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.
Roth IRA

Economic Stimulus Tax Rebate Check

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In anticipation of receiving our Economic Stimulus Tax Rebate Check on the May 16, we made a $1,200 contribution to our Roth IRAs. We’ve contributed $3,400 total so far this year, leaving us with $6,600 more to go to reach the 2008 max of $10,000 ($5K each) .

During a BBQ with our neighbors over the weekend, we discussed what we were going to do with our stimulus checks. One of my neighbors said he has already spent his on various items, including $400 shoes. When I mentioned that we planned to deposit ours into our Roth IRAs, he asked why we bother to at such a young age. My response was, “Because I do not want to work after age 52”. He said he did not want to work past 50 either. More power to him.

Income

Does She Not Stop?

My wife scored a $944 commission this check from her company this month!

Her commission checks are great because they are “extra” money that we can put towards savings and/or retirement investments since our regular saleries cover our month-to-month expenses. What a blessing.

May is turning into a very good net worth increase month for us. I can’t wait to update our numbers at the end of the month.

Income

Closing The Deal

Great news! My wife has been working on a large business deal and last week obtained the signed contract. It’s great to see her hard work pay off. She will receive a $3,800+ commission from the sale when the invoice is paid in a couple of months.

In addition to the awesome initial commission, there is a good likelihood that this account will produce additional commissions for her down the road thru maintenance of the system she sold and other work this customer needs done.

My wife is a CLOSER.

Income Statement

April 2008 Income Statement

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We did a great job of staying within our budget this month (click on spreadsheet below). In fact, this is the least amount of money we have spent in quite awhile, which is great after last month.

One of the few areas we went over budget was $222.30 in our Entertainment category because we had a couple of nights out with friends celebrating their birthdays. Incomewise, I received a 2.07% raise. My wife earned $466.91 in commissions and $40.80 in reimbursements. We also received a $66.65 cash back reward from our Citi credit card and a $50 gift card to a restaurant from our American Express. We earned interest income of $12.10.

May should be a another great income month. My wife gets 3 paychecks next month (extra one going to savings) and hopefully a ~$700 commission check. We possibly should also receive our $1,200 tax rebate which will be apllied to our Roth IRAs. Our expenses will be a bit higher because we have a week long vacation up the coast planned.

Net Worth

April 2008 Net Worth Update (+3,661.34)

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April has been a great month. Our net worth increased $3,661.34 over last month, bring us to a total net worth of $31,437.95 (click on spreadsheet below). This puts us at 65.77% of our 2008 net worth goal of $47,800.

What worked:
We increased my 401(k) contribution by 1% to a total contribution of 5%. We invested $638.95 in retirement accounts (401(k) and Roth IRAs) this month and, with the recent market upswing, saw a total increase in our retirement accounts of $2,416.09! We also increased our savings by $662.38, primarily due to my wife’s commission check.

What did not work:
I can’t think of anything that went against us this month. Thank God.

Next month:
May should be another solid month. We plan to do a large contribution to our Roth IRAs and bump up our savings a bit.

Goals

Net Worth Milestone – $30,000

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I’m not sure if it’s going to stick, but we hit our net worth milestone of $30,000 yesterday. Our last net worth milestone was in September, 2007.

After the great market upswing today, our currently net worth is $30,350.57, putting us at 63.49% of our $47,800 net worth goal for the year. Note: Our current net worth status bar will not be updated until the end of the month, as usual.

God willing, we should hit our $40,000 net worth milestone by October this year.

Income

Commission Checks Are Great

My wife is really getting consistent with earning commission checks each month. This month, she received a $448.15 commission check – just like clockwork. The great news is that she has a number of orders she will receive commissions for in the next few months. She’s done a impressive job of cold calling and expanding her customer base.

Since our monthly expenses are already covered by our base salaries, any commission checks that she receives can go directly to investments, savings, paying off debt, etc. Most of the money she earned in this commission check is going to be deposited into our savings account.

Deals and Bargains

Dinner And A Movie At Costco

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Last month, my wife and I enjoyed our 2nd wedding anniversary. We decided to celebrate is special occasion by having dinner at the waterfront restaurant where we were married.

To save us some money, my wife bought a $100 gift card for the restaurant at Costco for $80. I had never even heard of this before. That’s a 20% savings! My wife is so smart. We also recently bought movie tickets at Costco and saved 20% once again.

So, if you have a Costco card and enjoy going out to eat or the movies, you might want to consider buying gift cards at Costco. Oh, and if you find the girl of your dreams, don’t let her get away.

Income

2nd Raise For 2008

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As I posted about previously, my company is resetting everyone’s review date to the anniversary of their hire date. Most employee reviews already fall on the anniversary of their hire date, but, in the past, if you received a promotion, the date that you received your promotion became your new annual review date.

I received a promotion in January of 2006, thus, changing my annual review from my April hire anniversary to January. Since my company is resetting everyone back to the anniversary of their hire date, I received another review this week.

I was blessed to receive a very positive review that included a 2.07% bump up in pay, from $69,030/annually to $70,460/annually. Combined with my 4.5% increase in January, I’m up 6.57% this year.

We’ve decided to increase my 401(k) contribution by 1%, to a total of 5%. The reminder of the raise money will be used to help us try to keep up with the cost of living.