Good Money Blog

• Net Worth
  Our net worth went down slightly by 0.3% (-$599) despite the market meltdown.
• Bank and Cash Accounts
  The majority of our cash is now sitting at high-yield savings accounts such as HSBC Direct (3.25%-3.50% APY) and E*Trade Bank (3.30% APY).
• Other Assets
  That’s not a Zillow estimate but the price we paid ($201K) two years ago. Zestimate for our house is currently 9% higher than our purchase price.
• Investment Accounts
  • I-Bonds
    I have some I-Bonds ($10K) bought in April 2008 (~4.43% APY).
  • Portfolios
    Although our retirement portfolios dropped like a rock (-6.8% vs. S&P 500: -9.2%) in September, the 401(k) and Roth IRA accounts ($75K) are still on track to be maximized this year. If the market keeps dropping this way, I’ll consider picking up some bargains in my Zecco taxable account (-10.5%).
• Credit Cards
  I paid nearly all my expenses ($1.4K) with my favorite cash rebate credit cards - Chase Freedom (3% cash back in top 9 categories) and Chase Business Cash Rewards (3% cash back at gas stations, restaurants, and home improvement stores). The total balance is to be paid off at the end of the billing cycle.
• Loans
  We still have 20 some years to go on our mortgage ($155K).

• Food
  We spent more on food than we’d like as we dined out at least twice per week lately due to my wife’s new evening work schedule.