Fabulous Financials

I received a small pay raise of ~3% that will increase my bi-wkly net income by ~$80. I refer to it as “small” because I’m used to double digit raises, but this salary adjustment wasn’t tied to performance, so I can’t complain. However, I am looking forward to my first semi-annual and annual performance review like a kid on his way to the toy store.

Now that I have a little extra change, what am I going to do with it?

1. Tax Adjustment: This small raise forced me to do something that I’ve been putting off since July - oh just call me the Procrastinating Queen Bee. I’ve been meaning to adjust my tax exemptions because I’ve had zero rental income since June and more business expenses than anticipated. So the first thing I did was increase my federal exemptions to 7 [I'm not a tax professional so please don't ask me how many exemptions you should claim].

2. Savings: I also reinstated a payroll allotment that was previously canceled when I achieved my eFund goal. I was supposed to redirect all extra income to my non-retirement investment goal. Remember that $5,000? Unfortunately, this summer alone, I’ve spent almost the same amount on rental property expenses. Needless to say, I probably won’t reach that goal this year. *shrug* It’s ok though. I’ll keep my eye on the prize, but I can’t worry about it right now. I’m just thankful I had the money to cover ALL rental property expenses without incurring debt. Therefore, the reinstated allotment will deposit $100 bi-wkly to a savings account that is earmarked for future rental property expenses.

Based on the above, I expect my bi-wkly net income to remain the same as pre-raise. “Every little bit helps” has proven true in this situation. The small raise made a big difference because it will help me prepare for the financial unknown(s) associated with this rental property.

Wish it could help me deal with these psychos submitting rental applications. Pure comedy! LOL

I’ve received quite a few emails about ING referrals, both to give and to receive. I seem to get an influx around the 1st of the month and I was wondering why. I won’t tell you what I was really thinking (he he he), but it finally dawned on me - I haven’t updated my ING Referral post in over TWO months. Geez, I’m such a slacker!

So here’s the deal. I only have ONE left, so whoever wants it can use this ING Referral link to open a new savings account and earn $25. As many of you know, here are the rules:

If you open this account with an initial deposit of at least $250, you will receive a $25 bonus to get you started and I will get a $10 thank you bonus. To qualify for this bonus, you must use the link.

Special offer available only through this link and can be used only once.

Bonuses are only paid for accounts that are opened with an initial deposit of at least $250. Initial deposit does not include bonus. The $25 bonus is available only for new accounts with a new Customer as primary owner. Only one bonus will be provided per household. Bonus starts earning interest upon account opening, but is unavailable for withdrawal for 30 days.

Now here’s what I’m going to do for my fabulous readers - those who want to be savers and those who are already savers. If any of you have an ING account, please feel free to post your referral links in the comment section of this post - this post ONLY. Yes, I’m allowing a free for all! But PLEASE, do NOT ask other readers to email you for a referral. Post the links only. I will delete any comments that do not follow instructions.

If someone uses your ING referral link, you will earn $10.  Every so often, I’ll update this post and call for new links. Hopefully, we can keep them fresh for anyone who wants to be financially fabulous with a new savings account - and earn a quick $25 to boot.

Oh, and if you open a new savings account using one of the links in the post/comments, come back and share your referral links to earn an additional $10/referral. Spread the love baby!

Alright y’all, post those ING referral links!!

Use mine first though. LOL!

Lots of random thoughts, so I’ll do a random update post:

Unexpected Money

When I filed my taxes this year, I had to claim the relocation benefits I received from my last employer as income, but I couldn’t write off the relocation expenses as deductions. Weird, I know, employer requirement, hard to explain. Anyhoo, because of this, I had to file a separate form with my employer and they have a process to evaluate what my tax liability would have been without the extra income. Any excess between what I paid and what I should have paid is sent to me via a refund from the employer, not Uncle Sam. Long story, short. I received the unexpected refund this week. Over $1,200.

Emergency Fund

As of today, I made the final transfer to meet my $20k e-fund goal! Because of the unexpected refund above, the balance now sits at $20.7k. I also set up a $100 bi-weekly payroll allotment for the e-fund. All extra above $20k will be earmarked for “non-retirement investing.” When it reaches $3k, I will open that long awaited Vanguard account, then redirect all extra money to to the new account.

Payday

My payroll problems were finally corrected. Benefits, tax exemptions, allotments, 401k match, retro payments/refunds, etc. - everything is kosher now. Thank da lawd! July has 3 pay periods and I plan to spend the extra cash on my rental property.

Medical Expenses

As of yesterday, the braces are completely off. BabyGirl was given two sets of retainers plus a night guard. I also made the final $250 payment, a total of ~$4,000 for 2 years of orthodontia care. Her teeth are beautiful, but with all the back and forth visits, I’m glad it’s over!

