2006 Goals Update

• Merge finances with Mike.

I've added him to my bank account, and when his direct deposit is switched, he can close down his old account. I've added him as an authorized user to my Citi Dividend card so we can earn 5% on all the gas he buys. I still need to add him as a joint owner of my savings accounts at ING and HSBC.

• Pay off personal loan to Dad.

This will be complete as soon as he cashes the check.

• Pay off Discover card.

I transferred this to a new Citi Simplicity card at 0% for 12 months, but after the next statement closing I will transfer about half of our wedding gifts out of HSBC to pay off most of it (leaving $2k as our mini emergency fund). This will leave about $200 which I will pay off by the end of April.

• Increase net worth by $10,000.

I increased my single-person net worth by an amazing $4778 during January and February, but I will be starting over again with a combined married-people net worth with Hobie on March 31. So I am revising this goal to "Increase combined net worth by $7500 between March 31 and December 31."

• Read one non-fiction book per month.

So far I have read four non-fiction books:

• A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson
• Your Money or Your Life, Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin
• I'm a Stranger Here Myself, Bill Bryson
• Debt-Proof Living, Mary M. Hunt

• Read at least five additional books, fiction

I have read one fiction book, George R.R. Martin's A Feast for Crows, and am about 100 pages into Frank Herbert's Dune. Yes, I'm a nerd, but I do read a lot of books that aren't sci-fi or fantasy, too. You'll see. :)

I'm semi-famous!

Wow! I can't believe it. My NetworthIQ was highlighted in Kara McGuire's very first Ka-Blog! post for the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune. As soon as I read my handle I shreiked and jumped up to go tell Hobie! He was fairly confused. He's not very interested in blogs, unless they're about poker.

So thanks for the mention and keep an eye out for March's new "merged" update.

I'm now a married woman! And this net worth update was the last one as a single entity. Hobie and I have decided to jump right in and merge our finances (completing one of my 2006 goals). We added him to my bank account and he'll go ahead and close his down when he gets his direct deposit transferred over. This will be so much easier than asking him for a rent check every month, and now he can look manly and pay at the restaurant every time because it's all the same pot.

I'll be creating a new NetworthIQ profile that will include both of our assets and *sigh* liabilities. The unfortunate part of this merger is that I'm back to having a negative net worth, because he's bringing in a $19k student loan and no real assets to speak of to the marriage. The debt is technically all his, but we're treating everything as "ours" because if we focus our efforts together we'll be able to tackle these debts faster.

I love how on-board Hobie is with the plan, and he didn't even read The Total Money Makeover. He's even more excited about it than I am. We've made our budget, we've got $2000 in the bank (yay for wedding gifts!) and we're ready to roll!