Adfecto Abundantia - Aspire 2 Wealth

Net Worth Update: July

2009-08-03T20:53:00.003-05:00

I promise I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I accidentally missed posting at all in the month of June. My excuse is that I was busy with work, school, and my "Honey Do List." Well, now I'm back and the good news is that I never stopped tracking my finances. I'm sure all (12?) of my regular readers are just itching to know how I've done.

The market has supercharged my returns and added about $3,500 to the assets side of the equation in the last two months. It has been pretty vindicating to know that I stuck with the dollar cost averaging plan and made money through the market pain. My IRA that I started in 2007 is now firmly in positive territory. The balance is about 5% above the total contributions. My 401(k) still has a paper loss for the shares I held before the drop, but the overall balance is well above where it was in November 2007 when the loses started. I know it may still be a bumpy ride, but it is nice to know that persistence pays off.

On the debt side of the ledger...
I've made very minimal progress by paying off a few hundred dollars. I'm being more and more tempted to drop my IRA investing to focus on the debt monster so I can properly slay it, but for now the tax free gains and low(er) price/earnings ratios are keeping me investing. The plan is to put any bonus, raise, or cost of living adjustment into a "Debt Snowball" to start making traction. A few months without a major run of bad luck would help too.

Speaking of bad luck, the last post dealt with the need for new tires. I bit that bullet and immediately the hydra spawned another head. The latest major unexpected expense was an emergency crown for my #18 molar. That was $900, ouch. On the plus side, I was able to fork over cash (for a 10% discount!) and take the money out of my emergency fund. That was half of what I had put away, but at least it was there when I needed it. Now it is a priority to build it back up.

For a quick run down on my financial happenings from the last two months you can look at my NetworthIQ page. Another month, another post and I'll catch you again soon.

Net Worth Update: May

2009-06-02T23:37:00.002-05:00

So another month has come and gone. I updated the data on my NetworthIQ page and was pleasantly surprised to have added $2,100 to the total during May. The big bounce in my retirement accounts continued, and including new contributions the market accounted for all of my net worth gains. The three month run for my investments is about a 30% return! From peak to trough I'm already back above where I started in dollar terms (because I kept pouring in money on the way down) and on a dollar/share basis I'm down around 20%. That's a whole lot better than the nearly 40% loss I was looking at at the market bottom.

Looking ahead the the month of June I know there will be a big expense when I replace the tires on one of the cars. I've racked up nearly 60,000 miles in three years! Apparently we drive a lot... I also learned that the car has some pretty fat rubber that is going to run me about $150 per tire to replace. Beyond that I think the month will be pretty tame. With a little luck in the markets I might be able to break $40,000 net worth barrier this month. Check back in a few weeks to see if I make it.

Net Worth Update: March & April

2009-05-06T16:43:00.002-05:00

I have continued to update NetworthIQ regularly every month. I didn't get around to a blog post to go along with it last month, but I'm still keeping up with the data. Thankfully the market has rebounded and with my new contributions it has made a big impact. I've added a good amount to the net worth figure in the last two months.

There have been a few interesting financial events lately. My paid for car has been giving me trouble all along and I decided to replace it. I bought a very lightly used (14k miles) 2008 Hyundai Elantra. It was priced very nicely and I think I got a good deal. The downside is that I added a new monthly payment to the mix. Overall it seems like a good reasonable expense to keep reliable transportation.

I've also done some projects around the house. I'm 90% done installing a tile backsplash in the kitchen. It's taken a big investment of time but not a large dollar cost (~$500). I'm also battling the weeds and grass in the yard now that it has warmed up. I need to buy some trees and shrubs sometime soon too.

I'll try to keep up with the blog a bit more over the Summer and write a bit more often. Certainly check out my NetworthIQ page and the blog to follow my updates.

