Update on Personal Financial Situation

The stock market took a breather today, both of my accounts are down just a bit. Not really a bad thing as far as I'm concerned, since I'm still in the buying phase. I'd like to see the market level off or even drop back down a bit, so I could add to my holdings at the lower prices.

My IRA is set up for automatic investments each month. On the second Tuesday of every month I purchase more shares of stock for my retirement portfolio. This month I will be adding to my AT&T holdings. I own shares of AT&T in both of my accounts. I think their dividend is stable and I'm with them for the long haul.

Other investments in my IRA include British Petroleum (BP), Universal Insurance (UVE), AFLAC (AFL), Great Plains Energy (GXP), S&P 500 Index SPDR (SPY). Since opening the account in December of 2008, my holdings are up by 23.39%. Not a bad return! Just wish I could say the same for my taxable investment account. Still down some on that account, although the total dollar amount has increased. I've actually surpassed my investment goal for the year, so I've had to set the bar a little higher.

I've also been holding extra cash while continuing my job search, just in case I would need it for some reason. I've been able to accumulate the cash by cutting spending to the bare necessities. It's worked so well, I'm thinking that I may just keep it up when I return to work, just to build my investments more rapidly.

My total credit balances continue to decrease. I cancelled 2 of my credit cards to avoid extreme increases in the interest rates. Will probably cancel at least one more as soon as it's paid off. I've decided I really don't need more than 2 credit cards and plan on using them sparingly when the balances are paid. I really haven't been using my cards at all since being off work, just keep paying down the balances and paying cash for everything.

Given the crazy market and economic situation for the first half of 2009, I very happy with my finances right now. If the market continues to improve during the second half of the year, I should be in pretty good standing by the start of 2010.