About

My name is Penny, and this is the story of how I started getting my financial house in order in 2007 and, now, 2008. This blog keeps me honest: By publicly reporting – even if no one reads about – my expenses, progress, and mistakes, I’m much more likely to stay on track (and the most important thing in improving your personal finances is to know thyself – and I do).

March 19, 2008:
$0 – Everything in the previous update that was $0 is still $0.  This is a good thing.
$9,113 -  Emergency fund (which got a hike due to an unexpected tax refund)
+ $9,113 (not counting retirement accounts and “inaccessible” cash)

A New Year Penny Picture – January 23, 2008:
$0 – Credit Card #1
$0 – Credit Card #2
$0 – Back assessment payments
$0 – Lawyer payments
$0 – Spring 2007 tuition
$0 – Fall 2007 tuition
$4,015 – Emergency fund (yes, I know I could use this to pay tuition, but I can use the next rent check and some of my pay check, too.)
+ $4,015 (not counting retirement accounts and “inaccessible” cash)

(A Getting Prettier) Penny Picture – November 6, 2007:
$0 – Credit Card #1
$0 – Credit Card #2
$0 – Back assessment payments
$900 – Lawyer payments
$0 – Spring 2007 tuition
$1,900 – Fall 2007 tuition
$2,250 – Emergency fund (yes, I know I could use this to pay tuition, but I can use the next rent check and some of my pay check, too.)
- $2,800 (I want this to be $0 by New Year’s Eve!)

Penny Picture – August 20, 2007:
$0 – Credit Card #1
$7,660 – Credit Card #2
$220 – Back assessment payments
$900 – Lawyer payments
$0 – Spring 2007 tuition
$0 – Emergency fund
- $8,780

Penny Picture – May 2007
$1,000 – Credit Card #1
$9,000 – Credit Card #2
$520 – Back condo assessment payments (from when there was no condo association or management company and thus, no one to pay)
$900 – Lawyer payments my ex paid when we ended our partnership in July 2006
$4,000 – Spring 2007 tuition (due before August 23, 2007, when fall term begins)
$0 – Emergency fund
- $15,420

The Back Story
Until July of 2006, I had absolutely no credit card debt. I hadn’t carried a balance since college. Until July of 2006, I was working full time and attending graduate school part-time, finishing my dissertation for my Ph.D. I was paying my tuition in full and not taking on student load debt (except for the year 2004 when I bought my first condo and needed more cash for that).

Until July of 2006, I had an emergency savings fund of $7,500 and was actively contributing to my company’s 401(k). My partner and I owned a condo that we could afford on one income. Life was comfortable because I was half of a dual-income, no kids (DINK) household (a highly recommended lifestyle if you can get it, by the way) in which each of us earned $90K and split all expenses 50/50.

In July 2006, my partner and I separated. Though our separation was an amicable one, we had to involve an attorney minimally – and pay for it. I sold my share of the condo to my partner and bought another, taking on a mortgage solo. (A word of advice: Don’t buy a house or a pet until at least one year after a major break up.) You’ll see more about my 2007 mortgage plans in posts to that point.

Condo earnest money, attorney’s fees, and closing costs made short work of my $7,500 emergency savings fund. I also accumulated $9,000 of credit card debt paying for moving costs and buying furniture and basic housewares (I didn’t have much besides a table and futon when I moved in with my partner and out of a kitchenette studio apartment at age 24).

I paid some of my credit card debt (specificially, I paid off a total of $4,000 between two cards – a $1,000 balance off on one credit card and $3,000 off on the other, leaving the remaining card with a $5,000 balance) in a few months and was working on paying down the balance).

Then, my dream job found me (for $20,000 more than my current salary) – and it just happened to be across the country. It was an opportunity I couldn’t refuse even though the company never covers moving costs (no, really), so I moved again in February 2007, again paying for movers, cross-country moving and storage costs, and adding about $3,500 to my credit card balance. That’s two moves in six months. My credit card balance is now up to $9,000. And it needs to go away.

I just turned 30 years old and I’m making $110K. There is absolutely no reason for me to have credit card debt and to not have more money saved – and I’m going to fix this in 2007.