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)
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Pay Raise

January 17th, 2020 at 06:01 am

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.

Posted in General musings, Personal Finance | 4 Comments »

IRA Follow-up

January 11th, 2020 at 05:29 pm

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.

Posted in Retirement readings, Savings stories, Debt diet, Net Worth, Budgeting, Debt, Food / Groceries, Personal Finance, Retirement, Saving Money | 4 Comments »

IRA Contributions & Budget

January 6th, 2020 at 08:07 pm

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.

Posted in Investing ideas, Retirement readings, Savings stories, Debt diet, Spending stuff, Budgeting, Debt, Investing, Personal Finance, Retirement, Saving Money | 4 Comments »

Ten Year Review

January 1st, 2020 at 03:29 pm

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.

Posted in Investing ideas, Retirement readings, Savings stories, Net Worth, Investing, Personal Finance, Retirement, Saving Money | 4 Comments »

2020 Goals

December 29th, 2019 at 03:17 pm

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.

Posted in Investing ideas, Savings stories, Debt diet, Spending stuff, Budgeting, Credit Cards, Debt, Investing, Personal Finance, Retirement, Saving Money | 2 Comments »

Year End Paycheck

December 27th, 2019 at 01:17 am

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.

Posted in Investing ideas, Retirement readings, Savings stories, Debt diet, Budgeting, Debt, Investing, Personal Finance, Saving Money | 1 Comments »

Christmas Shopping

December 17th, 2019 at 03:55 pm

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.

Posted in General musings, Spending stuff, Net Worth, Personal Finance, Shopping | 1 Comments »

Christmas Shopping

December 15th, 2019 at 05:29 pm

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.

Posted in General musings, Spending stuff, Net Worth, Personal Finance, Shopping | 4 Comments »

Thanksgiving Eve

November 28th, 2019 at 02:10 pm

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!

Posted in Food fiend, Net Worth, Food / Groceries, Investing, Personal Finance | 1 Comments »

401k Limits Increase in 2020

November 7th, 2019 at 07:31 pm

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

Posted in Retirement readings, Savings stories, Personal Finance, Retirement, Saving Money | 3 Comments »

Money Diaries

April 5th, 2019 at 10:07 pm

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

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

Posted in Personal Finance | 3 Comments »

Retirement Savings Article

April 3rd, 2019 at 04:23 pm

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.

Posted in Retirement readings, Savings stories, Personal Finance, Retirement, Saving Money | 4 Comments »

2019 Tax Season

February 17th, 2019 at 07:44 pm

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.

Posted in General musings, Budgeting, Debt, Personal Finance | 7 Comments »

2019 Budget

August 18th, 2018 at 02:39 pm

I have already started to work on my 2019 budget with estimates of an increase in my retirement plans as well as an increase in pay. My pay should go up in January even if an annual raise isn't approved, because I am due for an increase due to my pay schedule. Retirement plans may increase $1k in contribution limits, but my pay should increase at least another $2k, hopefully $3k if an across the board increase is approved.

Posted in Retirement readings, Savings stories, Personal Finance, Retirement, Saving Money | 5 Comments »

Taxes Paid Off

July 29th, 2018 at 02:12 am

This week I sent off the final payment for my federal taxes (including the late fees & penalties). This year I owed over $4k, which is a much larger amount than I've ever owed. Last year was an unusual year with income that I didn't anticipate. This year will be less income, but I still decreased my exemptions to 0 at both jobs. I don't anticipate another 6 figure year for 2018.

I have been working a lot of extra hours at my full-time job, but there is no overtime pay involved. I earn hours to take off later. I don't have strong feelings about not getting overtime, but it would be nice if I did. I've raided what little cash I had to pay off the IRS. However, I will enjoy the extra time off later when we get past our inspection.


No other new news on the personal finance front. Things are the same, but I'm happy to see some bounce-back in the stock market, for however long it holds.

Posted in Investing ideas, General musings, Debt diet, Debt, Investing, Personal Finance | 4 Comments »

Personal Capital

January 25th, 2018 at 12:52 am

I have a had a few phone consultations with a representative from Personal Capital. Of course they want me to sign up to have them manage my investments. The percentage is small, only 0.89% for up to $1 million then it goes down. Their asset allocation calls for some REIT's & gold, neither of which I'm sold on. Has anyone worked with them?

Posted in Investing ideas, Investing, Personal Finance | 12 Comments »

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

December 22nd, 2017 at 04:26 pm

Happy Holidays to all! My family is flying in today. I am looking forward to spending the next several days with them. We both fly out on the 27th. Them back home, me to London then Edinburgh.

My gym is going up $1 in January. I decided to cancel my membership. It will be $50 a month & I can get a membership at a 24 hour fitness club for much cheaper. I am also looking to cut my cable next year. I guess my New Year's resolution is to be more vigilant about my spending. I don't plan on cutting out vacations so I will look elsewhere. I barely watch television anyway.

My goal was to have $500k by age 40. It seemed a very lofty goal at the time, but I have not only accomplished that goal,I have surpassed it. Now for the next goal. Is $1 million by age 45 out of the question? Maybe not, but it will require some dedication to cutting expenses, getting rid of debt, and continuing to save a good percentage of my income. $750k seems too conservative, but if we run into a bear market it may be an optimistic goal.

I'm excited for what the future holds in many ways.

Posted in Investing ideas, Net Worth, Travel Tales, Budgeting, Debt, Investing, Personal Finance, Saving Money | 3 Comments »

40th Birthday

December 9th, 2017 at 01:56 am

My 40th birthday was Tuesday & I took the day off. It's pretty much my only day off in a 4 week span so I was looking forward to it. I slept in a little later than usual, went to the gym, then the spa (massage, facial, and pedicure) followed by dinner, then drinks. It was a very good day. My friend made me a beautiful scrapbook. I can't wait to fill it with new adventures & experiences in this next year of life.

On Thursday I attended the dinner thrown by the law firm that handled the union's class action settlement. My check turned out to be significantly bigger than expected. The amount that I thought was before taxes, was actually after taxes. So I ended up with a check for $10k.

I also got a check from my parents for my birthday and my insurance dividend from USAA. In addition to what I've already received, I'm also expecting to have my 401k contributions returned to me as I'm over the contribution limits, plus my performance bonus before the end of the year. Rumors are that we will get a percentage amount rather than a cash reward. Percentage awards are usually preferable.

This month has been very financially prosperous!