Wednesday, August 6, 2014

ups and downs -- mostly downs; also thinking about resource allocation

Not, more or less, my mood, but definitely my IRA. It's done nothing but slide for a week, wiping out many of the gains it had made.

And I feel...ok about it! I mean, not as great as I've felt when it's gone up $30 in a day (remember, my account is really small) but ok. I have reasonable confidence that over the course of the next 30 years, things will sort themselves out and I won't end up actually losing money, even if I don't make 25% back or whatever.

This seems like a good thing. No panic!

*

In other news, I'm kicking around August goals. August is a short month for me because I'm taking several weekend trips; I'm setting a goal of $350 in side hustle income (last month I did $485, just $15 shy of my $500 goal) of which I've already made $70, as of twenty minutes ago. Hopefully it turns out to be doable even with the travel. It would sure help if I sold one or two of the books I have listed on amazon right now....

Anyway, I'm wondering if I should apply that side hustle money to my credit card debt instead of my IRA. I think I shouldn't -- I think I should stick to the plan of putting the side hustle money where I can't randomly spend it -- but it's tempting. I'd be out of debt a month or two earlier than I otherwise would be and it would free up so much cash flow from my real-job income.

I'm reminding myself, though, that I shouldn't steal from the future just to fund my somewhat irresponsible recent past :) Also, that last $2100 of CC debt is on a 0% card, so it's not costing me anything in interest to go the slow and steady route. I feel itchy about it though!

2 comments:

  1. Ack, sometimes I hate your comment system on Blogspot... it eats my comments more often than not. And yet I still forget to copy them before I hit publish :)

    Back to what I was trying to say...

    I understand the "itchy" feeling. I've been so antzy for the last month or so trying to pay down my credit card (which I just did today, btw!) and just waiting for the money to materialize so I can get on with my goals. As for your side hustle money and putting it on your credit card... I'd throw it in your IRA. That's assuming you have a game plan for getting that credit card wiped out in a timely manner before interest kicks in. Think of it like getting a few units (I'm assuming index funds, but I could be wrong) on sale while the market is dive-bombing. It'll even out at some point in the future. 5 weeks, 5 years... 5 decades. Okay, hopefully not 5 decades cause you'll be VERY grey by that point :)

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  2. Ugh, I'm so sorry! I know, blogger isn't great -- I just don't want to invest in a domain :( I think I know what's happening, for what it's worth -- for some reason it wants you already logged in before you post a comment. If I try to simultaneously log in and post a comment, it always eats the comment. That's crazy, I know.

    On the substantial issue, yeah, you're totally right, I'm going to stick with my plan. (The CC should be paid down a month or two before interest would start in.) Five decades! I may not be *alive* in five decades! So hopefully it'll even out in more like four decades :)

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