Grocery list

I have found that everytime I go to the grocery store I spend between $75 and $115.  That is way more than my weekly budget of $60.  I usually go without a list and many times I forget my coupons.  I am resolving to always use a list and stick to it.  Several years ago I used pre-rinted grocery lists and just circled the items that I needed each trip.  I am going to start doing that again and see if it helps me stay within my budget.

Found money

I received a check yesterday for $27.60.  Apparently when I refinanced my mortgage last year the escrow company kept some of my money.  I am going to put the money in my savings account.  Yep…that is almost a good as finding a twenty dollar bill on the sidewalk.  I quickly counted some of the change in my coin jar and counted about $30. That is going into the bank too. 

A penny saved…

is a penny earned according to Ben Franklin.  I have decided to start accumulating my change at the end of each week and set it aside.  I don’t expect to yield huge amounts of savings but it is something.  This morning I gathered the change from the bottom of my purse and found $1.42.  Not too bad.  Once I get a large enough amount I can take it to one of those Coinstar machines at the grocery store and turn it in for paper money.  I already have a bowl of change I have saved but I haven’t been adding to it until now. We will see.

I have decided to max out my 401k

When I calculated the tax numbers it just made more sense to put 15% of the bonus into my 401k.  For the next 12 months I plan to set aside 15% of my salary in my 401k.  The next thing I will need to think about is increasing my Roth IRA contribution to the max allowed.  While I had originally planned to use a portion of the bonus to pay down debt I have opted against that as my credit card debt is at 0% forever as long as I use my card twice per month.  I will lower my tax bite significantly by putting the funds in a tax deferred account.  I will use about $1,500 to bolster my emergency fund.  That will put my emergency fund at over $5,000 by the end of September.  My paycheck will be just a little lower but that is fine.   I am on track to meet two of my 2007 goals: 1) An emergency fund of at least $5,000 and 2) maxing out my 401k.

Pay down debt or save?

I will be getting a small bonus next month.  I am debating whether to pay down my 0% credit card debt or to put it in a CD earning 5%.  From a financial stand point it makes the most sense to just put the money in a CD, however, from a psychological stand point it would be nice to see my credit card balance go down.  I have calculated that the money would earn about $75 dollars in a 6 month CD.  I will also have enough tax refund from my tax return next year to completely pay off the credit card debt.   This is a tough decision. 

Living paycheck to paycheck

I just saw a news story where it was reported that 41% of people live paycheck to paycheck.  I have a little money set aside but not enough to say that I don’t live paycheck to paycheck.  This just doubles my resolve to increase my savings cushion.  I currently only have about a month of expenses set aside in my emergency fund but my goal is to have three months set aside.  If all goes as planned, I will have my emergency fund fully funded in about six months.

Stock market downturn

I like most people trying to save for retirement have seen their 401k and other stock market investments decimated the past few weeks.   I cannot even bear to look at my balance right now.  I have not pulled any money out and I made my normal $100 monthly to my Roth earlier this week.  Even though I am in for the long run it still stings when the market go crazy.

Savings and real estate taxes

I got paid today and was able to replace the savings that I had borrowed.  For good measure I also deposited an additional $25 to pay interest to myself.  Next month I am going to increase my monthly emergency savings deposit from $350 to $450.  I wish I could grow it faster but that is the best I can do right now. 

I was able to claim homestead exemption on my house so now my real estate taxes will be about $900 lower than last year.  I expect to get a escrow refund from Chase at some point.  I think I will take the $75 per month in escrow savings and put it towards my car loan or student loan debt.  I plan to put any escrow refund into my savings.

Wachovia bank fee for Quicken downloads

For the past few months I have been hit with a $5.95 fee for downloading my bank info into Quicken.  To be fair, Wachovia did tell me that this was going to happen if I did not have a Crown Access account but I still find this practice infuriating.  I can get around this fee by downloading directly from Wachovia and that is what I plan to start doing.

Short term goals

I have some other short term (one year or less) financial goals  and they are as follows:

 1. Max out 401k

2. Three months living expenses in cash reserves

3.  $100,000 in net worth

4.  Pay off credit card

I will periodically refer back to these goals to see what progress I have made.  It is important for me to write these down so that I can visualize the goal better.   Best of luck to me.