Networth Update: May 2011 (+$5304)

Ever get the feeling that numbers lie?

Sure, my net worth gained over $5k this past month but my debts seemed set in stone. No movement there and so the month felt like, well, like whatever 30 days of treading water must feel like.

I’m not happy with it but things should turn around soon…

Cash:
Just trying to keep a nice cushion here and, so far, it’s working.

Savings:
I should probaly redirect some of this towards debt but that 5-figure balance that I had in here a few months back made me really content. I want that feeling back — even with the debt.

Gov’t Bonds:
I’m pretty sure these will earn even more now that the inflation rates have been adjusted upward. Not yet time to start buying more but perhaps after November 1st.

401k:
Sometimes I wish I could tap this — if even for one month’s worth of gains.

Home:
Eh, whatever…

Auto 1, Auto 2, and Auto 3:
Was adding a third (and technically fourth) vehicle to our fleet a good idea, financially-speaking? Probably not. But it sure makes family road trips a lot easier.

Credit Card:
Shoot me now. I haven’t posted a spending report lately but I should. It’d shame me into getting this under control. I had this moving in the right direction until the last day of the month — then I blew it.

Auto Loans and Other Loans:
Nothing to report! Woo-hoo!

Mortgage:
Same thing I’ve been saying for months… Just another minimum payment. Since the re-fi, I’ve totally flip-flopped and hopped on that bandwagon of folks that say that overpaying the mortgage is stupid. I totally agree with them — but only if your monthly payment is insanely low…

Posted on May 11th, 2011 at 7:57 pm by Brainy Smurf
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Networth Update: April 2011 (+$3059)

I guess this is why they say that wealth is really more of a feeling than just a magic number.

I mean, just this year, my net worth has grown every month but I’ll be the first to tell you that I’ve been spending more than I have…

I don’t feel like I’m on the up-and-up.

Maybe this is a good thing?

Cash:
I’m doing my best to keep this above the BoA fee threshhold at the expense of my savings account.

Savings:
As I said, contributions here have been cut back. Part of it is that I’m paying down debt more aggressively (though you’d hardly know it) and part of it is because the interest rate is so terrible.

Gov’t Bonds:
These have turned out to be a pretty decent investment. Okay — that’s an overstatement but I’ll take the free $10.

401k:
This is the big mover and shaker each month and pretty much determines whether I have an up month or a down month. Unfortunately, though, I have no access to this money so that’s probably why it feels like I’m sinking when I’m actually not. On paper, anyway…

Home:
Slowing making a come back. I’m not selling anytime in the forseeable future though so it doesn’t really matter.

Auto 1, Auto 2, and Auto 3:
What a load of crap this is, huh? Every few months these numbers make so little sense.

Credit Card:
This makes me sad. It’s so uncomforting to know that after over a year of carrying no balance and having like $20k in the bank that I’ve flipped upside down. I know I can dig out of this — it’s just not something I’m looking forward to. Again.

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

Mortgage:
Same thing I’ve been saying for months… Just another minimum payment. Since the re-fi, I’ve totally flip-flopped and hopped on that bandwagon of folks that say that overpaying the mortgage is stupid. I totally agree with them — but only if your monthly payment is insanely low…

Posted on April 16th, 2011 at 6:58 am by Brainy Smurf
Finance, Net Worth Updates | 3 Comments »

Networth Update: March 2011 (+$14403)

Wow, it’s like something from the land from the land of Honalee or something.

I mean, I didn’t think a car purchase would, well, boost my net worth any. In fact, I thought it’d result in a negative month…

Anyway…

Cash:
It’s just plain magic that this is where it is — or maybe it’s that the tax return refunds came in?

Savings:
I tapped into my savings account to buy a car last month. Hey — that’s what the savings account is for, right?

Gov’t Bonds:
Chuggin’ along a few bucks at a time…

401k:
It’s really becoming more and more clear to me that it takes money to make money. A 3.5% gain doesn’t really seem very impressive until it equates to over $4k. Unfortunately, sometimes the drops outweigh the gains but not this month…

Home:
Hmmm… Maybe it’ll hit the $2k mark again? Actually, Zillow has it listed at $206500 right now and they’ve no idea what’s been done to the interior… I’m just sayin’…

Auto 1, Auto 2, and Auto 3:
Okay, this is where the big gain is this month.

Credit Card:
Am I still on track to get this back to zero by the end of the year? Maybe. That’s all I have to say for now…

Auto Loans and Other Loans:
Even with a new (to me) car in the fleet — there are still no auto loans. Woo-hoo!

