by Claire
It is an exciting time for me on the work front right now. Effective April 1, I will have a 8.6% raise showing up on my paycheck. I am so thankful! I know that people are not getting raises in this difficult economy so I do feel blessed. I plan on slightly increasing my 401K contributions to coincide with the pay increase so that the money will go into 401K before I get accustomed to seeing it in my paycheck. The additional increase is totally earmarked for debt reduction. We will act as though we did not get a raise. I don’t want to guess at the actual amount of the new paycheck (after deductions) but this should be a nice sum ($700-$900) to dump into the debt reduction plan! Woo-Hoo! And that raise is already in the bag…
Another possible financial boost announcement might be coming in the next few days. I have been in the interview process for a promotion since mid-January and we are supposed to get word on the decision sometime late this week. This has been brutal as several of us in the office have submitted for the job so working directly with the competition can make things tense. Add to it the amount of time this process has taken and you can see the pressure cooker-like environment I am working in! The good news is we all like each other even if we think we are the best person for the job! We have a good camaraderie. Anyway, I hope to be able to share soon that I got the job and the corresponding increase in salary. This would be a HUGE step in the debt reduction process. I don’t want to get my hopes up too high but I also really want this to happen! I’ll be okay if it doesn’t pan out but I will be bummed. I’ll let you know when I find out!
Born and raised in Texas. I’ve at least driven through every state in the US courtesy of a roadtrip loving Dad.
I’m single with two children and a good parenting relationship with their father.
I am a “life is just half full of funny” kinda gal. Humor is my saving grace and I am thankful for it every single day. I have a strong Catholic faith and am thankful for that foundation.
I read a lot for a living but still enjoy a good book. I love biographies but in recent years have found the need for fun fictional books–sadly, for a long time I just didn’t enjoy fiction!
I love live theatre of any kind–from local productions to Broadway.
I love to scrapbook and pride myself in my kids’ albums.
I love being a mom but also love my career. I’m blessed to have found a balance allowing me to be at everything my kids need and want me to be at–while also having a career.
Favorite Quotes: Well behaved women rarely make history.
Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out. -James Bryant Conant
Wow! What perfect timing for an excellent raise. I wouldn’t go too crazy on bumping up the 401k – maybe just a percent or two. Having the extra cash to make a few quick wins on paying off your debt might take you a lot further.
I recently received a comperable raise percentage and increased my 401k 1% with the rest going toward my student loan. I’m down to my last debt after starting off my payoff mission this past September. Started with $15k and I’m a little over halfway finished.
Way to go Walnut! THIS is inspiration! I just increased the contribution from 2% to 4%. My company matches up to 5% and so to address Jen From Boston…almost but not quite. ;-(
The entire PF community inspires and motivates me. There’s no way I would have made it this far if I relied on the media who tries to make my debt someone else’s fault and justify my spending because I “deserve” it.
No, in reality, I chose to renovate a kitchen (worth it), take a surprise trip to Rome with my family (worth it), and excellerate the completion of my MBA in the same year. Oh, and my washer/dryer nose diving in the middle didn’t help. I took on student loan debt and three 0% credit cards. I could have said no and avoided the debt. I could have taken my laundry to the laundromat.
Now it is MY responsibility to myself and my creditors to payoff the debt I took for a year of spending I do not regret.
I’m with Walnut on the 401k increase. Keep it small until you’re closer to being out of debt. Like maybe when you get the cars paid off?
Anyway, congrats on the raise AND on the potential for a promotion. I received a 20% raise/promotion last year and it helped immensely. It was really just an increase in pay for what I was already doing, but they changed my job title. That’s how they got it approved, since no one else is getting that kind of raise.
And I think my raise was b/c I was being underpaid, I figured it out and spoke up! Oh well…can’t dwell on that stuff. 🙂
Good for you for speaking up! Women don’t do this as often as men do, and our salaries suffer for it.
You mean like Beks? I like her but she really needs to demand that she is paid approriately for the job she is performing!
How did you figure out you were being underpaid? This is something I am concerned about right now.
I’m probably overpaid. How do I keep it a secret?
