Budget Freak

My experiment with earning free money from 0% balance transfers is going just fine. I got my first interest payout a couple weeks ago, $26 for about a week and a half’s worth of interest. Right on target with what I expected. I paid my first monthly minimum payment on the Citi Premier card this week. I linked my credit card to my checking account, so it transfers the money electronically. I also decided to make the payments from another checking account, not the account the 0% money is in. My reasoning being the more money is in the high interest account, the more money it will make. The minimum payment was $102 for the balance of $6,800, or 1.5% of the balance. I also just recieved my first statement for the Citi Professional card, with a minimum payment of $150, for a $10,000 balance. Who knew you could borrow $16,800 for a mere $252 per month?!?! I’m expecting my next interest payout to be around $70 on the 26th, so stay tuned.

It feels like life is rushing by these days. Between work, business trips, the run to vegas, school, and now Dodger games, I’ve been really busy lately. I just wanted to give a few quick updates on things.

The budget took a hit this weekend in Vegas. Gambling losses totaled around $200, plus another $150 or so on food and drink. I have a stack of receipts I still need to go through before I know the final totals. Actually, the totals were right around what I had expected to spend, although it would have been nice to win some money for a change. It was a fun weekend though, even if I gained 15 pounds, my feet hurt from walking too much in sandals, and my stomach has felt like a nuclear bomb went off.

We were able to find free parking for our first Dodger game last week. We got to the game only 20 minutes from the start, and we were still able to find a spot in our first free parking choice. It only took us 15 minutes (albeit up a hill) to get to the stadium. We made it just in time for the first pitch. We were quite pleased with the results. Now we just need to start bringing our own food, and we’ll be set. We have two games this weekend to practice again.

I decided on Liberty Mutual for my car insurance. They were about $400 less than everybody else, and I’ve heard nothing but good things. I’m filling out the paperwork now. The other nice thing, is if you sign up for electronic withdrawals, there are no finance charges for paying month by month. So instead of having to dish out $1,500 this month, I only have to pay $120 or so each month. Not a huge deal, but I can keep all that $1,500 in my savings account and earn a bit of interest.

I’ve also applied for that new job. It’s basically the job I’ve been doing as a consultant, but as a full time employee at the company. I hope to hear about interviews in the next week or two. Keep your fingers crossed.

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, but I’ve been super busy. I was in Austin, Texas the last 2 days for company meetings. Now I’m back home, and my other work is piling up. In addition to that, tonight is my first Dodger game of the season. Plus, I’m about two weeks behind on all my homework, so I have about four assignments to finish by Thursday, another 2-3 hours of homework to do by Monday, and I need to make up a test I missed while in Austin. To make matters worse (or better?), I’m going to Las Vegas for the weekend. I’m taking Friday off and driving out there. We were able to get a free room from a friend, and I’ve been itching to go for a few months now.

In addition to all of that, I’m considering switching jobs. I’m currently in the consulting business, and one of my clients wants to hire me on full time. They just posted the job opening. I would be one of the top candidates, as I’ve been doing the job for the past 7 month. I also had input on the job description and requirements. The main reason I’d switch would be purely the compensation package. They offer 7% 401(k) matching (versus the 3% I get now), employee stock purchase plan, pension plan, and, most importantly, they’ll pay 90% of tuition and school expenses if I decide to pursue an MBA. If I end up going to a UCLA or Pepperdine, we’re talking 90% of $60,000-$80,000. Not to mention there would probably be an increase in salary,a greater potential for bonuses, and an almost unlimited growth potential. Wow, when I write it all out, it seems like a no brainer. The downside would be working for a GIGANTIC company and all that comes with it (politics, strict rules and regulations, slow moving, etc). Plus I really like where I’m working now, and theres a good chance the company could really take off. If nothing else, I’ll apply and interview for the job. It’s never bad to have options. If/when they offer me a job I can consider all my options again. That said, I somehow need to update my resume in order by apply by the deadline on Monday.

So, I told you all of that, to tell you that things might be a little slow on the blog over the next week. I’ll try my best, but I have a lot on my plate right now. So, in the mean time, check out some of the fantastic links over on the right. Now would also be a good time to subscribe to Budget Freak, so you always have the latest posts.

I’m the proud new owner of Dodgers season tickets. Well, half a season at least. The roommate and myself went in on four tickets for 40 games. They’re not the best seats (the very top deck), but they were a really good buy. At least we’ll be able to see the entire field. I found a picture of a view from our seats:

Just kidding… sort of.

This isn’t something I was planning on purchasing, so it definitely wasn’t in my budget. It is something I’ve been wanting to do for awhile, however, and it’s nice to treat yourself every once and awhile. I’m probably not going to be able to go to every single game, so I’ll be able to give some tickets away as gifts to friends or co-workers to earn a few extra points.

The only problem I’ll have to face is the price gouging at the stadium. $15 to park, $10 for a Dodger Dogs, $12 for a beer, $5 for peanuts. I could easily spend $50 a night at a game. To combat this, I’ll just have to plan ahead. I know there are places you can park for free near the stadium and walk (the roommate and I are going to scout it out this weekend), so that’ll save $15 a game, plus give us some much needed excercise. You can also bring your own food in, provided it’s not in “bottles, cans, coolers, or thermoses.” They also permit “unbroken, factory sealed plastic bottles of water and other non-alcoholic beverages of 1 liter or less.” We could easily bring a bag full of sandwhiches, peanuts, and a few cokes for each game for a fraction of what they’re charging.

First game is on Wednesday. Go Dodgers!!!

