Journey to Financial Freedom Update

In March 2007, we did really well on the financial front. First, we paid cash for about $2,000 of medical expenses with Draven's birth and some care for everyone in late February and early March. Mazaryk had some shots too, and some lab work done when we thought he might have gotten sick from the peanut butter! We also had some other expenses come up in March that we don't normally have.

We received an unexpected tax refund so we didn't have to dip into savings to pay out the medical bills! There is another chunk of a refund coming from our amended 2004 return as well, because of the lawsuit settlement where we had to pay back a portion of the severance and bonus money. We're still not happy about that whole thing, but at least it's over with and getting a little bit back from the IRS for it does take a little of the sting out.

In addition, we paid off $1,207 in debt in March, and of course incurred no new debt. The total change to our net worth in March was $1,492. Not bad at all, considering all the extra expenses we paid out this month.

In April, we've decided to beef up our emergency fund and hold off on paying extra out on debt for a little while. We decided this because Citibank, my employer, has announced in press releases plans to cut anywhere from 15,000 to 18,000 jobs. We have no idea if this will impact us or not, and know nothing about it other than the public news releases. There is potential for a rainy day however, so we're going to build a little bigger umbrella for now.