Ceejay74's Personal Finance Blog

One of AS's student loan payments hit, with $79 going to principal. That's $828 down, $1172 to go.

I'm hoping I'm at a good place to put a large extra payment to my credit card debt soon, but I've been so busy at work -- and so drained once I get home -- that I haven't been able to pay much attention to my finances. NT got some overtime pay, so I think it'll be OK, but I'll have to sit down and really take a look at the next couple weeks.

Overall, I need to make sure I'm on track to pay off my last credit card by the end of the year. It's been a fun summer, and there's more spendy fun to come, but I can't lose sight of my big goals for the year!

Wowee, it's never been this long past the first of the month before I was able to post our mortgage payments! Work is still crazy and I never seem to have the time or energy at home. I still read most people's entries but rarely comment, because I'm always trying to catch up on old ones.

Anyway, luckily my bills are all on autopilot. I even figured out a way to automate my checks to the daycare lady. So my mortgage payments hit, of course:
US: $383
UK#1: $256
UK#2: $54
UK#3: $56

So all told, $749 down, $1251 to go on the August debt goal.

I also put $100 into the medical fund (which is sort of like my emergency fund, except it's more likely to be spent someday) and saved some more UK money for the England trip (which is coming up -- just nine weeks away!)

I know it will probably disappear in a couple hours, but I'm posting some baby pics anyway. Maybe I'll try BA's technique if the old way doesn't work...

I surpassed my July debt repayment goal of $1100, putting $1,352 toward principal. I got our total debt down to $363,748.

For August, I'm going to go out on a limb and try to pay off $2,000 of debt. We'll pay nearly $1100 with just our minimum payments. I have what looks like a $1250 surplus in the August budget, so I'm going to try and put at least $900 of that toward my credit-card debt. It feels a little risky to say that, since we keep having unexpected expenses. But there's also a chance AS will get some freelance money in August, so on the other hand I might be able to pay even more than $2,000 this month.

My credit card payment and another of AS's student loan payments hit: $79 and $59 to principal, respectively, bringing July debt repayment to $1352.

Our $1800 balcony screen was installed yesterday. We did it mainly for little AA and her eventual friends, so we'd feel better about kids being on the 18th-floor balcony. (There's a railing, but psychologically...it's still a little nerve-wracking to take AA out there.) But it's also for our cat Noodles, because he likes being on the balcony but I've always been terrified he would forget where he was and leap for a bird or bug, and fall off the balcony. Also, when he was out there we had to keep either the screen or the door closed to keep bugs out, and he hates closed doors. Now, when it's nice enough to have the AC off, we can keep the door open, so he can come and go freely.

I was afraid it would make our small balcony seem cramped, but instead it's made it seem like another little room, rather than a small ledge. Very cozy and not cramped at all! AS and NT love it too. So, money well spent.

I've hardly gotten a chance to post all month, and suddenly, twice in one day! Work is a bit more manageable today than it has been since my boss left and I took over many of her responsibilities (in addition to keeping my own).

One of AS's student loan payments went through: $119 to principal, which means we exceeded our $1100 goal by $114! Our new balance is $363,886. We may have one or two more payments come in just under the wire to qualify as July progress, too.

Another blow to our budget surplus: NT's student loan semiannual interest payment, which I expected to be $400 or so, was $622. I keep forgetting to factor in the additional loan money we take out each semester! It's OK, but too many more hits and I may be regretting the fast and loose spending of this summer. Not yet though!

It's been a while since I posted a baby pic. This was taken last night; we have a rooftop pool on our condo and this is the second time we've taken AA into the water. We take her there after sunset so there's no danger of burning; the pool water is slightly heated so it's not too cool. She quite likes it, I think! Very quiet and observant, but she kicks her feet and seems very comfortable. She even smiled a bit this time.



Hmmm...Let me try again, but I don't know how to crop photos on my home computer!

NT's Net10 phone broke, so we were able to get him a new one, plus 300 minutes and a phone card with 200 more minutes for $21.56! (That's cheaper than the usual $32.82 for 300 minutes with no phone or extra phone card. So why won't we take advantage by just getting him a new phone every time and saving $11+ plus getting nearly twice as many minutes? Terrible tech support. He went phoneless for a week while they got their s#%* together.) Since the second year began in late March, here's what we've paid:

CJ 1000 minutes late-March T-Mobile fillup: $107.78
NT 300 minutes late-March Net10 fillup: $32.82
NT 300 minutes late-May Net10 fillup: $32.82
NT 500 minutes + new phone late June: $21.56
Total cost for the year: $194.98

It happened in late June, but I forgot to record it in the post-vacation madness. Now it's late July already! This is the end of the fourth month of our cellphone "fiscal year," so our average monthly cost for this year is $48.75. I expect that average to go up again soon when AS needs new minutes, but still, awesome that three people have had cellphone service for less than $50 per month so far!

RECAP: I switched to prepaid in late March 2009. We have 2 phones on T-Mobile prepaid and 1 on Net10 prepaid. AS and I refill in 1000-minute increments and only need to refill when we run out or when it's been a year since our last fillup to stay active. NT needs to buy 300 more minutes every 60 days to keep his phone activated.

Our cellphone bill, for three phones on a family plan, used to range from $80-$95, depending on texts, calls to 411, etc. Usually it was close to $85. My goal for this year is to get my average cost to $50 per month, but any average number below $85 will be a savings.

