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.

August 2011 Progress Report

My focus on my personal finances took a serious nose-dive after I paid off my private student loans in March. Paying off my private student loans literally free'd-up $900/month in my budget and I started living the "good life." I stopped paying attention to my spending and spent money like it grew on trees. I'm happy to say that with $900/month in discretionary spending, I didn't get myself into any trouble. But I really hadn't saved much and I hadn't significantly paid down my $50k+ federal student loans either.


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	$50,965.88	$50,834.65	$(131.23)
Car Loan	$9,779.33	$0.00	$0.00	$(0.00)
CC	$13,610.75	$0.00	$0.00	$(0.00)
TOTAL	$128,771.75	$50,965.88	$50,834.65	$(131.23)

In light of the fact that I've decided to buy a condo, my debt snowball will come to a screeching halt. Rather than putting the extra money towards paying down my student loans, I've decided to "invest" it in real estate. Only time will tell whether this is a good financial move on my part or not.


SAVINGS

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$10,324.10	$13,834.42	+$3,510.32

The savings I report here is with respect to my emergency fund only and does not include my future spending earmarks. The increase in the chart above does not represent an actual increase in my savings. I merely shifted money from my unreported earmarks to my EF. I figure I'll need more $ in my EF since my housing budget will likely double in the next couple of months.

In case you were wondering, my unreported earmark fund is down from $10.8k in June to $4,765 currently. This makes me a bit nervous.


MY "X"-FUND

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$5,898.14	$19,369.56	+$13,471.42

My "X"-Fund represents a part of a windfall that I had originally set aside either as an emergency fund or a down-payment for my first home. Either way, it's money that I didn't intend to touch unless it's for an emergency or for reinvestment purposes.

In February 2011, my X-Fund had $28,573.36. I used approximately $26,319 in March to pay off my private student loans. It left me with only about $2,254.58, but I slowly built the balance back up to $5,898.14 by July. In July, I sold a bunch of my company stock, liquidated one of my Roth IRA accounts and shifted some of my earmark money to my X-Fund which explains the sudden $13k+ jump.

I anticipate this fund will be exhausted in October on closing costs and home improvements.

MY ROP (LIFE INS) FUND

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$1,478.27	$1,514.53	+$36.26

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.

Considering I saved $55 last month and my gain was only $36.26, I guess I lost money on my investments. But who didn't in August?


MY NET WORTH

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$187,411.16	$186,209.75	-$1,201.41

August was a brutal month for my 401k, IRAs and other investments. It could've been worse, though. I didn't suffer as big a loss as I could have since I liquidated a bunch of my company stocks and one of my Roth IRA account at the end of July in anticipation of buying my first home.

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

2010 Year-End Progress Report

This is my (belated) 2010 year-end financial review.

Due to family obligations last year, I hadn't been updating my blog regularly other than to blow steam about my parents' financial irresponsibility.

With my father now deceased (RIP), I am hoping that my life will return to "normal" and that I will be able to resume a semi-regular update of my financial progress.

MY DEBT

	Starting Debt (6/08)	Last Month	This Month	DIFFERENCE
Private SL	$49,528.99	$33,936.80	$33,486.00	$(450.80)
Fed'l SL	$55,852.68	$52,101.45	$51,953.37	$(148.08)
Car Loan	$9,779.33	$0.00	$0.00	$(0.00)
CC	$13,610.75	$0.00	$0.00	$(0.00)
TOTAL	$128,771.75	$86,038.25	$85,439.37	$(598.88)

I totally fell off of the snowball plan last year. It's partly because my monthly budget took a whack every time I traveled out-of-state to attend to my parents' bankruptcy and health care issues. I also blew beaucoup cash to deal with my emotional upheavals in dealing with my parents. Hey, retail therapy is a proud American tradition, no? Even if it isn't, our economic recovery depends upon it, sadly.

