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Month 29

January 17th, 2012 at 03:31 am

So, the last few months haven't been so great. We moved to Connecticut in July and are already packing for our next move in March back to Washington state. We'll have made a full circle around the U.S. when we get there. We are praying to stay put for at least three years once we move, with high hopes of a second tour there after that. I am thankful for the Navy and all it provides for us but moving so often is getting harder as we get older and the kids get older.

We opted to live in a smaller house on base (1600 sq ft) in CT mainly due to the cost of oil heat out on town. The house is older, built in the 1950's and not built well. We've had one room flood twice from water coming from the boiler, we've had several furry little critters (thankfully none lately), we don't have garage and the heat, which is baseboard, doesn't heat the house very well. I am assuming it's from the air coming in through windows and doors. We keep a small space heater going at night to keep the kids rooms warm. When they first showed my husband the house there was a tree laying on top of the backside of the home and it was so dirty once they power washed it it looked a different color. I'll be happy to leave this one behind.

I've been homeschooling the kids since we have been here but plan on putting them back in school once we get to Washington. Oh, it's been exciting here.....

Where we have really blown it is in the budget department. We haven't really had a paper budget since we've been here and it shows. Our overall debt has increased by almost five hundred dollars since July 1, 2011. It's been in credit card debt. I've been putting money into savings for the security deposit for where ever we live in Washington and haven't done much with the credit cards. We had to have some work done on the van and because of the uncertainty of what we will need to for housing, I put it on the credit card for now. We lived in Navy Housing last time and loved it but there is a 18-24 month wait to get into a house now. We are also going to ship one of the cars so we can drive together cross country which is going to run us about $1,400.

At this point, I am in survival mode until we get settled in a few months. We are going to put together a budget with our best and worst case scenarios for this move and hope for somewhere in the middle. We should be able to do it without incurring any new debt, I just don't think we will be putting much towards it until April-May.

We are doing our first Do-It-Yourself Move (Lord help us) with hopes of having better control over the costs. We have a good head start on the packing already.

Financial Positives for the year:

We maxed out my Roth IRA for the year.

Our total savings breakdown:

NOW 29 Months Ago
TSP: $30,568
Roth IRA $15,030
Roth IRA-2 $ 3,045
Kids College $21,071
MMA $ 5,837
Whole Life $ 4,416
Total $79,967 $32,000

Another positive note, I received my Quickbooks Certification last week so I am an official Quickbooks Specialist now. Once life settles down in Washington hopefully I can put that to use part-time. I am also working on my tax-prep certification. I should finish it this year and be ready to go for the 2012 tax year.

FINANCIAL GOALS FOR 2012:

Incur no more debt!
Get our total debt below $20,000
Max out Roth IRA
Open whole life policy for baby (the girls each have one)
Continue contributing to college funds
Increase emergency savings

Seems ambitious but I have hope!

2 Responses to “Month 29”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1326810999

    Best wishes on your move! Just an FYI...the excess over your actual out of pocket moving expenses are taxable and they will withhold federal taxes at about 25%.

  2. Jerry Says:
    1327784320

    Wow, that is a lot of moving, and I know how much stress that can lead to... it's a shame about the on-base housing in CT. I like that part of the country very much, but the Pacific Northwest definitely offers some insurance of warmer winters, if nothing else (I grew up in OR). Good luck with the move to WA!
    Jerry

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