Firefly's Personal Finance Blog

Spent the morning listing my tea towels on EBay. Hopefully will make a few sales. Have not yet listed and candles of FB Marketplace, but one step at a time. I am serious about decluttering in 2020!

My dad ran my numbers today at H&R Block & I owe a little less in federal taxes than last year. I owe the state $1 more than last year. I take 0 exemptions. I have already increased my withholding so hopefully I won't owe again next year. I think 2013 was the last year that I got a refund. I'm not sending my check off until the first week in April. I have until May to pay the state, but it's not much.

This is definitely good motivation to get my Facebook Marketplace & eBay sales going!

Does anyone here sell items on Facebook? I have had a real urge to declutter my home. I have given away closets of clothes, but for things that I have not used like candles I’d like to get some of my money back. I have a ton of Yankee & B&BW candles. 🕯

What has your experiences been selling on Marketplace?

I think I have everything I need to file my taxes, but I’m in no hurry. I figure I will owe taxes yet again so there’s no rush.

There’s a little job uncertainty at my place of employment. Nothing that will affect me in the short-term & it could change, but it has me thinking of other opportunities. I’m single with no kids, so I have a lot of mobility if need be.

I can’t post comments on blogs. When I try it tells me to check the recaptcha, but there is none.

The new salary charts were posted this week. I receive a $2k raise which I’m very grateful for. The raise means not only increased pay, but an increase on my TSP matching. And although it may not mean anything for me, I was happy to see the paid parental leave bill get passed by Congress.

Writing a blog while I watch the College Football National Championship game.

I seem to have a bit more cash in my checking account than I anticipated so I wrote my mom my last loan payment. I hate owing money, but especially when it's my parents. It makes me feel especially irresponsible.

Now that my loan is paid off I will concentrate on paying off other debt. I'm really excited to be focusing on budgeting for the first time. I've always been so focused on saving that I've allowed my debt to get away from me. And honestly, the credit card is much more than listed, but I stopped updating it. My goal is to halve my credit card debt this year & pay it off entirely next year. I've read so many success stories of people paying off even more debt than I have so I know it's possible.

I finally got in touch with Vanguard & she showed me how to correct the issue online. It was very simple. So I was able to recategorize my contribution from 2020 to 2019. I now have $1k to contribute for 2019 & $6k to contribute for 2020. I will send $500 to my 2019 IRA in February & March.

I owe my mom one last payment of $250 for my AC loan. My TSP loan is now below $4k. My car loan will be paid off in the first half of 2021.

I transferred $100 to my savings yesterday & mailed $20 to the local food bank this week.

I received my Clever Fox budget planner this week. I really like it & I’m well into journaling my January budget. I brought my lunch 4 times this week! That’s a record for me.

I forgot to turn off my automatic contributions to my IRA, so I sent my first contribution for 2020 even though I still haven’t fully funded 2019. Whoops. Needless to say, I turned off the automatic funding. I will finish paying my mom back for the AC loan this month & should have the funds to max my 2019 IRA by April 15.

I have decided that 2020 will be the year I learn to live on budget. Honestly, I never tried before. Just spent as I pleased & my credit card debt reflects that. I want to start this decade off being mindful with spending money.

Investments:

$155,187 2009Q4

$842,089 2019Q4

$686,902 Ten Year Investment Growth

I will update this blog as I find other stats to include.

ETA: 2008 was the first year that I maxed out all of my retirement accounts. I always contributed the max to my IRA & in 2008 I was able to do the same for my employer sponsored plans as well. Prior to 2008 I received no employee match, now I receive a 5% match.

Wishing a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2020 to you and yours!

2020 Goals are much the same as my recurring goals:

Max out TSP ($750 per paycheck): $19.5k

Max out Roth IRA ($500 monthly): $6k

Pay off TSP loan ($250 per paycheck with a projected payoff date of August 2020): $4k

Pay down CC debt: at least $5k

Pay down auto loan ($150 per paycheck with a projected payoff date of July 2021): $3.9k

Payoff of my auto loan will coincide with the 5 year anniversary at my PRN job. I will reevaluate whether I want to continue working that job at that time. I still want additional income but may take that opportunity to switch to an work from home income stream. If I can do it earlier that will be even better.

