Net Debt - Dec 2012

Student loans: -$82,122.92 (-$804.71)
Car loan: $0
Revolving Credit card debt: $0.
Mortgage: -$134,752.16  (+$641.70)
Total Debt: -$216,875.08

So we begin the new year with a bit under $217k debt. However, this year we have a plan! YAY for plans!

This year we have financial goals of paying off all of the accrued interest, around $4,300 worth, and continue to keep it off. Once that is done, we'll begin paying down the principle on the federal student loans which are the highest interest amount at 6%. In total, we'll be paying about $600/month to accomplish this, keep in mind, around $189 accrue every month.

Likewise, we also realize that we aren't getting any younger. So we made an adult decision and opened up our first Roth IRA account with scottrade. We are behind the power curve a big amount (even though we aren't even 30 yet), so we'll try to max out one IRA account per year ($5500) and hopefully work that up to maxing two accounts eventually. This also means specifically saving ~$460 per month which we can't spend until we retire.

This year we're also trying to increase our cash reserve incase of emergencies and also plan a visit to Germany and hopefully New York as there has been a family death recently and it would be good to see everyone at this years family reunion.

With the wife having a real job now, we are finally able to really do this and hopefully help our financial situation in the long run. We'll continue to try our best with our money, meaning not getting the newest and shiniest toys, i.e. ipad mini/e-readers/etc, but we'll use what we have (until they die) and make use of the simple pleasures in life.

We hope your financial situation is getting better as well dear readers. And if you have any financial goals, please feel free to share and follow up in a year to see how you're doing!  :-)