Mortgage:
Same thing I’ve been saying for months… Just another minimum payment. Since the re-fi, I’ve totally flip-flopped and hopped on that bandwagon of folks that say that overpaying the mortgage is stupid. I totally agree with them — but only if your monthly payment is insanely low…

Posted on March 3rd, 2011 at 5:49 am by Brainy Smurf
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Networth Update: February 2011 (+$6568)

Well, well… 2011 is certainly off to a good start from my perspective…

Okay, maybe it’s just my financial perspective, but still…

Cash:
This was boosted by a $2k transfer I made from savings to prevent BoA from hitting me with another $14 maintenance fee.

Savings:
And this category was hurt by that same $2k transfer.

Gov’t Bonds:
Almost all of my holdings are still earning over 2% and I really want to put this balance over $10k but anything I buy now will earn practically nothing…

401k:
Yeah! More money I have no access too!

Home:
Seems the value has been pretty steady for years now. I’d say that’s about what I expected when I bought the place.

Auto 1 & Auto 2:
Apparently 13 year old convertibles go up in value in Feburary. Who’d have thought?

Credit Card:
That’s what I’m talking about… The plan is in action now and the balances are in free fall. Maybe that’s overstating it a bit but this is nearly a 10% drop from last month’s total.

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

Mortgage:
Same thing I’ve been saying for months… Just another minimum payment. Since the re-fi, I’ve totally flip-flopped and hopped on that bandwagon of folks that say that overpaying the mortgage is stupid. I totally agree with them — but only if your monthly payment is insanely low…

Posted on February 1st, 2011 at 1:31 pm by Brainy Smurf
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Networth Update: January 2011 (+$7686)

A pretty nice gain to start the new year!

While my balance sheet isn’t quite as nice as it was at the start of 2010, as long as the trend is upwards it’s all good…

Here’s the breakdown:

Cash:
Things aren’t always as they appear. This number is where it is because I got paid on December 30th and didn’t have time to move it to savings or towards the credit card balance yet. Already, now, just two days later the balance is a good $1200 lower.

Savings:
I’ve been continually contributing to my savings accounts on a two-times-per-week basis for a few months now but I moved over $2k out this month to pay my property taxes.

Gov’t Bonds:
I hope the variable return rate on these increases this coming May. With mortgage rates finally ticking back up, hopefully these will follow suit. If they do, I’ll be back in the game buying up the maximum dollar amount allowed in 2011.

401k:
For the year, I contributed just over $12k. On the year, though, I’m up nearly $26k. I often debated stopping my contributions in 2010 but doubling your money without hurting the wallet at all is pretty good incentive to stick with it.

Home:
I’d though that the new tax accessment would have influenced this number a lot more than it did. Turns out, the assessment only makes up a tiny portion of the calculation I used to guesstimate this number each month.

Auto 1 & Auto 2:
No worries, they’re paid for.

Credit Cards:
Ugh — so mad at myself for not putting a dent in the balance. December was a bit of a funk and this wasn’t a priority.

Still, I made some pretty large payments along the way and *thought* I kept my spending in check, credit card wise anyway, but apparently not.

I’ll have a new (old) strategy underway this week to get things rolling in the right direction so I can repeat past successes. Quickly.

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

Mortgage:
Same thing I’ve been saying for months… Just another minimum payment. Since the re-fi, I’ve totally flip-flopped and hopped on that bandwagon of folks that say that overpaying the mortgage is stupid. I totally agree with them — but only if your monthly payment is insanely low…

Posted on January 2nd, 2011 at 10:00 am by Brainy Smurf
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Networth Update: December 2010 (+$215)

How it ended up being a positive month is truly a mystery.

I mean, it started so well but completely fell apart at the end — which is why I’m weeks late with this update.

Cash:
I’m officially cash poor and back to living paycheck-to-paycheck. Okay, the situation isn’t *really* that dire but things are a bit tight right now in the checking account…

Savings:
Obviously I contributed pretty heavily here. Problem is, nearly all of my contributions this month will come right back out to pay my end of the year property taxes so it’s really more of a lateral move than anything else.

Gov’t Bonds:
Yeah, whatever… Another $15 bucks.

401k:
This is keeping my numbers up. Don’t get me wrong, though, I’m thrilled that I’ve exceeded the $100k mark…

Home:
I’m blaming the cold weather for the drop. Yep, definitely the weather.

Auto 1 & Auto 2:
Having just put in another $1100 into my daily driver, well, I should be good to go for another three or four years without having a car payment. That is, until we go out and buy a minivan…

Credit Cards:
These are moving in the wrong direction. They shouldn’t be but… they are. The good news is that $15k of it is at zero percent for another 5 months. An additional $7k is locked in at zero percent for another 11 months.

Sucks to have balances like this but I’m not anywhere near falling back into the routine of paying hundreds of dollars each month in finance charges alone. I’m confident the balances will start to fall rapidly in 2011.

