May 2008: Progress Update

Photo Credit: ivanx

A new month means an update of the progress we’ve made on my goals so far this year. I’m hoping that by sharing it, it holds me accountable.

Let me first review my goals for this year:

• Income: I would like to earn $37,000 for the year.
• Spending: I’m going to continue cutting back on eating out to twice a week, including weekends.
• Investing: I’m going to enroll in my company’s 401(k) and meet the employer match. I’ll also continue to contribute to my Roth IRA.
• Saving: I will have $2,000 in my emergency fund by September 1, 2008. I would also like to put our income tax return into our house fund toward paying down the car loan.
• Debt: I would like to pay off my car loan by July 31, 2008. I would like to have my car loan out before I have to start paying student loans.

Here’s how I’m doing:

• Income: I am happy with this goal and unless something major happens, I’m good to go on this one.
• Spending: April took a lot of money out of my budget and I spent my emergency fund getting settled in the new city. I have rebuilt it back up to the pre-move amount.
• Investing: I’ve been investing n my Roth IRA still. The balance is starting to rise again. I use index funds and they were fluctuating a bit.
• Saving: I’m glad that I’ve automated my savings. The hectic pace of the move has distracted me on keeping tabs on everything.
• Debt: I’m still pushing back the car loan pay off to August 31,2008 as this move depleted some money from our savings. Whenever we get the stimulus check, we’ll put it towards the car loan. Any income from the blog is also going to go towards this debt. Thank you for all your support.

April has definitely been a month of adjustments. My work schedule is 1/2 day on Monday and regular hours Tuesday through Friday. I really my job and I love my coworkers. We went salsa dancing Thursday with some coworkers and had a blast.

We got the cars registered and I have to get an inspection done on Wednesday. My car failed today due to a sensor light. It should be fine the second time around. I’m hoping May will be a great month for my goals AND just overall.

I just want to congratulate my brother-in-law who’ll graduate Friday and my best buddy from high school who is graduating Saturday. They’ve both worked hard and I wish them the best. I’m looking forward to celebrating with them.

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