tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51321189010802209812024-03-05T05:57:37.967-08:00Wealth GoalsWealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.comBlogger159125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-33259217615619975132016-10-11T08:23:00.001-07:002016-10-11T08:23:21.853-07:00Net Worth Update 4th quarter 2016Looks like I forgot to do an update last quarter... time is going by so fast! Thankfully all the numbers are going in the right direction. My husband wants to do a kitchen remodel and even brought up getting a loan... ugh! Going into debt is last thing I want to do, so I think I'm going to stop paying extra towards the mortgage and maybe even contributing less to my 401(k) just in case he just can't wait and I can't talk him into waiting.<br />
<br />
Assets:<br />
Approximate value of our house: $250,496 (+$7,429 since last net worth update) (Estimation from Zillow)<br />
Roth IRA: $42,542 (+$1,838 since last net worth update)<br />
Simple IRA: $7,694 (+$321 since last net worth update)<br />
Regular IRA: $6,935 (+$109 since last net worth update)<br />
401(k): $30,338 (+$11,067 since last net worth update)<br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $43,181 (+$4759 since last net worth update)<br />
<br />
Total assets: $381,186 (+$25,523 since last net worth update)<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $141,228 ($-7,000 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Total net worth including our house: $239,958<br />
Difference since last quarter: +$32,523<br />
<br />
Calculation of my net worth not including the house:<br />
<br />
Roth IRA: $42,542<br />
Simple IRA: $7,694<br />
Regular IRA: $6,935<br />
401(k): $30,338<br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $43,181<br />
<br />
Total assets: $130,690<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $141,228<br />
<br />
Total net worth not including the house: -$10,538 <br />
Difference of $25,094 since last net worth updateWealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-3946190991054431582016-04-29T06:18:00.002-07:002016-04-29T06:18:26.401-07:00Net worth update: 2nd quarter of 2016Oops a little late on this for the beginning of the second quarter. Most of my numbers are looking good. My 401(k) is doing well due to investing so much out of each paycheck. The balance on the mortgage is decreasing (although still not as fast as I'd like it to).<br />
<br />
Assets:<br />
Approximate value of our house: $243,067 (+$2,131 since last net worth update) (Estimation from Zillow)<br />
Roth IRA: $40,704 (+$79 since last net worth update)<br />
Simple IRA: $7,373 (-$310 since last net worth update)<br />
Regular IRA: $6,826 (+$150 since last net worth update)<br />
401(k): $19,271 (+$7,177 since last net worth update)<br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $38,422 (+$2,326 since last net worth update)<br />
<br />
Total assets: $355,663 (+$11,553 since last net worth update)<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $148,228 (-$4,353 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
<b>Total net worth including our house: $207,435</b><br />
Difference since last quarter: +$15,906<br />
<br />
<br />
Calculation of my net worth not including the house:<br />
<br />
Roth IRA: $40,704 <br />
Simple IRA: $7,373<br />
Regular IRA: $6,826 <br />
401(k): $19,271 <br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $38,422 <br />
<br />
Total assets: $112,596 <br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $148,228<br />
<br />
<b>Total net worth not including the house: -$35,632 </b><br />
Difference of +$13,775 since last net worth updateWealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-72926879384572749182016-01-04T11:56:00.001-08:002023-01-04T05:50:59.470-08:00Net Worth update - 1st quarter 2016Assets:<br />
Approximate value of our house: $240,936 (+$12,987 since last net worth update) (Estimation from Zillow)<br />
Roth IRA: $40,625 (-$2,886 since last net worth update)<br />
Simple IRA: $7,683 (-$304 since last net worth update)<br />
Regular IRA: $6,676 (+$31 since last net worth update)<br />
401(k): $12,094 ($8,144 since last net worth update)<br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $36,096 (-$9,192 since last net worth update)<br />
<br />
Total assets: $344,110 (+$8,568 since last net worth update)<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $152,581 (-$9,355 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Total net worth including our house: $191,529<br />
Difference since last quarter: +$17,923<br />
<br />
<br />
Calculation of my net worth not including the house:<br />
<br />
Assets:<br />
Roth IRA: $40,625 <br />
Simple IRA: $7,683<br />
Regular IRA: $6,676 <br />
401(k): $12,094 <br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $36,096 <br />
<br />
Total assets: $103,174<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $152,581<br />
<br />
Total net worth not including the house: -$49,407<br />
Difference of +$4,936 since last net worth update<br />
<br />
