Budget Freak

For the past 6 months, I had been using Money Manager Ex to keep track of my finances. It had worked out pretty well for keeping track of my day to day expenses, but the more I used it, the more it was lacking. Not to say that it’s a bad program, but I wanted to keep track of more than the program would allow. I had tried using a demo version of Microsoft Money, but ultimately, I didn’t want to have to pay for the software.

Enter GnuCash. A free, open-source financial program, that has just become available for windows (before it was Linux only). GnuCash offers a much more robust program, forcing you to use double-entry accounting (ie. for each transaction, you need a balancing credit and debit), can track investments and fixed assets, and has much better method of splitting transactions. The reporting functionality is also much better, and is customizable.

One of the biggest differences, is I’ll be able to track taxes and pre-tax deductions. Before, when I got a paycheck, I would only input my Net Income, or after tax and deduction money. For example, if I had a $1,000 gross paycheck, I might only enter $600 income, thus losing my tax, health insurance, and 401k deductions. Now, I can record my gross income, as well as all the taxes and deductions. I can now also track my car loan better. I can now not only keep track of payments, but also expense the interest I’m being charged. If nothing else, I’ll be able to actually see how much money the loan is costing me.

I’ve spent a few hours over the last week migrating the past 6 months worth of transactions over, and I’m now completely switched. As a result, all my monthly expense totals for the past 6 months have changed. One of these days I’ll go back and make a note of the changes, but for now, just know that June’s expense report will look a little different. Anywho, I’ll keep you updated on how the software is working, but my so far, it’s working great.

Despite some heavier than normal expenses, and in turn, a fairly small net income, I was able to grow my net worth almost 6%. My cash reserves were down 11% for the month, mostly due to some index fund purchases. My retirement and investment categories were both up 10% and 62% respectively, between contributions and another great month in the stock market. Assets were up a total of 3% overall. Liabilities were down 1% for the month. I’m continuing to pay off my 0% balance transfer money each month, and I’m contributing $500 per month towards my car loan. All told, a moderately good month. Could have been a lot worse. Here’s to a better June. online pharmacy without prescriptionbuy silverbuy detoxbuy italian charmsdownload softwareonline pharmacy no prescriptioncanadian pharmacydownload moviesfarmacia en lineainternet drugstoremovie downloadmexican pharmacybuy gift basketsbuy levitrabuy hoodiaprescription drugsdownload moviebuy dvdcheap auto insurancebuy jewelrybuy jewelry onlinecheap online pharmacybuy alcohol testdownload filmdownload musicdownload mp3prescription drugsbuy notebook batterydownload moviesonline pharmacybuy charmsbuy piercingpiercingflash games onlinebuy propecia onlinesearchpiercingno prescription pharmacyonline pharmacyonline pharmacy no prescriptiondownload moviescanadian pharmacybuy soma onlinebuy carisoprodol onlineitalian charmsindian pharmacybuy viagra onlinegeneric viagra onlinebuy levitra onlinegeneric cialis onlineonline pharmacy without prescriptionno prescription online pharmacytransformers movieeuropean online pharmacyprivate porn moviesbuy phentrimine onlineonline pharmacy no prescriptionbuy jewelry onlinejewelry shopsilver shophealth articlespass a drug testbuy oem softwareeuropean pharmacydvd movies

Another months gone by, so it’s time for a checkup. Here’s my expense breakdown:

Automobile : Maintenance $ 26.79
Automobile : Gas $ 373.78
Automobile : Car Payment $ 500.00
Automobile : Parking/Tolls $ 17.00
Bills : Telephone $ 64.05
Bills : Gas $ 9.02
Bills : Rent $ 650.00
Bills : Cable TV/Internet $ 89.87
Bills : Cell Phone $ 85.90
Electronics : Cell Phone $ 108.49
Food : Groceries $ 128.90
Food : Dining out $ 151.24
Food : Booze $ 31.86
Gifts $ 50.81
Healthcare $ 10.00
Homeneeds $ 91.26
Homeneeds : Clothing $ 50.81
Homeneeds : Kitchen $ 41.76
Insurance : Auto $ 7.42
Internets : Domain Registration $ 16.53
Internets : Hosting $ 179.68
Leisure : Movies $ 21.50
Leisure : Newspaper $ 9.08
Leisure : Concert Tickets $ 180.75
Vacation : Lodging $ 134.40

Total $ 3,151.12

It was another expensive month for me, although I did manage to earn more than I spent (barely). I took care of a few important expenses now, so I wont’ have to worry about them later. The domain hosting for $180 is prepaid for two years. Normally I pay $10 per month, but by prepaying for 2 years, I saved about 20%. Also, I bought some things for around the house, cleaning supplies, toiletries, socks and underwear, and some cooking supplies that totaled around $180. Those should last me at least 6 months. I also attended a wedding last month up near San Francisco. I drove, so the Gas category is about $120 higher than usual, and I stuck paying for two toll roads for another $8. I also paid for one of the nights in a hotel, for another $135.

