My commute to work is straight garbage. Like most of Metro-Atlanta daily commutes are vile. It takes me up to an hour and half each way. That's three hours a day, fifteen hours a week spent in my car. We bought our house in 2017 when I had a different job and different commute. We've been looking at moving to shorten my commute. However, were I work is very expensive and very much out of our budget. Looking at other locations the farther out we go the commute is the same or not very much better.
We originally wanted to move early Summer and get out of our house. But we've decided to wait until at least the fall when home prices a little less pricey and we could potentially increase our buying power. I also want to make a dent in our debt as well. This also means we'll be taking a chance to loose equity in our house which we'd be using for a down payment to the new house. That's a risk we're willing to take to feel more financially secure. In the meantime we'll enjoy our Summer in the house. The good news is during the Summer my commute is much less obnoxious.
Friday, March 22, 2019
Sunday, March 17, 2019
The Tale of Two Towns
I sat with my good friend in a dive bar in Michigan this past February. We were catching up over two dollar beers. She and I had known each other since Sophomore year of high school. I was telling her about how I was working on getting out of debt.
"You've always been good with money" She said.
"Yeah, but I'm twenty-two thousand in credit card debt." I confessed. She was shocked.
"Really? I had no idea."
" I'm just really bad with controlling my spending when it comes to using credit cards." I explained. "So I cut them all up last year and am learning to live on what we make instead."
"That's good. Is it all just from over spending?" She asked.
"Mostly, some of from being financially unstable the last couple years." I said. For the longest time I'd blamed the bulk of my debt from a disastrous roommate in experience in 2007/2008. In the end we were evicted for my roommate never paying rent and I was stuck with the bill for all of it to the tune of $4,500. I was angry for years after it all went down and attributed my credit card debt to her irresponsibility. When in reality the amount I'd been stuck with from it was only a fraction of the amount I was in debt. It was my own doing that lead me to be in the position I am now. I was done blaming others for my inability to keep myself in check.
After coming back to Ann Arbor Michigan last February I had a bit of enlightenment. The town I grew up in is the exact opposite of where I live now. Ann Arbor Michigan is very laid back in many ways. Metro-Atlanta is about status in many ways. For instance, in Atlanta what you drive is very important. BMW's, Mercedes, and Range Rovers are a dime a dozen on the highways of Atlanta. I even saw a Rolls Royce SUV while heading home from work once. Meanwhile, in Ann Arbor you can't swing a stick without hitting Subaru. Ann Arborites value quality over labels. While they might spend good money on an expensive coat, they know it will last them many brutal Michigan winters. In Atlanta many Louis Vuitton handbags are seen on women around town. I have a couple handbags as well. They cost $20 each.
Every time I go back to Ann Arbor it's a reality check for me. On what really matters in life and to get me away from the material possession pull of Atlanta. The first when time I came back to Ann Arbor after I'd moved to Atlanta in 2012 it felt like a dream. That I'd been in a coma for the last seven months and I'd never actually moved. It felt very surreal to me. Now when I'm back in Atlanta I try to let my Ann Arbor state of mind prevail. I think it helps keep me grounded and hopefully will help in the journey of getting out of debt once in for all.
"You've always been good with money" She said.
"Yeah, but I'm twenty-two thousand in credit card debt." I confessed. She was shocked.
"Really? I had no idea."
" I'm just really bad with controlling my spending when it comes to using credit cards." I explained. "So I cut them all up last year and am learning to live on what we make instead."
"That's good. Is it all just from over spending?" She asked.
"Mostly, some of from being financially unstable the last couple years." I said. For the longest time I'd blamed the bulk of my debt from a disastrous roommate in experience in 2007/2008. In the end we were evicted for my roommate never paying rent and I was stuck with the bill for all of it to the tune of $4,500. I was angry for years after it all went down and attributed my credit card debt to her irresponsibility. When in reality the amount I'd been stuck with from it was only a fraction of the amount I was in debt. It was my own doing that lead me to be in the position I am now. I was done blaming others for my inability to keep myself in check.
