The Professor, Author at Teachers Stacking 10's

THE PROFESSOR’S END OF Q2 2022 FINANCIAL UPDATE

This is my post showing how we are saving money both in and out of retirement accounts. I always like to read blogs that give real-life examples of those people practicing what they preach. Going forward, I will try and give a quarterly update of our financial position and the thoughts that go into it. I will warn you, I don’t have huge amounts of money socked away anywhere, but I think we have done a solid job in putting money aside. Enter your text here…

	3/31/2022	6/30/2022
Assets	March	June	Change	% Change
Cash – All checking and savings accounts	$ 10,600.77	$ 6,155.91	$ (4,444.86)	-41.9%
Stock Account (TD Ameritrade)	$ 1,358.10	$ 1,034.03	$ (324.07)	-23.9%
Index Fund (Vanguard)	$ 7,668.45	$ 5,892.47	$ (1,775.98)	-23.2%
Stock Account (M1 Finance)	$ 1,750.60	$ 1,839.99	$ 89.39	5.1%
Crypto Account (Coinbase)	$ 335.96	$ 111.94	$ (224.02)	-66.7%
My 403(b)	$ 91,992.85	$ 78,362.89	$ (13,629.96)	-14.8%
My IRA	$ 470.52	$ 389.97	$ (80.55)	-17.1%
Wife 401(k)	$ 223,780.85	$ 187,902.44	$ (35,878.41)	-16.0%
Wife 403(b)	$ 593.03	$ 1,048.74	$ 455.71	76.8%
My HCSP	$ 27,576.09	$ 24,107.97	$ (3,468.12)	-12.6%
Total Assets	$ 366,127.22	$ 306,846.35	$ (59,280.87)	-16.2%

Liabilities
Current Debt (Credit Cards, Etc.)			$ –	0.0%
Clinic	$ 368.60	$ 368.60	$ –	0.0%
Corolla Loan	$ –	$ –	$ –	0.0%
RAV4 Loan	$ 9,251.64	$ 8,172.31	$ (1,079.33)	-11.7%
My Student Loan	$ 5,559.16	$ 5,559.16	$ –	0.0%
PLUS Loan	$ 10,014.00	$ 20,220.00	$ 10,206.00	101.9%
Property #1 Mortgage (Primary)	$ 100,087.70	$ 98,489.51	$ (1,598.19)	-1.6%
HELOC (Primary)	$ 17,200.00	$ 17,069.00	$ (131.00)	-0.8%
Total Liabilities	$ 142,481.10	$ 149,878.58	$ 7,397.48	5.2%

Total Net Worth	$ 223,646.12	$ 156,967.77	$ (66,678.35)	-29.8%

Assets:

Cash – $6,155.91 Down $4,444.86

This includes all of our checking and savings account balances. I never was a big believer in the 3-6 months of savings, BUT some life changes forced me to rethink that. We are working our way up to about $25,000 in savings between our checking and savings accounts. I am finding it also gives me piece of mind to have this money just sitting there if a real emergency did arise.

Our goal by the end of this year was $10,000. That goal was reached, BUT then we got hit with a big storm in April and it tore off a bunch of our shingles. That was a bummer. We had that replaced at the end of May. We have insurance, but we have a $2,500 deductible. One positive was that the roof was about 20 years old and probably needed to be replaced in the next 5 years.

Another big expense is gas! We have 4 drivers in the house right now with our oldest back from college for the summer. Our gas bill each month has almost doubled with gas prices at all-time highs. This was a rough quarter on the cash reserves….

TD Ameritrade (taxable) – $1,034.03 Down $324.07

This is an account that I started so I could buy individual dividend growth stocks. I’ve sold some of my dividend stocks and put more into growth stocks. This account I am slowly selling off to be able to close and consolidate into other accounts that I have created. A common theme that you will see this quarter is DOWN!! The market is REALLY heading down right now!

Vanguard (taxable) – $5,892.47 Down $1,775.98

This is an account that I use to purchase Vanguard index funds. This was going to be my emergency fund, and it kind of is my current “secondary” emergency fund. My plan is to get between $10-15,000 in this account and let it grow and replenish as needed. We are putting in $500/month into this. The market has really crushed this account, BUT money still goes in each month.

M1 Finance (taxable) – $1,839.99

This is an account that I started so I could buy high growth tech stocks. I also added a “slice” that has dividend stocks as well. All in all, there are 98 total stocks in this portfolio now. The best thing about M1 is that it allows you to build a portfolio and put money into it and buy fractional shares instead of having to wait to save enough to build a position for each stock. This account went up because I added more money in this month. The tech stocks are getting hammered though.

Crypto Account (Coinbase) – $111.94 Down $224.02

This is the newest account that we made. It is a cryptocurrency account. Let’s not talk about this one. I knew it was a gamble when I bought it, and it has NOT paid off.

My 403(b) – $78,362.89 Down $13,629.96

This is my main retirement account. I have been paying into this since I started teaching. Our district currently matches $800 each year into this account. It is kind of small for having taught for 20 years, but my early years of putting money into this account robbed me of many gains. I was invested in annuities with heavy fees and surrender penalties. It’s just been in the last 8-10 years that I have really become more knowledgeable about these accounts.

My IRA – $389.97 Down $80.55

This is where I will roll over my 403(b) to when I retire. Another casualty of the 2022 market so far.

Wife 401(k) – $187,902.44 Down $35,878.41

My wife has a good job as a nurse. This 401(k) is from the organization that she used to work for. She switched jobs in December, so this account will no longer be receiving any contributions. With the total amount in the account though, it will definitely continue to see big growth as long as the market is doing well, AND big losses when the market tanks!

Wife 403(b) – $1,048.74 Up $455.71

This is her 403(b) from her new job. The new healthcare facility she works for also matches her contributions, but she has to be there for one year before she will see that match. Just keeping on putting in her contributions.

My Health Care Savings Plan (HCSP) – $24,107.97 Down $3,468.12

This is an account through our school that we both contribute to each month. It can only be used for medical expenses AFTER I retire. It has grown nicely the last 5 years. Another account hammered by the current market.

Liabilities:

Clinic – $0 Down $368.80

This is the last month paying on this. I have NOT had my back done for over a year. Maybe I’ll never have to do it again? I can hope…

RAV4 Loan – $8,172.31 Down $1,079.33

Just plugging along on this!

Corolla Loan – $0 Down $0

This is the loan for the vehicle to replace our previous car that was totaled. It’s a nice fuel efficient vehicle. My goal is to have it paid off in the next 12 months. ACHIEVED! Used part of our most recent stimulus check to completely pay this off! One yearly goal accomplished.

My Student Loan – $5,559 Unchanged

This is what’s left of my loan for my Master’s degree. With the pandemic, I was given forbearance on this loan.

PLUS Loan – $20,220 Up $10,206

And so it begins. This is the parent loan for our oldest daughter’s first year in college. This is a loan that we will work to pay off over time, but it will definitely go up each semester that she is in college. Kids…. I heard back from PSLF and I did NOT qualify at this point. I’m hoping it’s just because they are so back-logged and I did a consolidation. They did say qualifying payments will be updated over time.

Mortgage – $98,489.51 Down $1,589.19

This is the mortgage that we have on our home. The house currently appraises for about $207,000, so we do have some equity in it. We signed on our refinance at 15 years and 2.5%. It’s under $100k! We will have the house paid off just as I am ready to retire from teaching. Great timing!

HELOC – $17,069

Made one payment. We need to start really paying this off with rising interest rates.

Net worth (assets-liabilities) – $156,967.77 Down $66,678.35

Key Points:

You’ll notice that I don’t have assets linked for our major liabilities. I do NOT believe that you should include the value of your house or vehicles as assets for your net worth. You only realize those assets if you sell them, and I don’t plan on ever selling those things, but I DO have to pay off those loans. I think it gives a clearer picture of how much money you actually have.

