Pennywise2Pennyworth

Ways to Save

2012-02-12T04:52:00.000-08:00

Are you saving enough? photo from http://blogs.reuters.com/ There are a million excuses not to save, from earning too little to having too many bills. But what are the best ways to save? Saving is simple enough, but it's often difficult because, financially, it really isn't sexy. It's not investing or buying that mcmansion or Audi. But it is necessary for any other financial goal anyone may have for yourself. If you aren't currently saving enough, here are my top 5 ways to save. Pay yourself first. This tip right here is what 99.9% (made up stat) of all millionaires do. It's common sense, but very uncommon in our consumer culture. Automate your savings. The easiest way to save money and pay yourself first is to...

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January 2012 Making Progress and Networth Update

2012-02-02T21:24:00.000-08:00

2012 here I come! 2012 started out great. I got a raise at work, a small one, but at least it allowed me to add my son to my health insurance plan, something that I needed to do since August (coincidentally, when I was promised the raise). Then I got some bad news, the good folks at the federal direct student loan company decided to capitalize the interest on the loan I was deferring because they wouldn't accept my documentation of income. Wouldn't it be nice if a federal loan program, that was managed in the public interest, decided that during deferments or if you are in an income based repayment plan that interest would not be added to your account at least temporarily. By all means we could pay the interest we owe each month, but to have a raising...

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P2P Weekly Links (1/15/12)

2012-01-15T16:20:00.000-08:00

Here's what I read this week National News The American Deficit: Where Do We Go From Here? by Marian Wright, President of the Children's Defense Fund-a good argument for more compassion in our politics. A couple of interactive maps showing who the 1% really are (click here and here). Mostly managers, lawyers, and doctors. Less than 1% of the 1% are teachers. Here is the income needed to be in the various % of income earners. Of course wealth % would show a different story (I bet more than 1% of teachers are wealthier than their incomes dictate). For the record my income puts me in the bottom 50% but above the bottom 25%. Where are you? TOP 1%$383,001 TOP 5%188,001 TOP 10%140,001 TOP...

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Tax Forms You'll Need this Tax Season

2012-01-14T22:11:00.000-08:00

2011 taxes are due April 17, 2012 this year instead of the normal April 15th. This is because the 15th falls on a Sunday and the 16th is an Emancipation holiday in Washington D.C. So you've got plenty of time to get all your documents and forms lined up to get your return early or at the very least in on time. Generally you have to file a return if you made an income in the year for which you are filing. The cutoffs for income level depend on your filing status. For example, if you are single and your gross income (before taxes) exceeds $9,500 then you must file a return. If you are filing jointly and your gross income exceeds $19,000 you must file a return. Here is a quick rundown of the forms you may need and what they are used...

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Making Progress and Net Worth Update: December 2011

2012-01-01T11:29:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year. I hope that you rung in the new year in style. Me? I was packing and spent the first day of 2012 in the air. My family and I spent Christmas in Oregon. The vacation was too short. Hopefully we will make it back soon and when the weather is a bit more like we are use to. 85 degrees and sunny. December was a three paycheck month and we made the most of it. Expenses came in well below income and I hope the trend continues into 2012. The chart above shows the progress my family is making in our journey to the "crossover point." The point at which our investment income creeps up above our projected expenses. I calculate investment income as the total of all my investment accounts...

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11 (Plus a Few More) Things that Will Cost More in 2012

2011-12-29T11:11:00.000-08:00

I was reading an article about 11 things that will cost more in 2012. The list won't really surprise you. Water Airfare Gas Food Gold Shipping City fees Electronics such as desktops, hard drives,digital cameras, 4G digital plans What else will rise in cost in 2012? Health Care costs will surely go up in 2012 as employers shift the burden of health care to employees. State enforced fees. As states struggle to balance their budgets they will look for more ways to raise revenues. Housing prices will go up slightly as the economy improves and some of the foreclosures get bought up. Interest Rates. As the cost of borrowing goes up so will almost everything else. Will this spell doom for a recovery? The Bottom Line What does all the increase in...

