Net Worth Voyeur Time: $894,310.86 (+$27,188.90)

What up, what up!

Welcome to another net worth report!

For those new to the site, every month we share our finances with the world here to drum up some good convos around $$$, and to show people what a lot of this stuff looks like in “real life” (since we suck at talking about it in society!!). Some months we’re up here, and others we’re down, but we paste it all out there in hopes it helps others along their journeys too.

And this month we have everything going on – some goods, some bads, and some in betweens!

  • The goods: the markets pushed our monies up up up! ↑
  • The bads: we got hit with some major dental costs this month
  • The in betweens: I forgot to deposit some checks which totally F’d up our cash flow, woops!

The main takeaway today: having extra padding in your accounts can make all the difference for your sanity! Especially when the world has different plans for your money! :)

Here’s how last month broke down in more detail…

Net Worth Update #128: August, 2018

[For a list of all 128 net worth reports over the past 10 years, click here.  It can be a grind, but paying attention to this stuff pays off over time!! And it’s never too late to start!]

CASH SAVINGS (-$3,907.07): Womp womp womp… As alluded to above, we had a bit of an issue with cash flow this month due to me sitting on some checks for a while, on top of getting hit with a hefty $999 bill for dental work for my wife (why not just round up to $1,000?? Haha…), but hey – that’s exactly why we have emergency funds right?! It’s like our past selves watching out for our future selves – true love at its finest! ;)

SPAVINGS FUND! (+$215.16): Now this guy has continued to prove fruitful over the past 10 months for us, however all good things must come to an end and it’s time to shut this challenge down to make room for the 1,000 others that I’m much more excited about lately. Like our daily “want” tracking and the 1/day decluttering missions. It’s gonna be fun adding this $4,040.50 to our savings pile though to help max out our Roth IRA later in the year if we’re allowed! Another successful experiment down on the books for sure…

THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN (TSP) (+$993.47): This one we’re definitely not stopping anytime soon, haha… My wife’s re-entry into the workforce continues to pay dividends (quite literally!) as she contributes to her retirement fund and the government continues to match… Which is the least they can do for their civil servants after deciding not to approve cost of living raises for everyone, sigh…

BROKERAGE (+$2,117.47): Another nice bump here too as the markets continue its record rise, and one I’m trying my best to savor until it finally starts correcting itself ;) Saw this pic on twitter the other day and thought it summed it up pretty nicely, haha…

stock market bear

ROTH IRAs ($5,681.32): Same story here – markets keep pushing everything up, even without us contributing a penny! The laziest, and my favorite, way to grow wealth! Haha…

SEP IRA ($22,375.55): And then of course it just continues to amplify with this account here – being our much bigger pot of money which corresponds to bigger swings one direction or another. All of my retirement $$$ btw, in either of the brokerage accounts, is in Vanguard’s total stock market index fund, VTSAX. Here’s why, if you’re interested…

And then here’s a snapshot of how it’s fared since switching over to Vanguard and indexing 4 years ago:

vanguard returns

CAR VALUES (-$287.00): Lastly – the cars, which always go down! :) Unless you have a hustler car like I used to before trading it in, haha… Remember Frankencaddy? The car that almost paid itself off by routinely getting hit and receiving auto claim checks?? Man she was good to us…

Here are the two cars we currently have now, along with their KBB values (both paid off):

  • Lexus RX350: $8,282.00
  • Toyota Corolla: $2,534.00

Total change in net worth this month: (+) $27,188.90

Getting closer to that milly milestone! We’ll see if we reach it before the downturn, but either way it really doesn’t matter as it’s not the *amount* that counts, but the *lifestyle* it gives you.

And I’ve been beyond blessed to be able to make up my own schedules every day and stay home with my 3 little boys and help raise them – although two of them just started school again, eek!! Now it’s just down to my wee one for most of the mornings!

