Please tell me why I insist on checking the balance in my 401(k) account? It can't be anything good. I am banning myself, from this day forward, from checking my 401(k) account except on the 1st of each month for the purposes of updating my net worth.
On the upside, I expected my account to have reached the 6's, so I was somewhat pleased to see it still in the 7's. Imagine that!
End of post.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
A Glutton for Punishment
Monday, October 06, 2008
AT&T Phone Service Up & Running
So the phone was installed without incident. The only thing is, I can't remember which plan I selected so I'm not sure if it included local long distance or not - our whole state is on 10-digit dialing, even if you're calling next door.
I haven't set up the DSL yet - still working off the cable. All my friends are telling me how slow DSL is, and while it's probably true, I doubt seriously that I will notice the difference. I don't do anything really exotic with my internet connection. Most of the sites I check are text-heavy, and I don't do much video watching or game playing. So we'll see!
End of post.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
September Summary
For the month of September, here are how things wrapped up:
Net Income: $7,192
Total Expenses: $3,010
Total Savings: $2,642
Net Cash Flow: $1,540
Unfortunately, my net worth took a serious beat down due to all the movement in the stock market. I was really scared to touch things at the beginning of the year, and now with losses mounting, it is becoming increasingly difficult to sit on my hands and do nothing. Another 11% loss this month, on top of the 6% loss the previous month, 0n top of other losses in previous months. The losses have been so high that it's eaten all the gains over the past 6 years, plus my employer's contributions, and now it's starting to eat into my own contributions. I'm determined not to panic though.
Recognizing the situation is dire, I've continued my month over month decreases in expenses - bringing them down another 5% overall. Household expenses are down 45%, and Entertainment was slashed by 55%. As expected, Personal Care is down to $0; I skipped my spa appointment this month & opted to pamper myself at home. The only expense that was up this month was Health Care by 548%; my doc is running all sorts of tests and they add up! Fortunately I've hit my deductible so future expenses should be a little more reasonable.
End of post.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Almost Done with Comcast's Billing Shenanigans
I received a bill from Comcast Cable recently, notifying me of increases in monthly charges on my services. Currently, I have non-bundled services with them, but they are each on various offers.
When I first established service with them 18 months ago, my bill was around $124 per month for cable, internet, and telephone service. After the offers expired though, my bill was going to shoot up to around $180. I thought this was really expensive, so back in February I negotiated with them to bring the bill down to around $82. I had to give up some services (which I didn't really care about - who needs 899 channels?) It was still expensive, but more palatable.
Right after the switch though, they sent me a bill for $180 anyway, and I spent 2 hours on the phone with various service reps trying to explain the concept that when one switches from a higher priced plan into a lower priced plan, it is mathematically impossible for the bill to increase, no matter when the switch was made (incidentally I switched mid-cycle, further proving that my bill should have been smaller.) It wasn't until I got a supervisor on the phone that they finally recognized the error & reduced my bill to the $82. (I was so relieved by that point that I didn't even argue the fact that I still had been over charged since they cut off my extra channels the day I called, not effective at the end of the billing cycle.)
Within three months, my bill climbed up to about $94 - I think as a result of one of my offers expiring.
Now, my latest bill shows that they are increasing their monthly fees, and my bill is now $104. I have really had it with their shenanigans.
I've been exploring AT&T for a while, but was a little hesitant to make the switch due to what I perceived as a hassle. But now, I'm even more willing to reduce services in order to get a better price for these utility bills, so I did some research today & I've decided to switch my phone & internet services.
Currently, my Comcast Cable charges break down like this:
I'm not including things like taxes and fees because those are very similar across the services. Now, here is the offer I just scored by switching the same services to AT&T:
I saved $1.50 by what I thought was a clever move - AT&T gives you the option of choosing the name that goes in the directory listing. So by changing my name to "Glue Paste" & not including my address in the listing, I have essentially made my listing unusable. And if I get any calls or mail for "Glue Paste" I'll know immediately that it's junk.
Another fabulous bonus from this deal - by transferring my phone service, I get $50 cash back, and for ditching cable internet for DSL, I scored another $50. Plus, installation is free (I had to pay $75 to get the cable installed.)
All in all, I think I made the right choice; I wonder what Comcast Customer Retention will have to say about it!
Once the services are switched over, I will address the cable charges. Currently I'm paying $33.47 for cable, but that includes a $25 discount that is going to expire soon. I will probably downgrade the cable to just Basic (for $18/month) or I will turn off the cable TV altogether. I watch far too much television as it is.
End of post.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
The LAST of 2008 Landscaping
If you recall from back in June the picture of my driveway with the car and two tarps - brown & blue - I had a heck of a time parking the car due to what the tarps hid.
Under the brown tarp was 3 yards of mulch, and under the blue tarp, 3 yards of topsoil. The mulch sat for a couple of weeks - after I used what I needed, I think I still had about 2 yards left. A neighbor came by and offered to buy the rest from me for $25. I was just thankful to be rid of it & happily accepted. They hauled away the mulch the next day.
The remaining dirt tarp sat for (what I am embarrassed to admit) 13 weeks to the day. I finally got up enough motivation & gumption to relocate the dirt and reclaim my driveway. I am sure my neighbors are happy as well. It took 14 wheelbarrow loads from the front yard to the back, but the deed is done, and all that's left really is to hose off the driveway from the dust I couldn't get with the shovel.
Now of course the back yard needs attention - I just dumped the dirt in an overgrown planting bed & spread it out as best I could; I am going to noodle over it during the winter months and decide what I want to do. I think ultimately I will end up removing the planting bed in the back and replacing it with sod, but I'll probably leave a small bed back there to house a flowering bush or something to hide the utility cabinets.
End of post.
What a Difference a Day Makes
Yesterday I was complaining about the performance of my investments, and today, all is well.
Well, not quite "all" well, but better. I logged in again this morning because I forgot that our statements are a day behind when we look on line (you have to wait for the market to close so they can post the results.)
In any event, yesterday was a pay day, so contributions are up a little bit, but look at how the market rallied:
Yes, the losses are significant still, but in one day the market gained back $4,000 - or 25% of what I'd lost thus far this year. The impact also has erased only the last 2 years of gains, instead of the last 4 years of gain.
I also took the time to calculate the average return in my portfolio - so far, it's running about 7% since I started contributing, without taking into account the company match. With the company match, my average returns are 15% over an 8 year period. I'd say that's pretty good.
So enough doom and gloom. I'm doing just fine.
End of post.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
