Fiscally Conservative, Socially Liberal

I always tell people that I am fiscally conservative and socially liberal. It's sort of how I define myself. I decided that it was time to take the fiscally conservative part of me and apply it to my everyday life. The Cordova household is now on a strict budget.
I met with a financial planner a few weeks ago. He advised me on my retirement saving. I'm the maximum matched amount to my 401K. I'm excited that I'm being proactive about retirement funds. I already have an IRA, but I havent contributed to it in awhile. It's good to have spread out your retirement savings.
I also allotted myself certain percentages for "fun", "eating out", and "travel". All three of these are separate categories. I would say my most frivolous expense is eating out. I spend way too much in this category. I gave myself a generous amount each month for this, but my goal is to come in under budget in this category.
I'm really excited to start living like a "grown up". I figure, what with being 27 soon, it's about time.

Work Update

So many of you know that I am currently waiting for my security clearance to come through... it still hasn't. I did attend a really awesome conference last week and met a lot of the people I will be working with. That was great. I also met the guy who was in charge of orientation, once my clearance does come through. He said he expects it should be another month before that happens. Sigh. Till then, I'm located in Ballston, working out of my contractors office. Stop by and we can have lunch!

Birthday Countdown: 5 Days