Preparing for the holidays, work bonus, & no rain

I chose this title because I posted almost the identical one a year ago - "Preparing for the holidays, work bonus, & the rain." All apply this year, but there is no rain. Which is sad, because of the drought!

On the holiday preparations, here's where things stand:

1. Finish all shopping - complete!!!
2. Mail all packages - complete!!!
3. Work on holiday cards - not started, not sure if we're going to send them out this year
4. Bake special family bread recipe - not started, scheduled for the weekend
5. Menu plan with my mom & sister for the holidays - mostly complete
6. Plan events/menu for our time at the vacation house with the family - rough draft
7. Finish all wrapping - almost all there. Still waiting for a few packages to arrive

So, that's how we're doing! As with my long-stranding tradition, I took all under budget holiday money & applied it to a charitable donation - a food bank this year, as my employer was offering a 4x match. Win/Win!

On the work bonus & raise, the numbers are in! I got a 12% raise this year (same as last year, but mostly due to my promotion). That will take effect on my next paycheck. And, I got a $58.6K bonus - a $10K increase over last year. The company actually restructured our total compensation, and did away with another bonus that I received last year, so it's slightly less in total money. But, I was aware of the change, so no surprises there. 

I'm very excited to have the numbers in, so I can continue modifying my 40 week plan! Here's how I plan to allocate my bonus:

• $16,000 - max out 401K (I'll already have contributed a bit with previous paychecks)
• $18,700 - taxes
• $23,700 - straight to the 40 week savings fund!

And, no rain. :-) Maybe this post will send Mother Nature into overdrive! In my old Seattle area, it's raining plenty - flooding, in fact.

How are your holiday preparations coming along?