Net Worth Update: February 2009 (-$2,951)
Hmmmm… Not much went right in January.
I shouldn’t say that — the news was all bad in Pants-in-a-Can land…
The most noticeable update is that I’m once again carrying some credit card debt.
Okay, it’s a lot of credit card debt — due entirely to the purchase of baby furniture a few weeks ago.
It’s bothering me a bit, like an annoying lump in my sock, but I’d really prefer to hit the $10k in my savings, you know, to finish off the 2008 goals, before pulling some out to pay the bill in full.
I’d be surprised if I don’t have that back down to zero by the end of this month. Best of all, if I manage that, I’ll end up paying absolutely nothing in finance charges! Hooray for grace periods!
Alright, here’s the breakdown:
Cash:
Things were tight this month. I had to sweat it out for a few days waiting on the second paycheck of the month and though the balance right now looks pretty hefty, there’s a mortgage bill looming and I won’t be getting paid again until February 12th.
The main cause, I believe, is due to the fact that we didn’t invoice any of the clients for my side business this month because of sheer laziness, ahem, I mean the holidays.
Savings:
ING may be fighting me every step of the way by lowering their rate every few weeks, but my balance is still going up, up, up! Another good month here, though I must confess, I did withdraw $500 on January 21st to pay a few bills so it should have been even better!
Gov’t Bonds:
Hey, when $600 earns you $3.36 over the span of a month these days, you can’t really complain.
401k:
C’mon Barack! I thought you were supposed to get the ball rolling again?
Actually, I was having a pretty good month until this past week where things tanked.
That said, I’m also considering lowering my contribution in the near future, partly because I “lost” $22k last year and also because my employer drastically reduced their match.
Combined, it doesn’t feel like “free” money anymore…
Home:
This looks to have stabilized a bit. Hey, as long as it never approaches what I paid for it, I’ll always be happy.
In fact, it amazingly *still* hasn’t hit the price I paid for it PLUS the cost of all of the improvements I’ve made.
Auto 1 & Auto 2
The value of my daily driver fell quite a bit this past month and you know what? It’s understandable.
This past month was the first month where my 2005 Scion xA didn’t feel “new”. I noticed a few knicks in the hood, there’s a crack in the plastic molding on the inside of the door, and it just doesn’t drive like a new car anymore.
I’m happy, though, that it took nearly 4 years to get to this point.
Now it’s time to stop baby’ing it and drive it into the ground.
Credit Cards:
As Carol Ann would say, “They’re back…”
Yes, I’m carrying some credit card debt again. No worries, it will be short term. I promise.
Unless of course I go out and buy a HUGE television at Circuit City today for the big game or something…
Hey, it could happen…
Auto Loans:
Paid off.
Other Loans:
I truly hope that I never ever have to write anything under this heading in the future. Personal loans are easily one of the stupidest financial moves a person can make. It’s how we financed our roofing project in 2006. Never again.
Mortgage:
Still not moving as rapidly as I’d like it to be, but I didn’t make any effort to improve the situation. I don’t foresee making any effort this month either, so it will just contine to fall around $500 per month.