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Making Progress and Net Worth Update: November 2011

2011-12-02T21:49:00.001-08:00

November didn't quite turn out the way I had planned... You know how the saying goes, "the best laid plans of mice and men...often go awry." And that is exactly how November ended, I had anticipated a low expense month, but a few things creeped up at the end of the month. My family decided to start sharing the not so "common cold" towards the end of November. My son first got a bad case, coughing, runny nose, etc then my wife got it, then I did. We couldn't get rid of it through normal means so the doctor and pharmacy bills were unusually large this month. $113.90 for the doctor and $119.07 for medicine, in addition to the $274.96 I already pay for health insurance, for a grand total of $533.93. Ouch! That's a little over 20% of my income going...

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Life in the 99%

2011-11-15T00:18:00.001-08:00

I've been watching the Occupy Wall Street protesters and the 99 percenters from afar (really far actually, Saipan is about 7,824 miles from Wall Street). And near as I can tell they have a legitimate gripe against both Wall Street and Washington; too many "perks" for the 1% at the expense of the rest of us. Many argue that it is "un-American" to protest the largesse of capitalism, that the free-market has extended its good will to the 1%. As a history teacher I say that is hogwash. Look, I am all for capitalism, it does great things most of the time. I don't think that is what the 99 percenters and the OCW crowd are protesting. If it were, this protest would look a lot more like the Russian Bolshevik Revolution where capitalism was really ousted in the...

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Making Progress: October 2011

2011-11-12T14:01:00.001-08:00

Boy, its been a roller coaster ride the last three month. As you can see below we followed one of our best months, September, with one of our worst, October. Anyway, September turned out to be pretty good because I finally got my tax return back from the CNMI treasury! (that was from 2009!) I'm expecting 2010's sometime in 2012 or 2013...Stay tuned. October is not as bad as it looks actually. We helped a family friend with about $1,500 and that represents the gap you see between our income and expenses in October. November is turning out to be a solid month as well. Not as good as September (at least for the income side of things) but our expenses seemed to be tamed a bit. We've got about 2 1/2 weeks to go till the end. Check...

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October's Net Worth: ($26,359)

2011-11-12T13:42:00.001-08:00

I know I haven't posted in awhile. I've been super busy. And I haven't had a lot of good news to share financially. So I'll just give you October's net worth update...without any further ado... Down $1,104 or 4.37% from September. Assets Cash: -$1,426 (-52.07%). Helped a family friend out this month and this represents about the whole of it. Otherwise cash would've been largely unaffected in October. Stocks: +$102 (4.77%). October helped the dismal stock market. Lets hope it continues till the end of the year. ;) Retirement: +$685 (6.67%). Again the gains in the stock market helped here too. And I am only reporting my cash contributions to my 401k plan. Cars: -$455 (-7.98%). Total Assets: $19,870; -$1,217...

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July Net Worth Update: Down $51 (-0.20%)

2011-07-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

July is in the books, folks. For the first time since April, 2011, my net worth takes a dip. Although it's only down $51 dollars. Not too bad since the stock market has been taking a dive as Congress debates the debt crisis putting Wall Street in turmoil. Part of the reason my net worth is down in July is that our family had a bunch of car repair bills and we just got back from a trip to Thailand and paid off the credit card. Check out my last post for a break down of the biggest culprits in my July spending. Account Breakdown:Assets: Cash: $2,624 (down $719; -21.51%). Car repairs, gifts for the family from our trip to Thailand, and other miscellaneous expenses all contributed to the...

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Making Progress July 2011: My Journey to the Crossover Point

2011-07-29T21:31:00.000-07:00

July's installment of the "Crossover Point"comes with some good news and bad news. The good news is that I got three paychecks. The bad news (with a silver lining) is that I needed all three to get through the month. As soon as we got back from our trip to Thailand at the beginning of July we had a bevy of car repairs. First there was a battery that needed to be replaced: $110; the routine maintenance on both cars (oil, spark plugs, etc.,) $90; a new radiator top/header $200; After all that the new car wouldn't start. The problem? A loose electrical harness that just needed to be reconnected. And for that I had to pay $200 to the local car dealership (a four hour minimum on the labor-to reconnect an electrical harness!!!)....

