Yo, what's going on stocks? Tired of the rally already?

It sucks going back like that, but I suppose it's gotta take a break some time ;) Have to take it like a man when most your money's in the market - all part of the game.

We had some decreases in other categories as well - not related to the stock market - but they can all be explained for ;) The one area I WAS pretty happy with was regarding our mortgages. While $160 towards our principal isn't a crap ton of money, it does decrease or future debt and nasty interest! I just wish I had the balls to throw in $400 or $500 a month, but you all know my 401k & Roth are my first priorities. Gotta hit that $1 million mark, baby!

January 2010 Net Worth break down:

CASH SAVINGS (-$346.05): Yup, we're starting to burn through a little cash now that I'm gearing up for 90% contributions to my 401(k). It doesn't accurately reflect yet into these calculations, but you'll be seeing some nice jumps in the near future ;) That also means, however, that I'll be pulling from my savings account every pay period for a while to "pay myself" until I max out and can start taking 100% paychecks again. I'm not bad ass enough to live off of $69 yet. Haha...

EMERGENCY FUND ($0.00): Same $10,000 this month as it was last month, and the month before, and the month before that. In fact, I think we've had this $10k for almost a year and a half now :) Let's hope we keep it that way!

ROTH & Traditional IRAs (-$277.34): Same story here as with the 401k drop-ness. The markets are losing momentum again and taking the country's accounts down with it. Until the 401(k) is maxed and my savings gets a healthy does of cash injection again, we'll be holding tight on our IRAs. I DO plan on maxing out the Mrs and I's Roths this year, but it just won't get done until mid-to-later this year. One step at a time.

401(k)s (-$5,173.26): Down down down in a burnin' ring of fire! That's how Mr. Cash likes it anyways ;) But interestingly enough, as I write this up the market is on a rally and I'm seeing some nice increases! We'll see if it carries on throughout the month though. In the meantime, I'll be continuing to push 90% of my salary here so I can max out and get them as cheap as I hopefully can. Gotta get that employee match and hit my #1 goal for the year!

AUTOS WORTH (kbb) (-$150.00): My Caddy's still alive! haha...I still have this red "scary" light on but I've been told it's "just" my suspension. I could get 'er fixed for a nice little sum, but I'm gonna see what happens if I don't :) If it gets bad I'll try and find a deal, but I really don't think it's going to last many more years anyways. I hope it does though!!! Love my baby. Here's where our car values stand right now (the decrease this month was from Toyota):

• Pimp Daddy Caddy: $2,970.00
  
• Gas Ticklin' Toyota: $8,985.00
  

HOME VALUE (Realtor) ($0.00): This will remain @ $300k (the price our realtor set it at) until I hit him up later for another review. He's the master in our particular neighborhood, and has been selling (and living) in this area for 20+ years. I keep an eye on Zillow & Redfin.com as well, but they fluctuate so much that I never can tell what's real and what's hype.

CREDIT CARDS ($0.00): Still at Zero! I just really don't want to take this out of the equation as it makes me so damn happy looking at it. So we continue leaving it in for now...maybe I'll go crazy and put something on it! haha...only if it's a benz. Or a trip around the world.

MORTGAGES (-$162.98): Another excellent month knocking down some principal! We're still screwed w/ the refinancing option, but it doesn't mean we can't pay parts off bit by bit. Every dollar against the principal cuts down on your interest payments! Here's the breakdown:

• Mortgage #1: $286,818.64 - 30 year fixed, interest-only @ 6.875%.
• Mortgage #2: $62,559.10 - Maxed out HELOC w/ 2.8% interest.

Here's to a better February!

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*My budget has now been updated.
**And so have my sidebars. And my excitement for Jersey Shore II.

Labels: net worth

A most excellent year ending in the $144k figure. Daddy like!

What a contrast from last year's December review when we were hovering around $64k. Pretty crazy how 1 year makes a difference, eh?

But as I've mentioned time and time again, consistently saving and sticking to your goals is all it takes! Well, that and the stock market cooperating, but we don't have control over that like we do our personal finances ;)

What I'm most excited about in 2010, though, is that we all have another chance to contribute to our 401(k)s and Roths! WOOHOO! Can we say Money, Money, Moneyyyyyy! I know not everyone cares for them like I do, but they really are the key to my success so far (well, that and not shopping, bringing in some side income, & getting rid of debt). Those two guys alone account for almost $40k in my savings - $16,500 401k contribution, $16,500 employer match, and $5,000 Roth. It may not be sexy in a general sense, but it sure is when you see your net worth increase like that! Hot girls like money, right?

December 2009 Net Worth break down:

CASH SAVINGS (+$2,592.31): Nothing much to say here except it was nice while it lasted! Haha... we've done an excellent job of increasing our extra cash in the past few months, but come next month it'll soon break even or possibly turn red. That's because I'm doing the whole Max out my 401(k) fast by contributing 90% of my salary for a while :) A while being when I a) run out of all this money saved up in my savings, or b) hit the $16,500 limit - whichever comes first. I'm not joking around this year, baby!

EMERGENCY FUND ($0.00): This will stay put @ $10,000 unless we need to dip into it at some point (which would suck, of course, but that's what it's there for). We have enough extras in our personal savings accounts as well we can hit first, but knowing there's $10k sitting there (earning interest) for a rainy day sure does feel good!

ROTH & Traditional IRAs (-$82.63): I'm not sure how we lost a little here, but no matter as we'll be pumping in more now that the new year has come around. Def $5k in my personal Roth, and then we'll see what we can do about upping the Mrs' too. We've already xfered over 2 accounts of hers into USAA (a Roth from PNC & a Traditional from UBS), so next on the list is to convert the Traditional into a Roth - which is a very cool change for this tax year! I'll be writing about it soon, but for now you should check out a recent article from the LA Times on converting.

401(k)s (+$5,367.51): No additional contributions on my behalf, BUT we did see a $500 jump in dividends, as well as a nice $4,600 in market increase. Come NEXT month though we'll be seeing some purrty numbers!!! I'll be contributing 90% of my salary again ;)

AUTOS WORTH (kbb) (-$975.00): Well, my Caddy is now 17 years old and keeps on tickin'! I did see a weird light come on a few weeks back though, so I'm hoping all is kosher when I bring it in for a check this weekend. The idea of having car payments again blows! Here's where the values stand:

• Pimp Daddy Caddy: $2,970.00
  
• Gas Ticklin' Toyota: $9,135.00
  

HOME VALUE (Realtor) ($0.00): This will remain @ $300k (the price our realtor set it at) until I hit him up later for another review. He's the master in our particular neighborhood, and has been selling (and living) in this area for 20+ years. I keep an eye on Zillow & Redfin.com as well, but they fluctuate so much that I never can tell what's real and what's hype.

CREDIT CARD (car loans) ($0.00): Still at Zero! The previous debt here was an "auto loan" that I charged on my credit card - effectively setting my interest @ 3%. I don't recommend this for everyone, but the method works well if you know what you're doing and don't have outstanding debt. Here's a post I did on the 4 steps to mastering your credit card too if you want to know how we keep ours paid off at $0 every month ;)

MORTGAGES (-$167.15): Another month of paying extra towards our principal! We still screwed with refinancing, but we do what we can to weather the storms and keep moving forward. Even an extra $20 or $30 cuts cuts down your interest payments! Here's how our mortgages line up:

• Mortgage #1: $286,884.69 - 30 year fixed, interest-only @ 6.875%.
• Mortgage #2: $62,656.03 - Maxed out HELOC w/ 2.8% interest.

And that wraps up all of 2009. Very, very pleased with how it came to a close, and excited to see how 2010 pans out too. I can't wait to say we're millionaires! That'll still be a good 10+ years away, but ya gotta start somewhere ;) Doesn't it seem like every year goes by faster and faster anyways? Now tell me - how did your finances round up for 2009? Hope you experienced awesomeness as well!

God Bless,

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*My budget has now been updated.
**And so have my sidebars for 2010.
*** As well as my mohawk. Just kidding. (Or am I?)

Labels: net worth

I'll put an extra $7k in my pocket any day. And month, too.

As I mentioned in last month's update, we're pretty much on autopilot 'till the end of the year (when it's time to max out the 401(k) and Roth all over again). This is great financially, but perhaps a bit boring to read so my apologies in advance ;)

With most of you guys, the stock market pretty much controls the major changes these days - with the exception of us storing away as much cash as possible. We gotta start the new year off right, and nothing says stable like a nice pile of money ;) Although I was pretty excited we paid off over $250 of our mortgages for once! We've been slacking on that for a while now, so it's good to be back on track again. (We could obviously use more of the free cash to pay it down, but we're gonna hold off until more secure waters lie ahead. Which, if you think about it, is pretty conservative for such a risk taker, eh? I must be getting old. I do turn 30 this month!)

Here's how November's net worth breaks down:

CASH SAVINGS (+$2,471.92): It's amazing how much more you bring in w/out those retirement deductions ;) As I explained above, we'll be sitting on a lot of this extra money for a while until it's time to start funding our retirement accounts again. And in 2010 we'll try and get Mrs Budgetsaresexy's Roth maxed out too! (she has no 401(k) while in grad school)

EMERGENCY FUND ($0.00): $10,000 still sitting in our money market account earning little by little. I'd list the interest amounts but we have other funds in the same account so it's all mixed in. Emergency Funds remain boring as can be, but my goodness do they come in handy when you need 'em!

ROTH IRAs (+$882.84): Since we're all maxed out, this increase is 100% up to the market so I can't claim any level of skill here ;) I will say that we've started the process of rolling over the wife's Roth IRA and TWO other IRAs into one main USAA account though! It's very exciting stuff, let me assure you. Especially when PNC bank (where 1 of her 3 accounts lie) like to xfer you into their voicemail during hours of operation - only to tell you later you can't access any of your info online since you only have one account! What if that one account "only" had $300k? Very frustrating & annoying, but it'll soon be all over and back at home with our other accounts. Thank you for being wonderful USAA!!!

401(k)s (+$3,966.35): $0.00 deposited, $0.00 matched, and 100% up to the markets. I'm still debating on how to best max it out for next year (do we divide it up into 24 pieces? frontload it all in the beginning?) but it's all a good problem to have. The nice part here is having the OPTION to contribute at my own choice since we're storing away so much cash right now. If I do decide to go down crazy land again @ 90% contributions, I'll have enough money to pay all the bills & survive in the meantime ;) It's all about the options my friends!

AUTOS WORTH (kbb) (-$450.00): I much prefer this "normal" valuation over my latest updates of +$250 and +$50 (so weird?!). It all feels back on track now. haha...and a huge shout out to my Caddy! I hope you last me many a years my friend - freakin' love pimping you around.

• Pimp Daddy Caddy: $3,045.00
  
• Gas Ticklin' Toyota: $10,035.00
  

HOME VALUE (Realtor) ($0.00): This will remain @ $300k (the price our realtor set it at) until I hit him up later for another review. He's the master in our particular neighborhood, and has been selling (and living) in this area for 20+ years. I keep an eye on Zillow & Redfin.com as well, but they fluctuate so much that I never can tell what's real and what's hype.

CREDIT CARD (car loans) ($0.00): Still at Zero! The previous debt here was an "auto loan" that I charged on my credit card - effectively setting my interest @ 3%. I don't recommend this for everyone, but the method works well if you know what you're doing and don't have outstanding debt.

MORTGAGES (-$260.83): No refinancing anytime soon, but we're back to paying off more every month! I know one in a row doesn't seem like much (unless you're the Redskins- hah!) but every last penny you apply to debt really does save you lots more down the road - even just $25. Not only that, but getting into the rythm can help you stay motivated and on track too, so I'm pretty happy w/ my one in a row right now ;) Here's how both our mortgages line up:

• Mortgage #1: $286,950.36 - 30 year fixed, interest-only @ 6.875%.
• Mortgage #2: $62,757.51 - Maxed out HELOC w/ 2.8% interest.

That's it for this month, friends. I hope you guys are doing well too! Any major ups or downs going on? Anything we can help out with? You're welcome to holler any time, we gotta do what we can to back each other up ;) Here's to a great month of family time and positive cash flow!

