I shall name this year:
THE YEAR OF SPENDING
(Because let’s face it, that’s pretty much all I did this year.)
Past Years in Review
- 2009 Year in Review = – ($22,484)
- 2010 Year in Review = +130,101
2011 GROWTH IN REVIEW
Worked 3 months then took the rest of the year off and traveled to:
- Visited Asia: Tokyo, Kyoto, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore
- Visited Europe: Salamanca, Evora, Lisbon & Madrid
- Re-visited Europe: Paris, London, Stockholm, Brussels and Vienna
NEW YEARS’ RESOLUTIONS
2010: New Year’s Resolutions — Past, Current and Future
For 2011, I have 3 things I’d like to accomplish:
- Move to the U.S.
- Make and save money (as much as I can, as I feel G-U-I-L-T-Y..ish)
- Aim to achieve $200,000 net worth, which means saving at least $75,000* net
*The actual savings will be $45,000 but I have to pay my personal taxes, so I need to save about $75,000 in total next year
This crazy ones poster‘s profits go to Acumen Fund‘s mission to end worldwide poverty.
True (Funny) Story: I once quoted the above to a friend of mine (I didn’t tell her it was Steve Jobs who said it), who then read it out to a friend of hers.
Being a first-year psychology major, he immediately told my friend to tell me to get some therapeutic help IMMEDIATELY because I was CLEARLY a psychopath who was about to slit her wrists in a warm bathtub.
My friend called me in a panic and told me she was there for me, she didn’t want me to kill myself if I ever had such suicidal thoughts and she would do anything to help me get through this.
The sound of my incredulous, disbelieving, confused voice on the phone was enough to convince her that I was NOT suicidal and I had never been.
I told her it was Steve Jobs who wrote that, and she calmed down.
Moral of the story? Don’t ever listen to other first-years spouting off like they know anything just because they unwrapped their shrinkwrapped textbooks and read a little bit of it.
2011 FINANCIAL YEAR IN REVIEW
2011 Budget Roundups and Net Worth Changes
Increases and (Decreases)
Note: I stopped working at the end of March and took the rest of the year off to travel.
- January 2011 – ($8154.88)
- February 2011 – +$17,706.18
- March 2011 – +8945
- April 2011 – ($16,053.87)
- May 2011 – ($11,230.19)
- June 2011 – ($818.66)
- July 2011 – ($1853.29)
- August 2011 — ($2089.15)
- September 2011 – ($15,277.09)
- October 2011 – ($3361.53)
- November 2011 – +$3921
- December 2011 – ($1872.06)
TOTAL INCOME FOR 2011: $59,260
- This is GROSS income for the 3 months I worked
- I still have to pay my personal taxes for 2011, this year
TOTAL BUSINESS & PERSONAL EXPENSES FOR 2011: $44,618.92
PERSONAL EXPENSES: $41,525.66
- As mentioned, I stopped working in March and took the rest of the year off to travel
- Almost half of my personal spending was on Traveling
- I manage my budget using my Budgeting and Spending Analysis Tool
BUSINESS EXPENSES: $3093.26
- I had minimal business expenses
- The rest of the year was Personal Spending
TOTAL NET
- It LOOKS like I saved $18,474.34, but I didn’t
- I am using gross income (before taxes) in the calculation
- I paid my business taxes in full already and I still have personal taxes to pay on top of that
- I really base everything on what my net worth looks like from month to month, year to year
FINAL NET WORTH FOR 2011: $155,217.05
I started the year with $185,355.64 in net worth.
I ended it with $155,217.05
It’s a decrease of $30,138.59
MY NET WORTH FOR JANUARY TO DECEMBER 2011
Okay so the decline doesn’t look quite as sharp as I had expected, but it is a hefty decline.
MY CUMULATIVE NET WORTH SINCE 2006 – 2011
I was in debt by $60,000 by late 2006 and now I’m at around $150,000.
I’ve saved $210,000 in 5 years or $42,000 a year on average, without working at all in 2009 (recession) or for most of 2011 (year-long traveling vacation).
Click on it to make it larger
I love seeing how money tells the story of my life. It isn’t just numbers or amounts of money or debt, it is what I’ve been doing since 2006.
TOP 5 CATEGORIES OF 2011 SPENDING
- Travel = $17,325.34 or 28.88% of my gross income
- Wardrobe = $6164.07 or 10.27% of my gross income
- Groceries = $4169.66 or 6.95% of my gross income
- Books & Gifts = $3323.17 or 5.54% of my gross income
- Electronics = $2317.84 or 3.86% of my gross income
I obviously spent a lot on traveling, and wardrobe was up there too because I can’t resist shopping overseas *sigh*
(Must sell more stuff!)
As for Books & Gifts, it was more that I paid for a lot of stuff for my parents. I bought them a new TV (I accidentally burnt the side of their old one), and 3 huge toolboxes to organize their tools and items.
Electronics includes a Macbook Air and an iPad (WHICH I LOVE!). I use it for e-reading all the time now.
HOW I DID IN 2011 COMPARED TO 2010
I spent $20,000 more but amounts shifted from one year to another.
I spent less in Rent, but more in Travel (obviously), and WAY MORE in Wardrobe. *embarrassed*
2010 looked like this:
2011 looks like this:
READ: Cut everywhere, not just where you want to buy
I DECLARE 2012 TO BE:
THE YEAR OF RE-BUILDING NET WORTH
I am expecting that 2012 I will buckle down (hey, I’m setting a goal and saying this aren’t I) and rebuild back up what I spent this year.
Sounds counter-intuitive, and perhaps you’re going to slap me and say: FB why didn’t you JUST NOT SPEND in 2011 and you wouldn’t need to re-build as much!!?
Touché!
But what’s done is done, and we can only look forward, not back.
I also had a hell of a time (LOVED IT!), so no real complaints or regrets here.
My goal is to be back up to $200,000 in net worth.
A lofty, but achievable goal, considering I still have to pay hefty personal taxes.
Here’s to 2012!
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver.
I cleared $60,000 in 18 months earning $65,000 gross/year.
Now I am self-employed, and you can read more about 
