April 2008 Net Worth Update (+3,661.34)

April has been a great month. Our net worth increased $3,661.34 over last month, bring us to a total net worth of $31,437.95 (click on spreadsheet below). This puts us at 65.77% of our 2008 net worth goal of $47,800.

What worked:
We increased my 401(k) contribution by 1% to a total contribution of 5%. We invested $638.95 in retirement accounts (401(k) and Roth IRAs) this month and, with the recent market upswing, saw a total increase in our retirement accounts of $2,416.09! We also increased our savings by $662.38, primarily due to my wife's commission check.

What did not work:
I can't think of anything that went against us this month. Thank God.

Next month:
May should be another solid month. We plan to do a large contribution to our Roth IRAs and bump up our savings a bit.

Net Worth Milestone - $30,000

I’m not sure if it’s going to stick, but we hit our net worth milestone of $30,000 yesterday. Our last net worth milestone was in September, 2007.

After the great market upswing today, our currently net worth is $30,350.57, putting us at 63.49% of our $47,800 net worth goal for the year. Note: Our current net worth status bar will not be updated until the end of the month, as usual.

God willing, we should hit our $40,000 net worth milestone by October this year.

Economic Stimulus Payment Schedule

Our economic stimulus payments will issued according to the last two-digits of the main filer's Social Security number. People who use direct deposit will be among the first to receive the payments starting May 2. Paper checks will be put in the mail starting May 16. Here's a link with the date you can expect your economic stimulus payment: http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=180250,00.html

Commission Checks Are Great

My wife is really getting consistent with earning commission checks each month. This month, she received a $448.15 commission check - just like clockwork. The great news is that she has a number of orders she will receive commissions for in the next few months. She’s done a impressive job of cold calling and expanding her customer base.

Since our monthly expenses are already covered by our base salaries, any commission checks that she receives can go directly to investments, savings, paying off debt, etc. Most of the money she earned in this commission check is going to be deposited into our savings account.

Dinner And A Movie At Costco

Last month, my wife and I enjoyed our 2nd wedding anniversary. We decided to celebrate is special occasion by having dinner at the waterfront restaurant where we were married.

To save us some money, my wife bought a $100 gift card for the restaurant at Costco for $80. I had never even heard of this before. That’s a 20% savings! My wife is so smart. We also recently bought movie tickets at Costco and saved 20% once again.

So, if you have a Costco card and enjoy going out to eat or the movies, you might want to consider buying gift cards at Costco. Oh, and if you find the girl of your dreams, don’t let her get away.

2nd Raise For 2008

As I posted about previously, my company is resetting everyone’s review date to the anniversary of their hire date. Most employee reviews already fall on the anniversary of their hire date, but, in the past, if you received a promotion, the date that you received your promotion became your new annual review date.

I received a promotion in January of 2006, thus, changing my annual review from my April hire anniversary to January. Since my company is resetting everyone back to the anniversary of their hire date, I received another review this week.

I was blessed to receive a very positive review that included a 2.07% bump up in pay, from $69,030/annually to $70,460/annually. Combined with my 4.5% increase in January, I’m up 6.57% this year.

We’ve decided to increase my 401(k) contribution by 1%, to a total of 5%. The reminder of the raise money will be used to help us try to keep up with the cost of living.

March 2008 Income Statement

It’s scary sometimes how much we can spend in one month (click on spreadsheet below).

Thank God for the extra money we brought in above our standard income. The largest amount of money was brought in by my Wife's in the form of a $1,292.50 commission check and a $188.54 mileage reimbursement check. We also received a $384.44 property tax refund, $60 from my parents, and $60 from selling a few things. All of this extra money kept us from spending more than we earned in March.

Needless to say, we went over budget in most areas. Some of the larger expenses were $832.46 for household items (including a new home theater system), $585.67 for groceries, $129.01 for pet care (including pet care while our condo was being worked on), and $166.00 for car registration.

We have vowed to spead less in April. My Wife may get good commission check in April and I have a review that may result in a small raise.