The Hustle of Sistah Ant

Last night I sat down with my receipts and added up my trip costs, balanced my checkbook, and made a plan for today’s paycheck.  Everything is doing just fine!  I have a tendency to get a little nervous when I haven’t crunched my numbers in a few too many days, so I was nervous about how my balance would come out when I finally sat down at the table with the receipts.

I did spend $50 dollars more than I had planned on spending on the trip - it was the second tour on my New Orleans trip that put me over the edge.  But, seeing as how I left myself a buffer in my general spending account, that extra $50 didn’t put me in the poorhouse.  In fact, so far as paying bills and saving for the house are concerned, I’m not even breaking my stride.  But when I was on the trip, away from home, not checking my bank balances on the internet, and not sitting still long enough to go through my receipts, I was dependent on a loose tally I was keeping in my head.  I thought I was doing worse than I actually was, and that kept me just scared enough to keep from spending too much more money when I thought I was running low.  There’s still some cash in my trip spending account.

I am not advocating this approach to personal finance.  I think that it’s better when someone knows what their balances actually are so that they can make informed spending/cash flow decisions.  Mind games are not the way to plan.  But I recognize that there are certain circumstances (like when someone is traveling) that make it less likely that someone will keep up with every penny, even though they may find themselves in decision-making positions.  I think it’s better, when your information is limited, to err on the side of caution instead of throwing caution to the wind and spending too much.

Anyway, I’m back on the grind.  I’ve still got a house to save for.  I still haven’t invested my Sharebuilder money. And, I need to figure out what purpose I want to bestow on the balance left in my New Orleans spending account.  Perhaps it should be the seed money for Christmas?  It’s about that time to start saving if I don’t want to go into debt around the time of the holidays…  I’ll keep thinking about it.

I can’t let the month fade out without taking note that I started this blog, The Hustle of Sistah Ant, about a year ago.  I have really had a good time writing this blog and reading others’ blogs.  If you look at my net worth chart, you may notice that although I was already making financial progress before starting this blog, there is a marked difference in the speed of my progress after I started this blog.  It has helped me very much, in various ways.  For example, my self-inflicted mandate to write at least four days a week has forced me to be more reflective on the state of my finances more often.  Also, having the progress bars in my sidebar has been helpful, because I would actually be more aggressive in paying down debt and saving money just to make the progress bars move faster.  Another perk has been getting feedback from commenters - thank you so much for reading and commenting!  It lets me know that I’m not just talking to myself, and it’s helped me to learn and get various perspectives.

And, since I’ve already directed you to my net worth chart, let’s talk about it.  Since June 2007, here’s how far I’ve come in my progress:

Total difference in net worth over the past year: $25,942

I put the money into a Sharebuilder account but I haven’t done any work yet to decide which stocks and/or funds I want to purchase.  Sad.  Pitiful.  I can do better.  But hey, I’ve been distracted.  So now, I need to make this enough of a priority, because if I don’t, my money will continue to sit in a money market account looking sad and pitiful, not getting any of the action.  For all this, I could’ve put it into my My Own Home account. 

There’s this little song that plays in my head on Wednesdays, the day before my direct deposit wire hits my checking account.  It has the same melody as the 12 days of Christmas: "On the last day of brokeness my true love said to me…"  That’s it. There are no more lyrics to the song.  That part just plays on a loop.  Yes, it’s annoying, but I can’t help the songs that play in my imagination.

This week, the last day of brokeness has come not a moment too soon.  I’ve got a credit card to pay off, retirement savings to do, New-Orleans-trip-spending-money-savings to save, bus tokens to buy - oh and most importantly, household expenses to kick in on.  Whew!

I’m still thinking about buying some new clothes before the New Orleans trip, and maybe getting a pedicure before I go.  I’m not too sure about these things, but I’ll see if I can fit ‘em in.

So, I am one day from spending* my paycheck into oblivion.  I like Wednesdays!  I should really flesh out the lyrics of that payday carol, though… hey, if you guys have any suggestions, help a sistah out.

*I know, I know, there’s something that seems un-frugal about spending your whole check before you even get your hands on it, but let’s remember, I am saving Herculean percentages of every check, so even though my checking account will be lean when I get finished with it, my savings account will get fatter by the time I’m done sending money from my paycheck to fly off in several directions.

I am putting an end to the indecision about the fate of my stimulus check.  I am tired of thinking about it, and I want it out of my hands.  First, the poll results (click here) were mostly in favor of putting the money in the My Own Home account.  You guys really know my passion!  A large part of you were split evenly between keeping the money around in case I need it and investing with Sharebuilder for the first time.  But I listened to the comments as well. 

Since I received my check last night, I made my decision last night.

• Half of the money is going to the My Own Home account.
• A third of it is going to start my very own Sharebuilder account.
• The remainder is going to help people who are not doing as well as I’m doing financially.

Thanks for all your help!

…One more thing - wish me well, please?  I’ve got a job interview today!

I haven’t been talking about my retirement savings much lately, but it has been on my mind…  I have a traditional IRA, mainly because I started a 401K at my previous job, and when I was laid off, I rolled the balance over into the IRA to keep from having to pay taxes on the money.  I couldn’t roll it into a Roth, so there’s my little bit of money in a Fidelity account.  I’ve been adding about 10% of my net pay into it - not always 10 and not every pay period, but most of the 10 and most of the time.  I know I should do better, but dangit, all I can think about lately is this house I’m saving for.  Besides, I’m kind of hoping that I’ll be able to catch up with my next 401K and matching.  All I can say is, don’t be like me - all the advice I’ve been reading says that the key to retirement savings is to save early, save regularly, and save with discipline.

