The Value Of A Dollar

My parents did a great job of teaching me the value of a dollar.

I've never wanted for anything. I was blessed by them paying my way thru college (school, room, and board), paying for nice family vacations to Europe, and generally helping me when I was short on cash. But, at the same time, I started working at age 15-1/2, paid for half of my first car (they paid the other half), and have never been unemployed.

I remember at a young age my Dad explaining to me that, if I started saving early enough, I could have over $1,000,000 by the time I retire. I still have a 2001 Kiplinger Magazine article that he mail to me regarding making the most of your 401(k) early on.

My Mom is equally financially savvey. You should hear her negotiate a deal - no one drives a harder bargain. My Dad once calculated that my Mom saved our family roughly $600 a month just by shopping around for the best value, buying in bulk, cooking meals at home, etc.

I have friends who go on multiple expensive vacations each year, eat out for most meals, and buy the latest gadgets. I'm sure it's fun now, but I wonder what planning, if any, they're doing for the future.

I'm very lucky to have parents who taught me the balance between having fun and planning for the future. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Memorial Day

My Wife and I just returned from spending some time with her dad and mother-in-law on the lake. Lots of sun, food, and fun.

It's important to remember that today is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. Please take a moment to remember our fallen soldiers.

Cash Back Credit Cards

My wife and I pay most of our monthly bills using our Citi Dividend Platinum Select MasterCard cash back credit card. We pay for our groceries, gas, cable/internet, gifts, etc. using the card. We have also arranged to have my Wife's medical insurance bill, my cell phone bill, and our Blockbuster Total Access bill automatically charged to the card each month. There are only a few things that we can't charge to the cash back card such as our mortgages, HOA dues, and auto loans.

We have been averaging a $50 cash back reward every two months since we started paying our bills with the card 4 months ago. It's important to note that there is a $300/year maximum to the cash back rewards. If we reach the maximum, we will then begin using our HSBC Platinum MasterCard cash back credit card. I am currently using the HSBC cash back card for my business trips, to help keep work expenses separate from our monthly bills. I average $25-$50 cash back every three months, just for charging business trips to the card.

It's not a ton of money, but since we're paying the bills anyways, we might as well get a percent or two of our money back. Besides, charging the bills to our cash back card helps with our month-to-month cash flow. And, of course, we always pay the credit card bill in full each month so that no interest is accrued.

If you're not taking advantage of cash back credit cards, you may want to consider it.

Hard Math

I rarely eat fast food anymore, but got the urge to indulge in a value meal.

My bill total came to $7.42, for which I paid with a ten dollar bill and two pennies. I received a funny look for handing over the two pennies. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to received $2.56 as my change.

Go figure.

Just Got A Ticket

I was wondering what I should post about today and, after leaving the office, I got my answer.

Down the street from my office I noticed a number of police offices standing at a stop sign. I fastened my seatbelt before reaching them, but was still flagged to the side of the road by one of the officers. He said I was a little too late with the seatbelt and that I was receiving a seatbelt ticket.

I tried to get some sympathy, but the officer said they were out there on their day off giving out seatbelt tickets because of a government grant. He said they are taking a no tolerance position and that it had been announced on the news. I deserved the ticket so I wasn't going to push it, however, while I was waiting for my ticket, another car was pulled over near me and the driver was irate. So much so that the officer writing my ticket was called over as back-up. After dealing with the upset driver, the officer came back to my car, gave me my ticket, and sent me on my way.

I checked online and it appears that the ticket will only cost me $20.00. Not too bad for a good reminder of the importance of buckling-up.

Good Net Worth Progress

We have made good, consistent progress on our net worth and should reach a net worth milestone of $10,000 next month. In fact, if all goes as planned, our net worth in June will be roughly $11,000, half way to our 2007 goal of $22,000.

As we pay off debt and increase our investments, I’m beginning to feel how getting your money to work for you is a powerful thing. I’m sure there will be hiccups along the way but so far, we’re right on track.

Paying Off Our Chase Credit Card

My wife and I get paid every two weeks, therefore, there are two months of the year that we both receive three checks. Next month is one of those months for my wife.

We have decided to use her extra check, $1,161.67, to pay off our Chase credit card. Mathematically, this is not the right move since the card is 0% interest until March 2009. We’d be better off depositing the money into our Emigrant Direct account earning 5.05% APY and stretching the Chase credit card payments out to take advantage of the interest free period. However, the catch with the credit card is that if we are late with a payment, Chase can back-charge us interest. I hate having that hang over our heads, so from a piece-of-mind standpoint, paying off the card is the way to go for us.

