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I am twenty-nine years old. I work as an assistant production manager and my yearly salary is $52,000. I live in NYC, aka the most expensive place on earth, and am often wondering why on earth I left my last job where room and board were part of my salary.
Saving & Spending
To my utter shock (and I seriously mean utter shock), my net worth not only went up this month, but it’s the highest it’s been so far, after the unpleasant dip in savings from moving. I suspect the stock market is just on my side right now, but I’ll roll with it. Certainly makes me feel better.
I managed to contribute a whopping $200 bucks to my emergency savings and a few hundred to my IRA. Not awesome, but at least I put something in each of those accounts.
My credit card is PISSED at me right now. I’m still waiting for my check from the show I worked props for (it’s not scary late – like I’m gonna have to hunt the guy down and fight yet, but it is getting a little irritating) so my credit card balance has about $150 of props purchases on it that my reimbursement check will cover. The actual cash from that project is going in the couch fund.
I filed my taxes this month. That was brilliant. I am totally going to write a long and crazy, raving post sometime next month about my experience with taxes this year and how the tax filing system needs to be reworked… in my humble opinion. Suffice to say, since it was way too complicated for me to tackle on my own, I had to get help and Turbo Tax freaked out when I tried to use it. I had like 18 different states to do tax returns for. I wound up at H&R Block and overall, to get my taxes totally filed, it cost me about $180. I then owed the government $61. Awesome. I should get about $150 back in assorted state taxes, so once those checks start showing up, that will also help my angry credit card.
Then I got a flat tire. So that was cool. Maybe it can just be patched, I thought. But no. Firestone dashed my hopes. And took me for nearly $200 as well.
And after those 3 hits to my credit card, I thought, what the heck? Let’s just keep going and since I’d racked up several days off, I took a road trip to Virginia to catch up with some old circus friends. I grabbed lunch with one best friend from high school in Baltimore on the way down and lunch with another best friend from high school in Washington on the way back. I also drank copiously while out with friends in Virginia.
This was roughly 4 days after drinking copiously with an old friend from working on ships in a bar in NYC. Funny story. 4 drinks in NYC = my bar tab AND 2 friends’ bar tabs in Virginia.
Oh, and then the best credit card story of the month – I logged on to check my balances about a week ago because I wanted to apply for a new rewards card and was thinking about how to hit the spending limits on it for the sign up bonus and found that my one credit card was twice what I thought it would be. I don’t keep perfect tabs on how much I’m spending and, like I mentioned, I felt like I was getting hit by charges left and right this month, nonetheless, it didn’t seem right. I checked it out and one charge was for $700 to iRobot.com. Do you know what that is? Rumbas. Flipping robot vacuums. Someone stole my credit card and charged $700 of robot vacuums to it. All I could think of was this:
Sigh. At least I was amused while I was pissed off.
So my whole credit card and net worth statement may still be a little off as Capital One and I are resolving it. So, another post next month is likely to be an update on how well that goes. I’ve usually been pretty pleased with their customer service so far.
Oh yeah, and I lost my Metrocard again. Sweet mother of pearl. I’m sewing it into my jacket liner.
Net Worth: February 2014
My goals are pretty much the same as last month. I’m still contributing to my IRA, so I think I’ll be able to get that maxed out and I want to get my emergency savings up to at least $5,000. I’d also like to invest in another stock.
The side hustles are going ok. Made a little extra this month mystery shopping and building props. I’ve also got an idea for another side hustle that I’m trying to get up on it’s feet.
All around, not a bad month.
Even with the bumps this month, it turned out well. Any idea how the CC got stolen? Did you lose a big balance on the metro card? Slow and steady wins the race!
Brian@ Debt Discipline recently posted…Week End Round Up # 22
I have no idea other than maybe the whole Target thing back around Christmas.
My Metrocard is a monthly card from work, so I just had to buy a ticket to get home that night and one to get to the replacement center the next morning. At least that was better than last time.
Wow! You’ve had a pretty crappy month! $700 worth of robotic vacuums?? There are some WEIRD thieves out there!
Keep up the good work on tracking your net worth, I’m 5 years older than you and really wish I had have started earlier.
I’m planning to retire when I’m 55 with $10m. If I had an extra 5 years, I could have retired with $18m!
Shoulda, could, woulda…
Mr Ikonz @ Project Ikonz recently posted…Hiring tools or buying tools – which way do I save the most money?
Dang, even starting after me, you’re killing it. I’m aiming for about 1.5 million to be able to retire and I’m pretty sure I’m going to be cutting it close unless I develop some much better side hustles.
I’m not quite there yet. 🙂
My last net worth update in January had me at $241k and I’m about to update for February.
My approach isn’t for everyone, my investment strategy is aggressive, with gearing, but I use a beta portfolio of index ETFs, combined with rental properties.
