Struggling to be debt free

Look at me! Two posts in one month!!!  Here are my goals for 2025. 1. Pay mortgage down to under $120k. I currently owe just over $135k I am paying an extra $500 a month on my mortgage. I also hope to getter a bigger year end bonus and apply a portion of that to the mortgage this year.  2. Increase contribution to 401k to 10% from 8% I currently am contributing 8% of my $168k salary. I expect a 5% raise to $176k. I will increase my 401k contribution to 10% of my new salary.  3. Increase savings account (Marcus) to $50k, currently at approximately $40k  I've always had anxiety over job loss. I hope to keep a $50k savings account for my emergency fund and household expenses.  4. Max out Back door Roth Contributions 5. Lose 30lbs 6. Read 12 books 7. Take one trip 8. Exercise and move more. What are your goals for 2025?

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...

Credit: Plume Ploume I've read a lot of interesting articles about this topic.  Some people advocate paying off their mortgage with extra money and others advocate investing the money.  Where do you stand on this topic?  I am totally on board with paying off the mortgage.  This is for a few reasons: (1) I hate having debt, (2) I hate having a mortgage, (3) If something bad happens (like job loss) I would prefer not to have a mortgage payment to make, (4) I don't plan to make this house my forever home and I would like to have as much equity as possible when I sell so I have more money to put down on my forever home, (5) I want to make sure that even if the house market drops again that I will not be underwater on my house in the event that I am forced to sell and (6)I have PMI on my mortgage and I am trying to pay down the balance of the mortgage so that PMI is no longer required (maybe by early next year!).  If any of these scenarios occur, I think paying ...

Privilege has been a hot topic in the media. The terms "white privilege" and "male privilege" have been tossed around a lot. I didn't really buy into the whole privilege argument.   I thought it was silly to state that someone was privileged because of their race or sex, especially when so many people struggle regardless of race, sex  or socioeconomic status.  The more traction that the theory gained, the more types of privilege were bandied about in the media and in the personal finance community on twitter ("American privilege", etc)  And then, just a few weeks ago, my Mom called me out on my privilege. Mom told me that  I was privileged. I was shocked.  How could I be privileged?  We were not a wealthy family when I was child.  I'm not wealthy now.  All of the money that I have saved and the assets that I have accumulated are based on my own hard work.  I went into debt for law school and paid back all of my student loan...

Yesterday was payday and I was able to put $1,903 on the furniture bill.  I now only owe $1,316. It's so close to being paid off!! As a reminder this is the 0% interest furniture financing that I did at the end of last year.  I have until January of 2018 to pay off the balance in order to not incur interest charges.  My tax refund will be $1,484 so I should have enough money to pay off the furniture.  Also, my sister (We live together) has agreed to give me some money to pay on the furniture.  She wants to give me $1,000, but I am thinking maybe $700 would be sufficient as it would leave me with a good amount of money left over to put into my retirement account. I can't wait until that balance is at 0 and I can get back to focusing on my retirement account. 

The mortgage is down to $216,127 and with my next payment it should fall down into the $215,000s! I'm trying so hard to get this beast down to a level that I feel more comfortable with seeing. My furniture debt is down to $3,219 (originally $6,909).  With my most recent paycheck (on 2/15) I made a payment of $2,537.  This is excellent, the first payment was not made until January and I am already down in the $3,000s.  If you will recall this is the furniture I financed (interest free for 1 year) to get a 20% discount on the price as the store would not offer such a large discount if I paid cash. One of my February goals is to get my taxes completed and I should get around $1,200 back.  That $1,200 will go towards the furniture and I also have $930 still saved specifically for the furniture (I split the money I saved into increments to make sure I could make the required payments in case of catastrophe.).  I will put the tax refund and the $930 on the furniture...

Well that didn't last long did it... :(  Fortunately, this isn't thousands of dollars like my student loan debt.  This is $6,909 for furniture.  Did anyone ever tell you that furniture is expensive?  It's pretty crazy expensive.  I have been saving up for new furniture and I have about $3,000 saved. Now let me tell you why I am in debt.  I went to look at furniture around Thanksgiving to take advantage of the early Black Friday sales..  I saw a few pieces that I liked so I asked the sales associate to give me an estimate of the cost for all of the pieces that I liked. It was over $8,000.  I told her I could pay in cash and asked what kind of discount I could get.  I believe she quoted me 5%.  I said that wasn't much and she immediately responded that if I agreed to do 1 year interest free financing I could get a 20% discount.  I asked if I could have the 20% discount if I paid in cash and she stated "no" her manager would not appr...