Net Worth Update: February

2009-03-12T18:42:00.003-05:00

Yes, I know it is already more than a week into March. Sorry. For those that pay attention I actually updated NetworthIQ on time at the close of February. The results were lackluster mostly due to the ugly stock market. In all there was a small decrease in net worth. I did make good progress on the debt front (as in, I didn't add any). If you are interested in the details then please click over to the full results via the graphic in the right sidebar.

March is looking like a better month thus far. That is, assuming the nice stock market gains of the last 3 days hold. I'll update in a few weeks to see how it all turns out.

Net Worth Update: January

2009-02-03T21:57:00.003-06:00

The time for January net worth results has arrived. The numbers are pretty straight forward. We reduced our debt a bit and stayed even on our cash. The net result was a moderate increase in net worth during January.

Assets		$ Diff	% Diff
Cash	$2,156	($1,388)	-39.16 %
Stocks	$0	$0	-
Bonds	$0	$0	-
Annuities	$0	$0	-
Retirement	$19,044	($793)	-4.00 %
Home	$194,900	$0	-
Other Real Estate	$0	$0	-
Cars	$12,125	($2,595)	-17.63 %
Personal Property	$0	$0	-
Other	$2,204	$2,204	-
Total Assets	$230,429	$23	0.01 %

Debts		$ Diff	% Diff
Home Mortgage(s)	$175,356	($195)	-0.11 %
Other Mortgage(s)	$0	$0	-
Student Loans	$0	$0	-
Credit Card	$1,346	$167	14.16 %
Car Loans	$6,695	($379)	-5.36 %
Other	$15,865	($359)	-2.21 %
Total Debts	$199,262	($766)	-0.38 %

Total

$31,167

$789

2.60 %

Net Worth Update: December

2009-01-06T22:59:00.002-06:00

Time has flown by as we rush into the New Year. We are almost a week into 2009 so it is time to look back at December and all of 2008 to assess my financial results.

Over the past month a great thing has happened, the S&P went UP 0.78% and the MSCI EAFE Index went up a whopping 7.5%. That means that for the first time since August I had a positive return in my retirement accounts. Because I've poured almost $13,000 of new money into my 401(k) and Roth IRA over the course of 2008 I even had a gain for the year (nevermind the the gain was only $4,900 or a net loss of about $8,000 or 40%). The good news is that I've stuck to my plan and focused on the long term benefits of buying into the down market.

During December I also managed to pile up a significant amount of new cash. This was mostly due generous family memebers at Christmas. Unfortunately there was a corresponding (though thankfully not as large) increase in short term debt as I used most of those funds to buy my wife a laptop. We also paid my wifes Spring tuition. Both of those expenses add up to the entire balance shown for the credit card ($1,179) which will be paid off in short order during January.

For the whole of 2008 kept our cash position virtually equal and made a small bit of progress on the debt front (an almost pathetic $2,500). As far as "bad debt goes" we ended the year almost exactly how we started with about $24,500. This include our car loan, personal loan, and some 0% interest furniture loan.

I adjusted the value of our hard assest this month as well. The result was that the value of our home is virtually static with no change and the value of our cars dropped significantly. No surprises there, but still a bummer to watch how fast a new-ish car drops in value. I do this adjustment every six months rather than every month because the month-to-month trends for auto and home values seems too volitile to give a good reading. If someone has a better suggestion for how to track these values please leave some feedback in the comments section.

I think that covers all of the key areas. The full number can be found in the table at the end of the post. Sometime in the next few days I hope to sit down and write up a list of goals for 2009. Check back for that post soon.

Assets		$ Diff	% Diff
Cash	$3,544	$1,936	120.40 %
Stocks	$0	$0	-
Bonds	$0	$0	-
Annuities	$0	$0	-
Retirement	$19,837	$2,293	13.07 %
Home	$194,900	$0	-
Other Real Estate	$0	$0	-
Cars	$12,125	($2,595)	-17.63 %
Personal Property	$0	$0	-
Other	$0	$0	-
Total Assets	$230,406	$1,634	0.71 %

