Vacation

I am going on vacation.....woohoo. It was paid for with cash. I can't wait to the in the sun, sea and sand of the Dominican Republic.

Retirement

Retirement savings now total a little over 21K. Slow and steady wins the race.

Still running

Ran 1.75 miles this morning. This has been my longest distance ever.

Weight loss.....money....clothes

Yesterday I did more work in organizing my closet. OMG!!!!! I found more tops that are still new with tags on. There are bottoms that don't fit anymore because I gained a bit of weight in the past few years. The tops fit so I'll be wearing those. As for the bottoms, well I need to continue working on running and other exercise so I can lose some weight. I refuse to buy new clothes at my current size.

Still running

Running is cheap, I work up a good sweat and burn lots of calories. Today's training called for a 1.5 mile run. However, my legs are tired. I'm switching it to Monday. My new running sneakers by Saucony are absolutely awesome. Bought a new dri-fit shirt yesterday at Target for less than $20. This brings my dri-fit shirt total to 3. This is enough for now. Once the weather starts to get cold I'll buy more running clothes.

I'm running

woohoo. Last week I started the Jeff Galloway 5K training program. I was so excited to hit the pavement. Running has been a goal of mine for a while. My knees are finally co-operating (long story). The program calls for a one mile run the first two Sundays. My first mile was 15:37 and my second mile was 14:14. You might ask why is she so excited??? Well because I can run.
Stay tuned.

Running sneakers: $117.00

Running shorts: $49.00

Hitting the pavement: Priceless

The year is halfway done. It's time for me to sit down and calculate how much I would have to throw at my student loan each month to pay off by 12/31/2012. I really don't want to carry this student loan into 2013.

My main financial focus is to pay down as many of my bills as I can. The end result is to pull my credit score at the end of the year and see where I stack up. Since buying my condo over two years ago, I have no clue what my credit score is. If I have to guess, I would say it's close to if not above 700. Hope I'm right.

Keeping my eye on my money

My birthday is coming up in less than  two months. The plan is to have a fabulous birthday weekend. This requires me to be diligent with my money so that I'm able to treat myself for my birthday.
The weather has been great lately, so I don't need the heat or AC. This means a lower utility bill. I've also been taking my lunch to work more. This is an off again, on again struggle that I need to be more consistent with. Some days I spend money just based on pure laziness. Too lazy to pack the lunch the night before, too lazy to wake up early in the morning and do it. This is something that I need to change.

Priorities....where my dollars go

I haven't bought non-workout clothes in quite a while. A few weeks ago I was going on vacation with my boyfriend and needed a few things. It was not a pleasant experience. However, I bought some items. After the vacation I took back the ones I didn't wear. I was so happy to get my money back. LOL

Fast forward yesterday and I dropped a few almost two hundred dollars on workout clothes without batting an eye.

Oh how my priorities have changed.

After receiving a substantial enough tax refund I adjusted my withholding. The extra cash NOW is better than getting it next year. My goal for next tax season is to break even.

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.