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Archive for April, 2011

April 2011 Net Worth

May 1st, 2011 at 02:05 am



My retirement accounts have enjoyed a nice bump this month due to market moves and my annual employee matching.

My cash is up because I was paid my overtime yesterday and I haven't done anything with it yet.

My home value continues to find new lows. Goodie.

Re-Thinking Egypt

April 24th, 2011 at 07:19 pm

Recently I uncovered some very negative reviews of the tour company I was thinking of using for our Egypt trip next summer. They gave me pause. I had chosen this particular company because of the reasonable price and a recommendation from a friend of a friend.

I have spoken with my son about it, and he now says he would rather go to Hawaii anyway. My next step is to talk it over with my cousin (she is out of state attending a wedding this weekend). I have been pricing air, hotel, and car rental packages. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this trip would cost quite a bit less than the planned Egypt trip.

Anyone been to Hawaii? Have any tips to share? Things to see?

How The Dollars Shook Out

April 21st, 2011 at 02:55 am

I ended up adding my impound account refund to my EF, as well as $200 from my bonus. My EF is now a full 3 months of take home pay! I feel good about reaching this milestone. Smile

Also, from my bonus, I sent $600 to B of A Visa, $300 to my Roth, $300 to my son's accounts, and the balance ($700) is sitting in my checking account. My bonus was $2700 gross, which is $300 more than last year, so I was very pleased with that.

I have not yet been paid for my seasonal OT. I expect to clear $1900. I think I will send $400 to my Roth and $1500 to B of A Visa. This will mean I need only another extra $400 (on top of my regular monthly contributions) to hit my goal of 3k for 2011. Also, it will get B of A under $1100. It was $4500 and change in November, so I am pleased with my progress.

I'm wishy-washy I know, but I just don't want to miss hitting my annual Roth targets, because that will lower my odds of hitting my ultimate target, and THAT would be BAD.

Annual Impound Review

April 15th, 2011 at 04:22 am

Today I received my annual impound account review statement. I was pleased to see it drop a few dollars, which I had expected. My PITI payment is going from 1276.94 to 1273.49.

What I hadn't expected was a refund check for 79.94. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? What a great mortgage chip!

I will have to wait and see what my bonus is before I can say for certain that yes, it is a mortgage chip.

I Don't Want to End Up That Way

April 14th, 2011 at 10:51 pm

Yesterday I saw one of my favorite clients. She is witty, fiesty and very interested in a variety of things. She is always doing something.

So far, so good, right?

She also lives on a pittance and is constantly hustling to earn some money. She has several part-time jobs and several self-employed endeavors.

She is in her 70s. She cannot afford to stop working. She is fortunate that so far, she still can.

I do not want to end up like that. I will never be wealthy and that is fine. But I do not want to constantly worry how I will eat and put gas in my car when I am in my 70s.







Please Help Me Decide

April 13th, 2011 at 06:30 pm

The life insurance money is now safely tucked into my Roth.

On Monday I will be receiving my seasonal OT check (about 80 hours) and my bonus. I expect to clear about 4k.

I am going back and forth on what to do. Please help me decide!

Plan 1
Pay off B of A Visa. Balance approximately 3.2k.
.3k to son.
Remainder to checking towards yard maintenance.


Plan 2
1k to B of A Visa
1k to Roth
.3k to EF
.3k to Egypt savings
.3k to son
.3k to Trad IRA
Remainder to hold until yard maintenance complete, then pay down B of A some more with what is left.

It would feel GREAT to pay off B of A. But without that extra boost to Roth, I may not hit my 3k goal.

Opinions?

Recent Receipts

April 7th, 2011 at 04:03 am

On Monday I received a check from InBox Dollars for $47.01. I have already sent it off to B of A (the Evil Empire Smile )towards my Visa.

Yesterday I received a check for $863.68 from my ex-husband for my half of our life insurance policy proceeds. I have deposited it, but that is as far as I have gotten.

Yesterday was BFs birthday. I forgot! My daughter texted me in the afternoon to wish BF a happy birthday from her (she had seen it on Facebook). When I got home, I learned that BF didnt realize the date, so he didnt know I had forgotten. LOL! It was a milestone for him too, the big five oh.

I am feeling tired today. I work until 7 most days and have been working most Sundays since late January. For some reason, my OT isn't adding up too well. OK, OK, I know the reason. I am not the worlds most punctual employee, I often arrive a bit late in the mornings. For that reason, I only count 1 hr OT per day, even though it is closer to 2, and even though I seldom get even a 45 min lunch hour. Also, I do take the occasional Savings Advice break. Its guilt. :P On Sundays, I usually only work 5 hours. Since we are officially closed, I can get a lot of work done in 5 uninterrupted hours.

Mortgage Payment #36

April 4th, 2011 at 10:05 pm



Just a tiny bit of progress this month.

I did play around with the custom colors feature in my paint program, and was able to get a beige for the background, which I like better than the greenish-tan I had been using. So that is something I guess.

Revised Budget

April 2nd, 2011 at 07:19 pm



Here is my latest tweaked budget. Bring it on, April.