Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Desktop revival

Having a desktop PC is a trivial thing, but I have re-found my interest in following my family's cash flow. Probably had a lot to do with the lack of income compared to expenditures, but everything looks different on a desktop.
Being married has a number of challenges. Budgeting is something which seems to make most arguments occur. Working more hours at more pay has created an opportunity to finally pay off debts that have been kicked down the road ever since we've been married.
I hadn't followed our checking account since 2014. I'd make sure there was money there, but I stopped projecting towards the following month and estimate how much could be put aside and such.
I have been the secondary income in the family. I had a baseline when I was on unemployment that all of our budgets had been based. When I started making more, my priorities had been my retirement. The debts weren't going anywhere and my debt management skills are wonderful enough to have a great credit score.
Realistically, is there a point where saving towards a 401(k) becomes overkill? I think 31% is that magic number given my circumstances, though I still have an income surplus well beyond my base income set from my unemployment days.
We paid off a car last June, which freed up money to pay off debt, but at the same time we had stuff break and need to be replaced, so the month to month debt seems the the same. We need a month or 2 where we don't spend beyond our normal expenditures, but having extra money means I'm less annoyed when we buy stuff like the new desktop.
Current debt priorities:
  1. Credit Cards
  2. Student Loans
  3. Mortgage
By the time our credit cards are projected to be paid off, I expect my student loans to be close to gone. With the extra money in the budget from not servicing those debts, our mortgage can be taken on aggressively.
It would be great to be debt-free when our children start college, but I'm not sure it's possible given house ownership means replacing stuff regularly and an annual vacation seems to be thing now, but I haven't looked at the actual numbers affecting us with regards to the Trump Tax Cut.

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