I just paid off the last of my debt (laptop).
I'm caught up on my taxes (I think). In December I'll review that in more detail.
My other savings goals for this year are:
- Max out my retirement savings ($16,500 to 401K).
- Save $5000 in cash.
- Help my brother & sister $250/month for each of them.
I recently switched from 1099 contractor to full-time employee status. I have to find a different rhythm in my budgeting style because of that. It's a big adjustment for me.
As a contractor I had no taxes withheld, paid all of my taxes manually every quarter, and had complete manual control over all of my savings goals and the timing. I was snowballing all of my savings goals like a monster snow beast with 40-ton snowballs! 2/3 of my paycheck went to one goal at a time - first taxes, then debt, then savings, basically dividing the year into 3 phases where I attacked one goal at a time with the full force of 2/3 of my paycheck. It felt so fast and so satisfying.
Now - every paycheck has a constant slow drain in multiple directions for every goal. Taxes withheld automatically, 401k withheld automatically ... and the amount left over is too small to do my other goals in one fell swoop ... so I have to do my other goals in small monthly installments too. It feels really weird.
Definitely feels like a loss of momentum even though at the end of it I'll have saved the same amount.
I'll probably be used to it in a month or two though ... I just need to give it some time.
My 401K withdrawals start either June 1 or July 1 ... I forget which. Since I started my full-time job in the middle of the year, I'm compressing the maximum allowed 2010 contribution into 6 months. So that'll be my last sweet brush with the snowball method for a while, sadly. Next year I'll spread it out over the full 12 months.
My starting point
May 20th, 2010 at 04:46 am
May 20th, 2010 at 12:45 pm 1274355956
May 20th, 2010 at 01:27 pm 1274358464
May 20th, 2010 at 04:46 pm 1274370410
May 21st, 2010 at 03:48 am 1274410120
May 21st, 2010 at 05:58 pm 1274461116
Its great that you can do that for them!