Clutter2Cash

Updatetastic

It's May 10th, do you know what your networth is? Because I didn't. Yes that's right my monthly ritual of closing the books was behind schedule and I didnt even know how we did this month.

I'd say April was a mixed bag financially. In looking at the balances I realized I had money just sitting in my checking account (this is most likely a result of not yet starting up my 401k) and I just transferred that over to my Roth IRA. So the good news is that my Roth IRA is way ahead of schedule (I'm throwing the net paycheck surplus at the Roth) and it's possible I will have that maxed out by mid-year.

However, it seems I am about a month behind in my average monthly networth increases in terms of meeting my year end goal of $275k. Expenses are down a little bit and I am throwing money at the Roth first instead of evenly contributing to the Roth and 401k throughout the year (I have reasons, don't worry)

My networth as of April 30th is: $227,147

I accidentally entered April data in May and then I couldn't delete May so it looks like April to May is flat. But really I just enter my info on the last day of the month. Is that weird?

I also noticed I am overdue for a re-allocation of my retirement funds. I re-allocated about 13 months ago and I believe I am overexposed in bonds for my investing target. My choices have done decently but I'm not comfortable with my current bond allocation.

Festival of Frugality #22

Well I've had less time to read blogs lately so I've been feeling a bit out of the loop and hosting this week's Festival of Frugality was like old home week and I learned of some new (to me) blogs to boot. I also learned several things from all the posts, such as: you can purchase coupons on ebay (I *told* you I've been out of the loop!), who sticks the sliver of soap on a new bar (check out Seattle Simplicity's post and the comments reveal all!) and which beer kit sounds like a good deal (oatmeal stout? I say BRING IT!). Without further blabbage I bring you all thirty-three post of the twenty-second Festival of Frugality:

Frugal Musings
~Dawn at Frugal for Life brings us The Frugal Word: Superfluous A great word to learn and throw about to let people know you are living a frugal life.

Amanda at Young and Broke considers To Cab or Not to Cab when weighing personal safety vs. saving money

Seattle Simplicity was Born Frugal

Richard K Miller presents Winning on the margins posted at Firevalt Blog - Personal finance and entrepreneurship.

Meredith at Like Merchant Ships ponders A Frugal Dilemma. Do you think Meredith's husband was being stingy or sticking to principles?

Cooking, Eating and Groceries
The Family CEO just Spent $5.26 to save $25 and discovered coupons on eBay.

Joanne at A Day in Our Lives explains How we save money at the grocery store

jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity exlpains Brewing Your Own Good Beer on the Cheap and that immediately went on my "to do" list!

Penny Nickel at Money and Values has a cheap and easy alternative for homemade pizza crust in Cheap and easy pizza at home

Grill Maestro points out that just like buying a car you should be buying a "used" propane tank to save money

supermom_in_ny of Getting Out of Debt reminds us to take advantage of freebies in Saving Money on Monthly Expenses: Freebies!

Around the house
Amy Allen Clark at The MotherLoad brings around an oldie but goodie in Play It Again, Momma!

Inchoate Random Abstractions presents several frugal and Environmentally Friendly Cleaning and Gardening Tips

mbhunter at Mighty Bargain Hunter explains his De-junking plans

Jeffrey Strain of Personal Finance Advice reminds us all to Check Ceiling Fans to prepare for the summer heat and makes a pitch for ditching the AC

Josh Cohen at Multiple Mentality ponders bar vs. liquid in The Soap Bubble

In the Wallet
Wenchypoo at Frugal Wisdom from Wenchypoo's Warehouse warns us all of The Aisle of Deception - coming soon to a store near you!

Nick at Punny Money guides us to Earn Even More Cash Back With Citi Cards at Over 100 Merchants. iTunes Music Store? I had no idea!

LAmoneyguy from It's Just Money asks Do You Buy the Entertainment Book?

Personal Finance Blogger teaches you to Maximize your cash back earnings using resources like FatWallet at My Personal Finance Blog.

frugal of My 1st Million at 33 shares his Wife's Shopping Tips

Tynan at Better Than Your Boyfriend explains how to get The Best Cell Phone Plan Ever from Sprint

Financial Reflections writes how thrift stores and some self-reliance saved about $200 in How Goodwill Saved My Computer

Carhacker presents ever popular gas saving tips in: Save gas Use your foot

Looking Good & Special Occasions
Ricemutt at Experiments in Finance with a Polyglot Twist presents Salon training nights: look stylin' while saving money

Rebecca Mielke at The Space Between My Peers shares some Frugal Mom Wardrobe Basics

Tricia of Blogging Away Debt gives Twelve Frugal Wedding Tips from My Wedding and even I wanted to have a wedding. Ok, not really. But almost.

Lisa McGarry at Family Of Five presents Money Saving Tips: Make The Most Of Those Retail Sales! as one way to save on gifts...and more

muse at me-ander reminds us that some of the best things in life are free as she writes about swapping spa nights for basketball games in Relaxing and sleeping well

Other
Paul's Tips presents How to get a job paying more than $100,000 a year

Big Cajun Man of Canadian Financial Rants rants about his government's budget in Budget Spring 2006: What's in it for me?

F. D. Bryant III presents Introducing the FairTax Plan posted at A Geek's World

I also want to give a shout out and a whitegirl wave to those who used the comment form to say howdy!

Next Week: The festival is being hosted by my Boston homegirl Jane Dough at Boston Gal's Open Wallet

Money Blogger Podcast Interview

Despite loving the overall idea of podcasts and the subscription model potential they bring to the party, I admit to being slow in partaking of the bounty. I've just never been a huge "talk radio" fan and sometimes it's fainful to admit to my friends that I actually do not listen to NPR.

However, I do have two podcast subscriptions that I feel are must haves: Battlestar Galactica and Scott's Money Blogger Podcast. Scott's podcasts put an even more personal face (er...voice) to the bloggers he interviews granting a peek behind the scenes of your favorite money blogs.

I was honored when Scott asked me for an interview a little while back and I had great fun talking with him about personal finance, technology and sundry other topics. He is now through with performing his podcasty magic and has published the interview. I hope I didn't ramble too much...I admit I was a little nervous!

My Money Blogger Podcast interview
Subscribe to Scott's podcast via iTunes Music Store (opens iTunes)
Use WebJay to listen to Scott's interviews through a variety of players
Subscribe to the Battlestar Galactica commentary via iTMS (opens iTunes)

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Announcing Queercents

We're here, we're queer, and we're not going shopping without coupons

Queercents is coming out of the closet today as a new personal finance blog serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. The site features writings from three established money bloggers (Dawn of FrugalForLife, Nina of Sitting Pretty and yours truly) and will aggregate financial resources and content with particular relevance to the LGBT community.

I will certainly continue to post about my own personal experiences with finances here on Clutter2Cash and now with the launch behind us I can get back to updating all you curious folk about my money sitch (it's not all rosy, I'll tell ya!) and attempting to be helpful to anyone with a curiousity about personal finance :)

Everyone is welcome at Queercents, so please come take a look around and feel free to give us your 2 cents on the new site.