Here's my first entry. My financial life is a real spaghetti mess. I think I'm feeling a need to document this madness, or maybe document the fact that I know it will be straightened out someday.
I would say that I'm doing fairly well, all things considered. For anyone reading this, I feel bad because there isn't enough time to give you a full background of my life up to this point. It's like trying to understand a book when you only get to read the second half. Well, I guess how the story plays out in the end that is important. Here's a summary of the first half of my "book" starting with my spinal cord injury:
1995: Gunshot wound causing injury
1998: Finish Bachelors
1999: Meet wife to be
2001: Buy house, Get married
2003: Have kid #1
2004: Buy house #2
2005: Have kid #2
2006: Receive Masters
Buy house #3
Decide on spousal separation
September: separation of spousal finances
So there you have it. A quick rundown of the last 11 years of my life. My wife's keeping the current house and I'm moving out with my brother(buying ANOTHER house).
Wife's also keeping one of the vehicles. Almost all debt was/is in my name.
So what's left in my financial inventory after the financial split with my wife?:
-4 credit card balances
-Van (paid off)
-2 rentals with highly leveraged financing
-401k
-Roth ira
-Stock account
-4 checking accounts
-Heloc and mortgage on wife's house
-Car loan for wife's vehicle
-Alimony and child support
I think that's all I can think of of the top of my head. Well, after typing that all out, I guess it's not so bad.
For anyone who has been through a divorce, I'm sure you know how hard it is to make ends meet when costs aren't covered by 2 people anymore. I can feel the squeeze. Especially with the pending house I'll be buying with my bro. I will be selling one of the rentals, that should ameliorate my financial situation a bit. I hope my wife survives the pinch.
I never would have thought that I would "own" $1 million in real estate. After I buy this next house I will. I live in the west, so I guess in this crazy market, a million dollars doesn't really buy much. Plus, it's mostly mortgaged out.
My goals for the remainder of the year are to sell one of the rentals, establish a budget that I feel comfortable with, and reduce my credit card debt.
Well, I think that's enough for today. More details in the future.
Well here goes!
September 13th, 2006 at 07:29 am
September 13th, 2006 at 12:04 pm 1158149094
Believe me that I can relate perfectly to feeling the "squeeze". My divorce is being finalized as we speak.
First of all, what is this gunshot wound accident? I mean, you can't keep us hanging with something like that! (Of course, if you don't want to share it, that's perfectly fine too.)
I am not entirely sure why you "need" to buy a new house with your brother? Why would you want to tackle another mortgage at this point in time?
And finally, well, I don't want to sound rude or anything. It's just that... I think people will get a clearer financial picture when they calculate their net worth. One such example is to subtract a mortgage with the market value of a piece of property... rather than just looking at how much we "own".
But anyways, welcome aboard! Take care.
September 13th, 2006 at 12:51 pm 1158151911
September 14th, 2006 at 03:05 am 1158203153
September 14th, 2006 at 11:55 am 1158234942