Monthly Update for October 2007

Another good month! Net worth is up to $179, 810 an increase of just over $6,000 from last month or 3.5%. A more detailed listing of all my assets and liabilities can be found at http://www.networthiq.com/people/VAContractor

I am particularly proud of the large increase in my cash holdings with an increase of over $3,000 for the month. I am still focused on getting my cash savings up to $40-$50K. This will make me rest easier at night. Additional savings this month came from extra income generated from traveling at work.

Projections for next month are difficult to anticipate. I will need to pay my property taxes for $1,600 and also plan to pay down some of the CC balance of $5,000 that I am currently holding at 0%. I would rather pay this down a little at a time rather than just one large $5K payment. What can I say, I just don't like having CC debt. Even if it is at 0%. This could be a weakness of mine. The total amount needs to be paid by May 2008.

Next month could also see a spike in my employee stock (employee owned). I currently have about $8K worth of company stock. Rumor has it that there could be about a 20% jump in the next month. Not sure when I will see this realized in my balance if at all.

This month my wife and I also sat down for about an hour and did an estimate on what we may owe in taxes. The numbers look good. Since we bought our home in May we do not get the full year advantage of writing off the interest but it looks like we may be breaking about even. This is a weight off my shoulders. After December I will be able to adjust my W-4 and give myself about a $175 a paycheck raise (I get paid every two weeks). This is a nice little raise.

On another note, I find myself getting excited as each month comes to a close. I love to sit down and plug in my new numbers to see what progress I am making. This exercise has also forced me to look at each month as a seperate transaction period. I can try and strategise what actions I would like to take place within each month. I guess what I'm saying is that keeping a detailed spreadsheet and this blog makes me view my personal finances as a true business. Each month at work we do monthly roll ups to see if we are going to hit our annual goals/budget. I now do much of the same for my own finances.