God Bless,

-----------------
*My budget has now been updated.
**And so have my sidebars.
*** As well as my mohawk. Just kidding.

Labels: net worth

Nothing crazy exciting to report, but we're moving along nicely.

October's net worth grew an extra $4.5k and I'm happy as a clam :) We had a few change ups this month (which I'll get into during the breakdowns) but we're pretty much on auto pilot.

2+ years ago this graph would be all over the place, so it's nice to be financially settled these days. In fact, this is probably the most secure I've ever felt. I'd be even more so without the house, but we always need something to work on, right?

It's just nice to know that game plans DO work out if you stick with it. Some months are easier than others, and some just sucks balls, but if you play to win it's just a matter of time until you get there :)

Here's how October's net worth breaks down:

CASH SAVINGS (+$3,183.60): Always a fan of more cash! The bump this month was due to the Mrs. getting paid for her TA gig. She gets it in chunks every 4-6 months I want to say, and then nothing in between. So I'm sure she's squirreling it away for this financial (and literal) winter ;) I don't foresee another spike like this anytime soon.

EMERGENCY FUND ($0.00): Our money market is still holding onto this $10k as normal. I'm pretty sure there's a better place to put it with the lack of high yield interest going on, but then again we prefer to keep it pretty liquid "just in case." Emergency Funds are boring, but they sure are good for the mind!

ROTH IRAs (+$2,540.44): While I did max out my Roth & 401(k) last month, most of this comes from a not-as-sexy reason ;) The Mrs. was forced to convert over her old 401(k) from her previous employer into a Traditional IRA - so we now have a surge here, and a decrease in the 401(k) dept. And I should probably clarify "forced to convert" too. There were a few diff. options for her to take, but we slacked a bit (*gasp!*) and we went with the Traditional until we formulate a better game plan. Eventually, we'll probably throw all her accounts into one main retirement fund for her so it's easier to track, but we'd like to check in with a financial planner first.

401(k)s (-$1,265.71): The last 401(k) deposit of $4,970 ($2,485 contribution, $2,485 match) hit in October and we're nice & 100% maxed out now! It doesn't look all that fun since $2k of the Mrs. was converted into the IRA as already mentioned, AND the stock market bit off $4,400 in the last trading days, but J's a happy man. Pumping this fund really is one of the best things you can do, so if possible go for it! And if you can't, try poking around an IRA instead.

AUTOS WORTH (kbb) (+$50.00): Last month we were "up" $275, and now $50? I don't buy it, but if I were to sell any of these cars today you better believe I'd list it at the KBB price :) They're both in pretty decent shape, esp the Caddy for its age, but for now we're holding onto them since they're running great (even if I DO get tempted by that damn Benz dealership down the street!). Here's their breakdown:

• Pimp Daddy Caddy: $3,045.00
  
• Gas Ticklin' Toyota: $10,485.00
  

HOME VALUE (Realtor) ($0.00): This will remain @ $300k (the price our realtor set it at) until I hit him up later for another review. He's the master in our particular neighborhood, and has been selling (and living) in this area for 20+ years. I keep an eye on Zillow & Redfin.com as well, but they fluctuate so much that I never can tell what's real and what's hype.

CREDIT CARD (car loans) ($0.00): Still at Zero! The previous debt here was an "auto loan" that I charged on my credit card - effectively setting my interest @ 3%. I don't recommend this for everyone, but the method works well if you know what you're doing and don't have outstanding debt.

MORTGAGES (-$9.61): We're still interested in refinancing our first mortgage, but unfortunately we're still too under water to do anything right now. And sadly enough we're still slacking on the extra payments every month to knock it down even more. We were going strong for a good 4-5 months there, but our "house budget" keeps going over so I have to tighten up the ship again and see where our problems lie ;) Once we get that back on track, we'll start throwing an extra $100-$200 against it again. For now, here's how our mortgages are lining up:

• Mortgage #1: $287,150.36 - 30 year fixed, interest-only @ 6.875%.
• Mortgage #2: $62,818.34 - Maxed out HELOC w/ 2.8% interest.

Another month, another happy report! You all do good as well? I hope so. Tracking your money and watching it grow (or decline) really keeps you on top of things. It's awesome when you can look back and compare it to where you were a year ago :) If you haven't been tracking it yet, find a free spreadsheet or site & start! You're the only one watching over your money.

God Bless,

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*My budget has now been updated.
**And so have my sidebars.

Labels: net worth

I'll take 6 G's any month :) Or any increase for that matter.

Not as sexy as a previous month's $27k power charge , but it's nice having 100% of our money invested or saved once and for all (we had some outstanding issues that have since been taken care of).

And now that I've maxed out both my Roth AND 401(k), it's all up to the markets 'till the new year starts! The only category that should continue to grow by my own doings are our cash savings. I'll be storing away as much cash as possible for the rest of the year, getting our padding back up, and then it'll be back to retirement investing all over again ;) I don't intend to bring home *that* much more every month, but needless to say my reserves aren't where they used to be after all those 10% paychecks the past cple months...

As always though, these monthly updates just go to show that healthy management and patience goes a long way! As you can see from the newer graph up on the top right corner it's been a nice momentum straight into the $100k's. There's no way we could have done all that by dicking around and spending freely - it's all about finding that groove.

Here's how September's net worth breaks down:

CASH SAVINGS (+$323.57): My "regular" paychecks hit mid-month, so we're now back up to positive territory here - even WITH our drop in cash reserves by $1100 every month (to "pay" for the Mrs. part of our mortgage/house stuff while in Grad School). Eventually, this Pay it Forward money will dry up and force us to tighten up even more. But for now we enjoy what the Big Man upstairs has provided us :)

EMERGENCY FUND ($0.00): Our $10k is still sleeping away in our Money Market account. There are some other funds mixed in there (like that pay-it-forward $ I just mentioned) so I can't tell how much interest our Emergency Fund is gaining, but it's surely adding up. At the end of the year I'll have to take another look at this $10k number and see if it's still the right amount....me thinks we may have to up it.

ROTH IRAs (+$387.37): My Roth IRA is maxed out and just flowing with the economic waters...It'll be left alone until 2010 when I can begin investing again. I owe all my success here to Operation Buffett. Well, him and the recent surge in markets ;)

401(k)s (+$5,406.85): We're all maxed out! One more deposit will hit in October, but other than that it's time to take a break and feel happy about hitting the $16.5k mark early this year. This is my 3rd year in a row maxing it, but the first doing it so early. Pumping this fund really is one of the best things you can do, so if possible go for it! It's one thing I preach AND actually do myself. haha...

SAVINGS BONDS ($0.00): Deleted from net worth since cashing in all my bonds...

AUTOS WORTH (kbb) (+$275.00): Don't even ASK me how this came about...either I f'd up while tracking them (probably the case), or there's a new demand for 16 y/o Cadillacs ;) Here's how both our cars break down in value:

• Pimp Daddy Caddy: $3,045.00
  
• Gas Ticklin' Toyota: $10,435.00
  

HOME VALUE (Realtor) ($0.00): This will remain @ $300k (the price our realtor set it at) until I hit him up later for another review. He's the master in our particular neighborhood, and has been selling (and living) in this area for 20+ years. I keep an eye on Zillow & Redfin.com as well, but they fluctuate so much that I never can tell what's real and what's hype.

CREDIT CARD (car loans) ($0.00): Still at Zero! The previous debt here was an "auto loan" that I happened to charge on my credit card - effectively setting my interest @ 3%. I don't recommend this for everyone, but the method works well if you know what you're doing and don't have outstanding debt lined up. I'll get rid of this category one day...

MORTGAGES (-$4.80): We'd love to refinance our first mortgage, but unfortunately we're still too under water to get anywhere with it. We've also been slacking on paying extra towards them the past couple of months, which I really blame on not doing a good job managing our "house budget" (where we get this extra money to apply to them). Some recent traveling and beer store splurges have eaten it away I'm afraid...I'll have to get back on that. Here's the breakdown of both our mortgages:

• Mortgage #1: $287,150.36 - 30 year fixed, interest-only @ 6.875%.
• Mortgage #2: $62,808.73 - Maxed out HELOC w/ 2.8% interest.

There you have it. Another month come and gone. How did September treat you all? Anything juicy to report? I hope so, I could use a cool story this morning :) Been a bit hectic at work and haven't been able to catch up with some of you as much as I've liked. So here's to a productive and relaxing October! May your pockets be full of coin, and your mouths stuffed with muffins.

God Bless,

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*My budget has now been updated.
**And so have my sidebars.

Labels: net worth

We're back to automation - and at the mercy of the markets ;)

The recent $18k spikes of 401(k) were incredibly exciting while it lasted, but like all things "normalcy" must come back and be embraced to keep the momentum going.

And you know what? I'm totally fine with that (as long as normalcy means steady increases every month!). I'm ready to start padding our cash reserves back up and getting REAL paychecks again.

Seriously, it's crazy hard to keep doing your thing when you see 2 week paychecks coming out to $69. If my calculations are correct, my 401(k) should be maxed out any day and I'll no longer need to contribute to my retirement funds for 2009 (my Roth IRA is already maxed out). This means my paychecks are back to $2400+!!! For the first time in a year and a half too - I can't even remember what that's like but I'm excited to find out ;)

Here's how August's net worth breaks down:

CASH SAVINGS (-$496.63): Most of this still has to do with my wonky paychecks, but even so I'm totally fine with it. Every month we take out $1100 in cash reserves to "pay" for the Mrs. part of our mortgage/house stuff (she's currently in her 2nd year of Grad School - woohoo!), so anything under a $1,100 drop is favorable. Eventually, however, this Pay it Forward money will dry up and it'll REALLY affect us more than we're used to. I'm still devising a plan to curb this ;)

EMERGENCY FUND ($0.00): Our $10k is still tucked away (and left alone) in our Money Market account. It's mixed in with other funds so I can't determine the amount of interest our Emergency Fund is gaining, exactly, but it's definitely adding up.

ROTH IRAs (+$760.34): Already maxed out, my lovely Roth IRA is just sitting pretty and eating up any market gains that comes its way ;) It'll be left alone 100% until 2010 starts and I can begin investing in it again. Operation Buffett has been a great success so far!

401(k)s (+$6,355.44): A few more thousand deposited, and a few more thousand gained by the market going back up. I'll be one happy camper when this is totally maxed out and the recession becomes a full-blown recovery! Once your money is invested, you have years and YEARS for it to build up and use all that time on your side - seriously one of the best things you can do. (Check out this cool 401(k) comparison chart and see where your own 401(k) matches up.)

SAVINGS BONDS ($0.00): Will delete from future updates since I cashed all my savings bonds out!

AUTOS WORTH (kbb) (-$25.00): Sounds good to me - much better than last month's $350 loss :) Although it's just a matter of time until they reach rock bottom here, kinda like my Caddy already:

• Pimp Daddy Caddy: $3,045
  
• Gas Ticklin' Toyota: $10,160
  

HOME VALUE (Realtor) ($0.00): This will remain @ $300k (the price our realtor set it at) until I hit him up later for another review. He's the master in our particular neighborhood, and has been selling (and living) in this area for 20+ years. I keep an eye on Zillow & Redfin.com as well, but they fluctuate so much that I never can tell what's real and what's hype.

CREDIT CARD (car loans) ($0.00): Still at Zero! The previous debt here was an "auto loan" that I happened to charge on my credit card - effectively setting my interest @ 3%. I don't recommend this for everyone, but the method works well if you know what you're doing and don't have outstanding debt lined up. I'll leave this category in until I'm tired of looking at it ;)

MORTGAGES (-$4.81): We're still eager to refinance our first mortgage, but unfortunately we're still too under water to get on it. We've been using any leftover funds from our "house budget" to chip away at it, but this month we ended up socking it into our "House Savings" account as we needed it for travel. Here's how the mortgages breakdown:

• Mortgage #1: $287,150.36 - 30 year fixed, interest-only @ 6.875%.
• Mortgage #2: $62,813.53 - Maxed out HELOC w/ 2.8% interest.

That's about it. How did you guys fair? This is always one of my favorite things to do every month as it keeps me on track and accountable for my entire financial life. Lately the numbers have been going up which is nice, but even when they went to $hit it was rewarding ;) You should totally give it a shot if you haven't already, you might be surprised how confident you start feeling.

