Net Worth-- Day 1

In order to truly prove that you can live on next to nothing and still come out ahead, I'm going to post our square-one stats.

First off, my husband and I are both, for all intents and purposes, unemployed. I have a business that has the potential for substantial earnings, but we've recently moved to a new city and I have not restarted that venture yet. I am a certified teacher, so substitute teaching is a definite possibility in the interim. My husband is looking for part time work while he pursues his master's degrees (yes, he's working on two).

Liabilities:
4.5k-- car loan

Assets:
2k-- checking
2k-- savings
4k-- total

Monthly expenses:
Rent $450
Utilities $150
Gas (car) $300
Car pymt $103
Internet $ 30
Groceries $300
Total $1,333


As you can see, our current net worth is in the negative to the tune of about $500. However, our monthly expenses are negligable. We watch movies, out-of-the-air TV, and play video games for entertainment.

Goals for 2009(ish):

• Pay off the car
• Compile an emergency fund of 3-6 mo. expenses (about 8k)
• Fully fund Roth IRAs for the two of us
• Should either of us obtain full-time employment w/ retirement, contribute up to the full employer match

Our plan:
Our financial plan is to divert any income in excess of our expenses toward paying off our car liability. This, of course, is after tithing 10% of our gross income. The goal is to have the car paid off by June, thus freeing up money to set up an emergency fund of 3-6 mo. of expenses. By the end of the year we should have completed both of these goals with some (or maybe a lot) of wiggle room for retirement and possibly saving for the downpayment on a house.

Why I'm telling you this:
Never despise meager beginnings. I'm posting all of this so that I'm accountable and so that the readers can see what progress can be made on a very limited income. If you are searching for hope for your finances, if you don't believe it can be done, or if you want to see what we do to pull this off... subscribe. I'll keep you posted on what jobs we do, how much we're making, where that money goes, and all else related to our progess toward a $1,000,000 net worth.

On that note, tomorrow I'll do my first subbing job and make about $80 gross. That will be our total income for the month of January. It has been a month of many unknowns, changes, and challenges. Stay tuned: our future is bright!