Net Worth: JUNE - I lied, I'm still flying solo this round!

That's right, i'm way too lazy/unmotivated to combine our financial lives as yet.

Plus, by this time in 2 months she'll be in Grad School full time which complicates things even more. (although i AM happy for her!)

So the goal is to combine forces by the end of August. I think that's a fairly good goal :)


That means I have another net worth update or two before the madness begins - Woohoo!

Now that the wedding is over though, things are starting to calm down a bit and we're now back in "normal" land - and what better way to start out than being up $4,122.39 for the month! No more wedding expenditures, no more travel costs, just back to plain ol' saving mode.

Here's how it breaks down this month:

Cash Savings: This is what i like about these monthly check ups - i had NO idea i had such a big jump in cash flow! Mainly because we used most of our wedding cash to pay off all our credit card debt. We've been saving a lot from our heloc, and i've been super frugal lately, so this def. keeps me motivated to keep it up.

Roth IRA: Sucky for sure, but whatcha gonna do about it, ya know? It can't go up all that much anyways since i've stopped making deposits. It's totally at the mercy of the markets.

401k: *OUCH* While this one definitely sucks, at least it wasn't a surprise. I put in $2,375 this month, and the market stole almost double back from me - $4,354.60. Bastards.

Savings Bonds: Picked up another bond as a wedding present ($500 - currently valued at $250), and earned a few bucks from interest off the others.

Condo Investment: I'm starting to include the 5% interest here (compounded monthly), since it will be the amount I'll be paid back. I used a new calculator for this one. My brother says he'll only need 2 more months, and then he'll be set to go and ready to start paying it back. He grows up so fast! haha...

Home Equity: Same as it's been over the past few months. Don't plan on paying more than the interest on both our mortgages yet.

Auto Worth (kbb): Well, well, well - I actually paid MORE off this month than my car lost in value. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEES! about damn time ;) We'll see what next month brings, but it looks like i lose less each month (fingers crossed). Here are the amounts from the past 5 months, respectively: $1425, $925, $850, $675, and now $175.

Credit Cards: ZERO! It's been a good 18 months since i've had absolutely no credit card debt, and i'm planning on keeping it that way :) easier said than done, of course, but i'm up for the challenge.

Auto Loan: My car net worth went up $153.74! (my principal payment minus value loss) You won't hear a complaint outta me this round, that's for sure. And selling of the car is def. on the backburner.

That about wraps it up this month. Let's hope the market turns around and the crazy investors turn into smart investors, eh? Happy day before the 4th of July! And enjoy tomorrow's guest post :)

* I have updated my sweeet side bars - one of my fav. things to do!
*Feel free to also check out my past Net Worth updates.

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Net Worth: MAY... my very last "single" month!

What a good way to end single-ness: UP a good 3 Grand this month :)

The only stuff holding us back are all of the wedding expenses now charged on our card and sucking us dry! haha...

On the other hand, the beautiful checks still continue to flow in, so i'm pretty hopeful we'll be back in action soon. And NO MORE expenditures to come, HOORAY!

Here's how it breaks down this month:

Cash Savings: Oh yeah, lost a few dollars in this department. But it's only because of said wedding costs and balancing our credit cards the best way to limit interest charges. I'm afraid to report though that we'll actually accrue these fees on the next statement. At least it's a first in years.

Roth IRA: Another month of doing nothing, and watching the balance eek itself up ;) I'll take that any day.

401k: A+++ I love this bad boy! Had the usual two deposits of $1187.50 (my half + 100% matching), and then some extra help from the markets going up. And the best part? im STILL waiting for 3 full months of owed deposits!!! Well, i guess that's kinda good in that it's not in yet, but also terrible that it's taken this long so far :( But, as always, can't start getting heated about it again.

Savings Bonds: These guys don't like to move much...been this way for 2 moths now. i guess that's why they're considered a "safe" investment, huh?

Condo Investment: Still sending my brother $123 each month for his condo. Nothing too juicy going on here, except that this might stop within the next few months.

Home Equity: Same with this department - at a stand still until after the wedding and grad school stuff comes together. This amount reflects the purchase price of our house minus all principal payments.

