Credit Card Paid Off

One more debt out of the way. We paid off the credit card balance that was on the 0% interest rate card until August 2008. From now on, we will use the credit card to get reward points and pay off the balance at the end of the month.

Also our emergency account stands a little more than $5,000. IRA for 2008 is at $1000. And we have also started to make extra principle payments towards our second mortgage so that it would be paid off by Oct 2012. It sounds like a long way to go. But once we reach $20,000 in our emergency account, we would probably pay more towards this loan.

The bad news we found yesterday was that the ‘check engine’ light is active in my car. Don’t know how much it’s going to cost. There is about 90,000+ miles on it and we have also been thinking about replacing this car. But we also know it’s not a good idea until we save some money to put down.

Debt paid off since 01 Nov 2007            : 31,452.53
Increase in assets since 01 Nov 2007     : 15,561.61
Change in networth since 01 Nov 2007  : 47,014.14

 

Networth and Budget Updates

It’s been a late update. But here it goes.

The crux of the update is that it looks bad. It is actually not bad. There were some unexpected work related expenses for which the reimbursements would probably come in March. So hopefully I will be able to account for this drastic looking failure in March and get back to normal course. In the mean time, hang on!!!

Gas consumption was less. It was because my husband is out of town and didn’t use his car for about 15 days during february. Gifts was overspent. We bought a music system for our house. I can’t believe we had none so far. So no complaints there. We paid the rest of the car insurance in whole. So we don’t have to pay in March. So that is a normal expense. Misc 1 is discretionary spending for me. I have to stop going to craft stores. Utilities is overspent too. It’s because of the overseas calls that I have been making to talk to BB (Let’s call my husband that from now on).

As for as the networth update, the numbers don’t look good because of the unexpected work related expense. But I have not modified the goals for march. It is based on the assumption that we would get the refunds this month.

Not About Valentine’s Day

Who am I kidding? It is obviously valentine’s day. And it cost us $250. I am okay with this. Because we did not buy perishables and we did not buy things that only one of us can enjoy. And the thing that I am really happy about is that we did not use our credit cards.

On the credit card note, I have been thinking about using my rewards card for all the purchases and pay it in full each statement period. This way I can handle all the household spending from one account. But it’s not going to happen this month. I have only been thinking.

Tracking our budget this month is going to be a challenge. My husband is going to be away for a month and he is going to use all cash. Anything he spends will be reimbursed. But how do I account for the withdrawn money. It would affect my networth updates too. But I think I am just going to report what it is according to my bank statements. When the reimbursements come they would adjust automatically. And honestly, I think I need to give ourselves more cushion in our budget. But I am going to stick with it for now and see how it goes.

Things that don’t look good on my budget and networth are

• The cash withdrawn for my husband’s trip
• Valentine’s day gift costs
• Misc 1 and Misc 2 categories already spent. We did not pack lunch as much as we wanted to.
• Grocery money left for the rest of the month is $50. (But I think I have enough to last me 2 weeks)
• Our electricity bill might be more for this month.
• We need to open an IRA for 2007 tax year and this is going to delay paying back our parents
• We are going to pay car insurance in full since we don’t want to pay the extra $5 each installment period.

Things that I liked about February

• I used coupons during my last visit to the grocery store and saved $6.05. This is on top of the savings($23) due to club member prices.
• I got a nice gift from my husband for Valentine’s day. It would keep me cheerful when he is away.
• I am hoping to put a tick mark next to one my 2008 goals. Will let you know what it is once I know the result for sure. 

I guess this month is the real test for my budget. January was pretty smooth compared to February. I’m hoping March would be better.