I added a Clever Fox 🦊 budget planner to my Amazon cart. I am so bad at budgeting. Honestly, my budget is nonexistent. Maybe this new decade I will change that. I think I will have to be more conscious of my spending to meet the goals I have set in 2020.

While I'm watching LSU win this Peach Bowl (Geaux Tigers!!!) I'd thought I'd write a blog reflecting on 2019 successes.

Health wise, after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2018 I now have an A1C in the normal range with the help of metformin. I had a significant 2.0% drop in my A1C with medication, exercise, and weight loss of 23 pounds. I work out consistently, jogging 17.5 miles weekly.

I started salsa classes which I love. It took me 3 sessions of level 1 classes to make it to level 2, but I did it. I'm not a natural dancer, but I still love it. In 2020, I'd like to take bachata classes as well.

I met the max limits for my TSP, saving $19k. I saved $4.5k in my Roth IRA & I plan on meeting the contribution limit by April 15th, even if I have to pick up some extra weekends to do so.

My 2 paychecks hit the bank this morning so I wrote a check for my property taxes & to repay a small loan to my mom for the new A/C. I also sent $500 to my Roth IRA. I have until April to max out my 2019 contributions. I have $1500 remaining.

We got our performance awards this paycheck. What a nice surprise. I was not expecting them before January. My pay stub noted that I netted $597.15 from my $900 award. So basically 1/3 went towards taxes. This & 2.5 hours OT will go towards my property taxes.

With this last paycheck I completed my max contributions for the year for my TSP. I have increased my contributions to meet the max next year. I still have $2k to contribute to my IRA for the year. I’m behind due to paying for A/C repairs.

I hope that a Christmas was especially merry & bright this year!

My Christmas vacation has started a day early. Since Trump declared Christmas Eve a holiday I had an additional day of use or lose leave to use before the end of the year. So I’m off today & procrastinating on getting to the gym. Yesterday after work I did a little shopping for myself & returned a purchase. Then I came home & did some laundry and started prepping my guest room for my sister. My family arrives Monday. Gifts are all wrapped. I only have a gift card to buy for my brother-in-law. I will get that on Christmas Eve on our usual trip to the mall.

It looks like federal employees will get a 3.1% raise next year. Not bad at all. Four years of pay freezes hurt, but I know that the entire country was hurting at the time.

2019 has been a good year & I’m looking forward to 2020. A year from now I’ll be even further along my plan for financial independence.

A pic of my shopping finds attached so you understand how much I love sparkle. ❇️ 💖🤩

How is your Christmas shopping coming? I think I’ve mentioned before that I shop throughout the year. Kids I shop for at Christmas time. They grow so fast & change so much that I can’t buy for the littles in advance. I am done with the adult shopping & actually have a surplus for next year as is my usual. I need to not buy throughout this year...if I can help it.

Rumors are that bonuses won’t arrive until the new year. Not the best time of year, but it’s happened before. I’m thankful for anything.

I joined some FIRE groups on FB this week, with an emphasis on the FI. I’m interested in maximizing my income & am looking into some WFH opportunities.

How is your Christmas shopping coming? I think I’ve mentioned before that I shop throughout the year. Kids I shop for at Christmas time. They grow so fast & change so much that I can’t buy for the littles in advance. I am done with the adult shopping & actually have a surplus for next year as is my usual. I need to not buy throughout this year...if I can help it.

Rumors are that bonuses won’t arrive until the new year. Not the best time of year, but it’s happened before. I’m thankful for anything.

I joined some FIRE groups on FB this week, with an emphasis on the FI. I’m interested in maximizing my income & am looking into some WFH opportunities.

I am keeping my same health plans as last year. The only thing that I have ever changed is to add the vision plan a few years ago. It is difficult to gauge what to elect for my FSA. I am electing half the amount that I elected last year as I am rolling over more than $400 of the max $500 rollover. Plus I won’t be paying for any lab work next year. I have until tomorrow to make a change.

My birthday was Thursday. I took Wed-Fri off from work. I am in use-or-lose with my leave as usual so I am getting my time down. I will also be off the week of Christmas. Monday will be rough after 5 days off!

