Saturday, December 31, 2011

Dividends



I'll throw up my dividend chart too. I love the growth :) I know, it's a small amount. But we're moving in the right direction.

Monthly Update

Pay off student loan - 21.2% (Up .4%)

What I call my emergency fund is definitely up over the top of my goal so I'm dropping that one off the list. The fence fund as I believe I mentioned last month was wiped out for the cat. I haven't yet started rebuilding that one so I dropped it off. I don't think I'll put it back up. I'm hoping for a tax refund that covers it in one swoop. That leaves the list pretty paltry, especially since I'm making almost-minimum payments on the student loan. I'll throw my 2012 goal up next time for good measure. I spend all of my "fat" this month between the aforementioned cat and also I got a good deal on a tv so I used the paycheck leftovers for that. I'm ready to dig in for the new year! I've been pretty spendy lately..

Friday, December 30, 2011

Yearly Goals

2011

1. Net worth = $45,000.

2. Pay back what I owe myself - around $700 to my Roth and around $900 to my savings.

Done & done!

2012

1. Put $4,000 into my Roth.

There are no net worth goals this year. I realized I don't like those goals because I have so little direct control. The stock market can swing so much, and even if I ultimately chose the right mutual funds for me, it wouldn't matter that year, I would suck, or rock, depending which way the wind blew. So anyway, I'm excited about the new year. And tax season is coming, one of my favorite times of the year. Happy New Year!

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Monthly Update

Pay off student loan - 20.8% (Up 1.2%)
E-fund 2 - 116.8% (Up 19%)
Fence - 77.8% (Up 26.1%)

The student loan goal is up a little extra as I made November and December payments this month. I hit my goal on the back up emergency fund, woo! I shifted some of my primary emergency fund into the backup because of my last post - moving $1000 from a CD to a GNMA bond fund. But also the market bounced back a little bit. So, I'll be taking that off the monthly update. I might add a few dollars to the primary fund over the next couple of months but it seems as though I had that one slightly overstocked in cash equivalents. As well, the time has come to use the "fence" fund on the cat, so that goal will be starting over..lol :) Hopefully third time is the charm on that one. If nothing else, January is a 3 pay check month and in February I should be getting a hopefully decent tax refund. Between those things, I think the fence fund should be knocked flat. Woo hoo! I'm not sure what goal will be next. I'll be thinking about that..

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

CDs

Happy Thanksgiving kids! A day early. But I already celebrated :)

So I just got the note that my CD is coming up for renewal soon. I can lock in .6% for another year. Boy I can just hardly contain my excitement. I'm thinking I will move that money to the GNMA bond fund. I put a couple of hundred dollars in GNMA awhile ago while I debated if I felt comfortable putting more there. The answer is yes! The risk? This is part of my emergency fund and it's not federally insured like the CD was. But still, the risk remains relatively low. For me I think the small risk is worth the extra gains.

In other news, my cat was approved for the expensive treatment. Bye-bye fence fund. He goes next week, and I still don't have the total. Thankfully it's going on the credit card so I have a few weeks to shift my dollars around. I am excited though. I will think of it as an early Christmas present, to both of us.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Monthly Update

Pay off student loan - 19.6% (Up .4%)
E-fund 2 - 97.8% (Up 9.6%)
Fence - 77.8% (Up 26.1%)

Happy Halloween! I just finished sending the Trick-or-treaters on their way. I had 51 this year. Previous years yielded 90-100 so we're down quite a bit this year. More leftovers for me, I suppose. I did miss the first half hour and perhaps a school night drove some kids away. I love this time of year. The start of the fun holidays ending with a fresh start, the new year, and a tax refund. I do enjoy the changing seasons and deal with the cold. The one thing I really don't like is the lack of day light, but what's a person to do? And as much as I enjoy the holidays, I seriously can't believe the Christmas commercials already. Come on! :)

On the finance front, things went well. I think the stock market bounced back a bit, leading to the nice increase in the e-fund 2. It wasn't because I pumped money in or anything. Although I did get a present from work in the form of a check. I will send $900 to e-fund 2 and I'm thinking about spending the other $100 on a used DS Lite and a couple of games. Still debating. It's that time of year again, the time of year I settle in to play some video games. They pretty much lay dormant all summer. I need to clear out a few Wii games also that have been rejected. That might cover some of it.

