Actual debt is down to $11,076.82 as of February 1, 2012.  All I can say is… YEA!! I finally started getting “real” paychecks again (since I always considered the coffee shop a second job and supplemental), so I was really thrilled that I didn’t have to break into my Emergency Fund during my month and a half of underemployment.  AND I PAID OFF MY SECOND TO LAST CREDIT CARD!! THIS IS A CELEBRATION!

Here’s how things look:

You’ll notice I changed the style up a little… I thought a month-to-month comparison would be much more beneficial and easier to see the change.  As a reminder, you can view the full, most up-to-date debt spreadsheet here.

Since my new employer is a small firm (and I’m contracted out), they can be a lot more flexible with how I’m paid and how much taxes they withhold.  I let them know I wanted to get as much in my paycheck as possible and I’d rather have to PAY extra taxes come tax refund time, instead of get the approx $1k I’ve gotten the last several years.  I mean, it’s a nice boost, but I’d rather have the money NOW to pay things I need to pay down.

Need: -$231.06
I’m still not quite sure how I was so off track this month.  Maybe because I ate out more?  At any rate, this will probably need adjusting next month.

Save: $585
Savings are BACK!  $200 to retirement and the other $385 to my moving fund.

Want: +$33.71
Well it certainly could have been a lot worse than this…  Had to get the dog groomed this month and I ate out a lot again.  Oh, and got my life back.

Net worth: $15,914.93 (up 28.32% from December!)

I’m so happy to have this major kickstart to 2012!  I was feeling pretty down about how my debt repayment stalled when I left my other job and had to focus on just getting by month to month without busting into my savings, so this was a huge jolt to my motivation.  I also received my company stock from Starbucks and began pumping more money into my 401(k) in January, so my savings took a huge jump.  Quite happily.