After coming back to Ann Arbor Michigan last February I had a bit of enlightenment. The town I grew up in is the exact opposite of where I live now. Ann Arbor Michigan is very laid back in many ways. Metro-Atlanta is about status in many ways. For instance, in Atlanta what you drive is very important. BMW's, Mercedes, and Range Rovers are a dime a dozen on the highways of Atlanta. I even saw a Rolls Royce SUV while heading home from work once. Meanwhile, in Ann Arbor you can't swing a stick without hitting Subaru. Ann Arborites value quality over labels. While they might spend good money on an expensive coat, they know it will last them many brutal Michigan winters. In Atlanta many Louis Vuitton handbags are seen on women around town. I have a couple handbags as well. They cost $20 each.
Every time I go back to Ann Arbor it's a reality check for me. On what really matters in life and to get me away from the material possession pull of Atlanta. The first when time I came back to Ann Arbor after I'd moved to Atlanta in 2012 it felt like a dream. That I'd been in a coma for the last seven months and I'd never actually moved. It felt very surreal to me. Now when I'm back in Atlanta I try to let my Ann Arbor state of mind prevail. I think it helps keep me grounded and hopefully will help in the journey of getting out of debt once in for all.
Saturday, March 16, 2019
Payday and 401K's
Yesterday I got paid and so did my Spouse. I get paid bimonthly on the 15th and the last of the month. My Spouse gets paid every Friday. His paycheck is a nice filler between my pay periods. I'm the breadwinner of the two of us, so my paycheck goes toward the house hold bills, groceries and such. My Spouses paycheck goes to his child support, savings and knocking down our debt snowball.
With this paycheck I've paid the mortgage and the car insurance will come out. I'll buy groceries for the week and gas in my car. The rest will sit in the account untouched. We're trying to build up our funds enough so that at the beginning of each month we can pay all of our bills the in full. Thus leaving our other paychecks for getting rid of debt faster. We're making a point of really living in less than we make. Just because we have those dollars in the account to spend doesn't mean we should. We've given ourselves $50 a month in blow money each. This is money we can spend how ever we want. It's not a lot by any means. But it makes us stop and think, do I really want to spend money on this item? Do I really want it or just think I want it because it's in front of me. We also have a set amount of money for eating out. $100 for the money that's it. In the past I would go out to eat at the drop of a hat. However I wouldn't spend money on things I needed like shoes or pants.
At my job we had a meeting about our new 401K program. I hadn't participated in the previous program when I became eligible last year because we were still getting back on our feet. I wasn't sure if we'd be able to afford to participate now even though I really wanted to. Typically with a 401K in order to get the employer match you have to contribute that specific percentage no less. But with this plan we were able to be matched up to that percentage rate. This meant I could contribute 1% of my paycheck to the plan and still be matched. This amount would be pretty small but would add up to a few hundred dollars over the course of the year with the match. I didn't want to leave that money sitting on the table. I'm comfortable doing only the 1% for now and ramping it up to 3% or even the 5% after we're out of credit card debt. At 33 years old I've got plenty of time before I retire. I also have other retirement savings in IRA's from a previously rolled over 401K earning money for me.
Eventually I'd want my Spouse to open up an IRA for himself to start contributing to retirement. He's five year older than me and has never saved for retirement. It would be nice to receive multiple streams of retirement income when we do retire instead of just relaying on mine. My goal is to retire with at least a million dollars across all retirement savings.
With this paycheck I've paid the mortgage and the car insurance will come out. I'll buy groceries for the week and gas in my car. The rest will sit in the account untouched. We're trying to build up our funds enough so that at the beginning of each month we can pay all of our bills the in full. Thus leaving our other paychecks for getting rid of debt faster. We're making a point of really living in less than we make. Just because we have those dollars in the account to spend doesn't mean we should. We've given ourselves $50 a month in blow money each. This is money we can spend how ever we want. It's not a lot by any means. But it makes us stop and think, do I really want to spend money on this item? Do I really want it or just think I want it because it's in front of me. We also have a set amount of money for eating out. $100 for the money that's it. In the past I would go out to eat at the drop of a hat. However I wouldn't spend money on things I needed like shoes or pants.