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

Mortgage:
Just another minimum payment. Since the re-fi, I’ve totally flip-flopped and hopped on that bandwagon of folks that say that overpaying the mortgage is stupid. I totally agree with them — but only if your monthly payment is insanely low…

Posted on December 15th, 2010 at 7:47 pm by Brainy Smurf
Finance, Net Worth Updates | 2 Comments »

Net Worth Update: November 2010 (-$12,111)

Aye yai yai! Look at that credit card debt?!

I haven’t been this deep in the hole for years — I just did a quick browse of all of my previous net worth updates and I haven’t been this deep since I started this blog.

Ouch. Seems I’ll be back in digging-out mode for a few, um, years again…

The good news is that, though it’s hard to beleive at this junction, I’ve reduced my spending drastically since the last time (between 2006 and 2008) I’ve had to tackle something this large *and* I’ve got some emergency cash available — I’m not “just” getting by.

I’m doing alright.

That — and I’ve done this before. I can do it again.

Here’s the breakdown:

Cash:
Nice! I finished up three bucks!

Savings:
This drop stems from the final payment to the contractor for the $40k worth of work we had done on the house. Sure — it’s thrown my finances into a spiral but the end result was worth it.

I’m still unsure if I’ll leave what’s left in here alone or use it to start paying down the credit card debt. I’ve gotta be honest — it hurt to see this number fall below the 5-figure mark. In fact, it hurt more than seeing my credit card balances swell beyond the $20k mark.

Gov’t Bonds:
I haven’t bought any of these for 7 or 8 months now. The fixed return rate on any new bonds, as of November 1st, is 0% so I don’t see myself buying any more this year. The return rate that I’m receiving is pretty decent though so I won’t be selling any of these to pay of debt.

401k:
My 401k balance finally broke the $100k threshhold this month and then kept on going. It wasn’t my best month ever but theres something comforting about a fully vested 6-figure balance.

Home:
Don’t care about the drop. It still smells fresh and new — even though it’s 135 years old.

Auto 1 & Auto 2:
No complaints here.

Credit Cards:
Okay, so you might be wondering what happened? I told everyone about that 0% offer we used to help finance the renovation back in May but there must be something else going on here…

There is — it’s called a leather couch and a big television. Yep, even though the final payment to the contractor was made, there were some lingering expenses that were necessary. The good news is that I don’t foresee any additional large purchases in 2010.

This balance will start to fall. In a hurry.

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

Mortgage:
Just another minimum payment. Since the re-fi, I’ve totally flip-flopped and hopped on that bandwagon of folks that say that overpaying the mortgage is stupid. I totally agree with them — but only if your monthly payment is insanely low…

Posted on November 6th, 2010 at 6:37 am by Brainy Smurf
Finance, Net Worth Updates | 3 Comments »

Net Worth Update: October 2010 (+$3,691)

Rolling along…

The numbers didn’t get too crazy this past month and I’d expect them to start to change for the better over this next month as we make the final payment for the renovation (updated photos coming soon) and probably make a few large furniture purchases too.

Last hurrah of sorts…

Here’s the breakdown:

Cash:
The big drop stems from another $6k payment to the contractor.

In total, we’ve made payments of $30k so far. I’m expecting to make one more payment of around $6k upon completion — so I’d better initiate a transfer from savings pretty quickly!

Savings:
It’s been a few months since I last left my savings account alone. September was one of them — just deposits this month. Can’t wait until that’s the norm again.

Gov’t Bonds:
Seventeen bucks in interest will do just fine. These pay so much better than my savings account these days that I’d be foolish to sell them.

401k:
For a second, I really thought that I would surpass the six-figure mark! Came within about $700 before receding but I’m pretty certain it’ll get there in October. In my head I’ve been telling myself that I’d lower (or eliminate) my contributions once I hit $100k. Still considering it.

Home:
Could care less about a drop here. The place looks great. Especially when compared to what it used to look like…

Auto 1 & Auto 2:
Auto 1 still gets me from point a to point b. Auto 2 still looks nice in the garage. No complaints here.

Credit Cards:
Slowly chipping away at that 0% balance. Ideally, I’ll have enough in savings by April of 2011 to pay it all off before we’re hit with any interest charges.

It’s definitely do-able but please don’t hold me to it.

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

Mortage:
Just another minimum payment. Since the re-fi, I’ve totally flip-flopped and hopped on that bandwagon of folks that say that overpaying the mortgage is stupid. I totally agree with them — but only if your monthly payment is insanely low

Posted on October 2nd, 2010 at 6:37 am by Brainy Smurf
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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
Finance, Net Worth Updates | 1 Comment »

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
Finance, Net Worth Updates | 1 Comment »

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
Finance, Net Worth Updates | 1 Comment »