Anyhow, here's a recap:

Total debt in 12/31/09: $96,750.67
Total debt in 12/31/10: $85,439.37
Reduction in $: $11,311.30
Reduction in %: 11.69%


SAVINGS

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$9,592.59	$9,696.45	+$103.86

The savings I report here is with respect to my emergency fund savings only and does not include my future spending earmarks. My ultimate goal is to save $36,000.

Total EF in 12/31/09: $8,472.64
Total EF in 12/31/10: $9,696.45
Increase in $: $1,223.81
Increase in %: 14.44%


MY "X"-FUND

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$28,443.10	$28,523.41	+$80.31

My "X"-Fund represents a part of a recent windfall that I'd set aside for some unplanned expense. I was thinking it could serve as a supplement to my emergency fund or a down-payment for my first home, but I'm very, very tempted to use this money to pay off my private student loans some time down the road. After all, this money is currently accruing interest at an anemic 1.3% APY. My private student loans are costing me ~3.6% APR. On paper it's a no-brainer, but the emotional security this money gives me is incalculable.


MY ROP (LIFE INS) FUND

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$1,003.23	$1,066.14	+$62.91

Long story short, I bought term life insurance but created a hypothetical whole life insurance policy (or, return of premium (ROP) term life insurance policy). I'm basically trying to see whether I can earn back my life insurance premiums through various investments.

So far, my investments have yielded a 9.06% return. With the stock market surging though, I don't think I'll be buying any stocks or ETFs in the near future. I'll wait for the inevitable (yet somehow unexpected) market correction.


MY NET WORTH

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$133,127.73	$143,084.85	+$9,957.12

Looks great doesn't it? But if I omit my 401k and IRAs, my net worth is... -$35,413.41. I'll do the happy dance when my net worth (excl-retirement accounts) is no longer in the red.

Net worth on 12/31/09: $53,922.34
Net worth on 12/31/10: $143,084.85
Increase in $: $89,162.51
Increase in %: 165.35%

The increase in my net worth is mostly attributed to: (a) 401k value increased by ~$45,000, (b) net windfall of ~$28,000, (c) debt reduction of ~$11,000.

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

April 2010 Progress Report

I've reached a pretty important milestone in April - my net worth is in the six-figures for the first time in my life! But... does this really reflect my current net worth?


MY DEBT

	Starting Debt (6/08)	Last Month	This Month	DIFFERENCE
Private SL	$49,528.99	$39,111.05	$37,742.72	$(1,368.33)
Fed'l SL	$55,852.68	$53,170.49	$53,034.22	$(136.27)
Car Loan	$9,779.33	$0.00	$0.00	$(0.00)
CC	$13,610.75	$0.00	$0.00	$(0.00)
TOTAL	$128,771.75	$92,281.54	$90,776.94	$(1,504.60)

Still chugging along with my snowball.

Ooooooh and I'm almost at the next milestone of going below the $90k mark. I'm also *this* close to paying off one of my private student loans that I took out to pay for my living expenses while I studied for the bar. This basically means that I'll be paying off my living expenses (rent, food, entertainment, etc.) from 1998 in 2010. *Shaking my head in disgust.*

Anyhow, reduced my debt 1.63% from last month. That's pretty good, right?


SAVINGS

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$8,883.55	$8,970.12	+$86.57

The savings I report here is with respect to my emergency fund savings only and does not include my future spending earmarks. I fell short on my monthly target to save $100 into my EF. Oopsie. Don't want to sound too defensive, but I had to pay boatloads of money in taxes this month (Federal $788 and State $2,318). But.... I'll also admit I over spent this month too. :-(


MY "X"-FUND

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$24,272.43	$24,344.25	+$71.82

My "X"-Fund represents a part of my recent windfall that I'd set aside either as an emergency fund or a down-payment for my first home. Either way, it's money that I don't intend to touch unless it's for necessity or reinvestment.

I didn't put any extra money into this fund in April, so the increase represents the interest I accrued in my Everbank account. Sadly, the promotional 2.71% APY came to an end in March. From here on forward, I'll only be accruing ~1.26% of thereabouts, so I'll probably only earn about ~$30/month or so. Sucks.


