This week has been a good week. I went to an awesome New Year’s day party at the Japanese Press Club. They had free lobster, king crab, sushi (of course), beef curry and sake. I even got to meet the ambassador of Costa Rica and South African dignataries. I love this part of my job…being invited to cool parties. My co-workers have nice camaderarie and good vibes–a great way of bonding. It is also nice seeing everyone dress up. Tonight, I am going to a wetting down…the Navy’s tradition of celebrating promotion to a higher rank.
Now to finances, the Dow is ridiculously low, 12,159…yikes! I think I need to stop checking my portfolio every other day. Maybe, once a quarter. I did finally move $8,000, 20% of my Vanguard funds, to a short-term bond fund. The market is so volatile that it really highlighted the need to diversify.
I returned $366 worth of shoes/clothes to Anthropologie and Zappos. So far, I have been doing quite well with figuring out the correct sizes and kept most of the purchases. However, due to spending $3,000 on clothes, I decided not to spend $200 on a Hiroshima bullet train package and shopping w/friend at the Navy Exchange two hours away. I did purchase a $150 Police concert ticket for next month. It is all about balance. I saw Sting in Cesme, Turkey in 2000, so it is just fitting to see the Police reunion concert in Tokyo.
Even though I spent $3,000 on clothes that could have went to my emergency fund or Salliemae, I stuck with the plan of paying SM a $1,000 month. Student loan balance is now $10,500 vs $7,500. Dave Ramsey would have given me a big lashing for not being on a “beans and rice” lifestyle. The areas where we definitely disagree: not contributing to a retirement plans while in debt and being austere. A girl gotta have some clothes and fun.
GI Jane
GI Jane Finances 