December is always the worst month for saving. In the last thirty days, I’ve gone on vacation and bought presents. Don’t worry, the card will of course be paid off before any interest is charged. So, on with it already.
| |
December 17 |
November 17 |
October 12 |
| Cash Accounts: |
$ 14,621 |
$ 14,242 |
$ 10,920 |
| Taxable Investments: |
$ 2,974 |
$ 2,921 |
$ 2,860 |
| 401k (Pre-Tax): |
$ 8,250 |
$ 7,682 |
$ 7,259 |
| Roth IRA: |
$ 1,416 |
$ 1,017 |
$ 754 |
| Credit Cards: |
($ 2,918) |
($ 1,747) |
($ 571) |
| Student Loan 3.97%: |
($ 1,727) |
($ 3,562) |
($ 3,562) |
| Student Loan 2.82%: |
($ 9,250) |
($ 9,250) |
$ - |
| Home Inventory: |
$ 9,259 |
$ 7,959 |
$ 7,659 |
| TOTAL |
$ 22,626 |
$ 20,554 |
$ 24,143 |
Now for fun, let’s compare this year to last year.
| |
December 17, 2003 |
December 17, 2002 |
| Cash Accounts: |
$ 14,621 |
$ 6,902 |
| Taxable Investments: |
$ 2,974 |
$ 2,000 |
| 401k (Pre-Tax): |
$ 8,250 |
$ 2,043 |
| Roth IRA: |
$ 1,416 |
$ – |
| Credit Cards: |
($ 2,918) |
($ 2,195) |
| Student Loan 3.97%: |
($ 1,727) |
($ 6,069) |
| Student Loan 2.82%: |
($ 9,250) |
$ – |
| Home Inventory: |
$ 9,259 |
$ 5,909 |
| TOTAL |
$ 22,626 |
$ 6,790 |
Some interesting developments in the last month. First of all, now I’m including my new student loan, since I’ve started getting reimbursed for my MBA. However, I haven’t applied any of the reimbursement to the loans yet. I was holding on to the cash because of the possibility of buying a car. I’ve decided to wait, so after I receive my next reimbursement check, I’ll be making a large payment to my older student loan with the higher interest rate.
I’m also using some of the money I’ve saved up to buy parts for a new computer I’m building. I’ve bought about $350 worth of parts so far.
| |
November 17 |
October 12 |
| Cash Accounts: |
$ 14,242 |
$ 10,920 |
| Taxable Investments: |
$ 2,921 |
$ 2,860 |
| 401k (Pre-Tax): |
$ 7,682 |
$ 7,259 |
| Roth IRA: |
$ 1,017 |
$ 754 |
| Credit Cards: |
($ 571) |
($ 1,747) |
| Student Loan 3.97%: |
($ 3,562) |
($ 3,562) |
| Student Loan 2.82%: |
($ 9,250) |
$ - |
| Home Inventory: |
$ 7,959 |
$ 7,659 |
| TOTAL |
$ 20,554 |
$ 24,143 |
Here’s how I’ve been doing this past month in saving money. I’m not including my new student loan in this because I should be reimbursed for my classes from my company as I finish them. However, I plan on using the reimbursement to pay off my earlier student loan with a higher interest rate first, even though it is in deferrment while I get my MBA.
| |
October 12 |
September 12 |
| Cash Accounts: |
$ 10,920 |
$ 11,417 |
| Taxable Investments: |
$ 2,860 |
$ 2,795 |
| 401k (Pre-Tax): |
$ 7,259 |
$ 6,846 |
| Roth IRA: |
$ 754 |
$ 485 |
| Credit Cards: |
($ 1,747) |
($ 2,816) |
| Student Loan 3.97%: |
($ 3,562) |
($ 3,714) |
| Home Inventory: |
$ 7,659 |
$ 7,659 |
| TOTAL |
$ 24,143 |
$ 22,672 |
I’m still not saving as much as I’d like, and on top of that, it looks like I’m going to need to buy a car. I don’t know whether I should buy something just off a lease and reliable enough to last ten years, costing me what I currently have in my cash accounts plus some, or save the money now and just get something older that will need more work to keep for another ten years.
It’s been a while since my last update. I’m afraid I haven’t been able to save much with my move.
| |
July 16 |
September 12 |
| Cash Accounts: |
$ 9,825 |
$ 11,417 |
| Taxable Investments: |
$ 2,722 |
$ 2,795 |
| 401k (Pre-Tax): |
$ 6,127 |
$ 6,846 |
| Roth IRA: |
$ 150 |
$ 485 |
| Credit Cards: |
($ 447) |
($ 2,816) |
| Student Loan 3.97%: |
($ 3,913) |
($ 3,714) |
| Home Inventory: |
$ 6,784 |
$ 7,659 |
| TOTAL |
$ 21,248 |
$ 22,672 |
It’s not a vast improvement. That credit charge, once again, is for apartment related items. 1% of everything charged in the card will be refunded to me, and I pay the balance off at the end of the month, so I never pay any interest on it.
Email this article
Print this article
