What goes up must come down! We hit a whopper of a last day to close out the month, didn’t we? Jeez… If only I had gobs of money to scoop up some shares while low! :)
But alas it’s all a part of the game… 5 of the last 8 months have resulted in an increase of net worth, and it’s all a long term play anyways. I don’t foresee an early retirement in the very near future yet, despite how amazingly sexy that would be. But damn – that graph up there is just so freakin’ UGLY with all that red! Haha… I’m surprised you’re still reading this right now – it’s a bloodbath up there! ;)
Here’s How the Month of July Went Down…
CASH SAVINGS (-$1,277.44): As you can see, we’re still struggling in the cash flow department. And unfortunately this will continue now that we’re about to throw Baby Nickel into day care with his brother :( On the plus side though, this means the wife will be back to working on her dissertation again which then means a full-time job in her future – hooray!!! I can’t even remember what that felt like as it’s been so long (4 years? 5 years?), so needless to say that will make a major improvement to our monies :)
529 College Savings (-$59.59): Nothing added here for yet another month, but I DID get word that we’ll be inheriting a little money to be used here, so as soon as that goes through I’ll let y’all know and see what happens :) Nothing’s better than free money except for free money that WILL CONTINUE TO GROW in investments! Haha…. And preferably not the result of someone passing away to get it, of course. From what I hear, this family member has been long gone though so it’s coming as an even better surprise :) I hope to leave secret stashes of money for my family to find one day too, haha…
IRA: ROTH(s) (-$1,418.73): This area hasn’t received any extra money into it either… I typically wait until the end of the tax year to dump it all in once I see where our business/tax situation is at. Which makes most monthly updates here boring as $hit, and then once a year down right fantastic.
IRA: SEP [now merged with my old Traditional IRAs!] (-$6,135.12): If you recall, we had 3 traditional IRAs going for a handful of years (my old 401(k) money) until I wised up and merged them altogether under my move to Vanguard last month… So while it was fun to have these IRAs separated out from my SEP for reporting/tracking enjoyment, everything’s now mixed together and I’m getting used to just seeing one large ass number in my account. A weird feeling for sure, but for the greater good of simplicity.
Here’s the old breakdown of them one last time for good time’s sake (guestimated):
- SEP Ira: $83,000’ish
- Traditional Iras (old 401k): $230,000’ish
And here’s the snapshot Vanguard gives me when I log in… Not as pretty as last month’s!
AUTOS WORTH (kbb) (-$60.00): No news to report for July, which is probably a good thing considering all my crashes recently ;) Even IF Franken-Car has turned into my side hustle! Haha… What are we up to now? $2,000 made off people slamming into that bad boy? I really could be onto something here.
Here are the estimated values of both our cars:
- Pimp Daddy Caddy: $1,000.00
- Gas Ticklin’ Toyota: $6,691.00
HOME VALUE (Realtor) ($0.00): We’ll continue to list this at $300k until another 6-12 months goes by where I feel comfortable reaching out to our realtor despite us not being in the market to sell it yet. I know people like Zillow and the similar sites out there, but it always seems the numbers are way off for our house (now a rental) so we just stick w/ our realtor’s expertise and go from there… Doesn’t really matter until we go to sell it once day anyways, which might be sooner than later if I have it my way ;) Have I ever mentioned how I dislike home ownership?
MORTGAGES (-$667.14): The good news from last month continues to carry over here :) Not only are we NOT underwater any more (HOORAY!!!) but we’re now flowing into “home equity” area making every extra payment against our house even more sweeter than before. To think it only took 6 years for us to get back to this point! *Keeps head low*
Here’s what’s left on both mortgages:
- 1st Mortgage: $271,674.42 (30 year conventional @ 5.5%)
- 2nd Mortgage: $27,635.94 (HELOC @ variable 2.8%)
Here’s how we’re doing over 12 months:
Like my new gradient-style graph circa 1998? ;) Makes me want to take a dip into the Caribbean ocean… naked.
And that wraps up another month in our sexy financial life here! Hope this helps some of y’all out! As I mentioned to a reader last week who asked what the point of your net worth was, it’s to have a baseline to measure your future success/failures to as time goes on. The only way to tell if you’re doing better or worse is to track the numbers whether you’re trying to get out of debt or save into the millions. Of course you can gauge that fairly well on your own since you know your money more than anyone else, but having it recorded down somewhere does wonders – believe me. And if it seems too annoying to you to do, just do it once a quarter or even once a year. The numbers (should) be drastically different as time goes on – and hopefully for the better.
Here’s to a great August! As always, feel free to share your own numbers or us to gawk at learn from below too if you’re comfortable doing so. Or check out our list of 80+ others on our Blogger Net Worth Tracker! You can always go anonymous too if you prefer – it’s not like my license reads J. Money :)
‘Till next time,
PS: Here’s the past 6 years worth of net worth updates if interested: J’s Million Dollar Journey
PS: If you’re just getting started in your journey, here are a few good resources to help track your money. Doesn’t matter which route you go, just that it ends up sticking!
