This is the starting point of our personal finance update series. Each month I will be checking in to go over how much money we have (not too much) and how much money we owe (way too much). Here it goes (note, any equity in our possessions, including our cars and our house will not be included, for simplicity sake).
Assets
Long-Term Savings Fund – $1,000.00
Retirement Accounts – $8,600.00
Other Savings – $600.00
Total Assets: $10,200.00
Liabilities
My Student Loans: $119,500
Wife’s Student Loans: $42,300
Mortgage: $251,000
Total Liabilities: $412,800
Net Worth: Negative ($402,600.00)
Here’s hoping the freelance business I just started stays busy because just our day jobs are not going to cut it.
Good thing we never got into any car, credit card, or furniture debt like the average person. Our big personal finance mistake was our combined 14 years of higher education.
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Chris Thomas, owner of the online freelance writing and web-copy company, FreelancePF. Chris's interest in personal finance stems from leaving grad school with six figures in student loan debt.
Found you through the Yakezie community, best of luck with your new site! Do you regret your 14 years of higher education?
Kevin:
I am familiar with your work through the Yakezie as well. I guess I would have to say I do regret the “higher education.” Although, to clarify, it was 7 years for me and 7 years for my wife, 14 total. I’m just not sure the opportunities my education has afforded have justified the cost, but you never know who you would be or what your skill level would be if you didn’t go through it. I often think though that I could have been quite happy teaching high school english and working on my freelance writing pursuits, with absolutely no debt. (all of my debt comes by way of law school). That said I enjoy being a lawyer, even if I don’t get my summers off. Thanks for stopping by!