the cream
As I posted before, I had over a thousand dollars left over at the end of February, not earmarked for any particular bill. What a blessing to have all this money to use… it’s the cream in the top of the cocoa. I had to make a good decision on where to put the money, so this is what I decided:
I put about $600 in my "My Own Home" savings account first. Now that my revolving debt is paid off, I can shift my focus from eliminating debt aggressively to saving funds aggressively, and that is now my priority. I would have loved it if I could have put the entire amount into my savings, but I had some other things to consider.
First, I am committed to contributing to my retirement savings. But a more pressing concern right now is my tax liability. There’s a little over a month between now and when our taxes have to be filed, and the less I have to pay, the better I feel. I need to contribute more to my retirement account for tax year 2007 in order to lower my tax bill, so that’s what I have committed to doing. Today I made the first of this month’s two lump contributions to my IRA, which will kill two birds with one stone.
It’s nice to see my retirement amount almost double and look a little less meager. It’s also nice to see that I am now 5% closer to my "enough-to-start-shopping-for-a-house" goal than I was last month. It is so great to be able to save so much money - it might not be a lot to some, but it’s a small fortune to me! It wouldn’t be possible if I wasn’t able to pay off debt and get a higher income. Lower expenses, higher income… that’s how you get to save the cream.
That’s great! In the short time I’ve been reading your blog you went from employed to laid off and now to saving, retirment contribution and house fund contributions. That’s a whole lot accomplished.
Comment by c2a — March 5, 2008 @ 7:39 pm
Go Sistah Ant! You’re doing so well
Comment by K. — March 5, 2008 @ 7:56 pm
Oh wow, congratulations! That’s great! you’re really moving along!
Comment by ms. m&p — March 5, 2008 @ 10:01 pm
Congrats on becoming debt free! It’s a great feeling deciding where to sock away that extra loot you have at your disposal now I bet!!
Comment by Dolly Iris — March 6, 2008 @ 2:38 am
Looks like you rebounded nicely. Congrats!
Comment by Single Ma — March 6, 2008 @ 9:23 pm