- The "Budget/Net Worth" spreadsheet - the colorful Excel template I personally use.
- The "Money Snapshot" spreadsheet - a simple Excel template I created for my former $$$ clients
If you're not a spreadsheet guy like me and prefer something more automated (which is fine, whatever gets you to take action!), you can try your hand with a free Empower account instead (formerly Personal Capital)
Empower is a cool tool that connects with your bank & investment accounts to give you an automated way to track your net worth. You'll get a crystal clear picture of how your spending and investments affect your financial goals (early retirement?), and it's super easy to use.
It only takes a couple minutes to set up and you can grab your free account here. They also do a lot of other cool stuff as well which my early retired friend Justin covers in our full review of Empower - check it out here: Why I Use Empower Almost Every Single Day.
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Still not a bad looking portfolio at all! There’s much in here to be proud of. Especially when you lay it all out on a gradient-style graph like that! :)
My net worth has also gone down in the recent month due to rumbling in the stock market world. But that’s to be expected. You can’t be an investor and not take the ups with the downs. Stay the course and everything will be fine.
“You can’t be an investor and not take the ups with the downs.” #Truth
390k in your retirement is still freakin good. 40k in a savings acct is awesome. (always forget to ask, is that your emergency or general savings?)
My 12 mo’s experiment is doing the same thing. I’m down too but I knew going in that I could loose all of it. Hate seeing that “red schmed”…
Maybe you could invest on the down slide and regain that $ and then some?
As always, good article J
I call it my “Monster Savings” because it’s a combination of everything :) E-fund, savings in a cple accounts, cash in my safe – you name it. As someone who’s self-employed, the cash cushion is an important part of the equation.
Ugh…our net worth is so bad, I can’t even bring myself to post it. But, I know it’s because we are digging out of so much student loan debt. Once that is gone, I hope to see a HUGE improvement!
By digging yourself out of student debt, you’re doing the best thing possible. No room for ‘Ugh’ there!
Still looks pretty sexy to me. I love that blue graph gradient, too… when you mentioned it, it really did take me back to the 90’s :)
Perhaps next month I’ll tie-dye it and take you back to the 80’s ;)
Dogs days of summer. Doh! Overall still looking good!
Fuuny about the car. :-) YAY on the mortgage not being underwater anymore!!! Woohoo! That’s reason enough to celebrate, even with all of the other losses. I’m quite sure you’ll make them up quickly. :-)
Hey – you’re absolutely crushing it. The market will do it’s thing but you keep sticking to your plan and rockin’ the online thing and you’ll be all good. Since you invest all at once at the end, maybe a dip or two will help you buy a little low at least. #silverlining?
for sure! guess it only matters when you jump in and jump out, right?
The run the market has had made me used to seeing green and our net worth increase every month. The last day of July was brutal but it’s part of investing. As you said, the prize in in the future, so sticking with it is key.
So last September-October looks pretty impressive on your graph! What happened there?
Sharing your numbers have a HUGE impact. In our case, it has given us a sense of accountability that has helped us to stick to it and get our debt down.
$5,000 off of our business debt in July : ) It was at $80,800 December 2012, and now it’s at $34,500. Still a big debt, but we’re getting there!
Hell yeah!!! Way to go – that’s kick-ass!!!
I sold some of my sites in September :)
https://budgetsaresexy.com/2013/10/50000-richer/
My main goal for this month is to reduce my credit card debt by at least 20%… *crossing fingers*
Thanks for sharing the net worth updates. It definitely keeps me motivated. We’re increasing our savings this year!
Yeah the markets are going crazy, but thats nothing new. Now that its all lumped into one, the swings will be much greater, kind of like a massive roller coaster. Good Luck.
I think you are doing well! I haven’t looked at our net worth in what seems like forever. I should probably do that :)
I only check in on my investment accounts every couple of months when I do a net worth check up. I don’t want to psyche myself out with the ups and downs of the market and do something stupid, emotional, and short term.
(smart woman)
The dip months are never fun, but since you’re in the accumulation phase it’s kind of a good thing. Here’s to hoping for good buys in August.
I usually check my investments on the close of last day of the month to update the net worth sheet and man was July 31 a shocker! But as you said, it comes with the territory and we’re in this for the long haul.
On Wednesday morning, my official net worth will be….
ZERO!
Yes, I’m incredibly excited about that. Here’s why: From age 18-1/2 until now (age 44), I’ve been underwater – a negative net worth – 26 years in the red. There are lots of reasons (mostly excuses, mixed in with a touch of bad luck here and there), but for the past 4 years, I’ve busted my a$$ to turn it around. But before I could get into the green, I had to get out of the red.
And on Wednesday, that will finally happen. Now it’s time to build a nest egg ASAP! I won’t be able to retire “early”, but thanks to finally waking up a few years ago, I’ll be able to retire at a “reasonable” point in time (age 60-62), without ending up destitute (or as my dad used to say, and worry about…”living under a bridge”).
I keep thinking that maybe I should write about what I’ve done to get to this point, and where I’m going from here. I’m not much of a blogger though. But maybe it’s something to think about.
