my finances

This post will be updated periodically to reflect the most current state of my finances. The most recent updates will appear at the top of this post.

(Skip the following boldfaced section to see the most recent update.)

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UPDATE: 28 September, 2008

Now that I'm home in northern Virginia and wintering here until March of 2009, it may be time to do a bit of reassessment regarding the true cost of the Walk. As I look back on my original predictions, I can't help laughing at their naïveté. What I have now, after 600 miles on the road, is a better idea of my worst-case scenario, financially speaking, which doesn't include medical disasters. The scenario looks like this:

Assuming a 30-day month, let's say I stay in a hotel every night. Hotel costs, at their worst, are about $140 a night (that $200/night stay in Bellingham was a fluke). So thirty nights at $140/night = $4200.

While on the road, I tended to eat one or two meals per day, but getting a single meal for under five dollars was well-nigh impossible. My fear along the way was that, if I ate too little, I'd have too little energy to get through the day, so I tended to eat large portions. I've had meals that varied in price from $5 to $30-- the latter would include an appetizer, a soup or salad, a main course, a dessert, and as was often the case, tip. For the purposes of the worst-case scenario, let's fix food costs at $40/day. I never ate $40/day worth of food on a routine basis (in fact, I spent several isolated days without food), but such a rate of consumption is at least conceivable. So thirty days at $40/day = $1200.

Replacement costs for equipment and supplies were fairly low after the initial outlay (somewhere around $3000 before I even started the walk). I'd say that I've replaced various items (detergent, Q-tips, shoes, etc.) at an average rate of about $100-200 per month. For our purposes, let's stick with the $200 figure.

Incidentals-- such as paying for someone's gas, paying rent, mailing things back home, etc.-- have probably run me about $150/month, maximum.

So let's look at where we stand, then. The cost of this project, using the worst-case scenario, is $5750/month. Assuming a maximum of 24 months to finish the walk, we're looking at a cost of $138,000. That, folks, is probably why George Martin budgeted $150,000 for his trans-America walk, which took him nine months.

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As of 6 March 2009:
Checking account's available balance = $304.85
Ledger balance = $304.85
Pending deposits = $0.00
Pending withdrawals = $0.00
PayPal balance = $0.05
My employers are behind in paying me. (As of December 2008, I've been working 2 jobs for two different Korean firms, doing proofreading and editing work.)


As of 28 September 2008:
Checking account's available balance = $62.96
Ledger balance = $404.63
Pending deposits = $0.00
Pending withdrawals = $341.67
PayPal balance = $0.08
Trip expenditures to date (since previous entry) = BE TO CALCULATED


As of 11 September 2008:
Checking account's available balance = $761.30
Ledger balance = $977.04
Pending deposits = $160.00 (transfer from PayPal)
Pending withdrawals = $215.74 (plus approx. $425 for hotel)
PayPal balance = $5.96 (sadly, I've had to shunt funds early due to the great expense of staying in hotels)
Trip expenditures to date (since previous entry) = BE TO CALCULATED


As of 25 June 2008:
Checking account's available balance = $5428.87
Ledger balance = $5482.19
Pending deposits = $0
Pending withdrawals = $53.32
PayPal balance = $1719.22 (thank you to all who have contributed! the goal is $6000 and I'm already a fourth of the way there!)
Trip expenditures to date (since previous entry) = $2278.52 (yikes)


As of 5 June 2008:
Checking account's available balance = $7825.73
Ledger balance = $8241.05
Pending deposits = $0
Pending withdrawals = $415.32
PayPal balance = $1642.44 (thank you to all who have contributed! the goal is $6000 and I'm already a fourth of the way there!)
Trip expenditures to date (since previous entry) = $1278.57 (yikes)


As of 25 May 2008:
Checking account's available balance = $8677.29
Ledger balance = $8677.29
Pending deposits = $0
Pending withdrawals = $0
PayPal balance = $1040.49 (thank you to all who have contributed! the goal is $6000 and I'm already a sixth of the way there!)
Trip expenditures to date (since previous entry) = $0.00


As of 24 May 2008:
Checking account's available balance = $8372.54
Ledger balance = $8275.93
Pending deposits = $300
Pending withdrawals = $103.39
PayPal balance = $1040.49 (thank you to all who have contributed! the goal is $6000 and I'm already a sixth of the way there!)
Trip expenditures to date (since previous entry) = $0.00
[Parents have elected to pay all BlackBerry bills! My brother David is paying for a year of GPS "Spot" bills! My brother Sean forgave me a $230 Mother's Day debt!]


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