Sunday
Saving log - $0
Spending log - $3.88 coffee, bagel +$1 peach
Found money - $0.01 (corner curb 3rd/Pike) + $0.01 (bus stop) + $0.02 (bus floor)

Pennies from heaven today, so I got a dollar's worth of change.

Monday
Saving log - $3 tip box
Spending log - $0
Found money - $0.01 (sidewalk in front of coffeehouse)

Well, I've been relatively lucky in finding change - it only took me 19 days to find a bucks' worth, that with 4 days of no luck. I rarely find quarters at all, not to mention finding two. Its like getting paid to jog, walk, and touch my toes.

This current stock market rally is freaking me out a bit. My net worth is now above what it was June 2008, before the Great Fiscal Implosion.

The 403B went up quite a bit - I've been buying ever since October. The cash has been dropping due to my using it to pay tax, give to sister for the farmette ... and the low interest rate isn't enough to regenerate it.

I've wanted to invest the Vanguard taxable money (grandma's inheritance), and I came close, but somehow I could not pull the trigger. It is true that with stock market timing, you have to be lucky twice - know when to get out, and know when to get back in.


$132,579 IRA/403B
$202,207 Vanguard taxable
$18,351 stock
$12,444 I-bonds
$106,503 CDs
$38,281 ING, paypal, farmette savings
$1,689 immediate cash
---
$512,054 total

By comparison:
June 2009 ($512,054 total, $379,475 in taxable accounts)
Dec 2008 ($498,148 total, $386,021)
June 2008 ($524,261 total, $387,481)
Dec 2007 ($328,688 total, $192,747)
June 2007 ($176,422 total, $48,205)
Dec 2006 ($132,062 total, $40,329)
June 2006 ($120,261 total, $65,148)
Dec 2005 ($67,778 total, $23,740)
June 2005 ($46,115 total, $11,293)
Dec 2004 ($38,338 total, $7,558)
June 2004 ($29,050 total, $4,533)

Tuesday
Saving log - $5 tip box
Spending log - $3.50 fresh juice

Wednesday
Saving log - $4 tip box
Spending log - $10 lunch

Its busy at work but I'm making great progress so I bought a treat yesterday and had lunch with the gang today.

Lawyer friend had read my blog and had a question for me: Why don't I count the farmette in my net worth? Let me see...

1. Don't know what the farmette's worth, and really, until I'm bought out or it goes up for sale, not worth it to me to appraise it.

2. And it would 1/2 of an estimate anyway.

3. Treating the farmette like an expense, which it is if I pay half-sies on expenses and taxes and I visit it once every couple of years.

4. Would prefer that my net worth be an underestimate.

After lunch, as we were walking back to work, screenwriter friend found a $10 bill under a parked car. Score for him.

Apologies that I haven't been posting daily - I have an excuse, now I have to look around for the screen and type one handed...

Sensing that prosecco will eliminate any math ability, before I raise my glass in a toast:

Thank G&d 2008 is over!

I'm here to present my net worth snapshot, circa Dec 31, 2008. Stocks are down, IRA is down, but now its mostly Roth, so it is mostly tax-free instead of tax deferred. 403B is down, but since the meltdown I have put in about 4K into "cheap" mutual funds. Money that was in t-bills is now in ING savings. Cash is holding its own, but it can only do so much.

Down from June, but frankly, it could have been much, much worse. Shelby Davis famously said, "you make most of your money in a bear market, it just doesn't seem like it at the time." Maybe in 2010 - 2011 I'll review this entry and smile.

$112,127 IRA/403B
$200,000 Vanguard taxable
$15,927 stock
$12,140 I-bonds
$105,331 CDs
$51,003 ING, paypal, farmette savings
$1,620 immediate cash
---
$498,148 total

By comparison:
Dec 2008 ($498,148 total, $386,021 in taxable accounts)
June 2008 ($524,261 total, $387,481)
Dec 2007 ($328,688 total, $192,747)
June 2007 ($176,422 total, $48,205)
Dec 2006 ($132,062 total, $40,329)
June 2006 ($120,261 total, $65,148)
Dec 2005 ($67,778 total, $23,740)
June 2005 ($46,115 total, $11,293)
Dec 2004 ($38,338 total, $7,558)
June 2004 ($29,050 total, $4,533)

Net worth 2008

Grandmother's inheritance has been dispersed (dad's was in December 2007), which is why the net worth jumped radically again. Since I am now the oldest direct descendant, no more big inheritances now and forever.

I've pruned a number of accounts - I've put all but 10$ from Paypal into ING, I've shifted some money from one bank to another to keep under the $100K FDIC limit, and put all but .80 of grandma's Ameriprise money into Vanguard. I expected to shelter most of the Vanguard money into tax-free or tax deferred accounts. Now with grandma's gift total and the ability to shelter at 15K/yr for 403B and 5K/yr for a Roth, it won't happen. I have to be okay with that.

