Get Your Finances In Line In 2009: July Recap

As I mentioned last month, we had a pretty dull June. We weren't able to contribute anything extra to our FFEF (but we didn't borrow from it either!), so I added a note that I was excited to see what July might bring.

Well, our mortgage company must have been reading my blog because our mortgage payment went down significantly last month. I'm talking, like 20%. We have been anticipating this drop in our payment for over a year, but it just seemed like it would never happen! We are so happy that it finally has!

Not only does this free up some extra cash every month to put towards our FFEF, it also lowers the needed amount for our FFEF goal. I did some reworking of the budget and we were very pleased with the results. As it turns out, we just may be able to make our 6-month FFEF by the end of the year! We'll see!

So now, with our lower FFEF goal, here is our progress:

Goal #1: Save up and pay CASH for our 5-day vacation to Mackinac Island in June! :) ---- 100% completed ----

Goal #2: Fully fund our 6 month emergency fund and put into a money market account to be left UNTOUCHED unless there is an actual emergency. ---- 54.8% completed!! We're over the 50% mark!! This means we have 3 months of expenses in our bank account!! What a great feeling!! (Are you sensing my excitement? Lol) ----

Goal #3: Save for my husband to get a "new" (that means used) car. ---- My husband's car has been in and out of service for various things over the past several weeks, as it happens to be right now, but he's planning to fix yet another thing on it this weekend or next. He's so resourceful and, even when I think it's probably about time to get another car, he finds some really cheap (or free) way of keeping his little Subaru around just a little longer. Have I mentioned that I love my husband? ----

Goal #4: Raise retirement contributions to 12% (with a 4% match).

Goal #5: Open a money market account for each of our children.

Goal #6: Begin paying extra principal on our mortgage.

Goal #7: Establish a will and testament. ---- Still thinking about working on this... ----

Goal #8: Get disability insurance for both my husband and me. ---- If my husband ever has a free moment, he'll fill out this application. For real. ----

And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen! A very exciting month for us! The Lord has truly blessed our endeavors to be faithful with what He has given us. We can't wait to see what He will do next!

How's the summer panning out for all of you?