January 2012 Progress Report

Boy, how quickly time flies. I can't believe that January has come and gone. I've been keeping busy with my condo rehab/reno work and I've lost track of time.

MY DEBT

	Starting Debt (6/08)	Last Month	This Month	DIFFERENCE
Private SL	$49,528.99	$0.00	$0.00	$(0.00)
Fed'l SL	$55,852.68	$50,334.47	$50,115.88	$(218.59)
Car Loan	$9,779.33	$0.00	$0.00	$(0.00)
Mortgage (1/6/12)	$274,000.00	$0.00	$274,000.00	$274,000.00
Bank of Mom (1/6/12)	$68,500.00	$0.00	$68,050.00	$68,050.00
CC	$18,753.00	$0.00	$18,753.00	$18,753.00
TOTAL	$476,414.00	$50,334.47	$410,918.88	$360,584.41

Oh boy. I'm swimming in a big sea of red. The mortgage and Bank of Mom debts were incurred to buy my condo. The $18,753 credit card debt was incurred to pay for my couch and renovation work at my condo (50% completed at this time). The credit card debt will continue to increase next month when my condo rehab/renovation work will be completed. The credit card debt is currently financed with 0% interest for the next 21 months.

Incurring so much cc debt to "pretty-up" my condo wasn't a prudent decision on my part, undoubtedly. But quite frankly, I would rather eat rice and beans everyday to pay for a "pretty" condo than to live in the squalor that the prior owner lived. I hope to retire in this condo free and clear before I hit 60, so doing as much renovation work now makes sense to me. Besides, what's done is done. I can't turn back the clock.


SAVINGS

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$14,338.29	$14,437.72	+$99.43

The savings I report here is with respect to my emergency fund only and does not include my future spending earmarks. Currently, the total amount in my liquid savings account is $23,430.54.


MY ROP (LIFE INS) FUND

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$1,709.88	$1,823.93	+$114.05

Long story short, I'm pretending to pay myself an additional $55/month for a "hypothetical" return of premium (ROP) term life insurance policy. I'm basically trying to "earn" back the term life insurance premiums through savings and investments. I had a nominally negative return in 2011 but 2012 is starting to look pretty decent. I've so far "recouped" 55.88% of the premiums I've paid so far and I still have 27 more years to go.


MY NET WORTH

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$179,586.72	$187,878.14	$8,291.42

My networth chart now includes a new asset for "home." Problem is, what IS the market value of my home? I know the answer is the amount for which a buyer is currently willing to purchase my condo. But unless I put my home on the market, I really won't know, would I?

Zillow is claiming that my home value is up $40,000 from when I closed. Suuuuuure. I believe that! Just based upon my limited search of my co-workers'/friends' home values, I think Zillow's proprietary algorithm is biased favorably towards recent purchasers. Rather than using the Zillow valuation for my home, I'm just going to use my cost basis (i.e., purchase price plus cost of renovations). This probably isn't an accurate reflection of the market value of my home, but it will at least keep me updated on my cost basis.

The breakdown and the history of my net worth can be seen here.