I focus on the investing and debt reduction aspects and less on saving. If you have time& check out the net worth section of my blog.
Mr Ikonz @ Project Ikonz recently posted…Hiring tools or buying tools – which way do I save the most money?
I have such anxiety over the location of my metro card at all times. I once dropped it in SOHO while running some errands for someone, I realized later on and started weeping. Through my mess of ugly tears I retraced my steps and actually FOUD IT fluttering around Prince Street. Miracle.
Stefanie @ The Broke and Beautiful Life recently posted…Moving Forward: Fast, Slow, and Constant.
I left my keys on the sidewalk in front of Macy’s in Herald Square after unlocking my bike, biked to meet a friend, then realized I didn’t have my keys as I was trying to lock it up. Biked back to Macy’s and found my keys right there on the sidewalk where I left them. Phew!
Leslie Beslie recently posted…Using New York City Libraries
OMG. Roombas? Please watch this and laugh thinking that somewhere that asshole is making his $700 roomba in to a DJ:
Michelle @fitisthenewpoor recently posted…Weekly Roundup #19: Try New Things
Aw. It blocked your link for some reason. Personally, I like to imagine a crazy old cat man with a bunch of the roomba’s going with cats riding them. And they are his only friends in the world.
I respect you for posting your salary. I’m a little too cautious to do this myself but it is so useful for people who want to move here. Especially those who think you can’t live here on $40K, $50K, or even $60K! You also seem to be doing really well, so keep it up!
Thanks – I think it’s important to talk about personal finance and point out that there are plenty of us random middle class folks trying to make it work too. In any city (but, yeah, especially NY) and in any career (but hey, look at that, you can make a living wage with a theater degree… not to beat a dead horse).
I am totally in your camp with the taxes. I am delaying working on mine because I quite frankly can’t handle cold weather and snow and the IRS. But I am a very smart person, and taxes should just not be that complicated. It is also awful that the code is so wacky that people can barely “plan” for their taxes throughout the year. I would love to know that I was going to have to pay “x” dollars in April. I don’t even care what the number is as long as I could plan for it.
Shannon @ Financially Blonde recently posted…Top Ten Movies with a Twist
Ugh. Agreed. There seriously has to be a better way to set up the system. Why not: You made this much. So you owe us X%. Did you already give us that? Cool. Did you give us more? We’ll send it back. Did you give us less? Send us more.
I could handle that.
After reading several of your posts now and putting it all together with the title, I see that you are writing about your journey of a broke girl who goes rich. It’s pretty awesome that you are able to share so many tips with saving money and getting quick jobs and such with everyone here at your blog. Thanks for sharing this update with us at Countdown in Style! 🙂
Brittnei recently posted…Natural Remedies to Help Cure a Urinary Tract Infection
Holy crap it sounds like you had a rough/frustrating month, so it’s awesome that your net worth went up. And taxes. OMG why can’t we just do away with taxes and pay increased sales tax or something. Not perfect, but at least I wouldn’t want to curse the government while I’m wasting hours of my time filing them. I sit there and think “Okay, you’re a smart guy. You have advanced degrees. You can do math and read. You should be able to understand this.” But nope. Not a chance. Each hour I spend on my taxes is good for at least 2 “What the hell?” exclamations. I can only imagine having earning income in half of the United States.
Ryan @ Impersonal Finance recently posted…travel is historically cheap, but you can still save on it
No kidding. Mother of pearl. By the end of it I just wanted to scream “Take my money! Take all my money! Just make it stop!”
Thank you for being open about your salary. I was getting by on much less as a student there, and it’s always nice to know what people are making and getting by on. I hate when people say you can’t get by in NYC without 50k. People do it everyday! I’m sorry for your crappy month 🙁 That is no fun. Hopefully that will be enough bad stuff for a while and you will have smooth sailing.
Dear Debt recently posted…6 Unexpected Benefits of Side Hustling
Yeah, I’m pretty surprised too when people think they can’t live here if they’re making less than $100,000… although life would sure be a lot easier ;o)
The more I read, the more I love you. I had a Let’s Talk Money series on my site, covering many of the same topics. I just realized that I had gotten lost in the side hustle post (in a GREAT way) and never commented. You’re taking steps that need to be taken. I always contributed to my 401(k) as an employee and ended up with over $40K when I stopped working to be a stay at home mom. It was so worth every dime I put in. Yes, I have to struggle in the now, but I know my future has a few pennies to it. I admire you putting it out for all to see. I think you’re doing great! Thanks for linking up with Countdown in Style.
April recently posted…A Little Quiet Has Never Hurt Anyone {with #FTSF}
Struggling in the now is always worth it for an easier future!! I wish I’d been smart enough to start contributing to my 401(k) back at my very first job. Rollovers are easier than ever.