It’s now been two months since I’ve started BudgetFreak. In those two months, I’ve written 45 posts, and have received 70 comments. I’ve gotten about 1,000 unique visitors, 3,000 visits, and about 9,000 page views. I’m not breaking any records, but still much more than I was expecting.

If you’ve missed anything in the past two months, here’s what I’ve done to help myself out financially:

• Saved $75 using coupons
• Saved $300 canceling my gym membership
• Opened up an interest earning checking account at ING
• Lowered my credit card interest rates and increased my credit limits
• Started earning interest borrowing $16,800 from credit card companies for FREE, taking advantage of 0% balance transfers
• Checked my free credit report
• Opened a ROTH IRA and maxed out my 2006 contribution
• Opened a Washington Mutual Savings Account earning 5% interest
• Will save $500 a year by driving slower
• Participated in my first Blog Carnival
• Will save about $400 a year by shopping around for car insurance
• Managed to grow my net worth by 33%

I’d say I’m off to a pretty good start. So thank you all for reading and commenting, and here’s to many months to come!

Since the beginning of this year, I’ve been keeping track of my net worth. For those new to the game, net worth is basically the total of all your assets (checking and savings accounts, investments, real estate, etc), minus all your liabilities (car loans, credit cards, mortgages, etc). To see how to build your own net worth spreadsheet, check The Simple Dollar’s How to Calculate Your Net Worth. While this calculation is not the be-all-end-all, it’s a good progress indicator.

For the first quarter of this year, my net worth is up 33.8%. I enjoyed 3 positive growth months of 12%, 6%, and 14%. Most importantly, my retirement assets almost doubled, growing 82% in 3 months. Funds went from $6,800 in December 31st, to now $12,500 as of March 31st. This was mostly due to increased contributions to my 401(k), a $4,000 contribution to my ROTH IRA, and a little help from the market.

All told, I’m moving in the right direction. I’m spending less than I earn, and stocking as much as I can towards retirement. I’m still working on getting my spending down, but if I can continue these double digit growth months, I’ll be happy.

After I recovered from the shell shock after getting my renewal bill from the Auto Club, I decided it was time to shop around for new insurance. So this past weekend, I shopped around for new auto insurance.

To get a fair quote from each company, I decided on the best coverage for myself, and stuck with throughout the process. For the record, I’m 25, male, single, live in greater Los Angeles, and have no at-fault accidents (2 non at-fault which shouldn’t hurt my premiums) and no tickets or arrests. I’m insuring one car, a 2005 Nissan Frontier, and I drive around 15,000 miles per year. I decided on the following coverage:

Bodily Injury Liability: $50,000/100,000
Property Damabe: $50,000
Medical Expense: $5000
Uninsured Motorist (Bodily Injury) $25,000/$50,000
$500 Comprehensive Deductible
$1,000 Collision Deductible
$20/day Rental Car

I visited each companies website, typed in all my information, and here’s the results:

• Auto Club - $1,920
• Mercury - $1,880
• Progressive Direct - $2,426
• Geico - $2,108
• State Farm - $1,948
• AllState - $2,194
• Esurance - $1,736
• Liberty Mutual - $1,587

These are obviously very personal, customized quotes, specific to my background, driving record, and driving habits. Your mileage will certainly vary.

That said, in my case, Liberty Mutual was by far the least expensive. Better yet, a few days after I filled out the online form, an agent sent me a new quote, with a new price of $1,493, for the same coverage. Almost another $100 off! My roommate has Liberty Mutual, and in his price shopping, they were also the cheapest. I talked it over with my dad, and Liberty Mutual was his first auto insurance company. I would definitely feel comfortable going with them.

I still have 3 weeks before my old insurance expires, but it looks like after that, I’ll be making a switch. The only question now, is do I go with the lowest premiums, or is there another company that’s worth the extra cost? Could their customer service or handling of claims be better? If so, is that worth a couple hundred dollars a year?

Here’s a breakdown of my expenses for March.

Automobile : Maintenance $295.43
Automobile : Gas $169.65
Automobile : Car Payment $500.00
Automobile : Parking $5.00
Bills : Telephone $63.64
Bills : Gas $15.37
Bills : Rent $650.00
Bills : Cable TV/Internet $73.78
Bills : Cell Phone $49.88
Business : Traveling $281.80
Education : Other $2.25
Food : Groceries $326.99
Food : Dining out $86.47
Healthcare $10.00
Homeneeds $65.30
Investing : Commission $10.00
Leisure : Movies $20.00
Leisure : Newspaper $10.00
Miscellaneous $171.30
Other Expenses $2.00
Total $2,808.86

Another month, and my expenses keep rising. There were a few expenses out of the ordinary on here. First, the business traveling. I’m flying to Austin next week, so that money will be reimbursed in April. Second, the auto repair category is abnormally high. My truck just had it’s 30,000 mile service. I knew it was coming, however, so I was prepared for it. Thirdly, the grocery and the household expenses are both higher than normal. I’ve been buying more groceries last month to sort of stock up on cooking basics (flour, sugars, oils, etc.) so I can cook better meals at home. I also purchased a slow cooker, as a way to make bigger meals with less prep time for a lot less money. Lastly, the “miscellaneous” category was $170. This is mostly going out to bars and buying alcohol. I have no excuses for this one.

If you take out all the abnormal expenses, the month was just average. I’ve been eating in more and more, so the dining out expenses was only $86. I hate that I had to pay $5 to park this month. I think that was a trip to the movie theater and a valet tip. Serves me right for living in the city. I’m going to make it a goal this month to cut down on the miscellaneous expenses. Since most of that is alcohol, I’m going to create a new category for it. I think before I thought I could disguise the alcohol expenses in that category and maybe it would slide. Not anymore.