At my job we had a meeting about our new 401K program. I hadn't participated in the previous program when I became eligible last year because we were still getting back on our feet. I wasn't sure if we'd be able to afford to participate now even though I really wanted to. Typically with a 401K in order to get the employer match you have to contribute that specific percentage no less. But with this plan we were able to be matched up to that percentage rate. This meant I could contribute 1% of my paycheck to the plan and still be matched. This amount would be pretty small but would add up to a few hundred dollars over the course of the year with the match. I didn't want to leave that money sitting on the table. I'm comfortable doing only the 1% for now and ramping it up to 3% or even the 5% after we're out of credit card debt. At 33 years old I've got plenty of time before I retire. I also have other retirement savings in IRA's from a previously rolled over 401K earning money for me.
Eventually I'd want my Spouse to open up an IRA for himself to start contributing to retirement. He's five year older than me and has never saved for retirement. It would be nice to receive multiple streams of retirement income when we do retire instead of just relaying on mine. My goal is to retire with at least a million dollars across all retirement savings.
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Got To Pay That Tax Bill
We have a tax bill this year. It's not because my Spouse or I didn't withhold enough from our paychecks. We have one because I liquidated a IRA CD early and did an early distribution from my Roth IRA to pay off my vehicle last Spring. I don't regret doing this. It got rid of a huge debt and allowed us to get back on our feet financially faster. We're paying 10% penalties on each early withdrawal which equates to about three months worth of said cars payments.
The good news is we are getting a refund from the state of Georgia. If we get that refund to help out with the tax bill before it's due remains unseen. My Spouse works on the side for a family friend once a week for a small sum of money. With the weeks remaining we can use that money to almost save up for the tax bill in full. We'll be short a little over $200 if the refund does not come through in time. So, looking at my next two paychecks I calculated that if we save $125 from each we'll have enough saved for the entire bill. The IRS is taking their money on April 15th whether it's account for or not. I've set it up to have them automatically take it on that date. I'll transfer the money for the tax bill from the Savings to Checking the Friday before on April 12th so it's all ready to go.
Having to save $250 for the difference in the bill means we won't be able to put that toward our debt snowball for this month. But owing the IRS is certainly a form of debt, debt you do not want to ignore. The tax bill is our lowest debt, so it falls right in line with the snowball. Also, being able to save up for the tax bill and not have it be a huge financial issue is a great feeling. I did know we were going to owe the IRS when I took the money to pay off my car. So how come I didn't start saving earlier for it you might ask? Well we were still getting out financial footing from a job loss for the second year in a row. I knew the bill wasn't going to be outrageous. I did the calculations of approximately what it might be before withdrawing the money to make the pay off. I also knew that we could save for it in about two months time after we did out taxes in February. The funny thing is if we did not owe the penalties we would've been getting back $11 from Federal. Which according to some financial experts is good. You want to keep as much money in your paycheck as possible without underpaying on taxes. The money you get back in a refund is a fraction of what you've over paid over the course of a year.
I used to get refunds every year when doing my taxes. Except for 2017's taxes when I grossly underpaid my taxes and our refund ate that up. But ever since I started doing my taxes I would usually get back around $1,000 occasionally a little more. I would always elect to have it go into my Savings account. Usually I would use it to pay off a credit card or two. Yes the same credit cards I then maxed out in later years. This year the refund from the state will go toward paying our bill. Hopefully next year if we do get a small refund we can use it to save toward something like a vacation or my Spouse and I's five year anniversary in 2021. But for now, we have to pay the tax man.
The good news is we are getting a refund from the state of Georgia. If we get that refund to help out with the tax bill before it's due remains unseen. My Spouse works on the side for a family friend once a week for a small sum of money. With the weeks remaining we can use that money to almost save up for the tax bill in full. We'll be short a little over $200 if the refund does not come through in time. So, looking at my next two paychecks I calculated that if we save $125 from each we'll have enough saved for the entire bill. The IRS is taking their money on April 15th whether it's account for or not. I've set it up to have them automatically take it on that date. I'll transfer the money for the tax bill from the Savings to Checking the Friday before on April 12th so it's all ready to go.
