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The following is a new profile for the BFS Reader Profile series. Today we are getting to know?Squeezer from Personal Finance Success. Thanks for participating!
Personal Background
Hello, my online name is Squeezer.? I am in my early 30?s, and married to my wife with our 7 year old son. We are located in the southeastern United States.? Our family lives comfortably and is a one-income family.? I make about $75,000 a year as a federal employee, and the wife stays at home.
Home and Vehicles
I purchased my house when I was 21 and have lived in it since. It is a relatively small starter home and is 14 years old.? It is starting show its age due to the stove stopped working recently, and we?ve had some heating and air conditioning issues, as well as I can tell that the roof will need replacing.?
One thing I have learned is how expensive it is to maintain a house.? Readers should never underestimate the cost of maintaining a house.? Since I?ve purchased it, I?ve added hardwood floors because a pet used the bathroom on several places on the carpet and I could never get the smell out, built a wood fence around the backyard, added gutters, repainted most of the rooms, changed light fixtures, and we have lots more planned.? Essentially we are slowly getting the house ready to sell it in a few years.?
The wife and I are considering having another child.? However, I do not want to give up my office/man room so we are saving for that, our son?s college, and a new truck.?
We own 3 vehicles; all are paid off.? The first is a 2008 Lexus IS250 that was purchased used with a portion of my state pension cash out when I changed jobs to federal employment.? The Lexus is the car that we use as a family to go around town.? Then we have a 2000 Honda S2000 convertible that I bought new.? It currently does not run, but I enjoyed driving it, so I am saving up to repair it.? The last vehicle is my 1995 Toyota T100 pickup.? I purchased it used in 2005 from my father?s boss who was buying a new Toyota Tundra at the time.? It runs well for its age, but I know it is 17 years old, so it could catastrophically die at any time.
Financial Situation
I am contributing 5% with 5% match into the Federal government?s Thrift Savings Plan which is essentially a 401k program.? I also contribute the mandatory .8% into FERS which is the federal government?s pension plan.?
My take-home income is about $4300 a month.?
I try to not spend over $2000 a month on the credit card.? This includes some of the utilities which accept credit card payments, gasoline, food, and family activities.? Then we have a little over $1000 a month in bills that cannot be placed on the credit card such as the mortgage, electricity, water, and sewer.?
The rest goes into savings.?
I am a student at a local university with about 1.5 years left until I receive my Bachelor?s degree.? Tuition costs about $1500 a semester, and I pay this out of the savings account instead of having student loans.
I have not calculated my net worth, and I do not think net worth is important.? Houses, cars, and household items are valued only at what someone else would purchase them for in the event that I needed to sell them, not what I think they are worth.
Blog
I run my own, relatively new blog called Personal Finance Success at http://pfsuccess.com.? I started it because I read many other PF blogs, and felt that I have my $.02 to contribute and plenty of ideas to write on PF subjects.? In addition, I found myself regularly giving advice to friends that would come to me to discuss money problems.? I think my friends consider me the most professional of the bunch, because I am one of the few in our bunch that has a good-paying white collar job, and decent writing skills.? I am often asked by my friends to help them write their resumes and look over their job applications before submitting them.
Crystal?s Comments: Yep, home ownership is not a barrel of roses all of the time.? I?m just glad our most recent?issue wasn?t anything big.?
If you would like to participate in this series, please follow the guidelines found at BFS Reader Profile and submit your own story. Everyone is more than welcome and you can stay anonymous if you?d prefer. Thanks!
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