Keeping The Reins Tight….

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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The IRS made April an excellent month for my net worth. Tax returns had substantial impact on my cash position and retirement accounts. Because I spent two weeks traveling on someone else’s dime, my out of pocket food / gas costs were minimized. This all resulted in a net-worth increase of $4,744! Seven more months of hard work and I should be in positive territory by the end of 2008.

I was able to fulfill two of the April Goals. I feel short with actual Roth contributions; but, I did increase my Roth savings account by $310.43. I consider this goal a wash, I now need to give the money to Vanguard.

May should continue the string of great months. My stimulus check will arrive around May 15th and will be split into the Roth and Emergency Fund. I also hope to do the following by the end of the month:

1. Sell the Mountain Bike- I took pictures and priced similar bikes on eBay and Craigslist. It looks like I’ll get $125 for the frame and the wheel set, as the bike needs much more work than I realized. Whoever buys it will be getting a good deal.
2. $650 in alternative income- This is the last month I’ll have massive tutoring income. With school finishing, AP exams, and regular exam schedules, my in person income will take a hit. I need to generate close to $200 through Tutor.com.
3. $100 in groceries - A serious calf strain will keep me from running most of the month severely reduce my food consumption. This goal should be no problem.
4. No more plants- I’ve gone overboard with my apartment balcony. It’s a jungle full of fruits/flowers and I’d spend my whole bank account on plants if I could. Time to reel it in.
5. Track my expenses- The last two months, I’ve been rather lazy. No more!

May should be a most excellent month!

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Another budgeting, saving, extra payments to the student loan and putting my finances on autopilot. Not only did my net worth increase, it increased by more than 5%!

March Goals (end of month review)

1. Create $800 in additional income - Fell short by $123, I didn’t even list my mountain bike on Craigslist. Whoops.
2. Only spend $100 in groceries - Let’s not talk about this….
3. Pay an additional $100 towards the principal of my student loan. - Knocked $132.14 off the principal balance of the repayable loans!

April Goals

1. Create $900 in additional income - With Advanced Placement exams upon us, my tutoring income should exceed this.
2. Spend $100 in groceries - Extremely aggressive, I’m traveling the next two weekends and my training volume is increasing exponentially.
3. $300 in Roth Contributions - With $900 in additional income, I’d better be able to make this happen.

April will be a wonderful month.

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Net Worth Review:

February was a good month. My net worth increased from -$28139.00 to -$26,811; that’s an increase of +$1328!

My emergency fund temporarily cleared the 3 grand mark. I’m one-third of the way there. Woot! My student loan balance decreased as a result of making minimum payments and then some. I still owe over $21,000 on my payable balance but I’m darn close to being on the south side of 21k.

Over the course of the month, I noticed a vast improvement in my financial habits. I kept a close eye on my spending and every major category came in under budget. It’s way too early to adjust any of the category totals; but, I’m hoping for the same success in March.

March Goals

• Create $800 in additional income - Should be fairly easy, I’ve got three leads on new tutoring clients. If I only take on one, my tutoring income (barring an cancellations) will meet this goal. I could also get off my rump and sell my mountain bike.
• Only spend $100 in groceries - Seeing how I’ve already spent $75 this month, this is going to be tough. Luckily, I have four trips on somebody else’s dime at the end of the month; thus, I only need about to buy about 20 days worth of food.
• Pay an additional $100 towards the principal of my student loan. - If I can’t find $17.86 to snowflake, I suck.

To reach my March goals, I’ll have some work to do. Another $1000+ increase in net worth would be great!

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