Net Worth Update: September 2010 (-$9,854)

A nearly $10k loss is hardly a surprise after analyzing my recent spending of late.

I mean, duh, of course my net worth dropped!

Anyway, I still feel like I’m in pretty good shape considering all of the money spilling out to cover the cost of the renovations we’re having done.

Once that’s in the rear view mirror — likely later this month — I’m thinking I’ll recover pretty quickly.

Here’s the breakdown:

Cash:
This should be higher and I’d feel a lot more comfortable if it were higher but my fear of falling back into deep credit card debt lead me to dip a little deeper to pay off the balance.

Savings:
Think the roughtly $6k drop had something to do with a $6k check made out to a contractor? Yep, they’re related.

Gov’t Bonds:
I go back and forth with these. Some days I hate how inconvenient they are. Other days, I like that the money is a bit of a hassle to get at. Eitherway, the interest rates I’m currently earning are quite nice.

Home:
After the renovation is complete, well, I’ll wish this number was higher. At least I’m no where near underwater and never even came close.

Auto 1 & Auto 2:
My BMW still won’t start but its value went up. Gotta love those $6500 paper weights! (We’ll get it running again in the Spring, I’m thinking…)

Credit Cards:
Having paid off all of the vacation expenses that we charged already, this is just the remaining balance on that big cash advance we took. It’s at 0% for another 8 months or so…

Auto Loans and Other Loans:
Zilch. Zero. Nada.

Mortgage:
So I’m back to paying the mortgage. It feels so strange to only be making the minimum payment after years of overpaying two or three times as much as I needed to. I don’t really like seeing that the principle only dropped $125 but I’m going to try to get over it.

With a mortgage payment so low, following the re-fi, it just doesn’t make sense to overpay right now.

Posted on September 1st, 2010 at 9:40 pm by Brainy Smurf
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Net Worth Update: August 2010 (+$10,838)

Back to muddling through my hazy financial funk…after a two week vacation (which is why this is so late).

With the renovation in progress and still not paid for — and not having to make a mortgage payment — I have too much money in some places and not enough in others and a constant fear of coming up short somewhere.

I’ve reassured myself time and time again that I’ve got the funds to cover everything but, well, let’s just agree that it’s very unsettling to go two months without paying the mortgage.

It just feels…risky. Like I’ve forgotten something.

That said, after a month where I dropped over $28k, I recovered pretty nicely with a $10k+ gain!

Whether up or down, five-figure months are always exciting!

Here’s the breakdown:

Cash:
My cash reserve is a lot higher than it needs to be but that’s just in case the contractor comes looking for another payment. I just like to be ready and not have to ask, “Can you wait a couple of days before you deposit that?”

I dunno, I guess I don’t want to give off the appearance that the money isn’t there thinking that he’ll do a better job knowing that the check isn’t going to bounce. Naive of me, yep, but that’s just how I am…

Savings:
This is where my padded cash reserve is coming from. I’m still contributing pretty heavily, though, you know, just to keep the weekly transfer routine going.

Gov’t Bonds:
Mmm…bonds…

401k:
Good month on the markets.

Home:
I wish putting $33k worth of work into it showed here but that’s okay…

Auto 1 & Auto 2
Eh, whatever… Sadly, the BMW won’t start for some reason but it still looks nice in the garage!

Credit Cards:
Ugh… Between the vacation expenses and the cash advance we took, well, this is tough to look at. Most of it is at 0% so there isn’t any urgency and the rest, well, I’m considering carrying a balance for a month or maybe two.

Hate to do it but it’s the wiser move. I’m not comfortable tapping myself out right now just to avoid some very small finance charges.

Auto Loans and Other Loans:
Zilch. Zero. Nada.

Mortgage
Feels like I’m going backwards and to a certain extent, that’s exactly what’s happened as closing costs pushed me $5600 deeper into the red.

It’s okay though — this month the mortgage payments start back up and the number will start to drop again.

Posted on August 11th, 2010 at 9:25 pm by Brainy Smurf
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Net Worth Update: July 2010 (-$28,466)

Well, I knew it was going to be one of those weird transition months. I didn’t expect to be down this much, though…

Anyway, while the numbers obviously indicate otherwise, my finances are actually in pretty good shape.

Yep, I tiptoed around it — Numbers do lie.

Here we go:

Cash:
Par for the course, really. I seem to be stuck in that $1000 to $2000 balance region.