Looks like I forgot to do an update in the beginning of the 4th quarter, but not much has changed. The two biggest changes are due to buying a new truck last fall (we paid cash rather than taking out a loan - thus the smaller savings amount) and my 401(k) jumped up a lot due to saving 20% of my paycheck starting sometime back this summer. No major changes in the total net worth, but at least it's going in the right direction. WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-76119200486876241582015-09-06T12:28:00.000-07:002015-09-06T12:28:04.263-07:00What can paying an extra $2,000 a month towards your mortgage do?I had been saving for a new-to-us truck for about 2 years now. We finally saved up enough money and bought the truck in July. Now that this financial goal has been completed, I wasn't really sure what to do next. Of course saving for our next big purchases came to mind. We would like to go on a nice vacation next year and get a few things around the house updated. I increased my 401(k) contribution from 10% to 20% (the max the company will allow). I thought about maybe putting some money into my Roth IRA, but I had been getting a little frustrated seeing that huge mortgage balance on our mortgage statement. It had been getting smaller each month, but very, very slowly. I just didn't seem to be going fast enough for me. So I figured I'd give it a little boost and put an extra $2,000 towards it this month. Just doing so knocked off 5 payments. Our regular payment is $1,017, so paying $2,000 now will mean we'll be paying $5,085 less later. I was going to change it back to $300 extra (which is what I had been doing the past couple months), when I opened my account I saw a link that showed me how view how extra payments could help pay off the mortgage faster. If I was to continue paying an extra $2,000 a month, this is what our mortgage (with a current balance of $158,813) would look like: <div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeK2-xA6r-z9pFvMhafmOJY2nSSLNafqJ5iBT_7LqpriE2_dxnEHXn9pD0Vsqv5G142cCr-BfoN-hZAJ7qFHHHyD1-eJ3lSbhsZNoOPmUZjp8-6pljMZkXS_gYWz1Xfl_aB6NOiI3XnKo/s1600/Additional+2000+on+mortgage.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeK2-xA6r-z9pFvMhafmOJY2nSSLNafqJ5iBT_7LqpriE2_dxnEHXn9pD0Vsqv5G142cCr-BfoN-hZAJ7qFHHHyD1-eJ3lSbhsZNoOPmUZjp8-6pljMZkXS_gYWz1Xfl_aB6NOiI3XnKo/s320/Additional+2000+on+mortgage.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Click image for larger version)</span></i></div>
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Wow - we could be mortgage free by 2020 and knock off 177 payments (177 x $1017 = $180,009)!! I probably won't be able to continue to pay $2,000 a month (that's about what I take home after taxes), but after seeing this, I think I'll be paying an additional $2,000 for at least one more month. </div>
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WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-30875285561662506932015-07-15T08:05:00.004-07:002015-07-15T08:06:15.858-07:00Net worth update - beginning of 3rd quarter 2015Assets:<br />
Approximate value of our house: $227,949 (+$7,250 since last quarter) (Estimation from Zillow)<br />
Roth IRA: $43,511 (-$20 since last quarter)<br />
Simple IRA: $7,978 (+$64 since last quarter)<br />
Regular IRA: $6,645 (-$184 since last quarter)<br />
401(k): $3,950 (+$2,505 since last quarter)<br />
Lending Club: $221 (same as last quarter)<br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $45,288 (+$9,871 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Total assets: $335,542 (+$19,486 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $161,936 (-$1,816 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
<b>Total net worth including our house: $173,606 </b><br />
Difference since last quarter: +$21,302<br />
<br />
Calculation of my net worth not including the house:<br />
<br />
Assets:<br />
Roth IRA: $43,511<br />
Simple IRA: $7,978<br />
Regular IRA: $6,645<br />
401(k): $3,950<br />
Lending Club: $221 <br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $45,288<br />
<br />
Total assets: $107,593<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $161,936<br />
<br />
<b>Total net worth not including the house: - $54,343 </b><br />
Difference of +$14,052 since last quarter<br />
<br />
I'm pretty happy to see my net worth is still going in the right direction! Wow, that little 401(k) balance is raising rapidly. I've been working lots of overtime lately, so not only have my paychecks been bigger, but my 401(k) contributions (and therefore the company match) have been larger. I don't even think about the 401(k) much because it's an automatic deduction, so it's a good way to easily save money for retirement. Ever since I left the job with the Simple IRA over 10 years ago, I've always had to make a decision that I have going to invest in my IRAs, so I've always kind of mentally wrestled with whether or not I really wanted to put that money and not see it again until retirement. Now I don't have to decide (although I am kind of debating about putting some in my Roth IRA this year as well). If you have the option to invest in a 401(k) or something similar (403(b) etc.), I would highly recommend you do so!WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-77878132812731962772015-04-24T11:39:00.000-07:002015-07-15T08:06:25.046-07:00Net worth update - Beginning of 2nd quarter 2015Sorry this is so late... Where does the time go? <br />
<br />
Assets:<br />
Approximate value of our house: $220,699 (-$2,276 since last quarter) (Estimation from Zillow)<br />
Roth IRA: $43,531 (+$1,845 since last quarter)<br />
Simple IRA: 7,914 (+$388 since last quarter)<br />
Regular IRA: 6,829 ($256 since last quarter)<br />
401(k): $1,445 (new this quarter)<br />
Lending Club: $221 (same as last quarter)<br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $35,417 (+$7,076 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Total assets: $316,056 (+$8,734 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $163,752 (-$1,648 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
<b>Total net worth including our house: $152,304 </b><br />
Difference since last quarter: +$10,382<br />
<br />
Calculation of my net worth not including the house:<br />
<br />
Assets:<br />
Roth IRA: $43,531<br />
Simple IRA: 7,914 <br />
Regular IRA: 6,829 <br />
401(k): $1,445 <br />
Lending Club: $221 <br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $35,417 <br />
<br />
Total assets: $95,357<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $163,752<br />
<br />
