Wednesday, October 1, 2008

My September '08 Debt and Net Worth Progress Report

Before I discuss my monthly September 2008 Progress Report, I bought my computer bag. :-P The local retailer matched the internet price but not the eBay price. Although I had to pay sales tax, I figure the $13.00 tax went towards my local economy. Oh well. As Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "Taxes are the price we pay for civilization."

Now, on to the debacle that is my personal finance!



MY DEBT
Starting DebtLast MonthThis MonthDifference
Private SL$49,528.99$48,863.52$48,576.21$(287.31)
Fed'l SL$55,852.68$55,594.28$55,483.81$(110.47)
CC$13,610.75$12,943.59$12,743.77$(199.82)
Car Loan$9,779.33$8,500.50$7,747.90$(752.60)
TOTAL:$128,771.75$125,901.89$124,551.69$(1,350.20)


Nothing really new to report here. I've been following my snowball debt reduction plan religiously. However, I recently decided to tweak how I repay my credit card. I hope that with the new repayment method, I will be able to pay down my principal faster.


MY SAVINGS
LastMonth

Current

Difference
$3,157.28$7,356.51+$4,199.23



No, I haven't taken up stripping or selling drugs to explain the $4k+ increase in my savings. As I explained in my prior post, my company stock suddenly surged 50% above my cost basis last week. Not wanting to lose this opportunity, I sold 14 shares of my stock. I've earmarked $400 to pay for capital gains tax and I've put $4,000 into my emergency fund. The other increase of $199 is from my scrimping and saving. :-D

This gives me some breathing room in advance of the lay off notice that is expected to come in the next 2 weeks.


MY NET WORTH
LastMonth

Current

Difference
($571.99)($4,316.87)($3,744.88)




There is nothing more frustrating than to see my net worth plummet SOLELY due to market fluctuations. (I guess I can sympathize with Hank Greenberg who lost 95% of his total assets when AIG was bailed out. NOT!)

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the only return I am seeing is from the money I've paid towards my debts.

Right now, my 401k kind of reminds me of blowing into a punctured balloon. The harder I try, the more I hyperventilate.

Sigh... For once I'd like my net worth to reach positive territory for a sustained period of time...

Anyhoo, the breakdown of my net worth can be seen here.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

All-in-All you have done a great job!

It's a great feeling, isn't it? :)

Anonymous said...

Hang in there. I know the net worth going down month after month is frustrating, but I've been tracking mine for almost seven years, and mine has still increased almost 70% of the months. Until this last year or so, it was actually closer to 80%. So, in the long run I believe we'll weather the storm!

I've actually started focusing my 'accomplishments' solely on how much debt we were able to pay off, because most everything else that affects us these days (property value, retirement and equity investments) are just outside of our control.

Shtinkykat said...

Christine: It does feel good and it feels better that I got an "atta-girl". Thanks!

Money Beagle: Sigh. I agree that I should stop focusing on the net worth and focus on what I've done. Thanks for the continued support and encouragement!

Lucy said...

I'm glad you got the bag you love at a great price!