I took the day off yesterday & was fairly productive. I got a late start to my day as it was storming & I decided to wait out the rain. I hit the gym & did 5.36 miles on the treadmill. Then after showering I went shopping for Thanksgiving. It took 3 stores before I found fresh green beans & 2 stores before I found fresh cranberries, but I got both. Also picked up some other needed menu items & sushi for lunch. We have several wine options & of course the egg nog is essential. I wanted Evan Williams egg nog, but had to settle for Pennsylvania Dutch.

Two years ago my laptop died on me. Well, actually just the screen. I knew it was coming & took steps to back up my work too late. Anyway, yesterday I decided to rebuild my financial spreadsheets that I lost, this time with some changes. I will update quarterly instead of monthly from here on out. I went all the way back to the 1999 when I bought my first mutual fund in college. Yes, I never throw anything financial away. I’m kind of ridiculous that way. It was super fun tracking my net worth growth over 20 years. I’m a nerd that way. And yes, this time I will back-up my info!

Hope you have a wonderful holiday with your loved ones. 🦃🍁🍂

I went ahead & updated my TSP contribution to $750 a pay period to reflect the 2020 limit increase. Sometimes the TSP can be slow with updating contribution amounts. It’s okay if it kicks in before the end of the year as the plan won’t allow you to contribute over the limit.

I went ahead & updated my TSP contribution to $750 a pay period to reflect the 2020 limit increase. Sometimes the TSP can be slow with updating contribution amounts. It’s okay if it kicks in before the end of the year as the plan won’t allow you to contribute over the limit.

My TSP loan balance is now lower than my auto loan balance. The original amount of the TSP loan was more than the auto loan, but I am paying $250 every two weeks for the TSP loan & only $150 for the auto loan. The TSP loan will be paid off in approximately 20 pay checks. Once I'm no long paying $250 every two weeks towards my TSP loan I can add that $250 to the auto loan. Both interest rates are very low, so it may make more sense to put it towards the credit card debt, though I like the idea of owning my car outright sooner rather than later.

As I mentioned in my now deleted blog entry due to the hacking, the IRS will/has announced higher retirement plan limits in 2020. You will now be able to contribute $19,500 to your 401k and catch-up contributions for those 50 & older has increased to $6,500. No change to the IRA limit.

Multiple articles linked below for your reading pleasure:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/retirement/irs-raises-retirement-account-limits-for-2020/ar-AAJXoWD?ocid=spartandhp

https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2019/nov/irs-inflation-adjustments-2020-retirement-plans-201922407.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleaebeling/2019/11/06/irs-announces-higher-2020-retirement-plan-contribution-limits-for-401ks-and-more/#1f285dc533bb

https://money.usnews.com/money/retirement/iras/articles/ira-contribution-limits

https://401kspecialistmag.com/irs-bumps-2020-401k-contribution-limit-to-19500/

ETA:

Biweekly contribution for the 401k:$750
Biweekly contribution for catch-up:$250

I wondered what was wrong when I couldn’t access the blogs. I’m so sporadic with my posting, but I actually had a few good entires that got lost. Maybe I can somewhat replicate them later on.

I love readings money diaries from Refinery 29. Check them out at:

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/money-diary

The GAO has released a report on the rate of retirement savings at the request of Bernie Sanders. It's still shocking to me no matter how many times I read pretty much the same thing.

https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/697898.pdf

The numbers don't quite match up, I calculated 101% with the percentage breakdown. Savings rates have slightly improved, but still, what is to be done? More personal finance education for children? Is it a lack of education or a lack of income? Probably both. When you consider that this survey is for Americans 55 and older, the picture gets even scarier.

Apparently I’ve landed myself in retired blog status due to not posting for 3 months. So an update is in order.

It’s that time of year again: tax season. A time of year that I don’t particularly look forward to as i’m Sure to owe taxes again this year. Thankfully, this year will be in the hundreds instead of the thousands. The much hyped middle class tax breaks netted me little & I will miss some of the lost deductions. Oh well, there are worse things to happen than to be gainfully employed (two jobs even!) and to owe a little in taxes.