<b>Total net worth not including the house: -$68,395 </b><br />
Difference of +$12,658 since last quarter<br />
<br />
It's nice to see my net worth is heading in the right direction. As you can see I have a new entry this quarter: a 401(k)! I recently got a new job with not only an increase in my hourly wage, but it also has benefits including health insurance, paid vacations and a 401(k)! I am currently contributing 10% of my income into the 401(k) and I was pleasantly surprised to see it is well over $1,000 already. Some of that is not fully vested yet. I believe I have to be with the company 5 years before their matching contributions are 100% vested. WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-53020817673428711772015-01-02T08:39:00.001-08:002015-07-15T08:06:32.843-07:00Net worth update - beginning of 2015It's time for a check in on my net worth... here are the current numbers:<br />
<br />
Assets:<br />
Approximate value of our house: $222,975 (+$21,319 since last quarter) (Estimation from Zillow)<br />
Roth IRA: $41,686 (+$1,976 since last quarter)<br />
Simple IRA: $7,526 (+438 since last quarter)<br />
Regular IRA: $6,573 ($2,260 since last quarter)<br />
Lending Club: $221 (same as last quarter)<br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $28,341 (-$14,024 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Total assets: $307,322 (+$11,969 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $165,400 (-$1,630 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Total net worth including our house: $141,922<br />
Difference since last quarter: +$13,599<br />
<br />
Calculation of my net worth not including the house:<br />
<br />
Assets:<br />
Roth IRA: $41,686<br />
Simple IRA: $7,526<br />
Regular IRA: $6,573<br />
Lending Club: $221<br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $28,341<br />
<br />
Total assets: $84,347<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $165,400<br />
<br />
Total net worth not including the house: -$81,053<br />
Difference of -$7,720 since last quarter<br />
<div>
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<div>
Our savings have dropped a bit due to getting our house re-sided. I thought we overpaid:( It's disappointing to work and save for so long and then spend it so easily. Sadly my husband want to buy a brand new truck. He bought a brand new Ford Ranger in 2001 and I think he said he paid $14,000. To buy a comparable brand new 4 wheel drive truck now (they no longer make the Ranger), it would cost about $40,000 after tax and fees. Wow! Has inflation really been that bad?</div>
WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-62422039117912482642014-10-06T08:23:00.002-07:002014-10-06T08:23:29.078-07:00Net worth update - beginning of 4th quarter 2014I am not feeling well today, so I'm taking my first sick day in nearly 3 years. Unfortunately I don't get paid sick time (one of the negatives of being a temp worker), so I only stay home if I really need to. Anyway, since I have extra time I'll update my net worth for the beginning of 4th quarter...<br />
<br />
Assets:<br />
Approximate value of our house: $201,656 (+$14,088 since last quarter) (Estimation from Zillow)<br />
Roth IRA: $39,710 (+$1,322 since last quarter)<br />
Simple IRA: $7,088 (-$102 since last quarter)<br />
Regular IRA: $4,313 (-$215 since last quarter)<br />
Lending Club: $221 (+$1 since last quarter)<br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $42,365 (-$5,649 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Total assets: $295,353 (+$9,445 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $167,030 (-$1,612 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
<b>Total net worth including our house: $128,323</b><br />
Difference since last quarter: +$11,057<br />
<br />
Calculation of my net worth not including the house:<br />
<br />
Assets:<br />
Roth IRA: $39,710 <br />
Simple IRA: $7,088 <br />
Regular IRA: $4,313 <br />
Lending Club: $221 <br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $42,365 <br />
<br />
Total assets: $93,697<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $167,030<br />
<br />
<b>Total net worth not including the house: -$73,333</b><br />
Difference of -$3,031 since last quarter<br />
<br />
Well it looks like the house value has rebounded a bit. Of course it might have not actually been as low as it said it was the past few months. My cash savings has decreased a bit because I reluctantly agreed to have our siding replaced. Sadly that will be a huge hit to our savings. They quoted us at $25,000. We sent in the down payment of about $8,000, so that is why the savings has decreased. We still owe about $17,000 so I expect the savings to really be low next time I do a net worth update. It looks like the IRA's have decreased a bit since the beginning of last quarter as well. I have added $2,000 to my Roth IRA since the last update, so that is the only reason that is a positive number. WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-5808647235365346272014-07-26T17:40:00.001-07:002014-07-26T17:40:32.245-07:00Net worth update - Beginning of third quarter of 2014Here is my net worth update as of today...<br />
<br />
Assets:<br />
Approximate value of our house: $187,568 (-$7,584 since last quarter) (Estimation from Zillow)<br />
Roth IRA: $38,388 (+$2860 since last quarter)<br />
Simple IRA: $7,190 (+$616 since last quarter)<br />
Regular IRA: $4,528 (+$321 since last quarter)<br />
Lending Club: $220 (+$2 since last quarter)<br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $48,014 (+$2,928 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Total assets: $285,908 (-$857 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $168,642 (-$1,593 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Total net worth including our house: $117,266<br />