Remaining debt free (Except for my mortgage) is HARD!  There are so many temptations out in the world that make me want to spend money and finance things! For example, I really want to buy new furniture, pretty much for the whole house, but I don't have enough money saved.  However, all of these furniture stores have amazing Memorial Day and Labor sales!! My credit score is high and I would qualify for all sorts of amazing low or 0% deals on furniture. Somehow, I have managed to stick to my guns and I have not yet financed anything, but every time I see an ad...I start to salivate a little.  Also, since my recent vehicle scare- I have been noticing all of the nice, shiny, new cars around me.  It would be so easy to buy a new car.  I just would instantly regret the monthly payment!! Temptation is everywhere and all around me.  It's so hard to resist.  I am now realizing how people can fall into an entitlement mentality. I have been working excepti...

Now that I have paid off that nasty, hairy student loan I have been more willing to purchase the little things that are needed around the house.  I used to put off the little things so that I could save more money to put towards the student loans.  For example, I purchased a new litter mat for my cats. In store the mat costs $40 (petsmart).  I found it on Amazon for $26 (taxes included).  I needed a new mat because my cats like to claw the mat and rip it to shreds.  Until they began ripping it, it worked like a charm to cut down on the litter that they would spread across the room. I also finally ordered a new filter for the refrigerator.  Of course, now that I ordered it, it's been back ordered.  Sigh.  The last thing I ordered was a new set of checks.  I moved into this house 2.5 years ago and never had new checks printed.  I found some inexpensive checks online for a total of $15.93 (checks, taxes and shipping).  Bank of Amer...

So when I arrived home from work yesterday I checked the mail and my yearly escrow analysis for my mortgage arrived.   The statement predicted a $182 shortage which means I can pay that $182 now or spread out during the course of the year.  Sounds like Wells Fargo found out I paid off my student loans.  Of course I will pay the $182 now.  I don't want my mortgage payment to go up.  In case hard times ever fall upon me, the smaller the mortgage payment the better.  I hate how it seems that the universe can sense a little extra money in your pocket. Oh well. Now I just have to wait for the homeowner's association dues invoice to arrive...

I only have time for a quick post today.  I'm already running behind as far as getting ready for work today.  I just wanted to take a few minutes and jot down some new worries I have been experiencing since becoming debt free.  This is the beginning of a new phase of my life and now I am worried that it could all be taken away.  What if I lose my job or get fired before I rebuild my emergency fund?  What if I lose my job before I can start saving for retirement?  What if I fall back into debt?  There's more and more of those similar thoughts brewing in my head.  I want to save money and be financially secure and I'm worried that something bad will happen before it get there.  I know my fears are irrational, but they keep popping up.  Does anyone else have this little worries creep in? 

I am debt free!!! Well, except for my mortgage!! I pulled the trigger and pulled money out of savings to pay off my student loan.  I really just couldn't bare waiting any longer and paying $0.14 a day in interest.  I did not feel the elation that I had hoped to feel, instead I feel a bit nervous.  I pulled the money out of savings so my emergency fund is down to $8,316 (but my online savings account remains at $4,023).  I hate having my emergency fund below $10,000, but by mid- February it should be back where it was.  Less than a month away. It's weird how being debt free is not as exciting as I thought it would be.  I felt way more excitement paying off loans and credit cards along the way. Strange... Oh well, now I can start planning my journey to build wealth and give.  Here's a lovely snapshot of my account:

Yesterday was payday and I made a large payment on my one remaining student loan.  I used the entire $400 I received in travel voucher reimbursements, the $1622 I budgeted for the payment and the excess money I had left from last budget period.  The total payment amounted to $2,154!  That payment brought the balance down to $1,693 (with interest calculated through 1/31/16)!!!  I am paid up for over 9 years, my next payment is not due until May 16, 2025!!  Literally, only $1,693 stands between me and being DEBT FREE (except for my mortgage)!!  I am pushing my pessimism aside and I am going to be debt free by the end of this month! If I am able to pay this off at the end of this month, I will have cut over 14 years off of the original repayment plan!

 I made 10 goals at the beginning of 2015.  I did a  status update on June 5, 2015 and Octotber 4, 2015. Below are the final results 1. Pay off $10,000 on my student loans. PASS- - I paid off $20,317 on my student loans!  2. Pay off the smaller student loan completely. PASS- the loan was paid off in April of 2015! 3. Cash flow the dental work I have left. PASS!! 4. Be a better friend to my friends. PASSISH I was definitely there for a good friend of mine when her mother passed away this year. 5. Read at least 24 books FAIL- I ONLY READ 18 BOOKS! I don't know what happened.   6. Give more (time and money). FAIL!!- I did not give much time or money to any charitable organizations.  7. Lose weight = 30lbs. OMG!! Weight loss to date--3lbs. Sigh. TOTALLY FAILED- I GAINED WEIGHT.  8. Find a new job. FAIL! 9. Be more positive! FAIL! 10. Increase online savings account to $3,500. PASS-I HAD APPROXIMATELY $4,029 BY THE END OF T...