Oh, and of course they all have their own net worths too ;)

baby net worths

[That’s Baby Dime up there rockin’ his tax shirt, which I’m not gonna lie – is a nice perk!! And probably the only time they save us money instead of spending it! ;)]

Lastly, here’s what the past twelve months have looked like with our finances for overall perspective:

last 12 months net worth

You know you’re on the right track if it trends upwards over time! But don’t think it means you’ll never have dips, because you will! Whether through faults of your own or someone/something else’s!

Let me know how it’s going for you guys in the comments below or via email, especially if you’ve come across any new tricks or epiphanies! You know we love this stuff! :)

For a full list of ALL the net worth reports we’ve shared over the 10 years click here, and if you’re looking for help getting started tracking your net worth, you can find a few resources pasted below.

You never need to share your numbers with anyone if you don’t want to, but I do hope you’re at least tracking it for yourself! It’s been one of the best things I’ve done for my money by far, and honestly the only way I’ve been able to keep myself accountable for so long. Unlike our brains, the numbers never lie! So use them to hold you accountable too :)

XOXO,

j. money signature

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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!

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.

personal capital dashboard

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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43 Comments

  1. Olivia September 5, 2018 at 5:56 AM

    30 percent over the past few months from your chart it looks like! Insane market.

    Im thinking on of buying some call options at a 10% premium on the sp500 if we don’t hit a recession in the next 1-2 years. Being mid six figures right before a recession would heavily derail the expected FIRE date!

    Then again, we are planning on traveling for a year or two, which is much cheaper than living here, and locking in some nice tax benefits for being overseas.

    Have you thought to switching to a mostly bond portfolio right before you retire? From ERN’s and others studies it looks to be much more safe portfolio than mostly equities.

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 5, 2018 at 9:52 AM

      Traveling during retirement sounds fun!!! I don’t ever really plan on retiring/retiring so prob won’t move big chunks over to bonds anytime soon, but I hear you do get more conservative as you get older so you never know :) It’s all still a ways a way for us so I don’t think about it much, haha…

      Reply
  2. Mr AE September 5, 2018 at 7:10 AM

    Big jumps!!!

    I had a rough dental month as well :( – stacked on top of the hospital bills for kid number 2

    But our Net Worth has hit high after high the last month – enjoying that for now!!

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 5, 2018 at 9:54 AM

      Def. worth enjoying the wins to help cope with the losses :) Congrats on #2!! Were you able to produce a girl, or are you like me and can only make boys?

      Reply
  3. Marc September 5, 2018 at 7:37 AM

    I’ve been watching your reports for a while, but seeing that 12 month chart at the end is crazy! We had a nice jump this month, but that’s because I sold a website at the beginning of the month. The lump sum is nice, but recurring income will be down for a while until I can replace it.

    Reply
  4. Joe September 5, 2018 at 10:03 AM

    All-time high! Nice job.
    We had a meh month in August. Our net worth increased a bit and cash flow was okay. Nothing exciting. We have international equity and bond funds too. Those are pulling down our average this year.

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 5, 2018 at 11:18 AM

      But they’ll also probably save you later when things start going haywire! I’m still 100% in stocks.

      Reply
    2. Andy September 5, 2018 at 6:05 PM

      We have international and U.S. equities also. International equity is not doing so hot this year compared to last year. Oh well, cheaper international shares this year. Stay the course.

      Reply
  5. Frugalsafari September 5, 2018 at 11:12 AM

    Felicitations J Money!
    That was a great bump this month and we are basically tied now!
    How about a friendly race to that Mill?
    We’ll figure out the price later :)

    Stay frugal my friend!

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 5, 2018 at 11:20 AM

      Haha you’re on….

      I’ll take a 6 pack of your favorite beer, please :)

      Reply
  6. Financial Rookie September 5, 2018 at 11:37 AM

    My wife and I just crossed the $100k investment threshold. I know a lot of people say they don’t feel any different but I was really excited! My wife was kind of shocked that we have been able to save so much in such a short period of time. When I talk about retirement, cash flows, dividend distributions, pensions, etc, she kind of just nods along and replies, “uh huh… ok hunny” but now she is starting to realize the fruits of our hard work! Hardest 100k down!

