Let’s try this
How about I try blogging on the go with my phone? This may make it easier to come back…
*sigh* happy new year
Oh the horror!
The triumphant spirit I had this time last year has given way to contrition this year. If I don’t want to feel like this in 2011, some things are going to have to change.
I made a deal with myself that I could keep my head in the sand until the end of December. I allowed myself to turn a blind eye to the hard numbers, buy whatever Christmas presents I wanted, eat lunch out if I felt like it, ignore contributing to my retirement account or my stock purchases, ignore my debt reduction goals… I did all of that. I am done with that. This has been such a mediocre year! I feel like I haven’t moved forward and like I’ve abandoned my goals.
I’ve been so busy with my new work hours and other activities, and I used that as an excuse to slack off on my diligence with checking the numbers and blogging about my progress or the lack thereof. I even finished 2009 with credit card debt because of a house improvement and a very expensive engagement gift I wanted to buy.
Which brings me to my newest motivation – marriage and babies are only as imminent as my (our) ability to handle our money correctly and progressively. I have a renewed commitment to debt reduction. The credit card debt will be gone by the end of the month. The medical bills will be gone by June. The car note will be gone by June 2011, and only because we have to save for our ceremony, since we will not incur debt for it. by June 2011 – mark my words – my only debt will be the mortgage and the student loans, provided the Lord helps us to avoid emergencies.
Regarding savings, I have found that it’s harder to keep the money I save. This year, I wound up spending what I saved so that I can avoid using credit cards and avoid raiding the savings I had already. I’m not completely uncomfortable with this, but I would like to increase my savings. So, I’m counting on the 7.6% raise I got at the end of the year and the 401K program at work, which kicks in for me in a few months, to help me feel like I’m making saving progress.
My challenges to debt reduction and savings will be home decorations (we’ve made improvements/repairs but hardly any decorations) and the wedding ceremony. I hope to do everything for the cheapest prices we can get, and I’m willing to compromise on those things in order to achieve the goals I want. I have to use better time management and abandon my excuses if I want to do that! So here goes…
Oh and one more thing, I told myself that I would only update the value of my home once a year, so there it is. My actual net worth progress has been kind of stagnant, and the bump seen this month is due primarily to the increase in the market value of the house (which I listed conservatively last year).
back on the saddle
As my latest net worth update says, “I have finally included the doggone medical bills. (In “other debts.”) So there, $2000 more debt. And it’s taking a while to pay off because I have other things to take care of – house repairs and decoration, mainly. I’ve had very few indulgences because I know I have all this debt. I know it’s been a while since I’ve updated, but honestly, I’ve been discouraged by the slow progress with paying off debt and building up my investments. Most of the progress you see has just come from making minimum payments and saving to use cash instead of credit. This update is as of the middle of October. It’ll be another month-and-a-half before I do another update on the net worth, at the end of November.”
Anyway, this blog has been calling me back. It’s good for me to see where I stand, and I’m really glad I forced myself to do this update and see the numbers. It’s really not as bad as I thought it would be – not as bad as it could be. But I’m not finished with home improvements. In the next month or so, I’m going to be spending even more on the house repairs. Right now, the name of the game is to at least maintain and not slip backwards. That means continuing to pay in cash, avoid new debt, and pay down on debts, if only the minimums.
I fell off the record keeping horse – doing nothing more than balancing the checkbook. But it really does help to know your situation and keep tabs on it, so here I am, hopping back in the saddle.
bad girl
Things are crazy. I have more medical bills than I thought I would have – payment plans out the wazoo. Mister Ant and I had a cash flow problem that has since been fixed. We bought some electronics. We took a weekend trip. Home improvements in the works. We have finally started to use our central air. I did a little shopping.
Part of the reason I haven’t done my net worth update for July, three weeks into August, is that I know I don’t want to see the number. I know that isn’t right, but it’s where my head is now. I was just so happy to see that I’d finally recovered from getting the house. I don’t want to see what the medical bills have done to my progress. I don’t want to hold myself accountable for missing July’s contributions to my IRA and savings. I don’t want to deal with the fact that I aimed to pay off my car and one of my student loans and yet I haven’t paid any more than the minimum required payment on either of them.
I’m eating, my bills are paid, and I can buy things I want from time to time. My credit isn’t destroyed. I know my checking account balance. For now, that’s all I can handle.
pocket money
The concept of pocket money is growing on me. I took $60 out of the ATM, ’cause going to the ATM is a chore, and every once in a while, you do need cash. I used to hate going to the ATM. If I carry some cash, I won’t have to go. Duh. My problem has always been that I spend the cash and have no idea where it went. The trick is to continue to use my debit card for stuff I don’ t HAVE to use cash for. That way the cash won’t run out before I can get the time to go to the stupid ATM again.
I know I’m late with the June monthly update – my apologies. I should be able to get it in by the end of the week…
let’s get it started
That was a nice blogging vacation. Sorry I was out, I needed a break.
Here’s what’s on my financial mind:
I’m getting married this year. We are eloping, then saving for a second ceremony and reception, to be held when we can afford to foot the bill up front.
