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Net Worth: September 2010

2 September 2010, 11:57 pm

Getting married is expensive, but having a wedding (that we didn’t pay for) makes things a little better. While we spent more money last month than any other, we still managed to scrape by with a move in the positive direction. If the stock market didn’t suck it up, we’d break the $50,000 threshold, but unfortunately that is going to have to be postponed at least another month.

Here’s the breakdown…

Assets:

Checking Account: $3,640, -$576. Opened up a joint checking account so now Wife Ninja has access to all MY money…oh wait? Did I say that out loud? Just kidding. She brought a couple thousand to this relationship, and no debt so I ain’t complaining. The account balance here will always ebb and flow as all of our money funnels through here. The $500 loss doesn’t mean much.

Savings Accounts: $16,571, +$3,524. I managed to sneak a few grand in the savings….shhh….don’t tell Wife Ninja. This is a good thing as we may have to live off our savings a little bit because Wife Ninja wont get her first paycheck for another month and I’m not sure my income can quite support our expenses.

Roth IRA: $13,646 -$165. I’m really hoping I will be able to contribute to my Roth this year, but I have to get a few grand more in the bank before I’d feel comfortable parting ways with another $5,000. I have seven more months to make it happen.

TSP (401K): $15,309, +$240. The standard 5% contribution heads this direction each month. I also get that 5% fully matched. I invest in virtually the same funds in both my Roth IRA and in my 401K so they generally perform the same.

Liabilities:

Student Loan: $0. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I love this. Yes it was $0 last month. And it will be $0 next month, and the next, and the next…. The only thing better then being a debt free bachelor is being in a debt free marriage. Have I told you to “Suck It” lately Sallie Mae?

Credit Card: $0. Just paid off over $3,500 in credit card bills for the last month. Getting married and going to Aruba is expensive. I’m sure the pain of these expenses will translate in to next months update :(

This leaves us with an overall net worth of $49,169 which is +$2,983 higher than last month. This was basically the result of one thing and one thing only. Wedding money. We got $600 for our dollar dance and another $2,500 in cash gifts. So thank you to all of our wedding guests for helping a ninja out :)

**I chose not to include possessions (including our cars) in our NW calculations, which would probably increase our worth by about $18,000.**

Filed under net worth. Tagged 
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Frugal mans paradise

1 September 2010, 11:56 pm

As I shared in an earlier blog post, I am the proud owner of a 46″ flat screen HDTV. It’s pretty much the most glorious thing I’ve ever owned and it was definitely my favorite wedding gift. But with a great TV comes great responsibility. One of those responsibilities is ensuring I’m putting that television to use. Only problem is, I’m not a huge TV guy. In fact, now that I think about it. I haven’t turned the thing on in over a week.

But that doesn’t mean I haven’t figured out how to put it to work for minimal cost. I thought I’d share with you all, a few ways I try and get the best bang for my buck.

TV:

Like I mentioned, neither Mrs. Ninja or myself, are the biggest TV fans, but that doesn’t mean we don’t poke in from time to time to see what’s on. I called the local cable companies and the cheapest “decent” package I could get (with ESPN, HGTV, MTV, etc) was $60/month. Even if I wanted just the basic local channels it would still cost $15/month. So instead I spent $20 to buy an HDTV antenna. It’s awesome. I still get all the major local channels, in high definition, with absolutely no monthly cost. It’s seriously legit. Sure, I may not get the cable channels, but I bet I could find them online if I really wanted.

Movies:

I’ve known about Netflix for a real long time. In fact, Mom Ninja bought their stock a long time ago because she knew they had something good going for them. I never really felt like I needed it because I could rent at redbox for $1/day. But then Sister Ninja got me a sweet Blu-Ray DVD player that streams Netflix, Pandora, Blockbuster, etc. Since I can watch a ton of movies via Netflix streaming, I figured it is worth the $9/month cost. I signed up yesterday for a one month free trial. I hope it is as awesome as I’m thinking it will be. Any suggestions on what to add to my “Must watch list?”