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The Psychology of Impulse Purchases

2011-07-19T21:04:00.000-07:00

This post is part of the Carnival of Personal Finance hosted by Dealerity.com on July 25th, 2011. We've all been in the checkout line, waiting to make our planned purchases, when that flashy magazine cover catches our eye or the extra-large Snickers bars screams out at us "BUY ME!" We've been on Amazon.com and have seen all the "customers who bought X also bought Y and Z" and we bought it too. What makes us do that? What makes us buy something we didn't think was needed or something we hadn't planned on purchasing? I have a hunch that it is in our evolutionary blueprints to take and feel we need the things we see around us because back in our early history we did need to take and use those things immediately around us because in the next moment it may not be there....

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June Net Worth Update: Up $135 (0.53%)

2011-07-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

During our trip to Thailand our family took at the end of June and into July we improved our net worth, at least marginally. We're up $135, not much but anything helps if you're $25,536 in the hole. Cash (and equivalents): $3,343 (+$46; +1.40%). We did a good job of limiting our trips to the ATM while in Thailand. We did buy a few things on the credit card, but more on that later. Stocks: $2,403 (-$20; -0.83%). What's been going on in the stock market the last few months? Retirement: $9,939 (+$149; +1.52%). Only counting cash contributions. I added $256. Car: $5,700 (+$100; +1.79%). Our Nissan Altima gained again for the second consecutive month. I don't know why, but I'll take it. Total Assets: $21,385 (+$275;...

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Making Progress June '11: The Journey to the "Crossover Point"

2011-07-11T20:16:00.000-07:00

It's already July. Summer has officially begun. Independence day has come and gone. And I'm more than a little late in getting updates on my progress up. Oh well. I was in Thailand for 3 weeks and just got back a few days ago. I was surprised at how well we did as a family in keeping the expenses down while being on a "sort of" vacation. I call it a "sort of" vacation because we were there not only to have some fun, but to take care of some business too. We got my wife's son an immigrant visa so he could come and finally live with us; after 3 and half years away from his mother. We are all back and adjusting to our new life as a family. I'm not sure how it's all going to pan out financially, but so far it been interesting...

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Making Progress May '11: The Journey to the "Crossover Point"

2011-05-29T17:54:00.000-07:00

It's time for another installment of "Making Progress: My Journey to the Crossover Point." Some of you may be wondering what the heck that is, I'll explain a little later. Right now, I'm just happy I could get a little blue above that little red line. That means I spent less than I earned. And as you can see there has been a 3 month trend where I have decreased my spending since February's astronomical deviation from the norm. The other good news is that this months expenses were the lowest they've been since I started tracking them back last July. I don't think I'll be able to keep the streak going though, because I'm going on vacation to Thailand next month and I expect to have more than normal spending. But we'll get right back on the horse in...

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Net Worth Update May '11: Up $143 (+0.55%)

2011-05-28T21:21:00.000-07:00

A modest gain in May. After the last couple months I'll take it, however small the gain was. Boy, I can't believe the middle of the year is almost upon us. And in less than a month I'll be on my way to Thailand to visit my wife's family for the first time and meet my stepson in person. I've been busy getting the house in order and ready for a six year old. As you can see from the chart below, we haven't been able to increase our net worth this year. A lot of that is that we haven't been able to save too much, other than my retirement savings. We've been getting ready for this trip to Thailand, we bought a car..., but we should be able to save a lot more going forward. It's too bad we haven't been able to save more because we've got a big...

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Making Progress April '11: My Journey to the Crossover Point

2011-05-03T01:18:00.000-07:00

The chart below is inspired by the book Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin. In the book Robin writes about how to free yourself of the day-to-day worries of money management, how to transform your relationship with money and really start to get on a path to life after the paycheck. The goal is to get expenses down to a point that you are really only spending money on things that give you personal satisfaction and have meaning to you. And then get your investment income at and above that point. If you can do that then, well, you don't have to work for a paycheck any more because your investments will cover your lifestyle. I've got a way to go as you can see. It doesn't show on the chart but my investment income is sitting at a measly...

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Net Worth Update April '11: Down $201 (-0.78%)

2011-05-03T00:10:00.000-07:00

The ol' net worth has gone down for the second consecutive month. Not much, but still... The main reason for this negative return is because part of my net worth is now tied up in a depreciable asset (a car) which lost $500 in value during April (maybe because of gas prices???) Here's the break down of how I calculated my net worth:Cash ($3,402): Down $73 or -2.1%. My wife left for Thailand in April to spend time with her family and sending money to her while she's there is going to deplete the cash reserves for a while. We'll see what happens next month when I leave for Thailand. Stocks ($2,562): Down $179 or -6.53%. Stocks are only down this month because I took out $300 cash. Otherwise we'd be up $121. Retirement...

