Happy August! I am writing this on the heels of returning from a trip that has been on my to do list for about two years. Vegas baby! I went with three friends for a “guys trip” that took us to top nightclubs and shows from top DJs. What a whirlwind!
Banking, Debt, and Investments
My recent investments have been doing very, very well. Though I can’t feel like too much of a genius, the entire market is doing well. After pondering the merits of paying off my mortgage early or investing, which I wrote about here, I made my first new stock investment in a while last month. I bought the Coca Cola Company, which pays a dividend rate higher than my mortgage interest rate. While there is some risk, I am clearly earning more in interest than I am paying per dollar when investing. I wrote all about why I picked an investment in Coke here.
My $25 automatically deposit from each paycheck into my Lending Club account has now led to an account balance over $900. My net annual returns at Lending Club are 11.81% and steadily growing as I diversify into more risky, higher interest loans. I currently have 43 active loans, 2 in funding, and 12 fully paid and I have earned $119 in interest. I love Lending Club as an alternate investment vehicle. If you want to know exactly how I make 11+% with Lending Club, check out my in depth guide to making money with Lending Club.
I have no plans to slow down my investing in the near future. My biggest focus in general is my automatic investing in my retirement accounts.
Liberty Fund Update
I have a $30,000 savings goal for my liberty fund. I started saving in August, 2012 and the fund balance is now at $25,630. I’m making great progress saving. I have been saving for a new hardwood floor for months, and it is being installed this week. That took about $2,000 from the fund.
The bulk of my liberty fund is in a combination of high interest savings accounts and a stock investment account. I suggest 360 Savings from Capital One 360 for this type of savings. I began this fund with a $5,000 emergency fund goal and have expanded it to give me more flexibility and a bigger cushion. Just don’t have too much cash in your emergency fund, and occasionally re-evaluate if your emergency fund is too big.
Side Business Income
Narrow Bridge Media – All Blogs and Online Activities
Revenue
- Private Ads, Freelance Work – $912
- AdSense – $13
- Affiliate Payments – $0
- Premium Plugin Sales – $0 (will be reported only when paid by Code Canyon) – 6 sales to date
Expenses
- Freelance Writers – $30
- Email List – $19 (Provided by Aweber)
- Web Expenses and Development – $0
This was pretty good. My goal is $1,000 per month, and this month I made over$900 in revenue. Not quite there, but I can’t complain too much.
I created a new WordPress plugin a couple months back to solve a problem I had. I was trying to convert from the Thesis Theme to Genesis (did you notice?) and couldn’t move my Thesis post images as expected. My new plugin takes care of that and is available for $10, of which I get $6 per sale.
Denver Flash Mob – Flash Mob Consulting and Planning
- Revenue – $200
- Staff Payments – $150
- Other Expenses – $0
The completely rebuilt the Denver Flash Mob website is sending me more business leads, but I don’t always have the ability to meet the requests. I ran 3 events in June and have another 6 in planning. It is keeping me busy, but I won’t fight it!
Net Worth
In total, my net worth was up $2,600, or 1.47%. I update my condo value from Zillow and update my car value based on Kelley Blue Book annually in January. I pay off my credit cards in full each payday.
I like your approach to coca cola paying higher rates than your mortgage. Sounds like a great way to offset the mortgage and still have the cash available just in case.
All that finance education is paying off by more than just a job. It effects my everyday life all the time.
Good job on the net worth increase!
Thanks! On my way to a million!
Eric you have been on a tear with that net worth increase. That chart really does look like you shot out of a rocket. Being busy is a good thing they say 6 dance mobs sound like a busy month. I still havent purchased Coca Cola yet.
What kind of freelance work do you do Eric?
Writing and web design
Wow – fantastic work. It sounds like things are really moving in your direction! Very impressive graph!