Difference since last quarter: -$736<br />
<br />
Calculation of my net worth not including the house:<br />
<br />
Assets:<br />
Roth IRA: $38,388<br />
Simple IRA: $7,190<br />
Regular IRA: $4,528<br />
Lending Club: $220<br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $48,014<br />
<br />
Total assets (monetary only): $98,340<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $168,642<br />
<br />
Total net worth not including the house: - $70,302<br />
Difference of +$8,320 since last quarter<br />
<br />
So another quarter and the "house value" has gone down again. I don't know if I believe that though because Zillow is listing a lot of homes around us at around $220,000, so I'm guessing the true value of our house would be closer to that figure. However, our house needs some repairs. About a week ago we noticed the an area of roof/gutters/soffit etc was coming apart. We tried to fix it ourselves, but it looks like we will have to call in a professional. So sadly it looks like some of our savings will be going bu-bye in the next couple weeks. It's nice to see my savings at almost $50,000, but sadly it won't go very far. Here is a list of some expensive stuff that it'll likely get spent on...<br />
<br />
<b>Flooring for our basement</b><br />
We had carpet in basement but we keep getting water in the basement, so we are hesitant to replace it. However the basement in our house is part of our main living space (it's a "split level"). So depending on what my husband decides to do it'll cost between $3,000 and $9,000 to fix that.<br />
<br />
<b>Medical bills</b><br />
My husband decided to have a major surgery done in the next few months, and our maximum deductible is about $5,000. I know they will require several follow ups and pre-surgery doctor visits and that will add up.<br />
<br />
<b>Fixing that roof problem</b><br />
We probably could just get the whole house re-sided while we're at it with the savings we have now, but the husband wants a truck sooner than later, so we'll probably just get the repair done and maybe replace the soffits and fascia for now. Estimate: $1,000 to $5,000.<br />
<br />
<b>New truck</b><br />
Yes new. I disagree, but the husband seems to think getting a brand new one is a good idea. I'm still hoping to find something gently used. Maybe once we start shopping, he'll realize a new one is out of our budget. Estimate: $20,000 to $30,000<br />
<br />
<b>Windows and Siding</b><br />
We have 3 more windows to replace and my husband wants to have the siding replaced. I'm guessing this will cost anywhere from $20,000 to $25,000.WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-9376949454417110952014-04-12T17:20:00.001-07:002014-04-12T17:22:06.008-07:00Net worth update - Second quarter of 2014Here is my net worth update as of today...<br />
<br />
Assets:<br />
Approximate value of our house: $195,152 (-$19,575 since last quarter) (Estimation from Zillow)<br />
Roth IRA: $35,528 (-$578 since last quarter)<br />
Simple IRA: $6,574 (-$373 since last quarter)<br />
Regular IRA: $4,207 (+$189 since last quarter)<br />
Lending Club: $218 (+$2 since last quarter)<br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $45,086 (+$7,520 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Total assets: $286,765 (-$12,815 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $170,235 (-$2,097 since last quarter... Note, last time it didn't take the Jan 1 payment into account yet)<br />
<br />
Total net worth including our house: $116,530 <br />
Difference since last quarter: -$10,718<br />
<br />
<b><i>Calculation of my net worth not including the house: </i></b><br />
<br />
Assets:<br />
Roth IRA: $35,528<br />
Simple IRA: $6,574 <br />
Regular IRA: $4,207<br />
Lending Club: $218 <br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $45,086 <br />
<br />
Total assets (monetary only): $91,613<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $170,235 <br />
<br />
Total net worth not including the house: -$78,622<br />
Difference of +$8,857 since last quarter<br />
<br />
Wow, did our house value really just drop nearly $20,000 in 3 months? I don't worry about it too much because I don't know how accurate Zillow is. The fluctuation in house's value is the main reason I also compute my net worth not including the "value" of the house. As long as the house is still worth more than the balance on our mortgage, I'm going to not worry about it. So if you look the the second net worth value, I have improved by nearly $9,000 in three months, so I'm pretty happy with that. WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-66168990471169864382014-01-01T09:27:00.003-08:002014-01-01T09:30:25.818-08:00Net Worth Update - January 1, 2014Here is the update on my net worth for the start of 2014!<br />
<br />
Assets:<br />
Approximate value of our house: $214,727 (-$288 since last quarter) (Estimation from Zillow)<br />
Roth IRA: $36,106 (+$4,631 since last quarter)<br />
Simple IRA: $6,947 (+465 since last quarter)<br />
Regular IRA: $4,018 (+$98 since last quarter)<br />
Lending Club: $216 (+$2 since last quarter)<br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $37,566 (+$3,599 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Total assets: $299,580 (+$8,507 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $172,332 (-$1,037 since last quarter) (Note, it didn't take the Jan 1 payment into account yet)<br />
<br />
Total net worth including our house: $127,248<br />
Difference since last quarter: +$9,544<br />
<br />
Assets:<br />
Roth IRA: $36,106<br />
Simple IRA:$6,947<br />
Regular IRA: $4,018<br />
Lending Club: $216 <br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $37,566<br />
<br />
Total assets (monetary only): 84,853<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $172,332<br />
<br />