MY ROP (LIFE INS) FUND

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$0.00	$660.00	+$660.00

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 interest and investments.)

I've set aside $660 ($55 x 12) for this year's premium into my SmartyPig account that's earning 2.01% APY. But starting in June, I'll invest my hypothetical $55/month ROP premium into my IRA. Or I may buy savings bonds. Or I may just save or whatever.

Anyhow, my gamble is that over the long haul (i.e., 30 years, or during the period of time that I am paying for my life insurance premium), I can earn enough to cover the premiums paid. At this time, I'm estimating that the benchmark I need to beat is 3.98% APY.

Since I'm curious how this experiment will turn out, I'll be reporting about my returns/losses monthly. I've created a new category for "life insurance" in my net worth chart to map my progress.


MY NET WORTH

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$98,184.22	$105,514.01	+$7,329.79

I made it into the six-figure club!!! Hurray!

But my excitement is tempered by the nagging question of whether I should even count my 401k and my IRA as part of my current net worth, especially since I can't touch the money (without penalty and ungodly taxes) for another couple of decades.

If I omit my 401k and IRAs, my net worth is... -$43,285.19. Ugh. If that number ain't demotivating, I don't know what is. I'll continue to include my retirement accounts in my monthly net worth, thank you very much.

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

March 2010 Progress Report

My financial life and my personal life were previously in sync. When my financial life was in the dumps, so was my personal life. When my finances improved, so did my spirits.

But there's been a "decoupling" of the two since my father's car crash in February. My net worth rocketed upwards while my emotions have taken a free-fall.

Now that my finances are under control (or, at the very least not as dire as it used to be), I guess I'm experiencing the diminishing return on happiness for every dollar increase in my net worth. I hate thinking that way since it makes me very unappreciative and whiny.

Therefore, I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge that I am a VERY lucky woman. I earn a damn good salary with damn good benefits. I got a windfall in December, while many people were unemployed or experiencing cut backs. I also got a bonus in March that was completely unearned and undeserved. I need to improve my attitude in my professional as well as my personal life. At the end of the day, I want to say I earned my good fortune and deserve a good life.

To those who are curious, below is my recent embarrassment of riches.

MY DEBT

	Starting Debt (6/08)	Last Month	This Month	DIFFERENCE
Private SL	$49,528.99	$40,481.01	$39,111.05	$(1,368.96)
Fed'l SL	$55,852.68	$53,321.08	$53,170.49	$(150.59)
Car Loan	$9,779.33	$0.00	$0.00	$(0.00)
CC	$13,610.75	$0.00	$0.00	$(0.00)
TOTAL	$128,771.75	$93,801.09	$92,281.54	$(1,519.55)

I've been up and running on my snowball since January. After interest, I've been paying down my debts by over $1,470+/month, or 1.5%+. Woo hoo.


SAVINGS

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$8,779.98	$8,883.55	+$103.57

The savings I report here is with respect to my emergency fund savings only. I have an additional $18,036.59 in an unreported "earmark" fund for expenses, such as tax, car maintenance, IRA, etc. etc. I don't report my earmark funds here, or in my net worth, since it's money I intend to spend eventually.


MY "X"-FUND

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$20,212.37	$24,272.43	+$4,060.06

In addition to my savings and earmark fund, I've created an "X"-Fund, which is reported in my net worth as "other property." I came across a significant windfall (~ $33K) in December. In January, I allocated $20,175 of my windfall into what I call my "X-Fund," since I don't know yet whether I'll need to use it as an emergency fund or a down-payment for my first home. Either way, it's money that I don't intend to touch unless I absolutely need to or unless I reinvest it.

In March, my company also paid me a bonus (net ~$9,711.61), which admittedly was not deserved. I put $4,000 of my bonus money into my X-fund, hence the big jump this month. I don't expect any future big jumps.


MY NET WORTH

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$82,329.51	$98,184.22	+$15,854.71

The increase of my net worth has been on an incredible trajectory. And it's so ironic that my emotional state has been on a recent downward spiral.

