Thursday, February 7, 2013

New Year's Resolutions! Update 1

So last month we made a resolution for the new year, mainly


  1. Open and max out 1 Roth IRA (-$5500)
  2. Pay down all of the interest in my student loans ($6216) 
  3. Make sure no more interest accrues on my student loans.
  4. Save up for a couple of trips to visit the family.
So lets see how we are doing...


     1.  Open and max out 1 Roth IRA (-$5500)
To max out one account we need to contribute $458 a month. It's a tough pill to swallow especially with our student loans goal, but last month we contributed $500 to open up the account. This month we are hoping to be able to continue this trend and we'll put forth the $416. We may need to pause it for a month when we buy our plane tickets to visit the family, but we shall see.


     2.  Pay down all of the interest in my student loans ($6216) 
My wife and I calculated how much interest is accrued each month for the year and added that on top what we already owe. This number comes out to be $518/mo. If we're able to maintain this, we'll be able to destroy the interest that has build up and really begin to tackle my student loan debt which is a huge number.



     3.  Make sure no more interest accrues on my student loans.
Once we are finished paying off all of the interest this year, we'll continue to pay the same amount towards the actual principle to start knocking them down as well. Our plan of attack, is to go after the ones with the highest interest (Federal loans) and hopefully take a bite out of them before we go back into repayment.


     4.  Save up for a couple of trips to visit the family.
Towards the end of last year, we had my in-laws come over and it was really wonderful seeing them. This coming year will be my mother-in-laws 60th birthday and all she wants is for her children and family to be there with her. So we'll do it!

Also, one of my family members recently and very unexpectedly passed away and every year we have a family reunion around July 4th time frame. I haven't gone to one of them in years and have been meaning to go to one with my wife so the whole family can finally meet her and to really connect with everyone again.  So this year we'll take that opportunity and visit them as well. Unfortunately, our time will be limited in my home town, so we probably wont be able to do very much, but we'll try our hardest to see everyone and enjoy the area and time there with them.

Lastly, my oldest brother has been bugging me about visiting him in Washington state and although he'll be at the family reunion, I'd really love to see him on his own turf this time around. So hopefully I can do that one as well, but not sure how that will fit into our budget.