Total net worth not including the house: -$87,479<br />
Difference of +$9,832 since last quarter<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-86599165851804142692013-12-25T16:25:00.002-08:002013-12-25T16:25:26.279-08:00My financial goals for the next few yearsI was thinking a bit about what I'd like to accomplish in terms for money over the next few years. I'm impatient and would love to accomplish them all in the next few months, but like when you're paying off debt, it might be best to put them in order so I can stay focused and motivated. I feel like I've lost a bit of my money motivation lately. Luckily my husband got a pretty nice raise last year, so the month to month expenses are pretty much now covered by his income alone. But we still could be doing a lot better so I need to use my money wisely.<br />
<br />
Here are some of my current financial goals to accomplish in the next few years.<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Pay for new windows and siding with cash ($20,000 to $30,000?). This really isn't my goal, but my husband wants to do it. I'll do it, but I don't want to take out a loan to do so. I'll have to get some quotes this spring because $20-$30K is a large range and it would be nice to know how much this will actually cost!</li>
<li>Pay for a replacement vehicle for our aging 2001 Ford Ranger ($20,000 - $25,000) Ideally I don't want to buy brand new, but one that is about 2 years old probably is still over $20K)</li>
<li>Increase our emergency fund from $4,000 to $12,000 (about a month's worth of expenses to about 3 to 4 months of expenses).</li>
<li>Pay down the mortgage as fast as possible. I'm currently paying an extra $150 a month, but I want to save for that truck first so why pay down the low-interest/tax deductible mortgage if doing so means I'll have to get a car loan? Once goals 1 and 2 are done, I'd like to pay at least an extra $500 to $600 a month. </li>
<li>Fully fund my IRA every year. That is unless I ever get a job with a 401(k). I recently applied and interviewed for one, but it doesn't look like I got in this time, but I hear there may be another round of hirings in 2014. </li>
<li>Vacations - I hate winter and need to escape!</li>
</ol>
<div>
So right now I have about $30,000 in cash not including the $4,000 EF or cash that is being saved for bills. So I pretty much have enough to pay off number 1, and if it's not too expensive, I have a good start on goal number 2. It's tough when the goals are so big and sometimes it takes a year just to accomplish just one. </div>
<br />
<br />WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-68374661672933292352013-10-26T08:02:00.001-07:002013-10-26T08:02:18.634-07:00Extra Cash Challenge - September resultsHere are my results for September's extra cash challenge:<br />
<br />
Advertising: $93.45<br />
ING/Capital One 360: $17.08<br />
Lending Club: $0.83<br />
Part-time job: $72.15<br />
<br />
Total: $183.51<br />
<br />
Difference from last month: -$23.99<br />
<br />
I'm not sure why the Lending Club was consistently getting about $1.03 or so and now it dropped to $.83. It says all my notes are current, so I don't think one the loans went bad. Oh well, it's not that much money to worry about now.WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-79483694077327662812013-10-13T15:56:00.000-07:002013-10-13T15:56:21.870-07:00What are my financial goals now?I used to write a lot more in this blog back when I was paying down our <a href="http://wealthgoals.blogspot.com/2010/12/that-small-mortgage.html" target="_blank">second mortgage</a> and aggressively <a href="http://wealthgoals.blogspot.com/2011/09/ira-asset-allocation-and-balance.html" target="_blank">contributing to my IRA</a>.<br />
<br />
I thought I should write a bit about what my current financial goals are. I'd love to be aggressively paying down our mortgage and saving for retirement. But my first and most important financial goal is to stay out of debt. We have two "big ticket" items to pay for in the next couple years. Our house, which was built in 1987, still has what we believe to be the original windows and siding. We did replace the windows in the basement about a year ago, but the upstairs windows and siding still needs to be replaced. I have not got any bids on this yet, but I'm budgeting about $25,000 to $30,000 and crossing my fingers that it's less! <br />
<br />
We also have a 2001 Ford Ranger. It still works, but since it is now about 13 years old, we know it'll come time to replace it soon. I am hoping to get a used vehicle when we do replace it (maybe about 2 years old). When the time comes to replace the truck, my husband wants to get another truck. I'm estimating it'll cost about $20,000 to $25,000 to get a new used truck.<br />
<br />
So right now I need to save about $45,000 to $55,000 in cash to pay for this stuff.<br />
<br />
As you can see in my last<a href="http://wealthgoals.blogspot.com/2013/10/net-worth-update-end-of-third-quarter.html" target="_blank"> net worth update</a>, I had nearly $34,000 in cash already saved. Some of that is my very tiny emergency fund of $6,000. (Because I am saving a ton of cash now, that money ear marked for these other goals can be reallocated to an emergency if I needed to.) So that leaves about $28,000 already saved towards the first goal (which looks like it'll be the windows and siding as of now). So I just need another $2,000 and I should have that one saved for. I'm slowing myself down a bit though because I just invested $1,000 in my Roth IRA. We won't be able to get the windows and siding anytime soon anyway because it's almost winter.<br />
<br />
