Monthly Archives: June 2007
Now that summer is upon us and the school year is coming to a close, do not be surprised to see neighborhood children setting up shop on street corners trying to sell you a cup of fresh squeezed lemonade. More and more children are using the opportunity to run a lemonade stand as a means… continue reading
How much money do you budget each month towards eating away from home? Maybe I should first ask whether you are even following a budget or spending plan but the truth is that people are spending more and more on eating out. This morning I read an article in the Chicago Tribune that discussed the… continue reading
As a means of tracking my progress towards my 2007 goals, I am going to be running this as an on-going series of posts. As a bit of background, here are the opening posts in the series: April 2007 Update March 2007 Update February 2007 Update January 2007 Update 2007 Financial Goals Non-Mortgage Debt Another… continue reading
Last month I had mentioned the idea of paying it off early but the money is still parked in our HSBCdirect account.
We did purchase a new clothes dryer last month, as well as a few other expenses that were not planned, but that has not been enough to convince me to pay off the balance transfer. Even though the interest rate at HSBC went back down after the promotional rate, it is still earning a nice little amount of interest each month.
For the month of May, our outstanding non-mortgage debt was reduced by 2.38% which brings the total reduction to 45.32% since the beginning of the year. Due to the fact that we had a handful of unexpected medical bills to the tune of $1800 last month, I am happy to have stayed with the status quo and not incurred any recurring debt.
Increase Net Worth
With the first payment made on the cost of our replacement windows and the need to purchase a new clothes dryer, I had low expectations for the increase to our net worth for the month of May. However, I did receive the payout on a company bonus on the last day of the month so that offset things a little bit.
For the month of May, our net worth only increased by 2.17% and that brings the annual increase to 19.94% since the beginning of 2007. With an annual goal of increasing our net worth by 35%, we are still doing well and I feel confident that we will attain this goal by diligently saving as much as possible each month and being careful to limit any unnecessary expenses.
Plans for June
Coming up in June we will have the 2nd and 3rd payments on our replacement windows. The 2nd payment will be due when the installation begins with the final payment due upon completion of the job. Within the next week or two, we should be scheduling the installation so these funds will be paid in the near future.
We’ve been attempting to funnel as much money into savings as possible in order to offset the cost of the windows. In May this was given a boost with the payout of a company bonus but June will be a challenge.
June will include our first trip to see Blue Man Group and many more activities as the kids finish their last days of school in this first full week of the month. It’s always a fun time of the year when summer break first begins and the excitement of the summer adventures takes full force. However, this is also a time to be very careful not to spend too much money on things that are not part of the standard budget.
We are still on course to reach our defined goals for 2007 but as I have said before, I really want to surpass my goals so it will still be a long road ahead.
How are you doing with your own 2007 financial goals?
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