Assets:
NT's UK pensions:
#1: 12,663 pounds ($25,326)
#2: 14,721 pounds ($29,442)
#3: 3,709 pounds ($7,418)
NT's 401(k): $9,308
AS's 403(b): $3,300
AS's IRA: $1,682
AS's 401(k): $634
CJ's 401(k): $32,315
NT's flat: 130,000 pounds ($260,000)
CJ & AS's condo: $160,000
Baby/emergency fund (shared asset): $8,482
---
Total Assets: $537,907

Total Debt: $364,005

Current Estimated Net Worth: $173,902

June 2010 estimate: $163,573

Change in net worth: +$10,329

Summary: All our retirement accounts and the EF showed modest gains (NT's 401k did especially well because his company dumped a $700 bonus in there). We also paid off over $1K of debt. But there was another huge leap this month, nearly as big as last month's, due to my finally confirming there was a third pension account in the UK that NT had forgotten he had.

I will update my "Individual Net Worth" page shortly so you can see how it breaks out.

Notes on the numbers above: House value estimates are fairly conservative. I don't have a way to check NT's UK pensions or flat value, so their values stay static for the purpose of this update (unless I happen to get some info by chance). UK asset values and debt amounts are calculated figuring $2 for every British pound, which was the exchange rate when I started keeping track. I maintain that ratio for the purpose of tracking progress, even though the exchange rate is now closer to $1.60 per British pound.

Wow, I can't believe I've only posted once this month! It's been so crazy since we got back from our trip; AA went into daycare, NT and I went back to work full time, my boss's last week was the week I came back from the trip. AS has had a bunch of freelance and work she's brought home from the office, so I'm too busy at work to post, and the computer is usually taken at home (plus I'm exhausted, and spending all the time I can with AA since I don't get to see her during the day). I actually missed recording a credit card payment earlier this month, which is totally unheard of for me!

That CC payment put $81 to principal, and one of AS's student loans just had $86 put toward principal. That makes $167 total, so $1095 down, just $5 to go on my July debt-repayment goal. Both of those payments made dents in my 2010 and big-picture goals as well, because these are the next two debts on my hit list.

Well, it's been a crazy couple of months in terms of money; there's been a lot of extra money coming in from all sides, and at the same time lots of money going right back out! Some of it definitely spent on "wants"; I've loosened up a lot to give us a break from my normal tightwaddery, since we can definitely afford it.

The money in included (let's see if I can remember it all): AS freelancing, NT work bonus, AS raise (much bigger than expected), my parents paying for some of our plane fare, me discovering another pension NT had forgotten about (3709 pounds--or US$7418 in my set ratio! Jeez! LOL), NT's job putting another bonus into his 401(k), refund for a medical overpayment, NT working a bunch of overtime so most of his parental leave was paid...I think that's all. Whew!

The money out: There was that weekend trip we had to celebrate AS's raise, on which we spent about $700 including rental car, hotel, dinners, shopping and touring a historical house. We went about $300 over budget on our family trip, because we took a bunch of younger family members to a 3-D movie, got room service for ourselves on the last night, and went on a bus tour of D.C. that was $35 per person. I signed up for one of those charities where you do regular payments; we pay $15 a month to buy food for poor children in other countries. We paid a friend to do one day of daycare because I ran out of time 1 day early because of AA's slightly early arrival: $100. We also paid that friend $40 to cat-sit while we were out of town. I had a $475 dental bill and AS bought several refills of contacts, that ran us a couple hundred. AS and I got bikes! Used, but still, with helmets and locks, about $500 total. We're getting the balcony screened in so kids and cats will be safe there: $1800.

We're also planning on spending some more before it's all over! We're planning some nights out that will require babysitting (from friends, but I still feel we should pay them), we're going to develop some nice photos to send back to family from the trip (and we might send thank-you gift certificates for hosting us). We've given in and decided to go with diaper cleaning service for the foreseeable future, which will run $19.50 per week (though we get 3 more weeks free if we commit to 24). We're going to paint AA's room and also one wall in our living room (so it matches our new couch better). We're probably going to get a new garbage disposal, and those seem to run about $100-$250. And we're going to rent another car in August to go visit our friends' vacation house for a weekend. Oh, and I had to go get an ultrasound for some lumps in my breast (harmless, it turns out, but the tests will cost me). And my doctor reminded me that I need to speak to a family law expert to try and solidify our parental rights despite our unusual family structure. (Which also reminded me that I want some financial advice from a professional, too.)

Phew! Money in, money out. I'm keeping track and it's all paid for, but it's still a bit overwhelming. But, I feel it's all deliberate, well-planned, appreciated spending. We're not just blowing it on things we don't notice or enjoy. That said, I really want to get back to paying down debt! It's hard to start pulling in the reins, especially telling NT or AS that we have to start being frugal again. It's easy to get used to a more free-flowing way of life. But I haven't forgotten that we're still in a lot of debt and somewhat behind in retirement. And have a baby, as well as an international move and another baby probably sometime in our future.

At least I don't feel alone. Thiftorama, North Georgia Gal and some others have mentioned a need to retighten belts. So, I'm going to go ahead with the spending we already have planned, but my desire after that is to start hitting the debt hard again. And just get our spending settle down to a more predictable pattern.

So glad to be back from my trip! Parts were fun, but staying with family can be exhausting. More details on it later, if I feel like it. Lots of interesting tidbits about money came up during the trip, actually.

Anyway, finally got a chance to check some accounts and the following payments were processed:
US mortgage $381
UK mortgage #1 $258
UK mortgage #2 $54
UK mortgage #3 $58
AS student loan: $118
AS student loan: $59

All told, $928 went to principal. So, just $172 to go on the July debt-repayment goal.

June was a success (just barely), with $1006 going to debt, just tipping the $1000 goal.

I'm sleepy because we've been getting ready for our week-long trip to Virginia tomorrow, so I'm not sure if I'm correctly predicting how many payments are going to hit between now and July 31. But I'm going to set the July debt-repayment goal at $1100; that seems conservative, and if I'm miscalculating in the wrong direction, I can always make a snowflake payment to the credit card to make sure I hit it.