Goals for 2022:

I’m going to keep a couple of goals here. I definitely want to get that clinic bill paid off (COMPLETE) and also fund a Roth IRA ($6,000) for the year. I was able to continue to grow the Vanguard Index account. I am planning to continue watching the current rental properties available in my area. If I can get one at a fair deal, I will definitely pull the trigger. I want to continue to diversify our portfolio by investing in growth stocks, dividend stocks, and crypto. Consolidating the student loans and applying for PSLF is another big step. COMPLETE

Another goal that I have for 2022 is creating another stream of income. I have plans in place to move forward with a pretty big project in the spring of 2022. As you all know, education is currently one of the areas that is seeing some major burnout, and unfortunately, I find myself in that category. I have no plans on leaving the profession currently, but I want to create something that could bring in some money and give me options. Well, I did it. I have started my side-gig to try and create another stream of income. I have created a Facebook page that talks about what this is. If you want, you can check it out at:

https://www.facebook.com/Scrappers.Detailing

It’s definitely not a sure thing, but I’ve already put in some good work on it. Of course, like any small business, it has taken a lot more money to get it started than it’s currently bringing in. I’m hoping to turn that around this summer. It’s a side-gig that I can work at my own pace and do what I want when I want. It’s something that I would like to get started and be able to do a little bit when I retire. That’s a few years off, BUT the state legislature has at least introduced bringing back Rule of 90. It didn’t pass this year, but IF it ever does, I’ll only have 9 years left.

I’ve been able to bring in a few hundred dollars in details so far, but I still have a little ways to go. The YouTube side of it is steadily climbing, but you can’t monetize your channel until you have 1,000 subscribers. I’m at 340 as of today, so I am making steady progress towards that. You can find the YouTube channel here:

https://www.youtube.com/c/ScrappersDetailing

Quarterly Comments:

Well, the economy is pretty much moving into a recession. It’s not surprising with the massive bull market we saw for over 10 years. We were due for one. Hopefully it doesn’t last for more than a couple of years and then starts to correct. Inflation is another big problem. Our gas expense is ridiculous and we are spending more and more for food each month. What can you do other than continue to accumulate assets as much as possible?

We are STILL trying to begin saving up money for a rental property, BUT the housing market is just too damn hot right now. There are no deals out there that aren’t gobbled up before they even get on the market. I would love to have a rental property or two for the cash flow, but it’s just not in the cards at this point. Someday……

July 1, 2022

The Professor’s End of Q1 2022 Financial Update

This is my post showing how we are saving money both in and out of retirement accounts. I always like to read blogs that give real-life examples of those people practicing what they preach. Going forward, I will try and give a quarterly update of our financial position and the thoughts that go into it. I will warn you, I don’t have huge amounts of money socked away anywhere, but I think we have done a solid job in putting money aside.

	12/31/2021	3/31/3022
Assets	December	March	Change	% Change
Cash – All checking and savings accounts	$ 11,324.39	$ 10,600.77	$ (723.62)	-6.4%
Stock Account (TD Ameritrade)	$ 1,296.93	$ 1,358.10	$ 61.17	4.7%
Index Fund (Vanguard)	$ 7,101.68	$ 7,668.45	$ 566.77	8.0%
Stock Account (M1 Finance)	$ 1,123.88	$ 1,750.60	$ 626.72	55.8%
Crypto Account (Coinbase)	$ 598.10	$ 335.96	$ (262.14)	-43.8%
My 403(b)	$ 95,716.44	$ 91,992.85	$ (3,723.59)	-3.9%
My IRA	$ 497.36	$ 470.52	$ (26.84)	-5.4%
Wife 401(k)	$ 236,763.57	$ 223,780.85	$ (12,982.72)	-5.5%
Wife 403(b)	$ 118.32	$ 593.03	$ 474.71	401.2%
My HCSP	$ 29,441.43	$ 27,576.09	$ (1,865.34)	-6.3%
Total Assets	$ 383,982.10	$ 366,127.22	$ (17,854.88)	-4.6%

Liabilities
Current Debt (Credit Cards, Etc.)			$ –	0.0%
Clinic	$ 1,568.60	$ 368.60	$ (1,200.00)	-76.5%
Corolla Loan	$ –	$ –	$ –	0.0%
RAV4 Loan	$ 10,320.63	$ 9,251.64	$ (1,068.99)	-10.4%
My Student Loan	$ 5,559.16	$ 5,559.16	$ –	0.0%
PLUS Loan	$ 10,014.00	$ 10,014.00	$ –	0.0%
Property #1 Mortgage (Primary)	$ 101,675.96	$ 100,087.70	$ (1,588.26)	-1.6%
HELOC (Primary)	$ 17,600.00	$ 17,200.00	$ (400.00)	-2.3%
Total Liabilities	$ 146,738.35	$ 142,481.10	$ (4,257.25)	-2.9%

Total Net Worth	$ 237,243.75	$ 223,646.12	$ (13,597.63)	-5.7%

Assets:

Cash – $10,600.77 Down $723.62

This includes all of our checking and savings account balances. I never was a big believer in the 3-6 months of savings, BUT some life changes forced me to rethink that. We are working our way up to about $25,000 in savings between our checking and savings accounts. I am finding it also gives me piece of mind to have this money just sitting there if a real emergency did arise.

Our goal by the end of this year was $10,000. That goal was reached. Now our goal for 2022 is $25,000. This is a lofty goal and may be difficult to achieve, but you have to set goals to give yourself motivation to go after them.

TD Ameritrade (taxable) – $1,358.10 Up $61.17

This is an account that I started so I could buy individual dividend growth stocks. I’ve sold some of my dividend stocks and put more into growth stocks. This account I am slowly selling off to be able to close and consolidate into other accounts that I have created. One of my stocks in this account, MDP, was acquired by another company so the stock was liquidated. That sounds bad, BUT I ended up making getting about $1,600 from it. Not bad from a $500 original investment! I also sold my GME stock at its most recent high of about $225. I ended up taking about a $250 loss on this stock. Dumb move on my part.

Vanguard (taxable) – $7,668.45 Up 566.77

This is an account that I use to purchase Vanguard index funds. This was going to be my emergency fund, and it kind of is my current “secondary” emergency fund. My plan is to get between $10-15,000 in this account and let it grow and replenish as needed. We are putting in $500/month into this. The market has dropped quite a bit since December, but this goes up because $500/month goes in.

M1 Finance (taxable) – $1,750.60 Up $626.72

This is an account that I started so I could buy high growth tech stocks. I also added a “slice” that has dividend stocks as well. All in all, there are 98 total stocks in this portfolio now. The best thing about M1 is that it allows you to build a portfolio and put money into it and buy fractional shares instead of having to wait to save enough to build a position for each stock. I added another $500 into this account to get more dividend stocks.

Crypto Account (Coinbase) – $335.96 Down 262.14

This is the newest account that we made. It is a cryptocurrency account. Crypto is all the rage right now, and I thought I would put a little money in to try and diversify our portfolio. Damn crypto! Ha!

My 403(b) – $91,992.85 Down $3,723.59

This is my main retirement account. I have been paying into this since I started teaching. Our district currently matches $800 each year into this account. It is kind of small for having taught for 20 years, but my early years of putting money into this account robbed me of many gains. I was invested in annuities with heavy fees and surrender penalties. It’s just been in the last 8-10 years that I have really become more knowledgeable about these accounts.

The market absolutely has tanked in 2022 for numerous reasons. I will talk more about this in the last part of the update.

My IRA – $470.52 Down $26.84

This is where I will roll over my 403(b) to when I retire. Another casualty of the 2022 market so far.