Debts		$ Diff	% Diff
Home Mortgage(s)	$175,551	($196)	-0.11 %
Other Mortgage(s)	$0	$0	-
Student Loans	$0	$0	-
Credit Card	$1,179	$777	193.28 %
Car Loans	$7,074	($368)	-4.94 %
Other	$16,224	($312)	-1.89 %
Total Debts	$200,028	($99)	-0.05 %

Total

$30,378

$1,733

6.05 %

Net Worth Update: November

2008-12-01T15:43:00.005-06:00

September turned out to be an interesting month. I put to bed $1,200 in debt! Unfortunately the stock market continued to bring the pain which tempered the mood a bit. I poured about $1,200 into the market and ended up down $492 (a loss of about $1,700 or ~10%).

The debt side of the ledger was dominated by my decision to refinance our "bad debt" into a fixed rate, fixed term personal loan. I now have a specific date when we will be (bad) debt free. It has only been one month, but following this plan has proved easier to stick to than plans in the past.

On the asset side there was a dip in cash which will be rectified soon when my next payday arrives. This month I will have an extra paycheck so I will use it to juice up my cash holdings. The retirement accounts continued to suffer with a loss, but I'm holding steady and continuing with my investment strategy.

As the stock market has fallen I have gradually moved away from bonds and become more fully invested in stocks. On November 20th, when the S&P dropped to 752, I moved the last 5% of my investments into stocks. I had set an 800 threshold for myself and went all-in when it dropped below that level. I picked 800 by doing a linear extrapolation of stock prices from the 1980's without the exponential rise that came with the dot.com bull market. It was a rough forecast, but gave me a jumping in point. Thus far it looks like a pretty smart move. Even if I did not hit the bottom of the market perfectly I am confident that a few years down the road I'll be glad that I used this buying opportunity.

Now that you've got the story, here are the numbers:

Assets		$ Diff	% Diff
Cash	$1,608	($502)	-23.79%
Stocks	$0	$0	-
Bonds	$0	$0	-
Annuities	$0	$0	-
Retirement	$17,544	($492)	-2.73 %
Home	$194,900	$0	-
Other Real Estate	$0	$0	-
Cars	$14,720	$0	-
Personal Property	$0	$0	-
Other	$0	$0	-
Total Assets	$228,772	($994)	-0.43 %

Debts		$ Diff	% Diff
Home Mortgage(s)	$175,747	($194)	-0.11 %
Other Mortgage(s)	$0	$0	-
Student Loans	$0	$0	-
Credit Card	$402	($293)	-42.16 %
Car Loans	$7,442	($373)	-4.77 %
Other	$16,536	($341)	-2.02 %
Total Debts	$200,127	($1,201)	-0.60 %

Total

$28,645

$207

0.73%

Net Worth Update: October

2008-11-04T16:32:00.001-06:00

I updated my financial records for the month of October. It was a huge disappointment. In total $3,072 was shaved off of my net worth. This comes out to almost 10% of my total! Ouch!

Most of the problems were contained in my retirement accounts. My Roth IRA and 401(k) completely tanked for the month. I made a big change on the debt front as well. I refinanced my debt. All of the plastic debt was consolidated into one loan with a fixed interest rate. I wanted to get away from the risk of rolling over balances every 6-12 months to keep them at 0% interest (which was starting to get hard in this tight credit market). Instead, I have a fixed payment schedule that will have my debt completely gone in a few years. I now can cut up the cards! Actually, I've frozen all but one in a block of ice in my freezer. The single card I kept is for buying gas, plane tickets, and hotel rooms when I travel.

For all of the details, check out the chart in my right sidebar and click-thru over the NetworthIQ where I track my money.

Net Worth Update: August - September

2008-10-16T19:17:00.003-05:00

In August I had a pretty big and completely unexpected life change, in a good way. Ha, I bet some of you readers are thinking Baby Time, but for now my wife and I are happy to borrow our niece and nephew when we are feeling "parental." Instead, I returned to school to start work on a PhD in Computer Engineering.