Anyway, I've got to get a bit more done before we go to sleep, so I'm going to have to sign off, probably until July. Happy early Independence Day!

Assets:
NT's UK pensions: 12,663 pounds ($25,326)
14,721 pounds ($29,442)
NT's 401(k): $8,241
AS's 403(b): $3,300
AS's IRA: $1,682
AS's 401(k): $507
CJ's 401(k): $31,744
NT's flat: 130,000 pounds ($260,000)
CJ & AS's condo: $160,000
Baby/emergency fund (shared asset): $8,431
---
Total Assets: $528,673

Total Debt: $365,100

Current Estimated Net Worth: $163,573

May 2010 estimate: $151,034

Change in net worth: +$12,539

Summary: My 401(k) lost $1 in value (which means it lost more like $300 since I also made contributions). What an annoying figure! LOL.

You may notice a kind of huge leap in net worth. Well, for one of NT's UK retirement plans that I hadn't updated in years, I finally looked at a statement and tried to ascertain the current value. It was about US $10,000 higher. We also paid off some debt and made small gains in other areas, i.e., the EF and some of the U.S. retirement accounts.

I will update my "Individual Net Worth" page shortly so you can see how it breaks out.

Notes on the numbers above: House value estimates are fairly conservative. I don't have a way to check NT's UK pensions or flat value, so their values stay static for the purpose of this update (unless I happen to get some info by chance). UK asset values and debt amounts are calculated figuring $2 for every British pound, which was the exchange rate when I started keeping track. I maintain that ratio for the purpose of tracking progress, even though the exchange rate is now closer to $1.60 per British pound.

Just a quick entry before I go downtown to apply for AA's passport. AS's student loan payment hit: $83 to principal. So we passed our $1000 goal with $1006 going toward debt this month! I paid some extra to the credit card early because I'm going to have to close out this month's blogging early, before our trip to Virginia. Not yet, but the next 10 days or so are going to fly by as we get prepared--and as NT and I enjoy our last days of parental leave with AA.

I took some cute smiley pics today, but I haven't uploaded them yet. So here are some from previous days:

My extra principal payment of $175 to the credit card hit. $923 down, $77 to go on the June goal. Yay!

Tonight we just got back from our first date since the baby came. NT's co-worker babysat and said AA was cute and fun. Double yay! I hardly freaked out at all; sometimes I even didn't think about her while we were at the restaurant.

This date had been planned for a while. What we didn't plan was renting a car; we just decided that recently since AS and NT are getting so much extra money. Then, AS got some great news about her job. I'll elaborate when it's official! But anyway, we decided to go ahead and use some more of that extra income and book a hotel in a nearby town for Saturday night, to celebrate. We're going to take AA on her first vacation, which will be good practice for the longer, much farther away family visit to Va. at the end of June. So, triple yay! AS keeps asking "Who are you?" because I hardly ever "authorize" big impulsive spends; if we're going to spend a lot of money, typically I plan it for ages in advance. But recently I've been thinking a lot about enjoying life in the moment, I mean as long as it doesn't mess with any of my financial goals. This wasn't planned money at all, so I feel good about loosening the purse strings and having some fun that we can totally afford.

So yesterday I got two teeth filled that didn't have cavities but failed this new density test. My crappy new dental insurance will probably leave me with $300-$400 of the bill, but I definitely don't want to lose the teeth if they can be saved.

Then I walked all over downtown Minneapolis with AA in the Baby Bjorn, looking for a simple, lightweight rattle or other toy that she could easily grasp. She's getting very interested in touching things but she doesn't have any good toys for holding in her hand. Target and Marshall's didn't have any rattles that I saw (though AS and NT said I should have checked the baby-supplies section of Target rather than the toy section, so I might go back today).

So then I hit up the boutique baby store Pacifier. Kind of a mistake--I let the cashier talk me into buying a toy for $22! I thought about taking it back but it is a really good toy--a lightweight rubber giraffe that squeaks, with high-contrast spots and face, with long neck and legs for easy grasping, also good for teething. And it's utterly adorable. Still, remind me not to go to any beautiful boutique-y baby stores ever again! It was my own spending money, so not detrimental to the budget, but hilarious that it cost more than the average price of the new clothes I just bought. This is gonna look out of place on my baby-expenses worksheet!

On the up side: AS earned $15 for mending some pants, $10 for doing an elderly woman's laundry (she also made her bed for free), and $575 for proofreading a manuscript. Since we've been doing so well financially, we all get to keep small amounts of side-hustle money for ourselves if we choose, so AS will keep the $25 and donate the $575 to put toward our goals. Similarly, NT is giving his week's-pay bonus for the communal good but keeping all profits from some recent eBay selling (he's getting rid of some records, CDs, DVDs and toys). I have some vintage dresses that I'm getting rid of, so I thought I'd list them on eBay and see if I can get a couple bucks for them. I'll probably list them this weekend.

We got a great offer of half price to go back on the diaper-cleaning service, and so we did. The reasons? AS's diapers didn't hold up well in the wash--she would need to sew extra seams down the middle to keep the toweling in, and her current sewing-machine needles aren't really designed for that kind of heavy-duty sewing. Also, the diaper covers we were given aren't very watertight, so that doesn't really work for us. So we went back on the cleaning service--just $12 a week through mid-August--while we hunt for better supplies. I inquired on Freecycle and already got one response about covers, so if I can find a ride out to where the person lives, that part might be sorted.

We decided to Freecycle some good-quality moving boxes that we'd been hanging onto, and they'll probably be picked up today.