God Bless,

-----------------
*My budget has now been updated.
*And so have my sidebars.

Labels: net worth

Ever since I started tracking my net worth I've had the value of our home in there. I've often considered tweaking it and coming up with better methods of calculating it, but the concept of taking OUT your home (or cars for that matter) 100% boggles me. After all, the definition of "net worth" is the total of all your assets minus the total of all your liabilities, right? At least that's what I subscribe to.

So why do I bring this up? Because the main man himself Trent, from The Simple Dollar, recently decided to take out his mortgages AND cars from the equation. But interestingly enough, he left the mortgage on it. Huh?! You'll have to read his article for all the dirty details, but he basically feels that he can't just cash out his house & cars as he'll always need them to live - thus, they shouldn't be calculated into his net worth. And I suppose the mortgage on it is a liability no matter how you slice it, so he's def. still keeping that in there (although at that point, wouldn't it be more like "rent"?)

I find this interesting in a number of ways, but mainly that there are SO MANY different methods one can go about calculating this stuff. So out of curiosity I thought I'd play around with our most recent net worth and see what it would look like after playing with this house variable.

Our Net Worth (w/out home value): -$186,789.11

Damn, I'm not liking that too much. In theory I like the idea of not counting on the value of your home, but the optimistic part of me says that it WILL sell one day, it's just a matter of when and at what price. Needless to say, I'm not crazy/smart/comfortable with taking out my home value anytime soon - it's still an integral part of the "big picture".

(for all not familiar with our house's value, we calculate it @ $300k - the price our realtor set it at a couple months back. He's the master in our particular neighborhood, and has been selling (and living in) in our area for 20+ years. I also keep an eye out on Zillow & Redfin.com, but sometimes they fluctuate a bit too much for my taste.)

Our Net Worth (w/out home value & mortgages): $163,179.59

I'm liking this number a bit more ;) But while I'd love to sell our underwater house more than anything and break even, it's just not going to happen. Because of this, I still need to include our mortgages in there to keep things more realistic.

Current Net Worth: $113,210.89

For me, this number still works. It gives us a pretty accurate snapshot of our overall finances, and includes all real estate and autos. It's not as sexy as taking out the house situation altogether, or as hardcore as wiping out the value of our house, but it keeps me on track and motivated.

There really isn't ANY "right" way to calculate your net worth, you just have to do what works for YOU (kinda like most other financial situations, eh?). I do, however, give Trent mad credit for standing up and sharing his opinion. He knew he'd get slammed for it (which he did), but he also brought a fresh new way to consider tracking our financial snapshots.

How do you guys feel about it? Ready to nix your biggest assets? ;)

Labels: home ownership, mortgages, net worth, personal finance

A 19% increase in Net Worth! And reached my $100k goal :)

True I've had this goal for 2 years now, but still - I accomplished it! I don't place this out there to brag or show off or anything, but more to prove that patience and hard work really DOES pay off.

When it comes down to it, there's nothing all that complicated about it:

We save more, spend less, and we bank a $hitload into 401(k)s and IRAs. It's not the easiest thing to do at times, but it's still simple.

If you were around for last month's update, you'll notice a rather large theme going on here with our 401(k)s. Some of this has to do with an issue of tracking this from months ago (now 100% fixed), but most comes from my 2 month challenge of setting the contributions to 90% of my paycheck! I'll describe it more below, but unfortunately I've had to quit this as I ran out of extra funds ;) Next month's update won't be nearly as glamorous, but for now, I'm flying high!

Here's how July's net worth breaks down:

CASH SAVINGS (-$797.65): For the last two four paychecks I've been contributing 90% of my paycheck to my 401(k) in hopes of maxing it out while everything's still low. I had to stop contributing for a few months, so this is also making up for lost time. In doing this, however, I literally only got $69 per check and had to dip into my remaining $2.5k side savings to pay the bills and stay "on budget".

As I mentioned though, I finally ran out of extra money and now it's back down to 30% until I can finish maxing it out (which should be pretty soon). If at all possible, I highly recommend you maxing out yours too! Or at least up to the company match (3%, 6%, etc). Taking advantage of the perks given to you is one of the easiest ways to build up that net worth and invest in your future.

EMERGENCY FUND ($0.00): Our $10k is still tucked away (and left alone) in our Money Market account. It's mixed in with other funds so I can't determine exactly how much interest is accruing on this Emergency Fund in particular, but it's definitely adding up.

ROTH IRAs (+$2,056.14): I haven't been able to blog about it yet, but I finally maxed out my Roth IRA! I've been slowly applying money made off this blog into it (as well as other funds, like the recent cashing of my bonds!), and I'm happy to report it's another goal to cross off the list. And since the economy is doing a lot better, along with Operation Buffett, I can already see some healthy upticks.

401(k)s (+$17,927.09): So that's what 90% of my paychecks + a happy market looks like ;) There's nothing else much to say about it, so I'll just reiterate what I've already been saying: Patience and automation pays off! Spend a few mins & consider upping your 401(k) contributions a % point or two.

SAVINGS BONDS (-$749.74): I finally did it - I cashed in all my savings bonds! When it came down to it, I just couldn't take the measly pennies accumulating every month so I used it to help max out my brokerage Roth IRA. Plus, I was afraid I'd lose them one day (they were in paper form) and I didn't feel like holding on to them any longer. Had I known it only takes 15 mins at a bank I would have done it much earlier!

AUTOS WORTH (kbb) (-$450.00): I always expect this category to go down, but the last too months have resulted in $350+ losses over the previous $50 amounts. Not sure what's going on, but it's really out of my control anyways :) Here's how they line up this month:

• Pimp Daddy Caddy: $3,045
  
• Gas Ticklin' Toyota: $10,185
  

HOME VALUE (Realtor) ($0.00): This will remain @ $300k (the price our realtor set it at) until I hit him up again later for another review. He's the master in our particular neighborhood, and has been selling (and living in) in this area for 20+ years. I keep an eye on Zillow & Redfin.com on the side too to see what else is happening out there. Zillow just fluctuates so much that it drives me crazy. It currently has our house estimated at $370k+?! Up from $340k last month. I don't get it.

CREDIT CARD (car loans) ($0.00): Still at Zero! The previous debt here was an "auto loan" that I happened to charge on my credit card - effectively setting my interest @ 3%. I don't recommend this for everyone, but the method works well if you know what you're doing and don't have outstanding debt lined up. I'll leave this category in until I'm tired of looking at it ;)

MORTGAGES (-$75.94): We're still eager to refinance our first mortgage, but unfortunately we're still too under water to get on it. So in the meantime we chip away with any extra money we have left from our "house budget". Here's how they breakdown:

• Mortgage #1: $287,150.36 - 30 year fixed, interest-only @ 6.875%.
• Mortgage #2: $62,818.34 - Maxed out HELOC w/ 2.8% interest.

Another month gone, another update done! How'd you all do? Anyone come across something crazy last month? Whatever the case, remember to judge your success off of YOUR goals only. It's hard sometimes, but it's really the only thing you have control of. If you don't already, try tracking your progress every month and look back to see what works and what doesn't :)

God Bless,

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*My budget has now been updated.
*And so have my sidebars.

Labels: 401k, net worth

Our net worth is up 40% from last month - now at $95k!

And we owe it all to my 401(k), baby! I've hinted at some problems with it in the past - we were waiting for it to show correctly in our accounts (long story) - but the good day has came and we're back on track! A whopping $30k on track.

I know I've harped on it before, but it just goes to show that consistent saving & investing DOES ADD UP over time. And hopefully you'll be able to watch it grow every month instead of getting a huge sorta-but-not-really surprise in your account one day ;) The point is, you have to start TODAY - not tomorrow, not next month or next year, but today. Start small if you have to, whatever it takes. And while I recommend the 401(k) for all that free money your company hopefully matches you on, it's certainly not necessary. An IRA or savings account would work just as nicely.

So yeah, the 401(k) stuff is the biggest change this month, with a major decrease in cash reserves being second. I'll explain more below, but this was also connected to the 401(k) stuff - and something I consciously decided to do. Only $5k more to hit that $100k mark! Woohoo!

Here's how June's net worth breaks down:

CASH SAVINGS (-$3,586.80): For the last two paychecks I've been contributing 90% of my paycheck to that same 401(k) so I can make up for some lost time. In doing that, I literally only get $69 and change per check now! Ouch. Thus, I've been dipping into my $5k+ side savings account to make up the difference each period to continue paying all bills & to stay "on budget". As you can imagine, this will only last another check or so before I run out ;) But if YOUR company matched 100% of 100% you put in up to the yearly maximum allowed, wouldn't you find a way to make it happen? It's all about taking advantage of the perks given to you and finding a way to make it work.

EMERGENCY FUND ($0.00): Our $10k is still sleeping away nicely in our Money Market account. It's mixed in with other funds so I can't determine exactly how much interest is accruing on the Emergency Fund in particular, but it's definitely adding up.

ROTH IRAs (+$358.32): The good thing here is that I was able to scrounge up a decent $550 to put into the pot this month! The downside was that the markets already sucked out $200 of it. But like everything else tied to this roller coaster economy, it has its ups and its downs. But Operation Buffett is still in effect...

401(k)s (+$30,304.58): Is there anything more to say about this? ;) I was contributing a butt load. It wasn't showing up properly. But now it is. Actually, there's a little more to it than that but I can't really talk about it here. But no, mr. punch debt in the face, I was not funding a crack house on the side - you silly goose, you.

SAVINGS BONDS (+$0.20): Oh Joy! This will actually be the last time you see this category here though, so wave it goodbye (byyyyeeee). I finally listened to Ishan's advice to unload the bonds and invest the money elsewhere. You'll hear about it soon as I didn't have the time to incorporate it all here.

AUTOS WORTH (kbb) (-$375.00): A little more than the $50 devaluation from last month, but whatever - no one ever said cars were an investment ;) Here's how they line up this month:

• Pimp Daddy Caddy: $3,495. Down the $50 buckaroos.
• Gas Ticklin' Toyota: $10,185. Booooo.

HOME VALUE (Realtor) ($0.00): This will remain @ $300k (the price our realtor set it at) until I hit him up again later for another review. He's the master in our particular neighborhood, and has been selling (and living in) in this area for 20+ years. I keep an eye on Zillow & Redfin.com on the side too to see what else is happening out there. Zillow just fluctuates so much, it's crazy. I love the site, but it's seriously nuts.

CREDIT CARD (car loans) ($0.00): Still at Zero! The previous debt here was an "auto loan" that I happened to charge on my credit card - effectively setting my interest @ 3%. I don't recommend this for everyone, but the method works well if you know what you're doing and don't have outstanding debt lined up. I'll leave this category in until I'm tired of looking at it ;)

MORTGAGES (-$386.01): We're still eager to refinance our first mortgage, but unfortunately we're still too under water to get on it. So in the meantime we chip away with any extra money we have left from our "house budget". Here's how they breakdown:

• Mortgage #1: $287,235.91 - 30 year fixed, interest-only @ 6.875%.
• Mortgage #2: $62,808.73 - Maxed out HELOC w/ 2.8% interest.

Well, that's it for this month. How'd you all do? Anyone win the lottery or take on a major mortgage? Whatever the case, remember to judge your success off of YOUR goals only. I know it's hard sometimes, but it's really the only thing you have control of. So if you're meeting or exceeding your goals, you're on the right track!

God Bless,

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*My budget has now been updated.
*And so have my sidebars.

Labels: 401k, net worth

Another monthly increase for the BudgetsAreSexy Family :)

The funny part here is that our net worth is back to where it was a year ago in June of '08! A lot of changes have occurred since then (the crazy economy, the combining of our finances, the plummeting of our house value), so I'll take being in the $70k range again a good sign.

What's also cool is that everyone should now have all that crap above factored into your numbers! So instead of being pissed about losing $100k+ myself, I can't help but smile for the fact we're staying on budget and doing our best with what we have control over :) We can't change the market or the economy out there, but we sure as hell can stay on top of our own finances.