I have remained at my job full time and added classes on top. Not surprisingly I haven't had time to fully explore blogging and writing on Aspire 2 Wealth. I will from time to time try to add articles and "Brain Droppings" (to quote George Carlin). Long articles and deep financial analysis will resume at some undefined point in the future as well.

For now, Aspire 2 Wealth will continue to function as a means to track my path to wealth. I still compute my net worth each month on NetworthIQ (see the graph in the Sidebar). Please continue to check back regularly to see how I'm progressing. Comments, suggestions, and wealth building tips from readers would be greatly appreciated whenever you happen by the site!

Now for the painful part, over the last few months I've taken some pretty big hits against my investments and had a string of unexpected expenses. Untold billions have been wiped off the balance sheets of people all around the world, bummer. The mantra is to spend less than you earn and invest for the long haul. I know that if we, individually and collectively, follow that simple advice we'll do just fine. Till next time...

Net Worth Update: July

2008-08-18T21:23:00.002-05:00

I'm late posting my Net Worth report which should have come out August 1st. I updated NetworthIQ on time so if you were paying attention then you'll see the information is the same.

To explain some of the results... I had a net increase for the month.
Here is the single bright spot from the month, I continued to invest diligently in my retirement accounts. I also continued to spend large amounts of money on stuff via my credit cards. I justified the purchases a dozen different ways, and put off doing this post for a couple of weeks out of frustration and shame at how bad I overspent.

A run down of the spending is entirely centered around the house. We got a patio set for the newly fenced yard, a refrigerator for the garage, a used Ping Pong table, and a huge 40 gallon tank / stand for my turtle. The purchases were spurred on by my wife and I hosting our friends for our annual house party. We wanted to get the place into tip-top shape and be prepared for almost 20 of our closest friends to come visit.

Enough explanation and excuses; here's the damage:

Assets		$ Diff	% Diff
Cash	$2,519	$2,168	617.66%
Stocks	$0	$0	-
Bonds	$0	$0	-
Annuities	$0	$0	-
Retirement	$20,282	$310	1.55 %
Home	$194,900	$0	-
Other Real Estate	$0	$0	-
Cars	$14,720	$0	-
Personal Property	$0	$0	-
Other	$0	$0	-
Total Assets	$232,421	$2,478	1.08 %

Debts		$ Diff	% Diff
Home Mortgage(s)	$176,526	($181)	-0.10 %
Other Mortgage(s)	$0	$0	-
Student Loans	$0	$0	-
Credit Card	$12,704	$1,938	18.00 %
Car Loans	$8,926	($356)	-3.84 %
Other	$1,334	($58)	-4.17 %
Total Debts	$199,490	$1,343	0.68 %

Total

$32,931

$1,135

3.57%

For a quick mid-month August update, we are doing much better and seem to be more on track this month. Overall it is likely that our debt will decrease at least $500 for the month and assets will likely grow by about $1000. We also managed to pay my wife's tuition in cash this month too. Not a perfect month, but certainly not the embarrassing showing from July.

Thanks for reading. Check back again soon for updates on my path to wealth.

Net Worth Update: June

2008-07-01T19:39:00.002-05:00

This month was a total bomb. Ugh. Not much went right financially. The stock market tanked. My car broke down. I had a fence installed for the back yard that went over budget. I spent a ton of time and money on seemingly "minor" home maintenance projects. I added to my debt. My assets lost value. June did not treat me well.

To make up for the shortfall I've bumped up my savings rate on my emergency fund from $100/month to $200. I am back in the rebuilding phase to get a little cash cushion. I've also cut costs on a few monthly recurring bills to try and gain back some ground. I cut my pest control service to be bi-monthly rather than monthly and decided to perform DIY termite control. I've got a few other cuts in mind that may help more over the next few months too.

There is a short list of positives for the month. After doing some repairs on my '99 Lumina I found it is now worth slightly more than it was prior to the repairs. My house also appreciated due to the installation of the fence and other projects I've undertaken. I also will look at the glass as half full because since so much went wrong this month it should be smooth sailing for a while, right?.

