Let’s Throw Some Money at Our Problems: January 2018 Monthly Check-In

If you’re joining us for the first time, we like to report a specific balance at the end of each month to have a public record of our efforts to pay down our debt or reach our savings goals. You can read about our decision to publicly keep track of our debt here.

Pull up those balances!

Nicole
I’ve paid off all my debts, so let’s see how I’m doing on my savings goals. Last month I had an even $10K in savings; I put $5,500 of it into my traditional IRA to max out my 2017 contribution, and right now I’m putting 5 percent of each freelance paycheck (pretax) towards savings.

I also set a goal to finish refilling my $3K checking account buffer this month, and I got really, really close.

December 2017 Savings Balance: $10,000
January 2018 Savings Balance: $4,783.85

December 2017 Checking Balance: $1,744.83
January 2018 Checking Balance: $2,961.04

Mike
I’m paying off a private graduate student loan currently serviced by Discover. The interest rate on this loan is 2.5 percent, and the minimum monthly payment is $147. The original balance on this student loan was $22,377.

December 2017 Balance: $1,351.30
January 2018 Balance: $745.47

Previously.

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