I've been Facebooking back and forth with my sister about sleeping solutions for AA while we're in Virginia. My parents have a crib she can use while at their house, but the portable bassinet they have is pretty decrepit. So my sister's going to find a playpen (now known as pack-n-plays) on Craigslist that we can use at her place and also at AS's mom's. Once we're done with it, my sister is going to donate it to charity. This is a great solution because it means that big expense won't be for just a temporary travel use; it will go to the greater good. My sister practices a lot of philanthropy by volunteering through her church but doesn't have a lot of money to give, so I think this will make her very happy too.

Now that I think of it, this would probably be a good idea for our England trip, too. We must figure out who's going to take us in first, and see if they can get us a compact pack-n-play that we'll be able to take around with us (we're staying in two different cities for that trip). Then we can donate to charity or see if any of NT's friends or relatives need one.

This Friday NT and I are taking AA to the government center to apply for her passport. I'm excited for our little future world traveler!

Speaking of AA, she woke me up early for a feeding this morning, so I brought her back to bed and fed her there. Then I let her fall back asleep next to me and I dozed lightly, waking every couple minutes to make sure she was OK. We all woke up together (the cat Noodles had come in and fallen asleep on the bed too) about an hour later. I don't think I'd do co-sleeping full time, but it sure was nice to wake up with a cute smily baby next to us!

I've just spent a couple hours straightening out all my spreadsheets after a weekend of spending. Amazing how long it takes me if I don't check in every day or so!

This weekend we bought a new TV cabinet and shelving for the DVDs, closet systems (rods, drawers, shelves), and curtain materials for AA's nursery, as well as some other assorted household items. About $1000 total. We also sold our old entertainment center for $200, though, so that offset it somewhat.

I took the leap and went on a bit of a clothing-shopping spree while we were out at the mall. I spent just over $200 and got 5 dresses, 1 skirt, 1 romper and 3 tops. An average of $20 per piece, not bad! I didn't mean to spend that much in one go, but they were all good or at least interesting pieces, and I really have been hoarding my spending money during the past few months, so I don't feel too bad about it.

Some of the clothing is really simple; two of the dresses are plain black jersey material, so I want to go out soon and shop for accessories. I think I have one hat, one pashmina, one belt, one wrap, two necklaces, two bracelets, five purses and about 15 pairs of shoes. I don't need any more shoes, but I'd like to expand my other collections a bit more, so I can wear the clothes that I have in different ways, create several different looks from each piece.

I'm already feeling better just by having clothes that fit and flatter the body I have right now!

NOTE: If you haven't heard the made-up word "spendy," you haven't been to Minnesota.

OK, so I've been having a long rambly thought process going on in my head for the past few hours. Thought I'd try to get some of it written down.

It started when I saw a link on the MSN home page to some photos of everyday people on the street in fashionable clothes. Reminded me to go to

The Sartorialist, an excellent photoblog of on-the-street fashion that I find so beautiful and inspiring. Like home cooking, the wearing of fashion by non-models is one of those ephemeral art forms that is mainly experienced in the moment of wearing/observing (or preparing/eating in the case of cooking). This blog, however, succeeds in capturing something of that moment.

Scrolling through the photos awakened a desire in myself to really dig into fashion and discover my own taste and ideal looks, maybe become a bit more adventurous or just try for a more classic, elegant look than the tops-and-jeans, sundresses-and-flipflops combos that I typically wear.

That got me thinking about whether this would really be a worthwhile pursuit. I mean, not only is it an ephemeral art form with little accumulated benefit (except maybe better vacation photos LOL), it's potentially expensive and, well, pretty much entirely self-centered. I guess you could argue that other people like to see interestingly dressed people, but other than that it's entirely self-absorbed.

Then I thought about how I'm feeling a bit stagnant physically. I always told myself that I'd start getting into shape as soon as I recovered from giving birth. Well, some things have mostly cleared up--the fatigue, the surgery aftermath, the rollercoaster of postpartum emotions--but I do have one problem still lingering, one that should have cleared up quickly but I fear has become chronic. If it doesn't clear up on its own, pretty much the only alternative is surgery. I'd like to avoid another surgery if possible, so I keep hanging on, trying to follow a home-remedy regimen in the hope that it clears up. I've recently decided if it doesn't clear up by my next doctor's appointment in mid-July, I'll ask her about taking the next step.

But anyway, it's a distracting and demoralizing (though minor) condition that's held me back from exercising, or really trying to look nice in any other way.

Another thing that's stagnating me is breastfeeding. Well, I'm mostly on pumping now because AA hates small, frequent meals and strongly prefers a big bottle meal, but she's still exclusively fed on breastmilk. The good side is that it's helping me lose some of my pregnancy weight without dieting or exercising, and she is thriving and clearly loves the stuff. But the bad part is I'm finding it hard to regard my body as my own again yet. It still feels like a vessel for the care of my baby. I also think it may be sapping my energy a bit, though I'm not sure if my general langorousness (sp?) is due to producing so much milk or to being quite out of shape.

Ever since the birth, I feel like my face and body have aged quite a bit. When I look at pictures from just a year or two ago and then now, I look much older. I'm also heavier than I've ever been (although that seems to be improving) and parts of my body are altered seemingly permanently.

Then I think about how sometimes when you feel bad about yourself, you can actually become MORE self-centered because you spend so much time feeling down about your own situation that you don't have as much time to empathize with others. When you feel like your own situation needs fixing, you're less apt to try and help fix other situations. (I'm not claiming these are absolute truths, just one way that people can be.)

That makes me begin to think that it would not be an unworthy pursuit to get into fashion a little, and try and get myself excited about improving my own appearance. Because there might be a domino effect of feeling more confident and "fixed," which would give me the boost to A) get into shape and get past the minor physical complaints I have since the birth, thus having more energy to B) pursue other things, such as less ephemeral creative hobbies and also philanthropic activities.

