Layout:
Home > March Madness Ends

March Madness Ends

March 26th, 2013 at 01:15 am

Well, probably not the March Madness you're thinking of. But our March madness - the one where all the money came in, that one is finally wrapping up. And we have *mostly* been very, very good.

As you'll recall, hubby got a $5K bonus in Feb, a raise that translates in to $250 extra per paycheck starting mid-March, and a tax return total around $6200. Yeah, it was pretty sweet. But, unlike every other year in prior history, we applied ALL this money towards our debts. The checks came in, and I mailed another out.

And now, that's it. No more extra money. But only ONE credit card left! Wow. And I think we have about an extra $1000 left over from this month's budget that I'll be able to put towards it at month's end. If we keep sticking to the plan, I believe we'll be done with baby step 2 finally come July. Thank. Goodness. Cause we are sooooo sick of this.

Granted, we're not out of the water yet. Before I feel good about where we're at, we're going to need to save up for a "new" family car (preferably BEFORE the old one dies), start contributing enough to hubby's 401K to take full advantage of the employer matching, and save up at least $15K into an emergency fund. I feel like those are the bare minimum financial things I need to feel like a financially respectable adult. Hubby agrees, and until we reach those goals, we are both willing to do some more sacrificing (some of us less reluctantly than others, but we're not naming names here!).

Really though, that's just the bottom line because eventually, when the boys are finally in school I want to go back to school myself and start a second career. And given that we've barely made a dent in my previous student loans, I'd rather not take out more if possible. And we want to pay off our mortgage. And before too terribly much longer hubby will need a newer car too. And it's going to take a lot more than just hubby's 401K to make up for the Absolutely Nothing we have saved for retirement yet.

But, all in good time. The good news is that I think we will actually have reached my bottom line by this time next year, and that will be amazing. Hubby and I do have a few rewards we will be giving ourselves along the way as we reach our intermediate goals. To start with, once the credit cards are finished, our monthly entertainment budget goes up. We get to start having real date nights again! Also, there will be a new refrigerator and a new lap top ASAP, both of which will replace objects that we are just praying will hold out until July right now. But for now, baby step 2 continues...

2 Responses to “March Madness Ends”

  1. LuckyRobin Says:
    1364267854

    It sounds like you are doing a very good job.

  2. snafu Says:
    1364271308

    Way to go! Your progress has been phenomenal. You made a plan, stopped charging stuff, forgone a few 'wants' and paid off a car loan and three CCs. You're a wonderful example to others who feel they are tapped in the merry-go-round of credit, interest and higher debt. Your ongoing plan to work on retirement savings is an important next step.

    Atta girl, big pat on the back - you deserve it.

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]