I’m finally going to get my bedroom decorated – everything but the furniture. We are not buying furniture until after we get the eloping out of the way.
I’m paying off those stupid medical bills. I found out that I am responsible for the balances on those bills. I won’t let that debt hang over my head any longer than I have to.
I’m making some necessary improvements to the house. We’re getting quotes from a contractor. These include porch updates, a new back door, and an automatic garage door opener.
Because of all of the above – except the bedroom decorating, which isn’t very expensive – my goals from the beginning of the year will be compromised. I like the idea of doing what I set out to do, so I will not be happy when I look up on December 31, 2009 and see that I still owe money for things I thought I would have paid off, or that I don’t have as much in my retirement account as I expected to have, but sometimes life calls for a little flexibility. So, here I am, being flexible. Besides, I will be happy to spend New Year’s Eve with my husband, one year after celebrating New Year’s Eve as a homeowner. I’ll be happy with my refurbished porch and my nifty back door and with another year of no consumer or medical debt hanging over my head. I’m eager to get started.
jumped off
If everyone joined Twitter off a bridge, would you?
I’m tweeting @sistah_ant.
Here’s the link: http://twitter.com/sistah_ant
changing perspective
I had a goal to have $10,000 in my emergency fund. I created a progress bar that started at $5,000, which was the amount I had at the beginning of 2009 when I bought the house, and ended at the $10,000 goal. Technically, I’ve already surpassed that amount if you count the $7,500 that I received as a Homeowner’s Tax Credit for buying a home last year. What I’ve been most concerned with lately is getting my e-fund back to the $5,000 that it had at the time I bought the house. That amount, combined with the $7,500 would give me a total savings of $12,500. I can live with that for now. It’s over six months of expenses for me. So I am changing my progress bar to amend the goal from $10,000 to $12,500, and I’ll include the $7,500 in my progress amount. As I pay my e-fund back, I’ll get closer to $12,500, and when that happens, I will have met my immediate goal.
However, that will by no means be the end of my saving. The $7,500 is called a tax credit, but it still has to be paid back to the IRS, starting two years from now. I feel okay with that because as long as I don’t blow the money, this is a secured debt, meaning that I have the money itself as collateral – kinda like how a car loan is secured debt because the value of the car secures the loan. If worse comes to worst, if a car loan can’t be paid when it’s due, the car can be taken to clear the debt. Same thing with the $7,500 sitting in my savings account. Provided that I leave the money in an account to gain interest per my plan, when the IRS wants their money, I can use the money they gave me to pay them back. (Theoretically. The IRS wants their money in payroll deductions over the next fifteen years. I have no intention of having a debt hang over my head for fifteen years, but this is off-topic and for another post.) My point is that if something were to happen, and I had to run through my $12,500 savings, cutting into what the IRS lent me, all or part of my debt to them would no longer be secured. Spending that money would change the situation so that I would have to come up with the money the IRS is owed.
It’s just like putting something on a credit card that you don’t have the money for and hoping you’ll have the money to pay it back later. Most people who’ve ever had to pay a minimum balance know how dangerous that can be.
This is why I won’t stop saving when I reach my $12,500 goal. I want to have as much money in my savings as possible. However, my primary focus will switch to debt reduction when I reach that goal. I just can’t stand to have that student loan and car loan debt hanging around – it must go! So that’s why my progress bar for the e-fund looks different.
living just enough
Oh yeah, I’ve been slacking. Late posts, no monthly net worth update – oh it’s just a mess.
Sorry! I’ve been busy.
Over the weekend I helped to prepare taxes as part of the Campaign for Working Families like I did last year. Between that and Sistah Butterfly’s baby shower and some overdue R&R, which is a priority I had to force, I just haven’t had time to focus on blogging.
There’s a lot on my mind. First, so far as I know, I won’t be employed by the middle of the month. For real this time. Also, I’ve got plumbing work happening in the bathroom soon. I’m long overdue for a mani, pedi, and my first professional haircut. I’ve got to file my taxes. I also have to get that will drafted by the end of this month. We’re still unpacking. Oh, and I’m trying to lose weight so I won’t be a centimeter away from having to replace all my pants, LOL! I’m not overly stressed, but I am busy!
I hope to be back with a net worth update soon.
the moving hustle
Dear readers, I apologize for going silent for so many days. This is shaping up to be a most extra-ordinary week. Mister Ant and I have been painting ($100 for paint and supplies), packing ($25 for boxes), and preparing (signing up for a security system monitoring contract) for The Big Move on Saturday.
I have also been on the phone a lot, again, calling plumbers. This leak in my living room ceiling looks like it’s going to require major work [read: cut into my emergency fund by at least a thousand dollars]. I’m getting second and third opinions from plumbers. I’ve also been on the phone with my insurance company to see what they’ll cover. This issue won’t be resolved until the end of the month. I was bummed about it before, but I’m okay now. This. Is. What. Emergency. Funds. Are. For.
One good thing: my best friend and her family offered me some free furniture. I’m going to take a look and see how much money I can save, at least in the short-term, by taking her up on her offer. With any luck, I could get several rooms’ worth.