Phone:

Goodbye landline and expensive cell phone plan. Hello MagicJack. This thing is legit. It plugs right in to my computer and operates like a normal phoneline. I have a cordless phone plugged in to it and can make unlimited nationwide calling! The best thing about the MagicJack is the price. The service is only $20 for the year. That’s right. For the year!!!! That’s less than $2/month for unlimited calling anywhere. The local cable companies land line plans start at $19.99/month. You’re probably thinking “I don’t need a landline, my cell phone works just fine,” but I’d be willing to bet you would be able to lower your cell phone plan minutes, which in turn would save you a ton! MagicJack isn’t the only internet phone option, but it’s the only one I’ve tried, and I like it a lot.

I’m sure these three things are nothing knew to you, but I can’t help but share how awesome they are. They truly are a frugal man’s paradise. Now if only I could figure out a way to get internet for cheaper. Perhaps steal the neighbors? Just kidding.

Are there any other services you all know about that help save ya’ll a buck? I don’t want to be missing out on some sweet deals. And I’m serious. I want to know what movies are on your “Must watch” list, so I can add them to my Netflix queue.

p.s. I was not paid by Netflix or MagicJack for this post, however, if they wanted to pay me for it, I would gladly accept contributions in the form of burritos or tacos :)

Filed under Money Management, Uncategorized, expenses.
30 Comments

You are what you eat

31 August 2010, 11:59 pm

It’s a good thing the phrase “You are what you eat” isn’t true, otherwise I would be a french fry filled burrito…

But I did hear something the other day that I think holds a little more truth. Someone told me if you average out the income of your five closest friends, your income is probably pretty close to that average.

While I may not have asked all of my close friends their annual incomes, I think I have a good idea of what they’re making. Let’s see if this little hypothesis works…

Friend 1: $110,000

Friend 2: $70,000

Friend 3: $28,000

Friend 4: $40,000

Friend 5: $80,000

Average salary of all five friends: $65,600.

My salary: $62,000

Whoa. I guess the theory has some legitimacy to it. I need to go find richer friends…joking…kind of. Let’s run a little social experiment today shall we and see if this works out for you too. In the comments below list the average salary of your five closest friends along with your salary. If you don’t feel comfortable sharing that information you can either just say “Yeah it worked” or “This was the stupidest blog post I’ve ever read” or you can always just comment anonymously. Is your salary close to your friends’ average?

Filed under lifestyle, random.
21 Comments

The $100 discussion

30 August 2010, 12:30 am

So, Mrs. Ninja and I merged our bank accounts the other day. What’s mine is hers and whats hers is…hers. Wait that’s not right ;) Seriously though, for us combining accounts made the most sense. Merging accounts was super easy, what’s a little trickier is figuring out how to set up boundaries.

Something tells me Mrs. Ninja wouldn’t be too stoked about me dropping $300 on a sound system without clearing with her first. And I will bust a cap if she stops at Nordies and walks away with another pair of boots.

This is why we figured a spending amount should be set. We initially decided neither one of us should make a purchase over $100 without first consulting the other. But after a little more thought, decided we should lower the threshold to $50.

What we are yet to figure out is how long that $50 spending limit is good for. Say for example I find a sweet camera accessory for $42. The rules say I can buy it without having to run the purchase by Mrs. Ninja. But what if, the next day, I find a $35 jacket that I want?

This is where I think setting a spending limit falls short. Should the $50 threshold be per day/week/month? Now that I think about it, I’m kinda thinking the spending cap is pretty stupid.

Instead of saying “You can’t buy something over $50 without running it by me first”, we should just set up a budget and say we each get $100/month of  ”do whatever the heck you want with it” money. It fosters guilt free spending, but still provides the necessary boundaries. Heck, that money could even roll over for the next month. If I only spent $20 of my $100 in August, I could spend $180 in Sept. without having to ask. Not a bad idea right?