On a side note, I've also updated those sweet & sassy sidebars over there on the right. Two of my goals for '09 were met early on (paying off car loans & reaching $10k in our emergency fund - woohoo!) so I figured it was about time to update them with some new challenges. You'll now see I'm working on maxing out both my 401(k) and my Roth IRA in their place. Not sure how easy this will be, but it's certainly worth a shot. Now onto last month's stats!

Here's how May's Net Worth breaks down:

CASH SAVINGS (+$568.39): We're still going through a good $1200 a month while the Mrs. is in grad school (this covers her mortgage and housing-related portions) but luckily we still have that pay-it-forward chunk set aside for exactly that :) All the rest of the money that would normally be pumped into our savings here has gone into my recent stock picking adventure which will be ending as I get ready to jack up my 401(k) contributions again.

EMERGENCY FUND ($0.00): Our $10k is still sleeping away nicely in our Money Market account. It's mixed in with other funds so I can't determine exactly how much interest is accruing on the Emergency Fund in particular, but I promise it's adding up.

ROTH IRAs (+$1,823.68): Another fan-f'ing-tastic month! I'd say about $1500 of that was deposited myself, with another $300 courtesy of the market rebounding and Mr. Buffett's stellar recommendations ;) These jumps won't last much longer though as I get closer to maxing it out.

401(k)s (+$3,106.87): What comes down, must come up right? Seems to be the plan of the stock market lately at least, which is fine with me! Haven't contributed a single dollar here lately (long story) but I'm hoping to start doing so in the near future, esp while everything is still so cheap.

SAVINGS BONDS (+$3.28): I still haven't taken up Ishan's recommendation of unloading these and finding a better place to store the cash, but it's still on the list! I'm gonna do my best to knock it out this month...just takes so LONG with the way the Treasury has it set up online. What happened to the days when your friendly local bank still handled them? Jeesh.

AUTOS WORTH (kbb) (-$50.00): As to be expected - no one ever said these piles of metal were income producing ;) A little will be knocked off every month for sure. Here's how our cars line up :
* Pimpin' Daddy Caddy --> $3,620. Down the $50 buckaroos.
* Gas Sippin' Toyota --> $10,435. Stayed the same? weird.

HOME VALUE (Realtor) ($0.00): This will remain @ $300k (the price our realtor set it at) until I get more word from him in a few months. He has a fantastic eye in our particular neighborhood, and has been selling (and even lived at one point) in this area for 20+ years. I also keep an eye out on what Zillow & Redfin.com show it listed for every month, and the $300k is usually where the average falls.

CREDIT CARD (car loans) ($0.00): Still at Zero! And should be stuck at that amount for a while...I might have to get rid of this category at some point, but I'm just not tired of staring at it yet! haha...The previous debt here was an "auto loan" that I happened to charge on my credit card - effectively setting my interest @ 3%. I don't recommend this for everyone, but the method works well if you know what you're doing and don't have outstanding debt lined up.

MORTGAGES (-$73.81): We actually knocked off around $280 from these mortgages this month, but the #'s don't always match quite well depending on the days I check them. We're still eager to refinance as well, but unfortunately we're just too under water to do so right now. It won't stop us from using our leftover House Budget money to chip away at 'em though! Here's how they breakdown:
*1st Mortgage: $287,612.32 - 30 year fixed, interest-only @ 6.875%.
*2nd Mortgage: $62,818.33 - Maxed out HELOC w/ 2.8% interest.

That's it for this month. Hope everyone's seeing some pretty numbers on their side as well! Don't let these Summer months distract you and steal all your money ;)

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*My budget has also been updated.
*And here are all the Net Worth Updates.

Labels: net worth

Nothing but love for April! The market was happy, our budget was happy, and life in general was pretty happy :) What more can you ask for?

As you can see, the majority of changes this month were pretty positive, and helped us break back into that $60k range.

But the coolest part of the month was converting over my Roth IRA into a Brokerage Roth IRA so I could start investing in individual stocks again! I won't be able to take that money out for quite some time, of course, but even better. The less temptation I have, the less opportunity for rash decisions ;)

You may also notice a small blemish in the cash & car department. The first has its reasons which I explain below (and is actually a GOOD thing!), and the latter is just pretty much expected. After all, when it comes down to it they're cars - not investments. And then we have a wonderful uptick in the Mortgage department! More on that to follow...

Here's how April's Net Worth breaks down:

CASH SAVINGS (-$224.86): This is awesome! It may not look it, but we actually xfered out around $2,000 into other areas ;) So the fact we're down only $200 is killer. Most of the money went into my new stock picking adventure, and then the rest into paying down part of the mortgages! Not as fun as hoarding it all, but i guess you have to pay them down at some point.

EMERGENCY FUND ($0.00): Our $10k is still sleeping away nicely in our Money Market account. It's mixed in with other funds so I can't determine exactly how much interest is accruing on the Emergency Fund in particular, but I promise it's adding up.

ROTH IRAs (+$2,754.05): Blowin' up baby! Now that I've converted my old Roth into a Brokerage Roth IRA, and the market is still behaving, this area should be seeing some green going forward. And most of it going into hand-picked stocks courtesy of Mr. Warren Buffett ;)

401(k)s (+$4,562.72): Same awesomeness here, except solely based on the market right now. Whenever this goes up, the biggest part of our Net Worth goes up too! I love it. Of course, the opposite has been known to happen as well...

SAVINGS BONDS (+$0.20): I've had this collection of bonds hanging out since I was a wee lad 20+ years ago. And up until last month, I never thought twice about it. BUT, a fellow blogger (Ishan@ Save Few Bucks) pointed out that it would make *more* sense to cash them in and use the money to pay off our mortgages since they're charging us a much higher interest rate (6.875%). And you know what? He makes a valid point. Why the hell am I still holding onto these? Sure they're sexy as hell to look at - all "old school" and all - but when it comes down to it, that money could in fact be used better. So Ishan, this month I plan on doing something about it. Much love for pointing it out brotha.

AUTOS WORTH (kbb) (-$475.00): A bit sucky, but always anticipated. Although I had a brain fart while trying to recall the mileage on the Mrs' car and was too lazy to call her, so i'm hoping i was way off there ;) Here's how the values breakdown:
* Pimpin' A$$ Caddy --> $3,670. Went up $75? haha...I'll take it!
* Gas-Sippin' Toyota --> $10,435. Down a minor $25 buckaroos, gotta love that.

HOME VALUE (Realtor) ($0.00): This will remain @ $300k (the price our realtor set it at) until I get more word from him in a few months. He has a fantastic eye in our particular neighborhood, and has been selling (and even lived at one point) in this area for 20+ years. I also keep an eye out on what Zillow & Redfin.com show it listed at every month, and the $300k is pretty much where the average falls, maybe a tad bit lower.

CREDIT CARD (car loans) ($0.00): ZEROOO!!!! Yup, the last time it was at zero was back in August when we paid off all 3 store credit cards. This previous c/c debt was really just an "auto loan" that I happened to charge on my credit card - dropping a 5.5% interest rate down to around 3%. I don't recommend this for everyone, but this method definitely works well if you know what you're doing and don't have much outstanding debt lined up.

MORTGAGES (-$309.08): We just recently started paying extra towards these mortgages, and will continue doing so going forward. We'd love to take a big portion of our cash reserves and knock a big chunk of it away, but I don't think we're at that point yet. For now, we'll be using any extra money left over from our House Budget to pay it down.
*1st Mortgage: $287,835 - 30 year fixed, interest-only @ 6.875%.
*2nd Mortgage: $62,669.46 - Maxed out HELOC w/ 2.8% interest.

That's it for April! Time to concentrate on May and try and get that net worth back into the $70k's again ;) Stupid house values and economy. Oh well, it'll be that much better when it all turns around again. Hope you all had a fabulous month in finances as well! Time to go play some online monopoly now, I'm freakin' addicted. (and not afraid to admit it either)

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*The sweet & sexy side bars have been updated.
*My budget has also been updated.
*And here are all the Net Worth Updates.

Labels: net worth

Yup, it looks like our Net Worth just floats along now with "the market". Which is totally fine with me at this point - it just means our stuff is finally on autopilot and all we have to do is keep doing our thing!

Now that we've got our budget down pat and a great system in place, the only thing that will really change these numbers around (besides the market) are random life events.


So GREAT for us, BORING for you - I'm sorry :( But ya never know, life can surely be crazy sometimes! Or even better, the housing market AND the stock market can go berzerk and start pumping up all these numers, eh?! HAH. Regardless, I shall continue posting up the numbers every month for you voyeurs out there ;) That, and so I can hold myself accountable and all too. Plus it's always cool looking back a year earlier and comparing all the differences...ooooh, good idea (why thank you)!!! Yes, I shall jot down that little ditty for a future post. Good work, self. Now onto the stats!

Here's how March's Net Worth breaks down:

CASH SAVINGS (+$203): Not bad, not bad. Nothing too big happened this month, so we were able to sock away a little with some pretty good ease. Not as sexy as last month's $13k discovery, but more money is more money right?

EMERGENCY FUND ($0): Our $10k is still sleeping away nicely in our Money Market account (it's mixed in with other funds so I can't determine exacty how much interest is accruing, but it is I promise) In fact, I don't think I've ever blogged much about investing in general...I should change that.

ROTH IRAs (+$254): Score! My Roth finally helps this department! I've got a good $3k in a target mutual fund, and the Mrs. has hers in 6 month CDs. So whenever that market smiles nice and wide, I get to smile as well :)

401(k)s (+$2,855): Double Whammy, baby! Again, our biggest increases this month is due to "the market". So whenever it goes up, the biggest part of our Net Worth goes up - my 401k! aww yeahhh....and, that's without adding in a few deposits too. I can only image how excited I'll be when I see those bad boys hit.

SAVINGS BONDS (+$0.40): A new month, a new 50 cent piece. Haven't added anything here for almost a year now, but you can check out the breakdown of them all here.

AUTOS WORTH (kbb) (-$25): Now THIS makes more sense. Last month we had a weird increase of like $400 bucks w/ no explanation at all except that i probably f'd up somewhere.
* Pimpin' a$$ caddy --> $3,595. Holding this value for at least 7 months now!
* Toyota Gas-Sipper --> $10,985. Down a minor $25 buckaroos, gotta love that.

HOME VALUE (Realtor) ($0): This will remain @ $300k (the price our realtor set it at) until I get more word from him in a few months. He has a fantastic eye in our particular neighborhood, and has been selling (and even lived at one point) in this area for 20+ years. Just for $hits and giggles i checked out Zillow.com and it says our place is now at $345k. hmmm...i love me som Zillow, but I have to give it a WTF on this round - there's no way in hell I could get even close to this right now (although it would be nice).

I also check out Redfin.com after a recommendation from a fellow Budgetsaresexy reader, and $300k is starting to look a bit more accurate there as well. Redfin gives you 3 estimates from other sites (Zillow, Epraisal, and Cyber Homes) and our place ranged from $260k to $345k, so for now I still feel good about our valuation - even though that higher one IS from Zillow...

CREDIT CARD (car loans) ($0): ZEROOO!!!! Yup, the last time it was at zero was back in August when we paid off all 3 store credit cards. This newer (and now cleared away) debt was really just an "auto loan" that I happened to charge on my credit card - dropping a 5.5% interest rate down to around 3%. I don't recommend this for everyone, but it can def. work well for those smaller loans if you have no outstanding debt.

MORTGAGES (+$9.61): This is just due to random timing of me checking the accounts - we didn't pay anything extra against any of our mortgages this month. Our 1st is still @ $288,000 (30 year fixed, interest-only @ 6.875%), and our 2nd Mortgage @ around $62,800 (maxed out HELOC w/ 2.8% interest). I'm planning on throwing a $100 or two against it though starting this month.

That wraps it up for Amazing March. How did you all do? Hopefully just as nice considering the markets were full of life this month. But maybe you beat me by a mile?! That would be awesome. And if so, don't forget about your boy over here and whisper me the secrets. 'Till next month, J. Moneyyyyyyyyy Out! (yes, American Idol is playing in the background)

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*The sweet & sexy side bars have been updated.
*My budget has been updated too.
*And here are all the Net Worth Updates.

