July 2008 Financial Ratios
Another fantastic month when it comes to savings. We have just moved into the basement of some family members who are charging us extremely low rent and I finally have a real job now that I am out of school. The liquidity ratios are a little bit off since our monthly expenses aren’t fully reflected here…..no rent or utilities.
July 2008 Spending Report
By looking at the break down of our July spending it is pretty evident that we had a good month 
. I guess it helps when rent is only 4% of your monthly income.
Here are a few of the highlights of July…
Rent
We were able to find a great little apartment that is a perfect fit for our family right now as we try to find a place to live. We are hoping the real estate market begins to settle out so we can find ourselves a good deal on our first home, but in the mean time we’ll be able to save quite a bit with such a low rent payment. I’m tempted to stay here until we can pay 100% for a home, but I don’t think that is going to fly with the wife.
Taxes
All I can say is WOW!! I’ve never really noticed how much we are paying in taxes until this month where it was 20%+ of our income. I now have a glimpse of what it will feel like when I get into the top tax bracket. That’s when tax planning will be very important. I think the main reason for such high taxes was because I got a nice bonus at work. I have actually adjusted my W-4 now so that this won’t happen again.
Savings
41% was incredible. If we could do that each month, I don’t think we’ll have much of a problem hitting our goal of 1.5 million by 35, but as we settle into our new routine over the next couple of month’s we’ll get a better feel of what we can really save each month. Once again, the majority of that savings came from the bonus. All-in-all great month.
July 2008 Networth
Once again it was a rough month in the financial markets, but we actually faired pretty well. As you will see we had an increase of almost 6% in our overall networth, but the main reason for that was the fact that I received a nice bonus at work so out current assets had a big increase. Here it is….
July Highlights
- Although we haven’t actually transferred funds into our emergency fund to hit our goal of $12,500, with the bonus I got from work we will now be able to fully fund our 3-6 month emergency reserve and begin saving for a house.
- Our 529 plan had a increase of over 30%, the main reason for that is because I got a couple of referral bonuses credited to my account this month.
- After a 2+% decrease in last months networth it was good to see us recover all of that and increase by over 3% more. All in all it was a great month.
Dave Ramsey’s Freedom Week
If you haven’t already been able to tell from my posts, I am a big Dave Ramsey fan. I think he’s got a lot of good ideas and ways to simplify your financial life. This week he is running a “Freedom Week” promotion on his website and is offering a number of his products for just $10.
One of the books he is selling is his New York Times Bestseller “The Total Money Makeover”. It is available in both hardcover and cd. He is also offering a number of other financial planning products for just $10 each as well. Also, shipping is free on orders over $65. I just bought 10 copies of “The Total Money Makeover” that I am now going to use as gifts over the next year.
Click Here to See the $10 Items
Happy 4th of July!!
June 2008 Networth
Well I finally decided to do the inevitable and run my numbers for last month. They actually aren’t as bad as I thought they might be. With the S&P down over 8% in the month of June alone I thought my portfolio would really be hit, but I managed to fair pretty well. So here they are….
June Highlights
- We saw a steady increase in our emergency fund which was nice. We are now less than $400 away from having the emergency fund fully funded.
- With the market as bad as it was during the month of June I was surprisingly happy to see that our IRA’s only dropped by less than 3%. Part of that is due to the fact that about 1/3 of it is being held as cash. I have been hesitant to invest this years contributions….In hindsight I’m glad I’ve waited. However, this month I plan on investing those funds.
- Our daughters 529 savings plan actually took the biggest hit (we invested $50 so it looks like an increase), but that’s ok, it’s a longtime until she is heading off to school.
- Our credit card balance was about normal for the month. We put most of our monthly spending on the credit card and then pay it off in full each month….we’ve never paid a cent in credit card interest and never plan on doing so.
June 2008 Financial Ratios
Our savings ratios have been through the roof which has been awesome. I’m sure that will change once we get into a place after our move, but for now we will continue to put away as much as possible.
$75 & Free MyAccess Checking from BoA
If you are a Bank of America credit card holder you can get $75 free for opening a MyAccess Free Checking Account. I am not actually a Bank of America credit card holder so I am not able to complete the offer, but it seems pretty straight forward and easy to do.
