Holy plummet!
I was prepared for a bit of a dip due to clearing out my travel fund for Argentina. That combined with my Roth and 401(k) performance = wow, my 2009 goal is seeming pretty out of reach! My net worth is now $38.9K, down $332 from last month. My retirement accounts alone decreased in value by 3% just last month.
December is not exactly the ideal month to batten down the financial hatches, especially with the Guy’s 30th birthday coming up! Loads of festivities in order for that. On top of all the various holiday celebrations. But here goes… my goals for December.
> Organize writing/other projects and create a detailed plan of attack
> Log significant writing time (1 hour per weekend)
> Limit work badge spending to $40 for month of December
> Stick to a 2-drink only policy for holiday parties out. (This will be tough....)
> Stick to the 5-day workout plan.
> Send an extra $100 to my emergency fund at the end of the month. (Right now, my budget hangs together by keeping savings slimmer this month, but I want to try to reverse that if I can… my stretch goal.)
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Black Friday Deals
So I was out yesterday in all the (subdued) early morning madness. I think I had a pretty good get, all in all... not the most frugal, but I got what I needed to get done very quickly, so we'll go with efficient, at least!
My Deals:
> A really nice sweater and dress shirt from Brooks Brothers for the Guy (Originally $200 / My Total: $110)
> ALL of my Christmas ornaments for my first tree (Originally $15 / My Total: $7.50)
> A pair of nice Isotoner gloves for me (Originally $18 / My Total $12)
> Two pairs of boots - an early gift from my Mom (Originally $160 / My Total: $80 for both!)
> A DVD for a friend (Originally $20 / My Total: $4)
Original Goods $413
Discounted for........... $214
My Deals:
> A really nice sweater and dress shirt from Brooks Brothers for the Guy (Originally $200 / My Total: $110)
> ALL of my Christmas ornaments for my first tree (Originally $15 / My Total: $7.50)
> A pair of nice Isotoner gloves for me (Originally $18 / My Total $12)
> Two pairs of boots - an early gift from my Mom (Originally $160 / My Total: $80 for both!)
> A DVD for a friend (Originally $20 / My Total: $4)
Original Goods $413
Discounted for........... $214
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Sidebar Update
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! Hope everyone is enjoying their own version of food and family...
Now that I'm back from my trip and my travel fund was completely depleted, I decided to reorganize and reprioritize my sidebars a bit... My #1 goal is to hit that emergency fund goal, and I am more focused there than ever. As I try to meet my 2009 Annual Net Worth Goal I am going to be more focused on balancing each month's budget based on income and expenses. I want to make sure that I am using every $1 of my twice monthly paycheck that is not spent to go into that emergency fund (vs. just hanging out in a stray checking account).
The Guy and I have decided that we're getting a dog on April 1st and our goal is to save $1000 before that time to cover dogwalking expenses. In financial terms, April 1st is SO CLOSE. So I have to get serious about this one.
Finally, I'm realizing it's not going to be even close to realistic for me to save anything substantial for grad school or a wedding right now, so I have opened that subaccount in ING, but until I get through with goals #2 and #3, I'm not going to worrry about it too much. Perhaps more focus will really help!
Now that I'm back from my trip and my travel fund was completely depleted, I decided to reorganize and reprioritize my sidebars a bit... My #1 goal is to hit that emergency fund goal, and I am more focused there than ever. As I try to meet my 2009 Annual Net Worth Goal I am going to be more focused on balancing each month's budget based on income and expenses. I want to make sure that I am using every $1 of my twice monthly paycheck that is not spent to go into that emergency fund (vs. just hanging out in a stray checking account).
The Guy and I have decided that we're getting a dog on April 1st and our goal is to save $1000 before that time to cover dogwalking expenses. In financial terms, April 1st is SO CLOSE. So I have to get serious about this one.
Finally, I'm realizing it's not going to be even close to realistic for me to save anything substantial for grad school or a wedding right now, so I have opened that subaccount in ING, but until I get through with goals #2 and #3, I'm not going to worrry about it too much. Perhaps more focus will really help!
Squeals of Excitement at the Pump, and yet....
Today I saw gas for $1.66 a gallon. Wow, how quickly things have changed. I can now fill up my tank for exactly half of what it cost just a few short months ago. And yet, I know as the price falls and falls, we can’t be that excited. This article is good education on why the lower oil prices fall, the more difficult the global economic recovery will be.
Recap on my Argentina Vacation
Amazing, amazing, amazing. And might I say, it ended up being a very well-designed and reasonable trip. Nothing is reasonable when you’re doing the vacation lifestyle for 10 whole days. But we had a great exchange rate for the majority of our trip (3.3 pesos to the dollar) and we made some modest choices to balance out our splurges!
The Itinerary:
Buenos Aires: Stayed in the trendy Palermo Soho neighborhood in a tiny boutique hotel and did tons of sight-seeing (Recoleta Cemetery with all of the Evita memorabilia, Puerto Madero and San Telmo antique markets, shopping in Palermo). Great food and fun nightlife, but this was in essence, sort of like being in New York, in South America. It was just a really cool big city with all of the cool big city perks and oddities you’d expect. All of the European influences are right on, and I could understand all of the BA nicknames
Highlight: a Boca Juniors futbol match – sitting on the first row, absolutely free. Courtesy of a hook-up from a friend’s company.
