As I've stated earlier, 2005 was a pretty good year financially. As of December 31, 2005 my net worth was $185K--not bad considering I pretty much started at zero two years ago, and I went through a rough patch in mid-2004 where I was unemployed for about four months. (I was really glad that I had an emergency fund--because I sure needed it; however, I also depleted the $12K fund, and I'm slowly getting it up to the six-months living expenses figure. Only this time I won't need as much on a monthly basis because almost all my consumer debt is paid off. Only $2500 is left on the car...Yippee!
About 100K of my net worth comes from the appreciation on my condo, but I've been steadily adding other monies to the stash via savings and retirement accounts. I don't expect the condo to appreciate near the amount it has in the past, but I live in an area that's enjoying new commercial activity, so I'm expecting some appreciation. A new 40K square foot Whole Foods Market is opening up about four blocks from me, so this area could be more appealing to an up and coming single person looking for their first home purchase--not that I'm looking to sell my condo anytime soon. I've only shopped at Whole Foods once or twice (A cherry pie and frozen vanilla yogurt cost $13.78!) because it is way too expensive for my tastes, but the two times I went to one of the other local ones, the place was packed with earnest urban types. The next time I have a craving for cherry pie, I'll bake my own.
My goal for 2006 is to increase my net worth to over 200K. To reach that figure, I'll have to save a bit more than I did this past year. This means I'll have to look at my expenses again and see where I can whittle down unecessary items. I would love to be able to save 50% of my take-home income. Right now, it's about 30%. But, I'll be able to add $500 because the car will be paid off soon.
One area where I might be able to cut costs is with my household budget. Currently I alot $150 per week for food, gas, pet care, miscellaneous household items, the rare lunch out at work, entertainment, clothes etc. So I'll take a very close look this month and see what I can do. One area I can't cut out is the $500 dollars per month that I send my mother. Aside from the money I send her, her only source of retirement income is Social Security, and it's only $778 per month. I can't imagine living on that small amount, but at least the $500 I send her helps.
About 100K of my net worth comes from the appreciation on my condo, but I've been steadily adding other monies to the stash via savings and retirement accounts. I don't expect the condo to appreciate near the amount it has in the past, but I live in an area that's enjoying new commercial activity, so I'm expecting some appreciation. A new 40K square foot Whole Foods Market is opening up about four blocks from me, so this area could be more appealing to an up and coming single person looking for their first home purchase--not that I'm looking to sell my condo anytime soon. I've only shopped at Whole Foods once or twice (A cherry pie and frozen vanilla yogurt cost $13.78!) because it is way too expensive for my tastes, but the two times I went to one of the other local ones, the place was packed with earnest urban types. The next time I have a craving for cherry pie, I'll bake my own.
My goal for 2006 is to increase my net worth to over 200K. To reach that figure, I'll have to save a bit more than I did this past year. This means I'll have to look at my expenses again and see where I can whittle down unecessary items. I would love to be able to save 50% of my take-home income. Right now, it's about 30%. But, I'll be able to add $500 because the car will be paid off soon.
One area where I might be able to cut costs is with my household budget. Currently I alot $150 per week for food, gas, pet care, miscellaneous household items, the rare lunch out at work, entertainment, clothes etc. So I'll take a very close look this month and see what I can do. One area I can't cut out is the $500 dollars per month that I send my mother. Aside from the money I send her, her only source of retirement income is Social Security, and it's only $778 per month. I can't imagine living on that small amount, but at least the $500 I send her helps.
posted by Tightwad Tim at 6:23 AM
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