Auto Worth (kbb): ARRGHHHHH again for the 4th month in a row. At least it didn't go down as MUCH as it has been, but it's still quickly depreciating like a mother. I'm adding this to the "do something about it" list for next month.

Credit Cards: It went down a bit (hence the drop in my cash savings as well), but it's still wayyyy off track. Chalk this one up to the wedding stuff too. But at least I get to move the sidebar a bit :)

Auto Loan: Slowly and steadily paying off $300ish in principal each month. I really won't miss this one at all if i end up getting a beater down the road which, naturally, I'm still considering.

Hope everyone's having a wonderful week out there! And hopefully i'll be able to jump on with some sexy updates soon - straight from the Caribbean ;)

* Side bars have also been updated
* Click here to check out past Net Worth updates.

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America's net worth - where do you stack up?

I recently found this tool (and MANY others) on CNNMoney.com, and it's pretty freakin' interesting. It just asks for your age and your yearly income, and it plops you out a couple of nice and simply graphs. The first shows the average "net worth" for your age-group (as posted to the left), and the second shows the average "net worth" for your particular income level.

Both graphs are pretty cool to see. That first one is SCARY though! Can you believe that? man.... luckily, i'm WAY better off than the average in this group (Opah!), but my $66k is wayyyyy below the average for my income level. Age plays a huge part in this ofcourse, as I've only been at this salary for less than a year, so I'm just hoping i can stick with it and/or increase it for years to come!

Give it the old college try, and see how you compare. Hopefully you'll be on top of at least one of the graphs! And if not? Well, now you have something to strive for. Just keep reading the blogs to help pump you up ;)

*I've also just added a new section of helpful links*
It can be found on the left column, and it links to some pretty sweet tools & calculators out there. So far I have the following:

• Bankrate: today's rates
• Millionaire calculator
• Refinance calculator
• Debt free calculator
• Find a blogger :)
• Compare your net worth
• Est. mortgage payments

I'll be updating/revising them over time, so feel free to holler if you'd like to see a special on in particular, or even if you have found a more helpful one.

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Net Worth: APRIL ... And how weddings eat your money.

Hum ... not my favorite month's review, but it's all good.

Gotta have those down periods, to make those up ones feel even better, right?

Most of this was also expected, so no big shocks (thank goodness).

The main difference here, from all other months, is the massive jump in the credit card category due to more wedding related costs.

I'm not scared yet though, we have a good month to pay it off before finance charges kick in ... and even at that point, it's only at 5%, so it's not THAT bad. We'll definitely be hoping for cash wedding gifts now though ;)

Here's how the other categories played out this month (no promises it'll be exciting):

Cash Savings: The $60 here is a bit deceiving, as my actual cash went up a good $600 thanks to my new best friend - George Bush! I ended up taking my bond amounts out of here (it deserved it's own category), and then took out 48 crisp $1 bills from my stash for my current art project.

Roth IRA: I like earning money for doing nothing at all! No new deposits in here.

401k: We're finally starting to get some of the due deposits into our account now. While we only had one deposit this month, we're still waiting for a good 5+ to hit any day now. Weeeee!

Savings Bonds: These were the bonds i found in my safe the other month. Had to take them out of the "cash" area as it really didn't belong there...i was just too lazy to edit my graphics last month ;) Now I'll be able to see the differences each month a little better too, esp. when I start adding some bonds down the road.

Condo Investment: Same ol', same ol'. $123 each month still going to my bro until we agree to stop.

Home Equity: Still at a stand still due to our frozen Heloc adventure. We don't plan on paying off more of either mortgage for at least 5-6 months, as the 9k we accidently "paid off" is enough for right now.

Auto Worth (kbb): ARRGHHHHH again. 3 months in a row now. i. still. hate. cars.

Credit Cards: All wedding related stuff - honeymoon, flowers, dj, you name it. We've already started getting some cash gifts coming in, so we're *hoping* to get enough to pay it all off before, or soon after our wedding. Either way, it's all good for now.

Auto Loan: Another measly $300ish principal payment. No more thoughts on selling my car, too much going on these days.

