Happy new year!

This is going to be my first year-long fiscal fitness journal, so rather than list a whole bunch of things, I've decided to track my two primary goals for the year. I have one debt reduction goal and one savings goal.

First, the debt reduction. I have decided that my long-term relationship with Sallie Mae is no longer working out. It's not her; it's me. I still owe a grand total of $15,510.76, with the break-down as follows:

SL #1: $5,852.85 (4.38%)
SL #2: $3,277.39 (4.38%)
SL #3: $6,380.52 (6.8%)

My goal (which may be a bit of a stretch) is to pay off the 6.8% loan by the end of the year. My even stretchier(?) goal is to pay off half of the remaining balance this year, or $7755.38.

My second goal is to save $10k to purchase a 2nd family car. The hubby and I have been a one-car family for almost 8 years; however, our schedules are diverging to the point where one car is becoming a logistical challenge. If we decide it's too much of a challenge, I want to be in a place where we can buy a 2nd car without going into debt.

So, there are my goals for 2013. Thank you for coming on this journey with me, and helping me stay on track!

January progress:

Savings:
$5500/$10,000 (55%)

Debt:
SL #1: $5,634.93
SL #2: $3,155.41
SL #3: $6,074.41
Total: $14,864.75 (-$646.01)

This month and next are atypical financially speaking. I'm on a special assignment for work which consists of lots of overtime and travel pay, so I'll be making a good bit of progress in January and February. I do have a couple of modifications for my goals. Due to the uncertainty of the federal budget, my savings goal is now going towards padding our e-fund rather than buying a second car, just in case. And, due to the hassle of specifying which loan to apply my payment to, I've just decided to work on paying them all off, and I'm shooting for the 1/2-way goal by the end of the year.

One of the simplest, and most overlooked, "golden rule" of business is, Cash is king. It gives you agency to do what you need to do. So, keep on saving the cash, and cross the bridges of woe as you come across them.

Exactly, BF. That's why I chose to front-load my savings goal rather than apply my resources to both savings and debt reduction equally. The good news is my job is safe overall. The potential woe is that I may be facing up to 22 days of furlough this year. So cash IS king, and it will help us weather the storms without being worse for wear.

We started putting together our work plan on the job today in case sequestration goes through and furloughs are implemented. If it happens, I'll lose 20% of my pay for approximately six months (not to mention, 20% of my work time to get my projects done). Yay, Congress.

I am grateful to have an e-fund to cover; however, this will derail my financial plans for the time being. After the end of this month, I'm going to stop the extra payments to the student loans and put any extra money into savings. I'm also looking at turning one of my hobbies into a side gig for extra money. My goal is to get through this with as little a ding to my finances as possible.

February progress:

Savings:
$8,100/$10,000 (81%)

Debt:
SL #1: $5,017.34
SL #2: $2,809.67
SL #3: $5,197.91
Total: $13,024.92 (-$2,485.84/32% to halfway paid off)

I received the last of the extra pay from my special assignment, so after tax returns come in, progress will slow considerably. Still no word on whether we will be facing furloughs. I'm working on establishing an Etsy store, and expect to have the first few items posted by the end of this weekend. I have no idea whether this will be even mildly profitable; however, focusing on a creative outlet is helping moderate the stress I'm feeling from the sequestration uncertainty.

*Edited because February's regular payment hadn't posted to the account before my journal entry yesterday.

Today is such a good day, I couldn't resist posting a mid-month update. First, our long-awaited state income tax return hit the account today, which means our savings goal is complete! To add some icing to the cake, we received guidance on possible furloughs today at work and it looks as though my position is exempt from furlough due to the funding source. I will receive final confirmation no later than tomorrow.

It is definitely a good day!

So happy that you're not being sequestered (furloughed). That is fantastic news.
Also great about the tax return helping you to meet your savings goals. Next year you can actually spend a bit of it. Tax returns are how I accomplish a lot of my savings goals. Yay for a mid month update as well.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks for the encouragement, Peachy!

March progress:

Savings:
$10,000/$10,000 (100%!)

Debt:
SL #1: $4,932.65
SL #2: $2,762.27
SL #3: $5,080.24
Total: $12,775.16 (-$2,735.60 / 35% to halfway paid off)

Not much progress on the debt goal this month, but the savings goal is done (yay!).

So, truth in advertising time. While I know the numbers for last month look good overall (yay, savings goal met), the truth is the hubby and I (mostly I) did some serious over-spending last month. To the tune of $400. I got this sudden, severe urge to 'nest' for lack of a better word, and spent a bunch of money on materials for decorating projects. He found some great deals on computer games (lots of great deals, and they added up a bit). The good news - such as it is - is that the house is looking really put together, and the hubby has some new games for his hobby time. The bad news, of course, is the $400 that could have gone to the student loans. For my part, I think if I had come up with some kind of systematic way to spend on my urge to decorate, I would feel much better about it. Instead, it was more of a shopping orgy with ADD ("ooh, look, shiny!"). There's nothing to be done about it now except pick myself up and do better this month. I just felt the need to post about it to keep myself accountable and get back on track.

I try to save twice the amount for something I want. Then I buy some stocks and then whatever it is I want.

Even the best laid plans hit a speed bump from time to time. The driver's side window in my car went out today, half-way down, with a forecast of 80% chance of rain. Four hours and $350 later, I once again have a working car window. The bad news is that seriously cuts into the extra student loan payment for the month. The good news, of course, is that I had the funds to cover the repair without having to dip into my e-fund or savings. Hey, I'll take every small victory I can get.

April Progress:

Debt:
SL #1: $4,815.23
SL #2: $2,696.55
SL #3: $4,915.79
Total: $12,427.57 (-$3,083.19 / 40% to halfway paid off)

Chugging along, slowly but surely.