Wife 401(k) – $223,780.85 Down $12,982.72

My wife has a good job as a nurse. This 401(k) is from the organization that she used to work for. She switched jobs in December, so this account will no longer be receiving any contributions. With the total amount in the account though, it will definitely continue to see big growth as long as the market is doing well, AND big losses when the market tanks!

Wife 403(b) – $593.03 Up $474.71

This is her 403(b) from her new job. The new healthcare facility she works for also matches her contributions, but she has to be there for one year before she will see that match. Just keeping on putting in her contributions.

My Health Care Savings Plan (HCSP) – $27,576.09 Down $1,865.34

This is an account through our school that we both contribute to each month. It can only be used for medical expenses AFTER I retire. It has grown nicely the last 5 years. Another account hammered by the current market.

Liabilities:

Clinic – $368.60 Down $1,200

This is the last month paying on this. I MIGHT have to go in to have this procedure down again though. My low back has been bother me quite a bit.

RAV4 Loan – $9,251.64 Down $1,068.99

Just plugging along on this!

Corolla Loan – $0 Down $0

This is the loan for the vehicle to replace our previous car that was totaled. It’s a nice fuel efficient vehicle. My goal is to have it paid off in the next 12 months. ACHIEVED! Used part of our most recent stimulus check to completely pay this off! One yearly goal accomplished.

My Student Loan – $5,559 Unchanged

This is what’s left of my loan for my Master’s degree. With the pandemic, I was given forbearance on this loan.

PLUS Loan – $10,014.00 Down $200

And so it begins. This is the parent loan for our oldest daughter’s first year in college. This is a loan that we will work to pay off over time, but it will definitely go up each semester that she is in college. Kids…. We will get another $10,000 added to this loan in January for the second semester. I will then be doing a consolidation of my student loan and this loan. The consolidation is done and now just waiting to hear if it qualifies for the PSLF.

Mortgage – $100,087.70 Down $1,588.26

This is the mortgage that we have on our home. The house currently appraises for about $207,000, so we do have some equity in it. We signed on our refinance at 15 years and 2.5%. We will have the house paid off just as I am ready to retire from teaching. Great timing!

HELOC – $17,200 Down $400

Made two $200 payments.

Net worth (assets-liabilities) – $237,243.75 Up $36,346.81

Key Points:

You’ll notice that I don’t have assets linked for our major liabilities. I do NOT believe that you should include the value of your house or vehicles as assets for your net worth. You only realize those assets if you sell them, and I don’t plan on ever selling those things, but I DO have to pay off those loans. I think it gives a clearer picture of how much money you actually have.

Goals for 2022:

I’m going to keep a couple of goals here. I definitely want to get that clinic bill paid off (COMPLETE) and also fund a Roth IRA ($6,000) for the year. I was able to continue to grow the Vanguard Index account. I am planning to continue watching the current rental properties available in my area. If I can get one at a fair deal, I will definitely pull the trigger. I want to continue to diversify our portfolio by investing in growth stocks, dividend stocks, and crypto. Consolidating the student loans and applying for PSLF is another big step. COMPLETE

Another goal that I have for 2022 is creating another stream of income. I have plans in place to move forward with a pretty big project in the spring of 2022. As you all know, education is currently one of the areas that is seeing some major burnout, and unfortunately, I find myself in that category. I have no plans on leaving the profession currently, but I want to create something that could bring in some money and give me options. Well, I did it. I have started my side-gig to try and create another stream of income. I have created a Facebook page that talks about what this is. If you want, you can check it out at:

https://www.facebook.com/Scrappers.Detailing

It’s definitely not a sure thing, but I’ve already put in some good work on it. Of course, like any small business, it has taken a lot more money to get it started than it’s currently bringing in. I’m hoping to turn that around this summer. It’s a side-gig that I can work at my own pace and do what I want when I want. It’s something that I would like to get started and be able to do a little bit when I retire. That’s a few years off, BUT the state legislature has at least introduced bringing back Rule of 90. It won’t pass this year, but I have time. Once it passes, I only have 9 more years until retirement!

Quarterly Comments:

For all the growth in Q4 of 2021, Q1 of 2022 has started out with a complete thud. It’s not surprising. The market had been on an epic run since about 2008. It had to turn eventually. The war in Ukraine has had a serious impact on the world economy and energy market, which has really thrown our economy for a loop. Hopefully the ship gets righted a bit in Q2.

We are STILL trying to begin saving up money for a rental property, BUT the housing market is just too damn hot right now. There are no deals out there that aren’t gobbled up before they even get on the market. I would love to have a rental property or two for the cash flow, but it’s just not in the cards at this point. Someday……

So how’s your financial situation? Throw some thoughts down in the comments and as always….

KEEP STACKIN!

April 2, 2022

Exciting Side Hustle!

I just wanted to drop a quick post to let everyone know that the side hustle that I mentioned in my last post is close to going live. It is going to go live the first week of March. It has taken a lot of work and will continue to be work going forward, but I’m excited at the possibilities that it presents. Once it’s live and moving forward, I will let everyone know exactly what it is so you can see what I’ve been up to.

Until then, KEEP STACKIN!

February 11, 2022

Teacher’s New Year Financial Checklist

Welcome to 2022!

It’s crazy that another year has come and gone. Hopefully 2022 is better than 2021, but I’m not gonna hold my breath on that…

As we move into another year, it’s important that you take a good look at your financial picture to make sure you are on the right path to ensure your financial well-being in the future. I’m going to discuss 4? important areas that you should check.

1. 403(b)/IRA/Roth Contributions

The New Year is a good time to look back at the total contributions you made to your retirement accounts the previous year. These retirement accounts are your best vehicles to saving for your future retirement. If you aren’t maxing out your contributions to these accounts, consider increasing the amount you contribute for 2022. Some people calculate their contributions by a percent of their salary while others contribute a fixed $ amount per paycheck. Talk to your business office about upping your contributions by a percent or two. Even and extra $25/paycheck will add up to a nice dollar amount after years of compounding.

2. Analyze Your Budget

This is an often overlooked task that many people dread doing. To take control of your financial future, you MUST look back to your past. Look back at 2021 and calculate what all of your expenses were and what categories are they in. You can do this by hand, OR more realistically, you should let a software program do it for you. There are many options out there like Mint, Personal Capital, Quicken, just to name a few. This can be a painful experience for many people when they realize they spent $400/month on Amazon.com buying wants instead of necessities. (Yes, I catch myself on that site too much and it’s one of my 2022 goals to cut that spending!)

3. Find places to cut costs

Once you have studied your spending from the previous year, it’s time to hunt for areas to cut costs. It’s common for people to look at their big expense areas and try to cut costs in those areas, but it’s also just as important to look at those costs you “think” are fixed. Shop around for your home and auto insurance to see if you can save by switching to a different company. Most insurance companies just continue to raise your rates year after year the longer you are with them. Look at your cell phone bill and see if you can drop to a cheaper plan. Look at your online subscriptions and see if you really need Hulu/Netflix/Amazon Prime/Disney+/etc… My goal for 2022 is to lower our spending on groceries. I hate to admit that we waste far too much food in our household. With one child off at college, our food bill should go down (depending on how much inflation keeps rising of course!) Whatever you cut in this area, may be able to cover the increased retirement contributions.

4. Look at your job situation

Education has often been an occupation where a teacher starts their career at one school and maybe leaves after a year or two, but then settles into that district and remains their for the rest of their teaching years. This can be a great as it allows a teacher to become comfortable in that position and create structure in their lives, BUT it can also rob them of higher earnings and a greater net worth because they may stay in a low-paying district their entire career. Most of you have probably noticed that teachers are retiring or leaving the profession in the greatest numbers on record. This has created openings in every content area and in every part of the state. It SHOULD be on your radar to at least take a look at some of these openings in other districts to see if you are leaving money on the table by staying in your current district. “Job-hopping” is very common in the private sector and also one of the best ways to increase your earning potential.

