Networth Slapping

I knew it was bad. I wanted to hide from it. Which means I better jump in and see whats going on. Otherwise I would just let it fester inside.

When your assets decrease by $4586 it ain't pretty. I would like to blame the stock market but if you look at NetworthIQ you see it isn't the only blame. Sadly, it is only to blame for about 1/2.

Cash went down, as I paid for the annual bills. Just love Property Taxes! In order to remain positive I must pat myself on the back for not needing to loan these payments. This was no small feat, considering I paid $8,603.28 in property taxes. Plus another 6 months of car insurance.

So Yippee for me NO FINANCING OR INTEREST CHARGES!!!!

On the Liabilities side there was an increase in our credit card debt. And this time, the majority is not business related. We were just spending like the rich folks.

Or should I say HELPING OUR COUNTRY???

Anyway you look at it, we were stimulating ourselves and the economic side of our country.

• Bought a smaller digital camera this month. DH wanted one we could carry in our pocket for our anniversary and other occassions where we are out and about and the big Nikon is inappropriate.
• Hotel for our anniversary
• Gas for traveling
• Wine & Vodka purchases
• Dining out
• Son's 1st college payment
• DH's new bike & accessories
• Entrance fees for 5k
• Bike Trail Books (these cost a pretty penny -go figure)

Not to mention our regular spending. I should be thankful we increased our cc debt by less then $200.

Making payments on college for the 2008-2009 school year for the DD2 & DS1 has finally begun to shrink my special college expense accrual account. This is in Other Liabilities, so it should countinue to decrease from here on out. Since DD1 created the standard and is all graduated now.

The mortgages decreased by our regular monthly payments, plus an additional $70.22. This is $57 saved on the new payment for the commercial property - I paid on our 2nd mortgage. Along with some extra to keep the balance an even 100 balance. Meaning, balance will never have anything but Zero's in the tens, ones, and cents positions.

A pig is still a pig no matter how much you dress him up. So, I don't expect our situation to improve until after September. Especially with 2 vacations looming in the horizon and the 2nd half of the spending season waiting to strike. The 2nd half of property taxes is about $1000 more then the first. And I have registration fees for high school (2 youngest). Physicals for sports (2 youngest). Eye Doctor (3 kids). My annual doctor visit. Another trainer fee coming soon.

I don't call this the spending season for no reason.

How will the financials be effected?

A big question is how will our personal financials be effected when & if we close on the residential rental.

Well, first off there will be no change in property values, or mortgages held personally. This unit is out on its own and I have segregated it from our personal financials. In the beginning I tried to compile it into our net worth, it was just more trouble then it was worth for me.

Should we sell below our costs to pay off the loan and closing expenses, our net worth will drop. The drop will be a loan that will cover the expenses. Of course, after our meeting I am feeling very optimistic that this will not be the case. :-)

The other end of the spectrum would be a profitable sale. After clearing out the loan and closing costs having a balance would be sweet. My first step would be to transfer to our personal accounts the value of the money we have used to keep the property going.

So this would clear out a receivables account for us and give us cash to use. That cash would immediately transfer to our savings. More then covering the shortage for our annual bills and then accruing for the college costs and 0% credit cards that will end around year end.

There would be more profits, at the price listed. And these dollars would be where my mind would roam. I would like to leave it in the company to contemplate a few other investment ideas. Of course, paying interest else where, I probably would be unable to do this.

So I only see 2 options:

• fund savings to cover any remaining 0% balances coming due
• or, pay on 2nd mortgage

Either way, increasing our net worth in the end. Providing more security in the end. And enjoying a less stressful life.

Of course, either of these options or anywhere in-between would be a fabulous change for me.

Networth Increase $8018 (1.24%)

Amazed I am seeing an increase. Seems like the month was a big spending month. Maybe because I had to make a transfer from Savings to Checking to pay the first tax bill this week. Which of course, will not show until June.

Yep, I don't like this part of savings.

