February Financial Month in Review

End of a longer then usual February, and pretty good progress this month. Not too many Ninja Bills, out side of taxes but still OK there. We got our high yield E*Trade Savings Account (currently 4.1%) going and we have now funded half of our 2008 Property Taxes already!

Here are some highlights:

• Net Worth Increased $5019 - Huge Increase! $3000 was from Tax Return, rest from debt reduction. Take that out and still a good month!
• Debt Reduction of $1692! - Included over $500 off of Credit Card Debt!
• Tax Return - Direct to our E*Trade Complete Savings Account. Not one Dime spent. This is a big deal here as we always "talked" ourselves into a little here a little there.

Went to dinner and a movie to celebrate last night (used our allowance! Not Breaking any rules! Semi-Pro!) and we both commented how far we have come over the last few months. We are really trying to move forward on these goals and look forward to completing Baby Step #2 - The Elimination of Consumer debt.

Points to work on:

• Focusing on the Negative - Let the whole Tax Refund debacle get us under for awhile. Bounced back after refocus on progress
• Time Management - Not allocating enough time to certain areas. Work is very heavy right now with a launch of a major project. Lots of late nights...Need to remember to breathe sometimes!

Goals:

• Pay Off StateFarm CC - $2836.22 - Down to $2369 or $470 Less! Will be close to under $2K this month!
• Pay Off Car - $4594.87 - Down to $4033, $561 less than the beginning of the year!
• Pay Off CC CitiBank Platinum - $8989.16 - Now $8806, $183 less than the beginning of the year. Not the snowball debt, yet still making progress.
• Pay off all CC Debt - Getting closer everyday!
• Save 100% 2008 Property Taxes - $5000 - $3000 Saved in E*Trade Account. Saving $225 per month toward goal moving forward.
• Keep Snowball 100% Intact - Still growing! $308.43 Is the Current. Once StateFarm is paid off, it will be $654.72!
• No CC Use - For the Fifth month! Getting close to the 1/2 year mark!
• Increase Average FICO-Score to 720- No real change this month. Equifax moved from 716 to 715. Average over all three is 698.7.
• Stick to Cash Budget System - Gas is the only issue as the cheapest gas station makes it a pain to pay with cash. Paid with debit twice, but then removed cash from envelope.
• Net Worth increased by $20,000 - $5019 movement means $6156 movement for the first 1/6th of the year...Real Progress!

Baby Step Progress:

• Baby Step #2 - Paid $16,143 so far, or 23.43% done! Lot of progress!

Overall great month. Still no word on my review, but I do know that I will be retro-ed for any amount back to my due date. It is all going to the snowball, but it would be great to push the accelerator even more.

That's It! 2 down, 10 to go!

(Photo from Calendar available from Amazon)