What I did with my bonus this year

On Friday I received an annual performance-based bonus in the amount of $6,000. Well, let me rephrase that: On Friday I received roughly $3,500 of my annual performance-based bonus, with a little over $2,000 going to taxes (*tears*), and the rest going to my 401k (gotta love those automatic pre-tax deductions).

I was originally planning to put the entire bonus towards my Roth 2010 fund, which would have nearly maxed it out, leaving me with less than $200 to deposit for the rest of the year. When I thought it through, though, it thought it would be nice to also put some money into my other savings accounts, combining this with my usual mid-month savings deposits. Here's how I broke it down:

$3,000 into Roth 2010 fund. This leaves me with a little over $600 left to deposit this year in order to max out this fund.
$300 into Downpayment fund. I'm still about two years away from maxing out this fund, but once the Fun Fund and Roth 2010 fund have been maxed out, I can throw more money in here each month
$300 into Emergency fund. My emergency fund will be maxed out before the year is over; I'm going to make it my goal to do this before I move out of this rent-free apartment
$100 into Fund Fund. I should get this maxed out next month - woo hoo!

I love saving, but I will do at least one fun thing with some of this bonus money. C recently started a new job at his company, and I'd like to take him out to a nice dinner to celebrate. I also need to add some new clothes to my wardrobe - I can't even close my dresser drawer anymore, it's so full of old clothes that I don't even wear anymore. I haven't really made any major clothing purchases since last February in Fort Myers, so I'm due. I need some nice casual skirts that aren't from college (no joke) and another solid pair of jeans that look and fit great. I'm planning to keep my eyes open for sales to see if I can pick some of these items up at a greatly reduced price.

In other news, I also got a 5% raise last week. This breaks down to roughly $40 per paycheck, after taxes. I haven't figured out what I'll do with the extra ~$100 per month. I thought I'd put it into savings, but now I'm thinking of paying an extra $50 towards my highest interest loan each month, and putting the other $50 into one of my savings funds. I also have close to $500 coming my way in the form of a tax return, which I'm thinking of throwing entirely at my Roth 2010 fund. Decisions decisions...

Back from Vacation & Savings

Despite getting terribly sick right before my vacation (I ended up taking off Tuesday and Wednesday as sick days), I had a great time in Ft. Myers. I only made it to one Red Sox game, but I spent ample time relaxing and on the beach so I feel the trip was a success. And, I spent way less than what I had budgeted for outlet shopping. I had planned to replenish my wardrobe in a major way, but I bought four shirts for a total of less than $50 at the J. Crew outlet and that was it. Crazy.

I updated my savings sidebars just now, and it's exciting to see that I'm back on track with my savings. I should have my fun fund maxed out by the end of April, or mid-May at the latest. I'm also going to start making weekly deposits into my 2009 Roth so that I can max it out by the end of the year. I think weekly is the way to go, since the market is so insane right now. May as well try to capitalize on some good old dollar cost averaging, rather than dumping the money in only to see the value plummet the next day, which is exactly what happened to me when I invested in a new mutual fund for the first $3,000 of my 2009 Roth. BAH.

Eww, cap sleeves

I purchased this dress from the Gap's new "European Collection" on sale. I tried it on and it fit like a glove, which is pretty much unheard of for me. Even the length was perfect (I'm 5'2" -- length is never perfect). But when I looked in the mirror...cap sleeves. I can't see what the point of cap sleeves is, unless you are blessed with perfectly toned (but not muscular) arms. Alas, I am not. Nor is the model in the picture, actually, but her airbrushed toothpick arms hide the fact that the sleeves are capped. I think I'm going to have to return the dress, which is a shame since it fits so well.

Do cap sleeves look good on anyone???