Down down down into a burnin’ ring o’ fire…. the ring of firrrrre….the ring of firrrrrre.
Do you think this was what Johnny Cash was singing about back in the day? Our net worths tied to a dropping stock market? ;)
Might as well have, the market’s crazy these days man. But as I say every month here, there are plenty of times when it goes up up UP too! Just all a part of the investing game…and unfortunately I’m back to waiting on 401(k) deposits that still haven’t hit my account yet. Too convoluted to post why that is at the moment, but if you see a post in the future that reads “YES! ALL MAXED OUT AND READY TO ROLL!” you’ll know they hit ;) Gives me something to look forward to at least!
Other than our investments going downhill though, everything else was pretty much on par. We lost some cash this month due to some stupid house and cat and car troubles brewing, but it hasn’t set us back too much. Oh, and of course we had our 10-day Eurotrip hit too! It ended at the end of May, but the expenses trickled in after and caught up to us in early June….almost forgot about that ;) Here’s how the rest broke down last month…
Net Worth break down: June, 2010
CASH SAVINGS (-$231.82): As I mentioned above, too many expenses came in this month and took away from our usual savings. Kinda stung a little bit, but we’ve been saving champions lately so 1 month down won’t hurt us in the overall scheme of things. As long as nothing major comes along…
EMERGENCY FUND ($0.00): 2 years in a row holding down $10Gs! No plans on touching this anytime soon….of course, unless the unforeseen is seen ;)
ROTH & TRADITIONAL IRAs (-$725.40): Not a penny has been invested this year in either of our accounts, but that’ll soon be changing. I plan on unloading $5k into my Roth all in one sitting this month, and then moving onto the Mrs’ Roth soon after. We’ll also be converting the last of her Traditionals over into her Roth to get everything finally consolidated…and earning tax-free returns! (minus the conversion taxes of course)
401(k)s (-$6,316.26): Operation Max Out my 401(k) has actually come to a close here, but you won’t hear any cheering from me yet until I see the money physically into my accounts. Again though, can’t divulge the situation here on the blog as much as I’d love to.
AUTOS WORTH (kbb) (+$350.00): So you know how this goes up, and down, and up, and then down, and then back up again over the months? Well, I could be wrong, but what I think is happening is that I forget to choose “automatic” transmission over “manual” sometimes – thus changing it by a few hundred. Either that or there’s a sudden demand for Toyota’s every other month. Orrrrr maybe now that the whole brake situation has calmed down, all the values when back up? Who knows…here’s what KBB is saying they’re worth now though:
- Pimp Daddy Caddy: $2,895.00
- Gas Ticklin’ Toyota: $9,450.00
HOME VALUE (Realtor) ($0.00): Still @ $300k as our realtor set it at a while back. Although you’ll be happy to know that our neighbor’s house house had an offer of $297k the other week! They ended up taking it off the market, but still – that means people see roughly a $300k value in it :) I’ll take it!
CREDIT CARDS ($0.00): Two months in a row, baby! Should stay that way for a bit too.
MORTGAGES (-$9.57): Purely accidental here – haven’t paid a dime extra toward our mortgages in the past few months. I keep saying I will, but I’d rather keep pumping it into our savings until my job situation gets straightened out. I can always pay into my mortgage, but I can’t always get it back! Haha… Here’s how they break down:
- Mortgage #1: $286,818.64 – 30 year fixed, interest-only @ 6.875%.
- Mortgage #2: $62,549.41 – Maxed out HELOC w/ 2.8% interest.
Finale. Nothing to write home about, but hey – when it’s out of your control it’s out of your control! The thing I’m realizing more and more over the years is that time cures everything. We’ll have ups and downs and spurts and dips, but as long as you’re pushing forward with your master plan, everything will eventually come together :) We just work as hard as we can and keep on saving and spending less, and over the months we’ll reach our goals. One step at a time, baby.
Here’s to an excellent July! Hope you all did better than we did this month.
—————–
PS: My personal budget has also been updated, and you can download it (or others) here.
PPS: Also updated – my love for Lady Gagagaggahhhhh.
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.
Get blog posts automatically emailed to you!
Ahh and I thought I was on the only closet Gaga fan?
