Net Worth: April - Up $7 Gs and Happy as a Clam.
Nothing but love for April! The market was happy, our budget was happy, and life in general was pretty happy :) What more can you ask for?As you can see, the majority of changes this month were pretty positive, and helped us break back into that $60k range.
But the coolest part of the month was converting over my Roth IRA into a Brokerage Roth IRA so I could start investing in individual stocks again! I won't be able to take that money out for quite some time, of course, but even better. The less temptation I have, the less opportunity for rash decisions ;)
You may also notice a small blemish in the cash & car department. The first has its reasons which I explain below (and is actually a GOOD thing!), and the latter is just pretty much expected. After all, when it comes down to it they're cars - not investments. And then we have a wonderful uptick in the Mortgage department! More on that to follow...
Here's how April's Net Worth breaks down:
CASH SAVINGS (-$224.86): This is awesome! It may not look it, but we actually xfered out around $2,000 into other areas ;) So the fact we're down only $200 is killer. Most of the money went into my new stock picking adventure, and then the rest into paying down part of the mortgages! Not as fun as hoarding it all, but i guess you have to pay them down at some point.
EMERGENCY FUND ($0.00): Our $10k is still sleeping away nicely in our Money Market account. It's mixed in with other funds so I can't determine exactly how much interest is accruing on the Emergency Fund in particular, but I promise it's adding up.
ROTH IRAs (+$2,754.05): Blowin' up baby! Now that I've converted my old Roth into a Brokerage Roth IRA, and the market is still behaving, this area should be seeing some green going forward. And most of it going into hand-picked stocks courtesy of Mr. Warren Buffett ;)
401(k)s (+$4,562.72): Same awesomeness here, except solely based on the market right now. Whenever this goes up, the biggest part of our Net Worth goes up too! I love it. Of course, the opposite has been known to happen as well...
SAVINGS BONDS (+$0.20): I've had this collection of bonds hanging out since I was a wee lad 20+ years ago. And up until last month, I never thought twice about it. BUT, a fellow blogger (Ishan@ Save Few Bucks) pointed out that it would make *more* sense to cash them in and use the money to pay off our mortgages since they're charging us a much higher interest rate (6.875%). And you know what? He makes a valid point. Why the hell am I still holding onto these? Sure they're sexy as hell to look at - all "old school" and all - but when it comes down to it, that money could in fact be used better. So Ishan, this month I plan on doing something about it. Much love for pointing it out brotha.
AUTOS WORTH (kbb) (-$475.00): A bit sucky, but always anticipated. Although I had a brain fart while trying to recall the mileage on the Mrs' car and was too lazy to call her, so i'm hoping i was way off there ;) Here's how the values breakdown:
* Pimpin' A$$ Caddy --> $3,670. Went up $75? haha...I'll take it!
* Gas-Sippin' Toyota --> $10,435. Down a minor $25 buckaroos, gotta love that.
HOME VALUE (Realtor) ($0.00): This will remain @ $300k (the price our realtor set it at) until I get more word from him in a few months. He has a fantastic eye in our particular neighborhood, and has been selling (and even lived at one point) in this area for 20+ years. I also keep an eye out on what Zillow & Redfin.com show it listed at every month, and the $300k is pretty much where the average falls, maybe a tad bit lower.
CREDIT CARD (car loans) ($0.00): ZEROOO!!!! Yup, the last time it was at zero was back in August when we paid off all 3 store credit cards. This previous c/c debt was really just an "auto loan" that I happened to charge on my credit card - dropping a 5.5% interest rate down to around 3%. I don't recommend this for everyone, but this method definitely works well if you know what you're doing and don't have much outstanding debt lined up.
MORTGAGES (-$309.08): We just recently started paying extra towards these mortgages, and will continue doing so going forward. We'd love to take a big portion of our cash reserves and knock a big chunk of it away, but I don't think we're at that point yet. For now, we'll be using any extra money left over from our House Budget to pay it down.
*1st Mortgage: $287,835 - 30 year fixed, interest-only @ 6.875%.
*2nd Mortgage: $62,669.46 - Maxed out HELOC w/ 2.8% interest.
That's it for April! Time to concentrate on May and try and get that net worth back into the $70k's again ;) Stupid house values and economy. Oh well, it'll be that much better when it all turns around again. Hope you all had a fabulous month in finances as well! Time to go play some online monopoly now, I'm freakin' addicted. (and not afraid to admit it either)
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*The sweet & sexy side bars have been updated.
*My budget has also been updated.
*And here are all the Net Worth Updates.
Labels: net worth
posted by J. Money at
7:47 AM
14 Comments:
My wifes hooked on that monopoly too man, nothing to be too ashamed about ;) congrats on the increase
You and Buffett, arm and arm. That's what I picture (if I knew what you looked like), taking a stroll on the red carpet of stock-picking fame. Keep up the net worth cultivation - let it grow like a lawn full of weeds ignored all summer long! We'll be able to say, "I knew him way back when..."
:oD
Nice work on the increase. It's good to see up months now and then!
Be careful when you cash in those savings bonds. There are likely to increase your taxable income and thus your taxes owed. If you spend it all on your mortgage you are likely to be writing an angry post about 11 months from now bitching and moaning about owing taxes.
Way to kill that thing, man. A market rally really makes all that prudent planning pay off ... it's a beautiful feeling.
Looks like you have had a great month! Way to pay down that mortgage!
Thanks everyone! Just goes to show that planning and keeping yourselves on track does work - even if slowly over time :)
@Jesse - Nice, I'm still trying to get my girl to play w/ me once she's done w/ finals and all, there's only so many times I can challenge the computer ;) which, btw, i believe cheats. haha.....
@444 - You are too funny. The "let it grow like a lawn full of weeds ignored all summer long" cracks me up! you're a creative one :)
@My Journey - Boy, never even thought about that, thanks for the heads up. You go through it already or something? I can't imagine a few hundred dollars changing our taxable income that much, but I could see if I was cashing in on thousands worth.
I'm telling you "congratulations" on what looks to be another great month, and I'm trying to do so without sounding really jealous. :-)
Hi J, I just spent 5 minutes playing with Zillow. I don't know anyone living in America (I'm in Australia), well at least I don't know any addresses so I looked up the White House address. It's worth 300 million apparently :)
Nice work! Last month was a great month for me as well! I love when the stock market is working on the up and up.
You are working diligently my friend, and success is going to be your reward!! I love it that you are so energetic about your savings!! You are proof that having no payments gives your income the ability to work for you at a much faster pace. Compound interest is going to SLAP you in the face!! LOL
Have you by chance given much consideration to ETFs as a foundation for your brokerage Roth? I've fallen head-over-heels in love with Vanguard's funds- they make diversification so easy and cheap.
@lowincomelady - Haha, nice! $300 million is certainly a tidy investment ;)
@Enemy of Debt - Thank ya much, sir. It's certainly true - I'm passionate about all this savings stuff! Money just fascinates the pants off of me...just gotta make sure I don't get caught off guard ;)
@Blake - You know, at first I was investing in mutual funds and target funds 100% in my Roth, but I really just wanted a place to pick up individual stocks and learn another area now. It's a smart idea to invest in them though! I'm currently leaving my 401k jam packed full of funds... (for all who aren't familiar with "ETF"s (Exchange Traded Funds), here's the wiki on it)
Makes sense; as functional and efficient as funds can be, they're boring! The challenge of picking individual investments is much more exciting.
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