I don’t know, maybe I’m over thinking this spending allotment gig, but it’s definitely something that needs to get fine tuned. How do you peeps work the combined accounts system? I need wisdom!

Filed under expenses, forward thinking, marriage. Tagged 
41 Comments

What do you self insure?

26 August 2010, 11:59 pm

If you’re like me you pay a pretty penny each month for insurance. Health, dental, vision, car, life, renters, it seems like the policies never stop. Although I don’t mind paying for the peace of mind, I’d be lying if I pretended I was excited about the expenses. This is why I have a goal to self insure many aspects of my life. Here are a few areas I’d like to cover…

Electronic purchases:

I was a sucker for purchasing “extended warranties.” While I thought I was being responsible for doing so, I’ve come to realize that is hardly the case. Come to think of it, I can’t ever recall being able to take advantage of an extended warranty. This makes sense when you think about it. Take for example Apple Care. For $160, you get two additional years of coverage. Do you think Apple would sell Apple Care if their products typically failed within that time frame? Heck no they wouldn’t. They sell the policy because they know the chances of your device breaking down is highly unlikely, not to mention that it only takes one accidental dent/crack/chip to completely void the warranty.  I’ve bought extended warranties on every Apple product I’ve purchased, but have never once had to use them. Next time I’m offered an extended warranty I will politely decline, knowing I have the liquidity to cover any repairs if need be.

Our Cars:

Girl Ninja brought a 2005 Toyota Corolla to the marriage. Last week I was calling to get quotes to add her to my insurance policy. Since she owns her car outright, I toyed with the idea of not paying for the comprehensive and collision insurance. This means if she crashed in to another car, our insurance WOULD pay for the damage caused to the other vehicle, but it WOULD NOT cover any repairs necessary for Girl Ninja’s car. I “Blue Booked” the value of her car and saw it should sell for about $8,500. Although we have the funds to completely replace her car, we decided the small premium increase is worth it to add comprehensive and collision coverage. Once her car drops to around $5,000, then we will probably drop that coverage and self insure and damage that may be caused.

My life:

Right now I can get a $1,000,000; 20 year level term life insurance for about $30/month. I see that as a completely fair trade, but as I age my insurance premiums will increase, or even worse I may become ineligible for life insurance if I develop some serious health issues. This means I have 20 years to build up a large enough Net Worth so that my bank/retirement accounts become their own life insurance policy. If I have enough liquidity, Mrs. Ninja can rest easy at night knowing that even if I am uninsured, she will still have adequate resources to carry on without me.

That said, there are a few areas I will probably never self insure in…

Renters Insurance:

It’s soooo cheap. I pay like $10/month for $30,000 worth of coverage through AAA. It’s honestly my favorite insurance because I pay the whole year up front ($120) and have the peace of mind knowing my place can get robbed at any moment and I will be taken care of.

Health Insurance:

While I hope one day to have a small fortune, I don’t know if I will ever be wealthy enough to self insure my medical expenses. For example, Dad Ninja got in a pretty gnarly motorcycle accident two years ago where he almost lost his leg. After multiple skin grafts, a muscle transplant from his back, two weeks in the hospital, a few months in a wheelchair, and two years of physical therapy he is finally getting back to normal. While I don’t know the total cost of this entire process (probably close to $500,000 in medical expenses), I do know how much  the first night in the Emergency Room cost him…$94,000. That’s freakin’ crazy. He wasn’t in this small hospital for more than 12 hours before being transferred to a larger hospital, but he left with a medical bill of nearly $100k. Suddenly my health insurance premium doesn’t sound too bad.

There are about a billion other things one can choose to insure, self insure, or just flat out ignore. Homeowners insurance, umbrella insurance, ALIEN ABDUCTION insurance (it really exists!) to name a few. Are there any areas of your life you “go it alone” and self insure? Where do you ALWAYS plan to pay the premium?