    Reply
  7. Dr. Dividend September 5, 2018 at 12:20 PM

    Man I can only imagine the feeling waking up and seeing your net-worth grow so drastically. My wife and I are approaching our first 100k mark and man oh man, it cannot come soon enough! Congratulations on the hard earned fruits of your labor. I will be watching closely as you cross that 1 million mark.

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 6, 2018 at 6:06 AM

      And I’ll be here rooting you on as well!!! It goes much faster as you cross over the $100k mark!

      Reply
  8. Young FIRE Knight September 5, 2018 at 12:31 PM

    Gah that $999 dental bill is a killer! Don’t tell me your cooking the books holding back checks like that! We might have to get an auditor in here on these reports from now on ;)

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 6, 2018 at 6:08 AM

      Haha… The auditor would get pretty bored with me :)

      Reply
  9. ImmigrantFinances September 5, 2018 at 1:44 PM

    Since I started following your blog several years ago, the net worth update is always my favorite, just because it shows what happens with consistent saving and investing. It’s pretty magical once you hit a critical mass. That picture from Twitter captures everything to say about the markets right now….Keep up the good job

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 6, 2018 at 6:17 AM

      Heyyy, thanks for reading for so long!!! So glad you’re still enjoying them as it *is* starting to feel a bit weird posting them the higher they get… But you’re exactly right on the consistency and how powerful it can be! And it’s not like it all happened over night either, as it’s been over *10 years* now which is pretty long (and boring) haha… But yeah, thanks so much for taking the time to let me know – really appreciate it :)

      Reply
  10. lonny September 5, 2018 at 4:39 PM

    Love your journey. Was curious why you have excluded any net home value as part of your net worth?

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 6, 2018 at 6:20 AM

      Because we don’t own a home :) We used to (and hated it!), so we sold and went back to renting which is BLISSFULL haha… But when we did own I included the value of the home, as well as the mortgages owed on it… We’ll probably look back into owning once we finally settle down for the long haul, but presently we’re proud renters :)

      Reply
  11. Tonya September 5, 2018 at 7:13 PM

    As a teacher, back to school meant I forgot to calculate my net worth on the first of September. Life over here was (still is?) pandemonium. I calculated it a couple of days late so no harm. The better news is now that I’m getting paid again, the numbers are moving back up.

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 6, 2018 at 6:21 AM

      Awww yeahhhh!!!! And as a parent now with kids in school (pre-K and now 1st grade!) I just have to THANK YOU SO MUCH for being a teacher, and presumably a great one haha…, because you guys have one of the most important jobs on earth!!! And are often overlooked!!! So thank you for taking care of all our babies and enriching them for us!!!

      Reply
  12. Prudence Debtfree September 5, 2018 at 7:27 PM

    That graph of the last year really models your trending-up-dips-included message. Despite what looks like a $50,000 dip in there, you’ve gained by over $200,000! Is that your biggest increase to date for a 12-month period? We find ourselves switching focus from our disappearing debt numbers to our slowly growing investment numbers. (We paid the last of our mortgage today – but we unfortunately gained an loc of nearly $4,000 in August. First time in 6 years of debt-reduction that we’ve gone back in the red – and right at the finish line! We will kill it this month though!)

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 6, 2018 at 6:23 AM

      Still – you knocked out that man mortgage, that’s incredible!!! Hardly anyone ever pays that thing off – congrats!!! :)

      And yup – $200k is def. the biggest increase, but don’t let it fool you… A majority of it came from selling Rockstar Finance last year which was a one-time event :)

      Reply
  13. Mr AE September 6, 2018 at 4:08 AM

    Opposite! 2 girls and we are done now:)

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 6, 2018 at 6:24 AM

      That’s what I said too…. ;)

      Reply
  14. Bryan September 6, 2018 at 8:32 AM

    Hope you’re working on that 1M$ party post! You’re getting close brother.

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 6, 2018 at 10:01 AM

      I’d love to have a real-life party with everyone here!! That would be super fun!

