Taxable Accounts:

$634.44 - Liquid Savings - 3.55% APY HSBC Savings Account
$15,509.36 - Savings - 4.0% APY Countrywide Savings Account
$6,436.82 - Checking - 2.2% APY Schwabb Investor Checking Account
$14,840.99 - Stocks - Misc. Direct Investments
$3,968.79 - Stocks - Ameritrade Izone
$3,004.75 - Stocks - Zecco
$2,710.30 - Bonds - TreasuryDirect

$47,105.45 TOTAL

Retirement Savings:

$16,711.41 - ROTH IRA - Vanguard
$1,196.91 - ROTH IRA - Scottrade
$57,923.09 - 401K - T. Rowe Price

$75,831.41 TOTAL

Debts

$2,806.19 - Student Loan - AES (3.625%)
$3,743.00 - Credit Card BT - Chase (0%)
$16,609.28 - Credit Card BT - BOA NEA (0%)
$6,887.18 - Credit Card BT - Juniper (0%)
$4,590.46 - Credit Card BT - Bank Atlantic (0%)
$18,546.00- Credit Card BT - Upromise (0%)

$53182.11 TOTAL

Housing / Automobiles

$262,629.96 - Mortgage - Countrywide
$339,500.00 - Approximate Home Value
$8,763.00 - Approximate Car Value - Edmunds.com

$85,633.04- TOTAL (Approximate Equity)

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It seems recently there has been a bit of a surge in online interest rates from the bottom where they were. Currently I am with Countrywide Savings which is still offering one of the higher rates. There are some other popular banks out there like HSBC who have recently increased their rates. The average rate is about 3.50%.

I thought I would take some time to look at the interest rates of some of the top as well as the more popular savings solutions.

Amazon.com is having yet another grocery sale with a $10 off coupon. You can find some good deals here on bulk items like coffee, and I find their prices on gluten free pasta and bread kits to be pretty good when you can use such a coupon.

Use Code: GROCJUNE to get $10 off a $25 order (only good in the grocery section). You get free shipping on a $25 order before the coupon is applied.

They also have some deals on their June Clearance Items.

As gas prices have reached over $4 per gallon in most parts of the country it seems that alternative forms of travel have been gaining popularity. According to this routers article, passenger railway Amtrak had a record increase of riders compared to last year - up 12.3%.

For some shorter trips where you need a layover or 2, the rail can be just as fast as flying. And with prices sometimes less than 1/3 of airfare its making sense to more travelers. Businesses are also trying to cut travel costs and encouraging their employees to take the train.

Federal Funding

There is growing debate whether the government should continue to fund Amtrak since it has been in red ink since its creation in 1971. The house has passed a bill that would give them $14 billion for improvements and maintenance over the next 5 years. Currently president Bush has threatened to veto this. The presidential candidates are on different sides of the issue - John McCain wants to stop funding, while Barrack Obama wants to continue it.

My Thoughs

I rarely travel on the train because it used to not be cost effective. Now with the gas prices the way they are I might have to reevaluate the savings as many Americans already have.

I’ve been hoping they would add faster train services like they have in Europe and Asia where the speeds can reach 185mph. Currently here by the time it makes stops along the way a trip to Montreal on Amtrak takes about 2-3 hours longer than it does to drive there.

According to an article by the associated press former 4 time boxing heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield is having some serious financial problems. His Atlanta mansion is under foreclosure and he is being taken to court over 2 bad debt - a $500,000 landscaping loan and $6,000 in unpaid child support.

Holyfield’s estate is not your typical foreclosure. It is a 54,000sqft home (located on a highway named for him) and features 109 rooms including 17 bathrooms 3 kitchens, and a bowling alley. A notice was published in the local paper that it will be auctioned “at public outcry to the highest bidder for cash” at courthouse on July 1.

Child Support and Other Lawsuits

There is also the threat of jail if he does not make good on a $6,000 child support payment due to one of the mothers of his nine children. The mothers lawyer is optimistic she will be paid now that his estate is in foreclosure - a 2003 trial uncovered evidence that the boxer had paid a $17,000 electric bill the previous December, largely because of an elaborate light display at the home. Without those kind of expenses looming it would certainly make it easier to pay off other debts.

He is also being sued by a company who loaned him $500,000 to landscape his sprawling estate which he has not made good on.

Squandered Earnings

Money mismanagement seems rampant in boxing. It is estimated Holyfield made hundreds of millions of dollars during his 24-year boxing career. He was part of what at the time was the richest fight in boxing history - a rematch with Mike Tyson in 1997 that reportedly earned him $34 million. Tyson is another fighter who spent most of his vast fortune.

This has forced the 45 year old to continue fighting way past his prime. No matter how much money you make, you still have to live within your means.

I’ll admit I’ve been pretty lazy over the past few years shopping around my car insurance. Its something you should do once a year as sometimes the differences between companies can save you a bundle. However rates vary state to state for different companies, and even within each state so it can be difficult to narrow down a list of what will be the cheapest plan.

