2010 Financial Year in Review

Automating savings is a godsend. I received a raise in July and am now contributing $992/month on 401k. We did very well this year with creating a decent size emergency fund while saving for europe as well as pay for the basement remodel. The end of this year has stalled savings because of Felicity's leg. As of yesterday we may not have to spend $1,500 for the surgery but instead $135 for a skin graft. Hopefully it holds so she can heal and we can save that money for our emergency fund. In Oct 2010 I began using mint again, mainly for analyzing our spending habits, and creating goals. I still rely on a google doc to make sure we are spending less than making. As for year in review:

Savings:

Jan 2010: $7,380

Jan 2011: $11,100

I'd say this is good considering we've spent $1,500 on Felicity in the last 2 months and $7,000 on our basement and backyard. Oh and already bought our plane ticket for Europe $1,500.

Retirement:

Jan 2010: $25,459

Jan 2011: $41,953

This is two fold. My portfolio has returned I think %35 this year, but I also contribute almost $1,000/month now.

Home:

Jan 2010: $213,594

Jan 2011: $199,972

This helped because of the tax credit, but we still are paying more on our mortgage every month, and are scheduled to pay it off between 12-15 years. Last time I did the numbers we will save over $65,000 in interest.

Overall Networth:

I started adding Ali's debts as of Sept, but for the sake of apples to apples I will give my debts only. Ali has $12,000 in student loans, but $9,000 in 401k, and also $420 in a car loan. After she pays off the car I will use the $211 to accelerate my student loans, then after that use the money to pay of Ali's loans, anyways, total networth:

Jan 2010:

Assets: $53,257 Liabilities: $222,369

-$169,112

Jan 2011:

Assets: $96,193 Liabilities: $207,845

-$111,652

That is a reduction of $57,460.

As I said before, this has been a successful year. I see 2011, continuing this. We do have a large trip to Europe but we will be prepared with a nice cushion in savings. Also, we need to get an estimate for the kitchen remodel which will consist of granite countertops, new stove, island custom made with bar, brick wall exposure. I'll keep an update throughout 2011

2011 goals and 2010 year in review

Here were my goals in 2010

• Weight 185 lbs by August
• Read 24 books(not even close, 6)
• Run half-marathon
• Learn Portugese
• Plan trip to Europe(Spain to Norway, stops in between)
• Redo basement
• Redo backyard
  
• Get emergency fund to $10,000
• Save $5,000 for Europe fund(very close)

Well, Id say 2010 was a very successful year. I didn't meet all my goals but stayed with many. Two revolving goals for 2 years have been learn Portuguese and get down to 185 lbs. This year my #1 priority is diet/fitness. Even while training for a half-marathon this year I only managed to lose a few lbs. The lightest I weighed this year was 203 lbs. We joined the YMCA in June and was using it regularly to lift and do cardio but after the half marathon in mid October I've used it between 1-2 days a week. I want to try going 4-5 days a week and watching what I eat, portions and quality of food.

Money wise we are in good shape with $10,000 in emergency, which will be down to $8,000 because I had to withdrawal that for Felicity's skin flap surgery. With that being said, savings within the first two months of this year will be tough because of all the expenses with Felicity. As of now we've spent ~$2,220 and will probably spend another $2,500. She broke her leg in Nov in Pittsburgh, and then her elbow became infected because of the splint. The break is healed but she is now struggling to regrow skin so she has to get surgery in 1 week and will take another month to heal. It will be nice to have her back to her old self. She has been sleeping on our own in the living room in an x-pen for about 6 weeks now, and probably will continue to do so for another 6 weeks. Ali only has 2 more payments and we will both fully own our cars. The goal of $5,000 in our europe fund will happen but it didn't by end of 2010. So our plan is to save $4,000 for the emergency fund, save $4,000 for the Europe fund. Fund $5,000 in a Roth IRA, hopefully with money we will save from the tax cuts made by the feds. Also continue contributing the 401k's at our jobs

We currently have ~$2,000 and have already spent $1,500 on our initial flights to Europe, so we were $1,500 short. Our goal is to have $6,000 saved for May to cover flights within Europe, food, hotel, and souvenirs. Our plan for Europe is: Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam, Prague, Berlin and Oslo . I looked at train and plane for travel and decided on several one-way flights using easyjet and ryanair. It will cost us around $600 USD for both of us to fly within Europe. We will be going from May 2-21.