In conclusion, your financial future is in your hands. These uncertain times have shown us that school districts are NOT worried about your financial interests. Don’t be afraid to step back and look at YOUR picture and what is best for you and as always…

KEEP STACKIN!

January 19, 2022

THE PROFESSOR’S END OF Q4 2021 FINANCIAL UPDATE

This is my post showing how we are saving money both in and out of retirement accounts. I always like to read blogs that give real-life examples of those people practicing what they preach. Going forward, I will try and give a quarterly update of our financial position and the thoughts that go into it. I will warn you, I don’t have huge amounts of money socked away anywhere, but I think we have done a solid job in putting money aside.

	9/30/2021	12/31/2021
Assets	September	December	Change	% Change
Cash – All checking and savings accounts	$ 7,114.66	$ 11,324.39	$ 4,209.73	59.2%
Stock Account (TD Ameritrade)	$ 3,487.78	$ 1,296.93	$ (2,190.85)	-62.8%
Index Fund (Vanguard)	$ 7,347.75	$ 7,101.68	$ (246.07)	-3.3%
Stock Account (M1 Finance)	$ 386.04	$ 1,123.88	$ 737.84	191.1%
Crypto Account (Coinbase)	$ –	$ 598.10	$ 598.10	0.0%
My 403(b)	$ 87,532.49	$ 95,716.44	$ 8,183.95	9.3%
My IRA	$ 418.52	$ 497.36	$ 78.84	18.8%
Wife 401(k)	$ 217,695.93	$ 236,763.57	$ 19,067.64	8.8%
Wife 403(b)	$ –	$ 118.32	$ 118.32	0.0%
My HCSP	$ 27,686.70	$ 29,441.43	$ 1,754.73	6.3%
Total Assets	$ 351,669.87	$ 383,982.10	$ 32,312.23	9.2%

Liabilities
Current Debt (Credit Cards, Etc.)			$ –	0.0%
Clinic	$ 2,768.60	$ 1,568.60	$ (1,200.00)	-43.3%
Corolla Loan	$ –	$ –	$ –	0.0%
RAV4 Loan	$ 11,378.84	$ 10,320.63	$ (1,058.21)	-9.3%
My Student Loan	$ 5,559.16	$ 5,559.16	$ –	0.0%
PLUS Loan	$ 10,214.00	$ 10,014.00	$ (200.00)	-2.0%
Property #1 Mortgage (Primary)	$ 103,254.33	$ 101,675.96	$ (1,578.37)	-1.5%
HELOC (Primary)	$ 17,600.00	$ 17,600.00	$ –	0.0%
Total Liabilities	$ 150,774.93	$ 146,738.35	$ (4,036.58)	-2.7%

Total Net Worth	$ 200,894.94	$ 237,243.75	$ 36,348.81	18.1%

Assets:

Cash – $11,324.39 Up $4,209.73

This includes all of our checking and savings account balances. I never was a big believer in the 3-6 months of savings, BUT some life changes forced me to rethink that. We are working our way up to about $25,000 in savings between our checking and savings accounts. I am finding it also gives me piece of mind to have this money just sitting there if a real emergency did arise.

Our goal by the end of this year was $10,000. That goal was reached. Now our goal for 2022 is $25,000.

TD Ameritrade (taxable) – $1,296.93 Down $2,190.85

This is an account that I started so I could buy individual dividend growth stocks. I’ve sold some of my dividend stocks and put more into growth stocks. This account I am slowly selling off to be able to close and consolidate into other accounts that I have created. One of my stocks in this account, MDP, was acquired by another company so the stock was liquidated. That sounds bad, BUT I ended up making getting about $1,600 from it. Not bad from a $500 original investment! I also sold my GME stock at its most recent high of about $225. I ended up taking about a $250 loss on this stock. Dumb move on my part.

Vanguard (taxable) – $7,101.68 Down $246.07

This is an account that I use to purchase Vanguard index funds. This was going to be my emergency fund, and it kind of is my current “secondary” emergency fund. My plan is to get between $10-15,000 in this account and let it grow and replenish as needed. We are putting in $500/month into this. One of the stocks in this account dropped quite a bit from the end of quarter 3. It’s still a winner, but just not that HUGE winner it was at the end of Q3.

M1 Finance (taxable) – $1,123.88 Up $737.84

This is an account that I started so I could buy high growth tech stocks. I also added a “slice” that has dividend stocks as well. All in all, there are 98 total stocks in this portfolio now. The best thing about M1 is that it allows you to build a portfolio and put money into it and buy fractional shares instead of having to wait to save enough to build a position for each stock. Will add money to this as I can.

Crypto Account (Coinbase) – $598.10 Up $98.10

This is the newest account that we made. It is a cryptocurrency account. Crypto is all the rage right now, and I thought I would put a little money in to try and diversify our portfolio. I put $500 into this a few weeks ago. It’s currently up almost $100, but the thing about crypto is that it’s the most volatile asset you can own. It is not unusual for this to see 40% swings in a matter of a few days. I don’t plan on putting massive amounts of money in here. Only small parts of our total net worth.

My 403(b) – $95,716.44 Up $8,183.95

This is my main retirement account. I have been paying into this since I started teaching. Our district currently matches $800 each year into this account. It is kind of small for having taught for 20 years, but my early years of putting money into this account robbed me of many gains. I was invested in annuities with heavy fees and surrender penalties. It’s just been in the last 8-10 years that I have really become more knowledgeable about these accounts.

The market made a BIG bounce back in Q4.

My IRA – $497.36 Up $78.84

This is where I will roll over my 403(b) to when I retire. I added $48 this quarter. The reason was to be able to purchase another share of VTI. I had $180 just sitting in the money market there and I wanted it to “work” a little harder!

Wife 401(k) – $236,763.57 Up $19,067.64

My wife has a good job as a nurse. This 401(k) is from the organization that she used to work for. She switched jobs in December, so this account will no longer be receiving any contributions. With the total amount in the account though, it will definitely continue to see big growth as long as the market is doing well.

Wife 403(b) – $188.32 Up $118.32

This is her 403(b) from her new job. The new healthcare facility she works for also matches her contributions, but she has to be there for one year before she will see that match.

My Health Care Savings Plan (HCSP) – $29,441.43 Up $1,754.73

This is an account through our school that we both contribute to each month. It can only be used for medical expenses AFTER I retire. It has grown nicely the last 5 years. It has also regained all its losses from the collapse and continues to grow and reinvest its dividends.

Liabilities:

Clinic – $1,568.60

It sucks to have low-back pain. We are still paying $400/month on the payment plan. There is NO interest on this so I am in no rush to pay it back. The low-back procedure does NOT seem to be having the same positive effect it used to though, so I do not plan on having it done again.

RAV4 Loan – $10,320.63 Down $1,058.21

We had to add another vehicle to our “fleet” in 2019 due to another driver in the household. We also needed a little bit larger one with two teenage girls. Slowly working this one down.

Corolla Loan – $0 Down $0

This is the loan for the vehicle to replace our previous car that was totaled. It’s a nice fuel efficient vehicle. My goal is to have it paid off in the next 12 months. ACHIEVED! Used part of our most recent stimulus check to completely pay this off! One yearly goal accomplished.

My Student Loan – $5,559 Unchanged

This is what’s left of my loan for my Master’s degree. With the pandemic, I was given forbearance on this loan.

PLUS Loan – $10,014.00 Down $200

And so it begins. This is the parent loan for our oldest daughter’s first year in college. This is a loan that we will work to pay off over time, but it will definitely go up each semester that she is in college. Kids…. We will get another $10,000 added to this loan in January for the second semester. I will then be doing a consolidation of my student loan and this loan. The hope is that it will then qualify for the “special” PSLF program that is currently in place. If it did, that would be a huge win. If not, then we will start the long process of repaying these loans.