Precious’ vet bill this year was $248.69, which is $65+ more than previous years ($185 in 2007 and $177 in 2006). I’ve never had an annual vet bill more than $200, so I asked for a line by line itemized report of this year and last year. Although the secretary tried to explain the difference, I had to see for myself. About 10% was due to regular inflation that occurs every year, but one procedure was an additional $40 by itself. WTF! The reason? They send the culture to an outside lab for testing/examination and they have to pay extra for shipping/transportation expenses. In other words = FUEL!! I tell ya, this fuel crisis is hurting everything!

Car Insurance

Due to pure laziness, I didn’t research for better rates. My new 6 month (Jul-Dec) premium is $409.10 and it’s due next week. I thought this was a savings from the $468 that I used to pay, but I forgot it was reduced to $406.30 last December when I increased my deductible from $500 to $1,000. So in essence, this 6 month premium increased by $2.80. Not a lot of money, but it definitely shouldn’t be going in the wrong direction. That’s what I get for being lazy. I’m going to pay the premium in full this time, instead of the monthly payment plan. Other than saving the $1 processing fee, I just want one less bill to worry about every month.

Rental Property

My tenants are moving out this month and I’m meeting two potential tenants tomorrow morning for a scheduled tour. One is coming at 10 and the other at 11. It’s a 2 hour drive and I’m not looking forward to it. After the last tour, I’m meeting a girlfriend for lunch. She’s offered to show the property for me in the future, so I won’t have to drive down there again. But if the property isn’t rented by the end of this month, I’m turning it over to a property management company.

Edit to Add: Thank you all for bringing the blog problem to my attention. I appreciate all of the emails. I don’t know what happened to the rest of the post or why it was cut off HOURS after I published. In the original post, I provided a few updates about my summer vacation plans and my feelings about BabyGirl’s summer away, but it’s gone now and I don’t know how to fix it.

While I’m on the subject, I haven’t been blogging regularly because I’ve had quite a few computer issues lately. I don’t know if I have a computer virus or if my blog has been hacked - maybe both. So much for the Norton All-in-One Computer Protection, huh? My spreadsheets are damaged, which means all of my expense tracking and net worth details for the entire year are GONE. I’ve tried to do a system restore and file recovery, to no avail. I also keep getting “404 errors” when I publish or update posts on my blog. And some evenings, I can’t get online at all or the “high speed” connection is extremely slow. The latter may be attributed to the terrible weather we’ve had in the past few days, but trying to get online or attempting to write a blog post is challenging.

It’ll take weeks to get my spreadsheets back in order and I’ll need help with the blog issue, but everything will be fixed - eventually. If it aint one thing, it’s another. But eh, so is life. *shrug*

Blog wit’cha soon.

Only 4 months after my HSBC Dear John letter, they decide to increase the rate on their savings account to 3.5% - temporarily. I received this lovely email from them:

Dear SINGLE MA

The last time I wrote to you, I told you how committed we are to helping you get the most from your money and reach your savings goals faster.

Well, even as the economy continues to prove challenging and the Federal Reserve reduces rates, we have some good news to kick off your summer.

Your Online Savings Account rate has increased to 3.50% APY*, effective June 2, 2008. That’s up from 3.05% APY. And it’s 9x the national savings average.** This at a time when some other savings rates have been falling.

This great new rate will be available through August 15, 2008. After which, you’ll continue to get our great everyday rate. So the faster you deposit, the faster your money will grow.

And you can feel confident knowing that we’re part of the global HSBC Group ranked number one by Forbes magazine in their annual Global 2000 ranking issued on April 21, 2008.

Once again, I sincerely appreciate that you have chosen HSBC Direct as the place to make your money grow.

3.5% for TWO whole months. And it conveniently includes a link to “deposit more NOW.” Awwwwwww…too bad I’ve already found a new love with a higher rate AND a longer term commitment. Sorry HSBC. You’re a day late and a dollar short. LOL

But this may be GREAT news for others. I can’t tell if the new rate is for new money ONLY (as usual with teaser rates) or if it applies to your entire balance for the temporary term. Either way, if you’re an HSBC account holder, get your savings on while the going is good!

Ahem…for 2 months. LOL

When I peeked at my e-fund and saw a balance of $17,984, I immediately thought to myself “hmm, I should save a little more so it can be an even $20,000.” Which means I would need an additional $2,016. So in a matter of seconds, I created a new goal for myself and began adjusting my payroll allotments. Until it hit me…

Single Ma, until job #1 completes your background investigation and extends a ‘firm’ offer, you might only have 3 more pay checks coming. Be careful how much you redirect to savings. You’ll need the cash flow.

and…

Single Ma, just a few months ago, $15,000 was more than enough to sustain you and BabyGirl for 6 months. What is different today?

Both thoughts are valid, but I still want to save an additional $2k. Why? I have no idea. I need to do a better job establishing a purpose for my goals. Or else, my progress will stagnate and I’ll get bored.  And we all know what happens when I get bored. LOL