This month was uneventful in my personal finances, but very good in my business finances. I had a week long out of town trip with my family, and it was nice to get away. I also booked a 100% free flight to visit my girlfriend's family for Thanksgiving using free miles. Here is how everything worked out in October.
Banking, Debt, and Investments
Now that the end of the year is in sight, I can see the results of my automated investing plan to max out my Roth IRA, save 5%, plus a 4% match in my company’s 401(k) plan. I am looking at increasing my personal contribution to my 401(k) by 1% at the end of the year.
Last month, I started a new automated plan to invest $25 per paycheck into my Lending Club account. My annual returns at Lending Club are more than 10%, so I plan to do more with P2P over time. I also opened a new account with Prosper with $100 to invest more in peer-to-peer lending. You can get started with either Lending Club or Prosper with only $25.
Liberty Fund Update
I have a $30,000 savings goal for my liberty fund. Saving up $30,000 is not easy, but it is a goal that I know I can attain. This month, due to some unexpected expenses, I was only able to add about $1000, which brings me to a total of $16,324. My liberty fund is in a high interest savings account. I suggest Capital One 360 for this type of savings. This is an increase on my$5,000 emergency fund goal.
Side Business Income
Narrow Bridge Media – All Blogs and Online Activities
Revenue
- Private Ad Placements and Freelance Work – $374 (Several pending payments will be listed next month)
- AdSense – $42
- Affiliate Payments – $128
Expenses
- Freelance Writers – $25
This month, I added a freelance writer to help supplement my content at Narrow Bridge Finance. I also spoke with two sites about increased freelance writing.
Denver Flash Mob
- Revenue – $0
- Expenses – $0
I completely rebuilt the Denver Flash Mob website this month to help my new strategy. I am focusing less on large, public events and more on flash mob consulting. I have a pending event which was pre-paid in September and two events in planning right now.
DJ Yofi
- Revenue – $0
Net Worth
In total, my net worth was up $2,245, or 1.75% in October. I'll take it! I have not updated my home value for quite a while to be consistent, but I may do so at the end of the year. According to Zillow, my home value is up about $30,000 since my last update.
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Great job on the net worth increase!
Any increase is a step in the right direction! I have to say that I don’t really trust any of the websites which calculate home values. The ranges can be very wide; I’ve seen a $90k difference in “valuation” on my condo among sites like Zillow and Yahoo RE.
I always debate what to do with my home price. Zillow says it is worth more than I paid for it a year ago but there is so much zillow can’t.factor in so I just leave the value at my purchase price.
I think Zillow is a great guide. No source is going to be perfect, but it can give you great directional guidance.
Thats a good jump MoM. Thanks for sharing the update
I love when I have increases over 1%. It is great to watch the progress.