Raises, what to do with them?

This is more of a personal posting but Id just like some thoughts.

So I found out today that our school district is getting a $1000 pay raise next year. I will also get a $1000 bonus in December.

I am trying to figure out how much more per month I will get and I think that since I am in a 25% tax bracket I will get about $700 from each. Per month the raise and bonus comes out to about $120 more a month.

Since I am done with my certification and I will be getting paid on a 12 month schedule starting in September (I was paid in a 13 month schedule last year), including everything I will make about $700 more a month than I am now. I also will have my car paid off in 2 months which is an extra $870. An extra $870 a month when Im already putting $500 into debt and maxed out my Roth is balling (Save that for retirement and in 40 years and 8% interest is $2.9 million)

Crazy budgeting me, I will still max out my Roth and put the rest into debt. (I was seriously considering putting $2,000 into a 403b with no tax difference, but debt is more important right now). I just need to stop eating chinese buffet...

What this blog is all about

I would like to write my first post explaining my financial situation, what I will be blogging about, and how it might help your situation.

When I first graduated college I was a teacher making $21,000/yr but had no rent, food, car and credit card payments. In hindsight it was the best financial situation I was in in my life. I could have saved nearly $1000 a month and as I will be blogging about, it is all about how much you save.

After college with a modest savings I decided to move to Miami with no job. I ended up spending most of my savings to build a tutoring business which started with 1 music client and grew to teach chess to over 30 kids a week. I did well financially but I tried to run many businesses with little thoughts into my finances.

Almost 2 years ago I moved to Austin, again with no job. I decided to be a financial planner tring to make a living trying to help others with their finances. Unfortunately I did not agree with many of the recommendations that I should be selling to potential clients because they were not in their best interests. Oddly enough during my time as a financial planner I ended up with a ton of credit card debt and street smarts in how to handle finances. After leaving the financial planning career I decided that I wanted to go back into teaching. It might have been for the happiness in teaching others, but it also could be due to the stability of income that teaching gives. It took me many months to get the required education and training to be a teacher, and I am about to finish my first year and will continue teaching next year.


I want this blog to accomplish a few things.
1) It is a journal of my finances for the future and how I handle situations that come up.
2) It is my philosophy of budgeting and investing for young adults.
3) I will be giving common sense information and solutions for young adults in different situations.