Remodeling of the basement was many long weekend from Feb-May. It is finished and we use it often. Also when the weather got nicer we built a fence in our backyard, installed a slate patio, and a brick walkway and garden beds. We will be using that this spring and summer and plan on growing a garden. Remodel jobs for 2011 will be the kitchen. Our goal is to work on it early summer/fall. We are going to expose the brick wall, replace the counter tops with either granite or corian. Also installing an island with a custom made bar, a backsplash with accent lights, a new gas stove/oven, and changing the stove ventilation to go above our cabinets.

This year we added many distractions from reading, a wii, random tv shows, angry birds, and Netflix streaming. I set a goal of 24 books, 2 a month and only read 6. I also am in the middle of 5 books which I'd like to read by March, and continue at a book a month. I just have to make the time at the end of the night to read an hour. I have many books I'd like to read so this shouldn't be hard to get back to at the moment. I will continue to use this blog just to peak at the goals and see how it goes. I don't really like updating posts but will give it a shot. However, I do peek at the goals once a month to make sure I'm on track. For 2011, the goals are in the right column, I will post a financial year in review this week as well.

2010, where have you gone?

So my commitment to one post a month isn't work out so well thus far. I've been very busy with the basement remodel. I haven't done much more than a few weekends work but it's the constant thinking about finishing it and making sure we can get it done on time is what takes up my free time. We should be wrapping up renovations by end of May. It will be much better to have a 2nd full bath as well as another living space to chill.

I think my 2010 goals are ongoing. Basement will definitely be done. Landscaping backyard shall be done shortly after the basement. The issue currently is getting the slate to build the patio. We currently have a few in place but our backyard just looks like a dump right now. It will be nice to get the slate laid and the new garden bed completed and things planted. We may need to skip this years garden because of how late things will get into the ground. I don't know much about gardening so who knows. Savings has definitely been working. We are trying to save ~$400/month for the Europe trip. We currently have around $1,900 of the 5,000. Also Emergency fund is at $7,400 of the $10,000. I see no problem meeting this goal. The reading has definitely slowed because I've been reading the same book, Uncle Tom's Cabin, for a few months now. It's a good book just can't get into reading more than 20 pages at a time. The weight loss has been the procrastination/laziness on my part. This week I'm shooting for running 4 times. I haven't done that in a long time. Ever since I moved to the new house, working out has taken a back seat. Soon there will be no valid "getting married", "remodeling the basement" excuse. Ali and I have been talking about registering for the Baltimore half marathon and we need to do that soon. I was spending honest time with Rosetta Stone and learning Portugese but that has been put on hold since the basement remodel started. I hope to get back into that in June and continue for the rest of the year.

We increased our mortgage payment as well as are paying more principal since our city property taxes have been reduced. Last month we put over $5,000 towards the principal because of money from our tax credit. Our balance is currently around $206,000. We've paid $13,000 in less than a year. At current pace our 30-year mortgage will be payed off in 14, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars saved in interest.

Besides two mini vacations, this year should be close to home. We are doing a Fingerlakes memorial day weekend vacation and back up to NY the next weekend for Mountain Jam. I have to save as much vacation time as possible for our Europe 2011 tour. Brasil was a great time, and got to see how Luis lives. It was a good time, great food, people, and weather.