You cracked me up, Dan! 😀
Dan! That’s hilarious!
well since you didn’t want to post your income, i won’t outline what those numbers suggest your income is, but you are right, between the 2 of you it must be very good indeed. you are making the right choice in using your raise for debt reduction. if you get the next one – good luck! – the extra income together with the spending cuts you are considering should have you out of debt in just a few short years – 3-5 i’m guessing! congratulations on your excellent raise! your % is exactly tenfold the % I got last year, hoping it’s better this year.
As Adam pointed out, you gave those of us that are good with numbers enough information to know your approximate salary. You may want to edit the post if you want to keep that private.
That was sort of intentional Adam…an easy way out for me to share but not quite so open and obvious. A baby step of sorts? Yes, you are right in your figures. I am praying for 3 years but need to see what the final raise is after deductions and see if I get that darn promotion to know for certain. Like people said before—my income just gives me a bigger shovel…but it is still absolutely going to take major spending changes.
i also have a professional degree and i don’t make it a habit of telling people my income. even on my income we have 5 years left on a 7 year debt reduction schedule.
my professional degree just means i can do back of the envelope math like that and infer timelines.
I have a professional degree and am still waiting for it to pay off. I know it will but the $70,000 it took to get is such a big pile. I agree with being cagy with what you make, because the average person will think you have it great without knowing what went into that degree, and how much it does indeed cost (for ten, twenty or thirty years).
You are SO right Bach. It WILL pay off and it DID cost a LOT! I also think they wonder how I could be in debt when I have that kind of income…without looking at the overall financial journey…and it has been an ugly financial journey!
Congratulations! I don’t recall if you said what you do for a living or not- did I miss this? What industry are you in?
I am in the insurance industry Marianne…and I have a professional degree that increases my income. I am thankful. And, clearly my professional degree isn’t in an area having anything to do with finance!
Wow that’s a great raise! Congrats!
Yay!!!! That is great news! And congratulations 🙂 I think it’s ok to up your 401(k) contribution a little bit even if you are focused on debt reduction. The thing that always got me was striking that balance between taking care of the future (retirement) and taking care of the present (debt reduction, home buying, emergency fund). In my case I wasn’t paying attention to buying a home when I was paying off my credit cards… A case of being dumb working for me! Now I the only debt I have is my mortgage, and I’m putting the max possible into my 401(k) 🙂
Btw, you ARE getting the full match possible on your 401(k), right? 😉
Congratulations! a 8% raise AND a potential promotion is no joke – 🙂 Proof positive that you work hard and it’s getting appreciated/noticed! 🙂 I’m sure that kind of commitment will help you tackle this debt reduction process just as effectively! 🙂
Congratulations on the raise. Like you said it’s very uncommon now days.
PB&J in Vegas – I love it! I track all my expenses, and It’s usually no problem, but sometimes I have a hard time keeping track of everything when I’m traveling. Sounds like you’re doing great!
(Congrats on the raise, and best wishes for the promotion!)
Congratulations! That’s so great that you’ve already accounted for the amount in your debt reduction!
Congrats on the raise and good luck on the promotion!
Congrats Claire! I have only seen a 1% raise in 3 years, but have still managed to up my income $5000 through side work. I am SURE that it took hard work to get the raise, and have my fingers crossed on the promotion! And it seems like you have a nice balance planned between debt repayment and retirement. Debt is hopefully only temporary, and retirement (once you do it) is hopefully forever!
Marianne–they hired a colleague with less experience at a higher title and, of course presumably, at a higher income. I found out because of an email I got from that colleague where he used his official title…which no one uses but it caught my eye. I actually had to go look at my actual title b/c I wasn’t even sure what I was listed at! That’s ridiculous but true. So, after I confirmed the discrepancy, I invited my boss to lunch and confronted him. Awkward moment… for him. It was so blatant they then promised me the official title but it took 8 months to get it. They heard about it from me on a regular basis!
Considering how much you must earn from the rises you specify – how profligate were you?!…. I know this blog is about the future not the past – but seriously…. and it wasn’t even for the children?!
Wondering – I think that’s the point of the blog. Isn’t everyone who is in debt guilty of spending with reckless abandon in some form or fashion?
You make it sound like if she had acquired all this debt by spending solely on the children that it would be OK? “Oh well, it’s for the kids.” No, this amount of debt is not acceptable and that is why she is trying to get out of debt. It’s a process. If she could explain why she did all of those things, she likely would have never done them. If she had been able to realize what was going on, she would have been able to acknowledge those issues and handle them instead of spending them away.