Mortgage – $101,675.96 Down $1,578.37

This is the mortgage that we have on our home. The house currently appraises for about $207,000, so we do have some equity in it. We signed on our refinance at 15 years and 2.5%. We will have the house paid off just as I am ready to retire from teaching. Great timing!

HELOC – $17,600 Same

No payment on this at this time.

Net worth (assets-liabilities) – $237,243.75 Up $36,346.81

Key Points:

You’ll notice that I don’t have assets linked for our major liabilities. I do NOT believe that you should include the value of your house or vehicles as assets for your net worth. You only realize those assets if you sell them, and I don’t plan on ever selling those things, but I DO have to pay off those loans. I think it gives a clearer picture of how much money you actually have.

Goals for 2022:

I’m going to keep a couple of goals here. I definitely want to get that clinic bill paid off and also fund a Roth IRA ($6,000) for the year. I was able to continue to grow the Vanguard Index account. I am planning to continue watching the current rental properties available in my area. If I can get one at a fair deal, I will definitely pull the trigger. I want to continue to diversify our portfolio by investing in growth stocks, dividend stocks, and crypto. Consolidating the student loans and applying for PSLF is another big step.

Another goal that I have for 2022 is creating another stream of income. I have plans in place to move forward with a pretty big project in the spring of 2022. As you all know, education is currently one of the areas that is seeing some major burnout, and unfortunately, I find myself in that category. I have no plans on leaving the profession currently, but I want to create something that could bring in some money and give me options. It’s definitely not a sure thing, so I am not going to give out too many details at this time. Hopefully by the end of Q1 in 2022, I will have a little more information.

Quarterly Comments:

Some huge growth in Q4. Most of it was due to a big recovery in the market from Q3. We also did a better job of building our savings and adding to investments. Hopefully the growth continues, but 2022 is looking like it could be a rough year for the markets. Inflation seems to be the big topic of the day.

We are STILL trying to begin saving up money for a rental property, BUT the housing market is just too damn hot right now. There are no deals out there that aren’t gobbled up before they even get on the market. I would love to have a rental property or two for the cash flow, but it’s just not in the cards at this point. Someday……

So how’s your financial situation? Throw some thoughts down in the comments and as always….

KEEP STACKIN!

January 2, 2022

The Professor’s End of Q3 2021 Financial Update

This is my post showing how we are saving money both in and out of retirement accounts. I always like to read blogs that give real-life examples of those people practicing what they preach. Going forward, I will try and give a quarterly update of our financial position and the thoughts that go into it. I will warn you, I don’t have huge amounts of money socked away anywhere, but I think we have done a solid job in putting money aside.

	6/30/2021	9/30/2021
Assets	June	September	Change	% Change
Cash – All checking and savings accounts	$ 4,050.56	$ 7,114.66	$ 3,064.10	75.6%
Stock Account (TD Ameritrade)	$ 3,171.68	$ 3,487.78	$ 316.10	10.0%
Index Fund (Vanguard)	$ 6,003.14	$ 7,347.75	$ 1,344.61	22.4%
Stock Account (M1 Finance)	$ 307.96	$ 386.04	$ 78.08	25.4%
My 403(b)	$ 87,355.43	$ 87,532.49	$ 177.06	0.2%
My IRA	$ 418.65	$ 418.52	$ (0.13)	0.0%
Wife 401(k)	$ 216,150.84	$ 217,695.93	$ 1,545.09	0.7%
My HCSP	$ 27,582.39	$ 27,686.70	$ 104.31	0.4%
Total Assets	$ 345,040.65	$ 351,669.87	$ 6,629.22	1.9%

Liabilities
Current Debt (Credit Cards, Etc.)			$ –	0.0%
Clinic	$ 2,436.30	$ 2,768.60	$ 332.30	13.6%
Corolla Loan	$ –	$ –	$ –	0.0%
RAV4 Loan	$ 12,425.89	$ 11,378.84	$ (1,047.05)	-8.4%
My Student Loan	$ 5,559.16	$ 5,559.16	$ –	0.0%
PLUS Loan	$ –	$ 10,214.00	$ 10,214.00	0.0%
Property #1 Mortgage (Primary)	$ 104,822.88	$ 103,254.33	$ (1,568.55)	-1.5%
HELOC (Primary)	$ 17,800.00	$ 17,600.00	$ (200.00)	-1.1%
Total Liabilities	$ 143,044.23	$ 150,774.93	$ 7,730.70	5.4%

Total Net Worth	$ 201,996.42	$ 200,894.94	$ (1,101.48)	-0.5%

Assets:

Cash – $7,144.66 Up $3,064.10

This includes all of our checking and savings account balances. I’m not a big believer in carrying 3-6 month emergency fund. We have enough room on credit cards to put any emergency purchases on and then pay them off with our other accounts before those bills are due. These types of accounts just don’t return enough in interest to provide any value to me. This account always seems to stay pretty steady.

We need to build this up more. My goal is to build this to $10,000 by the end of the year.

TD Ameritrade (taxable) – $3,487.78 Up $316.10

This is an account that I started so I could buy individual dividend growth stocks. I’ve sold some of my dividend stocks and put more into growth stocks. This is the reason for the increase in this account.

Vanguard (taxable) – $7,347.75 Up $1,344.61

This is an account that I use to purchase Vanguard index funds. This is where I prefer to keep my “emergency” fund. I know that I need to grow this out more in case of any significant emergency expense. My plan is to get between $10-15,000 in this account and let it grow and replenish as needed. We are putting in $500/month into this. Steady growth and savings here.

M1 Finance (taxable) – $386.04 Up $78.08

This is an account that I started so I could buy high growth tech stocks. It allows you to build a portfolio and put money into it and buy fractional shares instead of having to wait to save enough to build a position for each stock. Will add some as I can to this. Was able to dump in $100, but these tech stocks are really floundering right now.

My 403(b) – $87,532.49 Up $177.06

This is my main retirement account. I have been paying into this since I started teaching. Our district currently matches $800 each year into this account. It is kind of small for having taught for 20 years, but my early years of putting money into this account robbed me of many gains. I was invested in annuities with heavy fees and surrender penalties. It’s just been in the last 8-10 years that I have really become more knowledgeable about these accounts.

The market struggled in Q3.

My IRA – $418.52 Down $0.13

This is where I will roll over my 403(b) to when I retire. No money added this quarter.

Wife 401(k) – $217,695.93 Up $1,545.09

My wife has a good job as a nurse and the organization that she works for contributes 9% of her salary each year into this account. She’s also contributing 13.5% of her salary so about 20% of her salary goes here each year. This is the account that I learned first-hand the power of compounding.

My Health Care Savings Plan (HCSP) – $27,686.70 Up $104.31

This is an account through our school that we both contribute to each month. It can only be used for medical expenses AFTER I retire. It has grown nicely the last 5 years. It has also regained all its losses from the collapse and continues to grow and reinvest its dividends.

Liabilities:

Clinic – $2,768.60 Up $332

It sucks to have low-back pain. I just got one of my procedures done again. I think I will be able to skip the other side though. We are still paying $400/month on the payment plan. There is NO interest on this so I am in no rush to pay it back.

RAV4 Loan – $11,378.84 Down $1,047.05

We had to add another vehicle to our “fleet” in 2019 due to another driver in the household. We also needed a little bit larger one with two teenage girls. Slowly working this one down.

Corolla Loan – $0 Down $0

This is the loan for the vehicle to replace our previous car that was totaled. It’s a nice fuel efficient vehicle. My goal is to have it paid off in the next 12 months. ACHIEVED! Used part of our most recent stimulus check to completely pay this off! One yearly goal accomplished.

My Student Loan – $5,559 Unchanged

This is what’s left of my loan for my Master’s degree. With the pandemic, I was given forbearance on this loan.