2010 Goals, and 2009 year in review

A lot has gone on since my last post, before updating here is how I did with my 2009 go:

• Pay off car loan


• Save $20,000 for Downpayment


• Combine Bank Accounts w/ Ali


• Add Secondary Job


• Get to 185 lbs by August


• Read 24 books Close, I read 20 books


• Run half-marathon


• Finance self-education


• Learn Portugese I'm working on this

I would consider 2009 a successful year. A lot happened, I got married, bought a house, got a dog, paid off my car, ran a 10 mile run, went to many live music shows. I did not fulfill all the goals, but considering all that happened this year I don't think it was an unsuccessful year. Going forward, I want to roll over the goals I did not achieve and perhaps add some addtionial ones.

Buying a house was a large investment, and we are already taking steps to eliminate this debt within 13 years instead of the 30 that the loan was signed for. I utilized the snowball method and rolled most of the money that was used to pay of my car into the mortgage. It was also very helpful that our city taxes received the homestead tax credit which reduced the bill drastically. I did not put 100% snowball money towards the house because we want to save a huge chunk of money for our European vacation in 2011. So, we will use the additional $380 to put into a savings account for Europe. We did not put together a budget yet but will probably do so within the next six months, it won't be cheap because the dollar sucks.

Nov 2009 we got a greyhound, her name is Felicity and so far she has been great. We didn't want a puppy because the time involved training was too much for us and we didn't want to deal with the energy of a young dog. We went with a greyhound rescue because greyhounds are very low maintenance and very docile.

I'm not into this blog as much as I was before but I want to give my 2010 goals and try to update with a post once a month. I would really like to add a secondary job but it has to be something I enjoy and probably not seek this out. It would have to come through talks with friends so here are my goals:

• Weight 185 lbs by August
• Read 24 books
• Run half-marathon
• Learn Portugese
• Plan trip to Europe(Spain to Norway, stops in between)
• Redo basement
• Redo backyard
  
• Get emergency fund to $10,000
• Save $5,000 for Europe fund

I currently weigh 207, gained some weight from the holidays and our vacation to Brazil. It's been hard to regularly workout since I moved into the house but I will begin working out at least 4 days a week starting in Feb. I will continue on the pace of reading 2 books a month, I was a little short this year but should be ok in 2010. I want to train for the Baltimore half-marathon, no excuses this year. I have been doing Rosetta Stone and should be done by end of March with Portugese. We are already planning our vacation in 2011 to visit my host family in Barcelona, eurorail it to denmark then fly to Norway to see Suzi. Saving has been going well and hopefully can increase our emergency fund from 5,800 to 10,000 by years end. We will have some expenses with the basement and backyard but should not be too significant and also should be covered by our tax returns this year. Also, save $5,000 for expenses will taking our 2011 vacation which should be in May.

616 W 33rd St

On Saturday June 27th, 2009 the seller agreed on our offer on a house! We settle on July 31st and didn't expect all this stress over getting stuff together. Along with this and the bartender for our wedding reception, a lot of unwanted stress started. I'm excited to move into our place and can do it over the course of August. I submitted our 60 day notice to move out of Falls Village Apts.

We have several things to take care of before moving in:

• Replace toilet


• Redo the floor with tile


• paint the tub


• maybe rebuff the floors


• maybe paint some of the rooms

We also created a list of stuff to do by the end of the year and the end of 2010. The house we purchased is in Hampden and not a lot needs to be done but I want to finish the basement into a chill room and add a .5 bathroom. There is a toilet but its enclosed in an outhouse like wall. Our goal was to save $20,000 for downpayment however, we don't have that yet. We are putting around $8,500 down at settlement for downpayment and closing costs. The seller agreed to give us $10,000, so if you look at it that way we are putting $18,500 down towards things. Depending on how much money we receive from our wedding we may put some of it towards the principal on the mortgage.