I tend to have a nice bit of spending money left over each week, unless we go out to eat more than once or something else expensive comes up. Not enough to start frequenting Macy's or Sak's, but maybe to check out their bargain racks once in a while. Also, while garage-sale and thrift-store shopping for fashionable garments is more time-consuming and hit-or-miss, it certainly is possible. So maybe I can do this and not completely drain my supply of spending money.

Dunno. Still thinking about it. But I'm definitely feeling restless now that my fatigue is lessening. I have that slight bit of creative energy that I get once in a while, and since it doesn't come often I generally try and harness it and do something while it lasts. And if I discover something I'm truly passionate about, as I did with budgeting and debt repayment, then it will last beyond the initial temporary flare-up of ambition.

All four mortgage payments hit their accounts today:

US: $381 to principal
UK1: $256
UK2: $54
UK3: $57

All told, $748 down, $252 to go on the June goal. Now, no more payments until the 14th. Bo-ring!

I'm very pleased with our May debt repayment of $1125, especially since the goal was $900.

I'm setting my June goal at $1000. I won't be able to confirm the last few June payments since I'll be on vacation, so to make sure I get to that amount before I leave, I'll make an extra payment to the credit card. Even though we're concentrating our extra money on getting the house fixed up and a few other luxuries, I can set aside $150 for the credit card and it won't get in the way.

We've been having fun with the budget surplus, planning to get some better-functioning furniture, including organizational tools for the closet. IKEA has some really great storage solutions. It might take some wrangling to get everything we want within the amount of money I've earmarked, but I think we can do it with a little creativity.

Our cloth diaper service ends today. We decided to go it on our own after the trial period. We have more energy and confidence now, so hopefully we can handle cleaning them ourselves.

The service loaned us liners and covers, and they're picking everything up today, so now we have to get our own. Luckily one of NT's co-workers gave us several covers that should suffice. Good cloth diapers are about $2 apiece minimum, and we use about 10-12 per day, so we need 30-40 to have several days' supply. So we were looking at $60-$80. AS suggested that she could make us some, so we went and bought some towels and flannel sheets at thrift stores. She also had some flannel fabric that her mom had given her. She was able to make about 35 diapers this weekend! I'm nervous about taking care of diapers ourselves, but we have a sprayer attachment on the toilet now, so hopefully it won't be too gross. I'm proud of AS for not only saving us money but using reclaimed materials instead of new. Now wish me luck getting through the first day of diaper cleaning on my own!

AS's third student loan payment did go through before the end of the month, with $59 going to principal. My CC payment hit, and $115 went to principal. That means we've paid $1125 this month. I'm happy we went past the $1K mark!

I paid a little extra to make sure my credit card debt went below $5000, since we're so close. Actually, I paid just enough to bring the balance to $4999.99. LOL. What I realize now is that I should have paid another 99 cents, because I round off my debt numbers, so this is going to show up as $5000. Ah well, at least I (and now you) know it's under $5K.

A student loan payment for AS hit, with $119 going to principal. That means we've paid $951 of debt this month, surpassing my $900 goal.

I got notice of the CC bill today, so I set up a payment for tomorrow that should hit Monday. There's also another AS student loan payment that should go through by Monday. That means we'll probably pay off more than $1,000 this month. Yay! This would be the first month since we started this that we paid less than a thousand to principal, so that will make me very happy if one or both of those payments hit.

Our student loan debt dipped back below $75K again, and it won't go above that number again if I have anything to do with it. The reason it slipped above $75K a couple times is because we accidentally borrowed too much for NT's college tuition, and decided to use the surplus to pay down "bad debt" first, so NT's student loans went higher as a result.

An interesting tidbit that I don't mention very often: Only about $46,000 of the $75,000 education debt listed in my sidebar is actual student-loan debt. The rest is "estimated future debt"; what I predict the rest of NT's education will cost. So maybe some of it, by the time he needs more tuition money, I'll be able to cashflow and not take out student loans, or pay off the student loans soon after we borrow them.

At the time that I started my debt paydown journey, we had over $70K of "bad debt" and we'd already committed to NT getting his bachelor's degree, so I thought we'd definitely be taking out loans for school while we concentrated on paying off the consumer debt. Now that the consumer debt will be gone by the end of the year, the future's a lot brighter. But I still leave the "estimated future debt" on my spreadsheet so if we do have to take out loans, I won't have the depressing feeling of seeing our debt increase again.

It's a heat wave in Minnesota! After weeks of cold dreary weather, suddenly days of 90s temperatures. AA hasn't worn clothes for over 24 hours:



The past few days have been filled with productivity, because all three of us adults got the decluttering bug simultaneously.

I think it was triggered by having two couches in our living area for several weeks. We bought a new one but could not give the old one away, even though we advertised on Freecycle, Craigslist and Freemarket. The condo would haul it away to the dump for $80. That hurt both financially and environmentally. Finally we decided to offer $30 on Craigslist to help someone with the moving costs, because A) People kept backing out of picking it up, and we figured transportation was an issue, and B) If someone just took the couch to get the money, at least it would be a cheaper haul-away fee than $80. As luck would have it, some guy picked it up for his boss, because he had a moving van for his own move and she needed a couch. So I felt good that it was actually getting a home and we weren't just paying to send it to a landfill. He said she'd given him some money to move it, so together with our money he did all right that day!


So once that was gone, the sudden clearing up of space inspired us to take on three closets and several clutter hotspots, including the area under the coffee table and a built-in shelf in the living room. Now we're thinking we'll try and sell our entertainment center, which is awesome but too imposing for our small space, and also not babyproof for when AA starts crawling. Hopefully we can make enough to buy a sleeker unit with doors at Ikea. Or we can mount the TV on the wall and buy cabinets to store our DVDs. Either way would open up the space more.