Throughout this year, I have contributed $2,500 towards my regular IRA (I'm more motivated to put money into that one since I don't have to pay taxes now). So between the two, I will have invested $3,500 for 2013. I can still invest another $2,000, but I haven't decided if I want to do so yet because I want to get these two big purchases saved for ASAP.WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-42037299708475584952013-10-06T17:55:00.000-07:002013-10-06T17:55:57.890-07:00Net Worth Update - End of Third Quarter 2013Here is the update on my net worth!<br />
<br />
Assets:<br />
Approximate value of our house: $215,015 (+$13,863 since last quarter) (Estimation from Zillow)<br />
Roth IRA: $31,475 (+$2,771 since last quarter)<br />
Simple IRA: $6,482 (+845 since last quarter)<br />
Regular IRA: $3,920 (+$1,264 since last quarter - invested $1,000 since)<br />
Lending Club: $214 (+$3 since last quarter)<br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $33,967 (+$5,436 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
<br />
Total assets: $291,073 (+$24,182 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $173,369 (-$1,540 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
<b>Total net worth including our house: $117,704</b><br />
<b>Difference since last quarter: +$25,722</b><br />
<br />
<br />
This is the net worth calculation not including the value of our house:<br />
Assets:<br />
Roth IRA: $28,704 <br />
Simple IRA: $5,637<br />
Regular IRA: $2,656<br />
Lending Club: $211<br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $28,531 <br />
<br />
Total assets: $76,058 (+$10,319 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $173,369 (-$1,540 since last quarter) <br />
<br />
<b>Total net worth not including the house: -$97,311</b><br />
<b>Difference of +$11,859</b><br />
<br />
Either way you look at it, it was a good past three months. I am now in the "6-figures" for the net worth including the house and out of the "negative 6-figures" for my net worth not including the value of our house.WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-81325766949426515122013-10-05T14:09:00.001-07:002013-10-05T14:18:12.653-07:00Why paying off our second mortgage was a good thingI was thinking today how grateful I am that we <a href="http://wealthgoals.blogspot.com/2011/06/check-is-in-mail.html" target="_blank">paid off that second mortgage</a> over 2 years ago now. I thought I'd take a look at just how much that one financial move has made a difference in our financial life.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
If we would have kept our original loan of <a href="http://www.amortization-calc.com/#loan-200000-30-5.75-12-2007-2" target="_blank">$200,000 at 5.75%</a> we would owe $182,390 on the main mortgage today.<br />
<br />
Our monthly payment was $1,133.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Our second loan was <a href="http://www.amortization-calc.com/#loan-25000-30-8.65-12-2007-2" target="_blank">$25,000 at 8.65%</a>. If we still had that mortgage our principal balance would still be $23,644.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
That monthly payment was $195.</blockquote>
<br />
So if we had not paid down that loan, we would still owe a total of $206,034 on the house and our monthly payments between both loans would be $1,328 (not including property taxes). Now our monthly required payment is only $1,018 - a difference of $310 a month. We currently owe $173,369 on the house. If we sold our house today, we would make an extra $32,665 on it ($206,034 that we would have owed minus $173,369 that we actually owe).<br />
<br />
Refinancing our main loan also helped, but I'm fairly confident our mortgage company wouldn't have <a href="http://wealthgoals.blogspot.com/2011/12/refinancing-our-home.html" target="_blank">offered to let us refinance</a> that loan had we not paid off the smaller loan. If we still had both loans we would have been significantly underwater on our house at the time. Ever since we refinanced, we have paid an additional $150 in principal each month, so we are sending them a total $1,168 a month. But, even with that extra contribution we are still saving $160 a month.<br />
<br />
So we are saving an extra $310 a month for the next twenty-something years, plus we have increased our net worth by over $32,000 - which will only get better since we are already 7 months ahead of schedule on our current mortgage just by paying an extra $150 per month. We probably won't be paying that extra money towards the mortgage had we not paid off that loan since our minimum payments would have been $310 more. Not bad for paying off a <a href="http://wealthgoals.blogspot.com/2010/12/that-small-mortgage.html" target="_blank">$23,000 loan</a> early! WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-25496983239547942822013-09-26T14:54:00.001-07:002013-10-05T14:23:45.599-07:00Extra Cash Challenge - August resultsHere are my results for August's extra cash challenge: <br />
<br />
Advertising: $105.17<br />
ING/Capital One 360: $17.51<br />
Lending Club: $1.13<br />
Part-time job: $83.69<br />
<br />
Total: $207.50<br />
<br />
Difference from last month: +$27.47WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-34215522274595666632013-08-04T06:58:00.003-07:002013-08-04T07:00:41.366-07:00Extra cash challenge - June and July results<div class="tr_bq">
Another month went by too fast and I never got around to posting my June results last month, so this month I'm posting 2 months in one post. Here are the figures...</div>
<br />
June:<br />
Advertising: $201.05<br />
Amazon: $20.88<br />
ING/Capital One 360: $15.48<br />
Lending Club: $1.10<br />
Part-time job: $14.43<br />
<br />
Total: $252.94<br />
<br />
Difference from last month: -$49.43<br />
<br />
July:<br />
Advertising: $118.24<br />
Amazon: $0<br />
ING/Capital One 360: $17.39<br />
Lending Club: $1.10 (estimated since statement is not available yet)<br />
Part-time job: $43.30<br />
<br />
Total: $180.03<br />
<br />
