The State of the Finances

So, it's taken me a while to post. Mainly, it was because I was afraid to face the state of my finances. As of today, here is my net worth:

Savings 3870.30
Checking 404.16
Roth 924.00
Stocks 931.95
Receivable 2629.00
401(k) 8546.00
Student Loans (21298.79)
Credit Cards (2488.70)
(Payable) (0)
TOTAL (6482.08)


My emergency savings account is tucked away at ING Direct, which currently has a 2.35% savings rate but I am considering opening an account at Emigrant, since, as of this writing, they have a 3% yield. I have not yet maxed my Roth IRA contribution for 2004, but I definitely will by the April 15th deadline. I need to contribute $2500 more. I am a salaried employee, at a job that I love. I have some opportunities for overtime, and I am trying for the equivalent of a shift extra a week for all of my adventures.

I have student loans from undergraduate school, and I am paying on them because I don't still want to owe money by the time I am 30. To do this, I will need to pay about $500 per month for the next 5 years, but I end up paying about $250/mo. I am in graduate school part time , and I pay my tuition out of pocket, which averages $425/month, but I pay it all at once in the beginning of the semester. I pay my credit cards every month, but this month is a little different. I am expecting a reimbursement (including any interest) for $2000, in late March. The rest of the credit card debt, I'll pay with my next paycheck before the due date. In the next update, I'll post my monthly budget.

Just Beginning

Today is February 10, 2005. Over the last month I have been inspired by other financial blogs to start my own. My trek towards financial freedom started several years ago. When I was 17, I went to a pro basketball game and signed up for a credit card from MBNA. Since I wasn't quite 18, I lied and put my birth date back a year. My credit card arrived in the mail a few weeks later. In the beginning, I was pretty good. I paid off my credit card each time the bill arrived. The trouble started when I moved to New York six months later. I carted all of my belongings and my life savings to New York. I got a job a few days after I moved paying a paltry hourly wage. Then, I had to get my first apartment, and things to fill it. . . and, well, you can imagine the rest.

Fast forward five years later. I have worked myself out of credit card debt of $5,000, not just once but twice. Two years ago I started an ING Direct savings account which I use as my emergency money. (If you want a $25 bonus to jumpstart your savings, email me. Full disclosure: I get a $10 bonus, if you decide to join.) And, so far in the past two years, I have paid my credit card balance in full almost every month. My spending is no longer an issue, but I want to increase my net worth, which is currently a negative number. The first year after paying off my credit card balances, I was good about saving. But for the past year, or so I haven't been as diligent as I should have been. (Too many things kept coming "up".) This blog was inspired by PF Blog, which is very comprehensive and amazing. As a young single person with student loans, my situation is very different than his. At any rate, I want to make good financial choices and by publishing this blog, I hope that I will be held accountable to my goals. I am not going to update this every day. My goal is a few times a week. In the next few days, I will be posting a complete list of my assets and liabilities and my financial goals, short and long term. At any rate, I hope you enjoy this and I hope you learn something from me, and most importantly, I hope to learn from you. I welcome comments and suggestions.