Debt at start of blog (July 2008): $51,497.33
Debt at end of January 2009: $40,674.60
Difference: $10,822.73
Current Breakdown:
Car loan (at 5.75%): $17,496.79
Grad School Loan (at 6.55%): $8,097.19
Undergrad Loan (at 3.35%): $15,080.62
This month I put an additional $162.20 toward the grad school loan. This was composed of profits from selling things on Amazon. Since I’m almost out of inventory to sell on Amazon, this week I started listing a few things on ebay, we’ll see how it goes.
When I first found out I was moving back to the east coast from Hawaii, I got in touch with an old co-worker, and she encouraged me to apply for a job opening in my old office. Though the interview was a big success, they wanted someone to start 4 months before I was able to move back. They didn’t hire me at that point, but they did assure me that as soon as another opportunity arose, I would be at the top of their list.
About a month ago, my old co-worker requested my resume, and told me she couldn’t answer any questions yet. Now she has asked me to lunch to “catch up.” This may be a social visit, but given the nature of our friendship, I can’t help but think this means she has a job lead for me. It may not be the case, so I’m trying not to get too excited, but after 4 months of searching for a job with few results and even fewer responses, I can’t help but hope that the tide may finally be turning.
For tax purposes, my investment firm sent me summary statements for my IRA and mutual fund. It was very depressing. Though I’m very proud of how much I’ve contributed (actually a little shocked!) I was very sad to see how much the funds are actually worth.
Roth IRA
value as of 12/31/07: $7,588.74
additions: $5,000
change in investment value: -$4373.49
ending value: $8215.25
Mutual Fund
value as of 12/31/07: $4,255.62
additions: $6,000
change in investment value: -$3477.11
ending value: $6,778.51
YUCK!
Now, I know that I’m in my 20’s and I do keep investing each month so that when the economy picks back up, my investments will pick up and probably do quite well. I’m also sure that this is not the only economic downturn that will occur over the next 30 years, so I need to just breathe, and realize that this happens, but the market will eventually come back. It still just makes me feel bummed. I manage to put $10,500 in mutual funds over the years, and it’s worth less than $7,000.
However, I probably shouldn’t complain, I have 30+ years to save for retirement. I know that there are many people who are retired now, or who will retire in the next year or so, that are in much worse shape than I am.
So, I weighed in for weight watchers today, and it looks like I gained .2 pounds. I can’t say that I’m shocked, my sister was visiting for most of last week, and that led to a lot more eating out, less exercise, and (probably what had the biggest impact) me not keeping track of my points. I resolve to do much better about recording this week, because I know from previous experience that if I stick to the plan, I will lose the weight.
So despite my rocky start rejoining weight watchers on-line, I managed to clean up my eating habits enough by the end of the week to lose 3 pounds!
Obviously I don’t expect results this dramatic every week. If my previous weight watchers experience is any indication, the pounds will shed more quickly at the beginning, and then slow down a bit as I get closer to my goal. I believe this is mainly because the first few weeks are a shock to your system, so it reacts a lot faster. Either way, I’m very pleased with my results so far!
