MP Dunleavey's Article Post's featuring URs Truly!

the new article posted!!!

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/LearnToBudget/5StepsToFixABrokenBudget.aspx

check it out fools!!!! =D

Net worth huge increase!

Okay! How the heck did i go from 19,000 to 23,000? I finally got my statement from my CALPERS retirement... They are counting the year I worked as a PST in my retirement formula which means that it was far more then i expected... and i hadn't added any of that money into my networth.

It will also go up slightly in December when i get paid because that changes one of the factors in the formula... after that it won't change till next year if i make more money then I make this year.

Which means this months race was totally won! woot.

black friday, upcoming graduation, and roommate issues.

Hey everyone. I finished shopping for my immediate family for the holidays! My mom, sis, grandpa, aunt, and my mom's best friend are done. My sister's birthday gift is done as well... and it ALL came in under budget which means I can actually have some cash to spend on the people who truly matter to me (my friends)! woot.

I also sent an extra $100 to my Roth since I had some Overtime and it was the only annual goal i hadn't met yet. With the regualr withdrawls i'm all set to contribute $2,000 this year.

Graduation is coming up, the invitations haven't been ordered because the school bookstore is lame... most likely i'll be making them on the Computer and printing them out now... sad sad... oh well. The people who are coming already know about it.

I've got a case of the winter blues today. I have a cold and I have to finish my exegetical paper today while at work and i'm REALLY upset with my roommate right now. She just had surgury on her galbladder and one of her guy friends came to see her last night... which is totally cool and i'm glad she's feeling better... but he never left the apt last night and I woke up this morning to find him sleeping in the livingroom... which goes against our house rules... rules she wanted.

What pisses me off is when its most convient for her, she breaks the rules or changes them... I was home by 11pm last night and they were both still up. I could have taken him to his buddies house, or at least they could have let me know he was staying because of some random thing that happened... but no... I find out when i woke up at the but crack of dawn...

and i really want to vent and tell someone, see if i'm overreacting... but i can't because she'll get pissed off because she wants me to bring issues directly to her... but if i attempt it she's probably going to be like "can't we talk about this later... i just had surgery..." shit.

another no win situation for me... good thing i'm house sitting for a week come friday. I'll try and talk to her about it today when I see her at home.

I was interviewed again for an article!

A few of you may know that I was interviewed before by Mia Dunleavey of MSN Money for an article she wrote about Saving back in July:

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveMoney/HowToSaveTwoHundredThousandInSixMonths.aspx

well, She called me up again and she's going to use me for another article!!! WOOT. This time we talked about budgets. The article posts on the wed after thanksgiving so i'll post a link here.

As I was thinking about budgets, i thought for funzies that i'd see how my numbers stack against the 60% solution. and holy cow... my committed expenses are finally there!

Committed Expenses: 56.96%

• Groceries 170, basic home 45, gas and car 200, electric and cell 100, invisiline minimum payment 123, laundry money 20, rent 600.

Retirement: 4.5% [not including the 1% i pay and the 7% the Council pays... that makes it around 12%]

• 100 roth

Fun Money: 2.26%

• 50 for whatever i fancy

Long Term Savings: 9.84%

• Emergency Fund 119.16 +98.16, House dp 50

Short Term/Debt Repayment 24.13%

• Insurance money 127, gifts fund 50, debt repayment 356

My Estimated Pension

I pay 1% of my salary into the CALPERS SYSTEM and the City Council picks up the other 7%...

So assuming I stay here for 5 years to get vested ... here's the pretty formula:

2.7% Multiplied by my years of service (a max of 38 years) = percentage I get once I hit 55 of my largest annual salary. I'll get that amount for the number of years i've worked for the city.

Assuming I make 36,000 this year [which would be my highest annual salary]:
2.7% x 1 year of service= $972 in retirement. I'd recieve this for one year.

When January rolls around and I find out my actual yearly income is, i'll add the pension to my networth. =)

Remember, I also have that pretty Roth Ira at ING that I drop $100 a month into, plus my 2 extra paychecks.

New years resolution

Well, thanksgiving is just around the corner and if you remember from last year, I start my new years resolutions on Thanksgiving Day itself...

I've decided with the exception of resturant dinning, i'm going Organic. Pretty much if its not organic, I'm not buying it. I was originally going to pledge to buy all dairy, potatoes, peanut butter, katsup, and apples organic... but as i was browsing through the grocery store, i realized i might as well go the whole 9 yards and see where it takes me. Next year is all about getting healthier. It seems like the last 2 years i've made my health goals, so i'm shooting for 3.

The financial new years resolutions I have yet to figure out, but even buying only organic will affect the wallet (and hopefully the waist line) too.

x-mas shopping already?

My sister's birthday is in December and so is Christmas. My sister is really fond of asking for big item, expensive things... and i always give her the option of combining her birthday and Christmas presents together for something larger... or so i can afford something she wants... She informed me that she picked out my present to her... a $110 Coach purse.....

I have a $50.00 rebate check coming in the mail that I can use towards this, my roommates electric bill contributions, and the rest I should be able to grab from other areas in my budget. My mom wants me to chip in for something she bought off an info-mercial... or the home shopping network that she'll never use...

by the end of the month I think i'll only have my Grandpa [jungle book DVD], my mom's sister [no clue], and my "Aunt" Nancy [who wants this Jazz cd] left to go and the immediate family is done... then i get to move on to my friends who are my real family.

~*~*~*~*~*~35 Days Until I Graduate College! ~*~*~*~*~*~

Found $75.65 so far for this month!

