Keeping The Reins Tight….

After a week plus away, it’s nice to be home. Not that I enjoy being back in the wicked humidity of the South; but more so, I like being at my apartment and not living from a suitcase.

California was absolutely wonderful. The training was extremely beneficial, the weather was perfect, the people were my kind of people, and the availability of free things (trails, beaches, frisbee, and open spaces) were the very things I enjoy in life. Could a possible move be in my future?

Maybe, I need to look into loan repayment programs as I got offered positions at four different high schools (if I ever move out that way). The job security of being a high school math teacher is pretty sweet.

Unfortunately, I won’t make nearly as much from my per diem as I thought I would. I ate breakfast every morning in my room to cut down on costs, this let me pocket about $100. The rest of the time, I wasn’t nearly as fiscally responsible. Whether it be drinks, good food, gas money, or renting equipment (kayak’s and scuba gear), I made the most of my time out west. I did however make sure I never spent a penny of my own money.

It would have been nice to pocket more of my per diem; but, that would have involved sitting in my hotel room in the evenings and not being social.

I’m not willing to sacrifice living life for a few extra bucks.

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with Quicken.

After spending the last three months not tracking my finances, continually missing a monthly goal and having a not-so-great idea of where my money was going; I canned the tracking spreadsheet and switched to Quicken.

This switch should revolutionize my ability to stay in budget and track incoming / outgoing money to the penny. I’ve fallen head over heels for the ’savings’ goal feature. In essence, you create a place to hide money within your real bank account, creating sub accounts in essence. I will be able to consolidate my savings accounts into my HSBC account (woot! for the recent rate increase) and still keep the money divided properly.

Furthermore, I could move all of my bill expenses into a second checking account and earmark the money when I get paid. In this scenario, my BoA checking account would simply be for my ‘play’ money and I could gain some interest on the buffer money by moving it into a savings account. There’s a big difference between .25% and 3.50% interest.

Quicken does a great job tracking investment accounts. I can quickly check the Market Value, Cost Basis, Gain / Loss ($ and %), Day Gain Loss ($ and %) for each mutual fund in my account at Vanguard and TIAA-CREF. Should I be checking these account on a daily basis? Probably not, but I’m still learning how the market reacts to world events.

Quicken is a good program; it’s user base makes it a great program, there are websites, forums, and mailing lists dedicated to using the program. This reference material will come in handy when I want to track my Savings Bonds or business expense that will be reimbursed.

Now that I’ve got things set up, I’d better make my June goal of tracking all expenses.

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May was a busy month; it flew by and on Thursday, I’ll be able to catch my breath!

I spent the whole month utterly frustrated and ran a whopping ZERO miles. A serious calf and a chunk of scar tissue floating around your knee will do that . On the flipside, my net worth increased from -$20,442 to -$18,560. The increase was in my retirement accounts; a so-so month in the market and regular contributions moved the balances upward. A few big expenses (tires and an emergency room visit) hindered my ability to save; I’ll need to penny pinch in June to stay on my savings schedule.

How did I do with my May Goals?

A whole lot of FAIL!

1. Sell the mountain Bike - Fail - I’m lazy. There’s nothing else to be said.
2. $650 in alternative income - Success! - Thanks to my tutoring clients, meeting this goal was easy.
3. $100 in groceries - Fail! - See goal #5.
4. No more plants - Wash - I couldn’t resist the urge to plant two more trays of green peppers. I’ll recuperate my money (+ extra) when the plants flower.
5. Track my expenses - Fail! - Whoops!

During June, I plan to:

1. Track my expenses - I should be doing this, I have a budget and the tools. I’m sick of failing month after month.
2. $26 in Restaurant Spending - A quick meal and one sit-down dinner with friends should be enough eating out.
3. Snowflake Immediately - Even if it’s only a three dollar check from Pinecone Research, I need to send it immediately into my savings account.

I’ll be spending two weeks in California for a conference with all expenses being reimbursed. Thus, I should be able to save substantiality during June!

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There are 7 days left in the 2007-2008 school year. At this point, I’m too exhausted to be excited about two months without teenagers. Besides having my summer off (from students but not from work) being in math education has its perks. At the end of each year, Uncle Sam cancels part of my Perkins Loan; 15% for the first two years, 20% for years three/four, and then 30% for year five. My loan provider decided today was the day to write of this year’s 15%, in a roundabout way, I was given a $475 bonus.

In a few days, the state of South Carolina write off $3000 (+ interest). To get this write off, I indentured my soul to this great state and still owe another three years of my life. I despise the lack of movability but I really like loan write offs; a nice trade off, I suppose.

This time next year, I’ll be getting the same write offs, a very nice retention bonus and hopefully a few bonuses due to my students test results. My kiddo’s rocked out the only 100% Algebra passing rate in the district; I’m confident that despite having a new batch of kids, I should be able to beat the horrible 51% state average.

With the loan write offs, I’ll finally break the through the -20k net worth barrier!

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Did you know that a Chase Freedom Card only earns 3% cash back on the first $600 of purchases in your top 3 purchase categories? I certainly didn’t and was utterly disappointed upon discovering the gross miscalculation of cash back earned a $900 tire purchase.

With gas prices going through the roof, I’ve thought about getting a Citi Driver’s Edge. The 6% cash back on gas would be of great help. I’d be able to shop around for the cheapest gas instead of finding the cheapest Shell station to earn 5% back on my Shell Mastercard. An extra 1% (with Driver’s Edge) + an additional 3 cents per gallon savings (the usual difference between the Shell and BP), would shave a few extra bucks off the gas bill.

As soon as I move, I’m going to buy a decent road bike. I can then bike commute (~15 minutes to work) and my savings rate will no longer vary inversely with the price of gas.

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