Savings:
Plugging along here at a great pace. Most of this will end up paying for the renovation but I’m also putting much of my mortgage savings in here now too.

Gov’t Bonds:
No additions this month, just pure interest.

401k:
It was a rough week to close out the month. It’s starting to feel like I’m spinning my wheels here — especially knowing that there isn’t an employer match anymore…and hasn’t been one for over a year.

Home:
The minor fluctuation here is due the recent appraisal we had done. It came in a bit lower than I would have liked but high enough for the refi to go through.

Auto 1 & Auto 2:
Whatever…

Credit Cards:
Yikes! It’s like the good old days! This is actually the balance on my wife’s credit card that we’re using to finance the renovation project. We still have all of the money in hand as of right now but I’m still treating it like a liability.

Auto Loans and Other Loans:
Zilch. Zero. Nada.

Mortgage:
I’m not real happy about this… Sure, my new mortgage payment is less than half of what it was but my balance jumped $5600 worth… It’s as if I haven’t put a single dent in it since the start of the year… Lousy stinkin’ closing costs…

Posted on July 1st, 2010 at 6:02 am by Brainy Smurf
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Net Worth Update: June 2010 (-$685)

Well, with the market taking a tumble for three or four weeks in a row, I kinda knew the cards were stacked against me pulling out another positive month.

I kept my spending in check (I’ll report that later) in May but it just wasn’t enough to overcome the swing in the market.

Here’s the breakdown:

Cash:
Everything is going here to build up a sum large enough to make payments to the contractor that’ll be renovating roughtly 650 square feet of our home.

Savings:
Hmmmm… Think the uptick in the cash has something to do with the downturn here? Yep — it does. I moved a few thousand dollars around.

Gov’t Bonds:
No additions this month, just pure interest.

401k:
Ouch. Nothing quite like losing over 5% in a short period of time. Doesn’t matter in the long run though…

Home:
No change — but that’ll change next month when I use the results of the recent appraisal to calculate this number.

Auto 1 & Auto 2:
What a load of crap these numbers are… Seriously, a jump of this size makes no sense. No sense at all. Even still — yeah, I’d “buy” my BMW for $5925 any day of the week.

Credit Cards:
An over-payment resulted in a positive balance on one of my credit cards. Weird, after a year of holding steady at zero I’m some how managed to have a credit for two consecutive months.

Auto Loans and Other Loans:
Zilch. Zero. Nada.

Mortgage:
With the possible re-fi still looming, I took a major step back here. Still made extra payments but not of the size I’m used to.

Posted on June 3rd, 2010 at 7:55 pm by Brainy Smurf
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Net Worth Update: May 2010 (+$297)

Squeaked one out in the end.

Seeing as this is week old data and the markets have gone down (along with my net worth) nearly 5% over the past week, I dunno, it would seem silly to celebrate.

Anyway, the numbers are all over the place in this update and I honestly didn’t expect my net worth to grow so I suppose it is good news.

I spent a lot of money in April (spending report coming soon) and didn’t make as much either so, well, a win is a win, right?

Here’s the breakdown:

Cash:
I went past my self-imposed $1000 floor. My bank doesn’t charge me fees for having a balance under $1000 but I just don’t like having so little in the tank, you know?

Savings:
What happened? All year this has been growing by over $1000 each month and now this?!

Well, like I said — I spent a lot in April. So much so that I had to tap into savings. Yep, it was bad.

Gov’t Bonds:
Because these have been “paying” so much better than any savings account out there, I purchased an additional $700 worth of I-Bonds right at the end of the month guessing that the fixed rate would go down on May 1.

I was right.

And now that the markets are tanking (for the short term I’m guessing), I feel even better about this move.

401k:
Oh man… After this past week, it’s almost funny to see that it went up that much in April. I like to think that I’m still on course to eclipse the six figure mark this year but with all of the uncertainty turning for the worse of late, I’m not so sure.

Home:
Eh, whatever. I just hope the appraisal comes in around this number…

Auto 1 & Auto 2:
They still run and they’re not costing me anything. Can’t complain!

Credit Cards:
Yep, you read that right. I have a credit on my credit card.
It all stems from that sneaky exchange I made at the GAP a couple of weeks ago.

I wonder how that’d effect my credit score?

Auto Loans and Other Loans:
Zilch. Zero. Nada.

Mortgage:
Well, this could be the last month where I make this kind of progress for a few. With the re-fi in progress, I’ve put a halt to my weekly principal payments and I’m not longer an entire month ahead on my mortgage bill either.