AS and I spared no expense when we furnished this condo, using a HELOC to buy furniture we couldn't afford, including this $1000 entertainment center:

One day I was adding up the cost of everything we'd bought on the HELOC: dining-room table and 10 chairs, armchair, couch, padded sleigh bench, padded butterfly chair, entertainment center, king-size mattress, iMac desktop computer and two iPods ... we kinda went nuts. NT was a little shocked, but then he estimated what he'd spent on LPs, CDs and DVDs, and realized that he'd probably spent as much just on that habit! We're a household of reformed spenders. (Well, partly reformed anyway, LOL.)

So back to decluttering. We got rid of tons of empty boxes, worn-out clothes and bedding, an old computer shell; things that had just been sucking up space in our closets. I went through a couple stacks of paperwork and dumped a bunch. We tore out what we wanted from some magazines and put them on the free table. We got rid of a canning pot that was huge and hadn't been used in years. We reorganized things so that you can actually see everything that's in the closets.

We decided another couple of purposes for our surplus money: new luggage and some closet organization. AS is going to plan how to redo our closets so there isn't so much awkward or unusable space. And while we were cleaning we decided our battered, 12+-year-old luggage would have to go. There are some great sales at Sears, and you can buy online and then go pick up, so we'll probably do that soon.

We'll probably use up the entire surplus on the household purchases we've planned so far. That's OK, because we've learned of some other money coming in: two more freelance projects for AS, a medical refund for me, a bonus (one week's pay) for NT. So our surplus will probably be bigger, and I may still be able to accomplish some of my financial goals, such as speaking with financial planners, before the end of the year.

Wow, I can't believe I was able to finish this entry! AA has been super-clingy today, but she's finally taking a nap. I'd better go, though, and see if I can get one or two other things accomplished before she wakes up...

NT refilled his cell phone, so that's another $32.82 of prepaid costs. Since the second year began in late March, here's what we've paid:

CJ 1000 minutes late-March T-Mobile fillup: $107.78
NT 300 minutes late-March Net10 fillup: $32.82
NT 300 minutes late-May Net10 fillup: $32.82
Total cost for the year: $173.42

This is the end of the second month, so our average monthly cost for this year is $86.71. I expect that average to drop over the next few months.

RECAP: I switched to prepaid in late March 2009. We have 2 phones on T-Mobile prepaid and 1 on Net10 prepaid. AS and I refill in 1000-minute increments and only need to refill when we run out or when it's been a year since our last fillup to stay active. NT needs to buy 300 more minutes every 60 days to keep his phone activated.

Our cellphone bill, for three phones on a family plan, used to range from $80-$95, depending on texts, calls to 411, etc. Usually it was close to $85. My goal for this year is to get my average cost to $50 per month, but any average number below $85 will be a savings.

NT refilled his cell phone, so that's another $32.82 of prepaid costs. Since the second year began in late March, here's what we've paid:

CJ 1000 minutes late-March T-Mobile fillup: $107.78
NT 300 minutes late-March Net10 fillup: $32.82
NT 300 minutes late-May Net10 fillup: $32.82
Total cost for the year: $173.42

This is the end of the second month, so our average monthly cost for this year is $86.71. I expect that average to drop over the next few months.

RECAP: I switched to prepaid in late March 2009. We have 2 phones on T-Mobile prepaid and 1 on Net10 prepaid. AS and I refill in 1000-minute increments and only need to refill when we run out or when it's been a year since our last fillup to stay active. NT needs to buy 300 more minutes every 60 days to keep his phone activated.

Our cellphone bill, for three phones on a family plan, used to range from $80-$95, depending on texts, calls to 411, etc. Usually it was close to $85. My goal for this year is to get my average cost to $50 per month, but any average number below $85 will be a savings.

I get very confused looking at NT's UK retirement statements. It seems like there are a dozen different company names involved, but supposedly there are only two pensions.

So I believe I got an updated value for the smaller of the two pensions. Supposedly it's at 12,663 British pounds, which is quite a bit higher than the value for it I have in my net worth records.

Just a note to myself so I can update that amount the next time I calculate net worth! Now I can put all these confusing statements away in the file and not look at them anymore, because I'm getting a headache.

I just posted an entry linking to an article calculating

presidents' individual net worth. It reminded me that it's about time for a net worth update!

Assets:
NT's UK pensions: 7,250 pounds ($14,500)
14,721 pounds ($29,442)
NT's 401(k): $8,119
AS's 403(b): $3,237
AS's IRA: $1,682
AS's 401(k): $353
CJ's 401(k): $31,745
NT's flat: 130,000 pounds ($260,000)
CJ & AS's condo: $160,000
Baby/emergency fund (shared asset): $8,355
---
Total Assets: $517,433

Total Debt: $366,399

Current Estimated Net Worth: $151,034

April 2010 estimate: $152,639

Change in net worth: -$1,605

Summary: We suffered a dip in net worth for the first time in ages. NT's and my 401(k) accounts lost about $4K total, and small gains for AS and the baby/EF, as well as a modest decrease in our debt, weren't enough to offset that. I wasn't aware there was market volatility this month, beyond that one crazy day on Wall Street.

I will update my "Individual Net Worth" page shortly so you can see how it breaks out.

Notes on the numbers above: House value estimates are fairly conservative. I don't have a way to check NT's UK pensions or flat value, so their values stay static for the purpose of this update (unless I happen to get some info by chance). UK asset values and debt amounts are calculated figuring $2 for every British pound, which was the exchange rate when I started keeping track. I maintain that ratio for the purpose of tracking progress, even though the exchange rate is now closer to $1.60 per British pound.

Here's an interesting article of trivia: the peak of net worth, adjusted for inflation, for all the U.S. presidents. Can you believe some of the most brilliant men never made it to $1 million of net worth (in 2010 dollars) in their lifetimes?