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

December '09 Progress Report

Hope you all had a wonderful New Year's. I certainly did. My final 2009 net worth progress report looks pretty upbeat too.



MY DEBT

	Starting Debt (6/08)	Last Month	This Month	DIFFERENCE
Private SL	$49,528.99	$43,557.31	$43,182.39	$(374.92)
Fed'l SL	$55,852.68	$53,717.32	$53,568.28	$(149.04)
Car Loan	$9,779.33	$0.00	$0.00	$(0.00)
CC	$13,610.75	$0.00	$0.00	$(0.00)
TOTAL	$128,771.75	$97,274.63	$96,750.67	$(523.

*Sigh* This is the last month that I'll put my snowball plan into abeyance. Next month, I'll resume my plan and hope to pay down my debts by at least 1% per month. It'll be hard to get back onto the frugality horse again, but I'm just gonna have to do it if I want to get rid of my debt in 4 years. *Sigh*


MY SAVINGS

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$8,372.41	$8,472.64	+$100.23

Eh, nothing new here this month. But I've come into some windfall that will be reported in a future post and next month's progress report. Stay tuned.


MY NET WORTH

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$47,358.27	$53,922.34	+$6,564.07

Whoa Nelly! My net worth increased by $65,862.20 in one year, but I'll only take credit for ~$53,213, which represents the sum of the contributions to my 401k (including employer match), Roth IRA, I-Bonds, savings and the amount of debt I reduced. ~ $12,649 arguably represents the market rebound. I'm not sure whether the market in 2010 will go up or down, but I just pray for less volatility for the sake of my sanity.

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

November 2009 Progress Report

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. I spent Thanksgiving with my family and it was a bit stressful. My dad's dementia and memory loss is clearly getting worse. But I had great meals and everyone seemed to be in good spirits. My net worth is up this month too so I guess I really can't complain about my November this year. :-D



MY DEBT

	Starting Debt (6/08)	Last Month	This Month	DIFFERENCE
Private SL	$49,528.99	$43,926.89	$43,557.31	$(369.58)
Fed'l SL	$55,852.68	$53,828.16	$53,717.32	$(110.84)
Car Loan	$9,779.33	$0.00	$0.00	$(0.00)
CC	$13,610.75	$0.00	$0.00	$(0.00)
TOTAL	$128,771.75	$97,755.05	$97,274.63	$(480.42)

November was a ho-hum month in terms of debt reduction. With my cc paid off, I could've started snowballing my remaining debt, but I decided to take a break. So I guess November was a spendy month. Either way, my debt's still down and I consider that a "win."


MY SAVINGS

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$8,265.57	$8,372.41	+$106.84

The savings that is reflected here is my "emergency fund" that I am not supposed to touch unless there is an absolute true emergency. I try to save about $100/month or so into my EF.

MY EARMARKS

I have an additional $5,000.00 or so set aside for "earmarked" spending for such things as car maintenance, Christmas, etc. I don't report my earmarks since it's not a true measure of savings because I intend to spend it. I also hate seeing my numbers go down.

But since someone once asked about the specifics, I'll report it this month. My accounting is a bit insane and some of my categories may not make much sense. (Oh, who am I kidding? It's ginormously crazy.) But here goes:

Earmark	Amount
Survey Snowflake1	$82.00
Mom and Dad (emergency, gifts, etc.)	$525.00
Car Fund (registration, maintenance)	$573.00
Christmas Fund	$833.00
2009 Tax	$204.00
Insurance and COLA	$942.00
Extra Paycheck2	$976.00
Vacation	$170.00
CD Ladder3	$303.00
Roth3	$300.00
Misc.	$116.00
TOTAL:	$5,024.00

1 -- I am snowflaking the money I get from completing online surveys. Once I hit $100, I think I will start converting these funds into either my EF or other investments like I-Bonds.
2 -- 2 months out of the year, I receive 3 paychecks. I deposit the 3rd paycheck into my savings and distribute 1/6 to myself every month to pay bills. I eventually hope to be able to bank my entire 3rd paycheck without having to spend it.
3 -- My CD Ladder and Roth funds are not "spending items" per se. I created these earmarks to see if I can get into the habit of saving for these items regularly. I was hoping to have $1,000 each in these funds, but as you can see, I'm way short.


