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Home > Financial Snapshot, January 2015

Financial Snapshot, January 2015

January 3rd, 2015 at 02:50 am

Current net worth:
Retirement accounts 506,047.55
Brokerage 58,701.49
Cash 72,449.17
House 200,000
Total 837,198.21

I just discovered that I tallied my net worth on this blog in early January 2014. This is exciting because I am terrible at tracking my money and now I can see the difference between then and now - yay! I wish I could display my 2014 spending like others are doing, but I didn't keep track and it would take a long time to go back over credit cards statements, bank accounts, etc. Maybe 2015 is the year I tackle expense tracking.

The 2015 net worth total isn't quite accurate because I have some credit card charges and a bathroom contractor invoice that I will pay soon. I also still owe some money on my auto loan. But, it's more fun to look at the larger numbers. Smile I always hesitate to put my house value in my net worth because it's such a non-liquid asset.

One goal for 2015 is to set aside some of the cash for an emergency fund, put some towards house projects, and start investing some, probably in index funds. It's just kind of sitting there now.

Some financial tidbits:

I started on my 2014 healthcare account paperwork today - it's so very tedious. I will continue working on it, submit it and deposit the $1400 in my kitchen account for now, although I may reallocate it later.

I had many late credit card payments this year because I would just forget to pay the ones that weren't automatic. So, today I set up auto pay online for my Chase card.

I called Banana Republic to pay a $25 balance that was a late charge that a customer service rep wouldn't remove last month (because it wasn't my first one on that card - doh) and this time I got a rep who did remove it, plus a 1.26 finance charge. Sweet!

A few more year-end snowflakes that I have added to my kitchen account: 17.83 (Dec interest from my checking account) plus 33.80 (mileage reimbursement from a Dec offsite meeting). I also added a very generous Christmas check from my mom.

I'm so frustrated with my local credit union VISA rewards program. I had just about reached the number of points needed for a $200 statement credit, so I charged an item in November to make up the difference. Then I noticed on my statement that my reward point total actually went down with no explanation. I finally had a chance to call customer service on Wednesday and found out that the points expire after 36 months. That is not explained on the statement as the reason why the total went down. I'm so annoyed because I can't tell when the next glob of points is going to expire! So I called the credit card coordinator at my bank today and she's supposedly "looking into it" for me. It sounds like they won't refund the points. I can redeem points for a $100 credit right now, but that costs 10,495, whereas the $200 statement credit is 20,495, so not only am I losing points to expiration, I'm also spending more on a reward. Compare this to Chase, which gave me the $200 bonus when I complained that the bonus was only $100 when I signed up for my card, and Banana Republic, which just today reissued a $20 reward coupon that expired on December 31. On a lark, I called BR on Wednesday to see if there were any options for an expiring reward coupon that I wasn't going to be able to use in time. The guy said to call back after the 31st and ask for it to be reissued. OK, I can get on board with that! I know that these are huge companies compared to my lil' credit union, but I am quite aggravated.

I was hoping to reach 2500 swagbucks today, but the offers have been virtually non-existent. I have managed to rack up 200 points so far, but I'm still 25 short. If the options remain slim, then I will need to abandon swagbucks.

Weight this morning was 143. I took a 75 minute walk/run outside in the very blustery cold, followed by about 20 minutes of yoga stretching. I am taking full advantage of my free time to exercise because once I return to work on Monday my motivation will fly out the window. I was exercising regularly this fall, so I have a good base already established and am bouncing back pretty quickly from the holiday season. I did cross country ski three times, went to the gym once and walked a few times during mid-December, so I wasn't completely sedentary. I hope to walk tomorrow morning before the weather is supposed to turn nasty and then probably take a rest day on Sunday. Then I'd like to go to the gym at work on Monday, but we'll see!

Whew, perhaps a 2015 goal should be to master the art of writing shorter blog posts...

2 Responses to “Financial Snapshot, January 2015”

  1. chloe Says:
    1420256271

    Sounds like you accompished a lot today! I hate making phone calls like the ones you've described; good for you for getting them done!

  2. Homebody Says:
    1420266361

    I wish there was a thumbs up or like option here.

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