Thought I could make use of this credit since I was a full time student for only one semester last year. But it turned out the 16 weeks do count as 5 months since they started at the end of a month and ended at the beginning of another. There goes the extra $200.

Instead of contributing directly into the fund, it would be better for me to contribute into a money market fund and then exchange for stock whenever I see fit. This way I can have my buy all and still get 4%+ without worrying about tax.

Historically, those who sent in their IRA contribution early in the year did better than those who DCA or sent in at the end of the year. I wanted to bite the bullet and put the fund in my saving account into the IRA, but with the state of the economy I expected the stock price to sink this year. After much debate, I decided to keep the current $100 biweekly and sent in the rest today. Price right now is almost equal to the beginning of last year so it's a good time to buy. Everything is getting too expensive, even retirement funding. Coming up with that extra $1,000 is really stretching my budget.