Where To Look

Obviously you have the big companies most people have heard of - Allstate, Geico, Progressive, State Farm, etc. There is also the website insWeb which will compare the prices of the same policy at about 20 different companies. You can also try to search on Google for posts about cheap insurance within your state.

For those of you who do not have the time or patience to sort through all those, your local area most likely has an independent insurance agent who can search for you. Sometimes they only work with certain companies though so it can be beneficial to do some research yourself as well.

My Insurance

After comparing rates at about 30 different companies, Geico was the cheapest for me. I ended up saving about $250 a year over old policy. The only downside was I had to go get new insurance photos taken which is always a pain.

Hopefully I won’t wait a few years again before comparing rates thoroughly. That extra cash always comes in handy.

Taxable Accounts:

$798.17 - Liquid Savings - 3.55% APY HSBC Savings Account
$15,462.97 - Savings - 4.0% APY Countrywide Savings Account
$3,790.75 - Checking - 2.2% APY Schwabb Investor Checking Account
$15,996.41 - Stocks - Misc. Direct Investments
$4,749.73 - Stocks - Ameritrade Izone
$3,508.85 - Stocks - Zecco
$2,710.08 - Bonds - TreasuryDirect

$46,986.96 TOTAL

Retirement Savings:

$17,911.94 - ROTH IRA - Vanguard
$1,318.61 - ROTH IRA - Scottrade
$61,604.60 - 401K - T. Rowe Price

$80,835.15 TOTAL

Debts

$2,849.05 - Student Loan - AES (3.625%)
$3,819.00 - Credit Card BT - Chase (0%)
$16,776.28 - Credit Card BT - BOA NEA (0%)
$6,916.18 - Credit Card BT - Juniper (0%)
$4,636.82 - Credit Card BT - Bank Atlantic (0%)
$19,114.00 - Credit Card BT - Upromise (0%)

$54,101.33 TOTAL

Housing / Automobiles

$263,111.38 - Mortgage - Countrywide
$339,500.00 - Approximate Home Value
$8,774.00 - Approximate Car Value - Edmunds.com

$85,162.62 - TOTAL (Approximate Equity)

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Honestly, I haven’t been following the economic stimulus payment schedule that closely. I knew I was going to get one pretty soon but never really figured out exactly when I was going to get it.

Well, I checked my accounts through Yodlee this morning (like I do just about every morning) and noticed the following entry on my recent transactions:

05/09/2008 US TREASURY 220 TAX REFUND 050908 $ 1,200.00 Charles Schwab - Banking

I don’t really have any plans to go out and splurge with this. It probably will just end up being absorbed into regular bills and debt payoff. Still, its always nice to get a little extra cash in your pocket.

Taxable Accounts:

$796.20 - Liquid Savings - 3.55% APY HSBC Savings Account
$15,412.98 - Savings - 4.25% APY Countrywide Savings Account
$8,279.05 - Checking - 3.01% APY Schwabb Investor Checking Account
$15,466.10 - Stocks - Misc. Direct Investments
$4,959.67 - Stocks - Ameritrade Izone
$3,663.04 - Stocks - Zecco
$2,700.12 - Bonds - TreasuryDirect

$51,250.16 TOTAL

Retirement Savings:

$17,462.75 - ROTH IRA - Vanguard
$1,145.31 - ROTH IRA - Scottrade
$58,513.16 - 401K - T. Rowe Price

$77,121.22 TOTAL

Debts

$2,892.08 - Student Loan - AES (3.625%)
$3,896.00 - Credit Card BT - Chase (0%)
$16,945.28 - Credit Card BT - BOA NEA (0%)
$6,986.18 - Credit Card BT - Juniper (0%)
$4,683.65 - Credit Card BT - Bank Atlantic (0%)
$19,114.00 - Credit Card BT - Upromise (0%)

$54,517.19 TOTAL

Housing / Automobiles

$263,590.10 - Mortgage - Countrywide
$339,500.00 - Approximate Home Value
$8,829.00 - Approximate Car Value - Edmunds.com

$84,738.90 - TOTAL (Approximate Equity)

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I think I am ready to officially declare it spring here in New York. With that, it means its time to do all the summer outdoor maintenance that comes with owning a house. For me, this means:

• Changing the oil and sharpening the blades on my lawnmowers.
• Fertilizing the lawn.
• Repainting areas needing attention.
• Pest control around the house

Pilgrimage to Home Depot

Of course, all this costs money. I went to Home Depot this weekend to purchase all the various things I needed to accomplish my tasks since its close to my house and I had a 10% coupon. Even with that the cost still added up to over $100.

And that’s not the end of the outdoor activities. We will purchase some flowers around Memorial Day for the yard, possibly sealcoat the driveway, and since we have a pool that is another big expense. The joys of home ownership I guess.

Well, finally at the update for the fifth and final of my 5 financial goals for 2008. So far there are some goals I have done well with, and other that certainly need work. Here is a recap of this final goal:

5.) Put 15% Of Our Income Into 401ks
I have been doing this for quite a few years now, however my wife has not. So I would like to get both of us to save this much in our 401k accounts this year.