MY NET WORTH

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$40,389.45	$47,358.27	+$6,968.82

I guess the market was really good in November. The big spike in my numbers appear to be because of my 401k. It's incredible to think that my networth was -$21,975.91 just a year ago. In just one year, my net worth increased by $69,334.18! But... I realize that this number is exaggerated because of the market crash last year. My 401k is still down -7.18% from 12/31/08. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to start focusing on my debt reduction again.

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

October '09 Progress Report

Hope you all had a great Halloween! I went to Knott's Scary Farm this year and had a blast. There's nothing like spending 12 hours at an amusement park to remind myself how old and out-of-shape I am. (My legs and butt are still so sore.)

Good news is that my Progress Report this October isn't as scary looking as it was last year.



MY DEBT

	Starting Debt (6/31/08)	Last Month	This Month	DIFFERENCE
Private SL	$49,528.99	$44,306.73	$43,926.89	$(379.84)
Fed'l SL	$55,852.68	$53,961.10	$53,828.16	$(132.94)
Credit Card	$13,610.75	$11,086.08	$0.00	$(11,086.08)
TOTAL	$128,771.75	$109,353.91	$97,755.05	$(11,598.86)

Woo hoo!! My total debt is now below six-digits! To those who are new to this blog, I didn't pay off $11,086.08 in credit card debt in just one month. This was an ordeal that spanned years.

My credit card pay-off finally picked up momentum in March when I arbitraged my credit card debt with a 0% interest rate offer. Ever since then, I paid the minimum towards my credit card and pretended to pay additional amounts into my savings account. When the 0% offer expired, I used the "savings" to pay off my credit card debt.

Although I should be snowballing my remaining debt, I've decided to take a couple of months off before I get back into the grind.


MY SAVINGS

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$8,112.28	$8,265.57	+$153.29

The savings that is reflected here is my "emergency fund" that I am not supposed to touch unless there is an absolute true emergency. I try to save about $100/month or so into my EF.

I have an additional $5,000.00 or so set aside for "earmarked" spending for such things as car maintenance, Christmas, etc. I need to start replenishing my earmarks as well as continue saving into my EF. Ugh.


MY NET WORTH

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$39,503.13	$40,389.45	+$886.32

Rats. I added an additional $1,612 last month into my 401k and my net worth only increased by $886. Must mean that the market went down again. I have to admit, it's a lot less stressful when I don't pay attention to market movements. It's a bummer to see a flat lined net worth at the end of the month, though.

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

September '09 Progress Report

Holy guacamole. My last Progress Report update was in June '09??? Egads! I have been away for a long time now. Truth be told, I've been on the same ol' debt pay-down grind for the past 3 months that there really wasn't much to report. So I won't be reporting my progress for July or August. If you're really curious, you can see my July and August numbers here

Anyhoo, here's my financial state as of 9/30/09.

MY DEBT

	Starting Debt (6/31/08)	Last Month	This Month	DIFFERENCE
Private SL	$49,528.99	$44,675.23	$44,306.73	$(368.50)
Fed'l SL	$55,852.68	$54,085.92	$53,961.10	$(124.82)
Credit Card	$13,610.75	$11,208.08	$11,086.08	$(122.00)
TOTAL	$128,771.75	$109,969.23	$109,353.91	$(615.32)

I'm snowballing my debt and I'm arbitraging my 0% credit card debt. Not much to report here. Just the same ol', same ol'.


MY SAVINGS

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$8,011.91	$8,112.28	+$100.37

The savings that is reflected here is my "emergency fund" that I am not supposed to touch unless there is an absolute true emergency.