The fence/cat fund got a nice little bump. I was hoping to push more in there but I forgot about getting some work done on the tree this fall. I have a couple of weeks before my cat can even be qualified for the treatment, in the least. We might have to wait longer, depending on how his bloodwork goes later this month. I just want to do it and be done but I know that's not the best way. Aside from the fuzzy time line, the costs are quite fuzzy as well. I hate things like that..lol.

Friday, September 30, 2011

Monthly Update

I think this is the third month in a row my net worth has gone down. If the stock market would stop it's descent I'd be fine :)

Pay off student loan - 19.2% (Up .5%)
E-fund 2 - 88.2% (Down 2.7%)
Fence - 51.7% (Up 4.8%)

Slow and steady progress on the fence and student loan. Unfortunately I think the fence fund will be re-purposed yet again. The cat was diagnosed with an old-cat condition (hyperthyroidism) that could be cured with an expensive treatment. I'm game. He's only 10, and if he lives another 3-4 years, the "cure" will be cheaper than ongoing medication and frequent blood testing. Plus no pills and no frequent car rides. Win-win-win. :) He is on a medication trial now to see how he does. Sometimes hyperT can mask other problems. If the trial goes okay, I'm hoping for the "cure" in the next few months. And honestly, when I add up what I've spent on the other furry problem child, this is a fraction of it.

My mom is good at asking if the pets are worth it. That's a loaded question, isn't it? If I were eating rice and beans and couldn't enjoy my life or take care of my own needs, then no. But I'm fortunate to have a decent job (love my job, yay) and instead of cable or a gas guzzling SUV or lots of electronic toys or what have you, I have my furry kids. Plus it's not cancer or some other life ending disease. Also if I gave up on these guys, they would soon be replaced. That sounds harsh, but I'm not one to be without pets. Then there's no guarantee that the new ones won't be just as bad..lol. So yes - at this point in my life, with this context, they are worth it to me.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Monthly Update

Pay off student loan - 18.7% (Up .4%)
E-fund 2 - 90.9% (Down 8.1%)
Fence - 46.9% (Up 38.8%)

The fence fund is cruising along great. I was planning to have the fence put in next month but.. The back up emergency fund took a nice digger. It looks like I should have some decent money left over after bills this month. I should really probably have the extra sent to something in efund2. When I think about it now, if I put the fence in this fall, my dog would probably appreciate it for a whole month and a half before the snow flies. Once the snow flies she spends 90% of her outside time on the shoveled areas..lol. So maybe I should just wait until next spring. Plus at that point I can re-evaluate the water situation. The past few years I've had a standing pond in the backyard for several weeks in spring. Sometimes it would reoccur in summer as well. This year I pumped the spring pond out over 3 days. My neighbors altered their grading since then and so far, I've not had anymore standing water over summer (neither have they). If I still get a big puddle in the spring, I think it makes sense to re-grade the yard before putting in the fence... Although I cross my fingers that won't be needed.

Also I'm really starting to drool over new windows. They are needed. I think that will be after the fence and the efund2. It should really be before the fence but you know.. :) I have a few that are cracked, some rotted shut, some that are not at all air tight. In fact, most fail the paper test. I know they don't pay for themselves well in terms of energy savings but it would still be nice to have functioning windows. The energy savings can be a bonus.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Pay off student loan - 18.3% (Up 1%)
E-fund 2 - 99.0% (Up 3.7%)

New goal -
Fence - 8.1%

Man, I was really hoping to knock out the backup emergency fund this month. So close. It's a 3 paycheck month this month. I was hoping to put that one toward the fence fund but I may have to split it between E-fund 2 and the fence fund. I can't get the fence for a couple of months anyway so I might as well.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Monthly Update

Oops, skipped a month or two in there. So the numbers below are two months of progress.