Uncle Sam's little rebate, helped this month with the cash. Let me thank MYSELF, the taxpayer for this one. Or would I be the debtor, since it was financed?

All our investments went up, except for that annuity which saw an $88 dip. :-(

Other Assets, should have declined as note payments are being received. The increases come from business charges on our credit cards that are in Accounts Receivable for refund from company.

Liabilities, nothing special. Regular mortgage payments, with a little extra to make balances round to zero cents and the hundred position. Credit cards, made regular paid in full payments on the monthly ones and regular payments on the Zero Percenters.

Other liabilities increased slightly due to son placing funds in the house that will come out for college. It is an old thing we do. Instead of having the kids save the bulk of their cash in FDIC accounts, we let them loan it to us and we gift them 6% on the money. It worked extremely well, when interest rates were up and we were paying on a line of credit. And they loved the interest rate.

Plus, it is not calculated in financial aid, since it doesn't sit anywhere visable. Home equity is not considered.

Everyone is looking to their financial past

I've been reading every ones posts on their financial placement 10 years ago. It is remarkable the distance everyone has gone. It shows just how hard these folks work to gain financial footing. I wish everyone struggling could look at these posts and see, it is work.

More importantly, these people are not lucky. They had to make a choice and decision to move forward. That is what made it happen.

10 years ago, I was in a debt hole. A large debt hole. I remember feeling like I owed everybody something. It was a stressful and emotional time.

My phone would ring everyday from creditors who decided my ex's debts were now mine.

Wow, I've come a long way.

At that point, everything I did was on paper. There were piles and piles of paper. Bills, payment schedules and plans to dig my way out of the hole. It was so discouraging.

In 2000, 8 years ago, I automated my finances. And it wasn't pretty. I had a net worth of -$55,361.

My house was worth nothing as an uncompleted project, although I was grateful to have a home. I had no assets, outside of my checking's tiny balance. It was a struggle to get toilet paper and I was in a world of shyt.

Seeing is believing and when I saw the numbers I knew I could move them the way I wanted too. I knew I would receive motivation and beat down discouragement by focusing on the task at hand.

So, by 2001, there was a shift. I was earning more money. I was upgrading and repairing my home. I also bought a vehicle, out of necessity, that came with a payment. And with my brains a little short on knowledge I jumped into investment property. What was I thinking??

By the end of 2001, I had a positive net worth of $84k. Most of which can be attributed to my home gaining value and a very minute part to the property purchased (with no money down). I also was free of past debts and had begun building my own credit again.

2002 showed tiny growth. I just basically maintained everything. Or I tried to. It was a struggle. I put more money into my home with no re-evaluation. I was dealing with issues and expenses of the investment property and money was extremely tight. I often questioned what I was doing. I saw a tiny movement in my net to $92K


2003 brought smoother sailing. Income was becoming more stable as I re-adjusted to a home office. Rents were more reliable and covering mortgages. My home and investments jumped in value, like I never dreamed. And I married. We worked extra hard to build wealth on a cash in and out situation. As we merged 2 debt households. Reaching the $128k mark in wealth.

2004 was a year of changes. I purchased another investment. This time to flip. I made a nice chunk of change. By year end, I had an offer to buy my home and had located a foreclosed property that would be our new home. 30 days after purchasing the foreclosed home, the mold was removed and the house complete redone, by my DH & I and we were moving in. At year end, I had 2 home mortgages and 2 homes and much confusion. We were growing our money with each move and saw a net of $176k by the last day of the year.

2005 cash began to flow. February marked the closing on my last home. I gained an asset of Paper and a steady cash flow stream. I still had 2 mortgages, but the Paper was covering almost all of the 2 payments, except for about $480 which was my last house's mortgage payment prior to this mess. So, I was reaping steady monthly growth with each payment. WE :

• Started small retirement accounts
• Saw our new homes value fly up in value from our renovations
• Realized the true value of my old home with the sale (almost doubling my valuation)
• Watched invest properties soar in value with the market conditions

Everything, we had put in play was coming to a head. We were realizing our hard work was paying off. We watched our worth fly up to $602k - it was amazing to see.

