AskDong

Not that anyone would notice, but I decided to upgrade from Wordpress 2.0 to 2.1 Woohoo! I have to admit the whole process was quite painless. I was a bit suprised. Followed the instructions and everything worked seemlessly. Though to be honest, I couldn’t tell the difference until I noticed my links were gone. Wordpress has restructured how links were organized. A little googling and I’m back in business. I really don’t know how solved things before Google…

In addition, I’ve also added a Feedburner Subscription services. I encourage everyone to subscribe. I might even subscribe myself.

While I’ve made the decision not to post the gory details of my net worth, I have to decided to at least post the details of my IRA account(s) consolidated into one easy-to-read summary as a part of my portfolio posts.

Through the tax years 1999-2006, I’ve put in a total of $17,800. Had I put in the maximum allowed I would’ve been able to put in $23,000. I didn’t. I missed one year completely (when I bought my condo), and other years I found myself short. I wasn’t the financial maven I like to believe I am today. I’m happy with my 38% total return, not because it’s a great return over that period, but because I learned some lessons about investing along the way. Notice the shares of WCOMEQ. In the past 2 years, I’ve remodeled myself a value investor after reading Benjamin Graham’s “The Intelligent Investor”. This is not to say I don’t invest in growth stocks. I actually find the terms “growth” and “value” somewhat useless. However, I’m much more careful now. My time horizon for any one holding is now at least 3 years, and I’m trying to learn more accounting so I can actually decipher SEC filings. My long term plan is not be an active investor. I’d rather hold most of my money in mutual funds. But if there is a place to churn investments, it’s in my IRA (given the tax considerations). In the future, I will also start posting summaries of my taxable accounts, i.e. my asset allocation, yearly returns, etc. So stay tuned!

One thing I take away from many of the other personal finance blogs is how Green cheapskates are. It’s not suprising that environmental conservation goes hand in hand with frugality. Some people approach their personal finances with a desire to be rich. I’m sure many, if not all the other bloggers are motivated by this desire. However, I think most are more motivated by another reason. A desire for sustainability. It is this desire that makes someone both “Green” and a cheapskate.

I think most of the time the interests of our wallet are aligned with the best of the interests of the environment - that’s why Tilapia is cheap.

Another year, and another annual report. Unlike some of my contemparies such as 2million I don’t produce a report that is quite as detailed or reveal to the public the minutia of my finances. Call it a false sense of modesty.

Spending Percentages

Because I only use percentages, I’ve masked some less than flattering facts. While my percentage increase in spending is minimal, 0.9%, as measured as a percentage of total spending, the actual change is not. Because I made more money in 2006 than 2005, the entire pie got larger. By stating my expenses as a percentage of total outflows, I’ve masked certain year-on-year increases. In actuality, my “Food and Entertainment” spending increased nearly 20%. That’s not good, and I hope to pull that in. It’s too easy to let spending creep get the better of us. For 2007, I will try to actually break out the details in my “Food and Entertainment” category. With some discipline on my part, I hope to get the absolute number to creep back a bit.

Last year was busier than originally expected and as a result I didn’t have as much time as I wanted to spend on this blog. That’s actually not the truth. I had enough time. I was lazy. This year I hope to make things different. Like budgeting and dieting, it’s best not to be overly ambitious.  Setting yourself unreasonable goals usually leads to failure. Failure leads to fear, and that is the path to the darkside (or rather negative reinforcement). My goals are modest. I’ll try for one post a week. Now, reader(s) keep me to that promise.