Income Statement

September 2009 Income Statement

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We had a pretty average income and expense month in September (click on spreadsheet below).



Our largest expense for the month was our amazing 6 day vacation to Hawaii that cost $1,787.69 (not too bad, huh?).

Here’s a breakdown of our vacation costs:

Flights: Free thanks to frequent flyer miles

Hotel: $773.70 (wife found a good deal)

Rental Car: $244.55 (wife found a good deal)

Food & Entertainment: $769.44


Other large expenses for September include an extra $1,900 payment to our auto loan and $116.75 at the shooting range.



Our income for the month consisted of our regular salaries and my wife’s $110 company reimbursement. My company bumped everyone’s salaries up again, resulting in another 1% increase to my salary (it was also increased 1% last month). We also earned $1.48 in interest income from our online savings account.



Next month, there are no large expenses planned, other than continuing to pay down our auto loan at an accelerated rate with a goal of having it paid off by the end of the year.



Net Worth

September Net Worth Update (+$3,411.14)

We are on a roll; 4 straight months of strong net worth increases. Our net worth in

September increased $3,411.14 from last month (link), to a total of $53,536.19 (click on spreadsheet below).



What Worked

September was a great month. We were blessed with another 1% increase to my salary (it was also increased 1% last month). We paid and extra $1,900 to my auto loan. We contributed a total of $1,592.71 to our retirement accounts (401k & Roth IRAs) and saw our retirement accounts increase to a total of $3,220! We sold 86 shares of our 106 shares of Bank of America stock for a 20% gain. We applied the proceeds to our auto loan.


What Didn’t Work

We took a vacation to Hawaii in September that cost $1,787.69. This should really fall under the “What Worked” category because we had a great vacation for a very reasonable price. Our flights were free thanks to frequent flyer miles and my wife found a great deal on our hotel and rental car. This was a planned expense, but we’ve pulled money out of savings to cover some of the costs and will pull more money out of savings when the credit card bill is due next month.


Next Month

October should be a good month. I will be traveling for 2 weeks of the month, so our expenses will likely be lower than usual. We also plan to make another large extra payment to my auto loan.

Investing

Sold Bulk Of Our BofA Stock

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We sold 86 shares of our Bank of America stock today for $17.50/share. We purchased 106 shares of the stock for $14.00/share back in January, so after fees, we earned over a 20% gain. That’s a lot more than we would have earned keeping the money in our savings account for 9 months.

Selling the 86 shares basically cashes out the $1,500 that we originally invested. We’re going to let the remaining 20 shares ride. This is money (currently ~$350) can now grow without any risk to our original $1,500.

Income

Another Bump Up

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More good news! My company again is increasing everyone’s salary by 10% of the amount they were reduced back in February.



My salary was reduced 10%, so it will go back up 1%, or ~$700/year. My company did the same thing last month, meaning I’ve earned back ~$1,400 of my ~$7,000 salary reduction.



This is a great trend and a blessing in these tough times.

Income Statement

August 2009 Income Statement

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Our income statement spreadsheet (click on spreadsheet below) for August shows total expenses of $12,685!

While that number is startling, August was, in fact, a pretty reasonable spending month. If you subtract $6250 in extra auto loan payments and $850 for a boat tower, our expenses only totaled $5,585. That’s pretty close to our $4,919.55 budget.

In addition to our regular salaries, we earned $111.35 in credit card rewards and my wife received a $896 ($480.84 net) quarterly bonus and her $110 company reimbursements. We also earned $4.26 in interest income from our online savings account. My wife’s 15% 401(k) contribution (increased from 5%) kicked in her 2nd check in August.

Next month, there are no large expenses planned, but our net income will be less because we increased my wife’s 401(k) contribution from 5% to 15%.

Goals

Net Worth Milestone – $50,000

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I already spilled the beans in my August New Worth post, but we passed the net worth milestone of $50,000! There, now it’s official.

We hit our last net worth milestone of $40,000 in 12 months ago, in August 2008. With the depressed economy and short selling our condo, reaching a net worth of $50,000 has taken us a bit longer than expected. Nevertheless, that doesn’t take away from how great it feels to hit this goal.

Thank God for all of our blessings!

Net Worth

August Net Worth Update (+$5,473.52)

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We’ve been blessed to string together 3 strong net worth increase months in a row. Our net worth in August increased $5,473.52 from last month, to a total of $50,125.05 (click on spreadsheet below). That means we’ve passed the $50,000 net worth milestone!



What Worked

August was full of nice surprises. We received my wife’s $896 ($480.84 net) quarterly bonus a month earlier than we expected, my pay was increased 1%, and we decided spontaneously to pay $6,250 extra to my auto loan. We contributed a total of $1,181.48 to our retirement accounts (401k & Roth IRAs) and saw our retirement accounts increase to a total of $3,814.65! We increased my wife’s 401(k) contribution from 5% to 15%, starting with her 2nd paycheck in August. That’s makes her new total 401(k) contribution $346.88 a check or $8,325.12 a year.



What Didn’t Work

August was a great month. Thank God.


Next Month

September looks like it will be good month. I want to take a moment to say that if you haven’t seen the movie “Pursuit of Happyness“, it’s a must see. I just caught it on TV for the 2nd time. It’s the true story of a single dad fighting for a stockbroker position at Dean Witter, while facing challenges such as a period of homelessness and trouble with the IRS.



Deals and Bargains

Bought New Suitcases, And Got A Deal

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I travel a lot for work and have been destroying our suitcases. Actually, I’ve destroyed a couple by overpacking, but the airlines have also contributed by knocking off wheels and generally beating them up. My wife treats her luggage gently, so I destroyed hers for her.

With our upcoming vacation to Hawaii next month, we realized that we’re all out of functional luggage. We decided to see what offers are out there in this beat down economy.

We found 50% off deal on high quality Atlantic luggage at a local luggage store. We bought an Atlantic 25″ Expandable Upright Spinner Suiter (normally $240) for my wife and Atlantic 29″ Expandable Upright Spinner Suiter (normally $280) for me. In addition to the 50% off deal, my wife had the good idea to ask for an extra discount for purchasing two suitcases. The lady agreed and gave us an extra 10% off.

Income

Another Income Post

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I posted yesterday regarding my wife’s quarterly bonus, which was great news. It turns out we received more positive news today.

My company has strung together a few good months and, as a result, has decided to give everyone a small bump up from our February salary reduction. They increase everyone’s pay by 10% of the amount it was reduced. My salary was reduced 10%, so my pay will go up 1%, not big money, but a good sign that my job is getting more secure.

Our path to financial independence and retiring early.