I bought 6 tickets for an upcoming concert (Flight of the Conchords if you’re wondering), of which, I should be reimbursed $120 from friends. I also got my ‘Booze’ category a little more under control. Last month I spend over $150, and this month, it was a more reasonable $31.

It wasn’t a great month, but I took care of a lot of one time expenses. I’m planning on buckling down in June. Less eating out, less entertainment costs, less Booze. Time to get my budget back on track. Stay tuned.

Despite spending more than I earned in April, I still managed to grow my net worth ever so slightly. This was due, in large part, to a great month in the stock market. My retirement accounts were up over 15% for the month (including contributions to my 401(k)). That in turn, gave me a 1% overall increase in Assets. I had my first two 0% balance transfer payments due, as well as another big car payment, so Liabilities are down 1% for the month. All told, net worth was up 3% for the month. A far cry from last month’s 14% growth, but still moving in the right direction. I have a feeling May will be a much better month.

Here’s my expenses for April.

Automobile : Gas $ 212.59
Automobile : Registration $ 244.00
Automobile : Car Payment $ 500.00
Automobile : Parking $ 28.30
Banking : Fees $ 7.25
Bills : Telephone $ 63.63
Bills : Electricity $ 54.43
Bills : Gas $ 34.34
Bills : Rent $ 652.00
Bills : Cable TV/Internet $ 89.81
Bills : Cell Phone $ 50.53
Business : Traveling $ 215.35
Food : Groceries $ 122.66
Food : Dining out $ 157.04
Food : Booze $ 158.16
Gambling $ 200.00
Healthcare : $ 10.00
Homeneeds : Clothing $ 201.25
Insurance : Auto $ 103.42
Leisure : Dodger Tickets $ 335.00
Miscellaneous $ 19.80
Total $ 3,981.21

Ouch. First month this year that I operated at a net loss. I had a few big purchases out of the ordinary. The Dodger tickets, at $335 was the biggest out-of-ordinary expense. I also had my car registration due ($244), and business trip related expenses ($215). The business trip will be reimbursed this month, however. Then of course, there’s the trip to Vegas, which set me back a couple hundred bucks between gambling losses and eating out all weekend. I also made a pretty big clothing purchase. I had a 20% off coupon for Old Navy, so I bought 9 new shirts, a pair of shorts, and a jacket.

My ‘Booze’ category was way too high last month. I’m glad I stopped including booze in the ‘Miscellaneous’ category, so I can really see how much I spend on alcohol. $158 in a month is obscene. Granted a bit of that was in Vegas, but still, I need to cut back. I’m making a goal this month to get that number under $50.

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.

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!

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.

I was looking at my finances last night, and I realized my cash flow for this month is going to be crazy awesome. I’m paid on a bi-weekly schedule, so since there are 26 paychecks in a year, that means there are two months where I actually recieve three paychecks. March happens to be one of those months. My company also have a pretty aggressive bonus program, that pays out ‘Project Profitibility’ bonuses three times a year. I just got that check (just over a weeks pay) yesterday at our company meeting. Also, I recieved my tax returns this month, which was good for another $1,000.

So, this month I’ll recieve 6 weeks of pay, a company bonus, and my tax return. I wish every month was like this. Part of the money will be going towards my car insurance, which is coming due next month. Part will go to service on my car (30k mile service), and registration, another $500. The rest, I’m probably going to invest. Stay tuned for that.

I have heard that by driving slower, say around 55 or 60, that you could save money on gas. PFAdvice says you can save up to 20% by driving slower. I was skeptical, but I’ve been trying over the past couple weeks, and it works.