Labels: net worth

The roller coaster's back on the up and up w/ +$7k this month!, Yup, that's what happens when you get mad tax returns and then you find out your other half had a bit more money than you originally thought ;)

I knew she was frugal, but good Lord! After brief convo's last month I assumed she had about $2k in her "do as i please" account. But nope, there was almost $9k!

Crazy impressive considering she's in Grad School and not making much from her Teaching Assistantship. Plus, she got it past her frugal husband! haha...good for her. Maybe next month I'll find another stash somewhere? I def. won't be complaining, that's for sure ;)

So that was the biggest "gain" of cash for the month, followed by our $6k back from taxes - of which most was split between the two of us. And what did I do with part of mine? Oh, I PAID OFF MY CAR LOANS!!! Aww yeahhhhhh, ZERO dollars on the ol' credit card now ;) It was pretty hard parting with $1,300 all at once like that, but the feeling from being back outta debt is freakin' awesome. Now just gotta work on those damn mortgages...

Here's how Feb's Net Worth breaks down:

CASH SAVINGS (+$12,300): So yeah....as I mentioned the Mrs. had even *more* money saved up that i missed on my last checkup - a whopping $6,500 more! Add that with a good portion of our $6k from taxes and some better budgeting last month, and it was a helluva good month. Most of this was a one-time occurrence, but I'm hoping we can at least increase our cash reserves by $1k every month.

EMERGENCY FUND ($0): Our $10k is still socked away in a Money Market just chillin' and makin' a little money on the side. It would be cool to see just how much extra it's bringing in every month, but we have some other money mixed in with it at the same time so it's a bit tricky to calculate. We'll be leaving this at $10k for quite some time as it's a great # for us.

ROTH IRAs (-$270): That would be MY part of it too since my Roth is invested in one of those Target Mutual Funds...pretty sucky over all, but I'm not allowed to complain about it ;) I would like to note, however, that my Roth is hovering @ $2800 down from $5400 a year ago...but that's all i'll say.

401(k)s (-$3,400): Yikesy Mama! Just keeps on a crashin' without a care in the world. Sadly, this even includes my $1,250 worth of new 401k $ that got sucked out before it had a chance to play with the others. Although I am still waiting for some deposits that still haven't been made... ho-hum.

SAVINGS BONDS (+$3): Every month brings a little joy into my life :) Haven't added anyting here for almost a year now, but you can check out the breakdown of them all here.

AUTOS WORTH (kbb) (+$400): Now THIS, I cannot explain. The only thing i can think of is that I calculated the Mrs's Toyota wrong on Kbb.com last month, but I'm usually pretty good about that stuff. Maybe gas-sippers are going up now? Guess we'll see what the next month brings...The breakdown of our car values are as follows:
- Pimpin' a$$ caddy --> $3,595. Holding this value for at least 6 months now!
- Toyota Gas-Sipper --> $11,010. An increase of $400 in "weirdo" dollars.

HOME VALUE (Realtor) (-$3,500): After some more thought, I decided to ditch the idea of averaging out Zillow's "Zestimate" with my realtor's estimate. This made sense for two reasons. 1) - Zillow's estimate kept fluctuating every other day! It would be $306k one second, and $318k the next (it's currently @ $324k!). While I'd LOVE to believe this, it just doesn't seem all that plausible. And 2)I took the advice of a commenter and checked out redfin.com which averages out 3 different home sites to give you a better idea of how sites value the homes. And out of these 3, Zillow was by far the highest, with the total average coming to just below $300k.

Sooo, for now I think it's wise to keep the value at $300k and hope for the best. I'll then hit my realtor up again later and get a better update since I know he'll continue to give it to me straight. Afer all, he'd be the one to help us sell/rent out the place so it's in his best interest to be upfront from the beginning.

CREDIT CARD (car loans) (-$1,600): ZEROOO!!!! Yup, the cards are finally paid off after 8 whole months of chipping away :) The last time it was at zero was back in August when we paid off all 3 store credit cards. A post will be coming out shortly on this, but this $7,500 basically came from picking up my Caddy and selling my Highlander (i owed more than i sold it for) last year. It was more of a "loan" rather than your ordinary consumer debt, but I just happened to use a credit card to finance it all.

MORTGAGES (-$14.22): This was due to just random timing of me checking the accounts - we didn't pay anything extra against any of our mortgages this month. Our 1st is still @ $288,000 (30 year fixed, interest-only @ 6.875%), and our 2nd Mortgage @ around $62,800 (maxed out HELOC w/ 2.8% interest). I do see us starting to pay them off though now that our budget is looking sexy again :)

That wraps it up for the sexy month of February. March should pan out pretty well too if all goes as planned (and if the market perks up on everyone's behalf). I'm looking forward to having a few extra hundred now that i don't have that $443 monthly car payment anymore! Oh and as promised, I updated my budget again to reflect how it all came together last month - I'll continue to do so during all the roundups. Happy Wednesday everybody!

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*The sweet & sexy side bars have been updated.
*And here are all the Net Worth Updates.

Labels: cash, net worth

Our Net Worth took a *huge* hit, but the Mrs. Saved us! And in reality the stats kinda make it look worse that it really is.

We've been saving and managing our money better than ever, but we decided it was about time to man up and accept the loss in home value now, rather than pretending it doesn't exist and dealing with it later. (as you may have recently read).

It sure ain't fun, but it's all about keeping it "real" and tightening the grasp on your financial situation! Much easier to do in small doses, overtime, than with a powerful punch down the road. Plus if the market miraculously recovers, we'll be able to enjoy the nice spikes in our total worth! But def. not holding my breath there ;)

You'll also noticed we've added a cple new categories too, while ditching some older ones. We're now tracking our Emergency Fund, Home Worth, and Mortgages - and we're unloading Condo Investment, and Home Equity just because it doesn't make sense anymore.

Here's how Jan's Net Worth breaks down:

CASH SAVINGS: Well that's a nice jump! $11k extra certainly won't hurt us. he he....although i'll have to admit that at least $10k of that is earmarked for the Mrs. remaining grad school costs and "her portion" of the mortgage/house stuff - $1200/mo. This is the money we got from selling some of her oil stocks, as well as that Pay it Forward amount we got last year :) So in reality, it just prolongs the time where we need to pick up some side money to pay for our quality of life next year...but maybe by then i'll be a professional blogger! (100% kidding).

EMERGENCY FUND (*New!): Yup, this used to be factored into our "Cash Savings" account, but I much prefer looking at it as it's own category here :) Plus, it's technically in a Money Market account anyways, which is close to cash, but not all the way ya know? And now that we've hit $10k between the two of us (she brought in $6k of it!) we're @ a good stopping point.

ROTH IRAs: Up $4k! Thanks again Mrs. Budgetsaresexy ;) Her Roth is actually much better off than mine these days as it's in a CD gaining a bit of interest every month, whereas mine dropped $2k in the last 2 years due to mutual funds tanking...but soon enough i shall have my glory!

401(k)s: Even WITH her extra $1k we still dropped a good $3,000. How crazy is this market, eh? Again, I'm still missing a good sized chunk of money that still hasn't showed up here yet, but It may be a blessing in disguise as I'll be able to pick up even MORE funds once it hits my account since they're all so low. Definitely more fun last month though!

SAVINGS BONDS: Keep them dollars coming baby! (You can check out the breakdown here.)

CONDO INVESTMENT: Outta here! My brother paid me back the entire $1200+ loan, and we're now all settled up. 1 for 2 in loaning my family money ain't too shabby :)

AUTOS WORTH (kbb): Zero loss again for my pimpin' Caddy ($3,595), and a first time checker-checker on the Mrs' Toyota @ $10,610. Unlike her though, I still have around $1700 to pay off still. Hers is all paid off baby! (whew)

HOME VALUE (Zillow & Realtor) *New!: I ditched the "Home Equity" category and finally owned up and threw our home value and mortgages out there to show a more precise (and honest) picture of our finances. It really just made better sense doing it this way, and now I can track the 2 amounts closer and work on improving our situation!

As some of you know, I am now calculating our "Home Worth" by taking the average of what Zillow shows, and what our Realtor is saying he can get for us. This way I can still monitor the value every month through Zillow without bothering my Realtor every 4 weeks ;) Right now Zillow has it valued at $307k vs the est. $300k per Mr. Realtor. It sucks overall, but at least we already paid a good $10k off the original amount!....even if it WAS by accident.

CREDIT CARD (car loans): This amount is from buying my Caddy and selling my Highlander (i owed more than i sold it for) last year. While it's technically ON my credit card, it's really just a loan @ around 3% interest. No consumer debt whatsoever. And to keep on track with paying it off by May, I'm still applying my old $443 car payments (plus any other leftover amounts from my budget) towards the balance every single month!

MORTGAGES: 1st Mortgage @ $288,000 (30 year fixed, interest-only @ 6.875%), and the 2nd Mortgage a maxed out HELOC @ $62,818.15 with a measly 2.8% interest! The game plan is to start knocking away more of this now that the budget is back on track.

So welcome to our newly formed "Family Net Worth"! It took some time smashing them together, I won't lie, but now it's all in one sexy little spot (and will be much easier to update now). I finally did it! And it only took me 8 months after getting hitched ;)

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*The sweet & sexy side bars have been updated.
*And here are all the Net Worth Updates.

Labels: money management, net worth

Up $4k - not a bad way to start the year, eh? I have a REALLY good feeling it's gonna be a good one, so get ready everyone - 2009 is the year of mad financial skills!!!

It's also the year I finally man up and combine Mrs. Budgetsaresexy and I's finances here on the blog :) Oooooh, ahhhhh, how exciting! What, oh what, will our net worth look like now?! (you can hardly keep it in, i know)

It's also a year for new resolutions - although unlike many of you, i have yet to figure out what these will be :) I'll def. holler once they pop into my brain though...i'm thinking a lot of blog stuff in general, but we'll see.

I guess I should also review last year's sexy sidebar goals too while we're at it here. They're now updated again, but as you can see I didn't do as great as my actual '08 New Years resolutions :( I'll have to leave them up until they're completed before swapping them out again. Here's a quick summary on how I did:

1. Pay off all credit card debt: 100% A+ bustaroo! I actually accomplished this twice - once in the first half of the year, and then again in the middle when we added on more wedding expenses. But, luckily enough, we used our wedding booty to knock it all off again!
2. Pay off cars: B. Since the above was scratched off, I decided to replace it w/ this category in late '08, except i pretty much new it wasn't gonna be wiped away before the end of the year ;) but ya gotta give it a shot, right?
3. Emergency Fund to $5,250: B I didn't quite make it all the way, but i sure as hell followed my plan...just turned out our work bonuses didn't pan out like i expected :(
4. Net worth to $100,000: Fail. Pwned. Jacked. Not even close...but again, way out of my hands really. I dutifully paid off debt & made my 401k deposits like a good little boy, but it just so happened the stock market didn't want to cooperate this year.

Not my best end to a story, but I definitely gave it my all!...and momma always said you gotta feel proud for that ;) haha....ah man, good ol' moms always have our backs don't they?

And here's how Dec's Net Worth breaks down:

CASH SAVINGS: Not too shabby considering it was the holiday season! It's all about that holiday budget, baby...well, that and an xmas bonus....but i still had to save it ;)
ROTH IRA: I'll take that $200 any day - a nice break from all the down months recently.
401(k): WOOHOO!!! Up $2.5k! I'm sure many of you noticed the same right? Or are you one of those who stopped looking altogether? ;) Who knows how long it'll last, but i'm enjoying every bit of it.
SAVINGS BONDS: One dollar, two dollar, three dollar SCORE! You can check out the breakdown of my bonds are here.
CONDO INVESTMENT: I stopped lending money to my brother months ago, and it looks like i'll be getting this leftover $700 sooner than i thought! My brother did some side work and gave me a pre-dated check to cash in Jan, 15th. I love it...and so damn proud of that guy! He's seriously come a long way since 2 years ago....*shiver*
HOME EQUITY: This amount still reflects our purchase price minus the money we accidently paid off the mortgage when our heloc froze. As always, i still don't know how to classify this, but it's on my New Year's resolution, so keep your eyes peeled.
AUTO WORTH (kbb): Zero loss? Well that's a first! Perhaps it's because my Caddy is now sixteen (16) years old! haha...but my damn is it ridin' nicely these days...ballin' like a mother ;)
CREDIT CARDS: This amount is from buying my Caddy and selling my Highlander (i owed more than i sold it for) a few months ago - that's it. No other consumer debt on this bad boy, just the car amounts. And to keep on track, I'm still applying my old $443 car payments (plus any other amounts leftover from my budget) towards the balance every month until it's paid off.
AUTO LOAN: Zilch, nada, nothing! But please see above :)

And that's it! 2008 comes to a happy end. This is the first year I've tracked my finances like this, and I gotta say it's interesting seeing all the ups and downs through it all! More ups are always better, of course, but as I mentioned 2009 will be full of 'em :) Keep doing your thang ladies and gentlemen...