Snapshot of net worth, first half of 2008

$136,780 IRA/403(B)
$197,000 Vanguard taxable (cash that will be put into equities...eventually)
$17,322 stock (5 DRPs)
$27,762 EE bonds, I bonds, T bills
$125,464 CDs
$18,999 ING, PayPal savings
$934 immediate cash in checking/savings
----
$524,261 grand total

By comparison:
June 2008 ($524,261 total, $387,481 in taxable accounts)
Dec 2007 ($328,688 total, $192,747)
June 2007 ($176,422 total, $48,205)
Dec 2006 ($132,062 total, $40,329)
June 2006 ($120,261 total, $65,148)
Dec 2005 ($67,778 total, $23,740)
June 2005 ($46,115 total, $11,293)
Dec 2004 ($38,338 total, $7,558)
June 2004 ($29,050 total, $4,533)

Net worth 2007

All of dad's inheritance has now been dispersed to sister and I. Grandmother's inheritance has not been dispersed yet. Again, these numbers have very little bearing on any frugalness from our part. The real estate value of the farmette (house, barn, sheds, solar panels, 7 acres) has not been included in any form in this net worth tally. Somehow its wiser not to put a value something as sentimental as the farmette. Besides, unless sister buys me out (not for many years), the value of the farmette is moot. Best to handle what I can control.

I've had to take out CDs at various banks. I'll have to see about CDARS, where one bank will farm out CDs to other banks, keeping within FDIC regulations.

Snapshot of net worth, last half of 2007

$135,941 IRA/403(B)
$15,829 stock (4 DRPs)
$26,453 EE bonds, I bonds, T bills
$139,959 CDs
$9,181 ING, PayPal savings
$1,325 immediate cash in checking/savings
----
$328,688 grand total

By comparison:
Dec 2007 ($328,688 total, $192,747 in taxable accounts)
June 2007 ($176,422 total, $48,205)
Dec 2006 ($132,062 total, $40,329)
June 2006 ($120,261 total, $65,148)
Dec 2005 ($67,778 total, $23,740)
June 2005 ($46,115 total, $11,293)
Dec 2004 ($38,338 total, $7,558)
June 2004 ($29,050 total, $4,533)

Saving log - $0
Spending log - $3.28 coffee, bagel, cream cheese + $1 apple

Two things -

My weight has been creeping up and now its at 187 (from 184). My trainer suggested a bit more cardio, preferably at the gym. Last week I made it in on Sunday for 40 minutes. Since the gym is on special weekend holiday hours today, I did the marathon 30 block walk - from 24th Ave NW - and promised the trainer that I would not saunter. I managed it in 45 minutes.

Second thing. I figured out that, month in and month out, with interest and saving, that I increase my net worth by $500/ month. This month it was $508. I used to have to save the whole thing, now I let CD interest do some of the work.

Snapshot of net worth, first half of 2007

$128,217.03 IRA/403(B)*
$13,387.24 stock (4 DRPs)
$25,812.64 EE bonds, I bonds, T bills
$7,227.60 ING, PayPal savings
$1,777.12 immediate cash in checking/savings
----
$176,421.63 grand total

*Again, I've added about 40K to Vanguard, which I plan put into Roth IRAs in subsequent years.

I received the 3rd disbursement of the inheritance in March, which is why it jumped so. (No brilliance of my own, only the ability not to spend it!) I received a 4th disbursement in very late June. Because a chunk of it will be sent to sister to fund the joint account that will take care of the farmette, I decided to wait and count what was left of the funds in December 2007.

My ING/paypal accounts dipped a bit due to the Paris trip.

June 2007 ($176,422 total, $48,205 in taxable accounts)
By comparison:
Dec 2006 ($132,062 total, $40,329)
June 2006 ($120,261 total, $65,148)
Dec 2005 ($67,778 total, $23,740)
June 2005 ($46,115 total, $11,293)
Dec 2004 ($38,338 total, $7,558)
June 2004 ($29,050 total, $4,533)

Just to make this a genuine financial diary...


$91,732.79 IRA/403(B)*
$11,463.44 stock (4 DRPs)
$17,052.41 EE bonds, I bonds, T bills
$10,083.57 ING, paypal savings
$ 1,730.04 immediate cash
----
$132,062.25 grand total

* includes $24,000 in a taxable account in Vanguard which I'm going to plow into a Roth. I consider this retirement because that's how I plan to use it.

Dec 2006 ($132,062.25 total/$40,329.46 in non-tax deferred account)
By comparison:
June 2006 ($120,261 total, $65,148)
Dec 2005 ($67,778 total, $23,740)
June 2005 ($46,115 total, $11,293)
Dec 2004 ($38,338 total, $7,558)
June 2004 ($29,050 total, $4,533)

Nice that I can increase my net worth by 10K every 6 months, despite having to buy a 6K bed, use a personal trainer and bury a cat. I shifted 3K to stocks, shifted what was left of the CD (24K) to Vanguard, and put 8K to short term T-bills.

Might just as well do the net worth calculation.