Status

Well, this has been another difficult goal to meet this year. I have been putting away 20% since the start of the year which has been fantastic. I think I will have no problem continuing this through the rest of the year.

On the other hand, my wife was unhappy at her job so she dropped down to part time status there. She then was working part time as well at another office… so full time hours with part time status at both places. Unfortunately since she was part time this means she no longer had access to a 401k. She was actively looking for a full time position though, so we decided against opening a traditional IRA for a few months.

She has since found a new job which she starts next week and will offer a 401k plan. So once that starts up we should be on track to get at least close to our goal for the year.

Here is an update on my fourth of 5 financial goals for 2008. Here is a recap of this goal:

4.) Earn $5,000 In Income From Side Businesses
2007 was also a bad year for side income. My friend and I have a business but we were both too busy most of the year to do much with it and our profit suffered immensely. I would like to increase my side business income to $5,000 which includes that business and other side ventures I pursue.

Progress

Well so far this year I have only made $451.10 from side income. This is only 9.02% towards my goal for the year.

I knew it wasn’t going to be good. I haven’t done as much work on my side ventures as I had hoped to at the start of the year and the numbers definitely show it. Unfortunately the next few months are going to be rather busy for me as well so I don’t think I will have time to finish up any of the side projects that have been lingering for some time.

Taking some more time to review our 5 financial goals for 2008 a quarter into the year. Our third goal for the year was:

3.) Fund at least $4,000 in our ROTH IRA’s
I have to admit, before purchasing our new home I was doing a lot better with the ROTH savings. I slacked in 2007 and even in 2008 $4,000 is less than I would like to commit but seems like realistically possible. That however means savings of about $333/mo which has not happened in January so we are already behind.

Overview

My wife and I currently have 2 separate ROTH IRA funds. My ROTH is through Vanguard and I have a direct deposit setup from my paycheck to deposit $75 there (biweekly). My wifes ROTH is through T. Rowe Price and she currently contributes $50 per month.

Goal Progress

So far this year we have contributed $630 to our ROTH IRA’s. This represents progress of only 15.75% towards the goal for the year when we should be 25% there.

In order to meet our goal we will now have to contribute $374.44 per month for the rest of the year. Unfortunately this goal has kind of taken second fiddle to our debt reduction goals which I think will continue. That seems like a more important priority right now.

Hard to admit defeat for a goal already this soon into the year though so I will continue to track it.

Here is an update on our second of 5 financial goals for 2008. The following is a recap of this goal:

2.) Pay Down 20% Of Our Non-Mortgage Debt
This is a pretty ambitious goal but I think we can do it. After the wedding and home purchase though we have quite a few assets our debt has been steadily increasing. I would like to get this completely eliminated within 3 years, and 20% will be a great start. Most of this debt is at 0% or other reasonable rates so that is why I am not overly worried about paying it all off before all else.

Starting Point

We started this year at a rather staggering sounding $148,240.40. The majority of this debt however is my wife’s student loan debt which is at a fairly low interest rate (3.85%) as well as on some 0% credit cards that have been lingering for a while.

Progress

So far this year the debt has been reduced to $133,463.69, which is a 9.97% decrease. The chart below illustrates the decrease so far:

Needless to say I am pretty pleased with the progress on this goal. I thought it was going to be ambitious when we started the year, but we were able to buckle down and cut a lot of extraneous items out of our budget. We were also helped by a rather sizable tax return which mostly went towards this.

I’m not expecting to be able to continue at this pace the rest of the year, but 20% is definitely in sight and I am thinking the goal should be upped to 25%.

Earlier this year I had set 5 financial goals for 2008. I thought I would take some time this month to reflect and check in on our progress on these goals. I’ll start today with out first goal:

1.) Better Merge Our Finances
Since getting married last year, my wife and I still haven’t fully merged our finances. Part laziness, complexity and fear has kept us from doing so. I have been working so far this year on fixing this but it is still not done yet. It probably will take a few more months to get everything fully integrated.

Checking Account

We have made quite a bit of progress on this so far. We’ve been working to switch to a joint Charles Schwab Investor Checking account. So far I have switched over most of my finances and direct deposits to this account. My wife has been paying some of her bills from this account and some from her other checking account while we are still making the transition. I’m hoping by the end of next month to have this fully converted. Checklist for this is as follows:

• Pay all utility and house related bills from checking account.
• Stop using our individual checking accounts and just use our joint one.
• Convert all credit cards to new checking account
• Get both us more involved with expenses out of this account so we do not overdraft.

Credit Cards

We have not begun merging our credit cards yet. You’ll notice I still called some expenses “her” bills. This is something that definitely needs to be worked on before the end of the year in order to meet our goals.

• Phase out my wifes American Express and merge her account into mine (since I have had mine longer and we both have the same card). This will be our primary credit card.
• Stop using our other individual credit cards and settle on some joint ones.