Finances 101

SPEND LESS THAN YOU MAKE.

It's easy to say, and it should be easy to do. But it's not.

It's not easy to do when you get kicked out of your rental home (because it is sold, mind you) and have to buy a car to travel back and forth between Atlanta and your new home. It's not easy to do when you have a friend getting married in Europe and you need … have … ought … should … would like to (?) go visit. And worst of all, it's not easy saving when you are adjusting to a new living situation and a new lifestyle.

Then when your finances take a turn for the worst and you discover that your total yearly income will be less than expected this year (and not because of anything you did or didn't do, could or couldn't have prevented), it's a bit of a shock. Adjustments must be made.

So that's what Justin and I have been working on over the past week. We've gotten comfortable with one lifestyle that now must be changed, for better or for worse.

Here are a few of our most recent financial graphs.

Here you see our assets which I am most proud of. As is typical with finances, the assets are ever-changing. As of right now, I have a wad of cash and a check that needs to be deposited into the bank that would raise our assets to above what we had in February and 3/5 of the way to my ultimate (emergency savings) goal. (YAY!) Unfortunately, the lower yearly income will drastically alter how much I am able to contribute monthly to these checking and savings accounts that make up our emergency savings since, while having an emergency savings is nice, it is not vital to living or getting out of debt. :(

And there you see our debt. Probably better seen through net worth, below:

This graph says not to waste your time or money sueing us, because you won't get hardly anything. :( That bit of green is my pitiful emergency savings in comparison to student loans, and credit card debt. The worst part: we still have more in savings than most other Americans, given that we actually HAVE SOMETHING. Scary, right?

I know a finance update isn't how anyone wants to spend the Monday following July 4th, but it was on my mind and something I haven't posted about since May. Our financial status right now looks a bit bleak, but I am hoping that change is coming … Either a change in my yearly financial expectations (and new opportunities), lower spending, or both.

Are you meeting your financial goals this summer?