PLUS Loan – $10,214.00 Up $10,214.00

And so it begins. This is the parent loan for our oldest daughter’s first year in college. This is a loan that we will work to pay off over time, but it will definitely go up each semester that she is in college. Kids….

Mortgage – $103,254.33 Down $1,568.55

This is the mortgage that we have on our home. The house currently appraises for about $207,000, so we do have some equity in it. We signed on our refinance at 15 years and 2.5%. We will have the house paid off just as I am ready to retire from teaching. Great timing!

HELOC – $17,600 Down $200

Made a small $200 payment on this.

Net worth (assets-liabilities) – $200,894.94 Down $1,101.48

Key Points:

You’ll notice that I don’t have assets linked for our major liabilities. I do NOT believe that you should include the value of your house or vehicles as assets for your net worth. You only realize those assets if you sell them, and I don’t plan on ever selling those things, but I DO have to pay off those loans. I think it gives a clearer picture of how much money you actually have. This actually dropped due to adding that PLUS Loan.

Goals for 2021:

I’m going to keep a couple of goals here. I definitely want to get that clinic bill paid off and also fund a Roth IRA ($6,000) for the year. I was able to continue to grow the Vanguard Index account. I am planning to continue watching the current rental properties available in my area. If I can get one at a fair deal, I will definitely pull the trigger. We do have a senior that will be heading off to college next fall, so that will be a BIG expense, but one that will definitely be worth it for her. We are still debating if we will take out a parent loan or pull money from our HELOC to cover her tuition each quarter. We are looking into interest rates on school loans for parents. Whichever way we go, that will eat up our cashflow for a few years…. It’s always somethin….

Quarterly Comments:

The stock market was a major bummer this quarter, but it can’t shoot up all the time. We could be looking at very slow climbs for the next couple of quarters or even YEARS… The college stuff is a major expense that we really didn’t save properly for in the past. Of course, 10 years ago anytime we had any money to save, we found ways to spend it instead of saving or investing. I’m glad we were able to get on the right path about 4 years ago and get moving in the right direction or we wouldn’t have been able to even get a loan for our daughter’s college education.

We are STILL trying to begin saving up money for a rental property, BUT the housing market is just too damn hot right now. There are no deals out there that aren’t gobbled up before they even get on the market. I would love to have a rental property or two for the cash flow, but it’s just not in the cards at this point. Someday……

So how’s your financial situation? Throw some thoughts down in the comments and as always….

KEEP STACKIN!

October 11, 2021

The Built In “Advantage” for Teachers to Turbocharge Their Retirement

“NEVER get a summer job!”

Those were the first words I was told at the opening workshop day breakfast for the school I’ve been working at for the past 22 years. The veteran teacher that gave me and the other new teachers this advice that day had very sound reasoning for his directive. “Once you start working in the summer, you’ll start counting on that income as part of your budget, and you’ll never be able to quit!” He had started working and helping at his parent’s small-town bar 30 years earlier and was still working that job every summer all those years later. He had grown accustomed to that “extra” money he made and couldn’t just walk away. If us new teachers started working in the summers, we too, would grow accustomed to this income and never be able to walk away.

So why am I telling you this anecdote of a day so many years ago? Because it contains some valuable truth, but at the same time, a giant missed opportunity, or more importantly, a teacher’s advantage.

The truth of his statement is what happens to most Americans. As their incomes continue to grow, a term we have used here before starts to happen, “lifestyle creep”. People see their incomes rise and they allow their expenses to rise with them. Before you know it, you are spending as much as you are making and living paycheck to paycheck. Not the real “American dream” but unfortunately, the “American reality”.

So where is this opportunity, or advantage? It still is picking up that summer job, BUT instead of allowing lifestyle creep to work its way into your life, any income you make in the summer goes DIRECTLY into an IRA or Roth account. The money should NEVER make it into your daily checking or savings accounts. If it does, it will magically find its way into your monthly spending and budget. Don’t allow yourself to fall into this trap, or you will lose your teacher’s “advantage”.

So why am I calling this the teacher’s “advantage? Well, if your district is like mine, your salary is paid in 12-monthly installments. You have your monthly income that SHOULD be covering all of your expenses AND funding your 403(b) account. (If that’s not the case, I suggest you look at your budget and where you can cut some costs!) This means you have the opportunity in June, July, and August to work a second job or some other side hustle that will allow you to turbocharge your retirement and give you that teacher’s “advantage”. It really is the only profession that allows you to have 3 months to pick up some side work.

What kind of work could that be? Oh, that could be a whole post in itself, but some quick ideas are things like mowing, bartending, retail sales, landscaping (if you’re younger) etc… You could even teach summer school (No thanks for me). Just don’t burn yourself out at school doing all the “extra” stuff. Most teachers need that time away in the summer to “recharge” their batteries and be mentally ready for the next school year.

Hopefully this gives you some ideas on turbocharging your retirement and using your teacher’s “advantage and as always….

KEEP STACKIN!

July 16, 2021

Chase Sapphire Preferred 100,000 Bonus Point Offer!

Hello Stackers!

I wanted to make a short post letting all of our readers know about Chase’s bonus points offer on their Sapphire Preferred card. I reviewed this card from this post back in October of 2019. I had gotten the card to take advantage of the 60,000 bonus points when I spent $4,000 in the first 4 months. Well, now Chase is offering 100,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 in your first 3 months! This is their biggest offer yet! Those bonus points can be used through their Chase Rewards site that lets you spend on a variety of options, but TRAVEL is the best option. Each point on your Sapphire Preferred card is worth 1.5 points in their Chase Rewards portal. This is a huge offer.

I must remind you though that if you do decide to take the offer that you MUST pay that credit card bill in full each month! Do NOT carry that balance forward or the interest will negate any benefits you get through Chase Rewards. You might not think that you could spend $4,000 in the first 3 months, but look into whether or not you could pay all of your monthly bills through your card. I still pay all of my bills through my Chase cards to accumulate points. I just wish they would give this offer to existing users of the Sapphire Preferred card.

One final note, the Chase Sapphire card does have a $95/year annual fee. For me, it’s well worth the fee because I take advantage of much more than that in travel every other year. You will have to decide for yourself if this card would be worth it to you. If it seems like it would be worth it, you can apply for the card by clicking this link. In full transparency, this site will receive a small commission if you use this link to apply for the card, and it would be much appreciated.

Until next time…

KEEP STACKIN!

July 5, 2021

THE PROFESSOR’S END OF Q2 2021 FINANCIAL UPDATE

This is my post showing how we are saving money both in and out of retirement accounts. I always like to read blogs that give real-life examples of those people practicing what they preach. Going forward, I will try and give a quarterly update of our financial position and the thoughts that go into it. I will warn you, I don’t have huge amounts of money socked away anywhere, but I think we have done a solid job in putting money aside.

Q1 in 2020 was good for us financially. We still aren’t as “liquid” as I would like. We need to increase our savings to be able to weather any financial storms, but we are working to get there.

*Always keep in mind, these numbers DO NOT include my teacher pension. My goal is to make that money just a part of our financial future and NOT the entire amount we will have.

