Last Day Net Worth: November

Since last month, I wasn't able to track my net worth on the last day, the percent change stats below aren't 100% accurate.  Oops?  By tracking my net worth on the last day of the month, I hope to keep the numbers more consistent based on the usual fluctuations of paying bills and stuff like that.



Liquid Assets
Cash (checking, MMA, W2S): $35,929.34
GNMA: $14,436.24
Total Bond Index: $14,638.42
Total Stock Index: $24,925.93
Total Liquid: $89,929.93
Percent Change: 1.51%

Retirement Assets
Roth IRA (Target Retirement 2045): $5,823.93
403(b) (S&P 500 Index): $17,178.72
Total Retirement: $23,002.65
Percent Change: -1.03%

Total Networth: $112,932.58
Percent Change: 0.98%

So I'm up, but less than a percentage.  Any forward progress is good progress though, right?

And a question so you have to comment: what's your favorite thing about the winter?  I'm feeling cold already!

Today I'm grateful for: plans coming together
Daily Yakezie: Alyosa writes about why women lie about shopping

Updates: Boston and boys are dumb

I've been terrible about updating recently.  I've realized that when I have a little change in my routine, the blog suffers.  Sorry loves!  I know this was almost two weeks ago now, but I did go to Boston.  I'm glad I went, but it wound up being a tad more expensive than I planned.  I guess I waited a little too long to buy the ticket because the prices crept up from less than $150 to almost $200.  Oops?

Here's the Boston spending breakdown:
Ticket: $194
Parking at airport: $40
Various meals: $90ish
Housewarming gift: $30ish
Total: $354

Not too bad?

And here's where we get to the boys are dumb part.  I guess I didn't make it as clear as I thought to my guy friend who I visited.  See, he kissed me on the last night I was there.  And I freaked a little bit because I love this guy, but I have no romantic feelings towards him.  Oy.  I think we worked it out and will get past the kiss and still be able to be friends, but I'm feeling a bit awkward about it. 

And then I get back and spend the Monday before Thanksgiving with the new boy and we have the DTR (defining the relationship) talk... which didn't go the way I had hoped.  Even though he was the one to bring it up, he said that he wasn't in a place right now where he would be able to be a good boyfriend.  He recently (July...?) ended a longish relationship and said he wasn't ready for a new one.  And I take that to mean that he doesn't want a relationship with me.  Because I think if the right person comes along, even if there is emotional baggage on one end, you make it work.  He wants something casual, but I'm not sure that's what I want.  I feel like I should've seen this coming, because looking back, all signs point to this.

So 2 boys to none.  Single again.  Sigh.

Today I'm grateful for: being back to my routine
Daily Yakezie: Red talks about her favorite Christmas memories ... let's get in the holiday spirit!

Monday Morning Inspiration: TeacHer from TeacHer Finance

This Monday we'll get our inspiration from TeacHer of TeacHer Finance, a blogger who inspires me with her passion for teaching... both her students and her blog readers!

What inspired you to start your blog?
Basically, I was broke. I was about to enter my second year of teaching, had gotten a substantial raise, and was facing down a huge personal loan balance $5,500 - a loan I incurred to pay off my credit card balance - and I was continuing to overspend on my credit card. I needed to seriously overhaul my spending habits, and I also wanted to get some experience writing, so I decided to blog about my personal finance woes. And here I am, almost in the second year of my blog - credit card debt free! - and loving every second of it.

What inspires you on your financial journey?
Honestly, other bloggers. I love hearing about the financial success stories of others, and connecting with other PF bloggers gives me new ideas and keeps me honest with my financial habits. I really don't think I could have made the progress I have without the PF blog-o-sphere.

What is a challenge you've overcome?
Financially, digging out of a huge debt hole has been a challenge. I've paid off over $13,000 of debt in the past 3 years and I'm SO proud of that. Personally? Moving to a new city without knowing anyone was a big challenge. Making a whole new life for myself in the DC was rough at first, but now I feel totally at home here and can't imagine leaving, unless I was going to a bigger city, like NYC.

What is something you are working towards?
Financially, I'm working towards debt freedom. I come from a family where debt is totally normal...but so are extremely large incomes. Since I'll never make a big income, it's very important for me to be debt free so that I can squeeze everything I can from the money I make. And the debt freedom goal bleeds into other goals; I'd also like to start moving in other directions with my money, like traveling more and buying a home. But debt freedom has to come first!

Hmm, I'd like to go in a new direction with the last question. Instead of a book, song, or movie, can I say the Constitution inspires me? Because it does. The fact that I have so many freedoms given to me just by virtue of being an American is truly inspirational, because I also look at those freedoms a responsibility to be the best citizen I can. That's why I'm a teacher, because I want to give back. Am I a nerd? Definitely. But at least I'm an honest nerd :)

What are you grateful for today?
One thing that I'm grateful for is my family and the lessons they've taught me. Yes, they support me emotionally, but I'm most grateful for the fact that my parents taught me to be responsible and never make excuses. I see so many people my age who literally seem incapable of taking responsibility for themselves, and I'm grateful that my parents never let me throw myself a pity party when things didn't go my way. Thanks mom and dad!

