photo credit: graywolfx47

I’ve been out of town more often than not since the end of February.  It’s wreaked havoc on my sleep schedule, energy level and wallet.  First, there was the $30 late fee for not renewing my car’s registration on time.  For some reason, I thought you had until the end of your birth month to renew, not until your birthday.  Then there was the $100 change fee I paid so Mr. Savvy and I wouldn’t have to spend hours in the airport waiting to go home.

Unfortunately, once you start leaking money, it’s easy to just keep on going.  Next was the expensive, but fabulous, facial I treated myself to on my last business trip.  Once I got home, I couldn’t resist taking advantage of a ’spa week’ deal on massages…and some cute wine charms at TJMaxx that I ‘needed’ for a wine tasting at my house…and some running shoes since I’m going to do a 5K this summer…and a spa appointment at the fancy place we’re going anyway to attend a wedding next month.  I think you get the picture.  Not to mention, we just dropped a bundle getting Mr. Savvy’s car fixed yesterday and paid a chunk of money to the IRS.

Quite frankly, it’s a bit depressing.  But not to worry, I’m still on track to get the car paid off in June.  And we setup auto debits for Mr. Savvy’s IRA contributions.  We have a lot of expenses in the upcoming months but at least it’s two steps forward for every one step back.

I’ve been considering leaving ShareBuilder for a while (still debating because you can’t beat the $4 purchases) because I don’t like the $25 annual fee for IRAs.  This might just push me over the edge.

Now I’m back home and back to the usual financial stuff.  We finally filed our taxes today as well as converted our IRAs.  I’m still on track to have the car paid off by June despite the recent events, so that’s good.  After that, I plan to boost our slush savings.  We’re considering a couple of semi-large purchases this summer, namely new furniture for the basement and a newer pickup.  Our current truck is a 1996 model with almost 300K miles.  Needless to say, I think it’s reached the limits of its useful life.  What’s new in your financial world?

photo credit: the_amanda

As of last night, we have maxed out Mr. Savvy’s IRA for 2009.  Tomorrow is payday and we will send the final $850 to mine.  So the first goal of the year will be completed ahead of schedule (last day is April 15th).  Yay!

I haven’t been putting much extra to the car loan so that we could focus on the IRAs.  However, now that’s out of the way, the car loan is in my sights.  The goal is still have that paid off by June 30th.  After that, I plan to bolster our ’slush’ savings then splurge on some home theatre seating for the basement (aka Man Cave).  How are you faring with your goals?

I opened the package this weekend and was SORELY disappointed.  The fabric was cheap and had a chemical-y smell.  The color of the top and the bottom weren’t even remotely close.  Needless to say, that crap is now repackaged and on its way back to Sierra Trading Post.  I guess I’ll have to bite the bullet and pay for the good stuff.  Has being cheap ever backfired on you?

So this Saturday, Mr. Savvy and I headed to LensCrafters.  One hour later, we were $600 poorer.  Ugh!  A new pair of prescription glasses for me (for reading at work) plus ANOTHER pair of prescription glasses for me (for driving at night) and a pair of non-prescription sunglasses for hubby.  I feel like an old lady with all these glasses and of course, insurance only covered the first pair.  It was a semi-unplanned expense but as fortune would have it, I got an expected sum of money recently. 

In other news, $1800 left to max out my 2009 IRA and ~$7000 left on the car loan.  I should meet both of those goals but it will be down to the wire (April 15th and June 30th, respectively) for both.  After that, I will boost my ’slush’ savings a bit.  We have several weddings to attend this year (as well as wedding gifts to buy) and we want to get some new furniture for the basement.   Up next, a few decisions we need to make soon.

I had to take my car to the dealer on Friday. Thankfully it was still under warranty but I still had to pay a $50 deductible. I also paid for an Eharmony subscription for my dad. He just doesn’t know it yet And last but not least, I decided to stop being a couch potato and to start working out again. So I bought a workout DVD ($14) and two sets of free weights ($24) over the weekend. I’m sore but the results will be worth it.

I DID send an extra $50 (I think) to my car loan so that was good. I need to update the sidebar. My target for having that paid off is June 30. Are you making progress on your 2010 goals?

photo credit: jannemei

K.I.S.S. Keep it simple, silly. I decided that our finances have gotten much too complicated as of late. Three checking accounts and five savings accounts are just too much. As as of December 1, it will be bye-bye ING. Though I love them and have been happy with them, there’s no longer the need for them. The joint checking account will be closed and those bills will be paid from one of our credit union accounts. The two savings accounts have already been closed and the money put into the credit union account. So we’ll be down to two checking accounts and three savings accounts – maybe still a bit much, but better.

Next up on the chopping block will be ShareBuilder. As of today, I’ve sold the stock from my brokerage account and the proceeds will be put into my traditional IRA. So that account should be closed by December 1 as well. I’m also strongly considering moving my ShareBuilder Roth IRA to the brokerage where I have my traditional IRA. That will mean one less account to track and easier asset allocation.

How many accounts do you have? Do you think it’s too many? What are you doing to simplify your finances this year?