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.

Income

Bonus Time!

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My wife received her quarterly bonus this month, a month earlier than we expected. Her quarterly bonus was $896 gross ($480.84 net). This money falls into the “gravy” category, since we don’t plan for it.

This next quarter should be even better. My wife’s been selling like crazy and in the first 3 weeks of the new quarter already has earned ~$2,156 gross towards her bonus check in December. Sweet!

Early retirement here we come.

Debt

Raided our Savings

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My wife is kicking butt in her job and my job is seems to be getting more secure. That being said, we’ve decided to throw caution into the wind and pull a large chuck of our money out of savings to pay down our auto loan.

We’re sick of paying 6.5% interest each month on the auto loan and only making 1% on our savings. My parents have always paid their cars off very quickly, and saved a ton of interest as a result. We paid a whopping $6,250 to our auto loan this month, cutting it in half, from $13,383.86 to $6,789.83. Our goal is to pay the balance of the loan off in the next 6 months or so. That will free up $450/month to save or invest.

401(k)

Increased Wife’s 401(k) Contribution From 5% to 15%

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We increased my Wife’s 401(k) contribution from 5% to 15%. This takes her contribution from $2,775/year to $8,325/year. We’re still waiting to hear back from her HR department as to when the new contribution level go into effect.

We decided to increase our 401(k) contributions as much as possible and force ourselves to get used to the lower take home pay. We may not be able to put as much into our Roth IRA’s, but at least we know the money will be invested before we can get our hands on it.

Business Travel

Ways To Get More Frequent Flyer Miles

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I went on another business trip at the end of last month and racked up a few more Delta SkyMiles. I’m now at 42,790 SkyMiles total.

In addition to my Silver Medallion status with Delta that earns me a 25% mileage bonus every trip, I found a couple of new ways to earn extra SkyMiles while traveling. I earned 300 SkyMiles for renting a car from Dollar Rent-A-Car. I almost always rent car while on business trips, but I never knew I could earn frequent flyer miles doing it. I also received ~100 SkyMiles per night staying at Howard Johnson hotels. I used to go to Holiday Inns and get points for free stays, but with the economic conditions what they are, my company has asked up to save money where we can (like cheaper hotels). I’d rather get frequent flyer miles than points towards a free night stay at Howard Johnson.

The SkyMiles really add up quick. My wife and I are flying to Hawaii next month for free using my SkyMiles (52,000 SkyMiles each ticket). I’m also close to getting Gold Medallion status which earns a 100% mileage bonus every trip.

Income Statement

July 2009 Income Statement

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We did a great job of keeping our spending down and bringing money in this month (click on spreadsheet below), that’s $1,200 less than last month.



We only spent $5,214.45 this month. That includes $233.50 for 6 months prepaid life insurance for my wife and I, $120.09 on gifts, $149.34 for the 4th of July, and $47.88 on a new tire (pro-rated).


In addition to our regular salaries, I received a third “extra” check, my wife received her $110 company internet and cell phone reimbursements, our old insurance company gave us a $371 refund, and we earned $25.00 in credit card rewards. We also earned $6.50 in interest income from our online savings account.


Next month should be a pretty standard income month, but we may have a couple of large expenses.



Net Worth

July Net Worth Update (+$5,033.72)

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I know I’m getting lazy with posting, but at least I’m still posting our net worth data.

July was another strong month. Our net worth increased $5,033.72 from last month, to a total of $44,651.53 (click on spreadsheet below).

What Worked
July was a nice month. I receive a third “extra” paycheck, we deposited $1,000 into our savings account, and we plowed money into our retirement accounts (401k, Roth IRAs, & Traditional IRA). We contributed a total of $1,743.52 to our retirement accounts and saw them increase to a total of $3,835.21. We also increased my 401(k) contribution from 5% to 8%.

What Didn’t Work
Nothing to enter for July; we are very blessed.

Next Month
August should be a good month. There may be a couple of large expenses that limit what we can save, but we’ll see.

Income Statement

June 2009 Income Statement

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Last month I said we’d tighten our belts in June, and I’m happy to report that we did pretty good controlling our expenses this month (click on spreadsheet below).



We spent just over $6,444.45 this month. This was our first full month of living in our rental unit, which helped reduce our costs of living. One large unexpected bill, we do to switching insurance companies in June. We had to pay a total of $1,296.70 for 12 months of auto and renters insurance. We also had to have my wife’s wedding ring appraised for insurance purposes, costing us $135.94. If you subtract out the large insurance related costs, our expenses for the June drop to $5,011.81.



In addition to our regular salaries, my wife received her $110 company internet and cell phone reimbursements and we received a total of $131.02 in credit card rewards. We’ve both been charging a lot of business expenses to our rewards credit cards. Since we are both reimburse for these expenses, the credit card rewards are truly free money.


Next month should be another very reasonable month for expenses. Incomewise, I will receive a third “extra” paycheck next month but my take home per check will drop slightly because my 3% contribution increase to my 401(k) will kick in. We should also receive a small prorated refund from our old insurance company.



Net Worth

June Net Worth Update (+$6,366.15)

After a crazy May in which our net worth dropped $12,703.04. June turned out to be a great turnaround month. Our net worth increased $6,366.15 from last month, to a total of $39,617.81 (click on spreadsheet below).

What Worked
We piled $1,675.19 into our retirement accounts (401k, Roth IRAs, & Traditional IRA) and saw them increase to a total of $2,110.87. We also deposited $3,815.08 into our savings account, $1,795.08 of which is from our 1st mortgage that we are not clear if we do or don’t owe.

What Didn’t Work
I have nothing to enter here, thank God.

Next Month
July should be another strong month. I receive a third “extra” paycheck next month and my wife may be receiving her first quarterly bonus from her new company. My 3% contribution increase to my 401(k) will also kick in next month, bringing my total contribution to 8%.

Our path to financial independence and retiring early.