I turn 25 this month. Our goal was to have my car paid off by my 25th birthday and just make minor dents in my wife's student loans. Did not make much progress in the student loans, but are now set up to knock those out very quickly.
December 2012:
Car loan ~$15,000 (~6%)
Student Loan 1 ~$20,000 (0%, something to do with my father in law being in the Air Force)
Student Loan 2 ~$15,000 (~6%)
Roth IRA - $0
My 401(k) - ~$5,500
Cash - ~$3,000
What we did:
1. I reqeusted and received a transfer to a location where my wife could get a job in March. She had been working twenty hours a week at Petsmart...Now she has a full time Architecture job
2. Used windfall from 2011 taxes to create an emergency fund.
3. We were paying down my car as much as possible.
4. At some point around August we realized we did not need it and sold it. That is that large NW increase.
5. Held on to the extra cash and saved more until October and opened up two Roth IRAs for $6,000 or $3,000 for both of us.
6. Set up auto deposits for $300 a month for both of us into the Roth IRA going forward.
7. Are now putting a minimum of $1,500 towards the student loan #2. Plus any extra, which there should be.
November 2013:
Car loan is GONE
Student Loan 1 is at $18,100
Student Loan 2 is at $13,385
Roth IRA - $6,000
My 401(k) - $11,500
Emergency Fund - $3,000
Cash - $5,000 (temporarily high, I like to keep it around $3,000 so before the end of the month I will be putting the extra towards loans)
Your Net Worth
DATES ASSETS DEBTS NET
December 2012 $8,658.71 -$49,652.35 -$40,993.64
January 2013 $9,412.62 -$47,886.17 -$38,473.55
February 2013 $9,714.07 -$49,822.31 -$40,108.24
March 2013 $11,045.20 -$48,605.19 -$37,559.99
April 2013 $14,748.66 -$47,485.29 -$32,736.63
May 2013 $15,444.46 -$46,775.57 -$31,331.11
June 2013 $16,733.84 -$48,274.20 -$31,540.36
July 2013 $15,228.44 -$44,758.15 -$29,529.71
August 2013 $16,409.72 -$42,430.02 -$26,020.30
September 2013 $21,942.55 -$33,316.56 -$11,374.01
October 2013 $24,449.88 -$32,853.07 -$8,403.19
November 2013 $25,276.35 -$32,075.62 -$6,799.27
So this celebration is more just us having a great past twelve months. I should be back in January (or February depending on how much we end up spending on Christmas travel) to celebrate $0 net worth!