A nice big 12.8% increase in my net worth this month, and a respectable increase in charitable giving, makes Penny a satisfied girl.
Savings: $22,696 (up $2,006, or 9.7%)
Retirement: $14,435 (up $594 or 4.3%)
Debt: $13,795 (down $50 or 0.4%)
Net worth: $23,336 (up $2,650, or 12.8%)
Year-to-date giving as percent of 2006 goal: 51% (last month: 41%)
I know that a lot of the extra money comes from getting three paychecks in September (and part from some reimbursements at work I was late on submitting for), but it's still nice to shoot up so much in a single month. I just have to remember not to expect that it's a trend!
That increase in giving is one of the reasons I love having this blog. Last month I said:
if I'm not at or near 50% by the end of this month, I've got a lot of 'splainin to do...
... and voila!
That makes me think I need to set giving goals for the next few months, too. I'm planning on backloading some of the giving-- counting it for this year, but giving it on January 1 or 2, in case 2007 is the year I finally itemize. But I'd like to get to at least two-thirds (67%) in the next two months, by December 1. So that means I should be at roughly 59% a month from now. Hold me to it!
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2 comments:
Unless there's a special circumstance like the tsunami (and may we never have circumstances like that again!) charitable deductions only count in the year you actually gave them. You can fudge it a little with cash or goods donations, but those may be thrown out if you don't have any documentation - and documentation means a date. So writing a check on Jan. 1 means that the money belongs in 2007.
If you think that doing that would help you itemize though, you can do it (other than with checks or other documented items.) You can put it on your taxes, but expect that it may be disallowed if the IRS asks for more information. Asking for more information is not the same as getting audited, and it happens a lot more often.
Yep, that's the idea-- when I say "counting it for 2006," I only mean counting the 1/1/07 donation on my mental (and blog) tally sheet towards my personal 2006 giving goal (ie, 10% of 2006 take-home pay). But since I know I won't be itemizing in 2006, it's more advantageous for me to do the last piece of "2006 giving" in Jan '07 instead of Dec '06, in case I end up itemizing in 2007.
I didn't phrase that very clearly, though. And thanks for having my back! :-)
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