The 2006 year-end numbers are in. They formed the basis for my resolutions (listed earlier), and they look like this:
1. My highest monthly expense is Federal Taxes. No action items here...We max out our 401(k)s, take advantage of FSAs, and have started paying quarterly estimates so we don't have a huge hit in April.
2. Mortgage is next. No action items here, either. We refinanced a few years ago, to a 15-year fixed at 4 5/8%. We have about 11 years left, so it'll be paid off before we're 50. We also put an extra $100/month toward principle.
3. 401(k) contributions are next. We already max them out, and will increase our contributions next year to meet the higher limit. I do need to check into whether or not we can write a check for the few hundred dollars between what comes out of our check and the maximum.
4. NYS taxes are next. No action items here. I could increase the 529 contributions to the kids' college funds. NYS lets you deduct up to $10k from your state taxes, and we only contribute $6k. Unfortunately, we have some debt that needs to be taken care of first.
5. We have 2 car payments. One is 4.25% and one is 3.99%. Not much I can do here, although I am able to apply rewards from my Citibank credit card toward a car payment, so I can use that to help pay it down a little earlier.
6. Fed OASDI/EE taxes are next on the list. I don't even know what these are, so I'm assuming there's not much I can do to reduce them!
7. Property Taxes - Got reassessed in 2006. Now they top $10k per year. I do need to set up autodraft from my checking account this year.
8. Groceries - Here's where the rubber hits the road. Averaged $635/month in 2006. My new goal is $575 Jan-June and $500 July-December 07. How to do it? Let me count the ways...
9. We went vacation crazy last year. In 2007, we have one week in NC planned for July 4th week. We may or may not do anything else...
10. Kids' college fund came in at $500/month. That'll probably stay the same in 2007.
So those are my top 10 expenses. Groceries and vacations are the big ones to target here. 11-20 coming up.
Year-End Numbers 1-10
December 31st, 2006 at 02:08 am
December 31st, 2006 at 02:12 am 1167531159
December 31st, 2006 at 02:53 am 1167533590
December 31st, 2006 at 04:08 am 1167538110
December 31st, 2006 at 10:06 am 1167559591
Seems like adding to it AFTER taxes defeats part of the purpose.
I'd be trying to find out what those Fed OASDI/EE taxes were all about - who knows -- you might be able to do something about them after all.
With the excessive taxes you are paying perhaps it's time to visit w/a tax/financial consultant to see what steps you could take to reduce your bite!
December 31st, 2006 at 12:40 pm 1167568842
January 1st, 2007 at 01:20 am 1167614407