Pay off student loan - 17.3% (Up 1.2%)
E-fund 2 - 96.3% (Up 4.7%)

Getting close on the backup emergency fund. That's a good feeling. Inching along the student loan, adding an extra $10 a month most months.

I got a raise/promo at work. So far it has been eaten up by stuff.. I went on vacation and had an awesome time. Kind of pricy but once in a lifetime sort of thing and totally worth it. (Planned before the raise, btw). Then we added to endless vet visits with some expected and some unexpected visits. I occasionally consider adding another pet to my family but the vet bills are enough to make me put that thought away. I'm very thankful that we finally found a treatment that works on my problem dog (bad allergies) and I think the treatment should be almost over soon. I'll have a few extra dollars in my pocket when we aren't going twice a month for that. But I must emphasize how thankful I am to have found something that works. If you have an allergy pet, look for BICOM therapy. Crazy but it works. And holy cow, cheaper than all the traditional stuff we tried. I'm curious why we don't offer that for humans in the US. Anyway, carry on.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Monthly Update

Pay off student loan - 16.1% (Down .2%)
E-fund 2 - 91.6% (Up 12.6%)
Put $2500 back into house fund - 100% Woohoo!
Put $768 into Roth IRA - 100% Woohoo!

My state and federal refunds came in the last 2 weeks or so. I put half into savings and my Roth to complete two goals above. I put the other half into savings temporarily 'cause I will be spending it within a few months.

My student loan didn't get a payment since last month, when I made two payments, so the balance is actually up a bit = backwards progress.

I consider my Roth part of my second emergency fund so that's why the nice jump there. I didn't realize I would be so close to completing that goal.

I'm not sure what's next. As I've stated about a gazillion times before, I would like to pay off my student loan, but financially that's not the smartest move. But the other goals I have in mind would be even less in my financial interest. The next two items I would like for the house are a fence and new windows. I'm not sure which comes first. And I want to continue putting money in my Roth as I save for household items. So I will have to decide on my next goals. But I don't think the student loan will be getting much action.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Bank Fees, Ouch!

I just got slapped with fees. To be fair, I'm sure I was notified of the new changes. That letter (from September) is possibly still sitting in my mail pile. But I just got hit with $10 for not keeping $1000 in my checking. And another $9 for my transactions ($.50 per transx). Geez, they're getting harsh. I wonder if they know, though. My first reaction (as with Chase) is to close the account. I have enough, and if you're going to be a pain in my backside, I don't need you. How does that help them? Do enough people not close their account and just hand over $20 in fees every month? Not in my lifetime. My other option I suppose is to consolidate accounts so I have a bigger buffer in there. But now they've gotten under my skin. I've had that account for like 10 years now and never once misbehaved with it, and this is how you treat me? Pfft.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Credit Scores

Transunion FICO - 786 (I love you Transunion. 800 here I come!)
Equifax FICO - 768

It's an addiction. I finally canceled my Scorewatch subscription but there I just went and spent $30 for my scores. Hopefully that will hold me for 6 months or a year. I am positively done opening new accounts so my scores should only go up from here.

Charity

I was reading a blog post on another financial blog regarding how much of your income should be given to charity. I just did some calculations and last year I gave less than 1%. I think. I don't track the money I spend feeding the foster animals. But it's still probably less than 1%. In my world, I cover my back end before I try to cover others. In my world, owning 5% of my home and 16% of my education means my ass is not covered. In my world, not maxing out my Roth each year means my ass is not covered. On the other hand, I do enjoy life. I go out for lunch one or two times a week. I'm plotting the most expensive vacation of my life for this year. I make cosmetic updates on my home as I deem fit. And then I think that there are people out there that can't afford to eat. But even the prisoners get cable tv, and I don't get tv, right? This year I think I will take up monthly giving again. But it will still probably be less than 1% of my income..haha. I think that's okay for me, for now.