2006 was not so good. I made the poor decision, since my other real estate ventures were so profitable, to buy that burden of a residential rental. I'm still not where I want this property. It is not in our net worth. I hold it on the outside in a corporation. So, there was no effect, except on our cash flow.

At this time, I also created my special account to insure all kids get equal help for college. I should have started this a couple years earlier, the effect wouldn't have been so devastating financially. $567K was the end result.

Since then, we have not made huge steps. No more property purchases. With the huge college costs and making the decision to live a little, we have just been paying as we go. I'm not complaining. I'm happy we have sustained with minor growth $647K is nothing to frown upon.

At this point - I just want to:

• eliminate our floating debt
• pay for college bills as the come in
• continue paying properties down
• find that one tenant that I need at the residential to free up my cash flow

Finally, putting everything on auto pilot. Those steps alone, would place us on an aggressive annual net worth incline, without extra effort.

Fun - amazing how far you have come in a small amount of time.

April Networth

With the massive spending happening this past month, I did not expect to see even a penny of growth. Maybe this is because I am more used to paying interest then receiving it.

• I knew that we had bottomed out on my College Balancer account, after I made the final payment for our oldest child.
• I kept and keep on finding Quicken being a sneaky toad and double entering loan payments - I think I have rectified the accounts for now anyway.
• Clothes - man did we shop for clothes this month. I feel the heat from my charge cards as each purchase was made. I think it has been since Christmas that the cards had this much activity.
• Prom - should I even tally this anymore? Kids cost - no if's, and's or buts about it. All in the name of creating a memory for my children - something I do not have.

You can check out the changes in wealth at Networth IQ. What they amount to is:

• .74% increase in Net overall ($4776)
• .43% increase in Assets ($4691)
• .02% decrease in Liabilities (-$85)

There were no contributes to retirement this month. Instead I decided to secure our cash position first. With the rationalization that funding the annual bills and expenses first will ward off financing the balances. And I will have the last quarter, if not longer, to invest in the IRA's.

When The Fakes Are Removed

Today is the day I throw together an annual financial statement for our bank. With all our different businesses and properties - I guess you could say with all our different loans, they require us to validate our personal finances every year.

Considering that they hold most of our debt, in house, I would say that is a wise decision.

Doesn't bother me much, in fact I almost enjoy this task. It is like a forced look at the truth. There is no hiding from reality. You will either see security making and building or subsiding and depleting.

There are some adjustments from my Quicken File though. Mostly, I am eliminating from the numbers, my fake accounts. Accounts that show liability, for me - but are not real. I don't really owe anyone. In fact, the money doesn't ever have to be paid out. It is just what I would like to pay - to insure balance in our combined family.

When you only look at real assets and liabilities, it helps to relieve that burden one feels from being buried in debt. Although, I can't say it is the best thing. Sometimes I fear being too comfortable and missing the whole plan of helping the children, because we spent everything on stuff we don't know.

Thus, my fake accounts remain.

They will not be removed until we pay it out for college or in other helpful ways for the kids.

Kind of fun being reminded of why our banker loves doing business with us. We are doing fabulous - even after 2 divorces and 5 kids. I guess it is true, anything is possible.

I can't wait to see where we will be next year at this time. Currently our real net worth is $740k. Sweet! This doesn't include any business equity or properties. Only 100% personal holdings.

The goal will be to pay for college as it accrues to keep this baby rising. Otherwise, only my fake net worth - recorded on this blog will rise. Thank goodness we reached the bottom.

The best thing about being at the bottom...............

is having a planned and predicted path for the only option you have - going up.

We did bottom out this month, by paying for DD1's final college bill and accruing the debt equal to that by 4, for the remaining children. Although, technically this is a bogus debt - i.e. not something bankers care about, not really bringing my networth down, not being reported on my credit report - to me it is real and tangible.

