Over at the MoneyBlogNetwork, they are doing a group writing project called How Are Those 2008 Goals Coming? Since I set some goals for 2008, I thought that it was a really good idea and decided to steal it. So without further ado,
THE STATE OF THE RESOLUTIONS: February 2008
Step 1: Stopping buying things, I want as opposed to things I need.
Step 2: Analyze my income versus my expenses. Create a budget. After minimum payments on credit debt and living expenses I have $270 to use to pay down debt.
Step 3: Pay off the Wells Fargo debt. This will take two payments and will be retired by the end of January.
Step 4: Apply that $270 to my over draft until I have built up the chequing account to a positive balance of $1000.00 to act as my emergency fund. That should be in August of 2008.
KIND OF: With the refinancing of the consolidation loan, I put $1,000 into the savings account and $1,000 as a cushion in the chequing account. I didn't save up the money for them, but they are fully funded.
Step 5: Sell the shares I bought as part of an employee purchase plan and put the money towards our emergency fund. This should put $800 -$900 towards the emergency fund.
NO. I got the share certificates back and the shares are worth more than I thought. $1,637. I find that emotionally I don't want to sell them.
Step 6: Work all the overtime I can get at work and put everything over the regular pay towards the emergency fund. Due to OT availability this might be $100 - $300 dollars extra a month. Assume $150. Steps 5 and 6 should mean that the emergency fund will be fully funded by the end of March.
KIND OF: After Christmas, work hasn't been as busy. Things will be busier towards April though.
Step 7: Get down to ebaying that stuff sitting in the closet.
NO. In fact this has been a big fail. Just have not got moving with this.
Step 8: When the emergency fund is fully funded, close the chequing account and move the money to the no fee President’s Choice bank account that I have set up.
YES! This has been successful so far. I have pretty much cut most of my impulse buying. Mrs. B is working on her movie project so she's got expenses for that, but they are within the budget allowances.
Step 2: Analyze my income versus my expenses. Create a budget. After minimum payments on credit debt and living expenses I have $270 to use to pay down debt.
YES! I set up the budget and we have been good about sticking to it. The new biweekly budget will result in an extra $946 being paid towards debt before any addition income or snowflaking.
Yes! The last of the Wells Fargo debt was retired in December with my Christmas bonus money.
Step 4: Apply that $270 to my over draft until I have built up the chequing account to a positive balance of $1000.00 to act as my emergency fund. That should be in August of 2008.
KIND OF: With the refinancing of the consolidation loan, I put $1,000 into the savings account and $1,000 as a cushion in the chequing account. I didn't save up the money for them, but they are fully funded.
Step 5: Sell the shares I bought as part of an employee purchase plan and put the money towards our emergency fund. This should put $800 -$900 towards the emergency fund.
NO. I got the share certificates back and the shares are worth more than I thought. $1,637. I find that emotionally I don't want to sell them.
Step 6: Work all the overtime I can get at work and put everything over the regular pay towards the emergency fund. Due to OT availability this might be $100 - $300 dollars extra a month. Assume $150. Steps 5 and 6 should mean that the emergency fund will be fully funded by the end of March.
KIND OF: After Christmas, work hasn't been as busy. Things will be busier towards April though.
Step 7: Get down to ebaying that stuff sitting in the closet.
NO. In fact this has been a big fail. Just have not got moving with this.
Step 8: When the emergency fund is fully funded, close the chequing account and move the money to the no fee President’s Choice bank account that I have set up.
MOSTLY: We are using the PCF accounts as our main accounts now. I closed out the TD savings account and will close the chequing account as soon as the Line of Credit is paid off. (I guess I really should sell the Rogers stocks).
Step 9: Apply the $270 plus all OT moneys towards the credit card debt. Hopefully the cc’s will be paid off by September or October.YES! Refinancing allowed us to pay off both high interest credit cards. I canceled the Amex, but we are going to keep the Visa.
Step 10: Start applying the $270 plus the OT $ plus the $110 minimum cc payments towards the Line of Credit. This should put me close to having the Line of Credit half paid off at the end of 2008.ONGOING: The Line of Credit is the current snowball target. It might be a stretch, but I think we can pay it all off by the end of the year.
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Overall, it looks really good. I have 4 strong positives, 4 in progress and only 2 fails at the end of January. I'm very pleased with our progress, but I really do need to sell the Rogers shares and start ebaying!
2 comments:
Heya,
I'd say you're doing great! And I think you're having some impact on those around you, as I know two or three other couples within our circle of friends who have started taking more serious control of their finances.
On the Rogers stock front, I'm not sure I would sell them. The annual dividend on RCI was doubled in January to $1 per share, and a $300 million stock repurchase was announced at the same time. These are two of the largest indicators of a company's financial health, and not surprisingly RCI is very healthy.
Also, as with just about all other shares right now, the market value is currently down. January prices for RCI are the lowest they've been since March 2007. Between all these factors, if I were you I would hold onto them and use them as a starting point for your non-registered investment portfolio!
That's the way I was thinking of going. The 2.5% dividend yield is not bad. I only wish the Rogers had a Dividend ReInvestment Program.
I'm definitely interested in getting into buying dividend stocks.
I'm really glad that people are paying more attention to their finances. Most of them have more time to get out of their holes, than we do, :-) so good for them!
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