This month, I saw a slight increase in my net worth, though not to the extent that I had hoped. I’m still below where I was in October, but at least the numbers are moving in the right direction.
This month, my net worth increased by 0.91%. Most of this was due to savings, as my investments only bounced back an average of around 0.15%. Honestly, I was hoping for a greater increase, seeing as December is the month in which my mutual funds pay their yearly dividends (which at this point, I continue to reinvest).
My December spending was not as controlled as I had hoped, but part of that is due to the expenses inherent in travel. I had forgotten that I scheduled an eye doctor appointment while I was at my parents’ house, so that was another expense, but now it’s done for the year. My cats got a chunk of money this month too, what with having to pay for someone to come in and care for them.
Another unplanned, but much needed expense was that this month, I decided to join Weight Watchers. I know that there are many free sites out there dedicated to helping you lose weight (SparkPeople being one of my favorites), but since I moved and started this new job, the scale had been moving in the wrong direction. I decided that I needed to try something new, so I’m giving Weight Watchers a try. I know a lot of people who have succeeded on this plan, and I hope to add my name to that list.
One of my yearly goals for 2008 is to increase my net worth by 20%. Looking at how the numbers have been moving in the past few months, that is a daunting goal, but I think that if I control my spending and make smart choices, I should be able to get there.
Oh, and it’s day 1 of my dollar plan. Total so far? $1.
Megan is a 40-something government employee in the Washington, DC area. She got interested in Personal Finance when she got out of college and realized that her paycheck wasn’t going to go as far as she had hoped. Since starting this blog, she has managed to buy a house and make a solid start on her retirement goals, and hopes to help others do the same. Here is her story:
In 2007, I was a gainfully employed 20-something with no debt but not a lot of knowledge about personal finance. It was a co-worker’s comment about Roth IRAs that sent me to the internet, searching for information. It was then that I realized that I really didn’t know a whole lot about personal finance and that my current financial situation was due a lot to inherent frugal tendencies, generous family members, a fear of debt, and good luck. While that was working for me, clearly I needed a better plan.
While I had no debt, I was also pretty much living paycheck to paycheck and not worrying about going over budget (I say this as if I had a real budget) because I had an emergency fund set aside to cover any overages.
Except that’s not what an emergency fund is for.
So I did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs, and decided that I needed a plan. I needed to budget. I needed to know what I was spending my money on. I needed to prepare for the future.
I decided to create a blog not only to make myself accountable to others but also to share the knowledge that I gained along the way. I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers, and I hope that my readers can find something useful in what I have to share as well.
