Easy Change

Its nearly April 15th and I have not yet begun to procrastinate about finishing my taxes. In short, I need to get it done this weekend in order to make sure that I get it done on time. Otherwise, we'll be in big trouble. I've been working on figuring out whether or not there is anything that I can do to make it easier for the next time, but I think that the most obvious thing I can do is stay more organized. This particular year there were a bunch of things that were out of sorts: 1. Lost my W-2 and had to get it replaced. 2. Didn't get an appointment with an accountant early. 3. Wasn't sure whether or not I was going to be eligible to contribute to a Roth, and out of panic, took the money out. Then it turned out I was fine, and I should have left the money in! What an utter waste! For next year, I will make some changes to make this process easier next time around. 1. I will avoid the roth entirely so I don't worry about the eligibility issues. 2. I will make sure ...

It has been a very long time since I last updated and I've accumulated some stories that I can share about the past few months in my next several posts. I hope that they will be found to be useful and interesting. After a very long period of time, the economy has come back. It seems now, although there are some small shifts day to day and week to week, that the stock market has found some sort of steady point. Of course, there are many that think that this could all change and that there is still a chance of a double bottom. All of this is really a side show in my opinion. What matters most to people is what is happening in their own personal financial life. That is, what is the most important thing in each person's life that keeps them from being happy. For many right now, it is a combination of a lack of a good-paying job and/or an overabundance of expenses. This past six months has been quite good; expenses remain low and the debt snowball continues as I am working toward pa...

I think that the goal of personal finance in my life is to help me live a better life. I am not talking about just having more money and being able to buy more stuff. Although there is an obvious component of being able to purchase more goods. But I think more important than the stuff is the ability for me to know that *I can* purchase these things without worrying. Removing my fear about spending money is one major goal of my personal finance journey. The second goal is to incrementally make my life better. Whether it is to have more choices for food, more places where I can travel, or even more people I can help with various issues in their lives, these things are all things that come from having more money. And the abundance in my life is due to better financial skills. Realizing weaknesses and improving myself is another goal of personal finance. I notice this trend more and more in the PF community at large. Even my mother is a good example. Once you tackle your finances, taking o...

This quarter has held quite a bit of interesting stuff. As per usual, the updates to NetWorth continue. Although net worth got over 100k total, I was worried that things would become more difficult with the big drop in the markets. In a strange twist, although net worth dropped, it did not drop below 100k. Big expenses this month have included a new plasma tv (since the old tv broke with a big blue spot that burned in to the center) and a recent purchase of a sliding door. With any luck, things will continue to go well as the financial education continues and the debt continues to be reduced.

Well, February has ended and the markets were less than kind this week. So I figured now that the carnage is over (hopefully), I figured I'd ask a question to my readers: Take Our Poll from PollDaddy.com Net worth didn't fare so bad over in my neck of the woods since there were tax returns etc to offset the bad week in the market. If you are interested, here's the latest entry: http://www.networthiq.com/people/EasyChange Happy Friday Everyone!

Recently, I joined the blogger network No Credit Needed. It is similar in function to the NetworthIQ site in that it provides charting for your progress toward your financial goals. But in general, rather than tracking net worth, it usually tracks progress toward paying off debts specifically. In addition, it provides a forum where users can update/change/and provide comments on each others' progress. And I am excited to see that it got mentioned in the article. Here is the link:  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/18/us/18debt.html This is an excellent step toward broader recognition for all the work that NCN does in terms of keeping members updated and encouraging one another. As for me, I need to get my chart updated at No Credit Needed because this month, I took a big chunk of the tax return money and eliminated a small student loan that I'd been chipping away at for a few years. This was a huge step for me since I know now that I have one less bill to worry about each m...

Recently I transferred over one of my loan balances on to a zero percent interest credit card. It was a card that I already had so it didn't hurt my credit too bad so that was not an issue. And now that it is over there, I am paying no interest until May of this year. And it is likely that I will transfer it again before the time runs out. And with only paying a 75$ transfer fee, I am still ahead by like 400 bucks when it is all said and done. Here is where it gets dumb though. I realize that I am still paying interest on other debt and even though I am paying zero percent on this loan, I am still thinking about working hard to pay it off. However, it makes no sense, strictly speaking, to do that right now because there is no interest on this debt. I know that many other people work out zero percent deals and parlay that free money into interest income but I don't have the money right now to do that. I just wonder if it makes any kind of sense to work on my other debts and just...

So I've started using NetWorthIQ to track combined net worth. And I like the simplicity of the system but the problem is that there are these categories, that I really like, but it really creates a feeling of "keeping up with the joneses". I click on people who live near me, have the same level of income or type of job and then I find that I am painfully behind them. What does this do other than make me upset and feel "less-than"? Bollox. Anyway, now I am in the process of figuring out what is going to work for me and keep me involved over the long haul. That is my main concern now. I've been able to keep track of the financial stuff via an excel spreadsheet and I think that it is really nice but I don't feel the need to get too much more involved than that. I think that I will never really get to the point that I really need to get into quicken or ms money. It just seems like more work than is necessary for me. Bottom Line: total net worth increased ab...

Well, I have figured out a plan to start tackling the next debt. It calls for about 340 dollars per month going toward this debt. The difficult thing will be sticking to it through the long haul. If the income side of things continues as I am forecasting, and I am being conservative here, then I will be doing this routine for about 19 months. That assumes no major changes or shifts in the meantime. Of course, there is always a chance that more work could come in faster, but I dont want to plan on that. So, for right now, the plan is to have this student loan paid by the end of June 2008. I'll work like heck to get it paid off before then, but I am curious if I will be able to make it or not :) The one thing that I havent figured out yet is whether or not a 0% interest credit card transfer is something I should try for or not. By my calculations, in less than 6 months I will be down to something like $25 dollars or less in monthly interest. I just wonder if the potential ding to my ...

Well, the unbelievable has happened; the absolute final credit card payment was sent and now I am wondering what is next. For the past several months I have been saying that we are working toward the credit card debt getting paid off but now I am looking at our other debt and it would be great to get that paid off too. So the question is, what is next? I currently have three student loans but one of them is a very high interest rate (it might as well be a credit card; its a variable rate that currently is squatting at 8.5%) whereas one of the others has no interest and the third loan is tax deductible and I get the full benefit of that deduction every year. So, that makes the next target my student loan. I just wish the balance wasnt so much. Right now it hovers somewhere around 6500 dollars, but that seems like it will take forever to payoff. Currently I am taking extra money that I earn on the side and throwing gobs of it at this debt, but it still seems like it will take a long time...

I figured since I've been doing this blog for a few months, it would be worth taking a look at what we've accomplished: 1. First credit card completely paid off (over 1500 balance) 2. Second credit card almost paid off (only 435 dollars left after this month's payments) 3. Working more side jobs to generate additional income 4. Opened up a few accounts to start investing and building assets. 5. Opened up an ING Savings account and have already earned close to 50 dollars in interest. In the next six months I would like to 1. Get financial paperwork organized and ready to execute (will/trust? and power of attorney etc) 2. Finish paying off credit cards 3. Rebuild savings accounts to have at least 4000 dollars in savings + money for goals. 4. Save enough to go on vacation without putting anything on a credit card or any kind of pay-over-time. 5. Pay for christmas on a 500 dollar budget and pay cash for everything.