What a year! In my personal finances, I’ve mad some advances, but not without letting a few things fall between the cracks. The market turned sour in the last week of the year, and that had too much of an effect on my investment balances. Keep reading for some tables that show my progress over the month and the year.
This post contains my balance sheet, and my income statement appears in a separate entry.
My cash account is off. I probably miss recording a few expenses every month, and at the end of the year, I’m left with the software telling me I have $300 in my wallet or in my apartment, but I don’t.
The savings category includes accounts at ING Direct and Emigrant Direct. This year, I resisted the urge to follow which ever online bank was offering the highest interest rates, leaving most of my money in the two banks.
The business cash account (at ING Direct) holds money earned from services I provide as a consultant. This year, I created a sole proprietorship and separate employer identification number which help legitamize some of the business I do and will allow me to have people work for me this coming year.
The other cash account is the money held in an account with the University of Phoenix to pay for classes (which are reimbursed by my employer).
I’ve determined the value of my 2004 Honda Civic for the end of the year with the help of Edmunds.com, then straightlined the depreciation over the entire year. This adjustment changed all of my monthly balances for 2005, but the depreciation makes sense now.
The two accounts receivable accounts are self-explanatory, and the personal A/R includes money paid for classes out of my UoP account waiting for reimbursement as well as rebates earned through the uPromise program.
There’s not much to say about my investments. The year wasn’t spectacular, but I’m okay with prices remaining low while I’m still in “buy mode.”
Now let’s take a look at the liabilities. My credit card account is paid off every month, so I never pay interest. I get money back for every purchase I make. I’m not happy with the rest of my liabilities; I should be paying my car and student loans off faster. This month, I used part of my education reimbursement to pay expenses rather than the loan. Bad, bad Flexo. I plan on using my bonus next month and some of my business income to make up for this slacking.
All in all, it was a mildly successful year. I didn’t get a raise (just a “cost of living adjustment) and I didn’t get a new job. I’m resetting my 2006 end-of-year goal to a balance of $55,000. Let’s see if I can achieve it. Please continue with my latest income statement.
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