We're Married!

So there it is... the wedding is over. That means our largest cash drain is no longer weighing on us. We can now begin to pay off our debts quicker and increase our savings. While we didn't get a ton cash for gifts we did get a decent chunk. We have decided through much deliberation and debate that we are going to save the entire amount in our travel fund for our vacation to Germany next spring. We know that there are probably better things we could do with the money but we feel it was a gift and should not be used to dig us out of commerical debt because we didn't properly handle our credit cards.

I also received my last tax refund from the government as a single person with a child. It was more than anticipated and I was able to use the entire refund to pay down my credit card debt. While the credit card is not paid off, the amount I owe has been dramatically reduced. I should have this paid off by the end of April. This is exceeding our goal in this area tremendously.

We are not combining all of our finances just yet so he is responsible for paying his credit card at this time. This means my next goal is our emergency fund as soon as my credit card is paid off which with God willing will happen next month. I have read many different things about how much should be in your emergency fund. The most agreed upon amount to start is $1000 but I read an article the other day at No Credit Needed that said $500 per family member. I think this is good logic. Therefore, my first goal is $1,500. I am hoping to accomplish this by August. I need to update my sidebars accordingly but will probably wait until the March Roundup to do that.

So, we have had a lot going on in March. Hopefully, our networth will show a possible gain in our March Roundup next week.

-M

February State of the Accounts

Here goes:
Savings:
E-fund - no progress
House - no progress
M Retirement - no progress
S Retirement - no progress
O College - no progress

Debt:
M Credit Card - increase $900
S Credit Card - increase $600
M Student Loan - decrease $465
S Student Loan - no progress

Looks like it was another awful month at our house. March will be horrible on the net worth as all of our wedding savings will be spent because the wedding is the 20th. By the end of April, I am projecting half of our credit card debt will be paid and the rest we'll work on paying off by December.

-M

Silly Me

I made a mistake this month. I paid my student loan three times this month. I noticed that the electronic debit didn't come out on the scheduled day so I paid the payment for this month and the one for next month because it said $400. Then the electronic debit went through so it went through 3 times. Oops. Oh well.

It's February

As I was posting earlier I realized it's February. That means it's time for a financial and sidebar update.

I have to say January was a rough month. We had to go out of town for a funeral and that caused some unexpected expenses. Invitations for the wedding went out as well and along with that came some extra guests that we are now trying to accommodate for in our wedding savings plan to pay the caterer in cash.

Here goes:
Savings:
E-fund - no progress
House - no progress
M Retirement - no progress
S Retirement - no progress
O College - no progress

Debt:
M Credit Card - increase $400
S Credit Card - decrease $600
M Student Loan - decrease $250
S Student Loan - no progress

Our goal for February is to not take on any new debt and work toward bringing down our balances.

Our net worth -22,844.97. We made a major payment for the wedding this month that results in a loss of over $3,000 which is the main cause for such a steep drop.

February will be better but March is going to be a doozie on the finances as all of our wedding money will taken out of our savings account to pay the final payments to the vendors. It's hard to believe the wedding is approaching so quickly. I'll keep you updated.

-M

Snowing

So much for posting more often huh. The wedding is just over six weeks away and we are busy tying up loose ends. Over at No Credit Needed there is a series of articles on getting finances and other important information in order. I will be working on that in the next few days. He should have all the articles done next Monday. When that happens, I'll work on all of them.

-M

We're Back

We went out of town the last week due to a family funeral. Granted travel is not a cheap thing but S's parents were able to help a bunch. I'll continue my regularly scheduled postings as soon as possible.

-M

Dreams and Goals

Using the links in the "It's Been Too Long"" post I have created this list.

Dreams:
Get my Master's
Pay for O's college
Big Vacation every 5 years
Small Vacations every year

Long Term Goals:
1.5 Million in each of our retirement accounts

Intermediate Goals:
Pay off debt
Buy a house
Max retirement accounts

Short Term Goals:
Increase Savings
Pay Down Debt
Start Vacation Fund

Pay Day Decisions:
Put money into savings
Make extra payment to Credit Cards

See our savings and debt section on the side for our statements.

-M

Happy New Year!

So, it's New Year's Day. I'm not going to be updating my net worth today as it's a holiday and not all of my accounts have been updated to include the interest yet.

Everyone is making New Year's Resolutions today and I'm not different. I have been thinking about them lately and wondering what goals would be attainable this year. It has been rather difficult to say precisely how much money I want in each account by the end of the year and how much debt I want paid off. My next post will include my finance as well as personal goals for 2009!

Happy New Year to all!

-M

A Trip Back in Time

http://poorerthanyou.com/2007/05/18/school-house-rock-on-money/

-M

Ten Commandments of Frugal Living

This is a great post that I need to remember and wanted to share. It's also very funny!

-M