I definitely plan for my family to reach that, and that's on the modest end of my goals. Of course by the time we attain it, it won't be worth as much as today due to inflation, so I want to go above and beyond that!

Speaking of, it's about time for my own net worth update. I'll have to see if I can get to that today.

A student loan payment hit, with $84 going to principal. $832 down, $68 to go on the May goal.

I haven't written in a while. Nothing financial is really going on. We're using the Chase Visa to earn reward money, so that's made just regular budgeting more of a challenge. Before, everything came out of the checking account, and since my ledger spreadsheet begins with the checking account balance, it was always easy to see that everything was balanced. Now I have to keep receipts, because the credit card account doesn't post things immediately and I don't want to get confused. Then I have to set up payments to the credit card for every few days. I'm willing to do it for a while longer and see if I get better at it as it becomes more routine. But it is a lot more complicated, and using a credit card makes me nervous because they are so devious, though hopefully the new regulations has cut out a lot of the ways they used to cheat people.

The Virginia trip to visit my and AS's parents is getting more exciting by the day; we found out that most if not all of my siblings and nieces and nephews are going to try and visit at the same time (including my brother, whom I hardly ever see), so AA can meet a ton of cousins and aunts and uncles. Also, we've booked a night at a quirky luxury hotel in DC for the last night of the trip, to treat ourselves and decompress from all the family.

AA had her 2-month pediatric appointment today and did great. She's almost 10 lbs.! That was pretty exciting, because with nursing you can't fully track how much she's eating, and she's kinda thin (belly and chipmunk cheeks notwithstanding) so I couldn't tell if she was gaining weight well or not. But the doctor said it's fine; she's just a somewhat tall (LOL) skinny baby, but she's gained a good amount since her last visit. She was mellow and alert throughout except a bit of bawling during the vaccines.

Grr, lost an entry I've been working on for hours!! I reminded myself to copy/paste it but got distracted trying to upload some pictures, and didn't do it.

Oh well, it wasn't anything important, just babbling a bit. It only took me so long because AA ended up needing a few hours of attention halfway through.

So I'm not even going to recap--I'll post about the stuff later if it's still on my mind. But while I'm here, might as well post some pics.

AA has started smiling but it's so hard to capture the full-on grin on camera! But I've caught some halfway coming or going. This is AS's favorite smiley pic:



For some reason I'm enamored of this one, I think because it kinda looks like she's making a funny face on purpose:

Since I pasted my list of baby expenses, I thought I'd try to note everything we were given by friends, relatives and co-workers. If it was bought new for us as a gift, I noted that. Otherwise, everything was hand-me-down (therefore no additional cost for our friend) or bought used (so a bit cheaper than new).

Book: What to Expect the First Year (actually 2 copies; one used and one NEW)
Crib
Sheets for crib
Stroller
Stroller base that can hold car seat
Dresser
Baby-carrier backpack
Baby Bjorn
Baby slings (2 or 3; also AS handmade one from gifted fabric)
Bouncy seat
Baby monitor
Bathing seat
Towels & washcloth (NEW)
Heat-sensing rubber ducky (NEW)
Comb, brush & mirror set (NEW)
Breastfeeding pillow
Breastfeeding cover-up
Manual breast pump
Pads for wearing in bra (unused but left over from someone's supply, so not bought new for us)
Diaper bag (free from doctor's office, included sample can of formula and bottle cooler bag and ice packs)
Sample pack of formula (free offer when bought maternity clothes
Swing
Baby gate
Mobile
High chairs (1 regular, 1 travel)
Bibs (mostly secondhand, one NEW)
Spoons (some used, some NEW)
Changing pad
A few cloth-diaper prefolds & covers
Diaper Genie (actually two, one used and one NEW)
Container & enzyme solution for cloth diapers
Moses-basket bassinet (NEW)
Pacifiers (NEW)
Bottle (NEW)
Burp cloths (10-15; a few secondhand, most handmade, two NEW)
Blankets (10 or 15 of various types; one handmade, mostly secondhand, one NEW)
Toddler-size rocking chair
Baby clothes (all sizes; onesies, pants, shirts, shoes, hats, sleepers, skirts, socks; 100+ items, mostly used, a couple handmade, maybe 5-10 bought NEW)
Snow suit
Toys: stuffed animals, blocks, a train set, rattles, and more; maybe 75 items, mostly used, about 10-20 NEW)
Books: 50+ of my own from childhood; many secondhand, several NEW)
Music (many old 45s from my childhood, plus several CDs of international lullabies)
Activity rug

That's all I can think of! As you can see, we saved hundreds and maybe even thousands of dollars by putting out the word that we wanted hand-me-downs--and we saved our friends some expense by letting them know we actually preferred secondhand gifts for our baby shower.

Lost my bloody entry again! I've been lucky for the past few weeks, so I've gotten out of the habit of saving the copy elsewhere before hitting "publish." Even though I've had fewer problems posting, I find that I have to log in nearly every time I come to the site. I appreciate the aesthetics of the new site but I miss the functionality of the old one.

Mortgage payments to principal:
US: $379
UK1: $258
UK2: $54
UK3: $57

Total progress: $748 down, $152 to go. That's all the progress we'll make until around the 15th.

I'm still tracking all expenses and savings related to the baby, so it's pasted below for anyone interested. It isn't representative of everything you need to get for a baby because we got the bulk of our supplies for free, secondhand from friends, family and co-workers (and those things weren't tracked since they were budget-neutral; I'm only tracking how it has affected us, both cost and savings-wise, to have a baby versus not having a baby). Also, out-of-pocket health expenses vary person-to-person depending on extent of health insurance coverage and also how the pregnancy/labor/delivery/first few months of infant health go. But as a snapshot of one family's spending, it might be interesting to some.

