November was pretty busy month, we've been trying to recoup our finances from October's trip, taking my wife's parents for the first time to Las Vegas and also Long Beach, CA. Along the way, we also stopped to see the Grand Canyon as well.
We also took a trip to New York City on short notice. My best friend was there for a business meeting and had an extra room available and offered it to us. He also, took us out as well. We spent quite a bit on this short trip.
I also, celebrated my 31st birthday as well last month, so time's ticking. Let's get through the holidays and see how I fared going into December.
Goals to reach by July 2, 2016
- Credit Cards: Goal: $0 / Bal: $5,894.13
- Still doing bad at using the credit cards.
- I got six month to get this down to zero.
- The plan is to apply more money to this from my side jobs.
- Loans/ IRS: Goal: $18,872 / Bal: $24,149.50 ($5,277.5 to go)
- The balance went up on this part because I made a $2,500 dollar mistake on my taxes from 2013. So now I have to pay that off ASAP.
- The rest of the loan debt, I've steadily paid over with extra principal, but will revert to minimum until the IRS debt is paid off.
- Mortgage: Goal: $211,780 / Bal: $216,749.95 ($4,969.95 to go)
- Was able to increase a few dollars extra to add to the extra principle payments.
- With the increase in debt payments, it looks as though I won't be hitting this goal, but I will try nonetheless.
- Checking Account: Monthly Expense Avg: $2,300/mo - Goal: $27,600 / Bal: $1,684.36
- A goal for my checking account balances now is to keep building it up to cover at least a year of expenses.
- Savings Account: Goal: $10,000 / Bal: $4014.96
- Was on target, but now it's not looking that way.
- My Savings account is a combination of cash for emergencies, wife, kids, and parents.
- Investments: Goal: $30,000 / Bal: $29,181.64
- It looks like I'm on track to hit this a lot sooner than I thought, unless the market just tanks. (let's hope for the best!)
- One of the only things that's staying consistent is the auto transfers into them.
So, in December I'm hoping a generous bonus from work can help towards my goals. Also, we're gearing for Christmas and prepping for my 2nd born's 1st birthday and also my wife's 30th! Let's hope I'm able to keep to my budget plan. FYI..all investments/ debts are separate from my wife, but all checking/savings are combined. Once I can convince her to join me on this journey, then I'll combine her's here. I want to prove to her if we track our money, we will build a better habit of saving/investing money going forward. She's a work to spend type person, so it's going to take some time to win her over.
Well, that about sums up my update. See you next year! Hope everyone has a great Christmas and Happy New Year! Let's go into 2016 like we've already owned it!
- K