It will be nice to have one less debt to worry about.

Pride of Ownership

I don’t want to put words in her mouth, but I think my wife is now as obsessed with watching our investments as I am.

One of the first things I do each morning is to check the status of our investments. Not to react to the ups and downs of the market, just because I enjoy seeing how things are going.

While my wife has been very interested and active with our investments, she hasn’t been as OCD as am I in terms of checking them daily. At least, not until recently. . .

She just opened a Roth IRA account with Vanguard over the weekend and funded it with $3,000.00. Since then, she has been getting a kick out of checking the progress each day. I’m convinced that this peaked interest has something to do with setting-up the account herself and having it in her name. There’s definitely something to be said for pride of ownership.

Going Out Is Expensive

We went out for a friend’s birthday on Saturday and ended up spending about $120.00. Back in my younger days, that might not seem like a lot of money for a night on the town, but now, it shocks me a bit.

We met up with our group of friends at 2:00pm and stayed out until 11:00pm. We got an early start because it was Cinco de Mayo, and we knew the bars would be packed. Sure enough, there was already a good crowd on hand at 2:00pm. I originally thought we’d be going home around 7:00pm, but we were having such great time that we didn’t want to leave.

I can see how people who go out multiple nights a week can have a hard time getting ahead financially. Heck, that’s part of the reason I had so much credit card debit.

Opened Roth IRA For Wife

We opened a Roth IRA for my wife this weekend, selecting the Vanguard 500 Index Fund as her investment. The Vanguard 500 Index Fund is the largest mutual fund in the world and attempts to attempt to mirror the S&P 500.

The fund has an initial minimum investment of $3,000; additional investments are $100. We plan to fully fund her Roth IRA ($4,000 in 2007) , as well as open and fully fund a Roth IRA for me.

Good Prospective Car Buyer - Follow-up

As a follow-up to my Good Prospective Car Buyer post, the lady ended up calling me to cancel the appointment because she bought a Mercedes.

I was very disappointed at first, since she seemed so interested and needed a new car (her’s was totaled in an accident). I even began looking for a possible replacement vehicle online.

My car runs and looks great, so this really isn’t a bit deal. I was just disappointed because I was already planning how we should invest the extra $150-$200 that we would be saving in car payments each month.

Carnival of Credit Report Stories

Thanks to Stephanie at Poorer Than You for hosting the Carnival of Credit Report Stories that included my post Credit Reports and Credit Scores. If you are interested in your credit reports and scores, this carnival has it all.

April 2007 Income Statement

We went way over budget again. Darn it!

To our credit, it was not because we spent frivolously. There were numerous one-time, annual, and prepayment expenditures that brought our total expenses for April to $7,581.50 (click on spreadsheet below).

On the positive side, my wife netted an extra $1,147.24 in commissions, we had $127.55 in “other” income (see spreadsheet notes), and our interest income doubled to $11.08.

May is forcasted to be a lighter month for us expense wise. If nothing unforseen pops-up (yeah right), we should spend roughly $1,300 less than we did in April.

April 2007 Net Worth Update (+$3,145.07)

I didn't expect us to match our huge net worth increase in March, but we had a good net worth increase in April (click on the spreadsheet below). Our total net worth is now $6,438.50, well on our way to our 2007 goal of $22,000.

Some highlights from April follow:

• The nice boost to our net worth this month came thru a $1,147.24 (after taxes) commission check that my wife earned.
• We deposited $630.00 into our Emigrant Direct savings account for Roth IRA funding (once we hit $3,000 will be moved into Vanguard 500 Index Fund Inv). We also restarted my company 401(k), albeit at a measly 2% of my gross pay. Our retirement investment focus for 2007 is to fully fund our Roth IRA’s, and put any “extra” money into my 401(k) plan.
• We paid off our American Express credit card.
• I took $50 from my April fun money ($180/month) and deposited it into our ING Direct account. I hope to get $500 saved up to speculate with in the stock market (more for fun/education than as an investment purposes).
• We had numerous large expenses in April (noted in the spreadsheet) that totaled $1,219.45.

I have added a 2007 net worth goal meter to the blog (upper right hand corner) that will provide a quick reference on our progress.

Thank God for the great month and hopefully we can duplicate it again in May.