Now for the numbers:

Assets		$ Diff	% Diff
Cash	$351	($1,871)	-84.20 %
Stocks	$0	$0	-
Bonds	$0	$0	-
Annuities	$0	$0	-
Retirement	$19,972	($87)	-0.43 %
Home	$194,900	$3,000	1.56 %
Other Real Estate	$0	$0	-
Cars	$14,720	($1,403)	-8.70 %
Personal Property	$0	$0	-
Other	$0	($151)	-
Total Assets	$229,943	($361)	-0.16 %

Debts		$ Diff	% Diff
Home Mortgage(s)	$176,707	($190)	-0.11 %
Other Mortgage(s)	$0	$0	-
Student Loans	$0	$0	-
Credit Card	$10,766	$1,291	13.63 %
Car Loans	$9,282	($360)	-3.73 %
Other	$1,392	($58)	-4.00 %
Total Debts	$198,147	$683	0.35 %

Total

$31,796

($1,044)

-3.18 %

Net Worth Update

2008-06-04T10:15:00.001-05:00

I have updated my Net Worth on NetworthIQ. Despite not posting regular blog entries I have continued to make progress growing my assets and paying down my debts. The progress has been slow and steady, but things are clearly moving in the right direction. Follow the link in the Left Sidebar and check out my progress.

I don't intend to make any excuses, but obviously I have not been regularly blogging. However I do want to let people know that this blog is not dead and writing will resume on a semi-regular basis once a few things are ironed out personally. I hope that there are some readers that miss my financial musings and look forward to more in the future.

Thanks for reading.

Too Many Carrots?

2008-04-24T16:23:00.001-05:00

I came across a great article today that I felt compelled to write about. The piece, Life and Taxes, was written by Yaron Brook for Forbes. First, I would like each reader to stop for a moment and consider all of the impacts taxes have on your day-to-day life and on your financial decisions. The most obvious effect of taxation is the large chunk of income tax withholding that drains cash from each paycheck. Almost certainly you will recall the property tax, sales tax, FICA tax, gas tax, and sin taxes too. What Dr. Brook made me realize is that taxes actually have a much larger impact that just draining away your money.

Taxes are a means for the government to control the people. How is that possible you say? By rewarding the behaviors that the government deems moral and punishing the behaviors that the government deems immoral. There are carrots (ie rewards) for buying a home (mortgage interest deduction), saving for retirement (401(k) and IRA), having children (dependent and childcare deductions), and getting an education (Lifetime Learning Credit, Hope Credit, etc). There are also penalties, extra taxes, for driving a car with poor gas mileage (guzzler tax) and smoking and drinking (sin taxes). On the surface it appears that influencing or regulating these behaviors is indeed beneficial. Instead, I would agree with Dr. Brook that in fact this system is terrible for both the individual and society as a whole.

For example, how can it be bad to incentivize saving for retirement? The simple answer is because it distorts the free market mechanics of the economy. A better answer, and the one I focus on, is how it affects the individual. As a person intent on saving for my retirement I am going to save, invest, and prepare for the future no matter what. Now, because there is a government tax structure called a 401(k) it controls my behavior. Rather than select the investment brokerage I prefer, I am instead effectively handcuffed to a single provider. To get my tax break I am forced to pay a third party, which I did not select, management fees and commissions. Without this government intervention I'd be free to pick the lowest cost, best service provider and likely keep more of my money. The market place would respond to the increased freedom and choice given to the individual and in response companies would compete for my business.

Under the current system I am also limited in the investment vehicles available to me. Mutual funds, often with high costs, are the investment of choice in most 401(k) plans. The government and its retirement tax legislation discourages novel investment ideas and exotic asset classes. I am also restricted as to when, why, and how I access my own money. Again the government controls my behavior and my money by using the 401(k) legislation and the carrot of tax deductions. There is also a stick, to punish me, should I need to spend my own money before I reach the government designated age (59 1/2). Clearly early retirement is discouraged and the system is weighed against it. There is in fact, an illusion created by the system that everyone should work until the designated age. Why? It could be because it is good for the government but not necessarily for the individual.