Filed under forward thinking, lifestyle. Tagged 
33 Comments

Wedding of epic epicness

25 August 2010, 11:18 pm

Holy crap. I feel like I blinked and the wedding was over. It seriously went by so fast. Everyone told me to take a deep breath, go slow, and take it all in, but it’s just so hard when the day is as busy, hectic, exciting as it is. There are parts that I remember vividly, i.e. Mrs. Ninja walking down the aisle (yes I teared up) and parts I don’t remember at all, i.e. what song played when we cut the cake.

There are so many things that I could write about in regards to our wedding, but I’ll try and narrow it down to just a few things.

Dollar Dance:

Do you remember the little debate I had a few weeks back, asking whether the $$$ dance was tacky or reasonable? Well, you can call me Tacky Ninja ’cause we totally rocked the dollar dance hardcore. I’m quite glad we did because it gave me dedicated face time with many of our guests, but more importantly we walked away $600 richer at the end of it! Can you believe it?! Six Hundred Bones! Totally legit and I never got the vibe someone was dancing with me out of obligation or pity.

Wedding Cake:

If you recall from Mrs. Ninja’s guest post about our wedding, she shared that we were having a quasi-fake cake. The bottom three layers were all Styrofoam, and the top two layers were actual cake. Our cake ended up only costing $90 (instead of the $500 quotes from the bakery), but we definitely got what we paid for. The fake layer did not match the real layer. They were slightly different colors and the design was off. It wasn’t what we had imagined, but with a little bit of craftiness, Mrs. Ninja’s aunt was able to make it look half-decent. Fortunately, the wedding cake is not really something people remember about weddings.

Vows:

I don’t know if it’s weird to post up my vows to Mrs. Ninja here, but they are obviously a huge piece of the ceremony as it is a commitment of my life to hers. We both customized our own vows, so hers are different than mine. Here’s what I promised to her…

Mrs. Ninja, today in the presence of God, I give my life to you.

To be your husband, and your friend,

and to stand by you as we share our life together.

As Christ is to His church, so I will be to you,

a loving and faithful husband.

I will walk with you daily

and grow with you in mind and spirit,

When you cry, I will comfort you.

When you laugh, I will share your joy.

I promise to lead us towards Christ

and guide you according to His Word.

That through His grace,

we might grow together into His likeness

for as long as we both shall live.

Pictures:

This was the most important thing to me when it came to our wedding. We had seen our photographer shoot a few of our friends’ weddings, and knew we had to have him do ours. We paid a pretty penny for his services, but his pictures aren’t just photographs, they are ART!!!! We will get all the pictures in about 6 weeks, but he gave us a “sneak peek” of 34 pictures. Here are a few of ‘em….

So there is just a glimpse of what my epic wedding of epicness looked like. I wish you all could have been there, but then again, I don’t. ‘Cause if you were at my wedding, that would be really weird, and kind of creepy. Maybe I can twist Mrs. Ninja’s arm into giving you a more detailed wedding play-by-play in the future. What went well at your wedding, and what didn’t? Any regrets? Any “must-dos?”

Filed under wedding. Tagged ,
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Tomorrow I blog, today I post stupid video

24 August 2010, 10:58 pm

Good news. I took your advice and spoke with Sister Ninja (who is a computer genius) and she walked me through how to restore my busted Macbook. It turns out my 80GB Hard Drive crapped out. Fifty dollars later, I’m up and kicking with a 250GB new hard drive (self-installed).

Saved myself a crap load of money by not panicking and buying a mac mini. Thank you all. Only problem is the wife is going to bed, and I ain’t about to make her sleep by herself :)

Tomorrow I SWEAR I WILL BE BACK IN FULL FORCE, with wedding pictures, stick figures, and all my PDITF shennanigans.

I’m hoping this hilarious news interview will hold you over :)

see you tomorrow peeps!!!

