Morning gang!

That time again to update the ol’ net worth!

It’s a sad one for me this time around since it’ll be the first one in 11 and 1/2 years where I *don’t* share mine in all its naked glory (!!), but rest assured I’m still doing it in the background until I can figure out a way to divulge without breaking any promises, haha….

I can state though that so far no one has taken away our double comma membership card yet! So that’s something! :) And while I still feel relatively the same as I did a month go – or even a decade ago – it is starting to sink in more and giving me that extra boost of confidence where I feel like I don’t need to worry as much anymore… A gift in itself really, since the whole point of watching this stuff is so one day you don’t have to anymore if you don’t want! And can get right back to the whole point of it all – LIVING!!

At any rate, I took the liberty of pasting other peoples’ money down below to continue the voyeuristic trend, and perhaps you’ll resonate even more with one of them as we’re all on differing journeys…

It never ends, but again the worrying can! So keep on stacking and tracking! Life awaits you!!

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Debbie + Husband: $350k Net Worth

Background:

• Me – age 38 (current salary $81K)
• Husband – age 35 (current salary $29K)
• Married Jan 2017
• No kids (yet) and 1 dog

We moved across Texas in January this year for my new job and sold the house in February (net $108K). (Side note: Zillow stated our house was ‘worth’ $200K+ when we put it on the market but it only sold for $185K (asking price) because the realtor stressed this was market price (damn you Zillow for getting my hopes up).)

Since we moved we have been staying with my parents (I give them $500 a month to help them out). In July we signed a contract (you will see a dip this month since we had to pay 25% upfront for all upgrades) to begin building our ‘long-term’ home – construction should be finished in January 2020.

My husband had a very difficult time finding work that suited him or paid what he felt he deserved after we moved (previously he was making $66K). Finally in April he got a job paying $60K but the manual labor and long hours were not ideal. In June, after a long wait (he applied in April as well) he started working for my company and works part-time.

It’s a really great job but here you have to pay your dues, and only with time and experience can you move into a full-time job. The hourly rate of pay is the same it’s just the hours worked, so hopefully within 6 months he will transition over from PT to FT hours. Us working for the same company is great – I do not ever have to ask him what his companies policies are, what holidays he’s off for or how much the benefits costs, lol.

Before we moved his income paid for all his bills and the money we spent outside the home (activities, vacations, eating/drinking, movies, etc). My income paid for my bills plus all the costs associated with our dogs (we had two then) and the previous house which I bought prior to us getting married.

It might have been a weird arrangement but it worked for us during our first 2 years of marriage. We now combine expenses, but my breakdowns below do not include him yet (lol); only my figures since he has not built up any savings and only recently set up his 401K. At least I got him to contribute 10% like I do; our company matches 100% up to 5%. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Good job, Debbie!!!!)

We use a credit card every month for rewards, but pay it off each month in full so it is not listed. The proceeds from my house sale, as well as some extra savings built before then, is the reason our savings account has such a ‘cushion’. We plan on using only $50K (20%) for the down payment on our new home build when we close next January, as well as some for furniture and appliances that’ll be needed and then sit on the remainder of the cash. As life sometimes decides to take unexpected turns (like those two market downturns Oct and Dec). We plan on using the remaining funds wisely after we determine what our new monthly bills will be.

Attached is a graph of our net worth over the past two years, as well as a breakdown of September’s net worth numbers.

(Looks like she’s using our Financial Snapshot spreadsheet! Cool!)

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Carla + Husband + 2 Kids: $800k Net Worth

I came across your blog via the Afford Anything podcast archive and Stacking Benjamins podcasts.

I really appreciate your emphasis on freedom, which doesn’t necessarily mean self-employment. I love my corporate job. I want financial freedom, but I don’t want to retire. I want to travel more, but I don’t want to be a blogging nomad. So thank you for your moderate welcoming space!

We’re in our early 30s with 2 young kids. We’re less than 6 years to our arbitrary magic number where my husband can retire without risk, which would mean (assuming I get no promotions or pay increases, and my husband’s business doesn’t grow at all) paying off our house in the next 18 months (AUD $1M*) then paying off my in-laws house (a AUD $320k* investment property we rent to them) another 2-3 years after that. We have planned for a family gap year in between though which will be a small step backwards.

Our current net worth looks a bit like this converted to USD:

We have cars but I don’t count depreciating assets in net worth.

I also haven’t included the value of my husband’s business because he is unconvinced he could sell it as a going concern. I disagree but am not an expert. Will be a nice bonus on top of everything if he does sell it when he retires. (EDITOR’S NOTE: That’s what I do with my businesses too – only count it once it’s sold as who knows what can happen with them or how much they’d bring in reality…)

*House prices in Australian cities are a bit crazy compared to average US city (excl. San Fran of course). For example our $217k investment is a tired old 3 bed a stone’s throw from the prison on the outskirts of the city. If we buy another investment we will buy in the US where we can get positive rental returns at a much lower price! Haha… But we borrow much less than the banks offered and will have paid it off in 5 years rather than 30.

Anyway, thanks again for your blog and podcasting. I had never done net worth calcs before, just focusing on mortgage balances, but the net worth really helped us plan out the next 10+years!

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Sylvie + Husband: Income Graphs!

Hi J money!

The attached chart is my (blue) and my husband’s (red) income graphed over time (data from the social security portal). I thought you might find it interesting because there’s a lot about us and our careers that is reflected in the graph!

1. He started working right after high school and gained experience on the job.
2. I went to medical school, then residency, then started a “real” job as a physician.
3. He changed jobs (and took pay cuts) when we moved several times for my training and career.
4. He is much older than I am.

Thanks for your blog!

Sylvie
LookForZebras.com

[EDITOR’S NOTE: What a cool thing to track!! Does anyone else do this?? Would make for a fun new thing to build into the ol’ spreadsheet :) ]

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Thanks for sharing, everyone!!

If anyone else wants to lay it all out on the table, just pass me a note.

Here’s to a fresh new month!

// For past snapshots featured before, click here
// For past net worths of my own over the 11+ years, click here