According the Bank of America website it’s 3 quick easy steps to the $75.
- Open your new MyAccess Checking® account online with offer code CH75TAD
- Fund your new account with $25 within 30 days
- Receive your $75 within 90 days of account opening
The MyAccess checking account has no minimum balance requirements, no fees and no direct deposit requirements. It looks like the only stipulation is you must be a Bank of America credit card holder and you must keep the account open for 90 days to get the $75 deposited. Good luck for those who qualify, you can’t beat FREE MONEY!!!
June 2008 Spending Report
Here it is. My first edition of the monthly spending report. I also plan on posting the balance sheet, financial ratios, and statement of networth, but I am still working on putting those together so hopefully in the next few days I’ll have something up. I’m trying to figure the best/simplest way to present all of the data.
June 2008 Spending Report
At first glance you might be wondering why we are able to keep the monthly bills and house cost so low. Let me explain. We are currently living with family so we have been fortunate enough not to have rent/utilities expenses. However, we are currently looking to purchase our first home so that should be changing in the next few months. It has been nice to be able to save up a little that we can put towards a down payment. Here are a few highlights for the month of June.
Savings
We originally we going to try and save 30% of our income this month, but because of the vacation we took we weren’t able to save quite as much as we wanted but we were glad to see it stay above 20%. We are going to shoot for keeping the savings above 15% each month. That includes everything from 401(k) and 529 savings to emergency fund and down payment savings….we are saving for quite a few different things right now.
Miscellaneous
The miscellaneous category kind of took over this month. Normally we try to keep as much out of misc. as possible so we are better able to analyze our month spending, but with our vacation we took we didn’t have anywhere else to put it. It’s only about once a year that we go on a big 1-2 week family vacation so next month should be a lot better. We also had to register our cars and get oil changes.
Charity
As you can see we were able to give just over 10% of our income to charity. We have a goal to keep this percentage over 10% each month. We have felt so blessed and feel that this is the least we can do to help those less fortunate.
Gas
Surprisingly we were able to keep our gas cost rather low this month. Normally it is up around 10% or 15%, but it looks like we must have planned it just perfect for our fillups….yeah, we filled up both cars today (july 1st)….July might have a little bigger bill than normal.
Chase Card Holders: $5 per Day for Any Purchase
If you are a Chase card holder and are in good standing you may be eligible to receive up to $5 a day for the entire month of July ($155 max).
The Bad News: You will only receive the five dollar bonus on the days you make a purchase.
The Good News: It doesn’t matter how small the purchase is….$.01 would work.
Are you eligible?
First, you must be a Chase credit card holder, second, you must be in good standing and third, you must receive the promotional pamphlet in the mail (see photos below). It looks like only select Chase card holders are receiving this pamphlet in the mail. I have been unable to verify how they are selecting these card holders. If someone is aware of how card holders are being selected please let us know.
Here is what the pamphlet that comes in the mail looks like…..thanks leftnotright
I have also read that some people are getting a $3 per day promotion instead of the $5 per day. If you think you may be part of this promotion or think you should be, it might be worth a 5 minute phone call to Chase (1-800-432-3117).
Mileage Deductibility Rate Increase
When it comes to automobile expense deductions and work related travel you are allowed to chose one of two ways to expense automobile related expenses. The first, and easiest, is the per mile deduction method. You simply track your business related mileage and are allowed to deduct 58.5 cents per mile. The second method, but sometimes more profitable method, is the actual expense deductions. This is when you actually track the expense you’ve accumulated for your car over the year and then allocate a portion of those to business expenses based on your business/personal use ratio. This method is a lot more work and usually not worth the hassle, but if you know your auto may need a lot of maintenance it may be the way to go.
So what’s the good news?
As of July 1, 2008, the optional standard rate to calculate deductible operating costs for business vehicles will rise 8 cents from 50.5 cents a mile to 58.5 cents per mile.
For many people this won’t matter. However, for anyone who has their own small business or uses their personal car for company related travel this is music to our ears. I know 8 cents is not a ton, but every little bit helps. It’s good to see this come as the summer driving begins.
For more details on the rate increase please see this article.
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