Ghostface Scrilla's Personal Finance Blog

1st Priority: Bills
I can't remember if it's your total bills or just the rent portion, but I was told that your bills or rent should never exceed 50% of your monthly income. Either way, I'm safe (for now). Downtown DC is way too expensive. Sure I could move to the hip part of town for the cool cost of...oh say twice what I'm paying for rent now. I prefer Silver Spring, MD. My work is a straight shot down East West Hwy to Bethesda (10 minute drive). Moving back to DC would exponentially increase my morning commute and thus eat into sleep time. I enjoy sleep too much. I digress. Back to 1st priority: Bills.
Monthly Bills - $780.00

2nd Priority: Retirement
My dad is a financial adviser and happy that I've finally taken the responsibility of retirement seriously. I guess it's never too late. And why not? If your company matches you - it's free money. Seems like a no brainer to me, but then again I started way too late so...what do I know? Anyhow, I've made up for it with a combination of aggressive contributions and allocations. My original allocation was way too conservative and way too little. We had a Fidelity representative come in. He took one look at my portfolio and said, "You've got the allocations of someone in their mid 40s" I fixed that right away, more than doubling my contributions and allocating them much more aggressively.
Monthly 401k Contributions - $710.00

3rd Priority: Emergency Fund
This goal is already completed and thank god because it was not easy. 5 months worth of living expenses set aside here. I consider living expenses to be all inclusive of all monies spent. Not just rent and bills, but food, gas, toiletries, etc. Fin.

4th Priority: Travel Fund
I'm from Hawaii so my travel fund is primarily for going home. I've been home once in the last 3 1/2 years and I've got a serious jones for the beach. Not just surfing. I'm talking ambiance. I'm talking the vistas. I'm talking the smell of the ocean and the sound of the waves. The mid Atlantic just doesn't do it for me. I'm definitely going home in March now that I can finally afford it.
Monthly Travel Fund - $200.00

5th Priority: Personal Savings
All of this money is pretty much spent or about to be on Christmas gifts.
Monthly Savings - $200.00