Today I'm grateful for: TeacHer's inspiration
Daily Yakezie: Buck$ome Boomer (who I got to meet earlier this year!) had some interesting comic about giftcards

Updates: Mostly Men Edition

(1) The responses about me going to Boston this weekend were overwhelmingly positive.  However, I didn't tell you all the whole story and I think that was subconsciously intentional on my part.  See, I'm going to visit a guy.  I'm not interested in said guy, but he has shown interest in me in the past.  I have a great time with this friend and I've made it pretty clear that this is a friend trip.  I'm also going to visit a good girlfriend and her hubby.  I'll be staying with each of these friends for a night (guy friend has a guest room... swear!)  The ticket wound up being more expensive than I thought, but I can afford the $200.

(2) I don't know what's happening with the new boy or if I can even call him that anymore.  I was also out of town this past weekend and we texted a few times, but that's it.  I texted him tonight to let him know I was all recovered from my weekend and wanted to see him this week.  And I haven't heard back.  I hate these games that you have to play when you first start dating someone.  I thought he liked me?  Why isn't he answering?

(3) Some anonymous person left a comment on my +/- Update that upset me, but made think:

As an avg height guy who has dated women shorter and taller than myself it only comes down a couple of things is she gf material(meaning do i see her as a possible mate) or is she just a date(meaning i have no real interest in her beyond hanging out and sex). Height is never one of the requirements when it comes to a potential gf and to be be quite honest height has no influence on if I sleep with her either.



I hate to say it but as a female you do have what we guys term as a shelf life of eligibility from a male perspective...


Umm... ouch?  I'm over the age difference thing and I'm 90% over the height thing, but I guess new boy is over me?  I just want to be with someone who wants to be with me and makes me feel special.  These games are getting old.



Today I'm grateful for: getting caught up on sleep. 
Daily Yakezie:  Welcome SS4BC (who inspired me here) to the Challenge!

Monday Morning Inspiration: Serendipity from Serendipity's Guide to Saving

This Monday morning we get our inspiration from Serendipity of Serendipity's Guide to Saving, a blogger who inspires me with her big goals, unfailing honesty and ability to live in Las Vegas and NOT work at a casino!

What inspired you to start your blog?
I started blogging in 2008 as a way to start showing people what I was up to in my life, since I had moved away from home. After reading Fabulously Broke and Well-heeleds blogs, I started to delve more into the financial side, started an anonymous blog and the rest is history. Serendipity's Guide To Saving become my baby.


What inspires you on your financial journey?
Since I think I'm going to be a crazy old cat lady after I'm busy living my future Sex & The City lifestyle, I would like to be able to be a crazy old cat that has a nice car, nice house and designer outfits for her cats, while not having to eat cat food herself. I'm more of the restaurant Starbucks type of gal.
What is a challenge you've overcame?
My mom died when I was 15 and that was extremely hard, especially with having a rocky relationship with my father. I still graduated high school on time and ended up not turning out bad, but not having a mother for those times when you really need one were rough.

What is something you are working towards?
I will have my AA in six weeks! About time all this education paid off for something! I will then be attending UNLV to pursue my bachelors in Criminal Justice. I'm also working on a perfect dance score for the game Just Dance 2 on the Wii.

Name one of each ... that inspires you:
Book- Are You There Vodka, It's Me Chelsea by Chelsea Handler.
Song- No Rain by Blind Melon. That song basically describes me word for word. .
Place- The Las Vegas Strip. Although it's a total traffic drag out to get here, it really is inspiring to see so many different people in once glittery place. It's inspiring that so many people want to come to this place.
Blog- I do love Fabulously Broke's Blog. She's my idol.
Person- M and W. I pick these two people because they truly are the bestest friends I've ever had in my life. Not only that, but together we have the best sense of humor. EVER. And I can't pick one without the other, it's a package deal.
Movie- I absolutely love Legally Blonde. I'm a ditzy girlie girl going into a similar field and I know it's okay to still wear pink and be taking seriously!

What are you grateful for today?
Starbucks.Some woman likes flowers, chocolates and jewelery. I'm a woman who can be bought off with $4.49 coffee.

Today I'm grateful for: Serendipity's inspiration
Daily Yakezie: Thousandaire's roundup includes me!  He's so dreamy... swoon!

Boston Bound?