If the re-fi goes as I hope, my new mortgage balance will be around $96k (cause the closing fees are getting rolled into it), which sucks because it’ll feel like I’m going backwards — even though I’m not. It’s one of those fuzzy math things…

If it doesn’t go through, well, I’ll hop back on the train and start up my weekly extra payments again and get myself right back on track and continue to be angry about PMI.

Posted on May 8th, 2010 at 8:28 am by Brainy Smurf
Finance, Net Worth Updates | 1 Comment »

Net Worth Update: April 2010 (-$1,521)

A day late and a dollar short…

Okay, okay, okay… It’s actually over a week late and over a grand short…

Let’s see… Where to begin?

I don’t really know. Plain and simple, I just spent too much last month and it shows in this update.

It wasn’t just the vacuum or even the car repairs, auto insurance, and business tax payments that I mentioned in that Pink Snowman post…

Yes, I’m still plugging the Pink Snowman.

He’s still awesome.

The post may have been terrible but the picture, well, a picture is worth 1000 words. That explains why the post was lacking. Seriously…

I couldn’t measure up.

Anyway, here’s how things went down:

Cash:
What can I say? I spent a lot of money in March and I’ll detail it all in the next day or so in my spending report. Really, though, this looks a lot worse than it actually was since my starting point was inflated due to having just received my tax refund.

Savings:
The interest rate sucks but I’m throwing more and more into savings each month. Someday I’ll actually do something with it!

Gov’t Bonds:
The interest rate doesn’t suck so bad here. I’ll re-evaluate where I’m going with these as the end of the month approaches and the rates are on the verge of being updated.

401k:
I think I just might hit 6-figure mark this year. Woo-hoo!

Home:
D’oh!

Auto 1 & Auto 2:
Hmmmm… now that Toyota has discontinued the Scion xA model, it appears to be going up in value! How about that… ;0)

Credit Cards, Auto Loans, and Other Loans:
Zilch. Zero. Nada.

Mortgage:
Still cranking along sending in $175 extra per week. You want to pay off your mortgage (or anything) quickly? Weekly payments are the way to do it…

Posted on April 10th, 2010 at 7:57 am by Brainy Smurf
Finance, Net Worth Updates | 1 Comment »

Net Worth Update: March 2010 (+$8,784)

First off, I want to say that I can’t *believe* that no one commented on the pink snowman…

I’m going to go on record (again) and proclaim that I think that it was super awesome.

Anyway…

February turned out to be a pretty profitable month for me but looks can be deceiving…

I mean, anytime that you suddenly find $3847 extra in your checking account, well, it’s probably going to be a good month.

Outside of that, I was “up” in every category except for the value of my home and that was only like a 0.4% drop. I can handle that.

So here’s the breakdown:

Cash:
This is all because of my tax refund. I don’t have $6k available anymore either. I spent most of it on hookers and blow.

No, actually, the details are in the previously mentioned Pink Snowman post.

Yeah, that’s right. I just plugged it again.

Savings:
Not bad. My savings rate isn’t what it used to be but I’m perfectly happy with a $1400 increase. If only ING would stop lowering their interest rates…

They’ve lowered the rate 3 times in the past month — currently 1.095%. That blows.

Gov’t Bonds:
I still don’t understand government bonds but at least, unlike last month, I earned some interest. And a lot more than 1.095% too…

401k:
Making my way towards the 6-figure mark. It’s very possible that this is the year.

Home:
I have a feeling that I’ll be hovering around that $210,000 mark for a long time. That’s okay — it’s worth more to me anyway — even in this condition.

Auto 1 & Auto 2:
I’ll never fully understand how websites come up with these numbers. My Scion xA is apparently worth $25 more these days. Must’ve been that full tank of gas that I put in right at the end of the month that boosted it’s value…

Credit Cards, Auto Loans, and Other Loans:
Zilch. Zero. Nada.

Mortgage:
Still cranking along. I’ve been debating a refinance lately. Not a cash-out version but the boring regular variety to lower my payment which, in turn, should boost my savings. Seems like a much safer route though I haven’t really looked into it very deeply.

Posted on March 6th, 2010 at 6:26 am by Brainy Smurf
Finance, Net Worth Updates | 2 Comments »

Net Worth Update: February 2010 (+$1,845)

Sorry it’s nearly a week late.

I’ve been a combination of tired, sick, busy, unmotivated, overworked, and underpaid.

Par for the course in the middle of the winter, I suppose, but now that I’ve run the numbers I’m feeling alright.

