Alriiight, back to the cold hard numbers!
Net worth report #138 in a row here without missing a beat โ even while on sabbatical :)
I took these snapshots at the first of the month before the chaos ensued so the numbers would prob. be lower today, but as we do every month we ignore all that happens in the middle there and focus only on our monthly check-ins. A looooot can happen in between the weeks, so we just keep steady and do our best to stay away from the distractions! Itโs not a daily play weโre after here, itโs a long-term one!
So with that, here is the breakdown of Julyโs numbers as part of our Net Worth Seriesโฆ
Net Worth Report #138: July, 2019
CASH SAVINGS: $49,128.20 (+$1,978.17) โ A nice bump after a few months of losses througout all the house stuff! Most of this comes from a check thatโs been owed for months, but Iโll take a win wherever I can get one :)
BROKERAGE: $0.00 (n/a) โ Still staying quite on this end for nowโฆ Want to get our savings up over $50,000 first and will then think about where to shoot the extra savings into. Though knowing me itโll all get plowed into the newly attained mortgage as the idea of being debt-free again tends to trounce everything!
THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN (TSP): $22,202.93 (+$1,207.64) โ Three years now with the wife back into the workforce and the benefits are piling up! Itโs so much nicer being DIKs vs SIKs ;)
ROTH IRAs: $168,884.44 (+$3,478.18) โ A nice little bump here, though of course hard to really get too excited since I already know theyโve been wiped out by now, hahaโฆ
SEP IRA: $621,244.50 (+$12,996.75) โ Same with this guy here โ though it sure was nice to see back on August 1st when I ran the numbers! Hereโs the screenshot I took on the same day too:
Almost $300,000 growth since 2015! Wild! And all our money here btw is in VTSAX, for those new to the siteโฆ You can read more about why here if you havenโt come across it yet.
HOME VALUE: $337,000.00 (n/a) โ A stable boring number here as we leave it be for the next 6 months until we get our realtor to update it for us! I find this a much more pleasurable โ and accurate โ strategy than tracking the yo-yo fluctuations of Zillow et alโฆ And plus since we literally just bought it itโs as close to true market value as you can get ;)
CAR VALUES: $8,977.00 (+$38.00) โ There they go increasing in value again! Hahaโฆ But similar to our monthly net worth tracking here, I continue to track it the same way every month in order to stay consistent. Which is basically just clicking over to KBB.com and copying over the updated numbers.
Hereโs what they say both cars are currently worth:
- 2008 Lexus RX350: $6,768.00 (-$9.00)
- 2005 Toyota Corolla: $2,209.00 (+$47.00)
MORTGAGE: $267,025.01 (-$1,174.99) โ We finally have accurate numbers to report now, woo! After all the switching around our servicers were doing, we now have access to a portal we can log into and see up to date numbers which is great. Especially when you can see the totals go DOWN every month vs UP! Which means all our extra payments are working their magic! :)
And thatโs the end of our net worth breakdown!
Total change in net worth this month: +$20,873.72
And then which is always more interesting to see โ the last twelve months of reports to better put things in perspective:
Check out that delta from December to today โ an almost $150k change! And then if you compare from this time last year to today, itโs about a $50,000 change. Which is a lot less exciting, but exactly how the game goes (at least if youโre heavily invested into the markets).
Hereโs the breakdown of those past 12 months just for fun:
- Jul: $940,412.06 (+$20,873)
- Jun: $919,538.34 (+$35,000 โ Market rebound)
- May: $883,910.63 (-$40,000 โ Markets crashโฆ)
- Apr: $923,966.07 (+$37,000 โ Markets continued climb)
- Mar: $886,776.74 (+$9,000)
- Feb: $877,998.20 (+$29,000 โ Markets up)
- Jan: $848,665.47 (+$57,000 โ Surprise Increase?!)
- Dec: $791,150.37 (-$61,000 โ MARKET MELTDOWN)
- Nov: $851,800.32 (+$9,000)
- Oct: $842,180.92 (-$60,000 โ MARKET SPIRAL!!!)
- Sep: $902,133.51 (+$8,000)
- Aug: $894,310.86 (+$27,000 โ Markets up)
And then lastly, hereโs how our kidsโ net worths are looking:
Thatโs Baby Dime up there exploring some nature, who also got a $5.00 bill randomly from Grandma this month giving his savings a 20% bump, hahaโฆ He and his brothers are all enjoying their new home, and even more so playing with each other :) Which makes it a lot easier on their parents!
And thatโs July! Overall a solid month without much drama as it waits for August to more than make up for it ;)
How did you guys do??? Anything exciting happen?!
Will be back in just a couple more weeks to update everything for August, but in the meantime โ keep your heads down and your savings up! You canโt control everything out there, but you sure can the way you manage that wallet!
XOXO,
PS: If youโre just getting started in your journey, here are a few good resources to help track your money. Doesnโt 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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Up $20K is awesome.
I only edged up 9K this month to $971K.
But it was another all-time high NW for me.
(and the seventh month in a row of all-time high NWโs โ up $78K in that time).
The scaredy-cat portfolio trucks on. :)
Hahaโฆ Youโre getting closer to that Double Comma Club! ;)
We both are. Letโs both hit the milestone at the same time.
How cool would that be? :)
I wouldnโt hate it :)
Nice work, Boss! And welcome back!!