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*The sweet & sexy side bars have been updated.
*And here are the past Net Worth updates.

Labels: net worth, updates

It's much better than last month's $10k loss! Gotta be happy these days with everything going on out there, especially since i'm employed :)

We had a person leave this month, but luckily it was on his own accord. I'm really just hoping we can weather this storm by cutting back on some of our extravagances here @ work...i've already noticed a few things here and there, so fingers crossed!

It's pretty obvious i'm not gonna reach my Net Worth goal of $100,000 this year, but ya can't say i didn't try ;) Sometimes it's just not meant to be i suppose, but you better believe i'll keep working on it. As long as i continue to stay on top of my budget each paycheck, and slam more money into that 401k while prices are cheap, i'll be on a good track. After all, it's the best time in 50 years to buy, right?! at least that's what i've read recently ;)

I can't tell you *when* things will start turning around, but i gotta stay hopeful and keep my head up. I can't change the economy myself, but i sure as hell can keep staying on top of my finances!

Here's how it breaks down this month:

CASH SAVINGS: Sweetness! I only used $160 of my monthly $200 cash allowance this month, and i guess i saved in some other departments too....esp considering i didn't bring in nearly as much blogging income as i had the previous month or so.

ROTH IRA: Down $400? Yeah....still not fun. I suspect this will go down until the markets level off, but again there's nothing i can do about it. i mean, i could always throw MORE money into it, but i'd rather max out the 401k first, and then pump a little more into the ol' Emergency Fund.

401(k): Down $3,000, BUT that doesn't include my bi-weekly contributions unfortunately... because our 401k company is *still* all sorts of F'd up, i'm awaiting on these to hit my account. If these amounts ($593.75 + $593.75(match) + $593.75 + $593.75(match)) were actually in already, i'd really only be down around $900! And THAT'S not bad at all :)

SAVINGS BONDS: Another 20 cents in the ol' pockets....i'm ritch biatch! haha...crazy old buggers. You can check out the breakdown of my bonds are here.

CONDO INVESTMENT: I stopped lending money to my brother months ago, so it's really just a matter of collecting it all now at 5% interest. There's no real time frame here, but i've been told he'll pay the remaining $900ish over the next cple months - works for me! It all seems "free" anyways since i used to classify it as just another bill to pay. So now it's like a have an extra $123 a month to play with!

HOME EQUITY: This amount still reflects our purchase price minus the money we accidently paid off the mortgage when our heloc froze. As always, i still don't know how to classify this as the house isnt' worth what we paid anymore, but it's on my New Year's resolution...i'll probably just Zillow.com it and then add another row to both Assets and Liabilities to reflect it or something.

AUTO WORTH (kbb): Down $10 bucks - i love it! It's a helluva good feeling knowing that my car is now worth more than i paid for it ($3,100). I do sorta miss riding high in the SUV, but i'd take the stress releiver any day over that :)

CREDIT CARDS: This amount is from buying my Caddy and selling my Highlander (i owed more than i sold it for) a few months ago - that's it. No other consumer debt on this bad boy, just the car amounts. And to keep on track, I'm still applying my old $443 car payments towards the balance every month until it's paid off.

AUTO LOAN: Zeroooooooooooooo! That is if you disregard my credit card balance ;) If you remember, i was losing anywhere from $450- $1200 a MONTH keeping the Highlander, so the steady value for my Caddy is freakin' great.

That's it for this month folks. As always, I sincerely hope you did better than i did! Keep staying on top of your finances, and remember that it's just a matter of time until it all turns around :) I'll see ya out there.

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*The sweet & sexy side bars have been updated.
*And here are the past Net Worth updates.

Labels: net worth

What else are we gonna do? I tell you this much - just having my job AND my house is enough to keep me in good spirits, that's for sure!

Every time i turn on that freakin' tv, or read MSNBC online, there is some sort of fiasco happening around the world. So if i can still have all the luxuries i do now in life, i don't mind lose some bucks here and there until it all turns back around.

Plus, i mean, all my losses are really only in my 401k stuff, and you know i won't be touching that for yeaaarrrrrrrs to come, so i can stomach the ups and downs for quite some time.

It does suck that i've been keeping to my plan and doing pretty well w/ everything else though, yet my net worth reflects the opposite :( but that's life - i just gotta keep steering the old' money boat in the right direction, and soon enough i'll hit the $1,000,000 shores! Mmmmmmm a million dollars....

Here's how it breaks down this month:

CASH SAVINGS: Down a couple of hundred, but no biggie. I used some of my Fun Fund cash to pick up a stereo for my car (went w/ a nice, yet exceptionally CHEAP, HD unit so i can listen to some crips music and cd's again! the Caddy only had a tape deck) and then must have spent some more dollars here and there. I also made wayyyyy less in blog income this month (not that i make all that much anyways) but i don't count on that anyways, so it's all good.

ROTH IRA: Still floating on the whims of the market! Not a penny dropped in for months now...have too many other places to save.

401(k): SMACK! Right in my face :( At least it wasn't a surprise, eh? To be honest, I'm more upset that my bi-weekly deposits STILL haven't been made into my account @ work....so while i lost almost 11k's from the market alone, the $2,375 taken from my paycheck this month isn't even IN there. Well, i should say half of that anyways as the other half is company match, but still it's unnerving. I've been told it'll be fixed pretty shortly here, but we're going on 11 months here so i'm not holding my breath. Needless to say, i don't think i'll be hitting my yearly goal of $100k in the Net Worth department, mostly due to this stuff.

SAVINGS BONDS: Forty cents - woohoo! haha...best 40 cents earned in today's market ;) You can check out the breakdown of all my old a$$ bonds here.

CONDO INVESTMENT: I stopped lending money to my brother 3 months ago, so now it's just a matter of collecting it all at 5% interest. He paid me $350 last month, but the rest will come in pieces over time. Def. no rush though, it's all "free" money to me since i classified it as just another bill to pay - which is now over ;)

HOME EQUITY: This amount still reflects our purchase price minus the money we accidently paid off the mortgage when our heloc froze. As always, i still don't know how to classify this as the house isnt' worth what we paid anymore, but it's on my New Year's resolution...i'll probably just Zillow.com it and then add another row to both Assets and Liabilities to reflect it or something.

AUTO WORTH (kbb): I gained $115!!! that's a first ;) You know what did it? The addition of my new cd player! haha...i spent a total of about $170 ($90 for the unit, $40 for some components, and $40 for installation) so i guess it kinda paid for itself! Not to mention my ears now have some better music to listen to ;)

CREDIT CARDS: This amount is from buying my Caddy and selling my Highlander (i owed more than i sold it for) a few months ago - that's it. No other consumer debt on this bad boy, just the car amounts :) And to keep on track, I'm still applying my old $443 car payments towards the balance every month until it's paid off.

And i FINALLY got my reimbursements back from cancelling all 3 of my warranties i had on the Highlander, so that was an additional $1400 applied to it as well! That was all factored into my decision to change up the cars from the beginning, so it wasn't a surprise, but it did feel hot paying such a big chunk off!

AUTO LOAN: Zeroooooooooooooo! That is if you disregard my credit card balance ;) If you remember, i was losing anywhere from $450- $1200 a MONTH keeping the Highlander, so the steady value for my Caddy is freakin' great.

That's it for this go-around. I hope you all did better than i did this month, and let's just pray things start turning around now! See ya out there.

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*The sweet & sexy side bars have been updated.
*And here are the past Net Worth updates.

Labels: net worth

Not that it was all that surprising, right? Most of my "worth" is in my 401k, like many of you, and the market just tore it up this month.

It's all good though, just part of the stock market game - at least i'm not personally doing anything stupid! In fact, Roth & 401k aside, I actually did pretty well!

My Cashing Savings went up due to some new blogging income (finally!), and i'm still religiously paying off my Credit Card with any extra income i get my hands on - which is mostly my old car payment amount at the present time.

I've also decided to continue tracking "my" net worth separately until the end of the year. I find that my current method is a PERFECT way for me to track my progress, esp. since I have those 3 main goals i'm working on right now: 1) Erasing all our "credit card" debt, 2) Pumping up my half of our Emergency Fund, and 3) Getting my Net Worth to $100k! (my fav. goal)

So while the Mrs. and I are, indeed, starting to combine all our monies and what not, you'll just have to wait and see what our new totals will be until January ;) And believe me, there are a LOT of changes coming! Esp considering that the Mrs. is now in Grad School and we're technically living off one one income. I say "technically" because we do have some other surplus' coming in like our pay it forward money, as well as her teaching assistantship income of 12k per school year. (thank goodness!) I'll be posting more about the Grad School stuff soon.

Here's how it breaks down this month:

CASH SAVINGS: Looking good! I had a few random expenditures like wedding gifts and wedding trips to pay for, but most of it was covered from our savings accounts which are set up for these sorta things :) So most of the increase here can be attributed to some new blogging income! That's right, companies are finally hitting me up for some advertising action. It only took 7 months ;) haha...

Besides the obvious adsense, and a cple graphics here and there, you can find them under my "Sexy Sponsors" section. I still don't do pay per posts, paid reviews, or any weird linking within any of my posts whatsoever. I don't want any confusion at all with my posts or main site, so dontcha worry about that. Not sure if this month was a fluke or not, but i'm def. hoping it continues!

ROTH IRA: Floating on the whims of the market as usual! Haven't thrown in a dime in months. Once i max out my 401k and Emergency Fund, I'll reconsider.

401(k): Sad :( And not only because of the economey either. Only ONE deposit made it into my account this month - our 401k company F'd up again and waiting for it all to be straightened out again. So while I tecnically threw in a total of $2,565 this month, including company match, only $1,282.50 was physically deposited! Then i got an extra $242.52 in dividends as well. So after all that, i stiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiil came out in the negative. I'll tell you one thing though, i'm sure as hell gonna enjoy picking up all these funds at lower costs now!

SAVINGS BONDS: Nada. Man, bonds sure are slow ;) You can check out the breakdown of all my old a$$ bonds here.

CONDO INVESTMENT: I stopped lending money to my brother 2 months ago, so we're now just building up this amount by 5% each month until he pays it off in full. He actually just mailed me a check for $350 of it yesterday, so that's promising as hell! Not to mention ahead of schedule (he doesn't have to pay it back until he sells his condo). A+, brother, A+.

HOME EQUITY: This amount still reflects our purchase price minus the money we accidently paid off the mortgage when our heloc froze. Still not sure how to calculate our TRUE equity involved here, but we leave it alone for now. I'll probably end up using Zilllow to estimate the value of it now, and then deduct the amounts we have left on our mortgages but we'll see.

AUTO WORTH (kbb): A loss of only $25 buck?! HOTNESS! haha...i don't know if you'll remember, but i was losing anywhere from $450- $1200 a MONTH w/ the Highlander, so i'll take this loss for my new Caddy any time!

CREDIT CARDS: Still applying my old $443 car payments towards the balance here. It shows i only paid off like $418 in my graph above, but it's only becuase USAA messed up (for once) and the corrections haven't been applied yet - their system didn't catch that the c/c check I used to buy the Caddy was in line with a promotion they were doing, so they charged me a small fee and more interest than they should have. This $6400 is locked in at 3.4% for 12 months, and covers the purchase of the Caddy, and the payoff amount that was left on the Highlander.

AUTO LOAN: Zeroooooooooooooo! That is, if you don't read the paragraph above :)

Well, that's it for this month. I hope you all mastered this market better than i have! Let's just pray that the economy corrects itself and next month brings double digit gains ;) Layter hayters.

