Happy All Hallows' Day, Everyone! Yes, it's easy to forget, in all the fuss over costumes and candy, but the original purpose of Halloween (or, All Hallows' Eve, as it was once known) was to mark the day before the real holiday, All Hallows' Day (or All Saints' Day, if you prefer),which was meant to celebrate all the Catholic saints who didn't get their own special days during the rest of the year. But, over time things have shifted, Halloween went from minor holiday (sort of like Christmas Eve; not quite a true holiday by itself) to a major one, and now most people, particularly us non-Catholics, don't even think about All Hallows' Day when we pick out our costumes and stock up on candy.
Anyway, since it also happens to be the first day of November, it's a good time for me to share my Net Worth Update for the month. October was a busy month, with multiple visits from family members and my birthday, before we even got into the Halloween celebration itself. (And with my wife Sondra's birthday coming up in just a few days, I've had to be sure to prepare for (i.e., shop for) her birthday, as well.) With everything going on, it'd be understandable if my financial standings are much different than they were before October rolled around. But let's check them out to see for sure:
Not as much change as I was expecting, actually. My investments and savings are both pretty much the same, each changing less than $100. The debts, though, are quite a bit different, particularly the Mastercard debt. It's gone down by nearly half, a major drop that I'm more than happy to report. The explanation is some great help from my family, which has been a major help in getting things down. (Side note: Although I don't have it listed here, I do keep track of the help I get from family, and also will pay back the money I've been given. I just don't include such personal, intimate debt as part of my ‘official' net worth.)
As far as the Alexa ranking is doing, it's definitely pretty excellent. I've been improving steadily for many months now, and I'm within 12,000 ranks of my highest-ever ranking. With a good November, I'll be better than I ever was before, and will get even better with each passing day. All of that should help me earn more money from my blog, and otherwise meet my goals for the year, such as:
Alternate income is looking pretty good (although, I'd be more than happy earning a several hundred, or even a few thousand, dollars from this blog each month), and hopefully I'll be able to keep that up. Credit card pay-down is decent (I didn't include the amount my family helped me with; that didn't seem fair). As for donations, it's the second month in a row I've skipped them, as I've been trying to prevent needing charity myself. Still, I'd like to think that Sondra and I made a pretty good charitable contribution earlier this year, given our current financial situation.