January didn’t really “feel” like a positive but somehow it turned out to be.

My 401k didn’t bail me out this time or even an upswing in the value of my home — the big movers were the contributions to my savings account and the extra payments I made on my mortgage — two things that are 100% dependent on me.

That’s pretty reassuring, you know, knowing that it’s still me in the drivers seat and that I’m making sound decisions.

Anyway, here’s the breakdown:

Cash:
I feel like I’m living paycheck-to-paycheck but somehow I managed to keep this about $2000. I think the main reason is that I got paid right at the end of the month — I’m not a fan of when biweekly paychecks land on the calendar this way. I always feel like I’m short on money when the bills come in…

Savings:
And because I felt short on money (and those nasty utility bills caught me by surprise), I had to ease off of my pace here — and even take a bit from savings to cover some of my expenses. In the end, I still ended on a very positive note.

Gov’t Bonds:
Okay, it’s official. I don’t understand government bonds at all. I didn’t earn ANY interest in January. Not one dime. Now I realize that the current rate on some of the bonds is 0% right now but I’ve got a handful that I’ve had for years that have a fixed portion that is, well, it’s not zero. So, yeah, I haven’t got a clue and for all the research I’ve done, well, it still doesn’t make sense.

401k:
Well, it couldn’t last forever, right? I think that this downturn is just the tip of the iceberg — especially after the performance this first week of February.

I’d talked about lowering my contributions — and even stopping them — for 2010 but never made the move. Now, with things falling, it’s even more unlikely for me to change anything.

Home:
Hooray! I just felt like saying that.

Auto 1 & Auto 2:
My daily driver, Auto 1, really needs an oil change. And a belt or something to be tightened. If I don’t warm it up, it squeals like a pig.

The BMW has been sitting in the garage pretty much since Duncan was born. Each year I tell myself that I’ll drive it more but I never seem to.

Hey, at least it’s not losing value and, really, now that it’s over a dozen years old, it can’t be much longer until its value starts to increase. Right? Please?

Credit Cards, Auto Loans, and Other Loans:
Zilch. Zero. Nada.

Mortgage:
I just want this thing paid off. It’s the white elephant in my pile of bills. And, yes, the mortgage is supposed to be the white elephant but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Posted on February 6th, 2010 at 7:01 am by Brainy Smurf
Finance, Net Worth Updates | 2 Comments »

Net Worth Update: January 2010 (+$7,014)

Now that’s the way to close out a year and start a new one!

This past month made it 10 consecutive months of increasing my net worth — and for many of the months by a substantial amount. It’s all good…

My last negative month was February of 2009 when my total net worth was $162288. Today, I’m $68934 wealthier.

Economy woes aside, yeah, 2009 was a very good year for me. I’m sad to see it go.

So here are this past month’s details:

Cash:
The big secret is here is that December happened to be a three-paycheck month for me. Those are always nice padding for a new worth report.

Savings:
No more Mickey-Mousing around. I was transfering every last penny that I could into savings in an attempt to get a jump of my financial goals for 2010.

I still have a looooooong way to go but I’m off and running now.

Gov’t Bonds:
Another $300 bond purchase on the last day of the year brought me right up to the $5k maximum. I’m still not seeing the fruits of the last few months worth of purchases but I’m confident that they were “good” buys in the long run.

401k:
Though I’m not earning a match anymore, I’m still contributing the maximum allowed. Not entirely sure why or how long I’ll continue to do so but for as long as I can afford it, I’m going to stay the course.

Home:
It only took a year and now my home’s value is right back to (and above) where it was when the whole mess (reportedly) began.

Auto 1 & Auto 2:
Apparently a new year isn’t favorable to used car values. Who’da thunk?

Credit Cards, Auto Loans, and Other Loans:
Zilch. Zero. Nada.

Mortgage:
Back at it — knocking an extra $175 off of the principle each week. I back off of this strategy for 3 months or so but I really only see an upside to knocking off over 1% of the balance each and every month.

The sooner the mortgage is paid off, in my opinion and for my own peace of mind, the better.

Posted on January 6th, 2010 at 1:54 pm by Brainy Smurf
Finance, Net Worth Updates | 1 Comment »

Net Worth Update: December 2009 (+$7,430)

Well, it wasn’t great news across the board but the bottom line was certainly nice.

A gain of $7430 works out to nearly three and a half percent and, at this stage, any time the gain exceeds even one percent, it’s pretty substantial.