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*The sweet & sexy side bars have been updated.
*And here are the past Net Worth updates.

Labels: net worth, stock market

If not, an even $200k certainly would do it. What about for you? I have to give a big shout out to Living Almost Large as she posted something similar the other day and it really got me thinking.

She adds a huge political twist on it, but i'd totally recommend it if you find this topic interesting - at least for the pretty passionate comments being thrown around on it! (you say one thing about Obama or McCain that someone doesn't like and they are allllllll over it..haha)

But what type of salary or other income would it take for YOU to feel "rich"? Have you ever thought about it? I have the tendency to consider one's net worth to determine that, so it was pretty cool to think a bit differently here. I think for me, I'd have to bring home somewhere in the $150-$200k range if i really didn't wanna have to worry about money again.

But to be honest, i really don't think a set salary determines whether you're wealthy or not. It's HOW you spend it, or not spend it, that's the determining factor.

There are plenty of people blowing through $200k-$300k a year on their lavish lifestyles, yet barely saving a few pennies. I wouldn't consider them rich, even though they may look it (The Millionaire Next Door anyone?). At the same time, there are a select few making $500k+ and saving 90% of it while living comfortably and in peaceful bliss. Your salary/other income definitely plays a big role, but you have to account for where it goes to.

Then we have those crazy frugal bastards (meant in the most loving and sincere way possible) who make $60k and invest 20-30% into their already heavily fortified nest egg! So while they may not be rich at the present time, I guarantee they'll make it faster than those a lot of those non-saving fools making twice that.

As LAL also mentioned, $250k will go a lot farther in places like Smallville, USA than New York City or LA. So that has to be considered as well. I can tell you that splitting a bachelor pad in NYC with 5 people cost me more way more than my old abode in Fairfax, VA which i only split with one person. The nightlife was totally different, but so was the fatness of my wallet ;)

Does all of this really matter though? not really....unless someone's about to pay us our "ideal" amount anytime soon, you can go ahead and file it away in your "good to have on hand, just in case" folder. And I'm still gonna have to base my views on the rich depending on what their net worth is since it shows whether someone's saving/investing or just spending it all away.

Definitely leave a comment with your magic # though, as ya never know who'll be reading it! Plus i hear that if you concentrate on it long enough, you can force it to happen circa "The Secret" kinda stuff. But you can think what you want ;)

Labels: career, millionaire love, net worth

Got rid of a heap of debt, and almost ready to combine finance forces now.

I wanted to do it last month, but it just wasn't happening. At least we have a game plan now though :) I'll post about it soon, but we'll basically be using a checking and savings for our most of our combined finances, and then keeping our seperate accounts for whatever else our heart desires.

In other fantastic news, i FINALLY sold my SUV this month and am now working on paying off the difference from that (i was upside down on my loan), and the $3,100 i paid for my now daily driver - the Caddy. I'll be using the same money for my old car payments, only i'll be applying it to the credit card every month, thus staying in budget and knocking it away piece by piece.

I estimate it'll be paid off in full within 6 months to a year, all depending on bonus' and any extra money that may or may not come in. And then i'll be 100% debt free with the only exception of our house! Woohoo!

Here's how it breaks down this month:

CASH SAVINGS: This was quite a nice surprise as i really don't know what i've been doing differently. I know i've been budgeting pretty well, so maybe the differences have been adding up? i REALLY wanted to post our "paid forwarded" money we received, but unfort. i still have to keep shut on it...i almost slipped and added it though!

ROTH IRA: A whole Still left up to the market as usual...haven't put anything extra in it for months. Once i max out my 401k, I'll think about adding to it again.

401(k): Not too shabby, especially in today's market. I put in $593.75 myself, got matched $593.75, and then earned a little over $70 buckaroos on market fluctuations. I f'ing LOVE our 401k plan at work.

SAVINGS BONDS: A few dollars more to sock away. You can check the breakdown of all my bonds and details here. Some go back from when i was born! haha...

CONDO INVESTMENT: I stopped lending money to my brother last month, so now it'll only go up 5% for the interest each month...until he pays it back (which he says should be by the end of '08). Me likey long time!

HOME EQUITY: Steady Freddy...since we paid off a good $10k by accident back in January, we're in no rush to pay any more off right now. Savings a much better option for us these days.

AUTO WORTH (kbb): It dropped significantly, but for good measure - I sold my Toyota Highlander!!! Thank you, thank you, yes i feel like a bad $$ right now ;) Sure only 1 person emailed about it, but that's all it takes baby! This new amount is now ONLY for what my Caddy would probably go for these days. And it rocks. a lot.

CREDIT CARDS: I paid off a good $600+ already on my credit card (my old car payment amount plus some extra i saved from good budgeting), but since i was upside down on my Highlander, I had to slap $4,000 on it. OUCH, right?! Not my favorite thing to do, but the c/c rate is locked in at 3.4% and i'm waiting to get back $1500ish from cancelling all my extended warranties on it. So while i technically have no car payments per se, i'll be still applying the monthly amount of $443 towards it until it's paid off. Gotta keep in the habit!

AUTO LOAN: Zeroooooooooooooo! Hot diggity! But don't forget to read the above paragraph if you haven't already....it's not *as nice* as it may sound ;)

That's it for this month. I hope all your net worth's increased as well, and keep on budgeting! It all pays off baby, it's just a matter of time.

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*I have updated my sweet & sassy side bars as always.
*And here are the past Net Worth updates.

Labels: net worth

We still haven't combined finances as yet, but we ARE getting closer ;)

It's just really hard to break this 28 years of personal finance! Now that i've finally got my gameplan up and running, the thought of revising it all gives me a touch of the heebie jeebies. haha....

BUT, as Obama likes to say, "It's time for a change!" That, and i love my wife ;) So right now the goal is to combine forces by the end of the month, or at least start tracking the pot as "ours" and not "mine". But don't hold me to it, gotta take those baby steps one at a time.

In other news, we spent a bit more this month on sprucing up the house a little, and we now have an extra car - all things that make the budget cringe. Luckily it's become a bit flexible w/ the interest rates still being low and all, so we've been saving and cutting corners where we can to make up for these changes.

Here's how it breaks down this month:

CASH SAVINGS: Yeah, we've been spending a bit this month. But most of it has been going towards our house, which i like to clarify to make myself feel better ;) This includes things like saws and fix'er uppers when i was Mr. HandyMan, painting supplies (our newest house adventure), car stuff to get my highlander ready for sale, and a bunch of other things i can't remember...as always.

ROTH IRA: A whole ONE DOLLAR and FIFTY-THREE cents increase! All for doing nothing...now that's the good life!

401(k): Blah. Although it looks like i did well this month, I really didn't considering I contributed $3,895.00 + got another $258.14 in dividends. Losing $1,503.12 sucks, but I guess i can pat myself on the back for at least putting in so much. A big part of that was when i sucked it up and confronted my boss about my missing 401k from last year - that helped a shite load!

SAVINGS BONDS: I'll put that change in my pocket any day! haha...yikes.

CONDO INVESTMENT: That was the last of the loaning! My brother is now on his feet, and should be paying it back shortly. I guess this should really be in the "liability" section since I haven't actually SEEN the money yet, but i'm too lazy to change it now...plus i'm 100% sure i'll get it back, I gotta trust the bro!

HOME EQUITY: Same old, same old. Nothing paid off this month as we keep building our emergency fund up. Once we hit our goal of $10k total, we'll revisit paying some off each month, but i don't foresee that anytime in the near future since grad school is coming up for the Mrs.

AUTOS WORTH (kbb): This used to be just for my SUV (valued at $19,945 now), but now it also includes my new Caddy (valued at $3,590). So although this category gained in value, be sure to look 2 categories down for an increase in liabilities now.

CREDIT CARDS: While I technically have a nice chunk on there again, my actual c/c purchases are still at ZERO! That's because I'm using my personal credit card as a car loan :) It surprisingly beat out all other rates at 3.4% (because USAA rocks), and since I don't plan on keeping the balance on it for too long, it made logistic and financial sense for me. Now i just gotta sell my damn SUV.

AUTO LOAN: This is what's left on my SUV. I paid off $300 plus, but it also dropped in value about that much so it's basically a wash this month.

That about wraps it up this month. Here's to another beautiful month! May all your financial dreams come true, and all your net worths flourish.

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*I have updated my sweeet & sassy side bars - always a good time.
*And here are the past Net Worth updates.

Labels: net worth

That's right, i'm way too lazy/unmotivated to combine our financial lives as yet.

Plus, by this time in 2 months she'll be in Grad School full time which complicates things even more. (although i AM happy for her!)

So the goal is to combine forces by the end of August. I think that's a fairly good goal :)


That means I have another net worth update or two before the madness begins - Woohoo!

Now that the wedding is over though, things are starting to calm down a bit and we're now back in "normal" land - and what better way to start out than being up $4,122.39 for the month! No more wedding expenditures, no more travel costs, just back to plain ol' saving mode.

Here's how it breaks down this month:

Cash Savings: This is what i like about these monthly check ups - i had NO idea i had such a big jump in cash flow! Mainly because we used most of our wedding cash to pay off all our credit card debt. We've been saving a lot from our heloc, and i've been super frugal lately, so this def. keeps me motivated to keep it up.

Roth IRA: Sucky for sure, but whatcha gonna do about it, ya know? It can't go up all that much anyways since i've stopped making deposits. It's totally at the mercy of the markets.

401k: *OUCH* While this one definitely sucks, at least it wasn't a surprise. I put in $2,375 this month, and the market stole almost double back from me - $4,354.60. Bastards.

Savings Bonds: Picked up another bond as a wedding present ($500 - currently valued at $250), and earned a few bucks from interest off the others.

Condo Investment: I'm starting to include the 5% interest here (compounded monthly), since it will be the amount I'll be paid back. I used a new calculator for this one. My brother says he'll only need 2 more months, and then he'll be set to go and ready to start paying it back. He grows up so fast! haha...

Home Equity: Same as it's been over the past few months. Don't plan on paying more than the interest on both our mortgages yet.

Auto Worth (kbb): Well, well, well - I actually paid MORE off this month than my car lost in value. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEES! about damn time ;) We'll see what next month brings, but it looks like i lose less each month (fingers crossed). Here are the amounts from the past 5 months, respectively: $1425, $925, $850, $675, and now $175.

Credit Cards: ZERO! It's been a good 18 months since i've had absolutely no credit card debt, and i'm planning on keeping it that way :) easier said than done, of course, but i'm up for the challenge.

Auto Loan: My car net worth went up $153.74! (my principal payment minus value loss) You won't hear a complaint outta me this round, that's for sure. And selling of the car is def. on the backburner.

That about wraps it up this month. Let's hope the market turns around and the crazy investors turn into smart investors, eh? Happy day before the 4th of July! And enjoy tomorrow's guest post :)

* I have updated my sweeet side bars - one of my fav. things to do!
*Feel free to also check out my past Net Worth updates.

Labels: net worth

What a good way to end single-ness: UP a good 3 Grand this month :)

The only stuff holding us back are all of the wedding expenses now charged on our card and sucking us dry! haha...

On the other hand, the beautiful checks still continue to flow in, so i'm pretty hopeful we'll be back in action soon. And NO MORE expenditures to come, HOORAY!

Here's how it breaks down this month:

Cash Savings: Oh yeah, lost a few dollars in this department. But it's only because of said wedding costs and balancing our credit cards the best way to limit interest charges. I'm afraid to report though that we'll actually accrue these fees on the next statement. At least it's a first in years.

Roth IRA: Another month of doing nothing, and watching the balance eek itself up ;) I'll take that any day.

401k: A+++ I love this bad boy! Had the usual two deposits of $1187.50 (my half + 100% matching), and then some extra help from the markets going up. And the best part? im STILL waiting for 3 full months of owed deposits!!! Well, i guess that's kinda good in that it's not in yet, but also terrible that it's taken this long so far :( But, as always, can't start getting heated about it again.

Savings Bonds: These guys don't like to move much...been this way for 2 moths now. i guess that's why they're considered a "safe" investment, huh?

Condo Investment: Still sending my brother $123 each month for his condo. Nothing too juicy going on here, except that this might stop within the next few months.

