I was paid $450 for the babysitting this week, I'm glad the parents pay weekly, that keeps me motivated!
This money goes into my savings account for now. I'm putting moving expenses on my rewards credit card so I will pay that off with savings when everything has cleared.

We sold our washer/dryer on Craigslist for $300 within an hour (pricing is everything on CL!). We used some of that money to pay cash for the food and drinks for DD's 14th birthday party. After eating we all went to the pool down the block. Everyone had a fantastic time, I loved watching DD with her friends. They hadn't seen each other since the end of the school year and they were all giggles and nonstop chatter, it reminded me so much of my BFFs and me when we were that age! I'm really praying for my girls to find good friends in our new neighborhood. Good friends just make life so much sweeter!

The credit card bill is really high, since I put all vacation expenses on it and now moving expenses. I will still be able to pay it off by the due date, I think, I'm just waiting for all of the checks to clear and all of the "holds" to be released from online accounts.

All in all, I'm optimistic about the upcoming year. I haven't heard from HR as to my official salary, just looked it up online, but from what I found it is much higher than I'm making now. After taking into consideration the cost of living increase, I should still be able to bank most of the difference between my old salary and my new salary. Plus what I was saving on my old salary. I just can't get sucked into the trappings of having extra money, namely getting used to spending all of the new salary.

I know that looking at my long term goal will help me stay focused on keeping the saving and investing up. We will probably be in our new location for 4 years, and then we can look to something else. At that point we want to have a lot of cash set aside so that we have more choices, since we might be looking at military retirement. That means we may be able to move where we want to, and pick a house we really imagine ourselves living in for a while. Or it might mean more travel jobs. But we want to have choices.

In the meantime, I know we won't be miserable living a simpler life, it can be quite enjoyable!

I have increased my deferred compensation contribution by 25%. If I just leave it at this new amount, I should have enough for retirement. I should also have my employer's contribution in the form of a pension, but I've always been told not to rely on that. So at least this way I have my own retirement savings to rely on, and pension/social security will be additional. It is a very loose retirement plan, but I'm tightening it up as time goes on.

I am 3 weeks into my second class, 7 weeks to go! Most of my studying and video watching is done on the weekends, and my live online class is one night a week. It makes for many hours of work on the weekends, but I would rather cozy up with my notes, coffee and computer on the weekend than rush through a video here and there after the kids are in bed. I go to bed the same time they go to bed!

In the next month or so I will be shaping up my goals for next year, hard to believe!

Looking to the upcoming month, I've got some financial housekeeping to complete.
-Increase monthly savings by $50. (increase of $25 per paycheck)
-Receive tuition reimbursement (hopefully in May sometime!) and deposit into savings
-Reach $10,000 savings goal by end of May, and start new savings goal of additional $10,000 by December 2012. Yes, my goals are very exciting (not!)

I don't have any more concrete goals besides just building up the cash- the future is sort of up in the air as far as where we will be living, that sort of thing. If we stay in this area, I guess I'll just keep saving according to plan. If we move in a year, well, the money will come in handy when it comes time to either purchase somewhere else, float me while I look for work, or any emergencies. Or I could just use all of this savings for retirement. I do contribute to retirement through a tax deferred plan as well as an employer paid retirement plan, but it doesn't seem like there is much money in it. I have to add up the total amount of the accounts, but it is a paltry sum compared to the million or so I will need to retire!

I will need to decide where to keep this cash once I make my May goal. The rest of my long-term savings is in a taxable investment account. I hate just piling it up in a savings account, but I'm also a bit leery about putting most of my savings into the investment account. I sure know how to complicate things!

I decided to take the $10,000 I saved last year and stick it in a taxable Sharebuilder account. I can transfer it back to my ING account should something come up which requires that money. There is the risk that I may "lose" the money in the game, but mostly I have lots of years to average out losses and gains, and eventually come out ahead.

The weather warmed up again yesterday so we were able to grill outside for dinner. Wayyy better than any meal we could have gotten at a restaurant. The smell of food on the grill, the bustle on our small patio, it always brings fond memories of summer meals! We haven't eaten out this week, which is an accomplishment for us. This is mostly thanks to my SO, she is much more disciplined as far as cooking at home.

I checked my deferred compensation plan, I've passed the $5,000 mark, yippee! I started this plan less than 2 years ago, shortly after I began working full time. No company match, but I still enjoy the tax benefits. I am almost vested at work so I am eligible for a pension one day. I am also entitled to a portion of my exhusband's pension. So it's not like I'm starting from scratch. I just don't know how to quantify pensions because I won't receive a lump sum, only monthly amounts.

How do others determine net worth/retirement savings totals with a pension?