January was a tough start to 2010. Our net worth in January decreased $663.89 from last month, to a total of $67,773.74 (click on spreadsheet below).

What Worked
My 401(k) contribution increase from 7% to 15% kicked in this month. My wife and I are both now contributing 15% to our 401(k)’s. We also increased our payments from $60/month to $100/month on the student loan. This is our last remaining debt, so we want to get it paid off.

What Didn’t Work
We contributed a total of $1,716.15 to our retirement accounts (401k’s and Roth IRA’s) this month, but saw our retirement accounts decrease a total of $616.45. We also weren’t able to put any money away into savings, and that is one of our main goals this year.

Next Month
February should be a strong month. My wife receives her quarterly bonus check, and believes it may be ~$3,000 gross (~$1,500 net). This will help us bloster our savings account balance. I will be traveling for work part of the month, so our expenses may be a bit less too.