Big Changes

Mike has a new job! He'll be working for a huge IT company here in the NW, and making over 20 grand more a year than he does now. This means so much for us. We sat down together last night and went over everything we want to do over the next year or so. Some of our goals are:

-pay off debt! We owe to credit cards, relatives, car loan....
-401k! This company matches 50% for up to 6% of his salary...so that means that we'll be putting about $400 a month into it, and they'll put $200. Adds up fast.
-birthdays, holidays, just because days. We are going to be able to buy things for other people now!
-buy land, and build a house, or buy a house on land. We finally decided that an acre or two is the right size for us, and we want a small-ish, one story 4 bedroom house. Since most 4 bedroom houses are big, we will probably be building. I found the plans online for one that I love that is less than 2000 sq feet. After we pay off all our debt we can start seriously looking into this.
-after we buy the land and build the house, I can get a new car! I am really loving the Mazda5. We are waiting until after buying the house so that can be our financial priority.

okay, I guess those plans encompass more than a year...more like 2 or 3. Also, in January, we are going to move to a different apartment closer to Kaia's school to save on gas money. Mike's new job has its own bus system, and they will pick Mike up, and he gets a free bus pass, so we still aren't going to get a second car for awhile. If we can find an apartment close enough to her school, I can walk her to and from school every day!

Another HUGE benefit to this new job is their medical benefits. We pay NOTHING. No paycheck deduction, no co-pay, no percentage. ALL our medical comes at no cost to us!! I'm sure you know how awesome that is without me having to go into details.

Add in a year raise, yearly bonus, discounts on more things than I can imagine, and you get one happy Michael, and one happy me!