Mendoza: Stayed in the Park Hyatt for one night – WOW – this was our little splurge. For the remainder of the time, stayed in a little stone lodge in the middle of the countryside, cheap and absolutely charming. Visited wineries all day for two days, and then hiking and rappelling near the base of the Andes. This was our absolute favorite part of the trip. Mendoza’s little plazas and quaint streets and restaurants seemed somehow more authentically Argentinian. We got a real sense of the place and the people as we visited the wineries, talking to their owners or our taxi drivers. The famous “pride” of Argentinians didn’t seem like bravado as much as it did in BA, just a contented “of course” kind of sensibility about their lifestyle. Hiking was rather strenuous (glad we added some weight training into our workout routine beforehand) but full of incredible views. Our guides with the Argentina Rafting Company were excellent, and I enjoyed hearing about their travels and lifestyle about as much as anything.
Highlight: a dinner we had in an old winery in the suburbs of Mendoza – a restaurant called “1884” – this was the best meal of our lives, and the character of this place, so romantic and as old world as you get, will be a memory for a long, long time.
Iguazu: Right on the border between Brazil and Argentina are the most breathtaking falls and the only subtropical rainforest I’ve ever frequented. The wildlife and the falls were absolutely beautiful but the port of Iguazu itself was pretty much a deserted tourist town so we only stayed one night and booked it back to Buenos Aires before we left.
Highlight: Seeing a wild toucan fly up to us on the path headed to the falls.
Taxis and food (despite being cheap) added up and were what most of our money went to on the trip… I bought very few souvenirs (mostly wine), but all in all was still over budget by $237. Oops. Still, for the value we got out of the trip, I was VERY happy!
The Itinerary:
Buenos Aires: Stayed in the trendy Palermo Soho neighborhood in a tiny boutique hotel and did tons of sight-seeing (Recoleta Cemetery with all of the Evita memorabilia, Puerto Madero and San Telmo antique markets, shopping in Palermo). Great food and fun nightlife, but this was in essence, sort of like being in New York, in South America. It was just a really cool big city with all of the cool big city perks and oddities you’d expect. All of the European influences are right on, and I could understand all of the BA nicknames
Highlight: a Boca Juniors futbol match – sitting on the first row, absolutely free. Courtesy of a hook-up from a friend’s company.
Mendoza: Stayed in the Park Hyatt for one night – WOW – this was our little splurge. For the remainder of the time, stayed in a little stone lodge in the middle of the countryside, cheap and absolutely charming. Visited wineries all day for two days, and then hiking and rappelling near the base of the Andes. This was our absolute favorite part of the trip. Mendoza’s little plazas and quaint streets and restaurants seemed somehow more authentically Argentinian. We got a real sense of the place and the people as we visited the wineries, talking to their owners or our taxi drivers. The famous “pride” of Argentinians didn’t seem like bravado as much as it did in BA, just a contented “of course” kind of sensibility about their lifestyle. Hiking was rather strenuous (glad we added some weight training into our workout routine beforehand) but full of incredible views. Our guides with the Argentina Rafting Company were excellent, and I enjoyed hearing about their travels and lifestyle about as much as anything.
Highlight: a dinner we had in an old winery in the suburbs of Mendoza – a restaurant called “1884” – this was the best meal of our lives, and the character of this place, so romantic and as old world as you get, will be a memory for a long, long time.
Iguazu: Right on the border between Brazil and Argentina are the most breathtaking falls and the only subtropical rainforest I’ve ever frequented. The wildlife and the falls were absolutely beautiful but the port of Iguazu itself was pretty much a deserted tourist town so we only stayed one night and booked it back to Buenos Aires before we left.
Highlight: Seeing a wild toucan fly up to us on the path headed to the falls.
Taxis and food (despite being cheap) added up and were what most of our money went to on the trip… I bought very few souvenirs (mostly wine), but all in all was still over budget by $237. Oops. Still, for the value we got out of the trip, I was VERY happy!
Monday, November 24, 2008
I'm Back...
And it was incredible... More to come later when I'm over the jet lag and recovered from a week long vino hangover.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Tomorrow is the Day....
I leave for a fabulous 10-day vacation in Argentina tomorrow. So you won’t see any posts here for 10-12 days or so. When I return, here’s what’s on tap:
+A recap on my trip expenses
+My Plan to Improve my Credit Score
+I Will Teach You to Be Rich’s “Save $1000 in 30 days Challenge
+How’s my Holiday Gift Planning Going?
+A Recessionista Thanksgiving
+New Blogs/Good Reads
+Evaluating your Portfolio in 3 Steps
+A recap on my trip expenses
+My Plan to Improve my Credit Score
+I Will Teach You to Be Rich’s “Save $1000 in 30 days Challenge
+How’s my Holiday Gift Planning Going?
+A Recessionista Thanksgiving
+New Blogs/Good Reads
+Evaluating your Portfolio in 3 Steps
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