Monthly Update: February 2007(-$81,960.27, +$2,727.90)
As we enter the end of the first quarter, the market looks like it has regained some volatility.
I decided to wait a day or two to check all my accounts after that short ride the market took on 2.27.07. I know many others had more at stake but one of the benefits of not having a large portfolio is that the changes are not too drastic. Any large changes in our net worth will be from our ability to increase our savings and minimize our expenses. With a flat market for the month we would have been right around +$3,000 which is a realistic monthly goal for us.
Here are the numbers at the end of February/start of March.
Some Guidance to these numbers:
- Our budget plan is working well. We are just keeping the index cards on the kitchen table and write down all the expenses for the day when we get home. We don’t limit ourselves to X dollar’s a week or X dollars a month. The index cards are just to provide a more immediate feedback on how much we are spending each week. I still use Quicken to follow our expenses monthly and yearly.
- All of our savings go into our Emigrant Direct savings account. We still do not have an adequate safety cushion to use as an emergency fund. Establishing an emergency fund is our current priority at this time. We hope that any unexpected large expenses(car repairs, etc..) can be paid out of this fund and not drive us further in debt.
- As I posted here, I have decided to dollar-cost-average my way into my Roth for 2007 and not to contribute for 2006
- Our debt load remains stable with two student loans in repayment and a credit card balance at 0% due in November. Eventually I need to take a better look at the cost differences of paying these loans off early vs making the minimum payments and investing the difference. We are not close to that point yet and will address it in the future.