'Tis all for now fine folks. The sidebars have been updated, and life continues on with another glorious day ;) HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

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Net Worth: MARCH... And why cars suck.

Not too shabby. I was hoping a few of my 401k deposits (7 to be exact) would hit my account, but still no luck in that department. it's all good though, it should be cleared up by the end of April.

All the other categories are moving along pretty nicely, w/ the exception of my stupid car situation :(

Value down almost $1,000?? COME ON. i hate cars. seriously, every month it's gone down like $1k, and i'm only paying off $300+ of the principal per month. i keep saying i may sell the car, but now i actually LOVE IT! ha ha... whatever, i'm too much in a good mood to get into this right now. we'll deal later.

Here's it all played out last month (Mar):

Cash Savings: Definitely a nice little jump. i'm putting my savings bonds in this category for now (prob. will create it's own section later), so $200 of this increase is related to finding out how much they're now worth. Yay! the additional $272 were from savings of going under budget :)

Roth IRA: Haven't added any additional funds in months, so i'll take an increase in earnings any day! Keep doing your thing mutual funds ;)

401k: Not impressive at all. Granted, it could def. be a billion times worse w/ the way the market is these days, BUT still. I mean, i'm contributing 19% of my paycheck twice a month. At least i have something to look forward too - once all is back to normal, i should see $4k increases each month (not including ups and downs in the market)! Y-U-M.

Condo Investment: Still creeping along nicely. I like helping family out.

Home Equity: This will remain the same over the next few months. We basically paid a large chunk of the mortgage off cple months ago (not on purpose), and since we have interest-only financing, we're taking a break until after the wedding to get more situated.

Auto Worth (kbb): ARRGHHHHH. that's about it.

Credit Cards: We're knocking them away month after month! I was paying off both cards evenly ($100 a piece), but now i've decided to pay more off the card where the 0% financing is ending first, while paying minimal payments on the other. As it stands right now, both cards are at 0%.

Auto Loan: Measly $300ish principal payment out of the $440 i'm sending in each month. Arghhhh again.

ps: i also updated my side bars to reflect the new & hip scenario.

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February Net Worth: Me likey long time!

As much as I'd like to say my insane frugalness and expert investment wizardry pumped me up this round, the actual truth is a little less interesting ;)

Between logistical 401k nightmares, HELOC freezings, and lump sum tax credits, things should be nice and settled for the most part going forward.

Although if i continue on with all my personal challenges, look for additional $200+ savings each month! I just hope i can do it, it seriously takes some due diligence. Below is a quick summary of everything that occurred this last month to produce a most sexcellent month of net increase.

Cash Savings: All I can say is THANK HOTNESS for tax season! At the beginning of the month this category took a massive nosedive and was put in stage 4 alert w/ only $12.12!!! My cash was locked into our Heloc and when it froze i lost all access to it :( i cried a bit, but am now over it. haha.... So, 90% of this increase can be attributed to the gov't credits, $500 of it to the stash of cash in my safe @ home in case of super emergencies (hey, ya never know!), $250 of it from bonds my mom gave to me circa 1980! (i will share more later), and $10.10 from my dollar a day challenge.

Roth IRA: Nothing new here...still at the mercy of the markets. I'm not planning on funding this any more until my Emergency Fund is back up to par.

401k: This had, and will have, the biggest changes over the next month or so until all my deposits are 100% in my account. We've been having a few logistic problems w/ our account manager, so not all my contributions (nor matches) are actually accounted for as yet. Not to worry though (more a soothing message for myself, than for you :)) as this should clear up over the next few weeks. Fingers crossed!

Condo Investment: Steady as she goes (steady as she goes), steady as she goes. This will probably continue on for the next 2-3 months, and then my brother will start paying me back.

Home Equity: This money was actually already accounted for last month in "Cash Savings", but because of the whole Heloc debacle, it has been trapped in equity, and thus falls under this category now. I was considering taking this category out, but have decided not to. Mortgages and mortgage payments need to be accounted for, even if the value of the house fluctuates, so weather it goes up or down, the "equity" here will always be determined from the actual sales price of our home, minus mortgage amounts . So, we got $360,000 - $351, 072.08, and then divided by 2 until we are married.