Nothing exciting so far this summer. Still waiting to settle my copyright fiasco with some blood-thirsty lawyersโฆ
Damn, are you serious? With the blog or something else? Really sorry to hear that, man :(
-$9.00โฆdamn that Lexus :-)
I guess theyโre going downhill :)
Wow! Nice bump! Inching towards the double comma! If only the market will sustain!
I see you have everything in VTSAX. Itโs a good strategy, I agree. Very lazy and very profitable, too.
However, now that youโre soon to be a millionaire, have you considered optimizing your portfolio even just a tiny bit? VTSAX means youโre very much correlating with large US corporations.
Iโm sure youโre familiar with the modern portfolio theory (https://www.thewealthyfinn.com/2019/07/risk-return-modern-portfolio-theory.html). Have you thought of balancing the US-heavy portfolio with other indexes, like China or Africa?
To me it _feels_ it should be a better risk-return ratio, scientifically. Still lazy though.
Thoughts?
Again, congrats!
Youโre probably right on that oneโฆ. I do consider tweaking it every now and then, but so far havenโt been moved to really take action as yet. Not sure if thatโs because everythingโs been going relatively well so far, or if Iโm just lazy, but in either event I do agree itโs good to re-assess every now and then for sure :)
Nice to see things march relentlessly upward, even considering bumps along the way! The last week or two have been interesting โ and my own company stock took a tumble the other day, thanks to a cruddy Q2 earnings report โ but something about having a solid stash and a spouse with a stable job sure makes things feel a lot less scary.
Haha, agreedโฆ especially on that last on ;)
Nice Numbers!
I am working a little harder to save a little more each month too!
Little one is sooooo cuteโฆ
Glad to hear it! :)
Nice man.
So exciting.
THIS IS THE YEAR!
(Hopefully, if itโs not, we are ALL in trouble.)
It did start to look bleak again yesterday, lolโฆ.
Wow wow wow! So close now. And also, I am shocked as I always felt years behind you and suddenly our numbers are getting close to yours. It really is craZy how much can change when you invest money and let it do its thing over the years.
hell yeah!!! the more you focus on it and pour it in, the faster it goes!!
youโll be passing m in no time, Superwoman!
Wait a sec, is Grandma playing favorites with Baby Dime?
You probably say this somewhere, but what interest rate did you get for your mortgage?
20K is no joke! Good month for you guys. I managed to double my net worth over the past three months, but it doesnโt *really* count when itโs so small to begin with. Onwards!
Hahaโฆ. Those are the exciting times though!!! Itโs way more boring when youโre years into it :)
Mortgage rage: we ended up at 4.25%โฆ right before it plummeted (dโoh)
Where would you dump $50k in todays markets? Would you limp in or just wait for a down day, then buy all at once?
Read this one :)
https://jlcollinsnh.com/2014/11/12/stocks-part-xxvii-why-i-dont-like-dollar-cost-averaging/
Um, I bought a couch. And nearly lost my mind. But +$20,873.72, thatโs good too :-)
Because it cost a lot or took forever to decide on?!
we still havenโt gotten our new couch to fit our place better because i just know itโll take forever to find it/decide on :(
So many layers to my couch insanity
http://slackerjo.com/essays.html
Staring for when I can grab some popcorn :)
Iโve just left our home value from zillow for PC and the bouncing up and down itโs done in the last year is driving me bonkers. But at the same time, Iโm not sure I want to change the way Iโm tracking it haha
As long as itโs doing the trick, keep on going :)
I bought a couch this month. A Big Comfy Couch to replace the barely-padded tiny one we had. I expected this to drop my net worth, for the first time since I got my current job, but instead it went up a few hundred $! Once I thought about it I remembered that my debt payment gives me a guaranteed increase of like $700, even if I only pay my self-imposed minimum. (Which, by the way, is significantly more than the actual minimum!)
I was also finally allowed to contribute to a 401(k) at work. Iโm doing about $400 a month. Since it was only in for the second half of the month, I got a loss instead of a gain. Oh well. Thinking long-term.
In terms of mileage Iโm still basically at the deli, since in mileage terms I only moved about 200 feet. Definitely a sign I should go there for lunch sometime.
Hahaโฆ.
Pretty slick you now get to dump some money in that 401k plan though! $400 just like that! You can tell you obviously have a handle on your finances to be able to plunk that down without much worry :)
Ohhh so close to the double comma club! But with the recent market volatility, might expect a bit of drop when you tally next month?
I donโt ever expect anything these days, whether with the market or economy or now my health or anything hahaโฆ Things seem to change so fast, so I just roll w/ the flow!
Hey J Money, Do you still have any money in Acorns? I saw that you updated its article as recently as 2018, but I donโt ever see it in your Net Worth Update.
I donโt, no.
Not because i donโt believe in it or anything though โ I still very much do! โ the minimalist side of me just finally won out and I closed down the account to condense moreโฆ
plus โ Iโm not really the target market for it :)
Why do you count home and car in your net worth? Those arenโt assets.
I like to see a snapshot of where all my major things are, which includes our cars and especially houseโฆ If you donโt keep the house in there where would it go? (And more importantly where would the mortgage go? Since certainly thatโs a liability?)
Iโve been reading your blog for a while but for some reason today I was inspired to figure out my net worth for the first time ever. $108,000! Thanks for the inspo, now I plan to start tracking it in my monthly budget document (but maybe not every month).
WOOHOO!!
WAY TO GO, Harmony!! It gets much easier from here keeping up with it!
Especially as you inch closer to that next $100,000 milestone ;)
Keep going!!! Youโre on fire now!