Home Equity: Same with this department - at a stand still until after the wedding and grad school stuff comes together. This amount reflects the purchase price of our house minus all principal payments.

Auto Worth (kbb): ARRGHHHHH again for the 4th month in a row. At least it didn't go down as MUCH as it has been, but it's still quickly depreciating like a mother. I'm adding this to the "do something about it" list for next month.

Credit Cards: It went down a bit (hence the drop in my cash savings as well), but it's still wayyyy off track. Chalk this one up to the wedding stuff too. But at least I get to move the sidebar a bit :)

Auto Loan: Slowly and steadily paying off $300ish in principal each month. I really won't miss this one at all if i end up getting a beater down the road which, naturally, I'm still considering.

Hope everyone's having a wonderful week out there! And hopefully i'll be able to jump on with some sexy updates soon - straight from the Caribbean ;)

* Side bars have also been updated
* Click here to check out past Net Worth updates.

Labels: net worth, wedding

I recently found this tool (and MANY others) on CNNMoney.com, and it's pretty freakin' interesting. It just asks for your age and your yearly income, and it plops you out a couple of nice and simply graphs. The first shows the average "net worth" for your age-group (as posted to the left), and the second shows the average "net worth" for your particular income level.

Both graphs are pretty cool to see. That first one is SCARY though! Can you believe that? man.... luckily, i'm WAY better off than the average in this group (Opah!), but my $66k is wayyyyy below the average for my income level. Age plays a huge part in this ofcourse, as I've only been at this salary for less than a year, so I'm just hoping i can stick with it and/or increase it for years to come!

Give it the old college try, and see how you compare. Hopefully you'll be on top of at least one of the graphs! And if not? Well, now you have something to strive for. Just keep reading the blogs to help pump you up ;)

*I've also just added a new section of helpful links*
It can be found on the left column, and it links to some pretty sweet tools & calculators out there. So far I have the following:

• Bankrate: today's rates
• Millionaire calculator
• Refinance calculator
• Debt free calculator
• Find a blogger :)
• Compare your net worth
• Est. mortgage payments

I'll be updating/revising them over time, so feel free to holler if you'd like to see a special on in particular, or even if you have found a more helpful one.

Labels: net worth, tools and resources

Hum ... not my favorite month's review, but it's all good.

Gotta have those down periods, to make those up ones feel even better, right?

Most of this was also expected, so no big shocks (thank goodness).

The main difference here, from all other months, is the massive jump in the credit card category due to more wedding related costs.

I'm not scared yet though, we have a good month to pay it off before finance charges kick in ... and even at that point, it's only at 5%, so it's not THAT bad. We'll definitely be hoping for cash wedding gifts now though ;)

Here's how the other categories played out this month (no promises it'll be exciting):

Cash Savings: The $60 here is a bit deceiving, as my actual cash went up a good $600 thanks to my new best friend - George Bush! I ended up taking my bond amounts out of here (it deserved it's own category), and then took out 48 crisp $1 bills from my stash for my current art project.

Roth IRA: I like earning money for doing nothing at all! No new deposits in here.

401k: We're finally starting to get some of the due deposits into our account now. While we only had one deposit this month, we're still waiting for a good 5+ to hit any day now. Weeeee!

Savings Bonds: These were the bonds i found in my safe the other month. Had to take them out of the "cash" area as it really didn't belong there...i was just too lazy to edit my graphics last month ;) Now I'll be able to see the differences each month a little better too, esp. when I start adding some bonds down the road.

Condo Investment: Same ol', same ol'. $123 each month still going to my bro until we agree to stop.

Home Equity: Still at a stand still due to our frozen Heloc adventure. We don't plan on paying off more of either mortgage for at least 5-6 months, as the 9k we accidently "paid off" is enough for right now.

Auto Worth (kbb): ARRGHHHHH again. 3 months in a row now. i. still. hate. cars.

Credit Cards: All wedding related stuff - honeymoon, flowers, dj, you name it. We've already started getting some cash gifts coming in, so we're *hoping* to get enough to pay it all off before, or soon after our wedding. Either way, it's all good for now.

Auto Loan: Another measly $300ish principal payment. No more thoughts on selling my car, too much going on these days.

'Tis all for now fine folks. The sidebars have been updated, and life continues on with another glorious day ;) HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

Labels: net worth, wedding

Not too shabby. I was hoping a few of my 401k deposits (7 to be exact) would hit my account, but still no luck in that department. it's all good though, it should be cleared up by the end of April.

All the other categories are moving along pretty nicely, w/ the exception of my stupid car situation :(

Value down almost $1,000?? COME ON. i hate cars. seriously, every month it's gone down like $1k, and i'm only paying off $300+ of the principal per month. i keep saying i may sell the car, but now i actually LOVE IT! ha ha... whatever, i'm too much in a good mood to get into this right now. we'll deal later.

Here's it all played out last month (Mar):

Cash Savings: Definitely a nice little jump. i'm putting my savings bonds in this category for now (prob. will create it's own section later), so $200 of this increase is related to finding out how much they're now worth. Yay! the additional $272 were from savings of going under budget :)

Roth IRA: Haven't added any additional funds in months, so i'll take an increase in earnings any day! Keep doing your thing mutual funds ;)

401k: Not impressive at all. Granted, it could def. be a billion times worse w/ the way the market is these days, BUT still. I mean, i'm contributing 19% of my paycheck twice a month. At least i have something to look forward too - once all is back to normal, i should see $4k increases each month (not including ups and downs in the market)! Y-U-M.

Condo Investment: Still creeping along nicely. I like helping family out.

Home Equity: This will remain the same over the next few months. We basically paid a large chunk of the mortgage off cple months ago (not on purpose), and since we have interest-only financing, we're taking a break until after the wedding to get more situated.

Auto Worth (kbb): ARRGHHHHH. that's about it.

Credit Cards: We're knocking them away month after month! I was paying off both cards evenly ($100 a piece), but now i've decided to pay more off the card where the 0% financing is ending first, while paying minimal payments on the other. As it stands right now, both cards are at 0%.

Auto Loan: Measly $300ish principal payment out of the $440 i'm sending in each month. Arghhhh again.

ps: i also updated my side bars to reflect the new & hip scenario.

Labels: car stuff, net worth

As much as I'd like to say my insane frugalness and expert investment wizardry pumped me up this round, the actual truth is a little less interesting ;)

Between logistical 401k nightmares, HELOC freezings, and lump sum tax credits, things should be nice and settled for the most part going forward.

Although if i continue on with all my personal challenges, look for additional $200+ savings each month! I just hope i can do it, it seriously takes some due diligence. Below is a quick summary of everything that occurred this last month to produce a most sexcellent month of net increase.

Cash Savings: All I can say is THANK HOTNESS for tax season! At the beginning of the month this category took a massive nosedive and was put in stage 4 alert w/ only $12.12!!! My cash was locked into our Heloc and when it froze i lost all access to it :( i cried a bit, but am now over it. haha.... So, 90% of this increase can be attributed to the gov't credits, $500 of it to the stash of cash in my safe @ home in case of super emergencies (hey, ya never know!), $250 of it from bonds my mom gave to me circa 1980! (i will share more later), and $10.10 from my dollar a day challenge.

Roth IRA: Nothing new here...still at the mercy of the markets. I'm not planning on funding this any more until my Emergency Fund is back up to par.

401k: This had, and will have, the biggest changes over the next month or so until all my deposits are 100% in my account. We've been having a few logistic problems w/ our account manager, so not all my contributions (nor matches) are actually accounted for as yet. Not to worry though (more a soothing message for myself, than for you :)) as this should clear up over the next few weeks. Fingers crossed!

Condo Investment: Steady as she goes (steady as she goes), steady as she goes. This will probably continue on for the next 2-3 months, and then my brother will start paying me back.

Home Equity: This money was actually already accounted for last month in "Cash Savings", but because of the whole Heloc debacle, it has been trapped in equity, and thus falls under this category now. I was considering taking this category out, but have decided not to. Mortgages and mortgage payments need to be accounted for, even if the value of the house fluctuates, so weather it goes up or down, the "equity" here will always be determined from the actual sales price of our home, minus mortgage amounts . So, we got $360,000 - $351, 072.08, and then divided by 2 until we are married.

Auto Worth (kbb): How on earth this went down over $1400, i have noooo idea. The only thing i could think of is if i calculated it wrong on their website last month? This def. sucks either way :(

Credit Cards: I was calculating this a bit wrong last go around. I really shaved off about $200, even though it looks much higher. All is good going forward now.

Auto Loan: Steadily going down. I forgot that about $1800 of it is for an extended warranty and tire/wheel protection. I mention that only because the portion of time i don't use (if i sell it) is fully refundable. So, although i'd lose a little if i sold right now, it's not ALL that bad.

Labels: net worth

I have to say it feels really good getting all this stuff out there. I've always known I had money saved in different places here and there, but up to 3 months ago I had never put it all together and focused on any type of real "net worth".

I suggest conjuring one up yourself if you haven't already, it's quite empowering!

So, now that i'm done patting myself on the back (you have to right?), here it is - my official net worth as of the end of January. I'm sure my format and calculations will change over time, but as it stands today this a great measurement of my overall financial picture. Daddy's proud, daddy's proud.

Now that I have it organized, I am ready to begin this year's net worth goal - to reach $100,000 by the end of December! I can't believe i'm actually setting something so high (cuz my GOODNESS that's a lot of money), but you know what? Sometimes you gotta just do it like Nike. I mean I'm young, nubile, and by golly it's time to make something of myself! haha... W-O-W, talk about some motivation.

Moving along, here's what we got:

Cash Savings: I'm hoping to add an additional $1,530.97 to reach my goal $5,250. Once this is accomplished, I will leave it alone 100% as it will act as my Emergency Fund.

Roth IRA: As of today, I am not planning on adding any more funds to this *unless* I end up with extra money after my cash savings goal. In this case, I would def. add it into my Roth.

401k: My favorite category of all time :) What's not to love about company matches, direct deposits, and tax benefits? If all goes as planned, this will be my 3rd year of maxing out my 401k! I have been more than blessed w/ generous company matches, so it would be absolutely asinine not to participate. I expect this category to go up at least $2,375 each month, markets willing.

If there was just one piece of financial advise I would give anyone, it would be to put in AT LEAST (very important) the same % as your company matches. This means from the start you are D-O-U-B-L-I-N-G your return from day 1. Now, i'm not a financial pro or CPA by any means, but with the good graces of the stock market, this $ should increase fruitfully until the day comes for retirement. Of course if you could add in more each paycheck, more power to you.

Condo Investment: I am helping my brother out with a personal loan, which will help him with his new condo purchase. I give him $123 a month, and the interest is locked at 5%. Either of us can bail out at any time if needed, and it's written in a simple contract just in case (this was forced by my dad, and I'm thinking rightfully so). Initially I thought of loaning the money interest-free (since it IS a family member), but I wanted him to think of it as a real loan and that it will need to be payed back at a later date. Unfort. i'm not in the position to say, "ahh, just forget about it bro". Well, not yet anyways :) I expect this category to go up $1,353 by year's end, and put this into the Assets category as I count it as an investment.

Home Equity: This is the difference between the price we PAID for our house, and the MORTGAGES left on them. Actually, it's 1/2 of the total equity as I'm only including my portion, not my fiancée's yet until we're married. I'm also heavily thinking of taking this out as housing prices are fluctuating like crazy these days. Plus since houses actually sell for what someone's willing to pay for it, who knows what the sales price will be by that point.

Auto Worth (kbb): This is the value the Kelly Blue Book puts on my car at the time I pull it. Normally I wouldn't put this here, but i need to help balance my car loan w/ something right? This category will def. go down each month...

Credit Cards: For net worth accounting, this includes my personal credit card + 1/2 of all outstanding store credit cards. All cards are either paid off in full each month, or at 0% financing. I am hoping we don't add a lot more because of our upcoming wedding! The current plan is to have all cards wiped out to $0.00 by year's end.

Auto Loan: My auto loan :) My plan is to sell my current car, however, and pick up an oldie but goody. This should def. help out the numbers.

So there we have it - my 2008 Net Worth goal. It suuuure looks sweet, now let's see if I can make it a reality!

Labels: goals, net worth