The extra money from my electric bill allotment (not including the checks i'll get reinburst from the roommates) and my cell phone (they credited my service last month because i complained.) came in at a pretty 75.65... all to the debt =)

I still won't be able to move until September 1, 2008, but if I find $227.73 I can move out in August and/or I find $334.50 I'll be debt free in February!!


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Debt: [$479] & Emergency Fund: [$217.32]
November 2007: --> Debt $2,081.78-->EF $3,793.83
December 2007: --> Debt $1,602.78-->EF $4,011.15

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Debt: [$479 + 155.14 pay raise] & Emergency Fund: [$217.32]
January 2008: --> Debt $968.64-->EF $4,228.47
February 2008: --> Debt $334.50-->EF $4,445.79
March 2008: --> Debt $0.00 [Extra $299.64 to EF]-->EF $4,962.75
April 2008: --> EF $5,000 + 814.21 moving out

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Moving Out Savings: [479+ 217.32+155.14= 851.46 a month]
April 2008: Starts with $814.21
May 2008: $1,665.67
June 2008: $2,517.13

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Moving Out Savings: [$500.00+ 155.14= 655.14]
July 2008: $3,172.27
Aug 2008: $3,400.00
$427.41 extra going to my house down payment fund.

With the new raise and benifit program, i just dropped 2 months off the schedule!

UPDATE: I just knocked off 2 months!
I'll have everything by the end of Aug, 08... So I won't be able to move until September 1, 2008...

If I find $410.15 I'll be debt free in February!!
If I find $303.38 I can move out in August!

Debt: [$479 a month]

Emergency Fund: [$217.32 a month]

November 2007: --> Debt $2,157.43-->EF $3,793.83
December 2007: --> Debt $1,678.43-->EF $4,011.15

New pay raise goes into effect in January:

Debt: [$479 + 155.14 pay raise]

Emergency Fund: [$217.32]

January 2008: --> Debt $1044.29 -->EF $4,228.47

February 2008: --> Debt $410.15-->EF $4,445.79

March 2008: --> Debt $0.00 [Extra $223.99 to EF]-->EF $4,887.10
April 2008: --> EF $5,000 + 738.56 moving out

Moving Out Savings: [479+ 217.32+155.14= 851.46 a month]

April 2008: Starts with $738.56

May 2008: $1,590.02

June 2008: $2,441.48

Then in July, since I’d have to move to another place... I’d only have $500.00+ 155.14 from the raise to save each month...(this doesn't include my May "annual" raise) [$655.14]

July 2008: $3,096.62

Aug 2008: $3,400.00

$351.76 extra going to my house down payment fund.

WOOT WOOT WOOT WOOT WOOT...woot

CAN I SAY WOOT AGAIN? .... okay, i will FREEKING WOOT

Not only did council approve that new benifit restructuring thing [which means I get to cash out more unused benifits to the tune of $207.18 a paycheck] .... BUT, they approved an across the board raise of 4% for all employees!!!!! i'm getting another raise!!!

So, the first paycheck I'll get in January will have me at $15.22 an hour.... and i'll still get around 6% in MAY for my annual review!!!!! and get this, next year they are doing another across the board raise of 3.5% !!!!! its like getting a "I'm done with college" raise....

oh ya, and besides that cool calpers pension that I only pay 1% into and the city pays the other 6%.... they are opening a 401(a) account of 1% base pay inaddition to my Calpers pension....

THE CITY WAS THE BEST THING I EVER DID! Man was i an ambitious genius at 16 when i got hired on as a babysitter in the darn gym... worked my way to the desk... got promotted to a lifeguard... and took a leap at Specialist status.... YEAH!!!!!!!

So, what does that mean for the average paycheck? If i base the amount of taxes taken out on a similar paycheck, it looks like i'll be taking home around $1,181.73 a paycheck after taxes and junk have been removed. An Extra $155.14 a month!

Small Error in my Favor

I made a tiny error in my favor calculating my current debt... its only $10 less... but that changes the numbers that lead to the amazing: "I don't need roommates if I don't want them!"Day

UPDATE:

I'll have everything by the end of Oct 2008... buy I still won't be able to move until November 2008...

If I find $241.43 i'll be debt free in March...
If i find $390.00 I can move out in October!

Debt: [$479 a month] Emergency Fund: [$217.32 a month]
November: --> Debt $2,157.43-->EF $3,793.83
December: --> Debt $1,678.43-->EF $4,011.15
January: --> Debt $1,199.43 -->EF $4,228.47
February: --> Debt $720.43-->EF $4,445.79
March: --> Debt $241.43-->EF $4,663.11
April: --> Debt 0 [Extra $237.57 to EF] -->EF $5,000 + extra $118.00 moving out

Moving Out Savings: [479+ 217.32= 696.32]
April: Starts with $118.00
May: $814.32
June: $1,510.64

Then in July, since i'd have to move to another place... i'd only have $500.00 to save each month
July: $2,010.64
Aug: $2,510.64
Sept: $3,010.64
Oct: $3,400

and $110.64 extra going to my house down payment fund

Networth Challenge:

I like to match myself up against others to motivate myself to not blow my cash on a movie or a CD or something like that... especially since i have huge goals that i'd love to accellerate [the abiblity to live on my own if i have to]. Lets see who i'm trying to pass this month at NetworthIQ:

• Age: timbuk2xo- Networth: $18,977.00 Last log in Feb '06.
• Income: Sj- Networth: $19,495.00 last log in Sept '07
• Occupation: Ashley83- Networth: $22,123.00 Last log in Oct, 07
• State (CA): blogMike- Networth: $20,671.00 Last log in March '07
• US/Overall: rmacquidwin- Networth: $18,311.00

I think i might be able to squeeze past 2 people... but it all depends on their own updates as well.