Filed under random.
9 Comments

Scrolling wheel of death

24 August 2010, 12:05 am

So yesterday, I promised you all a post about my wedding. Unfortunately, I can’t write that article for you. My macbook decided to stop working yesterday, so I sit here typing on Mrs. Ninja’s computer. It was working just perfectly yesterday, when it got a little slow, so I restarted it. Only problem was, the computer never could start back up. All it does is stay on this screen during bootup….

No matter how many times I try to restart, boot in safe mode, etc, I just can’t seem to get past this stupid screen. That means there may a few changes to PDITF in the meantime.

1) Until I download Photoshop on Mrs. Ninja’s computer, I won’t be able to post up any more cartoons…I know, totally sucky

2) I may or may not be able to blog every night. I’m sure the Misses will let me hop on her computer periodically, but if she needs it, then I’m S.O.L.

3) My email/blog correspondence will be severely limited. I can still get emails via my phone throughout the day, but we all know how frustrating phone typing can get when done a lot. I’ll for sure read all my emails, just may not be resonding.

4) My net worth is probably going to go down. We are gonna try and operate as a “Single computer household” for a month to try it out, but if it doesn’t work out, we will have to buy a new computer. No fun!

5) I can’t show you pictures of the wedding because I don’t have Photoshop and can’t put those special black bars over our faces to remain anonymous. I’m hoping to have them up by the end of the week.

I’m a little bummed I can’t be back in full force, after my two and a half week break, but the Macbook gods must hate me.

I’d love some of your input on how to remedy this computer dilemma I’m facing. Would you…

1) Replace my macbook with a refurbed macbook ($800)

2) Replace my macbook with a refurbed mac mini (roughly $500-$700)

3) Give Apple the middle finger and go back to a PC

4) Go from a 2 computer household to a 1 computer household (my least favorite option)

It makes the most sense to just get by on one computer since we live together now, but honestly, I’ve always had my own computer and to not be able to use it whenever I wanted would be totally weird for me. Besides, Mrs. Ninja is a teacher and plans to bring her laptop to class with her each day. If I do replace my computer, can I use my E-fund to replace it, or is that not really an “emergency”? Any and all advise is greatly welcomed.

p.s. I will tell you this though. Marriage is totally awesome! It’s pretty much the funnest thing ever, well, except for Super Mario Kart on the Nintendo 64.

Filed under bitter blogging. Tagged ,
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$105,000 in debt…not for long.

23 August 2010, 3:15 am

I’m back from my honeymoon suckers, but as you can imagine, it’s a little crazy adjusting to life with Mrs. Ninja right now. We did a crap load of wedding gift unpacking yesterday. Today will be the last guest post I run before I get back in the swing of things. I miss you all desperately and can’t wait to share some wedding details.

Today’s guest post, come from my my man Ben, who blogs at Perspective of Ben. He’s a cool dude, so you should check him out.

Hello Ninja Readers!!

Guest poster Ben.  I want to share my situation and some things I think I’ve learned.

First: Debt: Student Loans: $80k, CC Debt: $20k, Car loan $5k, House:  We owe about what it’s worth after 6 years of payments. :(

We’ve recently started a 36 month plan, now 35 months, to pay off all CC debt, the car, a time share (lumped in with CC debt).  The trick here is to create a reasonable plan and stick to it, no matter what.  Because of this, we’re opting to put money in savings instead of paying off extra debt (right now).  We always seem to run up debt whenever we vacation or have to fix a car.  That won’t happen any more.  Once we have our small emergency fund in place, we stick to the plan.  On the plan we’re increasing in net worth at over $1500/month.  Pretty good, but we have a long way to go.  Estimated net: $-104,000.  We can do it!

What we’ve learned:  Save money where it has the most impact.  If you eat out 4 times a month at $30 a pop, saving 20% nets you very little: $24.  Now, if you save a little on eating at home we’re talking 450 meals when you look at 5 of us eating 3 times a day.  If we can save   20 cents each meal, we’re making a lot of progress: $90.  Even if you just pay attention to how much a meal costs per person is helpful.  If I pay $5 for a package of 3 personal pizzas and everyone eats 2, I’m spending more than $3/person for that meal.

