Monday, April 28, 2008

Ramblings

It was an interesting weekend.  We got our bikes, drove downtown, parked and then rode our bikes to the Oklahoma City Arts Festival.  They hold it at the Myriad Botanical Gardens, which is so beautiful.  Ah… We ended up spending $20 on food which wasn’t too bad because the food was deliciouso! 

I keep letting people borrow money from me.  I don’t know what the deal is.  People who have never asked me for money have asked me.  If these were Christian people then I would feel like I was doing good but for the most part these are ladies with children whom are still living the life that is “glorified on BET” clubbing, smoking, drinking, etc.   They get a job, lose a job, they’re unemployed for a while then they get another job.  Then my sister who is a good and naïve and Judgmental (rolls eyes) devoted follower of Christ has asked to borrow $500 on top of the $600 that she already owes me.  The $500 is for a car, it’ll save them gas because they will not have to drive back and forth everyday to take her husband to work.  That’s sounds smart and I’ll let her borrow it but it’ll be the last time.  I’ve also let her use my credit card to buy food and gas until her and her husbands checking account balance is out of the red.  It sounds horrible, huh.  Well then she tells me that she used the credit card to buy her and her daughter some clothes for her daughter’s birthday.  She said she didn’t have anything to wear and she wanted to look nice.  **Shakes head** I had to tell her about herself then.  I don’t know if she’ll ever get it.  Pretty soon I’ll cut my ties and she’ll have to do it on her own and stop making excuses.    

Happy Monday

Sometimes I really Love Mondays.  Sometimes I put things off for days and days but then after a couple of days of rest and relaxation I have the strength and motivation to get those things done.  Ahhh, sweet relief.  Then I wonder why didn’t I just do those things in the first place if they were so easy.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

To Write

Daydreaming.  When I get bored at work I pull up my budget spreadsheet and think of ways to save money.  A goal of mine is to become a published writer.  I’m still working on completing a manuscript and I think publishing is at least two years away but in the mean time I’m thinking about what I would do once I started getting income from my books.  I have no credit card debt but I do have a hefty student loan ($54,000) and a nearly $100,000 dollar mortgage.  Common sense would say throw the money at the student loan first.  But I’m thinking no.  First I would tithe 10%, and then I would fully fund my 401k (minus the monthly amount I need to get my match).  Then I would fully fund my kids’ college fund up to the tax deductible amount for the year ($5,000).  Then I’d start paying off the smallest loans first.  That way all of the money from said check would be tax deductible.  Only after all this is done would I start paying off my student loans and mortgage.  I love to write, I hate to edit but thinking about what I could potentially do with the income from writing a novel is really motivating me to complete my first manuscript.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

April Networth Statement

I’m back.  My exam is over.  Lord only knows if I passed.  But here is my net worth from earlier this month.  I calculated it a while ago, I just never submitted the sucker.  My net worth is still going up.  Woohoo.  Although, the next two months might be tight because I’m withdrawing a good portion of my savings account to get the other two tires for my car and pay for my upcoming trip to Wiscon32.  I have enough saved up in my vacation fund to fully pay for my hotel and food!  So I won’t have to charge a single dime. 

 

Assets

March

April

 

Difference

% change

Checking+Savings

$6,169.00

$6,600.00

 

$431.00

6.53%

Home

$124,500.00

$124,500.00

 

$0.00

0.00%

Rental

$70,000.00

$70,000.00

 

$0.00

0.00%

401k

$3,884.34

$3,889.57

 

$5.23

0.13%

529

$134.00

$169.00

 

$35.00

20.71%

Roth

$475.00

$501.48

 

$26.48

5.28%

Misc (Car, etc)

$7,000.00

$7,000.00

 

$0.00

0.00%

Total Assets

$212,162.34

$212,660.05

 

$497.71

0.23%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liabilities

March

April

 

Difference

% change

CC

$500.00

$100.00

 

-$400.00

-400.00%

Home

$98,512.00

$98,350.00

 

-$162.00

-0.16%

Rental

$66,859.00

$66,807.78

 

-$51.22

-0.08%

HELOC

$9,363.00

$9,290.00

 

-$73.00

-0.79%

Student Loans

$54,595.49

$54,518.20

 

-$77.29

-0.14%

Total Liabilities

$229,829.49

$229,065.98

 

-$763.51

-0.33%

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net Worth

-$17,667.15

-$16,405.93

 

$1,261.22

7.69%