Today we also combined car insurance accounts and will end of saving $45/month. Once we get married it will be even more, and we also think we are taking out home insurance through them so we will be saving 20% more on the car insurance. Any savings toward monthly expenses will do now as our monthly payment for mortgage, taxes, home insurance, mortgage insurance will be around $1750, probably less but not much more less. After the first year that will go down greatly because of our supposed tax credits for property tax. Also, once we have paid down 20% of the mortgage which will be in a long time, we won't have to pay for MPI. There are a lot of new things coming up every day but I will be glad once it is over on July 31st. Biggest things until closing are house/pest/radon inspection this Thursday and then getting our mortgage next Tuesday, after that hopefully it is smooth sailing until closing.

Finances will be tighter for the first few months to get used to it, and probably all the additional costs for furnishing the house but we have taken the approach of making sure we have the cash before making the purchases. The most convenient thing is that we are getting married a week after we close, so hopefully we will get some money for that to use for house furnishings.

Ready to Run

I'm in the last week of training for the Broad St run and the only thing I have to do is run the race. I'm very confident i'll be able to run the 10 miles in 90 minutes. Only concern is the crowd slowing down the pace to start off. I've had to shift around runs due to being sick and painful blisters but I ran the 8 miler in 95 degree weather and it was brutal, but i made it. I've prepared myself to cope with the blisters with moleskin on the hotspots. My concern beginning this was re-injuring my ankle, but things seem to be holding up, knock on wood. I have one 2 mile run to go then Sunday is the race. As for the Baltimore marathon, Ali and I have decided to train for the half-marathon. Marathon training is a big time suck, and we do not have the time to spare this summer with wedding planning. I think once we complete the Broad St Run, training for the half-marathon will be the same. It's extended by a few weeks and a few miles but nothing I cannot handle. I think the plan is to train for a full marathon in the spring of 2010.

Over the past month we checked off a few things we had planned to do. We combined back accounts so now we have a joint savings and checking account. This will make budgeting much easier since it will be all in one. We have been open thus far with our finances, and from what I reading is the key to a successful future. We also purchased our wedding rings as well as plane tickets to Brasil. I'm taking care of the expenses for the rings and plane tickets so I probably won't be able to contribute to the savings until June. I had to withdraw $1,500 to cover the plane tickets and plan on using what I could save in May for the rings which were a little over $600. I know we won't be able to save the $20,000 without being reliant on the wedding money. Fingers crossed we get enough as well as I should be getting a 6-month review sometime in May/June timeframe.

A few weeks ago we received a "good faith estimate" for a mortgage loan. GFE is the term referred to a HSA loan. Our broker used $200,000 as the estimate and we definitely qualify for everything. We could purchase a home now with 3% down, but we are still planning on putting down 10%. As for where, it's constantly changing but I think it is between: Hampden, Woodberry, Upper Fells/Butcher's Hill area. We were throwing around Balt Co vs Balt City but I think we are going with the city. Even though taxes are more, and houses will be smaller its a good first home. I think it will be good to cut down on utilities as well as outdoor maintenance. I also want to live in the city and enjoy walking to restaurants, bars, grocery stores, etc.

Broad St Run 2009

Last night I decided that I will begin training for the Broad St run in Philly. The race is first weekend of May and is 10 miles. I found a workout that suggested a 10 week workout but we are already halfway through week 3 so I have cut it short to be 8. I mapped all my routes to get up to 8 miles and ran a small run today of 3.5. I have found when it comes to running races, I've procrastinated so this one I just said f'it. It should be fun and it has added motivation to my normal workouts. I find I do better when I work towards goals. I did have a goal of getting to 185 lbs but I have to admit I haven't been staying on top of it as much as I want. I see this easing my way to the ideal weight. I also plan on running the full marathon in October in Bmore. I previously said half marathon but I think if I'm going to train I'm going to take the time to prepare for a full marathon. The only thing that may be problem is doing all this training in the summer, I don't want to wake up early to do my training, but it may come to that.