Difference from last month: -$72.91<br />
<br />
First a quick update on the eBay earnings from selling my aunt's stuff. I finally had my aunt come and pick up the rest of the stuff that did not sell. Based off the 20% commission I would have made $55.29 over the past few months. She decided to just give me $100 for my trouble, so that works for me!<br />
<br />
I'm a little bummed to see my numbers drop significantly 2 months in a row. You may notice that my Amazon earnings were $0 for the month of July. Unfortunately it looks like I have permanently lost that source of extra income due to circumstances beyond my control. It is a reminder to diversify your income streams because you never know when one could stop producing income. Here is the email that was sent to me explaining why I can no longer earn commissions.<br />
<blockquote>
We are writing from the Amazon Associates Program to notify you that your Associates account will be closed and your Amazon Services LLC Associates Program Operating Agreement will be terminated effective June 30, 2013. This is a direct result of the unconstitutional Minnesota state tax collection legislation passed by the state legislature and signed by Governor Dayton on May 23, 2013, with an effective date of July 1, 2013. As a result, we will no longer pay any advertising fees for customers referred to an Amazon Site after June 30 nor will we accept new applications for the Associates Program from Minnesota residents. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Please be assured that all qualifying advertising fees earned prior to July 1, 2013, will be processed and paid in full in accordance with your regular advertising fee schedule. Based on your account closure date of June 30, 2013, any final payments will be paid by August 30, 2013. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
While we oppose this unconstitutional state legislation, we strongly support the federal Marketplace Fairness Act now pending before Congress. Congressional legislation is the only way to create a simplified, constitutional framework to resolve interstate sales tax issues and it would allow us to re-open our Associates program to Minnesota residents. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
We thank you for being part of the Amazon Associates Program, and look forward to re-opening our program when Congress passes the Marketplace Fairness Act. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Sincerely,<br />
The Amazon Associates Team</blockquote>
<br />
Blah politics! So that's a bummer because I had earned nearly $700 from Amazon since I signed up about two and a half years ago. Not life changing amount a money, but every little bit helps! Amazon has also made nearly $11,000 in revenue off of my referrals as well, so it's a lose-lose situation.WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-51830670132807894072013-07-02T16:52:00.001-07:002013-07-02T16:57:28.244-07:00Net Worth Update - End of Second Quarter 2013Assets:<br />
Approximate value of our house: $201,152* (+$23,330 since last quarter)<br />
Roth IRA: $28,704 (+$640 since last quarter)<br />
Simple IRA: $5,637 (+141 since last quarter)<br />
Regular IRA: $2,656 (+$1,071 since last quarter)<br />
Lending Club: $211 (+$2 since last quarter)<br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $28,531 (+$4,987 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">*Estimation from Zillow</span><br />
Total assets: $266,891 (+$30,171 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $174,909 (-$1,524 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
<b>Total net worth including our house: $91,982</b><br />
Difference since last quarter: $31,695<br />
<br />
I have been debating whether or not to include the value of our house in these estimates, and while I am very happy to see our house supposedly increased in value by over $23,000 in just three short months, I just don't know if I can believe that. I'm thinking I may just need to start doing these updates without the house value to get a more accurate measurement of my net worth. I don't include other non-cash assets like our cars or TVs so I probably shouldn't include the house either... But the one difference is those things are paid off and we are in debt with the house, so if I don't include the value of the house, does that mean I also should not include our mortgage liability? I feel like if I don't include what we owe on the mortgage then that also is not a good representation of what my net worth is either. Maybe there is a part of me that doesn't like the see a negative net worth if I were to ignore the house value, but include the mortgage on this net worth update. I also have been leaving off my husband's 401(k) (which I think has close to $80K in it), so I guess technically that is not giving me a very accurate reading as well.<br />
<br />
So here are the numbers ignoring the house. I think I'm going to look at that ugly negative net worth value and that will be motivation to try to get it to a positive number!<br />
<br />
Assets:<br />
Roth IRA: $28,704 <br />
Simple IRA: $5,637<br />
Regular IRA: $2,656<br />
Lending Club: $211<br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $28,531 <br />
<br />
Total assets: $65,739<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $174,909 <br />
<br />
<b>Total net worth not including the house: -$109,170</b><br />
<br />WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-8882522160908252392013-06-24T10:41:00.001-07:002013-07-02T16:57:46.333-07:00Extra cash challenge - May results<i>Ooops, this is really late because I thought I had posted it already, but I just realized it was still in draft mode today! </i><br />
<br />
Here are my numbers for the extra cash challenge for May:<br />
<br />
Advertising: $251.74<br />
Amazon: $9.24<br />
