My Net Worth.
Prior to starting this blog I really haven’t put down my assets and liabilities down on paper to see how much I’m worth. As an author of a brand spanking new personal finance blog this seemed like a good idea. Here are my modest initial calculations -
* This was the listing price for the house when I first bought it 3 years ago - I was able to buy it for a lot less however :) Since I have no idea how much my house is worth right now (nor would I want to due to horrible market conditions) this seemed like a good starting point.
As you can see above the majority of my non-morgage debt resides in my student loans. Half of it consists of a low interest government loan at around 4.75% and the rest is a private variable interest education loan that ranges anywhere from 7-8.75%. I initially thought of re-financing the higher interest loan but now I’m planning on paying it off aggresively in the next 12 months.
My credit card debt is pretty low since I pay it off diligently every month when I get the bill. One of my goals this year is to start playing the 0% APR arbitrage game popularized by my more established and popular PF bretheren.
I’ve recently started contributing to my company retirement plan and enough to receive the company match. I plan on increasing my monthly contributions when my raise kicks in next month. I also plan on opening a Roth IRA in the next few months to supplement the retirement fund.
I currently have a $1000 emergency fund in a high-yield savings account in a different bank and it will continue to grow by auto-transferring $100 a month from my checking account.
And there you have it, my financial snapshot for the month of April.
Yet Another Personal Finance Blog.
Yes it’s a blog about finance. Yes it’s about making goals and achieving them. But as the title of the blog says, it’s also about habits. Following instructions is easy, adapting to a different way of thinking is not. Which is why being consistent and developing good habits is key. And that is what this blog is going to be about. Think about it like a boxer starting out in his career. The desire to be great is there, and you are thinking for the long term. But as with any novice - you get winded easily, you have bad form, your execution is poor and you can’t take a beating.
But when you start training properly, you start to notice changes. You’ll have more endurance, your technique gets better, you can take a beating from time to time, and STILL pick yourself off the mat and keep going(Ah I love sports analogies, you’ll be hearing a lot of these.)
My name is RJ and this blog is about chronicling my journey to achieve these goals - no not to be a boxer. But to get out of debt, save money and invest it wisely.
Thanks for reading.