After correcting way to many issues in Quicken, I have updated prior net worth recordings on Networth IQ. Although, to be honest with you - I DO NOT trust any numbers yet. Even though I have tied them to the statements. Quicken is just not the reliable friend, he used to be.

$642,715.52 is our current Net. This is down $4,244.61 from last month. So, as you may have guessed - I am not doing a happy dance. Yet, I am not sad either. This decrease is less then 1/2 of what I accrued for the remaining 4 children's college costs. Showing without my accrual account we would have moved that much upward - at least.

We did increase our savings by over $2k for the month. Which is keeping us on track to pay for our annual bills - without accruing any more debt. Of course, this is priority #1. We are currently $7032 shy of the amount due for these bills. Which should be covered by July, with continued budgeted deposits.

I might decrease the amount to this account - for April only, to instead max out my HSBC account where I am saving estimated taxes for this year. I am just shy $1763 for the last 3 payments (June, Sept & Jan) and having this off my plate, i.e. once less transfer, would be a relief. I would still be able to transfer about $300 towards annual bills.

While saving for those annuals, we are still making decent sized payments to the debt that has rolled forward with us from years past. Mostly, because of those zero percent credit cards. I would truly love to roll them into another offer, when they mature in November. But if there is not one available - they will go back to the line of credit where they started. Roughly $13k in November, less then 1/2 of our carry forward debt of $30k last year.

Hopefully, some interest will accrue on these savings dollars and help shrink that debt even farther - after the bills are covered and zero percents run out.

If only I could get a tenant - that speaks English, with a social security number, with a small enough family for 3 bedrooms, that pays their bills and has reasonably good credit. I could really rock this debt. Instead I am funding an empty property.

What is going on out there?

Every where I look I am seeing articles and hearing news of infidelity. Why?

MSN, Oprah, Helium Knowledge and now an email from Life Script.

Is there something going on out there I don't know about. Or are folks really that worried and concerned?

Honestly, I never even have instances where I think of infidelity. As much as I know I would never entertain this line of action, I also know to the depths of my soul that my DH would not. If I felt I had to worry about this, that could ruin our lives in all ways - mentally, emotionally, spiritually and financially, you can bet we wouldn't be married.

I know there are folks that succumb to these things. I'm guessing for a variety of reasons. No matter what they believe the reason to be, I think it is all stemming from a lack in the marriage. A lack of attention and love.

Maybe if folks stop expensing so much energy to initiate and hide an infidelity and instead place that energy in to productive marriage building this horrible abusive action could be eliminated.

Try -

• reading the book 5 Love Languages and cater to your own and your spouses language.
• Greet your spouse at the door - always. No matter how your day was - don't share until you kiss, hug and say I love you, I missed you and I am glad your home.
• do little things - like make them a drink, wash their car, wake up early and make the coffee. It doesn't have to be big to build that special connection.
• Make a code word or phrase - so when you are in an argument that is not nearing an end, because people disagree, using the code word can break it off until later. We are weird and didn't make this on purpose, but it worked - when one of us has had enough we will say "your stuck with me, so too bad - no divorce." The first time it was said we laughed and now it still brings back the same tension breaker.
• Who are we kidding S.e.x is a huge issue for most, I know. It isn't the act itself, but without it the loss of closeness that destroys a couple. If you are female, with an aversion, try to double the amount of times, even if you don't feel it. That will all change, once you get those loving feelings rolling. For men, fore-play is a joke, but by making it a daily constant thing - you will bring your wife closer to you. I know it is hard to believe, but hugs, kisses, and words of affirmation will get you more private relations. The object for both is making it regular and creating the MARRIAGE HABIT.