I'm seriously considering an impromptu trip to Boston next weekend.  I was supposed to have to work, but I was relieved of that duty.  Now I have the whole weekend to play.  I was gchatting with a friend who suggested I come up.  Tickets from DC are less than $150 round trip and I'd have a place to stay.  I'd probably be able to spend less than $300 for the whole weekend, see 2 good friends and perhaps meet some readers/fellow bloggers?  I'm leaning towards yes on this one.

What do you think?  Should I do it?  Are you in Boston and want to meet?

Today I'm grateful for: and excellent date #3 with a discussion that needed to happen
Daily Yakezie: Red talks about Lessons Learned from Race for the Cure.  Raising money for a good cause and learning life lesson?  Win!

October Networth... a little late

I know I'm VERY late on this one, but I just got the all clear from the computer guy at work that my computer is virus-free after I spammed everyone I know.  I've been avoiding logging on to financial sites until I got that okay.  Sadly, I don't get to add my usual disclaimer because these numbers are not from the last day of the month; they're from today.  This means that there is definitely some fluctuation and these numbers are not as consistent of a way to track my net worth.  Bummer.  Anyway, here are my numbers:

Liquid Assets
Cash (checking, MMA, W2S): $34,974.37 (some of my bills for November were already paid, so this number is considerably lower than it was on October 31)
GNMA: $14,061.21
Total Bond Index $14,317.78
Total Stock Index $25,239.37
Total Liquid: $88,592.73
Percent Change: -1.31%

Retirement Assets
Roth IRA (Target Retirement 2045): $5,979.42
403(b) (S&P 500 Index): $17,261.90
Total Retirement: $23,241.32
Percent Change: 8.10%
Total Net worth $111,834.05
Percent Change 0.51%


Bummed that this isn't an accurate reflection of where I was at the end of October, but at least it's still an increase?

Question so you have to comment: Have you ever had your email or other personal account hacked into?  What did you do?

Today I'm grateful for: catch up dinner with an old friend
Daily Yakezie: Thousandaire starts his vlog Monday feature

3 Lessons Learned from Munchkin: Part 2

Babysitting Munchkin has already taught me a few things, but there are always more lessons to be learned from my favorite 7 year old.

Lesson 1: Fashion is meant to be fun!
Wear sparkly shoes and paint every nail a different color.  Try on things that don't fit (like a grown up's shoes) just to see how they look.  Take risks and don't be afraid to get dirty.

Lesson 2: Be selflessly helpful
It's so exciting to be asked to be helped!  It means that people trust you to do grown up things.  Complete every task with enthusiasm.

Lesson 3: Sometimes you just need a new perspective
Like the view from the top of the brick wall or under the table or behind the bed.  Everything looks different when you look at it differently from usual.

Today I'm grateful for: dinner with Munchkin's family.  Love them!
Daily Yakezie: Mrs. Money talks about Natural Laundry Detergents over at Ultimate Money Blog

Phone dilema

My lost iphone is now found.  Late Sunday evening someone contacted new boy (I think we can call him that?) who texted me the number of the guy who had my phone.  I just went and picked it up and now I have 2 iphones.  I'm not really sure what to do now.  I def missed my old phone, but this new 4G is so pretty and shiny and new.  Do I sell the old one?  Return the new one (can I even do that?)?

For those who are curious, the phone must've fallen out of my purse.  It was in the parking lot of a shopping center where I had been on Friday.

I'm also not really sure why phone finding guy chose to contact the new boy.  I didn't get to actually talk (just texting) to new boy about this, so I'm interested to hear how this went down.  New boy was really great and helpful during this whole debacle, so he earns major points.  However, it's still that kind of awkward, early beginning stage of the relationship and I'm still over analyzing everything.  He likes me, right?


Today I'm grateful for: my phone back!
Daily Yakezie:  Red write about something kind of creepy

Stupid Tax

I lost my phone on Friday.  My iphone.  And I had no idea where it could be.  I remember the last time I had it and then it wasn't in my purse or in my car or anywhere.  I waited awhile to see if a good Samaritan would get in contact with me, but no dice.  So I bought a new one.  $199 later I have an iphone 4G.  It's nice and shiny, but I miss my old phone and its pretty case.  Also, I miss that $199, plus the $69.50 I spent on their mobile me plan which will ensure that I never lose my phone again, plus the $20 that I just spent on a new case.

I'm grateful that this no phone problem could be solved so easily, but I wish it was money I didn't need to spend.  I've come to depend on my iphone completely and being without it for 15+ hours was awful, especially since I needed to talk to my sister about date #2 (spoiler alert... there was making out). 

I feel like I'm losing my mind a little bit.  I'm not someone who usually loses or breaks things, but I've recently misplaced (forever, I think) my amazing reusable bag that I always kept in my purse, broken my computer so that it doesn't close properly, gotten my email hacked into, and the like.  Not happy.

