Thursday, December 27, 2007

Annual Bonus…

I got the figure for my annual bonus. It’s just shy of $6,000 so after 401k contributions and taxes, I will receive approximately $3,600. The bonus gets paid out with my monthly paycheck at the end of January. While I would like to replenish my emergency fund, I would also like to reduce my credit card balance as much as possible to eliminate it before April.

Right now, the balance is $7,700. I am going to pay off just $200 with my December paycheck that I received today and I am hoping to pay down $4,000 with my January paycheck and bonus which will reduce the balance to $3,500. If it weren’t for my December spending, I would have been able to put more than $200 towards the debt but it’s important to me that I pay off my December Damage in full (more on that later).

When it’s is all said and done, by the end of March, I will have ZERO crdit card debt and my EF will be empty. My plan is build back up my EF while I forbear my private loans for 6 months until October 2008. This will be easier when I get an attorney position with a higher salary. As of January, I will be moving back to an ALL cash/debit system again.

7 comments:

Escape Brooklyn said...

Congrats on the bonus - that's great news!

SavingDiva said...

Good luck with paying down your credit card debt! It feels great to kick the debt!

Kas said...

Where did you get the charts you have under your goals? I would like to use something similar but have had no luck looking online.

Anonymous said...

i just discovered your blog. i've not read all of the comments, so excuse me if i'm duplicating info. you mention in a lot of your posts that you expect a (sizable) salary bump when you get an atorney position, which i think you've been trying to obtain for over a year now. you should read the article at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119040786780835602.html if you have not already. sobering, but from my perspective (i'm a law grad of several years ago, from a law school in chicago), it's as accurate and comprehensive a single piece has been written on the subject. to be honest, the salary you receive in your current job is better than the majority of attorney jobs you'll get in chicago, and i'm sure your current hours and stress level are better. this is not to dissuade you from getting your dream job, just letting you know the state of the market so you can set your expectations and financial planning accordingly.

Chitown said...

Gonna Make It...

The charts are easy. All you have to do is go to my blog, right click and go to view source. Do a search for goals and you will easily be able to find the HTML code to add to your blog. Feel free to e-mail me if you can't get it and I can help you out.

Happy New Year!

Chitown said...

Thank you CK4 for the article and information. I will defintely check it out.

I am claiming a higher salary because even if it's not an attorney position, I am qualified to move into numerous banking positions within my company (or other companies) that will also pay me a higher salary.

I just passed the July bar and I got sworn in this past November 2007. I haven't been strong on the job hunt in the last 4-5 months because I had no vacation or sick time to take off and interview. So, I haven't been hitting the pavement so to speak very hard.

The position that I just applied and interviewed for is with my current employer. We have salary grades and the two posted positions are two and three grades higher which will ensure me a higher salary should I (when I) get the job offer. =)

I am very disappointed in the job market all together but I have to be confident and hopeful that bigger and better things are out there for me.

Thanks for reading. I am glad you found me. =)

Anonymous said...

That's great. Congrats, btw, I guess you've got one day left now until it goes to all cash/debit again. :)