Temporary Transfer from Savings

July 28, 2007
I had to break down and transfer money from savings this month. UGH! Not a pleasant thing to have to do but at least I had the savings to do it. My plan is to transfer it back in four weeks. I have plotted my income and outgo for the next few weeks and I think that it is possible. Up until this transfer it had been many months since I had to spend any savings.
My net worth this month will take a hit due to the savings transfer and the stock market. I have not had the heart to look at my investment accounts. I know I just need to hang tough and not do anything. I will publish my July net worth in a few days for all to see.

Credit Card Cash Offers

Why is it that I always get “convenience” checks from my credit card companies in the mail. Every week I get new offers. Maybe beacause in the past when I ran really short on money to pay bills I would use them. It is an expensive way to get money. Not “pawn shop” expensive but expensive none the less. I have built up a little savings which I helping with my temporary shortage this month so I am not tempted by the credit card offers.
They charge 3% right off the top with no maximum. YIKES! Using savings will not be free either as I will have to for go the interest I would have earned for the time is it out of my account…but that is still way cheaper than the alternative. Having savings is a nice thing.

Still In NYC

July 17, 2007
I have not been able to write for the past few days due to my trip to NYC. When I get back to Atlanta I will update my debt chart as I have paid off a little more this month.

Trip to NYC

July 16, 2007
I have just spent the weekend in NYC and will be here through Thursday. I honestly don’t know have the average person could afford to live here. The city is great but the cost of food and housing are higher than what I am used to. I guess I had better stay in Atlanta :)

Independent Wealth

July 12, 2007
I just found out that I am probably not going to get the promotion I was sort of expecting. This makes me wich that I was independently wealthy and did not have to work. In fact, I feel like buying a lottery ticket right now.

Credit Line Increase

July 11, 2007
Discovercard increased my total credit line to $9,900 up from $8,400. That is good because it will decrease the total credit line that is being used from 14.7% to 14.3%. After i make a payment later this week the percentage will go down to 13.9%. That should help my credit score. I have not checked my credit score in about a year. It was 770 last I checked and I will check again next month. The website for the free report is http://www.annualcreditreport.com/. This site allows me to request a free credit report, once every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. The report will not include the credit score, which can be purchased for $5.

My 2007 Raise

July 10, 2007
I am starting to get bad feelings about what my next raise is going to look like. In recent years I have averaged over 11% annual raises. This year due to a variety of reasons I feel like I need to ratchet down my expectations. I am also not expecting to get a bonus this year. I got a $5,500 bonus in 2006 and a $6,000 bonus in 2005. I do not expect to get one this year. I was originally hoping to pay down credit card debt with the extra money. Oh well. I am confident that I will get a good tax refund next year that will help a lot with the debt. I was also going to increase my 401k with a portion of my raise. We will see.

Back at Work

July 9, 2007
After having a long weekend, I am back at work today. Another day… another dollar. Speaking of making dollars, I do have a good salary. I am very close to making six figures. My current base salary is $93,600 or $3,600 bi-weekly. Not too bad for a single person with no dependents. Why am I not better off from a net worth perspective? I can easily answer that by looking at Quicken. I do tend to fritter my money away. I feel that I have gotten better at NOT frittering it away though. Although yesterday I took my girlfriend out to lunch and spent $15.59. We went out to dinner on Friday night and I spent $55 with a tip. I try not to go overboard with dinners and stuff but I do need to bear my share of the relationship weight with things like that.
Certainly, if I had no friends or relationships I could get by with spending a lot less money but then I would be miserable and lonely. Not a good way to spend one’s life. I will happily pay my fair share if that is the alternative. Yes, dating can be expensive to the wallet but not dating can be expensive to the soul.

Retirement Savings

July 8, 2007
401k Plan
I currently save 8% of my salary in my 401k plan at work. I should get a raise in two months and I will increase my savings to at least 11%. My current balance is $59,690. I have competing priorities 1.) pay off credit cards and, 2.) increase my retirement savings. Unfortunately, right now they are mutually exclusive and it is hard to do both. In a perfect world I would have no debt and max out my 401k. I wish. My employer kicks in 25 cents on every 401k dollar up to 6%. It is free money and I do try to get the max employer match that I can.
Pension Plan
I am fortunate to still be covered under a pension plan at work. I am fully vested and the cash balance in it is $17,975. My employer puts in 4% of my eligible salary each year and also contributes an interest component. Last year I earned 4.73% interest on the balance. I am not eligible to receive any funds from my pension until I am 62 so there is no telling if those funds will even be around.
Traditional and Roth IRAs
As of July 6, 2007 the balances in my traditional and roth IRAs were $21,213 and $4,531, respectively. I contribute $100 each month to my roth, which is not a lot but it is at least something.
As you can see I have a long way to go with my retirement savings to get caught up.