I haven't indicated wants vs. needs since those labels could be up for debate anyway. This is simply what we've spent so far.

Date; Type of expense/savings; Amount
1/9/2009 Prenatal vitamins (16.10)
4/1/2009 No birth control $20.00
4/15/2009 Prenatal vitamins (24.69)
5/1/2009 No birth control $20.00
6/1/2009 No birth control $20.00
7/1/2009 No birth control $20.00
7/6/2009 Pregnancy test (6.99)
7/21/2009 Large pair of trousers (19.99)
7/30/2009 Dr. visit co-pay (10.00)
8/1/2009 No birth control $20.00
8/10/2009 Iron supplements (5.99)
8/11/2009 Iron supplements (5.49)
8/27/2009 Rx for prevention of UTIs (10.00)
9/1/2009 No birth control $20.00
9/6/2009 Prenatal classes (155.00)
9/10/2009 OB contract pmt (127.04)
9/16/2009 Belly band (16.99)
9/29/2009 1st visit tests + rest of OB contract (1012.62 total; 1st pmt) (377.43)
10/1/2009 No birth control $20.00
10/4/2009 Maternity clothes (177.91)
10/12/2009 Iron supplements (5.92)
11/1/2009 No birth control $20.00
11/2/2009 2nd pmt for tests, dr. visits & OB contract (268.78)
11/4/2009 Fleece zipup to supplement borrowed maternity coat (14.99)
11/10/2009 Iron supplements (5.92)
11/30/2009 2 new bras (one nursing, one larger strapless) (24.93)
12/1/2009 No birth control $20.00
12/7/2009 Maternity leggings (to use as long johns) (24.99)
12/15/2009 3rd pmt dr. visits & OB contract (254.70)
12/26/2009 Maternity clothes (including replacement fleece $11) [used gift cards] (70.00)
1/1/2010 No birth control (just $20 every 3 months now, w/ new health care) $20.00
1/6/2010 Prenatal vitamins & iron supplements (26.38)
1/7/2010 Exercise ball (for relief of back pain & labor pains) (23.64)
1/8/2010 4th pmt dr. visits & OB contract (178.96)
1/14/2010 Rx for prevention of UTIs (10.00)
1/26/2010 5th pmt dr. visits (16.59)
2/9/2010 Prepayment of 1st 4 weeks of daycare (440.00)
2/20/2010 Crib mattress ($200 pd w/ gift cert; $30 discount for water discoloration) (271.77)
2/20/2010 Gift certificate from baby shower $200.00
2/21/2010 Sprayer for cleaning cloth diapers ($15 pd w/ gift money) (45.00)
2/21/2010 Gift money from baby shower $25.00
2/21/2010 6 boxes of disposable diapers (different sizes) (incl. $10 coupon from dr. office) (52.94)
2/21/2010 2 wet bags (for holding cloth diapers while out) (13.50)
2/21/2010 Gift cards as baby gift from NT's mom $150.00
2/21/2010 Baby soap/shampoo (9.64)
2/21/2010 Bath cradle (6.64)
2/21/2010 Baby clothes hangers (2.19)
2/21/2010 Outlet covers (3.64)
2/21/2010 Baby nail clippers (2.13)
2/21/2010 Convertible carseat (56.85)
2/21/2010 Baby sunscreen (4.72)
2/21/2010 Cotton pads (for baby cleaning, etc.) (2.19)
2/21/2010 Baby liquid pain reliever (1.99)
2/21/2010 Iron supplements (5.89)
2/21/2010 Thermometer (8.54)
2/21/2010 Thermometer (3.14)
2/21/2010 Baby anti-itch cream (3.74)
2/21/2010 Baby neosporin (3.89)
3/5-3/8 Convenience food (estimated) (75.00)
3/5/2010 Breast pump, bottles, two sleepers (swaddling blankets) (333.00)
3/8/2010 Hospital parking ramp (10.00)
3/8/2010 Percocet & stool softener (14.79)
3/10/2010 Cabs to & from pediatric clinic (22.00)
3/11/2010 Baby lotion, caffeine tablets, ibuprofen, liquid vitamin D, breast gel packs, maxi pads (40.71)
3/12/2010 Sleepers (7.94)
3/12/2010 Nipple ointment, GasX (61.63)
3/13/2010 Nursing bra, ibuprofen (estimated) (25.00)
3/14/2010 Diaper service (299.00)
3/15/2010 Gift certificate for diaper service $100.00
3/5-3/15 Lost wages (disability) (518.87)
3/16/2010 Vicodin (10.00)
3/23/2010 Baby wipes (3.22)
3/23/2010 Baby wipes, baby powder & breastmilk storage bags (24.68)
3/24/2010 Car seat with lift-out carrier (127.39)
3/24/2010 Target gift cards given as baby gifts $100.00
3/29/2010 Hospital bill (1,149.73)
3/30/2010 Baby wipes (2.12)
3/31/2010 Lost wages (disability) (815.33)
4/9/2010 Baby wipes (5.00)
4/9/2010 Ibuprofen & witch-hazel pads (10.33)
4/15/2010 Lost wages (disability) (412.85)
4/15/2010 Baby healthcare premium (59.50)
4/22/2010 Hospital bill (251.24)
4/23/2010 Bottle steamer bags (4.79)
4/25/2010 Hemorrhoidal suppositories (5.49)
4/27/2010 Fiber tablets (13.37)
4/27/2010 Anesthesiology bill (183.20)
4/29/2010 Baby wipes (estimated) (10.00)
4/30/2010 Baby healthcare premium (59.50)
5/2/2010 Storage unit, ceiling lamp and night light for nursery (84.72)
5/3/2010 Hemorrhoidal suppositories (7.99)

TOTAL (COST)/SAVINGS (6,691.21)