Furthermore, not everyone has access to a 401(k) account. This skews the system of rewards further by punishing people who fit outside the accepted worker/drone role that the government overtly encourages. How many people would be more apt to take a different job, become an entrepreneur, or work as an independent consultant if the 401(k) system did not tip the scales. The same is even more true when we consider the tax incentive toward employer centered health insurance. Look at how much this government tinkering distorts our life choices! I am an employee less because that is what is best for me, but more because the government has created a tax system to pigeonhole me into that role.

There is even an entire legion of white collar professionals that exist solely to deal with the implications of the tax code and our governments policies of taxation. Accountants, tax preparers, IRA custodians, 401(k) plan providers, human resources benefits experts, and the entire IRS exist solely to execute this government moral agenda. If there was a vastly simplified tax legislation none of these people would be needed. In fact, most personal finance blogs too would have very little to talk about too if the government would butt out of our personal spending choices. No more headlines like: 46 Tax Deductions that Bloggers Often Overlook, My 401(k) to IRA Rollover Decision Process, or Bush Proposes Health Insurance Tax Reform. We could stop spending so much time reading blogs and analyzing the tax implications of our finances and simply make the best choice for us, as an individual.

There are dozens of other examples: buying too much house, having too many children, being content with underemployment, paying inflated tuition, being less productive (work less) because of punitive tax rates. These are all symptoms of tax policies which steer individuals to fall in line with the government determined ideal. The conceit that government can better decide than individuals is at the heart of this issue. Dr. Brook and I are in agreement that we are more than capable of making decisions for ourselves without any government meddling.

It could also simply be the unintended consequences and unfortunate side effects, but it all distorts the market none the less. The more I learn the more I wish government would stay out of my finances and let us use our freedom to make our own decisions about what is right for our money.

Airlines Are Not My Friend

2008-04-09T21:51:00.001-05:00

If you've read the news over the past two days one of the leading stories is that American Airlines has cancled 1,000 flights. Unfortunately I have been snagged in this travel nightmare today. I had a quick two night business trip that was to conclude with an evening flight home today. Of couse my flight was one of those that were cut.

I learned of the problems around mid-morning when a coworker jumped on the web during a break in our meetings. I remembered that I had been scheduled to fly on an S-80 for my return trip so I immediately logged into my frequent flier account to check my status. The remarkable thing was that the airline's website barely even mentioned the issues. A plain link to a quick PR blurb was all of the information given.

Next I pulled up my intinerary and was happy to find that my flight was still listed for departure at its original time. Satisfied that things were looking fine I went back to work. Unfortunately, right before lunch I again logged in to print my boarding pass. That effort was met with a website error and the suggested remedy was to "speak with ticketing agent at the terminal." That message is NEVER a good sign. Still my itinerary showed that I had a flight and that it was on time. Something was up.

My next move was to get on the phone with AA customer service. I was pretty suprised that the phone call was met with a message, "All representatives are busy. Please try your call again." What? They wouldn't even put me on hold? That is a REALLY bad sign. I tried calling a dozen more times and kept getting the same message. The system would not let me talk to a real person, and the automated prompt said that my itinerary was still valid and on time. Lies!

In a last ditch effort I followed the voice prompts to dig through the automated system until I was prompted to say "Agent" if I had a special need. A little weak I know, but that seemed to be the only way to talk to a real person. At that point I advanced to actually being on hold, which I considered progress. I then spent over 90 minutes on hold. During which time I drove across town (speaker phone rocks), ordered food, ate, and had plenty of leasurely water cooler talk. My cell phone battery died shortly thereafter, without me ever talking to a real person.