Oh that note, I watched an interesting documentary last night called Daughter from Danang. I'm not up on history, it was one of my least favorite topics in school. Something tells me they wouldn't have covered this matter anyway. Apparently in the 70s, someone convinced the Vietnamese that any mixed race children (1 part Viet, 1 part American soldier) would be killed. The solution was to turn your kid over for adoption, knowing the children would be airlifted to the US. Operation BabyLift. So these children make it to the US and all they can talk about is their families. Where's my family? Someone informed the people in charge that the children had families, but somehow the people in charge didn't care one bit.

This documentary followed one of these children. She was adopted by a single lady. The single lady adopted one of these children because US orphans weren't available to single parents at the time. She didn't really seem like she even wanted to be a parent so I'm not sure what she was thinking. So this doc checks in on this lady many years later. The adopted lady, Heidi I believe, talked little about her childhood but to say initially she was miserable. Later she adjusted just fine. But she always instructed to tell people she was born in the US. Her mother didn't allow her to talk about her history. She mentioned briefly that her mother's version of spanking included belts or whatever was nearby at the time, and that there wasn't much affection, rarely did anyone tell her she was loved. In college, things went really south. Heidi came home 10 minutes late and was locked out for the night. After that, her mom said follow the rules or pretend you never knew me. Heidi moved on. Since then, over the years, she's tried to reconnect with adoptive mom but adoptive mom won't have any of it.

Anyway, she decides she wants to meet her biological mom, expecting to find the unconditional love she's been looking for. She travels to Vietnam and the first day is bliss, besides the language barrier of course. But after that it goes south. She feels smothered because they don't leave her side. Worse is that in Vietnam, apparently, they don't hesitate to ask family for money. So her sister, whom she had only met days earlier, asks her for money. Heidi gives her money and the response is a request for more money. While put off by the forwardness, she gets over it quickly. But then on the last day, the family is all gathered up. The brother asks Heidi to take the mom back to the US. See, the siblings have taken care of her for 20 years, now it's Heidi's turn. When Heidi looks visibly upset, he revises his request, that perhaps she could just send a monthly stipend. Still very upset. Leaves Vietnam with a bad taste in her mouth. Following that, every time they write to her, they request money. It's like they just see her as money bags. In fact, the sister makes a comment that makes me thing she resents Heidi. Like Heidi was given this great opportunity, and now she needs to pay for having had that great opportunity.

I don't know how I would feel about that. Part of me says if I could afford a small amount, and it would go a long way for them, maybe. But could you imagine? In a few years it would be a bigger request because now one of the children wants this or that or now mom needs this or that. It would be like a black hole. And maybe that's all you know of them. She remarked that the door is closed on them, not locked, but closed. She didn't even want to find her dad after that, afraid of opening a new can of worms.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Monthly Update

Pay off student loan - 16.3% (Up 1.4%)
E-fund 2 - 79% (Up 9.2%)
Put $2500 back into house fund - 63.8% (no movement)
Put $768 into Roth IRA - 16% (Up 5.6%)

Looks good to me. :) So does my tax work. I should probably adjust my withholdings so I can use the money throughout the year, but it's nice getting a big present at the beginning of the year. I plan to save half and spend half. But first I need one more 1099 Div and of course Feb 14th has to come and go.. Good luck with your taxes!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Good-bye Car Loan

Woohoo!! The car loan is meeting it's death tomorrow. I was going to pay it off yesterday but I had already met my limit for transactions in a month. It's on a Citi card and apparently you can only make 4 payments in a month. Who knew? But tomorrow I will make my last payment. So exciting. Like a $200/month raise. Can't beat that.

I haven't decided what to do with my money. I was going to work on paying back my savings ($900) and putting some in my Roth ($700) but a preliminary look at my taxes suggests I'll have that covered no problem with my refunds. Hm. What will be next? I will aim to put half in my Roth but I think I will save the other half for perhaps a home improvement sorta goal. Not sure. The next ones are kind of big in terms of costs. Windows & fence are two of the next things I'd like to do.