This month was uneventful in my personal finances, but very good in my business finances. I had a week long out of town trip with my family, and it was nice to get away. I also booked a 100% free flight to visit my girlfriend’s family for Thanksgiving using free miles. Here is how everything worked out in October.
Banking, Debt, and Investments
This month, I sold two ETFs in my Roth IRA and bought a high yield dividend stock fund from Vanguard to replace them. The fund is primarily blue chip stocks, and matches better with my long term investment goals. I am also excited by the very low fees in this fund.
I am now depositing $25 automatically each month into Lending Club account. My annual returns at Lending Club are more than 10%, so I plan to do more with P2P over time. I am also keeping my eyes on my new $100 investment in my new Prosper account. You can get started with either Lending Club or Prosper with only $25.
Liberty Fund Update
I have a $30,000 savings goal for my liberty fund. Saving up $30,000 is not easy, but it is a goal that I know I can attain. This month, I was able to able to add about $1000, which brings me to a total of $17,593. My liberty fund is in a high interest savings account. I suggest Capital One 360 for this type of savings. This is an increase on my$5,000 emergency fund goal.
I had an unexpected situation with my carpet, and I have been considering adding hardwood and remodeling my kitchen for a while. I am planning on paying for this major expense out of my Liberty Fund.
Side Business Income
Narrow Bridge Media – All Blogs and Online Activities
Revenue
- Private Ad Placements and Freelance Work – $425
- AdSense – $39
- Affiliate Payments – $113
Expenses
- Freelance Writers – $50
Certainly not a stellar month, but still had enough revenue to cover my mortgage payment. Having low living expenses means I can usually cover my basic monthly costs with my side project income.
Denver Flash Mob
- Revenue – $200
- Expenses – $0
I completely rebuilt the Denver Flash Mob website this month to help my new strategy. I am focusing less on large, public events and more on flash mob consulting. I also require a $100 down payment up front to ensure I don’t get burned on an event, which happened once before.
DJ Yofi
- Revenue – $0
Net Worth
In total, my net worth was up $3,131, or 2.41% in November. I’ll take it! I plan to update my home value annually to allow for consistent monthly analysis. According to Zillow, my home value is up about $30,000 since my last update.
Eric
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