Time for a March financial update.
February 1, 2013 Recap
What I’ve Got
Chequing $ 190.00 (goal is $1,000)
Yearly Expenses Saving $ 541.00
Car Saving $ 50.00 (started saving for a car)
Stocks $2864.00
RRSP Mutual Fund $2465.00
TFSA Emergency Saving $ 161.00
Daily Saving RRSP $ 100.00
Work Pension $3476.00
Total What I’ve Got $9847.00
What I Owe
HELOC $20,022.00
March 1 2013
What I’ve Got
Chequing $ 45.00 (goal is $1,000)
Yearly Expenses Saving $630.00
Car Saving $95.00
Stocks $3,055.00
RRSP Mutual Fund $2,501.00
TFSA Emergency Saving $ 261.00
Daily Saving RSP $200.00
Work Pension $3,556.00
Total What I’ve Got $10,343.00 (an increase of $496.00 from February)
What I Owe
HELOC $19,167.00 (down $855.00 from Feb.)
March 1, 2013 Net Worth Update
I have decided to NOT include my home (approximate value $200,000) in my net worth. I will be staying here for a very long time and if I move I will still need to live somewhere so I can’t count it as part of my net worth. I would love to move to somewhere that I like better than this beige box but that is not in the picture. Frequently my house is more a drain on my finances than an asset anyway.
I owe $19,167.00. I have $10,343.00. That means my net worth on March 1, 2013 is -$8,824.00. I have a net worth of much less than zero.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. That is why I have come up with a 2 month experiment in frugality inspired by the great Mr. Money Moustache. For March and April I will commit 50% of my net income to saving and debt repayment. 40% toward debt reduction and 10% toward savings.
My average take home pay is $1,300 every two weeks or $2,600 per month. That means I could put $1040 towards my HELOC in March and $260 in to my savings accounts. Taking in to account the interest that I must pay I could reduce my debt by $1,900 in just 2 months.
That would be a great accomplishment. I just have to figure out what I am going to eat and how I will put gas in my car for those 2 months. If I want to move my net worth to a positive number in 2013 then there must be drastic actions taken.
I still have $65.00 in Shopper’s Optimum points so I can get some groceries there. I am well stocked in the personal supplies like shampoo and the all important toilet tissue and should be able to make it through 2 months without any of those purchases. I do not hoard toilet tissue but Costco had a big sale and I bought a couple of giant packs.
I will have to purchase some car registration stickers but that will be covered with the money in the yearly expenses savings account. I will hope for nice weather because my entertainment for March and April will be dog walking.
Aside from my financial goal for March and April I have a blogger goal as well. I need to figure out how to get these numbers in to some sort of a chart so they are easier to read. I would also include a chart listing the first month’s totals and the current month’s totals on the side of the blog. These charts will be 1000% more difficult than living on 50% of my income.
Have you had any luck selling things yet? You mentioned you had lots of junk around your house that you might be able to sell.
I am putting it all in the May yardsale. Too much snow until then to bother with a sale. Some people do have sales IN their homes but I only want buyers on my lawn and driveway.
I am selling a bracelet later this week when I have a day off. I am selling a freezer but it is on my basement so I can’t advertise it until after Easter weekend. I have to wait until both of my strong sons are home at Easter to carry it out to the garage so potential buyers can see it there.
A small money making opportunity has come my way but I have to wait until next winter to collect. Friends are selling their home to try the RV lifestyle but need winter storage for their motorcycle. My garage is too small for boat or car storage but there is lots of room for a Harley.
I am also going to sell my kitchen table and chairs. It is too big for the space. I will only have to buy a little table because I have extra dining room chairs that are crowding up a bedroom. I won’t start table shopping until the current table is sold.
Sounds like you’ve thought everything out, good job! You might be able to find a nice table on Craigslist.
I will be hunting for a used table. I may read the yard sale ads myself come May.
Good Luck!!! Changing spending habits can be tough, but keep focused on the end result you want, and you’ll get to it!!
This debt has seems to have me beat a lot of days and I am tired of it being such a big part of my life. I want to kick debt’s butt.
Good luck with your 50% goal this month!
It will be a challenge but I am frustrated because it seems I have been in debt forever. I think it is called debt fatigue and I have a serious case of it.
Download the plugin “WP-Table Reloaded”. It’s fairly easy to use! I use it for my tables, you can see one example on this page: http://wp.me/p35iAo-aR
You seem to be doing pretty good with building up your net worth. Who cares if it’s negative right now? You’ll be in the black very soon! Congratulations on your progress!
I am so untechy it is scary but I think the computer should work the same way as my car. I have no idea how my car works but it gets me where I want to go. If only this computer had a key and just did what I wanted. Someone needs to invent that.
You’re better than my mother-in-law, there’s no way she’d ever figure out how to blog in the first place!
WordPress makes the basics idiot proof but then I want to make things look better and it just gets too complicated. I will try your link tomorrow. I had a very long shift at work today and my brain is too tired to try anything new. It was the same 8 hour shift that I always work but it seemed so much longer tonight.
Good luck!
Debt fatigue hurts! But, you can lessen the pain with a little reward strategy. Pick a milestone, such as the moment when your HELOC dips below 17 grand, and reward yourself when you get there. The reward could be a nice dinner, a fabulous haircut,, or it could simply be giving yourself permission to take a break from your extra large debt repayment, just for one month. You will find yourself recharged and refreshed when you get back on the program. Try it! Also, what is the interest rate on your HELOC?
I think 2 months on then a 1 month break sounds like something I could live with. I can’t wait until May – my first break month. I am a very impatient person.
My HELOC interest is 4%. I could get a lower rate on a traditional mortgage but then I would be stuck with the early and extra payment restrictions and I would also be committed to regular monthly payments in the months when there is just no money for anything.
I have mixed feelings on including/excluding the house. In general, I like to include any asset that has a liability attached to it – so since we have a mortgage that means I include the house to offset the liability and show progress there. But we also keep track of what I like to call “edible equity” separately. These are assets that we can actually “eat” in a scenario where we retire early. And our house is definitely not counted amongst these.
I think there are pros and cons to all the different approaches to net worth, but this is a compromise that seems to work pretty well at motivating us – which is a big part of the reason for keeping track of our net worth, right?
Motivation is one of the main reasons I took the house out of the net worth but I didn’t realize that is why I did it until I read your comment. I need goals imposed on me and a negative net worth is a huge motivator. I can’t fall back on my house if I need money and adding it to the net worth makes it seem like I DO have money when I really DON’T have any money.
I use Mint.com (upon Mr. Money Moustache’s reccomendation) and it’s not perfect but I do find it excellent for motivation specifically. You can easily watch your net worth move from red to black!
My bank is developing their own version of Mint but for now I can’t use it because my bank won’t guarantee or insure my money if I share my online financial information.
I think Mint looks great and I can’t wait to try it or something like it.
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