My goals for next year are as follows:

TSP $24,500

IRA $7,500

Savings $6,000

Brokerage $1,200

Total Savings $39,200

FSA $3,400 (for tax savings only)

2025 Net Worth $2,161,680

2024 Net Worth $1,805,796

Annual Loss/Gain $355,884

TSP $23,500

IRA $7,000

Brokerage $3,200

Savings $4,000

Total Saved $37,700

I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but when I took $10k out of my savings to pay off my credit cards I changed my monthly contributions to replenish my savings. I was contributing $100 a month to my savings and $500 a month to my brokerage account. I reversed the contributions to build my savings back up. So now I'm contributing $500 to my savings and just $100 to my brokerage account. I am still maxing out my TSP & IRA so I am still investing a significant account monthly even with this reduction. I have no plans to go back for the foreseeable future. My car is ten years old & I'm putting significant mileage on it now. I will need to fund my next car.

My raise for the year was $1.02 per hour or $2,121.60 annually. My TSP contribution increased $500 and I'm increasing my contribution to my FSA by $700. That is $1,200 for the year before taxes. I don't see where I can contribute or save more at this time. My savings & checking account are at their lowest point and I'm hoping to build them back up, but I also have a lot of fun planned for the year. Expensive fun, too. 

I took one trip to Maryland last month when my sister had surgery. Not fun, but I did at least one fun thing while I was there - dancing! 💃🏾 

This month I'm going to Italy: Venice, Bologna, and Florence. 🇮🇹 

In March I head to Boston. 🦞 

In April I will have an elective procedure which will keep me home for only a week. 🤕

In June I head to England. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇬🇧 

In the fall I am hoping to take a cruise to Canada. 🇨🇦 

And in between that all I hope to keep dancing & maybe travel to some dance events. 💃🏾 

Happy New Year! 2024 was good to me, despite health challenges for myself and my mom, who spent a month as an inpatient between the hospital & rehab. I have great expectations for 2025. 

My financial goals for 2025 have not changed much. I am readjusting my budget & cash flow after building my home.

1. Max out TSP: $23,500

2. Max out Roth IRA: $7,000

3. Max out FSA: $3,300

4. Contribute $500 monthly to brokerage: $6,000

5. Begin to replenish my savings re-starting with $100 monthly contributions: $1,200

6.  Rebuild cash cushion in checking to at least $10,000.

7. Automatic contributions to church & charity. 

8. My TSP match will be $6,300.

Good Morning and Happy July! It's been over a week since I've seen the house. I'm headed there this morning for doctor appointments and will stop by to see the updates. I'm antsy to see whatever progress they've made. I don't get nearly enough pictures. 🏡 

TSP $1,169,909

IRA $342,831

Brokerage $4,946

Investments Total $1,517,686

Savings $138,710

June Net Worth $1,656,396

May Net Worth $1,624,404

Monthly Gain/Loss $31,992

Checking $13,428

Car Value $10,000-16,000

TSP $1,146,260

IRA $337,601

Brokerage $4,305

Total Investments  $1,487,166

Savings $137,238

May 2024 Net Worth $1,624,404

April 2024 Net Worth $1,549,558

Monthly Gain/Loss $74,846

Checking $13,490

Car Value $10,000-16,000

Today is Good Friday and the markets are closed. I can update my investments, but will have to wait until Monday to add my savings & cash, and calculate my total monthly gain.

TSP $1,141,985

IRA $333,541

Brokerage $102,440

Investments $1,577,966

Savings $34,816

March 2024 Net Worth $1,612,782

Monthly Gain Loss $53,939

Checking $19,155

My brokerage account is earmarked for my downpayment on my home, which is scheduled to be completed 6 months from now. I'm glad to have 6 more months to accumulate savings. I know they say that a downpayment shouldn't be invested aggressively, but I don't want to pull the money prematurely.

Investments $1,448,641

Cash Savings $32,579

January 2024 Net Worth $1,481,220

December 2023 Net Worth $1,470,019

Monthly Gain/Loss $11,201

I don't include the below in my net worth.

Checking accounts $17,979

Car value $11,000

My 2024 pay has posted & we received a 4.7% raise. This translates into $5,456 for the year, $2.61 per hour, and $208.80 biweekly. I will receive a step increase in June. That increase will be another $1.77 raise per hour. I'm always grateful for whatever increases I receive. I have already increased savings & contributions for the year so there are no plans to make any further increases.

At the end of December I had about $19k in my checking account, which is about double my goal of $10k. So I decided to up my savings goal to $1000 a month from $500. I continue to end up with more money in my checking account at the end of the year than I need. In 2022 I did a transfer to my brokerage account at the end of December. Since I'm looking to buy or build a home this year I'll keep that money & just increase my monthly contributions. 