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Net Worth Update March '11: Down $485 (-1.93%)

2011-04-03T23:38:00.000-07:00

March's net worth update is here. We're down $485 (or -1.93%). What happened? Check it out below... The major expenses during March include spending on:Auto repair ($300) to get the "new-to-me" car road ready. Auto insurance ($178) to get the "new-to-me" car legally road ready. $400 spent on my wife's upcoming trip to Thailand... That's a total of $878. Looking forward to April...car repairs should be a thing of the past (for awhile)...I won't have the auto insurance expense again until November...and, well, hopefully the trip to Thailand will come in at least close to budget... Until next time...

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Making Progress March '11: My Journey to the Crossover Point

2011-03-25T20:28:00.000-07:00

The 3rd installment of the Making Progress, Journey to the Crossover Point of 2011. Things settled down a bit with expenses since the February spending binge. I made a few significant purchases last month (a new-to-me car and plane tickets to Thailand, in which we fly through Tokyo, no word yet on if that route will be cancelled or delayed...). As you can see February was definitely an anomaly in terms of expenses. Unfortunately too, it seems another anomaly is developing (making it less and less of an anomaly and more of a trend) my expenses have outpaced my income yet again this month. Just like in July and October of last year; and every month so far this year. Somethings gotta give cuz this just ain't sustainable (I'm not Congress!)....

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Net Worth Update February '11: Up $13 (.05%)

2011-03-04T17:17:00.000-08:00

I know it's a little late, but here is my net worth update for February '11. If you read my last post, you know I spent almost $12,000 in February. Yet, somehow, my net worth still went up $13. How on earth did my net worth go up, you may be wondering. Well, it went up for a couple of reasons. I'll outline them below as I discuss what happened in February to bring us where we are today. Here's the break down of how I calculated my net worth. Cash: Down $4,762 (-52.46%). This is the result of spending nearly $12,000 dollars in February. I bought a new (to me) car for $6,100. I also had to do a few repairs to my old car before I said "enough is enough, I've got to get a more reliable car!" (That's not exactly what I said, but it is...

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Making Progress February '11: My Journey to the Crossover Point

2011-02-26T21:10:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in awhile, I've been real busy at work. We just started a new semester and I've been playing catch-up trying to implement new curriculum in my government and economics class. Anyhow, It's the time of month for updates on my net-worth, income and expenses and my journey to the crossover point. The chart below shows just that, my journey to the "crossover" point, the point at which my investment income exceeds my projected expenses. You see that little green line all the way at the bottom of the chart? Yeah, that's my investment income. Pretty paltry right now (I add up all my investments multiply by a conservative withdrawal rate of 4% and divide by 12 to come up with a monthly total). I changed the way I calculate my totals this...

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Examining Dave Ramsey's Advice: Stop Saving for Retirement While Paying Off Debt?

2011-02-05T15:52:00.000-08:00

This post is a part of the 295th Carnival of Personal Finance hosted by creditcards.com I was reading, on Dave Ramsey's website, about the Top 5 Debt Snowball Questions. He tackled questions about the order of your debts (pay the smallest debt first; even if paying the highest interest makes more financial sense. By paying the smallest debt first you get a psychological reward and are more likely to keep up the good work); when to sell something (when it will take more than 18 to 24 months to be debt free on the item); what if you're expecting a baby soon? (stop the debt snowball and pile up savings); what if you lose your job? (again stop the debt snowball and slash all expenses, pay minimums on your debts, if you can). I would agree with all of these, except maybe...

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Making Progress: My Journey to the Crossover Point January 11'

2011-01-28T20:24:00.000-08:00

After reading the great personal finance book Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin I decided to start tracking my income and expenses. Since then I have realized where I am spending my money and I have been able to cut back in some areas of my budget just by being conscious of my spending habits. The chart below shows my progress towards the "crossover point," the point at which my investment income crosses over my projected expenses. I've been tracking this since July of 10' and some trends have emerged. The Crossover Point refers to the point at which your investments earn enough income to cover all your projected expenses (and then some). The concept is from the book Your Money or Your Life by Vicki...

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