Auto Worth (kbb): How on earth this went down over $1400, i have noooo idea. The only thing i could think of is if i calculated it wrong on their website last month? This def. sucks either way :(

Credit Cards: I was calculating this a bit wrong last go around. I really shaved off about $200, even though it looks much higher. All is good going forward now.

Auto Loan: Steadily going down. I forgot that about $1800 of it is for an extended warranty and tire/wheel protection. I mention that only because the portion of time i don't use (if i sell it) is fully refundable. So, although i'd lose a little if i sold right now, it's not ALL that bad.

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2008 Net Worth Goal: $100,000

I have to say it feels really good getting all this stuff out there. I've always known I had money saved in different places here and there, but up to 3 months ago I had never put it all together and focused on any type of real "net worth".

I suggest conjuring one up yourself if you haven't already, it's quite empowering!

So, now that i'm done patting myself on the back (you have to right?), here it is - my official net worth as of the end of January. I'm sure my format and calculations will change over time, but as it stands today this a great measurement of my overall financial picture. Daddy's proud, daddy's proud.

Now that I have it organized, I am ready to begin this year's net worth goal - to reach $100,000 by the end of December! I can't believe i'm actually setting something so high (cuz my GOODNESS that's a lot of money), but you know what? Sometimes you gotta just do it like Nike. I mean I'm young, nubile, and by golly it's time to make something of myself! haha... W-O-W, talk about some motivation.

Moving along, here's what we got:

Cash Savings: I'm hoping to add an additional $1,530.97 to reach my goal $5,250. Once this is accomplished, I will leave it alone 100% as it will act as my Emergency Fund.

Roth IRA: As of today, I am not planning on adding any more funds to this *unless* I end up with extra money after my cash savings goal. In this case, I would def. add it into my Roth.

401k: My favorite category of all time :) What's not to love about company matches, direct deposits, and tax benefits? If all goes as planned, this will be my 3rd year of maxing out my 401k! I have been more than blessed w/ generous company matches, so it would be absolutely asinine not to participate. I expect this category to go up at least $2,375 each month, markets willing.

If there was just one piece of financial advise I would give anyone, it would be to put in AT LEAST (very important) the same % as your company matches. This means from the start you are D-O-U-B-L-I-N-G your return from day 1. Now, i'm not a financial pro or CPA by any means, but with the good graces of the stock market, this $ should increase fruitfully until the day comes for retirement. Of course if you could add in more each paycheck, more power to you.

Condo Investment: I am helping my brother out with a personal loan, which will help him with his new condo purchase. I give him $123 a month, and the interest is locked at 5%. Either of us can bail out at any time if needed, and it's written in a simple contract just in case (this was forced by my dad, and I'm thinking rightfully so). Initially I thought of loaning the money interest-free (since it IS a family member), but I wanted him to think of it as a real loan and that it will need to be payed back at a later date. Unfort. i'm not in the position to say, "ahh, just forget about it bro". Well, not yet anyways :) I expect this category to go up $1,353 by year's end, and put this into the Assets category as I count it as an investment.

Home Equity: This is the difference between the price we PAID for our house, and the MORTGAGES left on them. Actually, it's 1/2 of the total equity as I'm only including my portion, not my fiancée's yet until we're married. I'm also heavily thinking of taking this out as housing prices are fluctuating like crazy these days. Plus since houses actually sell for what someone's willing to pay for it, who knows what the sales price will be by that point.

Auto Worth (kbb): This is the value the Kelly Blue Book puts on my car at the time I pull it. Normally I wouldn't put this here, but i need to help balance my car loan w/ something right? This category will def. go down each month...

Credit Cards: For net worth accounting, this includes my personal credit card + 1/2 of all outstanding store credit cards. All cards are either paid off in full each month, or at 0% financing. I am hoping we don't add a lot more because of our upcoming wedding! The current plan is to have all cards wiped out to $0.00 by year's end.

Auto Loan: My auto loan :) My plan is to sell my current car, however, and pick up an oldie but goody. This should def. help out the numbers.

So there we have it - my 2008 Net Worth goal. It suuuure looks sweet, now let's see if I can make it a reality!

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