| Home value updated monthly from Zillow.com/Zestimate, still trending downwards in the DC area housing market. I can only wonder how low we'll go. I'd love to be able to sell it and be done with the debt burden, pay off my student loans and think about trying again in a few years. However, foreclosure is just not an option for me. It's hard to be responsible sometimes!
Other Mortgage = HELOC/2nd Mortgage
I am focused on saving one month's worth of expenses and have set up payroll allotments to do this automatically. I increased my monthly student loan payment by about $300, but suspended the debt snowball until I get to 1 months savings vs. just $1,000 in savings (as per Dave Ramsey's advice). My emergencies tend to cost a lot more than $1,000. Price of living in an HCOLA.
Retirement account is heading north which is nice to see!
A number of events have conspired to throw a monkey wrench into my plans, which is sad because I made such great progress with my snowball last year. Anyway, now I have family moving in within the next few months, so I can't rent out my second bedroom. I'm not sure how long they'll stay - they need to get themselves settled with jobs, etc. Overtime has been nixed by the organization, and I am too overworked, busy and stressed out with too long of a commute (3 hrs RT) to pick up a second job (at least for now). As stated, I am off rabid debt repayment at the moment, and am trying to save at least 1 months worth of expenses before resuming my snowball; however, even when I resume it, based on the realities outlined above, it will not be nearly as big as it was from May 2008 - May 2009. Discouraging, but I think I ultimately may need to go after some additional certifications in my field and strive for a promotion/higher paying job. Right now, bonuses are paltry (if not non-existent), and inflation increases are quite minuscule. Going after career growth is a long term approach when I'd prefer to see immediate progress (I am American after all!!), but, in the long run, positioning myself to earn an ever increasing salary over my lifetime is probably the best financial move I can make (I got that from Michael Masterson). |