The last piece of our 2012 budget puzzle, Mr. Losing It’s new pay amount, clicks into place today. He is paid every other week, but the first check of the year always contains an extra or two, such a the tiny “wellness bonus,” so we were not able to accurately know until this week’s check what our monthly income will be. All of our monthly budgets have been based on last year’s income, but his pay has increased from last year (slightly) and I think we just may be able to make a real dent in the remaining debt balance this year. Not only did Mr. Losing It receive a small raise at work as well as a cost-of-living raise in his military retirement (after three years without any change), but I am working again, although my income will be irregular for the time being until I can (hopefully) land a permanent part-time position.
All of our basic payment amounts remain the same as last year, although our mortgage did drop by around $25 (and we received a refund of $236 for overpayment of property taxes last year). With the cost of living raise in his military retirement, and the drop in the mortgage, the monthly amount of that check once again covers our mortgage in full. The increase in his work paycheck will all go toward debt repayment. Our monthly grocery budget will remain at $640, but the last two months I have spent $60 – $80 less with the difference going into savings, and I hope to continue that trend this year as long as possible.
For now, all of my teaching income will go into the Hawaii trip fund. We have a goal of saving $10,000 this year, and once that’s accomplished my income will go toward debt repayment. It’s probably going to take most of the year to reach our goal though – I don’t think I’ll get enough teaching hours to really put much away each month.
Finally, we finished our income tax returns last weekend, and all of our tax refund will go toward paying off Credit Card #2. Our goal is to have it gone by the end of April, and then pay off the orthodontist by the end of July. After that we will work on our vacation goal, as well as work on Credit Card #1 and the student loan.
So here we go - here’s hoping for a very good year!
January 27th, 2012 at 7:09 am
You are on your way. Congrats.
January 29th, 2012 at 5:06 pm
Thanks! We are so hoping this will be a good year for us. It’s amazing to me how much better we are doing these days, but that’s because over half our original debt has been erased.
January 27th, 2012 at 9:44 am
Sounds like a great plan! Congrats on the decrease in mortgage and increase in pay – love it when things come together like that to help you make progress.
January 29th, 2012 at 5:07 pm
Funny how that mortgage thing turned out just right – we thought we would still be having to send money over from our regular pay, but will now have a few dollars extra each month left over from the retired pay! Of course, this is just for this year – we fully expect our mortgage to go up again next year.