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Home > Archive: March, 2019

Archive for March, 2019

Bonuses & Driveway

March 29th, 2019 at 01:28 pm

Husband got a couple of good surprises.

His job deposited 2% of his 2018 salary into his 401K as an additional annual contribution. It wasn't a ton since he only worked a few months last year and he was at the lower trainee rate, but it was still about $300 dollars extra. I am wondering (hoping) if this is a yearly thing. That would be sweet.

Also they are supposed to be receiving a bonus for a year of being accident free. Word on the street it is $500, but not 100% on that yet.

Unfortunately he also found out he has to work all weekend. Which is a bummer, but good for our finances. Between that and the bonus we should have enough money to grade our yard. Except a neighbor stopped by yesterday and offered to help us do it for free... But it would probably take several months since it would be in his free time. So now we have to decide if delaying it would be worth saving around $1,000. Or if we would rather get it done ASAP so we can plant grass, and start landscaping. I'm fine waiting, but I'll let my husband decide.

Our driveway finally got rocked yesterday, so that is big progress. It looks so much better. It is exciting to have enough money to be able to finish some projects. I'm picking up a door today for our basement. We are rushing to tie up some loose ends because we are having quite a bit of company next month and would love to have the house "done."

Monthly Check In

March 28th, 2019 at 05:22 pm

I'd like to start doing a monthly check in at the end of each month with numbers so I can keep track of my progress.

Here is where I stand for March:

Mortgage -$114,264.90
0% CC -$8,898


Roth IRAs +$14,380
401K +$19,478
Emergency Fund +$2,118
Animal Fund +$500
Truck Fund +$1,420

I think we broke about even this month as far as net worth. Had a lot of expenses and not as much income. I still managed to get my CC under the next thousand but I didn't meet my monthly goal.

HSA should start automatically withdrawing next week, so there will be steady progress on that goal.

We also did an "adult thing." We went ahead and signed up for life insurance through husband's job. It was only a couple bucks a check and now we will both be covered if anything happens.

April will be spent paying myself back and saving for my mini vacation in May.

Health Insurance

March 20th, 2019 at 02:04 pm

Well we finally got signed up for health insurance. It's not accepted yet, but it should kick in on April 1st as long as all the paperwork goes through. Final amount was $360 a month minus his $160 raise. So $200 a month out of pocket, or $50 a check. (weekly)

This includes putting $1,000 into an HSA this year. His employer will also put in $1,250 I think. In the future I would like to up this number, but it will work for now until we pay off our debt.

Our driveway was finally bladed and it looks great. Now I just need to get the new rock delivered. Been busy working on the house.

On the financial front, not much progress. Paid a couple hundred on the CC, and have been paying myself back after all the expenses. Thankful that this is an extra paycheck month for us.

Plugging Holes

March 6th, 2019 at 02:58 pm

Ugh after a great January and February, March is already kicking my tail a week in, even worse than expected. So many holes I am trying to plug but I can't stop the bleeding.

So many big expenses popped up this week, just when I was feeling on top of everything.

1. I FINALLY got my car titled in my name ($315)
2. Had to buy hay ($315)
3. Husband's birthday present ($200)
4. Car insurance went up more than expected ($670)
5. Propane tank ran out and had to refill in addition to my normal budget billing ($400)
6. Received a bill from the vet I'd been waiting on ($60)

On top of this my mom decided she wants to go on a short vacation with me for her birthday so I need to come up with around $500 in the next two months.

Ehhhh. Thankfully I had money put back for the present, hay, and car insurance. But I still need to come up with over $700 for the propane and car title fees. That plus my smaller web design month, my debt payoff is going to be really down. Booo.

This month my husband and I have to start paying our own health insurance which will suck $300 a month out of our the budget. But he will get a $160 raise next week, so really only need to come up with $140ish extra.

Oh well. It shall pass. Lots of year left.

Home remodel is at least going well. We got some more trim up, and we are hopefully getting the driveway graded this weekend. Then we can finally purchase new rock.

Mortgage Payment & Net Worth

March 1st, 2019 at 03:52 pm

Paid my mortgage today, new balance is $114,264.90!

I reviewed my net worth since starting YNAB again 6 months ago. In the last six months my net worth (if I exclude my mortgage and retirement accounts) has increased by 70%!! I've increased savings and decreased debt by over $8,000 in 6 months. Which means we have been saving/paying debt with over 30% of our monthly income.

If I include our mortgage debt and retirement accounts we have increased out net worth by 12%.

We are still about $4,500 negative in our net worth (excluding mortgage and retirement) but I am positive we will be in the positive by the year end and most likely sooner. Then it will be a longer marathon to be positive in our entire net worth.

If we count our house value as an asset we are already there, but I prefer not to include it since we have no plans on selling. I dream of a day of more money in the bank than I have in debt.

Onward and upwards.