Net Change: +$1,071.31
Net Cashflow: +$2,430.77
Investment Performance: $ (1,359.40)
August 2010 S&P Performance: (4.7%)
Dining Out Spend: $ (224.41)
I usually make my net worth updates about 2 days after the month closes. I only wait those two days to make sure all of my credit card transactions have gone through and are loaded in Quicken.
But today I am not relishing this activity. In fact, it seems more like a chore than anything else. With the GMAT looming and myself studying upwards of 4 hours a day, I just can’t enjoy normal activities without feeling guilty about my time invested towards the GMAT. That test is my life right now and nothing else seems to matter as much.
Anyway, just to make at least a half-hearted attempt to analyze my personal financials, I made a slight change to the output above. I think now I’m just going to look at my dining out expenses. My goal is no longer to spend less money on food overall; what I want to do is eat healthier, even if it costs me more. Therefore, I will focus on moving my dining out expenses down, and if my groceries expenses go up, hopefully that means I’m just cooking more often and eating better foods.
I think the health theme is going to become important to me in the coming months. Financially, I’m definitely okay, but in terms of physical health, I definitely have room for improvement. Once the GMAT is done, I’ll likely do a better job of making this a priority.
