The Hustle of Sistah Ant

Remember my escrow threat? 

The leak and the ceiling have been fixed for a week now.  Isn’t that something?  Threaten to take away somebody’s income, and all of a sudden you have their undivided attention…

He’s still a slumlord.

November was good to me.  I hit my My Own Home savings goal (it seems like that took forever).  My IRA recovered a little bit.  I also escaped November credit card debt free (only to put Cyber Monday Christmas presents on my credit card on December 1st, but I digress).  It’s nice to see the line in my NetWorthIQ bar graph definitively pointing upward!  Last month was so discouraging in comparison.  One cool thing I noticed this month - I am at the point where the total of my assets is greater than my net worth deficit.  This doesn’t mean much, but psychologically it tells me that I’m closer to the light at the end of the tunnel than to the darkness at its beginning.  I have amassed assets worth more than my net worth hole.  I’m thankful for that.

When I was in college, I joined a sorority.  I really am proud of my choice, and I had some very fun, enriching, heartwarming, character building experiences in my sorority.  But I have not been active with my sorority for the past few years.  One of the main reasons is because when I made the decision to take control of my debt and my finances, I cut all unnecessary expenses out of my budget, and that included sorority dues, sorority functions, outfits for sorority events, expenses for sorority trips - everything.  The last time I paid annual sorority dues, I used a credit card because I didn’t have the money to write a check.  I decided that I would not do so again.  With my income up in the air, I haven’t yet found my way back into the fold.

The only other organizational membership fees I pay are for professional associations that are related directly to my career.  I find that dues paid to these organizations which help me with networking and staying current on trends in my field are an investment in my future income.  I pay these dues without hesitation and without using credit.

I am thinking about joining a gym again.  My dance lessons experiment hasn’t quite worked out, but I still need exercise.  Even though I’m cheap, it’s still not enough motivation for me to do free things, like jog around my block in the wee hours of the morning or at twilight, or take a bike and ride the local trails on Saturday mornings.  It’s cold out there.  I don’t do running, and I don’t do cold. 

Of course, with my income unstable, I hesitate to add any other commitment expenses to my budget. But one of these days, I hope to start contributing financially to my sorority involvement and to working out regularly. 

I didn’t spend any money this weekend.  I could have - there was an art expo/poetry performance thing that I wanted to go to… but I really just didn’t feel like leaving the comfortable cocoon of my house to look for parking and drop $15.00.  So… I stayed at home.  I cooked a whatever-you’ve-got-goes-in-the-pot chicken dinner on Friday, and hunkered down.  Mister Ant and I spent some quality time together, watched a movie or two, and I had a happy weekend at home.  I also made some progress on my latest knitting project.  I’m working on a hat, and it’s my first time using a knitting pattern instead of crocheting and improvising, so I’m eager to see how my hat turns out.

I’ll be honest, I have not been feeling well mentally.  You might be able to tell that from last Friday’s post.  This past week, I saw three doors to three separate job opportunities close on me.  That was hard, because if you think about not being able to get a job too much, bad things can happen.  I started re-thinking decisions of mine that are long over and done with.  I thought about how embarrassed I am to not have a job yet, after all this time searching.  Unemployment can be rough on your self-esteem and your hopes for certain dreams you may have.  However, I dealt with it over the weekend.  As I’ve mentioned before, I am a person of faith.  I took some time to count my many blessings over the weekend - that always helps.  For the moment at least, I am still earning income, and I’ve got a great savings.

Sometimes, when people aren’t feeling well, they spend-spend-spend in order to feel better.  But I know myself.  If I had gone shopping, I would just feel guilty on Monday morning.  So I watched the Eagles game.  I called friends and family.  I caught up on some blog reading.  I ate some cookies and cream ice cream.  I feel good about being able to get through the weekend without spending a cent.  Bring on the week.  I can handle it, and stay solvent at the same time.

Today I spent $2.99.

I spent it on a flag pin.

Well, according to this month’s net worth chart, I made less than $1,000 improvement this month, despite my saving over $1,500 and getting rid of over $500 of debt. My car is getting old. I mainly track its net worth because I want to keep track of how much I owe on it compared to its value. This month, car depreciation, combined with stock and IRA value losses, really dragged down my progress on paper. I’ll just think about it this way: look how much worse it would have been if I hadn’t paid off so much debt and saved so much money.  My IRA balance would also be worse if I hadn’t made a "rescue" contribution late this month to pull it up from being down by 30%.  I knew my progress this month would not have been as good as other months, because of some of the car maintenance and other expenses I wanted to face before getting laid off again.  Hey, I did what I had to do - what I was supposed to do.  I invested.  I saved.  I paid off debt.  And even though my car depreciated, it’s running very well, it’s in excellent condition, it’s as beautiful as the day I picked it off the lot, and perhaps most importantly, it’ll take me to any interview I need to get to with no problem.  The last thing you want when facing unemployment is an unreliable car - been there, done that - it wasn’t cool at all.  So goes the month of October 2008.

