November recap & progress update

Jump to Comments

Well, this month felt pretty stagnant. Even though it was a three-paycheck-month, that largely went to establishing my Emergency Fund. So I take back that “stagnant” because that was definitely a great move. Having that $1k set aside for emergencies makes me feel so much better.

Here’s a look at my updated progress bars:

A few notes:

• Emergency Fund: Set this up this month, and even managed to earn $2.80 in interest on it! Not too shabby. Feels great to have this.
• 401k: This increased by $884.84 – mostly due to my now-defunct deduction increase to 10%. I did that for a couple pay periods and it felt great, but last week I decided to drop my contributions back down to 4% (the max for the company match) to focus on debt reduction. I also reduced the goal to $6,000 (from $10,000) since I’m now only counting the vested portion of my 401k.
• Credit Card Debt: Man, this is the category that I’m most anxious about, and is going the slowest it feels. The holiday season has thrown a wrench in my plans, as I’ve been using “surplus” money for gifts and travel. *sigh* In any case, tis the season is over soon, and I can get back on track. Still, since I’ve started blogging, I’ve reduced my debt by over $1,000, can’t be too mad at that!
• Extra Income: This has been a good month for extra income. Didn’t sell anything on Ebay but I did take some clothes to the local secondhand store when I moved, and they paid me about $48. In addition, I signed up with PayPerPost this month, and I’ve made some good headway there.

Goals for December are to escape the holiday at least somewhat unscathed! My big problem is having to go to stores to buy folks’ gifts, because I’m not to be trusted in a mall (as evidenced by my little spree the other day). So my focus is to get in and get out, without spending all willy-nilly.

2 Comments

Filed under progress