Friday, February 26, 2010

Tax Return and TGIF…

I am so grateful that it’s Friday. Today is my Nephew’s 1st Birthday. We are going to celebrate this weekend and give him lots of hugs and kisses. I am going to get him a small toy for his birthday for maybe $20. I re-gifted a $100 gift card that I had left from Christmas to help pay for his party. My sister and brother-in-law were really grateful and I am happy that I contribute even a little bit. It’s not a major party or anything. He just loves Mickey Mouse so that is the theme. The little guy has been such a blessing to the family.

Other than celebrating my nephew this weekend, I don’t have a lot of other plans that require money. I received my State Tax Return for $141 in the mail last night and my Federal Tax Return for $3,670 which was direct deposited today. I went in and made an immediate transfer of $3,000 to HSBC and I will deposit the $141 into my Savings Account at Bank of America. I will keep the rest in my Checking Account with my Employer where I pay all of my Bills and any Irregular Expenses. That account now holds ~ $1,000.

I have 3 savings accounts. One at HSBC with $10,000, one at Chase with $2,000 and I have a savings account with Bank of America that will now have $150. I utilize Bank of America’s Keep the Change Program where my purchases in my Checking Account are rounded off and deposited into Savings. I mostly use Cash and Bank of America for my personal spending.

So there you have it. I am not in "Bad" shape. My Emergency fund of $2,000 is funded. My $10,000 short-term savings account has been fully funded. The only way I see myself funding my $20,000 long term savings goal is with income from a higher paying job, annual bonuses and/or additional law income. Going forward, I need every extra penny for debt reduction.

4 comments:

Eve said...

You did it. Congrats!!! Did you ever think of taking on a part time job to help you pay off the student loans?

Chitown said...

Hi YPB,

Thanks for your question.

I have thought about a part-time job and I actually worked part-time for a while as an attorney after work.

Right now my schedule is a bit unpredictable with my current position. I also bring a lot of work home. With my Dad and Grandmother getting sick, I don't have a lot of extra time on my hands.

My income currently covers all of my bills and there is some cash flow left over for fun, groceries, etc. Unless it gets tougher financially, I am going to stick to the one job and try to hustle up on any real estate closings and additional law work that I can find to do in my free time.

Anonymous said...

Why do you have a $20,000 long-term savings? I would think you'd want to at least pay off the credit card debt, if not the student loan debt with that, or pretty much anything over 5%.

I can understand the $10K, in case of job loss/illness, but with the amount of debt you are carrying, that seems an excessive amount of savings...

Chitown said...

Hi Debt Maven!

I completely agree with you. Now that I have emergency savings, my focus is completely on debt reduction.

The $20,000 goal is something I hope to achieve in the next 5 years but I honestly don't know when or how it will happen right now.

Thanks for your question and comments.