I wanted to see if I could blog to keep myself motivated to stay on top of tracking my spending and paying off my debt quickly. I just graduated with a masters degree and I have been working full-time for the past two years (while going to school). I'll be starting a new job later this year and that will give me a slight raise (6.6%).
Here are the basics (all rounded down to nearest $100):
Savings: Total of $7,400
General: $2,300 (includes $900 auto insurance premium due this month and $530 monthly auto loan payment, both automatically pulled from that sub-account)
Emergency Funds: $5,100 (CDs ranging from 1.5% to 2.5%)
Retirement: Total of $48,000
Taxable: $9,700
Roth IRA: $19,600 (Max annually)
401k: $18,700 (Currently contributing 6% with 6% match, only 40% will be vested when I quit later this year.)
Debt: Total of $31,300
School Loans: $11,600 (6.8% Fixed/ $130 minimum payment)
Auto Loan: $19,700 (0.01% Fixed / $530.36 minimum payment)
Not too bad. The auto loan has a high minimum payment, but I made the mistake of buying a car that was too expensive. I bought it knowing I'd have to keep it for 8-10 years, it gets ~45 miles to the gallon, and it's relatively inexpensive to maintain. I do a lot of driving to client offices, so I get a good use out of it. It's comfortable and I'm alright with having to pay a little more for the nicer model. Plus, I can't go back now.
I'm getting a $5,000 tuition reimbursement at the end of August and I'll sink 100% of that into the school loans. I am also expecting another $5,000 bonus in September or October when I start my new job, as well as another $950 reimbursement, so that will get sunk into the school loans as well. So that leaves about $650 ignoring interest for now. I'll throw any surprise graduation gifts and extra money at the loans to pay that off asap.
I'm undecided about how to handle the car loan. I want to get rid of it, but the interest rate is basically zero. Right now I have a subaccount at ING Direct that pulls $375 from my checking account twice a month ($750 monthly). Out of that, the loan auto-debits $530 monthly; my PenFed Rewards credit card (5% back on gas) pulls automatically each month (~$110). The remaining $110 monthly that's saved up in there comes out to $1,320. That goes towards any maintenance, insurance payments, or anything else involving the car. Actually, that needs to be increased. It seems low.
I need to go through my monthly budget (i.e. make one) and figure out how much money I can save each month.
Thanks for reading! Comments are appreciated, even if its just a "you can do it!"
Starting Out
June 6th, 2011 at 02:59 am
June 6th, 2011 at 04:27 am 1307334457
June 6th, 2011 at 01:23 pm 1307366608
A lot of people have found blogging very helpful in meeting their financial goals. Reading others' blogs helps, too. You know-- you catch the fever. Plus there are some awfully good tips to pick up now and then others' blogs.
And, yep, you can do it.
June 6th, 2011 at 04:15 pm 1307376918
June 6th, 2011 at 10:49 pm 1307400563
"Yes, you can!"
June 7th, 2011 at 06:17 am 1307427467
June 19th, 2011 at 10:18 pm 1308521883
June 22nd, 2011 at 10:11 pm 1308780677