Now my revised goals look like:

$23,000 TSP

$6,000 TSP employer match

$7,000 IRA

$6,000 brokerage

$12,000 savings

$2,600 FSA (to fund my vision surgery)

Investments $1,438,561

Savings $31,458

December Total $1,470,019

November Total $1,388,506

Monthly Gain/Loss $81,513

Not included, but worth mentioning. Checking accounts were $19,208 total & car value at lowest estimate is $11k. This puts me at $1.5 million net worth for the first time.

2023 Q4 is done for the year:

TSP $1,040,872

IRA $306,280

Brokerage $91,409

Total Investments $1,438,561

For comparison, 2022 Q4:

TSP $810,864

IRA $243,949

Brokerage $79,994

Total Investments $1,134,888

ANNUAL Gain/Loss $303,673

Contribute $23,000 to my Thrift Savings Plan. My match will be a little over $6,000. 💰

Contribute $7,000 to my Roth IRA. 💰

Contribute $2,600 to my Flexible Spending Account. 💰

Save $6,000 in my brokerage account. 💰

Save $6,000 in my savings account. 💰

Buy or build a new home with $100,000 down. 🏡 

Keep dancing! 💃🏾 

Cherish every moment & memory made. 💗

One of my CDs pays the monthly dividend on the 1st so I'm always a day late.

TSP $980,827

IRA $290,549

Brokerage $86,295

Total Investments $1,357,671

Cash Savings $30,835

Total Net Worth $1,388,506

Monthly Gain/Loss +$117,446

Checking $16,841 (included this month just to give an idea of what I usually have for cash flow, not included in my net worth calculation)

Car $15,062 (checked Kelley Blue Book value this morning, also not included in my net worth calculation)

My investments gained another $14,000 just one day later. I'm less than $9,000 away from reaching one million in my TSP. So close!

I had an alert set on my phone to open another CD at Capital One today, but have been thinking that I would just keep it liquid while looking for a house. I have two CDs maturing on January 2nd and February 1st and those are both set to transfer to savings rather than renew. That will give me a nice cushion for the new home purchase. Also, I checked rates this morning and the 5.30% 10 month CD is now 4.30%, which is what their savings account is paying. I can go to 12 months for 5.00%, but I think it's better to hold on to cash.

Net worth looks great for November. I'll post final numbers today or tomorrow. Investments are almost to July 2023 numbers. I have exceeded the high of 2021 Q4, but only because of added contributions. I am on track to max out my retirement plans.

When my auto insurance renewed in Septmember my rate was raised by 30% with no changes to my driving record. I know that USAA has never been cheap, but this rate is almost triple what I get when I look at Geico or Progressive. So after 23 years solely with USAA I am thinking about leaving them. Who do you have auto insurance with and what do you think about their service?

Investments $1,277,331

Cash Savings $29,599

Total $1,306,930

Monthly Loss/Gain -$55,424

Quarterly Loss/Gain -$33,096

July was such a promising month, but it's been downhill since then. At least the interest rates on savings is paying a little more. I may lock in some more money in CDs before interest rates start dropping.

Not much to say about the stock market. I hit my high July 31st & it's been down since then. Oh well.

Looks like my cash surplus will be double what it was at the end of last year so I'm starting to think what I should do with it. Fully fund my IRA in January or pad my home down payment? I could do both actually.

I am looking forward to Napa Valley & Lake Tahoe. Flights & hotel have been booked. I booked the rental car yesterday. Now just to reserve the wine train.

For those that have been to either destination, what did you enjoy doing?

The 18 month CD rate at Capital One is now 5.15%. I don't know if I want to lock up my cash right now as I think about buying a home, but it's very tempting. I don't quite have the $10k that I like to have as I ladder my CDs. I'm at right about $8k. If they still a have this rate at the end of the year I may consider the longer term. Right now I have two 11 month CDs at 5.0%.

I can claim an all time investment high this month.

TSP $985,217

IRA $292,627

brokerage $86,464

Investments $1,364,308

Savings $28,372

Total $1,392,680

That is $52,044 in investment gains & $52,655 gains over last month. Maybe August will be the month I see one milllion in my TSP? I'm also not far off from $300k in my IRA. I will hopefully see that sometime next year, if not this year.

In other news, I applied for a pre-approved mortgage loan so my credit score took a hit of a couple of points due to credit inquiries, but I'm still well over 800.

I was wondering last night if the Finance Buff had released their 2024 predictions on contribution limits for various retirement & tax advantaged plans. It is usually released in June. Sure enough when I looked this morning they had released them last week. Again, these are just projections.

There is a lot to look at, but for me being under 50 with no HSA, I focus on the 401k & IRA contribution limits. The FB projects that both will rise by $500 next year for $23,000 and $7,000. I did glance & see that they did not predict an increase in the catch-up contribution limits. 

https://thefinancebuff.com/401k-403b-ira-contribution-limits.html#:~:text=in%20these%20limits.-,2023%202024%20Traditional%20and%20Roth%20IRA%20Contribution%20Limit,same%20at%20%241%2C000%20in%202024.