$ 6,747.81 - stocks
$56,147.34 - IRA and 403(B)
$ 8,297.96 - bonds
$30,334.50 - 6 mo CD in brick/mortar bank
$19,385.48 - ING, checking, bank savings
-$ 652.00 - credit card*

$120,261.09 - grand total

*I signed up for more personal training on June 30.

I learned from my trainer that gym time is a bit like the car lot. The trainers in the gym have a quota; if you sign up at the end of the month you'll probably get a better deal.

It turns out that I will get a freebie from my trainer. I only got two new members, but by coincidence the managing CEO was working the table at our site. Seeing that I was an ad ... He got the idea to scour his records, find other downtown worksites that have a lot of clients, then schedule a gym "roadshow" at those offices.

Turns out that I'll need that extra training. The wedding on Friday night was beautiful with great weather, but the reception was a blowout - a couple of glasses of red wine and my judgment turned poor for the buffet.

My retirement account at work (different than my 403B) rose in value about $2000 last week. Pleasant but I want to know why, and why I'm still at 80% vested. I think that its because savings and data get deposited only a couple of times throughout the year.

I don't set any goals for a particular month, but I do have some expectations:

1. Grandma is gifting sister and I in 2006 (she gifted each of us in November 2005 for 2005). Since word up is is that she is selling stock, I have no idea how much the gift is, only that I'll put it in ING and let it cook for a few months.

2. Chiropractic appointments will slow a bit so my co-pays will drop by about 40-60%.

3. I will finish scanning and putting financial and medical documents on my little USB drive.

4. I will finish paying off my credit card and again set what I have been paying on the credit card onto savings, bonds, and drips. I so missed that!

I took a gander at the net worth, and luckily it has been increasing quickly. When the stocks drop, the interest earned from savings and bonds keeps going up, along with the IRS refund, the vesting, and the addition injection of money consoles me a bit.

I'm on track in April to have a net worth of about $79,000, or an exactly $50,000 increase from July 2004. Less than two years! Its a big secret, but the whole trick to this is to convert your debt snowball into a savings snowball.

Haven't heard from sister in two weeks, nothing about dad's estate in over four weeks. Something will happen - the lion is coming.

Here I am, sipping champagne, watching High Noon on Dec 31, 2005. Courageous, throwing these numbers out here, but this is a real financial diary, so here goes.

IRA, 403(B)s......$44,918.46 (anything tax deferred, set aside for retirement)
Stocks................ $4,918.62 (4 dividend reinvestment accounts)
sav bonds...........$6,807.76 (I and 2 EE bonds from grandpa)
cash savings.....$11,949.82 (ING account)
immed cash.........$1,423.51 (brick & mortar bank checking and savings)
GROSS...............$69,138.17
cc card debt.........$1,360.06
NET WORTH.......$67,778.11

Dec 2005 ($67,778 total, $23,740 in a non-tax deferred account). By comparison:
June 2005 ($46,115 total, $11,293)
Dec 2004 ($38,338 total, $7,558)
June 2004 ($29,050 total, $4,533)

For the last couple of years I've been calculating my net worth every six months (June 30 and December 31) for the last couple of years. Luckily its been going up. I'm just waiting for Friday night when I can do my net worth calculation for the end of the year.

Goals & Decisions for 2006.
1. Pay off the personal trainer credit card debt. This will happen by March or April.
2. Take a hard look in January and February at what I'm spending my money on. This December - like them all - I felt like I had overspent my promotion, that I was loosening up.
3. Decide just how much emergency money I should have in my ING account, then invest the rest. (If I have to, kill off the last of the credit card debt.)
4. Keep increasing my net worth. So far, I've been able to do it by about $10,000 every eight months, but this is in part due to a rising stock market.
5. Get most of my financial information - images of contracts and files - on a USB drive. Said USB drive must have a security system on it.
6. Write a will.

Speaking of the personal trainer, I got weighed and measured today. In a word, 1/2 a loaf. I didn't lose any total weight, but I did firm up 1/2 inch in the bust, waist and hips, nearly an 1 inch in the upper arm. Christmas strikes again!

Well, I still couldn't find the dried mushroom guy at the Pike Market, so it was plan B for the gift for SIL and her husband. When they last visited we went on a wine tour, which they enjoyed, so I found a wood wine box covered with chinese characters that holds two bottles. Its illegal to ship wine most places and since I'm not interested in figuring out whether Wyoming (where they live) is one of them, I've packed the empty slots with gourmet cheese and chocolate bars, and finished it with a X-mas card and a note. That's the other semi-frugal trick of mine: an interesting storage box filled with something else. $27 for the wine box, $18 for the cheese, $10 for the chocolate.

Now what to get my mil....

I haven't really figured out my fiscal goals for 2006. Paying off the credit card from the personal trainer is number one; keeping up my pace of increasing my net worth by $10,000 every 8 months is good, but it depends on investments that always increase in value. Some will; stocks won't. Holding and managing the inheritance is a good goal - if I get it in 2006.