	3/31/2021	6/30/2021
Assets	March	June	Change	% Change
Cash – All checking and savings accounts	$ 3,442.64	$ 4,050.56	$ 607.92	17.7%
Stock Account (TD Ameritrade)	$ 2,936.92	$ 3,171.68	$ 234.76	8.0%
Index Fund (Vanguard)	$ 6,708.94	$ 6,003.14	$ (705.80)	-10.5%
Stock Account (M1 Finance)	$ 163.56	$ 307.96	$ 144.40	88.3%
My 403(b)	$ 80,516.82	$ 87,355.43	$ 6,838.61	8.5%
My IRA	$ 401.28	$ 418.65	$ 17.37	4.3%
Wife 401(k)	$ 198,779.61	$ 216,150.84	$ 17,371.23	8.7%
My HCSP	$ 25,642.17	$ 27,582.39	$ 1,940.22	7.6%
Total Assets	$ 318,591.94	$ 345,040.65	$ 26,448.71	8.3%

Liabilities
Current Debt (Credit Cards, Etc.)			$ –	0.0%
Clinic	$ 2,387.24	$ 2,436.30	$ 49.06	2.1%
Corolla Loan	$ –	$ –	$ –	0.0%
RAV4 Loan	$ 13,467.50	$ 12,425.89	$ (1,041.61)	-7.7%
My Student Loan	$ 5,559.16	$ 5,559.16	$ –	0.0%
Property #1 Mortgage (Primary)	$ 106,381.55	$ 104,822.88	$ (1,558.67)	-1.5%
HELOC (Primary)	$ 10,000.00	$ 17,800.00	$ 7,800.00	78.0%
Total Liabilities	$ 137,795.45	$ 143,044.23	$ 5,248.78	3.8%

Total Net Worth	$ 180,796.49	$ 201,996.42	$ 21,199.93	11.7%

Assets:

Cash – $4050.56 Up $607.92

This includes all of our checking and savings account balances. I’m not a big believer in carrying 3-6 month emergency fund. We have enough room on credit cards to put any emergency purchases on and then pay them off with our other accounts before those bills are due. These types of accounts just don’t return enough in interest to provide any value to me. This account always seems to stay pretty steady.

We need to build this up more. My goal is to build this to $10,000 by the end of the year.

TD Ameritrade (taxable) – $2,936.92 Up $234.76

This is an account that I started so I could buy individual dividend growth stocks. I’ve sold some of my dividend stocks and put more into growth stocks. This is the reason for the increase in this account.

Vanguard (taxable) – $6003.14 Down 705.80

This is an account that I use to purchase Vanguard index funds. This is where I prefer to keep my “emergency” fund. I know that I need to grow this out more in case of any significant emergency expense. My plan is to get between $10-15,000 in this account and let it grow and replenish as needed. We are putting in $500/month into this. Steady growth and savings here. We did have to pull out some to pay for some oral surgery for our youngest’s wisdom teeth.

M1 Finance (taxable) – $307.96 Up $144.40

This is an account that I started so I could buy high growth tech stocks. It allows you to build a portfolio and put money into it and buy fractional shares instead of having to wait to save enough to build a position for each stock. Will add some as I can to this. Was able to dump in $100 and these tech stocks recovered nicely in Q2.

My 403(b) – $87,355.43 Up $6838.61

This is my main retirement account. I have been paying into this since I started teaching. Our district currently matches $800 each year into this account. It is kind of small for having taught for 20 years, but my early years of putting money into this account robbed me of many gains. I was invested in annuities with heavy fees and surrender penalties. It’s just been in the last 8-10 years that I have really become more knowledgeable about these accounts.

It’s continuing to climb.

My IRA – $418.65 Up $17.37

This is where I will roll over my 403(b) to when I retire. No money added this quarter.

Wife 401(k) – $216,150.84 Up $17,371.23

My wife has a good job as a nurse and the organization that she works for contributes 9% of her salary each year into this account. She’s also contributing 12.5% of her salary so about 20% of her salary goes here each year. This is the account that I learned first-hand the power of compounding.

Market continues to go up. We did up her contributions to 12.5% from 11.5%.We were able to BLOW past that $200k mark! This account reinvests almost $2,500/year in dividends. The power of compounding!

My Health Care Savings Plan (HCSP) – $27,582.39 Up $1,940.22

This is an account through our school that we both contribute to each month. It can only be used for medical expenses AFTER I retire. It has grown nicely the last 5 years. It has also regained all its losses from the collapse and continues to grow and reinvest its dividends.

Liabilities:

Clinic – $2,436.30 UP $49.06

It sucks to have low-back pain. I just got one of my procedures done again. I think I will be able to skip the other side though. We are still paying $400/month on the payment plan. There is NO interest on this so I am in no rush to pay it back.

RAV4 Loan – $12,425.89 Down $1,041.61

We had to add another vehicle to our “fleet” in 2019 due to another driver in the household. We also needed a little bit larger one with two teenage girls. Slowly working this one down.

Corolla Loan – $0 Down $0

This is the loan for the vehicle to replace our previous car that was totaled. It’s a nice fuel efficient vehicle. My goal is to have it paid off in the next 12 months. ACHIEVED! Used part of our most recent stimulus check to completely pay this off! One yearly goal accomplished.

My Student Loan – $5,559 Unchanged

This is what’s left of my loan for my Master’s degree. With the pandemic, I was given forbearance on this loan.

Mortgage – $104,822.88 Down $1,558.67

This is the mortgage that we have on our home. The house currently appraises for about $207,000, so we do have some equity in it. We signed on our refinance at 15 years and 2.5%. We will have the house paid off just as I am ready to retire from teaching. Great timing!

HELOC – $17,800 Up $7,800

Ughh. This is my biggest regret this quarter. We pulled money out to completely pay off a couple of random credit cards that had been hanging over us for a bit stemming back to my basement remodel last spring. One positive is that we are now COMPLETELY credit card debt free as we make our payment in full each month. We only use 2 different cards now for the bonus points that they give us for travel.

Net worth (assets-liabilities) – $201,966.42 Up $21,199.93

Key Points:

You’ll notice that I don’t have assets linked for our major liabilities. I do NOT believe that you should include the value of your house or vehicles as assets for your net worth. You only realize those assets if you sell them, and I don’t plan on ever selling those things, but I DO have to pay off those loans. I think it gives a clearer picture of how much money you actually have.

Goals for 2021:

I’m going to keep a couple of goals here. I definitely want to get that clinic bill paid off and also fund a Roth IRA ($6,000) for the year. I was able to continue to grow the Vanguard Index account. I am planning to continue watching the current rental properties available in my area. If I can get one at a fair deal, I will definitely pull the trigger. We do have a senior that will be heading off to college next fall, so that will be a BIG expense, but one that will definitely be worth it for her. We are still debating if we will take out a parent loan or pull money from our HELOC to cover her tuition each quarter. We are looking into interest rates on school loans for parents. Whichever way we go, that will eat up our cashflow for a few years…. It’s always somethin….

Quarterly Comments:

Another big quarter in the market. It’s amazing to see how money compounds once you reach that 6-figure mark. It grows by itself far more than we could ever contribute to it. This area continues to be our shining star, but it also highlights the trouble with how “illiquid” we are. Like most middle-class Americans, the vast majority of our net worth is tied up in our home equity and our retirement accounts. The home equity really means nothing because we aren’t using that to create any income, and our retirement accounts are pretty much untouchable until age 59.5, so we will just continue to plod along and make every effort we can to break out of the rat race.

I was very disappointed in those two credit cards that we had to pay off. We should NEVER have to carry a credit card balance again, but now we have to focus on starting to pay down that HELOC. I am working shifts at our local golf course this summer to try and pick up some extra cash to build up for the college payment in the fall, so we don’t have to pull “as much” from our HELOC for that big tuition bill coming due.

We are STILL trying to begin saving up money for a rental property, BUT the housing market is just too damn hot right now. There are no deals out there that aren’t gobbled up before they even get on the market. I would love to have a rental property or two for the cash flow, but it’s just not in the cards at this point. Someday……

So how’s your financial situation? Throw some thoughts down in the comments and as always….

KEEP STACKIN!

July 1, 2021

Saving Money By Doing My Own Basement Remodel!

I feel like I need to start this post off by saying that I know that this won’t be for everyone. I have always been a handy person. I’m not saying this to toot my own horn because much of the work that I did, can be done by most people with a little bit of research. With YouTube, you can learn how to do almost anything. One YouTuber that I got a TON of information from was Basement Finishing Guy. His videos were extremely helpful and gave me tons of insight into how to do things correctly.

