July 2010 Financial Asset Roundup

Here are my current financial assets as of the market close on July 12th, 2010:

Asset	Jun 2010	Jul 2010	Change
Checking	108	657	549
Money Market	36,009	33,043	-2,966
Savings Bonds	36,057	36,080	23
Treasury Bills	0	0	0
CDs	115,569	115,991	422
Brokerage	79,640	81,976	2,336
401k	82,137	83,046	909
Roth IRA	38,494	38,826	332
SEP IRA	200,817	200,815	-2
529 Savings	43,117	43,870	753
Total Assets	$631,948	$634,304	$2,356
			(0.37%)

The S&P 500 had a rollercoaster ride up and back down, with the index falling 0.74% since the last update:

(chart courtesy of msn.com)

The unemployment rate for June declined to 9.5%, although that could be due to a shrinking labor force as people stop looking for work. Oil prices haven't changed much as they are around $76 per barrel in the middle of the summer driving season.

We've finally taken a major step toward fixing the sinkholes in our yard caused by the flooding we had on our property in late March. A couple of weeks ago, our landscaping contractor tore into our yard with a backhoe and removed a shocking amount of buried stumps left by the builder who thought it was a good idea to bury them there. Unfortunately, we were left with a barren wasteland for a yard and have to go through the time and expense of getting some topsoil and having grass planted. I plan on posting a more detailed update on that mess as time permits. I'm also being pitched many home improvement projects by Mrs. Frugalson as she has become a home decorating blog junkie. Over the weekend, I built her a couple of "cafe shelves" similar to ones she read about at the Beneath My Heart blog. She hasn't painted them yet, but I think they turned out pretty nice considering the ordinary (and inexpensive) materials they were built from. Of course, that will only make her more determined to get me to install that fancy molding in the dining room. :)

Moneywise, I spent a decent chunk of change having a backhoe destroy my lawn and I'll need to invest a bit more to get that addressed when the weather cools down a bit in the Fall. I'm also hoping to get my 2009 SEP IRA contribution fully funded by early August, which will allow me to close the books on 2009 once and for all.