My 401K has been taking a beat lately as well, but that is something that is so far off for us, it really is not a big deal, other than in respect to the monthly networth change. I def will be pinging you after the wedding about Roth IRA options, figure me and the soon to be wifey should be able to find a way to come up w/ $5k annually to chuck in there! Keep it going son. I’m back!! (again)
With refinance rates still pretty low, is the possibility of a refinance somewhere on the horizon? Since you’ll be more or less finished investing in your 401k/Roth soon, what would it take to get to the point of refinancing? Would a refi save any money on your monthly payments? I’d love to see a post/update on this.
Just think when you do put money into your retirement accounts the Stock Market will be cheap. It’s a fire sale! BUY BUY BUY!
My 401K went down a bit as well, but it is in a lot better shape since I rolled over an old 401K from a previous job (+$10,000), finally ;)
Not much of a Gaga fan…give me Fever Ray any day :D
@doctor S – Yessir that’s the truth! Doesn’t really matter what the 401k is doing until it’s time to cash it out ;) But obviously it’s gotta be going up over time to do some goodness (which I think it will for sure). Nice to see you back online and off Twitter (hah!).
@Melissa – A post about it is actually already in the hopper! But for now here’s your answers ;)
Possibility of a refinance somewhere on the horizon? Nope! Because I literally JUST checked the other day, and unfortunately we don’t qualify for any of the new programs out there. Apparently we have to start defaulting and/or lose our jobs – then we can do it. ?!?!??!!
What would it take to get to the point of refinancing? Well, if we were able to physically do it, I’d say we’d have to at least decide to keep the house for 3 more years. It would make no sense to refi and then leave after a y ear or two as it would take at least that to recoup the refinancing costs (maybe around $3kish?). Of course, the option of keeping it as an investment property and renting it out is always on the table, but these days I’d much rather go back to just renting myself and getting rid of it. I’ve realized I’m not of homeowning quality ;)
Would a refi save any money on your monthly payments? OH YES. Probably at least $200 a month, if not $300. But again, would only make sense if we were to keep the place and not unload it. Of course in this economy that’s not an option either, but you get what I’m saying. Refinancing is only good if you can recoup the costs and then save every month after. Well, that or if you’re rates keep going up and up and you’re getting screwed! Fortunately most of ours is @ a fixed rate or we’d really be in trouble.
@StackingCash – Haha yup!!!! It’s a perfect time to be picking up these bad boys ;) Which is why I just dropped $5k into my Brokerage Roth just now! I have to wait ’till it clears in a bit, but then it’s on. The market can keep going down, but eventually it’s gotta get back up and I want to have as much skin in the game as possible at that point.
@Miss Jane – Well done rolling that over, I have like 4 friends who have theirs all over town and they never take the time to get it all consolidated. I feel like if you only had one account to check and maintain, it would be a lot easier to manage. AND pay attention too also.
Now who the heck is Fever Ray?
J. Money, this is always my fav post of the month just cause it’s so sang inspiring. Though you were down a little this month, you are right, it’s about the long haul. Thanks for your motivation!
And yes, Lady Gaga is amazing! ;)
Really? Your fave? I never knew that :) Now I’m gonna think of you every time I do the future updates! haha…
J, what are your thoughts of taking a good chunk of that $39K and investing in the markets after a 13% pull back right now? Could be good!
My thoughts are thinking it would be a helluva GOOD idea, that’s what! :) I’m not going to do it because I’m a panzy (and I might need it if I go blogging full-time later) but If you have the cash to invest I’d be bout it bout it.
hey that’s awesome good for you =)
She used to be in a band called The Knife (from Sweden) with her brother.
When she went solo she released her album under Fever Ray:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F-CpE73o2M
I love her voice.
As of writing, the stock market is undeniably overvalued.
Which is a pity, because I’ve been contemplating my new entrance strategy by selling cash secured puts as a means of buying shares at a discount. But I can’t help but feel that it’s pending plummeting though. XD
If I get into it again, I might have to re-contemplate my hedge. Paper Assets have been quite saturated in the market (need I really explain the bond markets? XD) So we could be looking at a comeback of commodities.
Tangents aside, I’m short stocks and long commodities at the moment.
@nyx – :)
@Miss Jane – It’s an interesting voice, that’s for sure ;) I think I’d have to listen to her for a bit to appreciate it.
@Aury (Thunderdrake) – Hey, at least you have a game plan! So many people go w/ their emotions and are the ones in my opinion making these crazy spikes happen all over.