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I'm leaning towards not contributing to my 401k this year in order to accelerate payment of about 9k in debt, in order to save for my wedding.
I would advise against this.
While I have no argument that it makes sense to pay down debt, the studies that I have seen (admittedly these are from the folks that believe in investing...) show that the VAST majority of folks that "see" their paycheck larger because of lack of 401K contribution END UP spending the money and NOT applying to debt reduction.
The other BIG DEALS are that most employers STILL match 401K and these are all PRE-TAX so that you have more money to work with in a 401K.
Strongly recommend that if you can afford to merely REDUCE 401K to level that employer will FULLY match that is MUCH wiser.
ALSO try to have the money that want to EARMARK to debt reduction go to separate BANK by having your payroll split multiple ways or AT LEAST have an automatic deduction setup so that you don't see this money in a checking / ATM accessible account. This is a GREAT mental trick to be sure that you force yourself into NOT SPENDING the money.
Try as heard as you can to pay down debt by merely CUTTING BACK on day-to-day stuff. Instead of BUYING anything with CC try to limit purchases to cash -- the act of seeing how qucikly you blow throw wads of dough even at grocey store can force you to re-evalute MUCH spending. Entirely possible that by reducing food budget by even 10% (which is generally easy to do by ONLY buying with coupons & sales) you might knock out that debt MUCH faster than you would guess...
I want to double my emergency savings (my wife and I just started last year) and start funding our entertainment savings account for the 2 trips we are taking this year.
I'm with the prudent hunker down people. My job is as secure as a job can be, and I've lucked into some rare overtime for a few months. As wearing as it is, I accept (I work third shift and it's really physically ruinous, on the other hand, I never spend, was never a shopper, and rarely go out.) Unfortunately, not being a "we," staying home quietly, while enjoyable, is pretty solitary. Yes, it's a whole lot better than being a tepid (or worse) "we," but middle-aged single social life (of all kinds) can get pretty thin.
I intend to continue to pay down my large debts at 2.5% for life, making far more than minimum payments. They should be gone in three years. I've been paying for everything without credit for some time, that is, without credit cards, and paying extra on the mortgage (5.375, 25 years for my dream house) and home eq loan 5.9%, should take about seven years.
I am still going to try and take an annual vacation, my taste in which is expensive (to me). I only feel like going to the Southwest, riding horses, and visiting some people in Colorado. (Hint: if your travel is too cheap, just add horses).
I will continue to have multiple rescue dogs and give what is to me a fair amount of money to causes I support. I hope to give them time in semi-retirement (seven years or so) or full retirement (ten at most).
My 403b is not maxed, but I think it's more important to get rid of debt while putting, at present, $150/week for the usual dollar-cost averaging. My job has no match, but rather has an old-fashioned, safe, lucrative pension plan (like days of yore). I just have to keep slogging it out 40+ hours a week. After a lot of twists and turns, I can't come up with a more rewarding way to make a living, and have accepted this, am damn grateful when I read the headlines.
Thanks for asking.
I downloaded some free money tracking software to keep track of my spending. It's only the 5th day of the year and I'm already amazed and embarrassed. I thought I was thrifty, but apparently I'm not. I see some changes on the horizon.
I'll continue to make double car payments and save money toward a mid-level kitchen remodel. I'm also contributing the full amount to my 401(k), but am going to put money in CD's instead of an IRA this year--unless things suddenly take a turn for the better.
I downloaded some free money tracking software to keep track of my spending. It's only the 5th day of the year and I'm already amazed and embarrassed. I thought I was thrifty, but apparently I'm not. I see some changes on the horizon.
I'll continue to make double car payments and save money toward a mid-level kitchen remodel. I'm also contributing the full amount to my 401(k), but am going to put money in CD's instead of an IRA this year--unless things suddenly take a turn for the better.
Second that..what website are you using for the money tracking?
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Boy this is tough...