Before, I used to average at least 75-80 mph on the highway. Even though I drive on the dreaded 405 every morning through the Westside (if you’re not from Southern California, think of the worst traffic zone in your area, then mulitple by 1,000,000,000,000,000 and you’ll get an idea), I wake up at 5am so the road is pretty clear. The past two weeks I’ve been changing my driving habits. I’ve kept my speed as steady as I could, using cruise control when possible, slower acceleration, less braking, and trying to stay behind large trucks whenever possible to cut down on wind resistance. I’d say my average speed for the last two weeks was around 65 mph.

Because I keep extensive gas mileage statistics, I know I’ve been getting around 18.5 mpg for the past 2 years. My best mileage, ever, per gallon for a tank of gas was 20.69. Well this past week, I averaged 22.2 MPG. A new record for me and a 20% increase over my average MPG, and nearly 10% better than my previous best! I couldn’t believe it!

If I’ve been speding $200 a month on gas, which I have been, a 20% savings will save me $40 per month, and $480 for the year. All for driving 10 MPH slower.

Now you’re probably thinking to yourself, ‘well sure your saving a few bucks, but it takes you forever to get to work.’ While it’s true it will take longer to get places, but probably not as much as you think. My commute is about 35 miles door to door. Ignoring traffic congestion, stop lights, and city streets for a minute, if I average 75 MPH, it will take 28 minutes to get to work. If I average 65 MPH, it will take me 32 minutes. A difference of only 4 minutes. Not that big of a deal.

Besides the gas savings, there are plenty of other benefits. For one, it’s a lot safer driving slower, and I never have to worry about speeding tickets. I’ve also noticed I’m much less stressed while driving. Before I’d get upset if there was a slow driver in front of me or if traffic was moving too slow. Now, I almost hope traffic is moving slower (55 PM would be ideal).

So there you have it. Slow down, and save $500 a year. Try it out for yourself.

Ugh. I just ran my numbers for February, and they weren’t pretty. For the month, I had a Net Income of $46.89. How pathetic. Here’s the breakdown, and then I’ll try and explain myself…

Automobile : Gas $189.58
Automobile : Car Payment $1,000.00
Automobile : Auto Club Membership Dues $47.00
Automobile : Parking $12.00
Bills : Telephone $63.71
Bills : Electricity $49.58
Bills : Rent $652.00
Bills : Cable TV/Internet $76.30
Bills : Cell Phone $49.68
Education : Tuition $179.00
Education : Other $2.32
Food : Groceries $65.44
Food : Dining out $126.34
Gambling $6.00
Gifts $114.48
Healthcare $10.00
Internets : Domain Registration $9.20
Leisure : Gym Membership $29.99
Miscellaneous $81.50

Total Expenses $2,764.12

I had a few rare expenses this month. First, there’s the Education expenses. I decided while back that I might want to get an MBA. So in January, I enrolled in a community college and signed up for a couple business classes – Business Law and Accounting. I wanted to first see if I’d be interested in this type of study (yes, so far), and also to see if I can handle the work load of working full time and taking class at night. It’s been tough, and it’s killed any social life I had on the weekdays, but it’s manageable. These two classes could also count towards my MBA if I go to a Cal State School. Anyways, that’s the first rare expense. This month I also had to pay my Auto Club Dues, $47, register a domain name (this one) for $10, and buy some gifts for family and friends, $114.

I also made a car loan payment this month of a $1,000. I’m way ahead on my loan, so I made these every other month or so. I know it’s a bad way to do it, and it’s something I have to work on. I’m even considering using some of my 0% balance transfer money to pay a portion off. Check back later for that.

All the other expenses are pretty standard. I just missed my Eating Out limit. I try for $120/month. It was probably a late night run to Jack In The Box that sent me over. Groceries was actually really low, mostly due to my new philosophy on only shopping once a month.

I guess if there’s a lesson to be learned from all of this, it’s that I shouldn’t put too much stock in monthly snapshots. The way I handle my finances, it makes more sense to look at the bigger picture, such as quarterly or yearly totals. I mentioned my net income this month was $46. Well, to prove my point, last month, my net income was $2,246. That’s about a 5000% difference. I think it’s still important to look at the monthly totals, to see how my spending is breaking down, but I just shouldn’t get too discouraged/excited about them.