Having to save $250 for the difference in the bill means we won't be able to put that toward our debt snowball for this month. But owing the IRS is certainly a form of debt, debt you do not want to ignore. The tax bill is our lowest debt, so it falls right in line with the snowball. Also, being able to save up for the tax bill and not have it be a huge financial issue is a great feeling. I did know we were going to owe the IRS when I took the money to pay off my car. So how come I didn't start saving earlier for it you might ask? Well we were still getting out financial footing from a job loss for the second year in a row. I knew the bill wasn't going to be outrageous. I did the calculations of approximately what it might be before withdrawing the money to make the pay off. I also knew that we could save for it in about two months time after we did out taxes in February. The funny thing is if we did not owe the penalties we would've been getting back $11 from Federal. Which according to some financial experts is good. You want to keep as much money in your paycheck as possible without underpaying on taxes. The money you get back in a refund is a fraction of what you've over paid over the course of a year.
I used to get refunds every year when doing my taxes. Except for 2017's taxes when I grossly underpaid my taxes and our refund ate that up. But ever since I started doing my taxes I would usually get back around $1,000 occasionally a little more. I would always elect to have it go into my Savings account. Usually I would use it to pay off a credit card or two. Yes the same credit cards I then maxed out in later years. This year the refund from the state will go toward paying our bill. Hopefully next year if we do get a small refund we can use it to save toward something like a vacation or my Spouse and I's five year anniversary in 2021. But for now, we have to pay the tax man.
Sunday, March 10, 2019
The Beginning
I've taken to enjoying quiet Sunday mornings. Listening to soft music and usually reading a book while enjoying a cup of coffee. Last Sunday, my Spouse spent the entirety of the day working on our budget. He took my bare bones budget I'd been working with for a few months and expanded it. He did this after I'd convinced him we were doing better financial than we thought we were.
I was sick of looking at it by the end of the evening. I was in bed reading when he came into the bedroom with the laptop. I groaned. He promised it was good news. By the calculations done it showed by the beginning of May we'd start with over $2000 in the account. Allowing us to pay all our bills upfront-including the mortgage. And with the budget and debt snowball he's created, we're projected to get out of credit card debt by the end of this year (2019) and knocking out his student loans, being completely debt free by the end of 2020.
Most of the credit card debt is mine. $22,288.00 to be exact. A decades worth of being incredibly irresponsible with credit cards. I would get some paid off and tell myself this time could use them properly. Of course I'd end up wracking them right back up for a myriad of reasons. Not being financial sound (aka no budget), living beyond my means, and basic idiocy. Last year I had an Epiphany that I simply did not have the will power to use credit cards responsibly, not matter how much I wanted to. So, I cut up my credit cards and tossed them in the trash.
I've chosen to do a financial over haul of my life. I'm learning to live with only the money myself and my spouse make. Work with a budget and live below our means. And of course get ourselves debt free and save for retirement, betting our lives. This is my journey on getting there. I will post updates every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday of our daily financial happenings.
I was sick of looking at it by the end of the evening. I was in bed reading when he came into the bedroom with the laptop. I groaned. He promised it was good news. By the calculations done it showed by the beginning of May we'd start with over $2000 in the account. Allowing us to pay all our bills upfront-including the mortgage. And with the budget and debt snowball he's created, we're projected to get out of credit card debt by the end of this year (2019) and knocking out his student loans, being completely debt free by the end of 2020.
Most of the credit card debt is mine. $22,288.00 to be exact. A decades worth of being incredibly irresponsible with credit cards. I would get some paid off and tell myself this time could use them properly. Of course I'd end up wracking them right back up for a myriad of reasons. Not being financial sound (aka no budget), living beyond my means, and basic idiocy. Last year I had an Epiphany that I simply did not have the will power to use credit cards responsibly, not matter how much I wanted to. So, I cut up my credit cards and tossed them in the trash.
I've chosen to do a financial over haul of my life. I'm learning to live with only the money myself and my spouse make. Work with a budget and live below our means. And of course get ourselves debt free and save for retirement, betting our lives. This is my journey on getting there. I will post updates every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday of our daily financial happenings.
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