ING/Capital One 360: $14.27<br />
Lending Club: $1.15<br />
Part-time job: 25.97<br />
<br />
Total: $302.37<br />
<br />
Difference from last month: - $2.09<br />
<br />
It looks like another good and consistent month! I am not going to be working the whole month of June, so I'm hoping to be able to bring these numbers up even more! I still have a lot of unsold stuff from my aunt that I have already listed on Ebay a few times. I got permission to lower the prices a bit, so I'll give it one last shot to get the left over stuff sold. I've been listing these items on and off since the beginning of the year without much luck. I think we agreed on 20% commission for me to list these. If I can't get anything else to sell, I will have made about $50 total since I first started listing her stuff. It probably wasn't worth my time with all the times I listed them and made multiple trips to the post office. So, I'll re-list the unsold junk a few more times this month and then I'll post my final profits on next month's extra cash challenge.WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-6213607018905582152013-05-12T17:04:00.000-07:002013-05-12T17:04:01.822-07:00Extra cash challenge - April resultsEach month I total up any money I have made outside of my regular job. In this day and age it's good to have multiple streams of income. Here are April's results:<br />
<br />
Advertising: $244.92<br />
Amazon: $26.92<br />
ING/Capital One 360: $14.10<br />
Lending Club: $1.19<br />
Part-time job: $17.33<br />
<br />
Total: $304.46<br />
<br />
Difference from last month: +$102.08<br />
<br />
I'm pretty happy with my results this past month. Who couldn't use an extra $300? Of course most of this is pre-tax money, so it's probably closer to $200.<br />
<br />
After next Friday any "extra" cash will be my only income. I am a temporary worker and they have this weird agreement in their contracts that once a temp worker works three years at the same position, they have to take a mandatory 60 day unpaid leave of absence. Stupid rules. However, they have said I could apply for unemployment, so I will probably do that so I at least get some money coming in during that time. I am looking forward to some time away from the grind though. Hopefully I can motivate myself to try to come up with some ways to make some money while I wait out the 2 months.<br />
<br />
<br />WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-24738480517703336562013-04-30T16:42:00.001-07:002013-04-30T16:42:39.768-07:00Extra cash challenge - March resultsHere are my results for my extra cash challenge for March.<br />
<br />
<br />
Advertising: $135.39<br />
Amazon: $34.62<br />
ING/Capital One 360: $13.82<br />
Lending Club: $1.23<br />
Part-time job: $17.32<br />
<br />
Total: $202.38<br />
<br />
Difference from last month: - $50.71<br />
<br />
I don't know where the time has went - it's almost May already and I'm finally getting this post done. Hopefully I will do better with my extra cash challenge next month because I'll need to. I'll write up another post with the details why soon.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-80204493014176734902013-04-07T15:22:00.000-07:002013-07-02T16:57:38.081-07:00Net Worth Update - Beginning of Second Quarter of 2013Here is an update on my net worth since last quarter. I'm happy to report that my numbers have improved across the board in all my assets. Some of the improvement is a little artificial because I am using Zillow to estimate the value of our house. I haven't really done anything special over the last 3 months, so it's nice to see my money is doing well. <br />
<br />
Assets:<br />
Approximate value of our house: $177,822 (+ $8,298 since last quarter)<br />
Roth IRA: $28,064 (+ $1,755 since last quarter)<br />
Simple IRA: $5,496 (+ $267 since last quarter)<br />
Regular IRA: $1,585 (+ $62 since last quarter)<br />
Lending Club: $209 (+ $3 since last quarter)<br />
Savings (including emergency fund): $23,544 (+ $3,819 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Total assets: $236,720 (+ $14,204 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
Liabilities:<br />
Mortgage: $176,433 (- $1,507 since last quarter)<br />
<br />
<b>Total net worth: $60,287</b><br />
Difference since last quarter: + $15,711WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-49059980688456698102013-03-17T06:25:00.002-07:002013-03-17T06:25:54.023-07:00Extra Cash Challenge - February results<br />
Wow, another month already half way done! Here are my results for my extra cash challenge for February.<br />
<br />
Advertising: $173.16<br />
Amazon: $55.66<br />
ING/Capital One 360: $11.02<br />
Lending Club: $1.12<br />
Part-time job: $12.13<br />
<br />
Total: $253.09<br />
<br />
Difference from last month: -$22.75<br />
<br />
I'm happy to see I still made a decent amount of extra money last month. This month isn't looking as good though, so I better step it up! I just found out I might be taking a last minute vacation to Florida in a week - so it would be nice to make some extra money to help pay for it!<br />
<br />
<br />
WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132118901080220981.post-86922504310704658682013-02-16T07:25:00.000-08:002013-02-16T07:25:34.735-08:00Extra cash challenge - January resultsHere are my results for my extra cash challenge for January.<br />
<br />
Advertising: $242.04<br />
Amazon: $4.13<br />
ING/Capital One 360: $11.19<br />
Lending Club: $1.51<br />
Part-time job: $16.97<br />
<br />
Total: $275.84<br />
<br />
Difference from last month: +$148.58<br />
<br />
Good news is I more than doubled December's numbers. Most of that was luck with the advertising, but sometimes finances are a little about luck!WealthGoalshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12012996224574509844noreply@blogger.com0