Yesterday the markets went wild on the news of the debt ceiling deal, but too late to improve my May numbers which show a loss from April. Again, this does not including my checking account cash which hovers around $15k or my car value.

Investments $1,230,403

Cash (not including checking) $27,157

Total $1,257,560

Loss $6,985

Additional contributions in April $3,250

Got two notices that my rent will rise by $20 on July due to increases in water collections from two elections. Not an issue, especially considering my recent raise. I just wish they would do something about my noisy neighbor, who thinks his apartment is a music studio. 

I really can't believe it, but we had another raise announced this week. It was 5% this time. I never would have expected another raise after the 16% raise we received last year & the 4% annual raise we got in January. I think we are also going to get retroactive pay for the raise back to April. What makes this better than the 10% retention is that it goes toward your pension calculation & your match calculation.

I have no plans to increase savings. If I end up with a lot of cash in my checking account - like I did last year - I will make a contribution to my brokerage account, but otherwise I just plan to enjoy the money for once. I max out my TSP & IRA every year. I contribute monthly to my brokerage & savings. This time I'm going to learn to relax & enjoy the present rather than save for the future.

I enjoy following your budgets so much that I thought I'd give it a go at sharing mine. I know that I put more on credit cards than this budget accounts for, so I really need to get better at actually accounting for my expenses. Now that I write that, I realize that I had nothing in my budget for travel or shopping, which is definitely not correct. In fact I just spend $800 on booking ballet & plane tickets for NYC in July. 🩰 ✈️ 🚖 

rent $1712

utilities $100

auto insurance $143

cell phone & internet $143

food $400

travel $300

shopping $300

church $100

charities $100

Apple $1

IRA $500

savings $500

brokerage $500

Expenses $3399

Savings $1500

Total $4899

I now realize that in posting a budget how vulnerable you feel opening yourself up to others' scrutiny.

Since I don't know if I'll be able to recover my lost entries, let's try this for a third time. Third time's the charm, right?

Retirement investments $1,156,452

Brokerage investments $81,542 

Savings $26,551

Total $1,264,545

My brokerage account is set aside for a future home purchase and my cash savings is earmarked for future car purchases. I put $500 into each every month.

I hope to not have to buy another car until 2032, which is when all cars are projected to be electric. I know a hybrid CR-V today will cost approximately $35k with the trimmings I desire, which are nothing extravagant.

Not included in my net worth is my cash in checking accounts and car value, which amount to approximately $35k.

I just checked Capital One's 360 performance savings went up 0.10%. I think it was 3.20% when I first opened my account then it went to 3.30%. So far it's just been very small incremental rates increases. I also noticed that their CD rates have not gone back up to 5.00%. I was worried when I opened my two accounts, after listening to Suze Orman speak, that they would have big rates increases right after I opened my accounts. The term was only 11 months, so it's not like I'm locked in for a long time either way.

I wish I had gotten some I-bonds when the past two years. Now it seems like inflation is finally slowing down. I can't remember exactly why, but there was a reason I was hesitant to invest in them initially. Maybe I was worried about cashing them out early? Not quite sure.

The stock market ended on a high note Friday to end the first quarter.

Net worth for March was $1,247,432

Investment savings $1,221,478

Cash savings $25,954 

Contributions were $4,125 for the month

Total gain was $28,593

Obviously still off from the highs of late 2021, but headed in the right direction this quarter. I haven't seen that the latest interest rate increase affected any of my savings accounts, however. 

My net worth was down for February, though not as much as expected. My investments were down & cash savings slightly up.

Net Worth: $1,218,479

Change: $-27,325

I don't include cash in checking which is about $15,000 between the two accounts. Nor do I include depreciating assets like my car.

Capital One paid my promo bonus of $100 for opening my savings account, so I took out another $10k to open a second CD while the rate is at 5.00%. I didn't want to pull anymore until I was sure that I would earn my bonus. 

My paycheck tomorrow will be my last paycheck with the 10% retention bonus. I will be fine financially, but it was a nice boost while it lasted. I'm happy that we're now recruiting & retaining staff, and we now need to focus on recruiting & retaining other positions. On the bright side, if things go as proposed we will get an 8% boost in January. Yes, it's a while away, but it's nice to know it's in the works.

In my new efforts to make my money work for me, I opened up a new checking account at my credit union. This new account is paying 3.01% APY, dividend rate of 2.97% on balances up to $10k. I haven't closed my original checking account. I will still use my old account for deposits & check writing, but I may eventually migrate it all to the new account. As long as I maintain a $5k balance across all accounts I avoid any fees. That should be easy to do as I currently have close to $12k. I had $15k at the end of last year & moved $5k to my brokerage account. So I have accumulated another $2k in less than 2 months. I will try to keep around $5k and send the overage to my new account periodically where it can make a little interest.