We found out that my husband did not get promoted to Major this year. He was being looked at Below the Zone, so it would have been an early promotion. Next year, he will be right on schedule to be promoted. It is disappointing because he works so hard.

A very tiny part of me is relieved only because I know the increase in pay was going to change things for us tax wise, definitely being pushed into a higher tax bracket. Specifically, $8790 would be subject to 25% tax. I was going to need to make decisions about whether to put more money into traditional IRA's rather than Roth IRA's. I will have more time to ponder that decision.

In the meantime, I feel very blessed with the financial situation we are in. My husband has a good job and provides for us well. We have no reason to complain.

Would you put more money into traditional IRA to avoid current tax on $8790? Or would you pay the tax now to keep the money in a Roth?

I sent $56 toward the principal on our mortgage today. This is money from Swagbucks and Pinecone surveys that I accumulated in June. Our regular payment was pending and the bank will add it to our regular payment to pull one payment from our bank account. I was able to specify that the money will go to principal.

It does seem strange to make a little extra payment, but I know that the small amounts add up to make a difference. It feels good to put money I don't need to live on to make a difference in our debt, which is the mortgage at this point.

Our goal isn't to pay it off, but to be in a good position when we need to sell for the next Army move. Luckily we have a few more years here to make a little difference.

Did you make an extra principal payment on your mortgage this month? Was your extra payment over or under $100?