So I got paid yesterday and deposited my check. This morning, then, I moved some money around.

I paid $1,750 to Sallie Mae. Happy to report that my target loan account is at $10,297! If I could drop it under $10k this month, I would be really excited about that.

I've been thinking about my goals, and cutting that loan down is supposed to be my main focus... but I'm getting anxious about still not having a job as of mid-next month. So I put another $1,000 in my EF, just in case. Hopefully once I find something I'll be able to just apply that to the loan.

I have some big purchases coming up-- about $400 on a plane ticket to Seattle to visit a friend. I'm thinking I wont have to spend more than $200 once I'm out there. I'm hoping it'll be even less than that.

BF is buying me a ticket to Europe for my graduation gift, but I have to handle all of my expenses once we get there. We're still not exactly sure what our route is going to be once we get there, but he really wants to visit London... and I know it's supposed to be incredibly expensive. I wanted to visit Paris, but I know it's the same story. Germany is the one place we know we're visiting-- and we'll have a free place to stay there, thankfully. We're still working out the kinks otherwise, but I've budgeted $1,000 for the trip. I would hope it's not going to be more than that for two weeks split between us (hotel-wise).

I know that spending money on traveling might seem counterintuitive to saving... but it's a really big priority in my life, I miss my friend terribly, and I've never been to Europe. Besides, it's kind of hard to pass up a free plane ticket. I just feel blessed that I'm in a position to be able to make these trips and cover my bills. I can honestly say that this is the first time I've ever been able to do that.

Because I'm a contracted worker, I have to budget in taxes prior to April. I'm shooting to save at least $3,000 for that, as I know I'll get a deduction for my student loan interest payments-- which cap at $2,500, but I've paid in far more than that this year, so I'll get at least that much. So $2k for federal, and I'm guessing roughly $1,000 between state and local.

I'm also really hoping that by the time my birthday rolls around in May that I'll be able to buy a new car. What I get will largely depend on what kind of money I'm making at my next job... we'll see.

All that being said, in order to cut that loan in half by the end of the year, I need to pay off $4,297 on it. That will be do-able if I find a good paying job (or any job) as of next month- so let's hope I do find something. I'll be scraping by until then.

I hope all of you are chugging along on your goals and finding some progress! Have a great weekend!