July Net Worth

July 7, 2007

Student Loans

July 6, 2007
In the “good debt/bad debt” argument it can be said that student loans fall in to the “good debt” category. Many like me had to rely on them to help pay for a higher education. When I graduated with my bachelor’s degree seven years ago my loan balance was $18,068 and now the balance is $10,813. I feel like I have made a dent in it.
My loans are consolidated at 6%, which at the time that I consolidated them was a good rate. A few years later the rate had dropped considerably but that is water under the bridge. For those of you that don’t know…you can only consolidate once. So in the event that interest rates drop even lower after you consolidated you are out of luck. That is one thing that nobody tells you.
Recently I came across the Upromise website and there is now a way to link a Upromise account to your student loans. Sallie Mae services my loans but I think there are other loan servicers that also participate. Anyway, I signed up for the program. I have accumulated a grand total of $1.18 in my account so far so I know that this is not going to help me significantly but, hey a buck is a buck right.
Many of the grocery items that earn rebates are geared to children but there are many that are not. I haven’t changed my pending habits to go out of my way to purchase items that would earn me rebates, I am just buying what I normally would. There are also ways to earn by dining out and also purchasing from online retail stores and gas stations.

Credit Cards

July 5, 2007
I got my first credit card when I was 24 years old and I have carried at least a $100 balance every month since then. I have used Quicken since 1994 and it shows that I have spent $4,215 on credit card interest since then. I don’t pay nearly as much interest now because my balance is on a Discover card at 0% for the life of the balance. I just have to use the card twice a month. I pay off my American Express card every month so I don’t incur any interest. By the way, the Amex is not included in my credit card balances or usage becuase I do pay it off every month.
Interestingly, if I had been able to save the credit card interest of about $351 per year over the past 13 years at 8%, I would have an additional $7,545 in my retirement funds today. Even more interesting is the power of compunding that $7,545 that I would have had today over the next 25 years at 8%. I would have had an astonishing $51,672 in my retirement funds when I went to retire. Yes, that credit card interest has been very expensive for me.

Paying for internet access

July 5, 2007
I currently pay about $50 per month before all the taxes for my broadband internet service. This is bundled with my Comcast cable TV service. I have been thinking that $50 is a lot for something I can get for “free” through my employer. I am fortunate to have been allowed to subscribe to a wireless aircard that is paid for by my generous employer. It works fine though it is not as fast as the cable internet. Ever since I installed the new wireless aircard I am not able to use my wireless modem so I am thinking that I should just dump the cable internet. That is $50 per month that I could save for my emergency fund.
I live in an area where many of my neighbors have wireless however, they have properly secured their wireless to keep intruders out so I cannot piggyback off of them even if I was so inclined. I am conflicted. I think I will have to sleep on this one a little longer to make up my mind. Also, I am slated to get a new computer later this month and maybe my home wireless will start working again. Another reason to delay my decision.

Happy 4th of July

July 4, 2007
It was a good day. I ran the Peachtree Road Race. The largest 10k race in the world with 55,000 runners. The entry fee was $28 and I spent $3.50 on the train fare but I think it was money well spent. I did get a nice stylish t-shirt for my $31.50. I didn’t have to spend any other money for the rest of the day. I definitely like that.

Since today is also known as Independence Day, I will say that my short term plans call for me to be independent of all credit card debt by July 4, 2008

Brown Bagging It

Many of my co-workers never bring their lunch to work. Our office provides a refrigerator and a microwave so there is not a practical reason not to. I try to bring my lunch at least 50% of the time. I figure that it cost me $5 - $6 everytime I don't bring lunch. That really adds up ($50 to $60 a month).
The reason I don't bring lunch every day is that I am new to this group and I want to be social and make friends. Today it cost me $5.44 to be friendly. I would rather be friendly around a table in the break room but that is not an option right now. When I bring my lunch it probably cost me less than $2.
Once I get more friendly with the group then I will start brown bagging it more often...until then it is just money out the window.

Spending

July 2, 2007

I am behind in the net worth department and realize I have a lot of catching up to do. My primary problem is my spending. My credit card debt is not out of control as it is only $6,687 at 0% for the life of the balance, but I do carry a Delta Skymiles Amex that I put most things on. I have always been able to pay the balance off every month but it is at the expense of my net worth. I do need to become more frugal.
There is some spending that must be done such as groceries but even my grocery habit needs to be curtailed. I am going to start making a list and sticking to it and also only spend $60 per week. I have been successful in doing that before and I should be able to so it again. Seriously, sometime when I have gone to the grocery store I have spent over $100 and have no idea what I spent it on.
There is a book called Why We Buy written by Paco Underhill that is great in describing the ways that retailers lure us in so that we can spend frivolously. It is a great read and I definitely recommend it.

Grocery shopping and coupons

July 1, 2007
Do you use coupons? I do if I have one and it is something that I will normally buy. Otherwise I try to avoid being sucked in by them. I have heard both the pros and cons of coupons and my thoughts are that they can really save you money but you have to use them wisely. If it is for a larger size than you need or a product that you might not normally use then they can cost you money.
The Sunday paper is a great place to find good grocery coupons. Sometimes companies will even have downloadable coupons on their websites. I plan to do some research on coupons and places to find good ones. I will post what I find out