Easy Change

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.

Things are going really well. In addition to a slow, but sure increase in net worth, things are becoming easier in terms of bills. After some recent calculations, I've determined that there will be enough money in this coming month to completely payoff my car loan. It seems a little premature, but the idea of getting completely out of debt on the car is so exciting I cannot wait to do it. Last week, I was able to call up and get the payoff amount and I ran the numbers for the checking account and found that I had just about enough in there to cover it. Originally I thought I had more than enough, but it turns out the amount was just right. So now I am in a situation where I need to be able to wait a couple more days, but in about 2 weeks, the loan will be paid off. But the Real Payoff comes in 2008. For me, the real payoff will be the extra several hundred dollars that I save each month by not having to deal with that bill. The real payoff will be knowing that there is that much l...

So, recently, my situation has changed and due to some restrictions related to employment, I have to get rid of some of my retirement holdings which are currently invested in ETFs. ETFs are nice alternatives, in my opinion, for people like me who really cannot afford the minimum requirements for investing into more standard mutual funds. So, rather than deal with the minimums, it is easy to open up an account at a brokerage firm and then purchase individual ETF shares which trade like stocks. Personally, I bought VTI and VNQ. I've always liked Vanguard, and I think that these are nice solid index funds with low expense ratios that I was comfortable with. However, now that I am not allowed to own ETFs, I need to get my money into mutual funds, but I still don't have the minimum required. What to do? Using Vanguard's website I was able to do a screen that captured my major requirement: minimum investment. Fortunately, there IS a fund by Vanguard that has only a 1000 dollar r...

Not long ago I switched to electronic statements for my bank accounts. I chose not to have them sent to me directly, instead, I will go to the website and download them in pdf format. I think this is a great idea for a few reasons: 1. It saves time because I don't have to open them up each month. 2. It saves paper. 3. It prevents me from having to file them away and hang on to them for years on end. 4. It means there is less mail with my personal information floating around out there. Have you switched yet? You should consider it. I think you'll be as pleased as I am.

Despite all of the back and forth about sub-prime mortgages and the housing bubble, I am feeling just fine. The reason is that when purchasing, I followed some old advice: Don't expect to flip. In general, I've been told by many people that you shouldn't buy a home unless you plan to hold on to it for 7 years or longer. If the market does well and you decide to sell, fine. But if you want to be sure not to lose money, don't buy something that you only want for a year or two. I've been in my current location for more than 3 years. I like it. And I have no intention of leaving in the short or medium term. It seems to me, that real estate, like any asset class, has its ups and downs. But as a practical point, I don't look at my home as an asset per se. Rather, I consider it to be a fixed expense that I need to survive, much like food and water. Therefore, as long as the payment is reasonable and it functions to keep me warm and sheltered and comfortable, that is a...

So, its been a while since I've written anything and I think it is interesting to start looking at some macro ideas. I'd like to sum up a couple of conversations I've had recently about the economy. With a friend over the holidays, we were discussing the economy and people were asking me what the best thing to do was. I told them that I thought that the time to "prepare" and "react" to this situation is long since gone. People that are leveraged in investments or real estate are going to have a hard time unless they have liquid cash to weather the storm. An emergency fund is key here and most people don't have serious free cash flow to save money right now, especially with the cold winter and holidays coming up. So, the takeaway for people in trouble is to do the same old boring things: 1. Build an emergency/freedom fund to handle these lean times that we're in. 2. Cut spending and increase earnings so that you can have a good "cushion"...

So I am about to go on vacation; plane leaves tomorrow. And since this is a blog about money, I thought that I would talk a little bit in this post about my plans for the vacation and how I plan to manage the money. 1. I plan to bring several hundred dollars of american money to convert to foreign currency in an airport exchange. 2. I plan to bring several hundred dollars of travellers cheques in american currency which I will likely exchange at the hotel or a bank during my stay. 3. I plan to use a credit card for major purchases and to pay for parking when I return. Even though this vacation will be somewhat expensive, it will be quite fun since the money has been diligently saved up in order to really enjoy it. Furthermore I feel comfortable with my progress toward financial goals so this will be a real treat. Of the options above, here's why I am doing each. First, I like to have some currency on hand. Second, I like to have additional currency that is available in the event o...