Weekly financial update – 12/26/2008
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photo credit: Lisa Brewster
I know, it’s been more than a week, but it’s Christmas! Time to break things down:
| Category | Current Balance |
Overall Change |
| Loans (includes mortgage and student loans): | -$160,442 | $18 |
| Credit card debt: | -$29177 | -$166 |
| Savings: | $2123 | $51 |
| -$97 |
Oh no! Despite making one student loan payment and putting $50 in savings, our interest accrued on our other student loans (bringing down our $80 payment down to $18) as well as one of our credit cards. I also am including the $115 we picked up in American Express charges for the $180 in Walmart gift cards, since this was an extraneous purchase on a credit card we don’t normally use. When all is said and done, we are actually almost $100 MORE in debt. Yikes!
Things aren’t looking so great right now, but we do have a couple of things to look forward to. First, I was fortunate enough to receive some money for my birthday, so I’ll be depositing that soon. I also got a $15 rebate check in the mail. Most importantly, however, will be my husband’s raise and yearly bonus that comes at the end of next week.
In terms of our “immediate future” finances, we really want another computer, and we were considering using part of the bonus for a new one. However, after our truck scare, I would feel much better if we had some more money in the emergency fund first. Time for a family discussion!
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My first weekly financial update – 12/15/08
Financially, it has been somewhat of a depressing year. Retirement accounts have gone in the crapper, home values have gone down… blah, blah, blah.
While these are more universal concerns, and are important to consider, my husband and I have some financial concerns that are on a more personal level. First, we really need to start saving for a replacement vehicle. His truck has had over $1600 in repairs this year, and has roughly 200,000 miles on it. Let’s face it, the old beast isn’t going to last forever!
Second, and perhaps more importantly, my father-in-law may be in need of a “financial bailout” of his own soon. It’s a really long story, and I am not sure if I want to talk about any details yet, but we need to consider the possibility that we are going to be responsible for another member of the family.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I am impressed with how easy it is to breakdown our debt and savings using Mint.com. I am going to use this data to post our weekly financial breakdown. I am leaving out retirement accounts and 529 plans (we make regular contributions, but these funds are not going to be used in our immediate future). I am also leaving out our credit card that we use for food, gas, and other monthly expenses. We always pay it in full, and I am not concerned about it since we use it responsibly. My immediate goal is to increase savings while reducing debt, and I like this simplistic view:
Loans (includes mortgage and student loans): $160,460
Credit card debt: $29011
Savings: $2072
I am interested to see how things shape up over the next couple of weeks!
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