As far as I am concerned - your marriage, is the most important investment you have. Spend time nurturing it and reap the wealth's that derive from it. Besides freedom from infidelity worries you will:

• be happier
• as will your spouse
• you will feel love
• as will your spouse
• your kids will be happier and feel loved (these things are contagious)
• you will have wealth insurance - don't believe me, talk to anyone who has been through or witnessed a divorce.
• you will live longer - a zillion studies on this

My dream a world free of infidelity. I personally believe this is the cruelest of things to do to another person. Might as well, just leave, you should torture some one.

WARNING: Networth Declines Ahead!

It was expected and it was felt. What more can you really say? We were experiencing some extra expenses.

Funny, but this 2.78% decline in Net doesn't really bother me.

Why? I'm guessing because it was so darn satisfying to pay for these expenses without incurring debt. We have never been able to do this before. So, I am optimistic about the future.

I do suspect to see another decline in Networth next month. We have more large bills coming in that will require me to transfer funds from savings to pay them.

We will not being using credit to pay them - YEA!!!

The numbers are not as clean as I would like them, because I received 2 March income streams the last week of February. I'm not going to complain though - I love it when people pay early. This may save me a couple dollars in interest this month as I forward the dollars earlier on to mortgages.

The largest portion of the Net change is coming from changes due to tax filing. We were realizing losses. Both a good thing and a bad thing.

January Networth 2008

A nice 1.87% increase in our net in January. That is great, especially when considering how much our investments have declined in value lately. Rough times. But also great times to buy.

I've update our NETWORTH IQ if you want to take a look.

In the brief:

Assets up: $12,890 or 1.17%
Debts up: $663 or .15%

Total End Result: $12,227 up or 1.87%

Glad to see assets grew at a fast pace. :-)

I do not expect to see this kind of an increase in February, in fact I will be happy to see a penny up when all is said and done. All I can say is college bills and covering the residential rental vacancy.

It's going to be an expensive February.

On the flip side - I have money in savings and no money out on the line of credit. SWEET! When the bills come, I will transfer the cash out of savings and pay the bills - no interest yet this year on the line - sweet!

2007 Final Net Worth

It seems like only yesterday, when I dreamed of the $700k level of net worth for 2007. I say dreamed, because we fell $47k short. Ouch! The funny thing is, I expected us to hit $678k, just by paying minimums and not incurring any additional debt.

It isn't as bad as it seems. Because in the middle of the year, I stopped including our personally held business balance sheets in our net worth. This totally streamlined my monthly calculations and was just better for me in the long run. But it did smack our net worth down to size.

Oh and lets not forget the medical bills, the furnace that died, the huge dollars spent on kids vehicles, .................there was just so much happening to us in 2007. I feel like we were smacked with 5 years of bad in one year.

The good thing is......WE MADE IT!

We didn't only make it, we still had positive gains. This is good. Yes, I would love to hit that Million mark today, but in the whole scheme of things I have to say I am happy with where we are. Many folks couldn't have survived a year financially that we have had. Yet, we did and we increased our Net Worth.

We are ending 2007 with a NET WORTH of $653,896.

Most of this money is tied into properties although 2007 did allow us opportunities that have brought about new streams of income from our assets. And these new streams will help to insure our future growth and reallocation of asset values to retirement accounts. I guess you could say we are turning a sleeping asset or a fixed asset into a cash asset.

We have increased our net by about $66 k since July. Which is good. If we can increase our net in 2008 another $66k, we will hit our $700k net worth and come close to $720k. This growth continued in the years to follow would provide us a net worth over $1mill somewhere in 2013.

We would have moved forward without it....

but not nearly as much. Our networth grew about $8866 or about 1.53%. Much of this is coming from a bonus check, that we needed to help cover the huge medical bills we are receiving. This check was for about $5k gross. So, not all of our forward motion came from this.

I would say that due to the huge burden those medical bills placed on us, we cut back on our spending. Funny how the weight can stop you. If only it worked more frequently and with lighter loads.