I tracked my student loan payoff amounts (somewhat) for 2015.  The total amount owed at the end of each month is shown below. December 2014: $23,650 February 2015 $22,226  April 2015: $19,408 May 2015: $18,939 June 2015: $16,632 July 2015: $14,824 August 2015: $12,392 September 2015: $9,999 October 2015: $8,019 November 2015: $5,692 December 2015: $3,844 I paid a total of $20,317.22 to my student loans in 2015, of that amount $506.26 went to interest.  I made my final goal of paying $20,000 to my student loan in 2015!! I'm so excited that I accomplished that goal.  It was a great year for student loan payoff.  My next payment is not due for over 8 years!  Coming soon, an analysis of how I did on my 2015 goals!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!! Welcome to 2016!! I accomplished both of my most recent goals for my student loan! I paid over $20,000 on it in 2015 and got the balance down into the $3000s.  The exact amount owed is $3,844 (with interest calculated through January 15, 2016).  The next payment is not due until 3/16/2024! I'm so excited to have gotten the balance down into the $3,000s because I wasn't sure that I was going to make it, but I had just enough leftover Christmas money to make it happen.  See the snapshot below: My goal is to have the loan down to $2,500 my mid-January and then pay it off at the end of January.  I will have to make over a $1300 payment in mid-January and hopefully (fingers crossed) I will receive a travel voucher reimbursement before the end of January so that I will only have to pull a small amount of savings to pay this thing off.  Boy, the idea of getting rid of the risk associated with this student loan is making me so happy!...

Okay readers, I have put together a list of goals for myself for 2016.  Some of them are similar to last years goals, but there are quite a few new ones on this list.   1. Payoff student loan 2. Increase emergency fund to $15,000 3. Save $2,000 towards a new vehicle 4. Begin retirement contributions and save $5,500 towards retirement 6. Begin investing in mutual funds 7. Maintain a $1,000 (work) travel fund 8. Build a $1,000 car maintenance fund 9. Build a $500 home maintenance fund 10. Build a $750 medical fund 11. Build a $500 pet fund  12. Lose 30lbs!!!! 13. Read 24 books 14. Travel somewhere cool! Those are a lot of goals and I'm not sure if I am going to be able to accomplish them all. However, I know that I have accomplished a lot this year, way more than I thought possible.  I wish everyone luck in setting forth their new goals and sticking to them in 2016. 

Although I will receive one more paycheck in 2015, I think that I have put away all that I am going to save for 2015.  I have $10,006 in my emergency fund and $4,020 in my online savings account.  I'm hoping the interest rate hike will boost the interest rate on my "high yield" savings account.  Anyways, all of my extra money this month will go towards making my goal of paying $20,000 towards my student loan. Because I won't be adding anymore money to savings this year I will be able to put an extra $100 on my student loan from my December 31, 2015 paycheck.  That means I am only $154.78 short of making my goal of $20,000.  I'm hoping that I will be able to find that money through leftover Christmas spending.  But....you guys know by now that I am crazy.  I have a secret goal to get my student loan balance down into the $3,000s by the end of the year.  That would take about an extra $165 on top of what I already need to make my $20,000 goal....

Yesterday I made a payment on my student in the amount of $545.  $250 came from the travel voucher reimbursement that I just received, $260 came from my budget and $35 came from leftover money from the last budget period.  That payment dropped the balance owing down to $4,904 (with interest through 12/31)!! I achieved my newest goal of paying the student loan into the $4,000s by the end of the year.  I also accomplished my new goal of paying $19,000 on the student loan this year.  The total amount paid onto my student loan this year is $19,253.22! I have not done an updated calculation on the interest, but I will do one at the end of the year after I make my final payment for 2015.  It will likely be just over $500 interest.  I now have a new goal to pay $20,000 to the loan by the end of the year.  I have a $492 payment budgeted out of my last paycheck of the year.  That leaves me $254.78 short of my goal.  I have 15 days to find that ext...

I made a $250 payment on my student loan out of the travel voucher money that I just received.  The balance is now down to $5,442.  I'm now paid up through April of 2023.  Slow progress, but the numbers are definitely falling!