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.
Credit Cards

Attacking Credit Card Debt

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Having credit card debt sucks. It was one of the most stressful times I’ve experienced. In order to pay off my credit card debt, I found I had to attack it every minute of the day through learning, strategizing, and sacrificing. After awhile, the progress I was making paying down my credit cards was almost as much as I had racking up the debt. I’d scrounging for a couple of extra dollars just so I could send it to the credit card companies to see the balance go down. Here’s a strategy I think is pretty successful:

  1. Pray
    1. Sometimes the toughest times in our lives are there so we focus more on God instead of thinking we can do it ourselves.

  1. Quit using credit cards
    1. This goes without saying, but you’ll see me speak out of the other side of my mouth below when I suggest getting a cash back rewards card.

  1. Create a plan
    1. Put together a spreadsheet listing the total amount owed and what the interest rates are. The visibility this provides is invaluable. Plus, you can include formulas in the spreadsheet to calculate how long until the card will be paid off based on a certain monthly payment.
    2. Negotiate lower rates where possible with credit card companies or transfer the balance to a lower rate card.
    3. Pay the minimums on all credit cards, except for the highest interest rate card. For the highest interest rate card, pay as much as possible each month. Put every dollar you can spare toward the balance. If “extra” money pops up mid month, send it to the credit card immediately to get it out of your hands and reduce the balance you are paying interest on. Use your credit card company’s online payment feature to make payments quick and easy and to save postage. Once that card is paid off, use the same strategy to pay down the next highest interest rate card. And so on…

  1. Look for way to bring in more money
    1. Get a cash back rewards credit card. This card should be used for as many of your standard monthly expenses as possible and should be PAID OFF EACH MONTH. This will not only give you 1%-5% cash back on everything you charge (things you are already paying cash for anyways), but will also help with monthly cash flow since you get a 30 day float. Use the cash back rewards you earn to pay down other credit cards. Note: Do not get a rewards card if you are unsure that you will pay it off every month. Rewards cards have high interest rates and slipping up one month will eliminate the cash back rewards gained over many months. We average ~$40+ a month in cash back rewards. This is some of the easiest money I’ve ever made.
    2. Have kids? Babysit a neighbor’s kids for a couple of hours each week. It will be fun for your kids and help tire them out.
    3. Have lots of “stuff”? Sell items on craigslist. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. It’s free and if you place the ads on Friday, you can have people come by on Saturday and Sunday to purchase. I’ve sold an old can opener for $5, scratched up sunglasses for $15, and even a couple of parts off my car that I did not need (a truck cover and truck mat).
    4. Love dogs? Offer to walk neighbor’s dogs for a few bucks.
    5. Enjoy needles? Donated plasma. It’s quick (~1 hour), easy, and pays ~$30 a visit. Plus, you’re helping others.

  1. Save money wherever possible
    1. Eliminated all entertainment that cost more than a nominal amount. Find free things to do like borrowing books for your library
    2. Don’t eat out. Food is expensive and easy to over look. Buy food on sale and prepare large meals to have leftovers.
    3. Plan driving trips to reduce fuel costs. Gas is expensive. Car pool if possible.
    4. Cancel gym membership. Go for a jog, swim, or bike ride to get a workout.
    5. Cancel retirement contributions. Every extra dollar needs to go towards paying off the credit card debt. Once it’s paid off, you can save like crazy. UPDATE: Thanks to Kristy at Master Your Card for pointing out that you should always contribute up to your employer’s match (free money). I totally overlooked this. Thanks Kristy!


Paying off debt is a war. Fight like crazy to win.

Income Statement

March 2009 Income Statement

March was a strong income month (click on spreadsheet below), but a large month in terms of expenses.

In addition to my two paychecks, my wife received two paychecks for March and a paycheck for her first week of work at the end of February for a total of $4,196.26. She also received her final $405 unemployment from February and a $490.91 bonus check from her old company and $61.12 check from her old company for an insurance deduction mistake. All said and done, my wife brought in $5,153.29 for us this month. Oh, I earned a $25 HSBC cash back credit card reward (go me!). Our interest income on our savings account was $4.20.

Thank God we had a good income month because our expenses were insane ($9,104.29). Some of the larger expenses were: $2,024 total for federal and state income taxes, $229 to resurface my cars rotors and replace break pads, $215.36 for my wife’s medical bill, $344.77 for a Wii and accessories, $175 for my car registration, and $170.29 for a new phone for my wife (she will be receiving a $70 rebate next month). We were also apparently very hungry this month because we spent $506.50 on groceries and $335.04 eating out. We had our 3rd year anniversary, so $165 of dinning was for one REALLY nice dinner. I am going to increase our groceries budget from $400/month to $500/month, since this is what we have been averaging for the last 11 months. With

my wife’s new company car and company gas card, our fuel expenses were only $92.94.

Next month should be an average income month. In additional to our regular paychecks, we have ~$75 in credit card cash back rewards coming in, my wife will begin receiving her cell phone and internet reimbursements for a total of ~$110/month, and she should also get a $70 rebate from Verizon. In terms of non-monthly expenses, I have a $1,100 gym membership bill and we have a $50 Costco membership bill. I will be on a business trip for 7 days, so that may help reduce some of our expenses. To save some extra money, my wife will be canceling her $19/month gym membership and use our condo gym and Wii instead. She has also been cutting our dogs nails to save us a few extra bucks.

Net Worth

March 2009 Net Worth Update (+$3,253.07)

We had a good increase to our new worth in March. In increased $3,253.07 from last month to $42,636.19 (click on spreadsheet below).

What worked:

We contributed $943.94 to our retirement accounts (401k and Roth IRAs) and saw them increase a total of $3,185.34 over last month. Pretty amazing! We rolled my wife’s old 401(k) to a traditional IRA this month. My wife also received a $862.00 quarterly bonus ($490.91 net) from her old company.

What did not work:

We saved a total of $820.00, but had to pull $1,279 for federal income taxes and $745 for state income taxes. We had been saving up for our tax bill, so this withdrawal was not unexpected. It did, however, reduce our savings balance. We had a $215.36 medical bill for my wife come due. We also purchased a Nintendo Wii video game console and accessories for $344.77. What’s life without a little splurging along the way?

Next month:

April should be another good month for saving money, both in our savings account and retirement accounts. I have a large gym membership bill coming due (15 months prepaid) and we may have another medical bill of ~$285 for my wife.

401(k), Investing

Wife Opened a Traditional IRA

My wife rolled over a $1,493.85 balance from her old company 401(k) into an traditional IRA with Vanguard. We already have our Roth IRAs with Vanguard and like the company. She chose to invest the traditional IRA money in Vanguard STAR Fund (VGSTX) a balanced fund of stocks, bonds, and short-term investments. She is eligible to contribute to her new company 401(k) in April.

Income

Quarterly bonus

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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.

Money Musings

1MansMoney blog is 2 years old!

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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.

Income

A Few Extra Bucks In Our Pockets

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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.

Career

Got a Good Scare

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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.

Income Statement

February 2009 Income statement

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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.