I’m also very lucky that I have access to most of the equipment that I used. Even if you can’t do all of the work that I did, you could definitely choose parts to tackle yourself and save some money.

This whole project was always something that I always wanted to do, but it took a heavy rainfall last March to push me over the edge. We had gotten some water in the finished side of our basement in the past, but this time it really flooded one corner. If I would have done a little investigating, I would have found that the reason it flooded was because the small window well had filled with water and flooded in through the window. But I was convinced that we had a crack in the cement wall so I just started tearing down the paneling and drywall and framing. Lo and behold, no crack! Well, the carpet still had to come out, so I just went with it. I still wanted to make a larger window in that room and also put a larger window in my daughter’s basement bedroom to make it legal. She’s been in that bedroom for a couple years, and I knew that I would feel more comfortable having a large, legal egress window there, so away I went.

The first stage of the remodel required me to demo the entire family room and one wall in her bedroom. It took some work, but it didn’t require much in terms of “construction” knowledge. I just had to tear out all the old drywall and paneling and remove the carpet and pad. This first picture is the beginning of the tear out phase. This is where the leak occurred. It was a little “rash” on my part to just start tearing things out, but as you can see along the base of the wall, it was only a matter of time before that 2×2 stud was completely rotted out. This wasn’t the first time that water had penetrated into that wall. The picture on the far right is about halfway through the demolition phase.

The second phase of the project was the main reason for the renovation. The installation of the egress windows. As you can see in the pictures above, the previous windows were those small windows that would not allow anyone to escape. This phase of the project did require me to hire a company to do the actual cutting of the concrete. I was able to dig out the “well” for the window before they arrived as they told me, “We just cut. We don’t touch a shovel.” Boy, am I glad I hired them. They showed up with over $150,000 worth of equipment and a saw blade that made my size 12 shoe look like a kid’s toy. They completed the job in less than 2 hours. If I would have tried to cut it myself, they told me that it would have taken me a week and I would have had cuts that were completely unsquare. It ended up costing $1,150, but sometimes you need to bring in the professionals. Once they had cut the openings, I went right to work boxing in the opening with framing and installing the 48″x48″ sliding windows. The pictures below show the hole I dug and filled with 3/4″ rock, the saw blade they showed up with, and how it looked after I got one of the windows installed. Once the inside was finished. I moved to the exterior and installed the egress wells. It just so happened that I did this part on one of the hottest days of the summer, but I knew I wanted to get them in before we got any heavy rains. This was also the most expensive parts of the remodel as I went with a modular type egress system. The total for these was about $1,700. I attached them to the concrete foundation with a hammer drill and some anchor wedges. They turned out fabulous.

Phase three of the project was installing can lights into the ceiling. I installed two rows of four cans separated an equal distance apart. This was a pretty easy installation. The more difficult part was the wiring. I contacted my brother-in-law electrician and we talked through the steps involved. I also watched a YouTube video. It took a solid 3-4 hours, but I was able to get everything wired into place. You can see the picture on the lower left below with the lights installed and on. The hardest part of this phase was the wiring in the box for the switches. I installed the lights so that they were controlled in two zones. The front four lights controlled by one dimmer switch and the back four lights on a separate dimmer switch. Again, speaking with my brother-in-law, I was able to get these lights wired correctly without any real problems.

The next phase was to install insulation on the exterior walls and frame out 2×4 walls. I watched a LOT of different videos to make sure that I framed the walls correctly. As I mentioned before, Basement Finishing Guy on YouTube really has some great videos on this part. I watched his 6-Part Basement Framing Series probably 4-5 times through to make sure I did everything correctly. I started by attaching 2″ rigid foam insulation to the bare concrete with proper adhesive. Once those were attached, I framed the two exterior walls following all the steps that were shown. This is where a remodel project really starts to take shape. There is something about seeing these perfectly straight 2x4s all lined up that is just so satisfying. The picture on the lower left is from the family room, and the lower right is from my daughter’s bedroom.

Once the walls were framed up, I proceeded to attach new outlet boxes to the walls and wire them in. This was much easier than wiring in the can lights. I made sure to check the proper electrical codes and attach the boxes in the proper positions and secure the wires correctly. I only zapped myself one time when I grabbed the old metal box on the sides. It was a small jolt like back when we used to brush up against the electric cattle fence. Once that was complete, I started to hang sheetrock. Doing sheetrock, or drywall, is a pain in the ass. I had to have the TA come over one day to help hang the sheets on the ceiling because each sheet is about 50 lbs. Not only is the stuff heavy, but cutting out for lights and outlets is dusty as heck. A Rotozip tool makes it easy to cut the holes out, BUT it’s also easy to make a mistake as you can see in the picture on the lower left. One thing I would probably do differently if I did it again would be to add furring strips to the ceiling to even out some of the unevenness in the joists. There were a couple of them that caused us some issues during hanging. Even so, it turned out pretty well. As with everything, I watched a lot of videos on how to do the drywall properly. A big help for my was DIY Home Renovision’s Drywall Installation Guide. I watched these videos over and over as well. He’s also got other great videos on things you can do in your home.

Hanging the drywall took a day, and then it was time to mud and tape. This part of the job took me the longest time because it’s very fine work AND you have to give the drywall “mud” time to dry. It’s also TERRIBLY messy, especially when working on the ceiling joints. One YouTuber in particular, Vancouver Carpenter, was a great help in my “mudding” process. The middle two pictures are before I applied mud. The picture on the right is of my “finished” work in the family room.

Next, I primed all the walls with a quality primer/sealer, and then painted. Nothing too exciting there. Then I installed a Dri-Cor subfloor that will prevent the new carpet from getting wet again IF any water does happen to infiltrate the basement. This system involves 2×2 sheets of plywood that have a dimpled plastic laminated to the bottom to keep the organic material off the concrete floor. It also gives some R-value insulation to the floor to make it feel warmer. Again, I found a great video online that helped with this install. This was a pretty simple install as the pieces are tongue and groove. I did attach them to the floor in spots with a hammer drill and concrete screws as per the manufacturer’s instructions since we were going to be installing carpet underneath. Once that was finished, I installed trim and baseboard around the room before the final step.

The final stage of the project was carpet installation. Again, I hired professionals to do this part of the job as it is another pain in the ass to lay carpet and padding out. This was another pretty large cost as we went with a higher quality carpet that will last and be resistant to mold, mildew, and stains. You can see in the two pictures below the before and after carpet look of the room.

It definitely wasn’t a cheap project, but by doing a lot of the work myself, I was able to save a TON of money. My total cost for the project was about $12,000. That’s just for materials and a few tools I used on the project. Most contractors say to find your materials cost and double it to account for labor costs. I did pay for labor for the cutting of the concrete and for the carpet installation. I’d say a fair estimate for the total cost would have been at least $20,000 if I would have hired the whole project out. I’m glad that I did this project last year instead of this year as costs of some building products, especially lumber, have tripled!

All in all, I think the project went very well. I didn’t really mind the electrical work and framing. The drywall and mud/tape was definitely a job that takes some skill and practice to do well. There are spots in my mud job where you can see imperfections, but for the cost, it looks pretty good to me!

This all might seem like a lot of work and really complex, but YouTube can be your best friend. You can learn how to do almost anything by going there and watching videos. The videos I linked throughout this article are the ONLY reason that I was able to tackle this job. I was definitely nervous doing a project of this scope, but as we tell our students, “Knowledge is power.” With the explosion of the Internet the last 20 years, there has never been more knowledge out there available for everyone to take advantage of. That being said, I am NOT affiliated with ANY of the links that I have included in this post. I included them for you to see how easy it is to learn from people that are out there on YouTube.

Hopefully this inspires you to look at your own situation and what you can do in your remodeling projects to save a little money and as always….

KEEP STACKIN!