Anyway, I want a Roth, for its tax advantages and for its flexibility.  It’s what I’ve wanted for a while, but I didn’t get around to it because I was so busy getting rid of my credit card debt.  By the time I got rid of my revolving debt, I’d already started and lost the 401K.  Now, as my rollover IRA is growing and approaching an amount where I’m comfortable putting less than $100 a month in it, as long as I’m also contributing a more substantial amount to another retirement account, I’m thinking that I might want to open a Roth with Vanguard…  I need to do some research.  Or maybe talk to someone.  I’m worried about whether or not I’m making my retirement saving situation more complicated than it needs to be, especially while I’m still looking for a job, saving for this house, and 401K-less.

I don’t have much to say today.  I am still cleaning up the mess I made when I didn’t properly account for anticipated expenses.  I paid the bills which are due, I plan to pay off my share of the balance of my New Orleans trip, and what’s left should get me groceries and expenditures for the week.  I didn’t spend any money over the weekend.  I didn’t add to the My Own Home account.  I didn’t contribute to the IRA.  I just did what I needed to do to make sure things are paid for.  Good news is that my next paycheck will include some overtime hours that I worked on Saturday.  With my bills paid, I should be able to meet some of my savings goals, and I’ll have more money with which to do so. 

I’m actually pretty bored with my financial situation.  It’s the same thing with every week’s paycheck.  Pay bills, save for retirement, save for the house, and leave money for groceries and incidentals.  The only thing that makes making money any fun is the ability to put money in the My Own Home account and watch it grow.  Since I didn’t do that after this past Thursday’s direct deposit, this week felt uneventful and stagnant.  Could it be that I am addicted to perceived progress?  That’s a little scary, because I don’t expect the project I’m working on to last past the end of this month.  Surely I won’t make much progress when I’m unemployed.  I hope I don’t get too discouraged and bored. (Then again, if anything, I won’t be bored because of the tightrope walk it will take to keep up with my expenses.)  Guess we’ll see. 

Now that I’ve managed to mess stuff up, I have to clean it up.

This means that when I get my paycheck I have to replenish my New Orleans spending account, replenish my general spending account, and pay off my credit card.  That’s AFTER I pay my bills, contribute to my retirement account, and finish paying for my New Orleans reservations.  That means that I will put less money in the My Own Home account this time around, and I’m not happy about that.  However, arguably, I put too much in last week, so putting in less this week shouldn’t put my progress back any farther than it would have been if I had planned better.  I still wish I had been more conscientious about my planning though.  Oh well.  You live you learn.  One of the good things about having lots of money saved is that if you screw something up, you don’t have to worry as much about how you’re going to fix your mistakes.

I put away $1,510.90 for the house this month, not counting the interest that ING will pay me at the end of April.  I received $10.00 for a rebate from my last oil change.  I got $3.00 for a survey I did.  My bank deposited $50.00 into my checking account for referring Sistah Beginner to my bank to open her own new account.  I also increased my IRA balance by $200.00.

Relative to what my ultimate goals are, these amounts aren’t very big.  But these efforts add up.  So I’ll keep on plugging away while I still have the income to even make these kinds of incremental strides.  I’ll do a wrap-up of my net worth for April after I take care of my household expenses.  Looking forward to seeing the new chart!

Thanks so much to you for reading and have a great weekend! 

We finally made groceries on Sunday.  The prices of bread, milk, and fruit were noticeably higher.  Anyway, at least now I can take lunch to work again.

Sistah Beginner and I went shopping on Saturday - maternity wear for her and work wear for me.  I picked up some otherwise-expensive-but-outlet-priced makeup, a very nice belt, and a cute skirt suit which was about 50% of its original price because I took advantage of my new favorite outlet store’s sale.  I also got some unmentionables and some slippers - those things I always forget to get for myself even though I need them.  Surprisingly, despite my recent acknowledgment of a burgeoning shoe fetish, I didn’t look too hard for shoes and consequently, I didn’t get any.  My entire shopping trip, including lunch and dinner, came in under my $200 budget.

I contributed 10% of this week’s check to my IRA and paid my bills.  I contributed enough to the my My Own Home savings account to bring the amount saved to $8,000 even.  I still haven’t paid the camera off of my credit card, but that’s because I have to deposit some cash I received from Mister Ant’s mom for her end of Mister Ant’s birthday gift.  Once I do that, the card will be cleared off in time for the end of the month.  Then less than $100 will remain in my checking account to last me until the end of the week when I get my next check.

My next check is already spent.  I have to pay my car note, my share of May’s rent and April’s household expenses, and contribute both to the IRA and the My Own Home accounts.  I am considering giving less to the IRA account because I want to keep my money more liquid since I’m contracting, and because I want my house sooner rather than later.  But I’m trying to remain disciplined.  It’s not like a 401K where I’d be contributing and getting a match without even thinking about it.  If I don’t make the conscious disciplined effort to save, the account won’t grow.  And I’ll have to make catch up payments later on if I want to increase 2008’s tax deduction for contributions - who knows what kind of money I’ll be making on my next gig, or for that matter, how long it will take to get my next gig.  That thought encourages me to contribute and save while I still have the wiggle room to do so.  What do you think?

Anyway, that’s what happened to last week’s check.