Monday, May 11, 2009

April '09 Recap

April was another good month. The market was up, and another tax refund hit, so I had a nice net worth increase of 6.91% to $334,329, on the high end. Here's what makes up that number:

Cash & Bank Accounts $47,832
Stocks/Mutual Funds $12,701
Bonds $4,860
Retirement $178,309
Credit Card -$1,028
Home Equity $75,000-$91,655
(I've been putting the home equity in as a range until I have more hard data on prices in my area.)

Expenses weren't too bad this month either. Here's the full, un-rounded dump from Quicken:

Bank Charge $60.00
Business expense $8.00
Charity $100.00
Dining:
--Breakfast $30.45
--Dinner $335.95
--Groceries $162.79
--Liquor $104.43
--Lunch $123.63
--Dining - Other -$20.00
Total Dining $737.25 (as always, the bane of my existence, over budget, though part of the reason was a $120 dinner with my sister and her family.)
Education $41.00
Entertainment:
--Movies $5.41
Total Entertainment $5.41
Gifts Given $4.88
Household:
--Laundry $8.50
--Household - Other $88.06
Total Household $96.56
Housing $2074.17
Investment Exp -$19.99
Medical:
--Dental $5.56
--Flex spend $41.66
--Health Insurance $74.20
Total Medical $121.42
Misc:
--Personal care $54.17
--Misc - Other $103.98
Total Misc $158.15
Taxes:
--Federal $891.14
--Medicare $113.74
--NYC tax $207.78
--SDI $2.60
--Soc Sec $486.31
--State $354.12
Total Taxes $2,055.69
Subscriptions:
--Internet Access $29.95
--Newspapers $42.40
Total Subscriptions $72.35
Travel:
--Commute $76.00
Total Travel $76.00
Utilities:
--Gas & Electric $109.67
--Telephone $76.06
Total Utilities $185.73

I saved over $4,000 this month if you count my 401k contributions-- not bad! It's nice to feel like I'm saving consistently again-- over the last couple of years I've had so many months where I was in the red because of new home expenses, or big travel expenses, but every month this year has had a nice cushion of net savings. Let's hope I can keep it up...wards and onwards!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know the feeling of being in the red for expenses, and feeling like you're getting pushed off your path. Congrats on returning to months of savings.

Anonymous said...

How do you only spend $76 on your commute? A monthly metrocard is $81.

Madame X said...

@ anon 2:51, I get $76 deducted from my pay every month that goes to a pre-tax transit account. I never changed the amount when teh monthly metrocard price went up, since I've been buying per-ride cards lately. I found I wasn't using the unlimited card enough to make it worthwhile.

Anonymous said...

just wondering how much % do you contribute to 401k? Your tax seems very low.

Anonymous said...

Excuse my ignorance - but you have to pay a New York STATE tax AND a separate CITY tax (alone) out of each check? If so - blimey! What is percentage of each?

I have state and local too, but it is one lump as a state deduction (total 6.7%) that is worked out annually when the returns are done.

Curious, thanks.

-FW