The above burden worked so well, that if you check out our credit card balance on Networth IQ, you see we made a good sized drop in value. The majority of this movement comes from our Paid OFF Monthly Credit Cards. We did not spend normally and paid off last months charges, without accruing charges. In fact, I only grocery shopped 2 times in October and only spent $400, for a month that should have been closer to $800. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

The 0% credit card balance of $19230.52 only reflect payments of $644.52, for October. I'm riding these out, until interest accruing debts (line) is paid. Although, with the medical bills and another college bill coming in shortly.......I am up in the air about success. Not to mention vacancy issues that will definitely cost me.

October also brought in changes and the necessity to reallocate things. I believe I have mentioned before how I was to sell of taxable investments before filing for college financial aid. I would need these dollars to help pay anyway, so this is just the best option in my eyes. Plus, they would be considered at full value for paying for college and the fees will insure, I don't get full value. So, I guess I am just clearing out the mess.

This last quarter of 2007, I will be selling each of my individual baby stock holdings after they received their quarterly dividends. I am then moving the money to pay on medical bills, to stop an increase of debt and then paying down debt with the funds.

I did still manage to move money to our retirement accounts. I do still hope to have them fully funded for 2007. This is also up in the air currently. Most of the retirement dollars shown as an increase come from our deposits and not from market growth. Market growth represents about $200+.

On to November.

$65,000 Question

I maintain a "dummy" account on my Quicken, which I include in our Net Worth. This account is currently at $65k +. It shows as a liability and it is subtracted from our net each and every month. This account is adjusted a minimum of 3 times a year.

I don't "really" owe anyone money. It is more of a balancing account. You see, DD1 opted for a private college, which costs us a substantial amount of money. We pay this very private college 3 times a year, in full - no loans (unless you consider floating time on our line).

So, with each payment I accrue 4 times that amount in a liability account. My thoughts are I doubt the other children will pick a private college, unless it comes with a great package, for they all have better "financial sense" then DD1. Remember DD1 is a senior and this summer is the first time through her college career that she got off her butt and got a job. Where is all the others are working and thriving in their lives. They understand the value of summer work and their future.

I hate to say it but DD1 is a lazy, give it to me I deserve it sort. Of course, because of this she will be on her own next year. Okay, not just because of that - there are more issues here.

Anyway, I like to keep a balanced number going to help the kids moving forward, so I created this account.

DD2 left for college and after paying her college bill, she of course had money left in my imaginary account. So, she received a laptop and other perks. Her balance paid this year will be way below DD1 freshman year and I will keep that balance and pay her in other ways. Mostly, I'm thinking wedding presents or 1st home down payment help.

The pattern will continue with the other 3 kids. I want to help each child equally. I guess I never want one to feel I did more for another. So, this account is for my mental well being. Recording how I will give to them all fairly.

So, I was wondering - this isn't a "real" debt, yet it is something I want to do and pay out eventually. Of course, they may not need the money in my life time and will receive it as a special inheritance after I die, possibly in the form of a CD or something. Do you think I should keep including it? Do you think I should back track and take it out from all numbers?

FYI: This 1 account is the largest cause of our decreased worth as of late.

August Net Worth (-1.86%)

Our net hasn't been this low, since February of this year. So much happening this month it is a little overwhelming.

• DD1 1st of 3 bills for her Senior year in college came in and we paid
• DD2 1st of 2 bills for her Freshman year in college came in and we paid
• DD1's transmission problem we paid to fix
• DD1's bald tires we replaced
• DD2's laptop and printer for college
• Bottom 3 kids back to high school
• Clothing, clothing and more clothing
• School supplies
• Doctor bills
• 1st kid in the cycle of dentist bills (we each go on rolling days)
• Cheerleading clothes and fees
• Hubby's furniture spree - payments
• Funeral in KY - with lost earnings and increased spending
• Personal Trainer - all on me.
• Final Real Estate bills - I paid them all to get them off my desk 5 of which could have been held till September.