Anyway, here are the details:

Cash:
Not much movement here but when I report my spending for the month in the coming days, well, I should be quite happy with a drop of just $465.

Savings:
I took it on the chin here this month but, nope, it wasn’t the result of a spending spree. ( I wish!)

Gov’t Bonds
This is where the money went! I hinted at it and then I did it. While I won’t reap the benefits of this move for a few months, it’ll earn me a lot more than I’d have earned keeping it in a savings account.

401k:
You know, the higher the balance gets, the more I realize how little my monthly contributions do. As I’m no longer earning an employer match, I’m beginning to think about pulling back in 2010 to further fund a few other areas instead.

Home:
While it’s not the mansion that I really want, it *is* worth over double what I owe on it.

Auto 1 & Auto 2:
Eh, whatever…

Credit Cards, Auto Loans, and Other Loans:
Zilch. Zero. Nada.

Mortgage:
Staying the course here. I should pay it down faster. I want to pay it down faster. But I think I’m just going to wait until January to start up a new and more rigid payment plan.

Posted on December 1st, 2009 at 8:14 pm by Brainy Smurf
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Net Worth Update: November 2009 (+$1,812)

It’s weird how things swing back and forth… Do numbers lie?

I mean, last month my net worth went up over $10k and I didn’t really feel like I’d made much progress.

I flat out said that I didn’t have a great month.

So you’d think that with a much smaller gain of $1812 this month (my worst showing by far since March) that I’d, you know, be all down in the dumps. Woe is me.

But this is where it gets weird — I think that I had a GREAT October.

The number might not indicate that but, really, things progressed just as I wanted them to.

Here are the details:

Cash:
Nothing much to report here but things should change for the better soon as I’ve stopped paying the mortgage from my checking account which is what this really is…

Savings:
Holy crap! Yep, I’m a sucker for saving.

Gov’t Bonds:
Hey, did you know that I-Bonds are somewhat attractive again? They’ll earn over 3% for the next six months so I might be tossing a bit more towards them in the near future. Nothing major though.

Home:
I have a hunch that this is going to sky rocket soon. The house across the street from us is about to go on the market and I’m pretty sure it’s going to command a pretty decent price — and receive it. That can only be good news for me.

Auto 1 & Auto 2:
Nothing shocking here.

Credit Cards, Auto Loans, and Other Loans:
Zilch. Zero. Nada.

Mortgage:
Another dismal showing. paying the mortgage out of my savings account now, I don’t even feel like I’m paying a mortgage at all.

That’s probably a bad thing if my ultimate goal is to pay the whole thing off…

Posted on November 3rd, 2009 at 3:33 pm by Brainy Smurf
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Net Worth Update: October 2009 (+$10,651)

How can anyone complain about a 5-figure net worth increase?

I dunno but yesterday, before actually running the numbers, I did.

Really, even though every single line is green, I don’t feel that I had that great of a month, you know, financially.

If you look at it closely, besides buying the right house 7 years ago to the day and sticking with my 401k over the past year when most folks bailed — I didn’t actually make much progress this month.

Cash:
As is the norm, I just held steady here. The bad thing is that I usually contribute a ton to savings and my mortgage and staty steady. This month, I didn’t really do that and I, well, stayed in that $1k-$2k window.

Savings:
I made two $350 tranfers late in the month to make this look respectable. ING dropped their rates again, down to 1.292%, so my rising balance isn’t exactly giving me the returns I wish it would.

Gov’t Bonds
No complaints here. I earn $7 for a balance of around $1700. If this money were in my ING savings account, it’d be earning way less than half of that.

401k:
Wow. That past 7 months have been nothing short of amazing. Though I’ve been contributing pretty heavily all along, since March, my balance has done up $29,364.

Home:
Home values are on the rebound big time. I don’t care what anyone says. I’m thankful that mine never really dropped in value so much that I had to worry anyway.

Auto 1 & Auto 2:
How my car’s value can bounce up and down so much from month to month is a mystery to me… In fact, I’m pretty sure I heard reports recently that used auto sales are way down for small cars so I’m not sure this number holds much weight.

Credit Cards, Auto Loans, and Other Loans:

Zilch. Zero. Nada.

Mortgage:
So after knocking over one percent off of the mortgage each month and breaking through the $100k mark, I took a huge step backward in September. I think it was a mistake so expect to see this stepped up again this month.

Posted on October 1st, 2009 at 8:31 pm by Brainy Smurf
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