Struggling to be debt free

My goal for 2016 was to save 9,000 toward retirement.  As of 10/15/16 I have saved  $8,720 towards my $9,000 goal!  I have less than $300 to go to make my goal.  I should be able to get that $280 put away in November.  I can't believe that I went from having no money for retirement to having almost $9,000 in one year.  Every time I contribute to my retirement account I am amazed that retirement may actually become a reality for me one day.  I'm already dreaming of having $18,000 for retirement by the end of next year.  Speaking of retirement, a few weeks ago I received a statement from the social security administration.  Based on the information in the statement, my full retirement age is 67 and I (based on current numbers) should receive $2,363 a month in retirement benefits. I tend to wonder if social security will be around in 30 years in the same format that it is in now.  Nevertheless, if I do receive over $2,000 a month in socia...

Here is where things stood as of the end of September 2016   Savings-  $10,000 Emergency Fund $6,295.08  Online Savings Account/$1,260 of that amount is for my Car Replacement Fund $7,516.10 Retirement- Roth IRA $2,209.82 House fund $640.48 Travel Fund (Work) Home- $279,170-per zillow                   Total (not including home): $26,661.48                   Total (including home): $305,831.48 Liabilities- $43 dentist bill- this will be paid from my 10/15 paycheck   Mortgage $218,041.66                                  Total (not including mortgage): -$43                     Total (including mortgage): -$218,084.55            ...

I think it was about 1 year ago that I opened my current online savings account.  At the time the interest rate was 1.25%.  Recently it has dropped to 0.85%.  It's killing me!  Prior to opening the current online savings account- I had one with capital one that paid only 0.75%.  These low interest rates are insane.  The interest rate at the brick and mortar banks, as you know, is even worse at 0.01%.  For several years now it has been reported that the economy is improving.  I don't know anything about economics, but I can state with certainty that it's not improving for savers.  I have a friend that is in his 60s and is now spending down his retirement savings.  He reported that initially anything he took out was easily replaced by the next year, now the growth is falling short.  Any ideas on how to make your meager savings grow in a bad economy?

Life has been ridiculously crazy.  I cannot even begin to describe the madness that has been going on the last few months and at this point, I won't even try. But, I will talk with you about my retirement savings so far this year!  My goal is to put $9,000 a year away for retirement savings.  That is approximately 15% of my take home pay.  (We do not have any type of retirement vehicle at work).  Before April 15 of this year, I put $5,500 into my Roth Ira for my 2015 contribution. Finally in August I was able to start putting money into my Roth for 2016.  In August I contributed $550 and in September I contributed $1,281. That means that I only have to put $1,669 into my Roth before the end of the year to make my $9,000 goal! Looking forward to next year, before April 15, 2017 I will finish off the remainder of my contributions for 2016 ($2,000).  Then I will put $5,500 into my Roth Ira for 2017.  For the remaining $1,500 of my $9,000 goal, ...

I have been so ridiculously busy lately that I have not had time to do anything! Work has been crazy hectic and so has my personal life.  My mother has been ill and i have been working out for at least 60 minutes, 5 days a week.  I'm so tired by 9:30 at night that I can barely keep my eyes open.  There is simply not enough time in the day to do everything that I have to do.   I will be working this weekend, again, and I am not looking forward to it. Sigh.  Whine. Anyways, I am sorry for neglecting the blog.  I just have not had a spare moment.  I need to do a net worth update, probably not good, and several other financial updates.  I also have a ton of financial planning to do, for the next several months (more on that later).  Hope everything is well in the blogosphere!

I haven't had a chance to post a budget breakdown in awhile.  Life has been busy and hectic.  There have been a lot of changes work and personally.  I don't have time to post about everything right now, but I will, hopefully do so at some point in the future.  Anyways here is the budget breakdown. $310 utility bill $100 groceries $189 Emergency fund- finally back up to $15,000!! $473 dentist bill- mouth guard $177 dentist bill- cavity and 6 month exam $550 retirement- yay!! $33 alarm monitoring $200 spending $100 gas $250 furniture fund $150 mom fund There is all is!! I'm too tired to post anything else, but I hope to be back soon. 

Here is where things stood as of the end of July 2016   Savings- $9,811.33 Emergency Fund $5,746.47  Online Savings Account/$720 of that amount is for my Car Replacement Fund $5,729.92 Retirement- Roth IRA $1,292.17 New Furniture Fund $960.78 Travel Fund (Work) Home-  $274,999-per zillow                   Total (not including home): $23,540.67                    Total (including home): $298,539.67 Liabilities- $473 dentist bill- this will be paid from my 8/15 paycheck   $218,977.10                                  Total (not including mortgage): -$473                     Total (including mortgage): -$219,450.10            ...