxiety. I hope this all works out.  It's going to be a lot more work and more accountability.  I'm always so nervous about change.  Quitting was more emotional than I thought it would be.  My bosses were shocked.  It was crazy.  My male boss (direct supervisor) called me in tears. It made me so sad and I got all choked up.  He did ask me to change my mind and stay.  It was crazy and sad. What a mess. This place can be a circus, so I guess that's what I should've expected.  My female boss was a little more angry, at first, but she sort of reigned it in and has been being nice.  I also left my assistant a card and some cash and she called me in tears, too.  Otherwise, everyone has been nice and su...

  I have a new job!  Just today I accepted a new position with different a law firm.  I feel so overwhelmed and strange.   I was not looking for a new job, I had resigned myself to the thought that I would just work at my current law firm until the firm shut its doors.  I was unhappy, but comfortable.  Then, last Thursday, I was contacted by a former co-worker.  She sent me a text just asking if I was available and I was.  She called and strongly advised that I meet (virtually) with her and the managing attorney. To be honest, I was somewhat resistant to the idea of an interview or changing firms.  Then suddenly, my mind changed and I said..."why not?" I agreed to set up a virtual interview for today.  I was pretty nervous about the interview.  I don't know why.  I have a job and I am comfortable, if I did not get the job it just didn't matter. I make $90,000 a year and closer to $95,000 when I receive a bonus. Sooooo....I...

 When the stock market dropped on Monday, I decided to purchase a few additional shares of one of my favorite ETFs.  While in my account I decided to check out the total dividends I received in 2020.  I was surprised!  I had received $1,713 in dividends in my roth and $180 dividends in my taxable account (tax efficient investing ya'll!). I read a lot of personal finance blogs, follow several personal finance twitter accounts and a few personal finance Instagram accounts.  I tend to see many people  posting about how they plan to live off of their dividends from their retirement accounts. It is amazing how much money some people have invested and how much they receive in dividends every year.  I cannot wait until I am collecting $20,000 + a year in dividends, too!   

 To be honest, I don't really have my heart set on many goals for 2021.  2020 was just so rough. I struggled mightily to come up with some goals and here is what I came up with:  1. Contribute $12,000 to retirement with the goal of having $90,000 by the end of the year.  As it stands today I have approximately $71,000.  I did wake up and contribute $207 to my roth this morning! 2. Pay the mortgage down into the $160,000s. As of today the mortgage is down to $179,760. 3. Pay off my car by September.  You heard it here first, I finally bought a new car.  More details on this later. I have a 0.9% interest rate. 4. Contribute $600 to charity.  My goal was $500 last year and I increase by $100 every year. I actually contributed more than $600 last year.  5. Increase savings to $2,500. My savings accounts were depleted by the purchase of the new car. 6. Increase EF to $15,000. As of today is is sitting at about $14,139. What goals do you have for 2...