Category: Goals

Net Worth Update – March 2016

SandyLeave a comment

I went over budget for the month of March, but it wasn’t a complete fail. Firstly, about 5 days before the end of the month I realized I had given myself an extra $20 to spend in the “Everything Else” category on mint.com. Oops!  Also, 5 days before the end of the month, I went on a bit of a shopping spree with my mom.  The good thing is, a lot of the shopping was her “gift” to me for graduation, and so my spending wasn’t terrible. Because she took me shopping  though, I paid for all of our meals over the weekend, and I also paid for a new pair of shoes (~$27). She did not like said pair of shoes, so she would not buy them. According to mint.com my spending was as follows:

Category Budgeted Actual Remaining
Rent $1,650 $1,650 $0 left
Fixed Expenses $70 $64 $6 left
Food $200 $193 $7 left
Everything Else $300 $315 $15 over
Total  $2,220  $2,222  $2 over

My net worth managed to increase by ~10%.  A notable event for the month of March included receiving the remainder of my reimbursement, which was a little over $400. I put my hotel stays on my personal credit card to earn reward points. I also think a 401K contribution from the three-paycheck-month of February didn’t post until March 1, so that increased by a bit more than expected as well.  Maybe the market performed well too? I haven’t really been paying too much attention.

Assets Feb-16 Mar-16 $ Change
Cash & Savings $2,575 $491 ($2,084)
Roth IRA $3,613 $5,245 +$1,632
401K $4,595 $5,645 +$1,050
FSA $1,228 $1,228 +$0
Liabilities Feb-16 Mar-16 $ Change
Credit Cards $460 $42 +$418
Medical Exp.  $100 $0 +$100
Net Worth $11,451 $12,567 +$1,116
% Change +10%

Pending Payments

My Cash/Savings are expected to increase by $562 once my FSA reimburses me for medical expenses.  This has no influence on my networth since it’s a transfer, but  my cash balance would be $562 more.

Goals

I would like to put the following short-term goals in writing:

  • Max out my 2015 IRA contributions ($1385) before April 15
    • No contributions for April 25 or May 9 paydays
    • Reinstitute contributions in June (~$210) and then $315 there after.
  • Have $4,000 in liquid assets (i.e. cash) by the end of the year.

Entering the Real World

SandyLeave a comment

Last month I graduated from a PhD program and am now officially a part of the work force. But what really scares me is the financial uncertainty of the future. I would like to seriously start planning for retirement now that I’m pushing 30 years of age with almost no savings in place.

My monthly budget (at least for January) is as follows:

  • $1650 – Rent
  • $100 – Recurring Expenses (Cellphone, utilities, etc)
  • $200 – Groceries & Restaurants
  • $100 – Amazon Purchases
  • $100 – Miscellaneous Expenses
  • $250 – Loan Payment

At the end of the first week of January, I am halfway through my grocery and restaurant budget, which isn’t great, but I don’t plan on buying much if anything over the next week.  I’m not sure how well I’ll be sticking to this budget this month because it is restaurant week. I am two-thirds of the way through my Amazon budget. Hopefully I can make it this upcoming week without any purchases. I am $89% of the way through miscellaneous spending. This is mostly because I brought $83 of necessary clothing.

Overall, I’m not terribly pleased with where I’m at. My Amazon purchases for this month came earlier than I’d like, as did my miscellaneous purchases. If I can make this week a no spend week I think things will be better.

Short-term Financial Goals:

  1. Pay off Piano Loan
    • This should be paid off by April
  2. Have Emergency Fund
    • I have about $2,000 towards my emergency fund, and a $2,000 cash cushion for my checking account.  I would like to grow my emergency fund to $4,000.
  3. Saving and Investing
    • $750/month towards retirement