One more thing.  This is the two year anniversary of my wake up call to get my finances in order.  Since October 2006:

• I have improved my net worth by $36,415.  That’s a 51% improvement.
• I have totally eliminated my credit card debt.
• I have credit scores that are consistently near 800.
• I have saved over three months’ living expenses in an emergency fund.
• I have saved almost $14,000 for my dream of home ownership.
• I pulled my car loan balance down to less than the worth of my car.
• I finally started investing in stocks and retirement mutual funds.
• I changed my earning potential by getting certified in my profession.
• I have prioritized charitable giving on a regular basis.
• I finally got my student loan balances down into the principal amount borrowed.

I am STILL looking for full-time direct employment with benefits almost 11 months after I was laid off from my real-estate based company.

Recession 1, Sistah Ant 0

At its worst, my IRA lost at least 30% of its dollar value within a few months of buying into my current long-term mutual fund.

Recession 2, Sistah Ant 0

I bought some more shares of my IRA at a cheaper price.

Recession 2, Sistah Ant 1

I can afford to move into the house I’ve been dreaming about owning, because my increased temporary income has helped me save.

Recession 2, Sistah Ant 2

It’s not a great time for me to take advantage of today’s interest rates because my employment is unstable.

Recession 3, Sistah Ant 2

Things are getting hard for people with lots of debt, but I paid off my credit card debt back in February.

Recession 3, Sistah Ant 3

This thing ain’t over.  I’m still fighting.   Just wait ’til I get a job.  I’m gonna kick this recession’s ass.

I gave in to temptation and looked at my balance over the weekend.  My IRA is down 27% because of the bear market.  That’s over a quarter.  That’s almost a third.  My initial reaction was anger.

And then, surprisingly, I was calm.

I just finished increasing my Emergency Fund to another landmark.  So now that that task its done, I am inspired by my IRA balance to start contributing again.  I had stopped contributing because I had met the minimum amount necessary to get the money out of a money market fund and into a mutual fund.  I then turned my attention to working on the Emergency Fund, but now I’m done with that for now.  I need to get back to building my IRA.  I am nowhere near this year’s contribution limit, anyway.  Now I haven’t given up the idea of continuing to increase the My Own Home fund. But with my Emergency Fund task completed for now, I feel more comfortable with splitting up my non-expense money between both goals of savings and retirement.  The thought of buying more shares while I still can and the getting is cheaper has been nagging me for at least a week now.  I’m going to do it!

It’s gonna be alright.  I’m going to own more shares.  I’m going to have more savings.  I’m going to get a job.  I’m going to get a home of my own, which is a retirement goal in and of itself.  And Everything Is Going To Be Alright.

I went on a mission this weekend to finally work through Clothes Mountain.  Since we don’t have laundry machines in my building, I have to do laundry at the laundromat.  It’s a real pain, so it doesn’t get done as often as it would if I had laundry machines, and as a result, Clothes Mountain forms sometimes.  Well, since I had the energy, and it was on my to-do list, I started became Mission Impossible: Reclaim all My Clothes.  I decided to also take care of the other clothes that aren’t even in Clothes Mountain.  Those are the clothes that are out of my rotation because they need special cleaning or mending.

While looking through these clothes, I re-discovered a skirt that I haven’t worn in at least a year.  It used to be my favorite, because it goes well with all types of blouses, and I have two matching jackets for it.  But half of the hem fell out, and since I didn’t know how to fix a hem, I put the skirt to the side so that I’d take it to the dry cleaners.  Well, since I don’t really "do" the dry cleaners, the skirt became abandoned. 

I thought about taking it to the cleaners, because I went for the first time in years last weekend.  I learned that the cleaner charges $3 for a pants-leg hem, because I took them a pair a slacks to clean, press, and hem, and they charged $3 for the hemming.  But I’ve always intended to learn how to do this myself.  I wondered if maybe I could do it myself?  I put the skirt with the other clothes that I knew I could mend.  When I finally got around to mending last night, I re-attached a spaghetti strap to a dress, fixed three seams, put on a button, and re-attached a belt loop.  I figured that while I was getting all of that done, I might as well try fixing that skirt hem.

Well, I did it!  I have no idea how well it will hold up in the wash, but I fixed my own hem!  Now yes, I did save a little money doing it, but this was about more than saving money.  I just like knowing that I can do stuff for myself.  Now that’s one less thing that I HAVE to spend money on because I’m too intimidated to try it myself.  Now, I have an option, because I’ve picked up a new skill!

See how close I am to meeting my Emergency Fund goal?  I am only $179.49 away from having the $5,000 starter amount I’ll be comfortable with! 

But you know what I’m not comfortable with?  Not having a goal.  Feeling too satisfied.

Therefore, as I’d already planned to do before, I’m going to change my target for the My Own Home fund.  This accomplishes a few things at once.  First, it gives me more incentive to save, because I like the quest of reaching goals.  Secondly, it keeps me from saying, "Oh, well, I’ve hit my goals, guess there’s nothing left to do now but aimlessly spend the money I make."  And finally, most usefully, it gives me more money to work with regarding closing costs.  

Between now and when I’m employed full-time and ready to buy a house, I will continually push my My Own Home savings goal farther and farther.  The more we have going for us at the closing table, the better!