Today I'm grateful for: date #3 that will be scheduled later this week
Daily Yakezie: Cool to be frugla writes about How to Live on One Salary

Review by Me: SavingsAngel

So you all know that I love a good deal, so much so that I keep track of them on my other blog.  I'm always looking for more ways to save, so when I was contacted by SavingsAngel (hereafter referred to as SA) to review their website, I jumped at the chance.

SA is a website that finds the deals for you.  Each week they find locally advertised grocery and household good prices and places them in a searchable database then their technology matches these products with the largest Internet database of manufacturer coupons.  This allows you to quickly see the best deals that can result in hundreds of dollars saved for you.

Positives:
(+)  It seems as though SA really wants you to save.  SA walks you through the very basics of how to coupon, where to find coupons, how to create a grocery list, buying items on sale, etc. in their SavingsAngel Academy.  Their methods seem very similar to what I learned when I was first starting out with coupons using Coupon Mom.  They even have someone CALL you to check on how you are doing.  There are tons of really helpful videos, audio and text.  This is a definite plus if you are just starting out and have NO idea what you are doing.

(+) There is a community section where you can ask questions, share scenarios, and learn even more about couponing and saving money.  I'm still getting the hang of message boards in general, but it seems like a valuable tool and great resource.

(+) They have a really generous referral program and make it easy for you to share their info on social media (facebook, twitter, etc), but they also include referral links at the end of their printable grocery lists.  That way you can tear off the referral number and give it to the person behind you as their jaw drops over how much money you're saving.  Very smart.

Negatives:
(-) This would probably be much more helpful if I was a family of four instead of family of one.  Also, it would be more helpful if I lived in one of the areas that SA really focuses on (Central Florida, West Michigan, Iowa, Arizona, West Ohio, Eastern / Central Michigan, Minnesota, or Missouri).  I have concerns that some of the deals might be regional and not actually located in my region.  I'm also bummed that they don't have full listing of items for the stores that I fairly regularly shop at (Safeway, Harris Teeter), but according to the website, they are constantly expanding.

(-) I'd like some more emphasis on using reusable bags and organic products.  I'm a little bit of a tree-hugger and those things are important to me.

(-) There's SO much information that sometimes the website seems cluttered and not streamlined.


So do I recommend SavingsAngel?  It's a definite yes if you live in West Michigan, Iowa, Arizona, West Ohio, Eastern / Central Michigan, Minnesota, or Missouri and it's a strong maybe if you live elsewhere.  I'm going to keep SavingsAngel in my deal finding arsenal.  It's not going to be the only service I use, but in conjunction with blogs and looking at my weekly circular, I think it will help me find more deals and be able to donate even more.  As a bonus, it will likely allow me to remove a few blogs from my reader... less clutter!

Thanks SavingsAngel for letting me check you out for free! 

Do you use anything in particular to find deals?  Share in the comments!

Today I'm grateful for:  more opportunities from blogging coming my way.
Daily Yakezie: MoneyBeagle deals with their house of horrors ... a little late for Halloween, don't you think? ;)

+/- Updates

(+) I have a leading contender in the dating world.  He's super sweet and a great guy, but there are two (really silly) things holding me back.  (1) He's a bunch older than me (late 30s) and (2) He's really short.  Now, I'm really short and he's still a teeny bit taller than me, so that's good, but I'm having trouble getting past this.  I feel so shallow saying this, but I love being with a guy who is taller (and tall is relative... I'm talking 5'8 or 5'9 is the perfect height range for me).  It's nice to have someone who can reach the tall shelves and who I feel safe wearing heels around.  He's maybe 5'3.

(+) I was given a great opportunity to review a deal finding website.  Look for the first "review by me" coming soon.

(+) My 4 core classes for the certificate program are finished.  Now I need to take 3 electives (a few of which I think I'll take online this month), do 100 hours of internship and turn in a 40+ page paper after the internship hours are complete.  I'm going to start the internship hours in February I think and I'm hoping to get all of the classes out of the way before then.

(+) Things are starting to slow back down after a 9+ stretch of days of never being home.  I need that "me" time and was getting anxious not having it!

(-) My email got taken over by some scary person in China.  I've changed my password and run lots of virus scanning software, but I'm still concerned that my computer's safety might be compromised.  I'm too scared to pay my bills online right now or check the balances on my various investments (hence the no last day net worth update). 

(-) My financial tracking was lackluster in October to say the very least.  I spent a lot of cash (and we know that it's hard for me to track my cash spending) on eating out, barely went grocery shopping and haven't been great about adding my spending to my spreadsheet.  Let's call a fresh start for November and put October behind us.

(-) I'm feeling really disorganized and unmotivated.  The change of season and shorter days really effect my motivation.  I need to soldier though... even though I'd really just like to hibernate.

Today I'm grateful for: some free time back in my schedule
Daily Yakezie: How to Organize Your Closet tips over at Frugal Zeitgeist (sounds a lot like my Great Closet Cleanout of a few months ago!)