So I turned down the summer job. It turned out that it was a full time permanent position, and right now I need to focus on my PhD. I have started putting together my dissertation proposal which is very exciting. I had a lightbulb moment and was able to so clearly see everything I had to do. It looks like I will definitely walk in June 2013 and defend sometime between February and June 2013. This means I can start working around that time too. Very exciting to have an exit strategy.

DH's schools accepted the grant to work extra hours and get a bonus. So he is getting paid an extra $300 a month and a $1200 bonus at the end of the school year.

I was afraid we might have underestimated our tax liability and withheld way too little, but I was wrong. I found out that because DH has so much withheld from his paycheck, his gross salary and the net salary the government see are about $10,000 different.

Through a few big bonuses (including DH's extra-curricular pay which I forgot about), we got our baby e-fund on track. So currently we are meeting our savings goals for 1 Roth IRA, a low down payment, buying a car with cash, and expanding our e-fund. I'm hoping the changes in Fannie and Freddie don't screw up our home savings plans. Still we were thinking about putting down 20%, but I'm hoping the 30 year fixed rate loan still exists once they are wound down.