Finance goals April 1st to June 30th

I've accomplished my first goals for the year before the deadline. This is very exciting for me. Now it's time to set new goals.

1. Bring my student loan balance to below $6,000.

2. Save $500 towards my birthday gift to myself. My birthday is in June.

3. Research and purchase life insurance.

Update on $$

I'm finally over the $20,000 mark in retirement savings. This is split between my vanguard IRA and pension fund.

The emergency fund is at $5,500.

My last student loan has a balance of $8,639. The goal is to pay this off my 12/31/2012.

Blog disclaimer

This is MY blog. I'm not a professional writer. This is a place for me to share what is going on with me financially.

I am not a financial adviser. Please do not take anything here as professional financial advice.

My blog is my financial journal. Nothing fancy.Just me and my money or lack thereof.

Finance goals Jan 1st to March 31st, 2011

3 goals

Complete and file federal and state tax returns.

Build my savings back up to $5,000. Last year I sacrificed saving to pay off Sallie Mae. Now it's time to get back to the 'pay yourself first' routine. 

My savings account is currently at $1,100. That is enough for any 'oops' moment that might come up.

Filing taxes

It's that time of year....tax time. I'll be filing my taxes as soon as all the necessary documents have been received. This year I should be getting a decent enough refund. If I do, I'll be adjusting my federal withholding. My state refund is always negligible. This year turbo tax will be my software of choice once again.

Today I reviewed my Sallie Mae interest statement. In 2011 I paid $30 less in interest compared to 2010. The accelerated payments in 2011 saved me money, and paid off my loan in full.

When paying extra on your student loans remember you'll be saving interest in the long run,and paying off your loan sooner.

New Goals

Now that Sallie Mae is no longer an issue (still waiting on my pay off letter so I can frame it) I have new goals.

My focus will now be on paying off the rest of my credit card and my federal student loan (Sallie Mae was a private loan).

I've done the calculations and it's entirely possible to pay both off before 12/31/2012.

Sallie Mae Pay off Tips I used

Tips in paying off Sallie Mae sooner:

1. Key is to make multiple payments each month. EDIT!! Please make sure the minimum due gets there before the due date. No use in making multiple payments if they don't get there on time.

2. If paying by check or money order please write specific instructions with your payment. "apply to principal only" or "principal only payment" etc. Anything that would let them know the extra payment is to be used to pay down your balance immediately, and not applied to a future payment. See #3

3. Keep an eye on your due date. Sallie Mae will sometimes move your due date months into the future when you start making extra payments. Please call and have this corrected. At the same time continue to send in extra payments. Check your payment history to make sure the principal vs interest breakdown is correct.

4. Please remember a due date months into the future isn't your friend. Make a payment each and every month or bi-weekly until your balance is 0.

5. I used to send my multiple payments a day apart. A $200 payment would be sent $100 today, and $100 the next day. Why? Just a preference. Both payments usually got applied same day, with the second payment going entirely to principal.

These are the things I did. They worked for me. Applying laser focus to Sallie Mae was key in getting rid of her. I sacrificed savings in 2011 in order to achieve this pay off goal.

Was it worth it? Hell Yes!!!

My Sallie Mae student loan..........

The total amount owed is $0.00

I'm proud to say I finally got that monkey off my  back.


How did I do it?

I started out by paying bi-weekly instead of monthly.

Any extra cash I had went towards my payments.

Breaking Personal Finance News.....

I am less that $500 away from paying off my private student loan from Sallie Mae.

Whoop! whoop!

Once I pay off the balance I'll write a post on lessons learned, and how to pay off your Sallie Mae loan faster.

Updates....I'm back

My goal is to blog at least two days per week......let the games begin.

There are a few blog posts coming up this week.

I've consistently maintained a workout schedule for the past four weeks. This isn't a long time, but it's the longest I've maintained a consistent schedule of 4 days per week.

Now that my workout schedule is more natural, my next non financial goal is go blog more.

More posts coming.

My dream job has....

Tuition reimbursement.

Flexible scheduling.....including the opportunity to work from home.

Great pay.

Matching 401K

Benefits (health, employee assistance program, tax free transportation dollars etc)

Room for opportunity and growth.

Challenging environment.

This list will continue to grow.

Money well spent

The money I'm spending on the trainer is sooooooo worth it.

Money and Fitness

I've signed up to work with my trainer again. The package last for 6 months. The money for the trainer needs to come from another area of my cash flow, without messing with my Sallie Mae pay off flow.

Recently made a phonecall to Sallie Mae just to make sure she's doing right with my money.

I've Been Tagged

I've been tagged by BK over at The Fit Family Lounge and Debt Hater

7 Random things about me:

1. I have a fear of being trapped in an elevator.

2. Mango is my favorite fruit.

3. I've never worn a bikini. My goal is to wear one soon.

4. Exercise is easy. Changing my eating is hard. I love, love, love to eat.

5. Recently went to D.C for the first time.

6. I'm a makeup free girl. Truth is I have no clue what to do with it.

7. My fitness goal is to run a 5K.

Q & A


Favorite Color: Baby blue or grey. It depends on my mood.

Favorite Song: Don't have one.

Favorite Dessert: Red velvet cupcakes, Tres Leche cake.

Biggest Pet Peeve: liars and lazy people.

When you are upset: shut down and cry. This prevents me from punching someone or something.

Favorite Pet: not a pet person

Black or white: what???

Biggest Fear: Being mangled in a car accident

Best Feature: My chocolatey smooth skin

Everyday attitude: Am a moody gemini, so it varies

What is perfection: Me + the homie + the couch and a movie (quality time)

Guilty pleasure: food or otherwise??? That's an entire blogpost by itself.

No Thank You Chase

I bought my apt in 2009. The mortgage is a 30 year fixed at 5.00% APR. Today I received a call from Chase Bank asking me to come in to talk about my options. What options???? huh??? Bye?? Not interested. Refinancing isn't something I'm looking to do right now. My financial focus is Sallie Mae and my cc. More so, Sallie Mae. After that my focus will be maxing out my IRA and putting more into my pension.

Updates

Operation pay off Sallie Mae is still on target. The checks are going out on a weekly basis. I keep following up to make sure the payments are posted properly.

I've been exercising. Zumba, Jazzercise and West African dance. The great thing is these classes are not costing me too much out of pocket. Jazzercise was courtesy of BK over at The Fit Family Lounge.

My electric and gas bill is down by over 60%. Why the drastic drop you ask? Winter is over, my nieces are in Florida and the AC hasn't been on too often. Energy and dollars saving all around.

There are still a few projects to do around my apt: paint, buy more furniture, plants, flowers etc. These will be done in stages.

Updates

Operation pay off Sallie Mae is still going strong. I'm still sending money orders and double checking to make sure payments are posted properly.

I'm exercising more. This means taking more classes at different locations, and more $$. My new focus on my health has me feeling better.

It's a possibility that I may be unemployed soon. Praying this is not the case, in the mean time I'm job searching like crazy.