The good thing is, I believe we are now at the bottom. Without any major expenses planned in the future we should be able to see a forward momentum from hear to the year end. Okay, from here to November - when we will receive bill 2 of three for DD1's college and Christmas.

About $7500 on the credit cards is current charges and payments have already been schedule for September to pay in full. The rest about $20k is all at zero percent and I will only be paying the minimums to maintain paying ZERO interest. This will allow me the flexibility to throw all extra money to our LOC, which when everything clears and comes through will be about $15k.

I know I had predicted the LOC to be at about $30k in September, but this is being curbed by the 0% Chase Freedom Card. I am making payments of $358 per month to this card. That number was the calculated minimum payment when I started this 0% deal. My goal is to maintain this until the L.O.C is gone and until the last month of the zero percent deal. After the LOC is eliminated - saving the cash to pay off the cc and cover bills as they come in.

Well, the best laid plans anyway. With this life anything can happen.

The Case of the Disappearing Net

Each day, I down load stock prices into my Quicken and watch the numbers descend like the Titanic in the Northern Atlantic waters.

And still, that is only a fraction of the damage that is hitting our wealth. And I mean a fraction.

The spending is showing its wear and tear every minute. I sent out all the property tax bills yesterday, for all the properties. Not to mention the 2 payments to 2 colleges. Then add in the deferred bills for college that we will pay at some unspecified date in the future and I believe we have reached the top of our spending cycle - with about $19,000 out and $6400 put on charge cards this month.

Plus, today we are taking DD1's car in for tires. We still need some school supplies - for the oldest 3.

As I repeat my mantra - "this is only temporary" - I opened my mail yesterday to find a notice from my bank. It is once again time for our commercial property mortgage to re-adjust itself - yuck. And it is going up 1.5% - your feeling my pain - right? This amounts to about a $79 increase. Thank goodness we are almost done with this mortgage. Our new rent payments are just going to cover this - Whew!

July Net Worth

July was such a wild ride. There was money flying everywhere and hubby shopping like an insane person, not to mention medical. Looking back, even knowing the events, it still is a blur in my minds eye. Hopefully, I will begin to see clearer as summer comes to an end.

We still have

• over half of the property taxes to pay about $12.5k
• High School Registration for 3 kids about $750
• NIU bill came about $4500
• waiting on Augustana bill

Those are our big ones anyway. Our line of credit on July 30th was ZERO and at the end of the month was $1693.51. I have been throwing all dollars here, as usual, in an attempt to save interest on dollars I have to utilize.

I believe the credit cards are now firmly planted at their highest point - just under $24k. Where we are using the zero percent to save interest on the line and cover recent purchases. Notice that Net IQ shows a balance under $20k, but there is a credit on the visa bill still of $4600. I am have a bear of time, getting these folks to release the funds. I am glad this happened, because it tells me a lot about the company and will effect my dealings with them in the future. For now, I am happy Discover is offering the 5% back.

I have decreased the cash accounts to my "minimums". Meaning where I like them to sit. This allows for guaranteed return on our money, by placing the dollars on the interest accruing accounts.

Let's not even get depressed and talk about the investments. All I can say is "stock market is bad", like some pouting 4 year old.

Personal Property increased for new furniture and new LCD HDTV. Thank you hubby. Should I say, I am so happy he has woken up from his shopping craziness! Hopefully, this can sustain him.

So we end the month with a Net Worth of $587,865.52. Which means that we grew our worth by $657 or .11%. At least we rose, instead of declined. :)

Let me also say...it is so much easier to forget about our business and report only our immediate wealth. Although, had I continued in the old path, we would have realized much greater growth. With the laundry's growing base and the residential rental fully rented.

June Net Down another $5,291

Although, we are showing a loss, I think it is a temporary down right now. There have just been so many changes in the last 30 days that have shaken up our whole financial picture.

The majority of the decrease comes from the Commercial Property Taxes we paid this month. I drew the funds off the line to pay - can't wait till I can save these dollars up and pay when it comes in. We have not paid any of the other property taxes and I have not transferred any of the savings dollars to the line yet - since this money is for our home.

