Today is payday, and I was pleased to see that the loan I paid off last month has stopped being deducted from my check. I went ahead and increased my 401k contribution from 10% to 15%. Felt pretty momentous, and I'm not gonna lie, scary haha. While this is not quite maxing, it is not far off. To max, I would need to contribute 18% (technically 17.8 lol). I'll obviously get closer after my merit increase in a few months, and then will see how far from maxing I actually am. My next promotion should net quite a large raise, at which time I'd need to actually lower my contribution to keep it stable through the year (I prefer consistency over getting the money into the market a little earlier).
I'm currently trying to balance 3 objectives from a financial standpoint - 1. set aside as much money as I can for taxes blah. 2. pay down the balances I ran up in December/January on the credit cards I had paid off last year. 3. Cash flow a short trip away with a friend - the flight and hotel are already paid for, which are obviously the biggest costs. Now I need to put together spending money. This trip is in 3 weeks, so not a ton of time to do so, but it should be ok. I have a lot of non-budgeted needs for money over the next few months, but I also have a lot of extra money coming in as well.
Next on my list for today: make a few phone calls about refinancing! I am somehow almost caught up on work tasks, and schoolwork is in a good spot. I am in a state of tenuous peace lol.