February 27, 2011

Net Worth Milestone - $130,000

Today we passed the $130,000 net worth milestone!

We passed our last milestone of $120K, in January. Based on my forecasts, we should hit the next net worth milestone of $140K around June.

I will update our net worth meter (on the left side of the screen) at the end of the month.

February 9, 2011

2010 Net Worth Recap

I know I’m posting this a little late, but I wanted to take the time to review our 2010 net worth. Below is a table of our net worth data for each month in 2010 (click on table to enlarge). 2010 was a strong year for us, even though we had a couple of close calls with the economy in terms of our employment. Some highlights from 2010 include:
  • We increased our net worth from $68,437.63 to $115,300.07 ($46,862.44 increase), surpassing our net worth goal for the year by $9,600.07.
  • We contributed $17,288.45 to our retirement accounts. Our total retirement account balance grew from $54,620.37 to $83,594.59 ($28,974.22 increase).
  • We increased our savings from $2,492.73 to $9,215.82 ($6,723.09 increase).
  • We reduced our debt from $4,148.46 to $3,127.35 ($1,021.11 decrease).
  • In March my wife was laid off, but in April she found an even better new job.
  • I survived a large layoff at my company.
  • We paid cash for an “extra” vehicle, primarily for recreation.

We already a couple of months into 2011 and things are looking great. Hopefully there will be exciting highlights to review at the end of the year.



February 1, 2011

January 2011 Income Statement

Thankfully, we made up some lost ground in January (click on spreadsheet below).

In addition to our paychecks, my wife also received $150 reimbursement from her company for cell phone for December and January. We earned a $175 Chase credit card reward and $50 from selling dog stuff on craigslist. As our savings account balance creeps up, we’re earning more interest income to the tune of $11.06 in January.

We worked hard in January to control our spending and it worked. After a HUGE expense month in December ($7,919.80), we righted the ship in January, only spending $5,591.83. Now we need to carry this momentum into February.

Next month is going to be a big income month. My wife is doing awesome in her job and, as a result, is receiving a Q4 bonus of $6,041.28 gross. Plus, we do not have any large expenses forecast for February.