Setting New Goals For Savings
Well Kira inspired me to re-evaluate, so here's what I came up with:
For August and September I'm paying off a 1500$ debt to an ex so I plan to save 50$ each month.
I would drop in more, but I'm also moving August 1st and I know how unexpected expenses can pop up.
I also dropped my 401k contribution down to 1% for these two months. What can I say? Times is hard.
August/September:
10$ - 401k -- 2x a month
25$ - ING (emergency fund) --1x a month
25$ - HSBC (long term home/car fund) -- 1x a month
For October, debt will be paid, but student loans kick in (arg!). I will reset my 401k contribution to 9% (matched 1%) and up the payment to my debt management program. This works out to me paying 200$ for my loan and 300$ for my DMP. I end up overpaying them both, but that should help out in the long run.
October:
130$ - 401k -- 2x a month
100$ - ING
100$ - HSBC
100$ - IRA
25$ - Sharebuilder stocks
I will be pretty much locked into that budget for a while unless I get a raise (gasp!), or my student loan payments increase! I know I'll probably make extra $$ from freelance, but I plan to use most all of that towards my debt.
Sounds good, eh? I sound so financially responsible!
For August and September I'm paying off a 1500$ debt to an ex so I plan to save 50$ each month.
I would drop in more, but I'm also moving August 1st and I know how unexpected expenses can pop up.
I also dropped my 401k contribution down to 1% for these two months. What can I say? Times is hard.
August/September:
10$ - 401k -- 2x a month
25$ - ING (emergency fund) --1x a month
25$ - HSBC (long term home/car fund) -- 1x a month
For October, debt will be paid, but student loans kick in (arg!). I will reset my 401k contribution to 9% (matched 1%) and up the payment to my debt management program. This works out to me paying 200$ for my loan and 300$ for my DMP. I end up overpaying them both, but that should help out in the long run.
October:
130$ - 401k -- 2x a month
100$ - ING
100$ - HSBC
100$ - IRA
25$ - Sharebuilder stocks
I will be pretty much locked into that budget for a while unless I get a raise (gasp!), or my student loan payments increase! I know I'll probably make extra $$ from freelance, but I plan to use most all of that towards my debt.
Sounds good, eh? I sound so financially responsible!
posted by Jessica at
3:36 PM
3 Comments:
I did the same thing before, dropping my contribution to my 401k for about three months. Great move kicking it back up again... that thing grows faster than you think, if the performance of your fund is good.
Great site! As a debt-damaged 29-year-old, I wish I'd had my get-serious epiphany when you did, instead of like last year. I do have an ulterior motive for commenting, though -- I'm actually a reporter for the Trib, working on a story about post-college debt. Anya Kamenetz' "Generation Debt" is my primary source, but you'd make a great local voice, i think. Would you be interested in answering a few questions about dealing with debt? Who knows -- maybe this might even help somebody. Please let me know... mmachosky@tribweb.com
Sorry for the late reply. But are you sure the sharebuilder idea is a good one? While it's great to DCA into things, with SB you're paying at least $4 per trade. With a $25 investment, that's a 16% loss off the bat. You'd get better return stuffing it under your mattress.
Generally when people do DCA they do it into accounts that don't require a transaction fee. Of course those generally have steep minimums. So it might work out better if you stuff it in savings until you have enough to get over the minimum investment for another type of account.
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