I’m slowly but surely getting my feet wet with investing. I’ve opened an IRA, not much, however, I contribute monthly so that I have funds to invest with. 

I only purchase stocks of those organizations that I’m loyal to, some pay dividends some don’t.  I can honestly say, that they’re (stocks) doing pretty good, even in these times. I am happy because I  feel like I made some good choices. I still have a lot to learn though. 

My best performing stocks is Walmart and Costco, my worst, Nike. Nike was also my first ever purchase. However, for the most part I’ve seen a positive gain over all. Sometimes I can kick myself because I hadn’t purchased more, especially of the Costco stock. 

I’m proud of myself for stepping out. I am way behind the eight ball and I’m looking forward to getting this student loan down, so that I’ll have more funds to invest. 

I’ve decided that for every $5k paid off on the student loan I’m going to increase my 401(k) contribution by 1%. I should have the loan at $30k by December. It sucks that the student loan interest is starting back up. For me it means I have to decrease my IRA contribution temporarily and throw the funds at the student loans. 

I’m not going to lie, it would have been a huge help had the loan forgiveness went through. I’m glad I kept paying when the interest rates were frozen. I wish I could get another year, lol but oh well. 

For me the ability to throw $2k or $5 at a time on my loan felt great. Now I have a payment of $319, I’m readjusting my budget so that I’m ready. I hope others are as well. 

Student loan payment kicks back up in October. I wish I was in a position to be much more aggressive with paying things off but hey, I got this thing down to just over $32,0000 when I was close to 90k, so I’m happy with that. I’ve been throwing extra when ever I can, sometimes the amount is as little as $8, by doing this for the month of July I paid $584 towards my student loans. 

My fence is falling apart so I had to get a replacement, HOA requires it. I was able to pay cash (half down) to get the job started. I also took the money out of my money market account and paid off my shutters and kitchen. It stung, to take $8k out but it’s better than paying interest on a CC, and I still have enough saved to cover my expenses for about 6-8 months. 

I feel like everything with the house is falling apart all at once. I had to replace my water heater, refrigerator, cabinets, and now the fence. 

I also decided to do something fun for myself once a quarter. I know I should throw at debt; however, I need these breaks. Good thing is, I’m able to pay cash. 

So basically I’m just bracing my self for the student loan payments to start back up. 

I crunched the numbers and I realized with every pay check I’m saving about 45% of my income.

Though most of the savings go towards future expenses (e.g. mortgage, HOA, Christmas fund, vacation fund) I’m still saving.

I remember when there was a time when saving wasn’t an option for me. 

Though I beat myself up regularly, I'm my worst critic, I need to remind myself of where I've come from. It's been a long short journey. It felt as though I'd never see the day where my debts were low and cash was saved, yet it feels like I just started this journey. 

One of my biggest weaknesses when it comes to my finances continuing on the right track. I get sidelined easily. 

I noticed when I’m not blogging, reading, watching, or listening about finances I accumulate debt. Shamefully I used my Home Depot, and BoA credit card to get some much-needed repairs for the house, and used my house savings. I do believe that I added more to the BoA CC, matter of fact I know I did. So I did the thing took the money from my long-term savings, $8000, and paid the card off.  

I also decided to start back blogging, reading, and basically staying engaged with my finances. I haven’t quite figured out my triggers. 

I am glad that I aggressively paid down my student loans,  I’m still paying on them not as aggressively, my salary slightly reduced but I’m back at it, paying just over $300 a month. 

I'll update my sidebar later. 

Back for now.