Exciting times indeed…. :-)
Top work dude, that’s really impressive. Enjoy the next step.
Way to go man!! That’s killer!!! You should totally write about it and share your tips with everyone – you can never have enough info and motivation to get out of debt :) In fact, I was just talking about Debtors Anonymous.org that’s out there too – some people are in deep doo doo! So if you have the energy and excitement, give it a shot. It’s so easy (and free) these days you might as well :) I got pumped up just by reading your few paragraphs up there – and I’m not in debt! (except for mortgage…. ugh..)
Congrats on all your success!
Ha, nice to see I’m not alone. It’s going to get worse for me next month though if I don’t find employment soon. Blech.
Well that sucks :( You hustling hard to make that blog blow up in the meantime?? :)
We’re down about 1% in July. The stock market didn’t do too well and we are getting a new rental property. There are a lot of expenses with getting a home so I think that’s why our net worth went down so much. I also with held tax from a rental property sales…
You rock, J$, and as for me if it wasn’t for bad luck I would have none at all… this past Thursday, I hit what for me was a MAJOR MILESTONE in my retirement funds accumulation. I was so proud of myself. And then, by the end of the day, as we all know, it evaporated – POOF! – thanks a LOT, ARGENTINA! I was depressed, but then I remembered what you said… it doesn’t matter that you are no longer there, at the goal, it only matters that you HIT the goal, and you will hit it again if you just keep doing the hard work! Truth!
I said that??? I’m a smartie! Haha… ;)
Well sir, I would say are worth almost half a million dollars, I ask you how many mohawk wearing personal finance bloggers can say that? Exactly.
(I like the way you think)
Any reason that you don’t dollar cost average?
Yes – because I never know how much money I’ll have at the end of the year to invest as I hit my SEP Ira first which is tied to business income (I’m self-employed). If I make bank I can invest bank, but if I make pennies I can only invest pennies into it. Outside of my ROTH Ira which I usually try and max out too – but again, only if I have money at the end of the year to dump in there…
If I had it my way I *would* dollar cost average though – It really is the best way to go.
I think ours was about even for the month of July, but our cash savings definitely took a hit. But like you said, this isn’t some short game, and we’re in it for the long haul.
I hate to be a downer but through my own experience with selling houses (one bad one more than made up for the good ones) the amount a realtor tells you it’s worth doesn’t mean much. The amount you take home from the sale is the important number. With realtor fees, any improvements the buyer wants, and sometimes closing costs (#%#^!) the number gets much skinnier:( just didnt want you to die from shock when you getvto the point of selling it! love your posts and enjoy killing it this month, can’t have two in a row in the negative:)
True, we only know the real deal when it comes time to sign that contract, but it’s better than using numbers from Zillow or other sites at least in my opinion. And since your net worth shows all liabilities, I’ve gotta include it ;) A great point to keep in mind though, so thanks for sharing it with us!
Hey, that’s still a damn good net worth! Ours is a fraction of that, and half of THAT is estimated home equity. Damn student loans are dragging it down. *shakes fist*
As you said… What goes up must come down. I know as financial bloggers we like to track our daily, weekly and monthly net gains and losses with our stock portfolio, real estate, etc. but you can’t sweat the small stuff. FI is all about the long journey that is measured in decades rather than months or quarters. Still, I appreciate you sharing your recent update and love the transparency of the PF blogging community.
It’s only one month in many many years! At least if your stocks go down everyone else’ does also! Well not really very uplifting but it means we’re all feeling the pain/joy together!
Hah – that’s true!
While loses are certainly not sexy, those overall numbers are pretty damn hot! The market kicked my retirement accounts in the face, but that is how it works!
That’s tough! But, losses mean there will be gains (eventually). That’s just how this works! I’m sure next month will be better :-)
Hey J, seem like you still doing good even though you got a bad month. Your net worth is great, and I agree with you it help me track my success & failure by tracking my net worth.
Honestly I think it’s just super awesome about your house! The market will go up and down sure but you worked hard to get that house in the green so woooo hooo to you.
Oh man, ain’t that the truth! 7+ years paying down that thing and we *still* have $300,000 to go! Ugh…. at least we pay off more and more off that principle as time goes on though. Hope you and the babes are well! :)
The market is definitely getting choppy. I was just beginning to invest — after paying off my massive student loans — when the market started getting this way. It’s a real bummer, as I missed many of the post-crash gains due to lack of funds. Oh well, here’s hoping that Buffett’s optimism is right and America is still and will continue to be the place to invest in.
As always, it’s much appreciated to see and understand a real BIG budget.
All the best,
Sam
I hope you do stick with it though – never know what the future can hold! Could go way up or come crashing down, but pros and cons to both sides :) In fact, if you’ve still got 20-30-40 years to go you should hope for it to crash and burn right now so you can pile it in and then let it rise over the decades! Haha…. As long as you don’t get scared and dip out :)
The markets go up and down and so does the net worth of investors. As long as the trend is upward, no worries mon. That swimming in the Caribbean comment got me. Great job.