I’ve been through many changes in the past few months. As you might have read below, I stopped working at my former corporate job and began working as a high school teacher, hence the pause in my 401(k) increases. During the summer, I am working part time at my old job and considering whether I will be teaching again in the fall. When I started teaching, I needed a car to get around, since no public transportation is available. I purchased a 1997 Honda Civic at that time. In June, after having some problems with that car, I decided to purchase a 2004 Honda Civic.
Yes, I know I’ve talked about buying new cars in mostly negative terms. I considered many things, and I decided that buying a 2004 Honda Civic for a good price was the best way for me to go. The car will last me as close to forever as possible, and was not much more expensive than a slightly used version. Included in my “home inventory” is the old Civic which I am still trying to sell.
Additionally, I recently spent a week in California. I managed to limit my expenses there by staying with relatives. The stock market has also not been kind over the past few months. So, on with the financial update:
| July 17 | February 17 | |
| Cash and Savings: | $ 13,200 | $ 13,408 |
| Taxable Investments: | $ 3,129 | $ 3,242 |
| 401k (Pre-Tax): | $ 9,989 | $ 9,660 |
| Roth IRA: | $ 3,179 | $ 2,041 |
| Credit Cards: | ($ 1,709) | ($ 2,165) |
| Student Loan 3.97%: | $ – | ($ 1,720) |
| Student Loan 2.82%: | ($ 6,323) | ($ 9,250) |
| Home Inventory: | $ 13,059 | $ 9,454 |
| Equity in Car: | $ – | $ – |
| TOTAL | $ 34,524 | $ 24,575 |
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I don’t wish to sound pedantic, buy you go guy. My wife and I both basically pissed away our 20s, financially speaking. The only things we had going for us were that we both finished school debt free, and I maxed out my 401(k) from day one. We got married at 27, and at 35 we’ve made up some lost time. Our house will be paid off within the next 7 months.
We often say if we’d only been better with money back then, we’d really be well off now.