I started to run my final numbers on February last night. I definitely spent more in February that I did in January, mostly due to a $1,000 payment on my car loan. I’ll post final numbers as soon as I gather everything. Looking at my budget got me thinking a couple months ahead. April is going to be an expensive month for me. Just off the top of my head, I have the following big expenses:

Car Registration – $255
30,000 Mile Car Service – ~$300
Car Insurance – ~$2,000
Total – ~$2,500

To compare, my expenses in January were only $1,500. It sort of blows my budget for the month, but I planned these expenses in my year long budget. But still, it’s never fun to look at a $2,500 bill. They’re all car related, too.

Side Note: The car insurance will hopefully be less than $2,000. When I was living at home last year, my premiums were $1,500, but when I moved out on my own, it jumped to $2,3000!! I only moved 25 miles, but it increased my premiums nearly 50%! When they sent me the bill for the extra money, I had to call them because I thought they had made a mistake. They told me the location was the only reason (I moved from upper-middle class suburbs to the Valley). Needless to say, I was ticked. I’ll see what my carrier (Auto Club) will do in terms of discounts, but most likely, I’ll be shopping around for new auto insurance. I think I’ll also lower my coverage a bit so save a little more. Any suggestions??

Still, even if I can get my insurance down, I’m still looking at around $2,000 car expenses, on top of my other monthly expenses. Looks like my tax refund is coming just in time.

As promised, here’s a little background on me.

Personal
I’m 25 years old and live in Los Angeles. I graduated from UCSB in 2003 with a BS in computer science. Now almost 4 years out of college, I’m in my 4th job in a data management consulting company. I don’t like the fact I’ve had to switch jobs so many times, but I suppose I’m still at that age where I’m trying to find where I best fit in.

Right after college, I moved back home with my parents. I didn’t have a job right away, so it was really the only option I had. I was there for more than 2 years, and it really allowed me to save some money (although my spending habits were much worse so I didn’t save as much as I could have). This past September, I finally moved out on my own. I switched jobs and my commute was too long from where I was living. Now, I’m renting an apartment with a good friend and having to deal with grocery shopping and cooking once again.

Financial
Here’s a quick rundown of my personal finances. I have a WaMu checking account (which is slowly being phased out), an ING Savings account, and the incredible ING Electric Orange Checking account. In a nutshell, paychecks are deposited to the ING Checking, bills are paid, and whatever is left (hopefully) goes into the ING Savings.

I have an employee matched (50% match, up to 3% of income) 401(k) program, to which I currently contribute 12% of my pre-tax income. I have an IRA account through Smith Barney with a few thousand dollars I’ve rolled in from my previous employers 401(k) programs.

I have 5 credit cards: Discover, Capital One Visa, Sears Card, Express Card, and a Gap Card. It seems like a lot, but I’ve never carried a balance (a balance that earned interest anyway) on any of my cards. I like the cashback program at Discover, so that’s my main card. I just switched to their Gas Card, which earns 5% back on all gas purchases. The rewards are nice, in that a lot of times you can turn $20 worth of rewards into a $25-$40 gift card. I few months back, I turned $180 cash back into a $225 Crutchfield gift card and bought a digital camera. My Capital One Visa is only used when businesses don’t take Discover. The specialty cards are strictly used at their respective locations. By having those cards, I routinely get invitations to 10-50% off or 0% financing events.

That should give you a little background on where I’m coming from. Soon, I’ll be posting my goals for the upcoming months and quarters to hopefully give you an idea of where I’d like to go. Thanks for reading!

I finally had a chance to close the books on January tonight. Expenses for the month totaled $1,495.61. Here’s the breakdown:

Rent: $650.00
Automobile : Gas: $189.56
Automobile : Parking: $1.00
Bills : Telephone: $63.46
Bills : Gas: $8.93
Bills : Cable TV/Internet: $76.32
Bills : Cell Phone: $52.10
Food : Groceries: $213.20
Food : Dining out: $131.47
Healthcare: $20.00
Leisure : Gym Membership: $29.99
Leisure : Newspaper: $7.28
Miscellaneous: $52.30
Total: $1,495.61

A quicks caveats, I did not make a car payment this month. The way I’ve been handling car payments is making larger lump sum payments every so often. I’m ahead of my payment schedule, so nothing was due this month, so I put more money into savings. They’ll be a large car payment on next months report.

All told, I’m quite happy with how I’ve done so far. I think there’s definitely room for improvement. The dining out total is higher than I’d like, but then my automobile gas category is way down (I budgeted $240/month). In a month where too many people were struggling to pay off Christmas debt, I was able to more more than $1,000 into my savings account. Off to a pretty good start.