I got paid yesterday

I am able to contribute 8% to my 401k and I also save $175 in my emergency fund every two weeks.  This year I have also been putting money away in my Roth IRA.  Only about $100 per month but it is better than nothing.   The maximum Roth contribution for 2007 is $4,000 (of course there are income limits that I won’t get into here.) My goal is to have $10,000 in my emergency fund.  Right now I only have about $2,400 in it.  Most of my money is tied up in retirement funds.  

I am trying to be frugal…in the last twelve months my home computer (I now use my work laptop for most everything), my digital camera, my printer, and my iPod have broken.  I do not want to replace anything until my emergency fund is built up.  I may break down and get a new home computer though. 

okay I have compromised

and now shown my net worth and debt in numbers instead of using a chart.  I should have a higher net worth than I do but I have made many financial mistakes in my life that I really regret.  That is water under the bridge now and there is nothing I can do about it. 

My housing situation is that I live alone in a townhouse purchased last year for about $250k.  In retrospect I should have waited to buy and I could have gotten a better deal somewhere else.  I am trying to not beat myself up over it anymore though.  My mortgage including taxes and homeowner association dues is just over $1,900 a month.  A lot of money and I could be renting for a lot less than that.  In the housing market we are in I cannot turn around and sell it very easily.  I am sure there are other people in the same both as I am. 

 Don’t get me wrong…I do like where I live.  I just wish it didn’t consume so much of my take home pay.

My first post

hey there…recently I have become obsessed with reading the details of other people’s financial lives.  I think it gives me hope that my life is not too bad.  I plan to give regular updates of my progress in getting out of approximately $6,500 of credit card debt and increasing my net worth with is currently about $90,000.  That is the plan.  I welcome tips and suggestions that anyone may have. 

At the moment I am trying to figure out how to show a graphic of my debt and net worth balances.  Ahhh…I could really use some html knowledge right about now.