I had already checked out of my hotel and my rental car needed to be returned. It looked like I was about to get stranded at the airport. I called the car rental company and they were kind enough to let me know that if I were to return my car, I would be unable to rent another. All of the cars were booked so if I gave up my car I'd be without wheels. My solution was to immediately drive to the airport to talk to a ticket agent, but in order to keep my car I left it in hourly parking. The rep on the phone said it would be $75 if I were to ditch the car in the parking garage. If I could get a flight I'd pay $75 but if not I'd still have a car. It would be totally worth it either way.

After about an hour in line at the airport I was finally able to talk to a real person. I finally caught a break when they were able to find a commuter jet that had an open seat tomorrow morning bright and early. I immediately set to work getting my hotel to hold a room for tonight and extending my car rental. I caught another break when I was able to secure a room (places had booked up quickly) and even got them to match the prior night's rate despite the fact that they doubled the rate overnight. You've got to love a company that charges everyone double due to this sudden scarcity. Capitalism at its best.

So now I have returned to my hotel. I've spent the whole afternoon and evening working to get myself home, but now I've gotten as far as the hotel where I started the day by the time I was scheduled to arrive home. Today has been a-hell-of-a-day. Thankfully A little experience let me keep my rental car and some bargaining and quick action let my hotel room at a semi-reasonable rate. I have a boarding pass in hand that will get me home only 15 hours late. I managed to work the system well enough that it didn't turn into the total nightmare it easily could have been.

Today I learned that the airlines are not even close to prepared for this type of problem. They don't have enough phone lines or the ability to scale up their customer service numbers. They also are completely unable to give any useful information on the internet or by phone. In this day-and-age it is rediculous to expect someone to be face to face at the terminal to get a flight rebooked. I hope that this experience is a wake up call for all of the airlines (I'm sure none of the others would have done any better than AA) for their maintainance programs and their customer service departments.

I love to travel but these days it is becoming more and more of a bitter experience if I have to give up my fate to the airline industry. Come on guys, lets get our acts together.

Introspection Found in a Suit

2008-04-07T11:15:00.001-05:00

Over the weekend I was honored to be an usher at the wedding of two great friends. We had a really great time celebrating, and I got that warm fuzzy feeling that you get at a wedding when you know that the couple is truly meant for each other. I also had to Dress to Impress and wear a suit. I hate dressing up.

I've reached the point in my life where I can no longer get away with khaki pants and a button-up shirt at formal gatherings. This was very apparent when I under-dressed for my cousin's wedding last summer. It was an outdoor wedding on a hot summer day and I thought comfort and practicality would prevail in the wardrobe choices of the guests. I was wrong. While I hate dressing up, I learned that I hate under-dressing even more. Who wants to stick out and look like a schmuck in front of the whole family by being the only guy not wearing a blazer? I felt like a lightening rod for the biting wit of my judgmental family. Ugh.

I own a nice suit that I bought three years ago to wear to my job interviews as graduation approached and I had to secure a "real job." Unfortunately, a sedentary job and diminished athletic activity has taken its toll on my physic. Thus, in order to avoid any hushed Chris Farley jokes at my expense I needed a new suit jacket. The marketing machine of the local mens formal store was kind enough to sucker me into buying more that I intended by offering the evil and manipulative "free" bonus. With the purchase of a $99 blazer I was awarded a pair of free matching pants. The sales person also convinced my wife that I needed a new tie to complete the package.

I planned to buy a $79 blazer and instead got a $99 blazer, matching pants, and a tie. After alterations and taxes the total bill was $160.00. I'm a sucker, BUT at least I didn't look like a schmuck at the wedding. I also took solace in the fact that this entire package is exactly half of what I paid for my last suit. Yep, my last suit that was worn about a half dozen times and outgrown in three years cost $320.

The way I look at it today is that I've made progress. I've realized that the way I dress does matter from time to time. I've realized the direct costs of being in bad physical shape, and since January I've been at the gym 3-4 times every week. I've grown more frugal and spent half as much to buy a suit, simply by ignoring the brand name. Finally, I've realized that I am not a financial robot and that slips and compromises are a part of the process.

Who knew that buying a suit could be such an introspective process. Thanks for reading.