We have been spending money as well with DD2 going to France and DD3 going to cheer camp and FFA convention. With 3 weeks of travel for the girls we have pretty much cleared out our cash. But, to us, this is a worthwhile expenditure.

The credit cards are a tangled weave right now, with the first 0% transfer moving before the month end. We have an increase of $2186 this month on credit cards. That is huge. Mostly for clothes and essentials that were needed, but not all. With all the trips and summer fun we have dined out with the kids and spent some fun money.

Then there was a $400 purchase for new a/c units for the rental. Not that we had too, but that I wanted-this way they are good ones and fit well with the property, being installed professionally by my hubby and not a tenant.

I also purchased a new receiver for the laundry and a new antenna for the t.v. I just can't justify getting cable at $100 per month at the store. Comcast is nuts. Why do they charge so much for a commercial connection. I am just looking for background noice or the news. By the way - Direct TV was not much better on the price.

In general, this time of the year is always more expensive. Seems like most of our big bills, like car insurance, come due now. Which helps to keep a financial stranglehold on us.

On the more optimistic side, I think we still have the ability to pay off our Line by year end and begin building an account to pay off the newly acquired 0% Chase Card. Since I was planning on a line balance of $30k by summer end - this should help keep interest down and apply more working dollars to the principle - making it more likely that we will achieve this goal.

I have not received the residential rentals property tax bill yet, so that huge number is still up in the air. I hate loose ends, and it seems we have many right now. I think I will have a clearer picture once all the 0% transfers are completed and all the tax bills come in.

A Gift

I forgot something big for our May Networth - Gifts.

With graduations running wild, we were dishing out cash. This played a part in our cash stiffling and networth baby growth.

Total given in gifts - $1300.

Give until it hurts. :-)!

May Net Worth Update

I have updated our May numbers on Net worth IQ - see the side bar.

I have not received all the interest amounts for May, but they will be minimal and can be reflected in June.

I was happy to see an increase of any kind - especially after last month. It isn't much .34% = $2257.70 in growth.

There were just so many things going on in May -

• We sold the suburban
• We sold son's car
• Son purchased truck
• Prosper sent me a default notice on one of my loans (one more reason to not put money here)
• Need I say vehicle repairs?

You will see that our cash went from $2800 last month to $20k this month. All because of the vehicle sales and paying back the construction company the money we floated over to save us interest. With out the float it would be more like $9k to $20k. These dollars would also account for the Mortgage debt increase. Well, that and all the vehicle transactions taking place.

I do not expect to see an improvement in our numbers until after September. We will go deep and then dig ourselves out. At least that is historically the pattern.

The biggest pinch is coming from that residential rental I have sitting empty. Without a tenant, I am floating the bill. Ouch, Ouch and Ouch again. Others have told me to turn it Section 8, I'm just not sure. Seems like all applicants are looking for Sect. 8. That is a poor message to the world at large.

Networth Change April Month End (-.18%)

Well, I did it, I finally updated our net worth for April. It wasn't as bad as I expected it to be, but it was still terrible. Decreasing our net by $1,165, is very disheartening. Makes you feel like you are slipping into some black hole and if something doesn't change, you could risk everything.

Okay, maybe I am being a bit more dramatic than the situation actually is, but I am ticked at the whole "life" thing. Expenses just keep popping up and my kids and husband are costing me an arm, leaving me fearing for a leg. I need to pull them all back into the reality of our lives, which is we can not afford to live like the rich and famous.

I posted earlier about all the cash flying out. Although, I think I forgot some items. It is sad when there is so much spending that you can't track it. Especially, when you are using software to do just that. I take full responsibility, because when I am not working, I have no desire to "look".

You think from my past I would realize that ignoring the spending, only allows it to get worse. Ignoring is the first step to lead a person to debt hell.

Time to get myself together.