Struggling to be debt free

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...

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...

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...

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 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!

Ally has raised the rate on its savings account to 2.00%!!! I love Ally because they have consistently raised rates since I opened mine just a few months ago! However, MySavingsDirect.com is currently offering 2.35% on its savings account!  I have had MySavingsDirect account, a division of Emigrant Bank, for  a few years now. Both accounts are fine, but it did take MySavingDirect a while to raise its rates to compete with the other banks. I still need to check out Marcus by Goldman Sachs, I heard they were a good too and had high rates.  But, on the other hand, 2 savings accounts are probably enough.  I read a very sad and sobering story about a couple firmly entrenched in debt.  It is a warning to us all to get our money under control.  You can read it here . 

I realized, in June, that I have been averaging a $1,100 a month contribution to my retirement accounts. Towards the end of July, I was $50 short of making that goal for the month. I was really disappointed that I was not going to meet or exceed my new informal goal.  However, on the last day of the month, I received a travel reimbursement and I put $50 of that into my retirement fund.  Goal met!!! I love the little good things like that. Over the last few months I had been noticing an occasional squealing sound in my car.  I was worried about what else could be going wrong in my now 12 year old car.  Last weekend I washed out my car and cleaned the inside.  I also went for a drive with my mother, opening the vents on the passenger side of the car.  Low and behold, the sound stopped!! #moneysaved I've made some progress on a case I have been working on at work.  Very bad facts for my client.  The case is difficult and stressful, but I thi...

I probably shouldn't post this, but I am planning to ask my boss for a raise.  Yes, I know that I received a raise a year ago.  No, I'm not being greedy.  Here's the back story: my boss is actively seeking to take on a new client (A company) with a diverse, widespread and large book of business. The company has cases throughout the State.  I have been supportive in assisting him with obtaining this client. He definitely needs to build his brand.   I helped him to submit a proposal, informational paperwork and encouraged him to attend meet and greets with the company big wigs so that he would be awarded the contract. Now, it looks like he pretty much has the contract.  He has intimated that he wants me to run this project. Undoubtedly, if he secures this contract I will have an even larger work load.  I'm already busy.  I think it's only fair if I am compensated with a raise.  I'm trying to think of a fair compensation arrangement, but...