Although my EF is going up, my "other savings" that I've earmarked for expenses (and that is not reported in my net worth or progress report) have gone down significantly.

As reported previously, my company made me travel back-and-forth to the east coast every other week for the past 7 weeks. During that time, I had to hire a pet sitter for my cat, which wasn't cheap (approx. $20 - $30/day, not including tips). My company refused to reimburse me for my pet care expenses. I estimate that I had to pay about $650+ for my cat's care.

Since I was pretty bitter about having to travel back-and-forth for something that I think is completely ridiculous, degrading and/or a waste of time, I decided to stay an extra day or two (at my expense) in couple of United Airline's layover cities. Wanna guess where I took my side trips?





These side trips probably cost me about $700 or so, including food, hotel, entertainment and ground transportation costs. I thought these side trips would make my lousy business trips worthwhile, but I unfortunately got sick and I couldn't sightsee as much as I would've liked. But I don't regret taking these trips. DC and Chi-town are fabulous cities and they were worth every penny I spent.

By the way, I also got to see the Hope Diamond before they took it out of its setting. (In case you didn't know, the Hope Diamond is currently displayed au naturel while some jeweler is making its new, more modern looking setting called Embracing Hope.)



MY NET WORTH

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$30,205.89	$39,503.13	+$9,297.24

In June '09, I reported my net worth as $10,007.87. Three months later, my net worth is 4 times higher? All I can tell you is that I certainly didn't deposit $30k into my investment accounts. I swear, the stock market volatility is giving me whiplash.

I'm not going to get too happy or cozy with these figures since it appears that the market has started to correct downwards during the first week of October. I'm praying that the stock market won't repeat the debacle of October 2008. *Fingers crossed*

The breakdown of my net worth can be seen here.

June '09 Progress Report - Birthday Edition

I'm one year older, but do not feel any bit wiser. But I AM financially better off than a year ago. For example, I'm officially $17,557.21 less in debt than I was a year ago. (Technically, I'm $24,800.29 less in debt.) Oh! And did I mention that my student loans are now under $100k? Those are signs of progress, right?



MY DEBT

	Starting Debt (6/31/08)	Last Month	This Month	DIFFERENCE
Private SL	$49,528.99	$45,782.97	$45,413.34	$(369.63)
Fed'l SL	$55,852.68	$54,464.64	$54,349.12	$(115.52)
Credit Card	$13,610.75	$11,574.08	$11,452.08	$(122.00)
TOTAL	$128,771.75	$111,821.69	$111,214.54	$(607.15)

As you know, I'm snowballing my debt and I'm arbitraging my 0% credit card debt. I recently sold some company stock to pay off my cc before the promotional rate expires in October. If you include the $1,999 net proceed from the stock sale, I have $7,243.08 that I've saved towards paying off my credit card so my net balance is technically $4,209. I CANNOT wait for my credit card balance to go down to zero!


MY SAVINGS

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$7,685.61	$7,790.34	+$104.73

I've fallen off the frugality horse recently and this looks better than it really is.

Every month, I try to "earmark" additional money towards other investment/savings vehicles such as my Roth IRA, savings bonds and CD ladder. These "earmark funds" aren't reflected in my net savings I report every month, so most people won't know that I've saved ZIPPO in these funds for the past couple of months. Had I remained on budget, I could have earmarked an additional $100 this month.

I could definitely do better but I've been a bit lacking in the motivation department.


MY NET WORTH

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$5,940.55	$10,007.87	+$4,067.32

Glad to see that notwithstanding a pretty big market correction a week ago, I'm still in positive territory.

Looks like the biggest gainer (%-wise) is my Roth IRA that increased in value by 35.53%. But that's only because I contributed $717.29 when I bought 7 shares of TIP. Since it's only "up" $631.55, I actually lost money. Dang it!

The biggest gainer ($-wise) is my 401k, which increased in value by $1,723.53. I contributed $1,613.42, so I actually made money in this puppy. Woo hoo.

For those who are curious, the breakdown of my net worth can be seen here.