December ended up being a
pretty mediocre month when it came to my finances. I definitely spent less than I brought in and
I actually didn’t use up my entire budget.
I’m debating whether I should be putting more money into my emergency
fund right now or paying down my loans.
I’ve been looking at houses to rent with some friends and more money in
the bank would definitely help with that.
However, I love seeing the negative part of my net worth get closer and
closer to zero. It helps me to really
visualize the payoff date.
Reasons December was
Financially Awful
1.
Christmas
gifts – Even though I set aside a good amount of money for this in
November, I still somehow managed to go over budget in this area.
2.
Gifts to
myself – The issue with online shopping for Christmas gifts for my family
is that I often find things for myself.
My spending on myself (in regards to clothing and accessories) was WAY
up.
3.
Social
spending – I took vacation time which meant I was able to spend more time
with friends and that meant eating out and buying drinks at the bar, definitely
not good for my discretionary spending.
4.
Travel
– Usually I come in way under budget on fuel/train tickets, but this month I
just barely squeaked by. Additionally, I
ended up buying plane tickets for two different trips (one in February and one
in July). I was able to get pretty good
prices, but still spent a little over $700 that I don’t typically spend.
5.
Student
loans – This month I only paid about $150 more than the minimum, which is
well below my target.
Reasons December Finances
could be Moderately Recovered
1.
Christmas
money – The good news is that pretty much all of the money I spent on gifts
to myself was recovered through Christmas gift money. While it’s sad that I can’t imagine all of
the possibilities for that money, I’m very pleased with all of my already
purchased items.
2.
Travel –
While I spend $573 on my trip to Atlanta, that was actually the cost for both
my girlfriend and me to go. Therefore,
I’ll get an unexpected income of $246.50 in January or February when she
reimburses me!
3.
Student
loans – I was still able to pay more than the minimum this month. I didn’t pay as much as I normally do, which
is a bummer, but I should be able to recoup that with my friend’s plane money
and by cutting my shopping and other spending this month.
4.
Savings
– I managed to put my standard $267.20 as well as an added $350 into my
emergency fund savings account. I
decided to put this toward my savings instead of my loans because I foresee an
eye doctor’s visit and new glasses on the horizon. Additionally, I want to be putting money
there to get ready for LASIK surgery.
I’m (sort of) hoping to do this by the end of 2014, but more
realistically will be getting it done in 2015 or 2016. Regardless, I feel more comfortable having
that money on hand in case I need it.
Let’s see how I did.
·
December:
o
Assets: $8,653.04
o
Liabilities: $(24,706.90)
o
Net Worth: $(16,092.97)
o
Bottom
line: + $1,302.68
·
December GOALS:
I did manage to
contribute $200 to my Roth IRA, so I’m glad I hit that goal. I hope to max that out for 2014. I didn’t hit my net worth goal of
$(16,000.00). While I’m disappointed
that I didn’t make it, I love when I get to see that get closer and closer to
the zero mark.
What I really love is
that fact that my total net worth for 2013 increased $8,831.34! My gross income for 2013 was $27,763.13. Taxes, social security, health insurance,
etc. took $7,278.71 out of commission, which means that my total spending for
the year was 11,653.11. While I feel
really great about this number, I also feel like it could have been lower.
Since I’m starting my
goals for January of 2014, I’m also going to do a goals list for the whole year
of 2014. Hopefully I can make it!
·
January GOALS:
o
Spend no money in the clothing category (I
typically budget $250/month, but I went overboard in December. I am going to buckle down for this month to
balance it out!)
o
Achieve a net worth of $(14,500.00)
o
Contribute $1,200.00 toward my student loans.
o Build
my assets to $9,000.00
·
2014 GOALS:
o
Have a positive net worth! This is a pretty hefty and overarching
goal. The reason I believe I can achieve
it is that I would need to increase my net worth by $1,333.07 per month. I’ve proven in September, October, November
and December that I can meet, or at least get close to this goal. Additionally, if I really buckle down in
those three paycheck months (May and October this year!) then I really think I
can balance out my low gain months. I
want to still be aware that I may be missing one paycheck at some point during
the year as I’m hoping to do some international travel and may have to use
unpaid vacation time.
o
Pay off my second AES loan, leaving me to only
make payments on my MGL loan. I really
hope to do this by April of 2014 at the latest, but I recognize that
contributing to my Roth IRA and my emergency fund may not allow this until
later in the year. That’s why I’ll make
it a monthly goal when I have a closer idea of when it will be realistically
achievable.
o
Contribute $4,000.00 to my MGL loan. If I only make them minimum monthly payment
of $256.62, then I would contribute $3,079.44 over the course of 2014. To up this to $4,000.00, I would need to contribute
$333.33/month. I’m hoping that this is
realistic, but I’m not sure with all of my savings goals.
o
Max out my Roth IRA. I’m able to contribute up to $5,500 this
year. I plan to max this out, and I’m
hoping to do so by September, which means I would need to contribute about $611.11
every month. I’m not sure how this will
work out or if I’ll even contribute evenly.
For now I’m keeping my automatic monthly payments at $200 and I’ll
reassess later on.
o
Contribute $3,000.00 to my 401k. If I take no unpaid time off and work no
overtime, I would contribute $3,182.40 out of my pocket. Therefore, I’m assuming that even if I take
two full unpaid weeks (~$122.40 in contribution) and no overtime, I can still
meet my goal here. Since there’s a
possibility I’ll be doing some international travel, I want to make sure I’m
accounting for at least one totally missing paycheck.
o
Get to $5,000.00 in my emergency fund. I’m currently at $2,017.23. My automatic
monthly contribution is $267.20. At that
rate, assuming no interest growth as it’s so low, I will make it to $5,223.63,
so I should be able to meet that goal easily.
Obviously, it’s nice to have the excess, but that “extra” money might go
toward loans or one of my other goals.
I’m trying to think of a
good way to consistently remind myself of my financial goals throughout the
year as well as throughout the month.
Last month I definitely lost sight of my net worth goal and that
obviously contributed to my lackluster financial performance. Do you have any ideas of how to keep your
financial goals a top priority?
No comments:
Post a Comment