All posts by 1MansMoney

I am a guy pushing 40 that is married to a beautiful woman in her 30's. If I can only have as much luck with our finances.

Quarterly bonus

My wife just received her quarterly bonus from her old company. She earned a $862.00 bonus that came to $490.91 after taxes. While it wasn’t as large as her last quarterly bonus ($2,028.95 net), it’s “extra” money that we weren’t planning on receiving. After tithing a portion of the bonus, the rest will go into savings.

1MansMoney blog is 2 years old!

1MansMoney blog is 2 years old and I’m happy to say that we’ve come a long way in our journey to retire early. Having started with a negative net worth of -$3,168.85 in February of 2007, we’ve progressed to our current net worth of $39,003.57.

This blog has been a great way to organize our thoughts and track our progress. I appreciate everyone who reads it and want to thank those who take the time to post comments and/or email. The feedback is very helpful and motivating.

A Few Extra Bucks In Our Pockets

I received my paycheck today and noticed it was ~$30 more than usual. The controller of my company said that our checks will all be a bit higher than usual because of the Economic Stimulus Act. Rather than issue rebate checks as in the past, the government is adjusting downwards the withholding tables and putting a little more money in our hands thru bigger paychecks. Mines going in the bank.

Got a Good Scare

A couple of days ago, my boss told me that the Owner of our company may be laying off 20% of the company and that my name came up during a conversation. He explained that it was because I am not putting in enough extra hours during this very tough time for our company. I explained to him that, in addition to coming into work earlier than everyone each morning, I spend evening and weekends at home working.
Long story short, my boss spoke with the Owner cleared it up. I have also decided to put in extra “face time” at the office in the evenings to eliminate any perception that I am not working enough hours. Thankfully, our sales are up and there won’t be a layoff this month. My boss assured me that I would not be let go if we do another layoff.

My wife and I have decided to focus on building our cash reserves again and reduce our retirement contributions. This will serve two purposes: 1st to provide security should I lose my job and 2nd to help us save for a house if I do not lose my job.

February 2009 Income statement

February was an okay income month (click on spreadsheet below) considering it was the first full month of my wife being laid off and my company reduced my salary 10% (from $70,460/year to $63,423/year). Like January, it was also a good month for keeping our expenses low.

In addition to my two paychecks (the 2nd of which included my 10% salary reduction), my wife received a $2,025.00 in unemployment and $180 for babysitting. We also received $20 from selling two items on craigslist.org, and earned interest income on our savings account of $8.27.

We were able to continue keeping our spending down for the second month in a row and only spent $5,759.69 in February. That’s just a bit above our January total and well below our budget. That’s pretty good considering I took my wife with me on a week long business trip to the East Coast. We split meals as much as possible because my company pays for me, but we still had a larger than usual “dining” and “entertainment” totals this month.

Next month should be a strong income month with my wife’s new job and her final bonus check from old company. Expensewise, we have ~$2,000 in Federal and State taxes to pay and ~$800 in medical bills that may come due. Our fuel costs should go down a bit because my wife is getting a company car and gas card.

February 2009 Net Worth Update (-$2,630.57)

February saw a decline in our net worth. It was reduced $2,630.57 from last month to $39,383.12 (click on spreadsheet below).

What worked:
Our prayers were answered and my wife found a new job that pays her more than her old job and has better benefits.

What did not work:
My employer implemented a company wide salary reduction resulting in a 10% salary cut for me on 2/25. Initially, I was expecting a 20-25% reduction in pay, so the 10% reduction is much more bearable. We also contributed $657.47 total to our retirement accounts (401k and Roth IRAs), but still saw our total balance decrease by $2,709.87.

Next month:
Next month should be a mixed bag. My wife will have her first full month of employment at her new job that includes a great salary and benefits and a final bonus check from old company. On the other hand, it will also be my first full month of my reduced salary. We will also have ~$2,000 in Federal and State taxes to pay and ~$800 in medical bills that may come due.

New Furniture. . .In This Economy?

Yep. We’ve wanted a new couch for quite a while, but couldn’t commit to spending the money in this economy. My wife’s father just shut down one of his stores and is giving us a nice leather couch and love seat. He will be dropping them off with us today, so we sold our old sectional couch on craigslist yesterday for $150. We plan to give my father-in-law the $150 as a thank you for the delivery.

Miles and Miles

I just returned from a business trip to the East Coast and earned another 9,944 Delta SkyMiles. My Gold Medallion status provides me doubles the miles for each trip, so they add up quickly. I now have a whopping total of 127,083 SkyMiles. My wife and I plan to use the frequent flyer miles for a trip to Hawaii, but my wife needs to get settled into her new job first (see starts on Monday).

Safe & Sound

We’ve wanted a safe for some time, but couldn’t justify spending $300-$500 for a new one. So, I checked craigslist and found a number of home safes in the $150-$250 range. After some research, we decided on a Sentry Fire Safe that was listed for $200 (it costs $312 new). I was able to talk the guy down to $175.


We put our cash, passports, social security cards, marriage license, insurance paperwork, and our external hard drive (important digital files and photos). When we have kids in the house, we can also lock up our handgun in the safe.

Here are some of the features of the model (KSW3632) that we bought:

* LCD electronic lock with backlit keypad

* 4 live-locking bolts

* 2-hour fire protection

* Water-resistant

* Multi-Position drawer

* Multi-position tray

* Key rack and compartment for small items

* Door pocket

* May be bolted to floor

My Wife Just Called. . .

I rarely post twice in one day, but today is an exception.

My wife called to let me know that she just received and accepted a new job. Since being laid off a month ago, she has been working hard to get back into the same industry. All of that work really paid off today.

The package is even better than her last job:

* Annual salary is $55,500
* Annual bonuses of approximately $16,500
* 2,500 shares of company stock
* 401(k) plan
* 2 weeks vacation a year, 10 sick days a year, numerous holidays off (including Christmas to New Years week)
* Company car
* Laptop computer
* Cell phone reimbursement

That is a huge blessing and something I know my wife will enjoy and excel at. She already gets along really well with the managers that she has met at the new company and is excited to get started. Her first day is the 23rd.