      Reply
  15. Eric @ Flip n Finances September 6, 2018 at 12:36 PM

    Hey J,

    I love that picture of the cutest tax return haha. Cute kid!

    I’m impressed at your 12-month chart for your net worth!! Thanks for always going so in depth with your net worth and giving tips for those who aren’t quite as far along in the process :) 1-Milly Club isn’t looking too far away!!

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 7, 2018 at 10:02 AM

      I’ll save you a margarita for when you come join the club!! :)

      Reply
    1. J. Money September 10, 2018 at 5:44 AM

      I’ll retire from *thinking about money* daily, but not working on projects that I’m passionate about ;) I don’t think I’d be that happy without using my brain on something, so I basically concentrate on hitting the ideal *lifestyle* vs trying to hit retirement – though of course I very much want to hit financial freedom!

      Reply
  16. Gene Roberts September 7, 2018 at 10:30 PM

    Ahhh, you finally pulled ahead. :)

    I’m up 13K for the month to $888K.

    That’s due to the difference in our allocations right now. I’m mostly bonds for the moment.

    I hope we keep jockeying back and forth, this is fun. :)

    Gene

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 10, 2018 at 5:35 AM

      Heyyy look at that! You’ll probably pull right back ahead when the market takes a dip as I’ll still be fully in stocks :)

      Reply
  17. Nick @ Five Alarm Finance September 16, 2018 at 3:53 PM

    Thats awesome, I love tracking net worth over time. I am a new reader on your site and had a few questions when it comes to your net worth. Do you just rent since I don’t see a new worth for real estate and usually that is a big line item for a lot of people? Also do you have a amount you plan to increase your net wirth by each year?

    My wife and I are 28 and debt free minus our house and currently have a net worth of about 200k. My plan is to try and increase it by 50k a year for the first year and slowly get a higher and higher amount due to the amazing workings of compound interest.

    Sorry if you have answered these questions before, I am new to your site.

    Nick

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 17, 2018 at 6:24 AM

      Very nice!! You guys have about 150,000 more than I did at 28 :)

      I don’t put any yearly goals on my finances outside of just maxing out my retirement accounts each year, but I’d imagine you get a lot farther when you do! I’ve just always gone with the flow with this stuff as I can never predict what’ll happen in the future, no less the next day – especially with having kids, haha…

      And nope – don’t own a home! We’re currently back to renting and we love it :)

      Reply
  18. Your not that Gorgeous September 24, 2018 at 11:38 PM

    You will continue to post when you reach the 1M mark correct? I see in some of your comments you say that its starting to feel weird the closer you get to it. Please continue to post as its an inspiration to many of us here. Don’t let other peoples insecurities stop you from posting. I say be unapologetically proud of what you have accomplished.

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 25, 2018 at 6:46 AM

      Appreciate that :) I can’t see myself stopping since this blog was founded on the openness of numbers over 10 years ago, but I do need to figure out how to be “okay” with these recent feelings of ickiness for sure… It’s not as fun posting these as it was back in the day :(

      Reply
  19. Josh Edwards October 25, 2018 at 3:52 PM

    Hey, real inspiring to look at your networth growth.

    I started tracking and building mine when I was 18, and am now 20.

    Working two jobs and just started my own company

    Currently at just below $30,000. Aiming for $100,000 by 23.

    Reply
    1. J. Money October 26, 2018 at 11:35 AM

      Holy damn – go you!!

      I was chasing girls and wasting the rest of my time lazying around with friends at that age, haha… You’re gonna be set by the time you’re 30! :)

      Reply
      1. Josh Edwards October 28, 2018 at 5:35 AM

        Haha, thanks J.
        I find that while I’m young I’m budgeting 50% of wages to holidays, having fun and just being 20, and the other 50% I invest into funds and recently got into property crowdfunding.

        Goal is to be a home owner by 25, pay that off then aim for $1,000,000 by 40. Wishful thinking maybe ;D

        Reply
        1. J. Money October 29, 2018 at 6:36 AM

          Not wishful at all – smart!!! And if you keep doing what you’re doing you’ll make it there no problem.

          Reply

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