Well here's a great bit of news. My wife got a call from our accountant since we have to pay estimated taxes on Friday. Due to the nature of the business we have to pay taxes in a few different states (PA, NJ, DE, MD) as well as Federal estimates but the company always deposits the amount of taxes we're paying to cover the tax bill since we have part ownership in the company. We've been told by our accountant that thanks to the tax structure we will be getting an additional $2159 back that we get to keep! We will also get the $2159 back every time we pay estimates this year so to us it's like getting another 1/2 paycheck every 3 months. It will be deposited into our checking account on Friday (yay!)

My plan is to stock it away for Hawaii with the $3301 I already have put away and that will give me $5460 to have stockpiled for the vacation in August. I think after we get back I can lump sum anything I've got left into a payment on the debt tracker but this gives us a lot of elbow room for the trip (and the ability to pay cash for everything and not have to worry about adding to our debt.)

I should add that I am excited about the money but it's partly due to the fact that we're not making as much money as we did last year as a company. I'd much rather have retained earnings checks but I'll take what I can get at this point.

I have a meeting with my boss today to state my case for an occupational raise (I'm hoping for an increase so my salary is more in line with my experience and skill set.) Hopefully everything goes well!