Personal Update – 2nd Quarter 2013

It’s been a busy few months for me. Unfortunately, I had to put some house work at the top of my priorities, so I had to put off any real blogging activity for the past couple of months. It was tough for me to do because I finally felt like I was getting some traction. I believe I’ll have more time in the coming months, depending on how well I manage it anyway, so I hope to write regularly again.

Mentions

At least two people are reading, or have read my blog at some point. It’s a nice feeling, because it can be a little disconcerting writing when there is a possibility no one is reading this blog.

The folks over at the Credit Karma Blog mentioned me in their Link Roundup on May 10th. They featured my article on Financial Freedom vs. Financial Independence.

Must read from @budget4wealth, Zillow’s Financial Blogger of the Week: Is Mortgage Refinancing a Good Option? http://t.co/VxAsl4yk50

— Zillow (@zillow) April 30, 2013

2nd Quarter Summary

• We’re still maxing out our 401(k) and 457 plans at work through payroll deductions. Because my wife makes a considerable amount more than I do, we had to reduce her contributions from 15% to 14% of her pay so she wouldn’t hit the $17,500 limit before the end of the year. It’s been six months since we started maxing out our bi-weekly contributions at work and it hasn’t been all that bad. Take home pay was not dramatically reduced and we’re deferring a lot of taxable pay.
• I filled out a one page application for a review of my property value and sent it in to the county tax assessor early on in the year. Since the value is calculated on January 1st of every year, I was able to get them to reduce the taxable value of the property (since property values in my area were significantly lower then), saving me a little over $1,000 in property taxes. Not bad for just an hour of effort.
• Every since we moved into our house, we’ve been collecting recyclables of aluminum cans, glass, and plastic bottles on the side of the house. It was starting to get a little crazy with all of the full black garbage bags taking over the side yard. We finally borrowed a minivan, filled it up, and took it to the scrap yard. We received a little over $50 for our efforts, which was a little disappointing. However, it’s better than the alternative of throwing it away due to the monetary and environmental consequences. I put that money into my daughter’s 529 plan.
• We got a small tax refund, so like I had planned, I opened up a regular taxable investing account at Fidelity. I ended up purchasing the Fidelity Spartan Extended Market Index Fund (Investor Class) with the initial funds. I also linked my Fidelity American Express Rewards Card to the account and have had two automatic rewards transfers already.
• Our automatic deposits to our emergency fund continued and we’re now at the 3 month coverage mark.