Don’t go out with people that you overspend with.  We’ve tried changing the behavior, it doesn’t work.

Buy cheap wine.  If you’re paying more than $12/bottle, you’re paying to pretend that you know “good” wine.  This is probably a problem in other areas of your budget too.

Timeshares are probably not good.  What they do is force you to take a vacation which can be good, but also force you to go into debt to pay for the other expenses of vacation.  Better to put $350/month into a vacation account and only use money you have to vacation.   If you can’t do this consistently, you can’t afford a timeshare.

Things that are still killing us:  our 3 kids’ friends’ b-days.  Shoes.  Haircuts.  Qwest internet.  Regular price for people joining today after 6-month intro: $30/month.  I’m paying $44.99.  That’s what Qwest gives their loyal customers.

Filed under Uncategorized.
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Does your signature matter?

20 August 2010, 3:00 am

This guest post was written by Go Banking Rates, bringing you the important personal finance news, tools and strategies for the best ways to secure a high CD or savings account rate. Follow them on Twitter at @GoBankingRates and on Facebook at /GoBRates

In an age with rampant identity theft and credit card fraud, we do whatever we can to protect ourselves and our money. That’s what most of us think, anyway.

Take a look at your credit card. See the white strip along the back? Is your signature there?

Does it matter?

You may be surprised: It really does. It seems to be common knowledge that by not signing your card, you are somehow making it safer. Leaving it blank or printing instructions to see your ID instead will prompt the seller to check your identification and disallow an impostor from copying your signature. The problem with this well-know “fact,” however, is that it’s false. Here’s why:

Don’t Write “See ID” Instead of Signing

According to CreditCard.com, you must sign the back of your card. Writing “see ID” or “ID only” on the back of your Visa or MasterCard, for example, is not only pointless, it technically invalidates the card. A merchant isn’t supposed to complete any transaction that uses a credit card lacking a valid signature.

Don’t believe it? The VISA Rules for Merchants handbook specifically states, “See ID or Check for ID is not a valid substitute for a signature…A refusal to sign means the card is still invalid and cannot be accepted.” But wait, there’s more. The handbook also explains that if this rule is ignored, the person who processed the transaction becomes financially liable should the cardholder dispute the charge.

Signature is for Legality, Not Security

Most people believe their signature is required on the back of their credit card in order to establish identity ‚Äî the signature confirms they are the true owner of the card. Technically, the signature can be compared against the one on the receipt if a fraudulent transaction is suspected. It isn’t main purpose of the signature, though.

Your signature is actually meant to solidify a contract between you and the issuer of your card. It’s not considered valid if left unsigned because you have not fully committed to the customer agreement. By leaving this space blank or writing something other than your name, then using the card to make purchases, you are actually violating the terms of your agreement.

There Are Better Ways to Protect Your Credit Card

Think about it: How often does a merchant actually ask for your ID, no matter what’s on the back of your credit card? Most of these people never bother. When they do, they don’t even compare the signatures on both cards, they only match the names and maybe check your photo, too. Signing the back is not going to make any difference in the safety of your card.

This means your best bet is to go ahead and sign it. At least your signature would be harder to forge on receipts and you’ll be in compliance with your credit card company’s terms and conditions. Then, take some real, effective actions toward keeping your credit card safe from fraud:

  • Only carry what you need. Don’t put every piece of plastic you own in your wallet. Only bring a card if you plan to use it. If your wallet gets stolen, you won’t have to worry about canceling cards and reversing charges.
  • Write everything down. Record all of your credit card numbers, expiration dates and bank telephone numbers and keep this information somewhere safe. If a card is stolen, you can have it canceled right away, hopefully before any charges are made.
  • Check your credit report. Periodically reviewing your credit report will alert you to any fraudulent activity you were unaware of.
Filed under guest post.
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