Overall

Crazy month in the market! It’s a great time to invest if you have time on your side. Our net worth decreased $9,235.52 this month, to a total of $297,961.90 (see spreadsheet screenshot).

Retirement Accounts

Our retirement accounts are comprised of my wife’s 401(k), my 401(k), our Roth IRAs and our Traditional IRAs. We contribute 10% to my wife’s 401(k) and 25% to my 401(k). My wife’s company matches up to 3% of her 401(K) contribution and deposits the sum once a year on January 1^st (it is 100% vested when deposited).  My company matches up to $1,000 per year (vested over five years). This month, we contributed $2,333.34 to my wife’s 401(k) and $2,175.00 to my 401(k). We saw the total balance of our retirement accounts decreased $8,235.57 over last month to $143,156.20.

Brokerage Account

Currently, our brokerage account consists of one stock (my wife’s company) that went down $103.11 this month. Our balance is $775.78 on a $2,000.00 in initial investment.

Cash & Savings Accounts

Cash and savings accounts consists of a small sum of cash at home and our online savings account balance. It does not include our checking account balance that we use to pay our bills each month. This month, our cash and savings accounts decreased $172.81, bringing the total to $482.40. Yeah, we need to work on this one.

College Savings Accounts

Our kids have 529 Plans through Vanguard. This month, we contributed $0 to our son’s 529 Plan and it decreased $1,147.79 from last month to a total balance of $11,741.12. We contributed $100 to our daughter’s 529 Plan and it decreased $320.18 over last month to a total balance of $4,984.23.

Home

We use the $489K purchase price that we paid in January 2012 for our home value. Current comps in the area are ~$650K. The current balance on our mortgage loan is $360,678.6. We paid an extra $0 towards principal this month.

Cars

“Car 1” is a 2011 SUV with ~60K miles and “Car 2” is a 2012 SUV with ~60Kmiles. When calculating our net worth, we depreciate the vehicles 1% per month. “Car 1” has a current loan balance of $22,951.99 and Car 2 has a current loan balance of $28,552.72. My wife receives $800/month as a car reimbursement and her gas is paid for by her company. I receive $230.13/month as a fixed car reimbursement and $0.22 per mile as a variable reimbursement (to help cover gas, wear and tear, etc.)

Credit Card Balance

We do not currently have a credit card balance that is not paid in full each month.

Overall
Our net worth increased $2,248.57 this month, to a total of $307,197.42 (see spreadsheet screenshot).

Retirement Accounts
Our retirement accounts are comprised of my wife’s 401(k), my 401(k), our Roth IRAs and our Traditional IRAs.  We contribute 10% to my wife’s 401(k) and 25% to my 401(k).  My wife’s company matches up to 3% of her 401(K) contribution and deposits the sum once a year on January 1st (it is 100% vested when deposited  My company matches up to $1,000 per year (vested over five years)  This month, we contributed $1,083.34 to my wife’s 401(k) and $2,652.94 to my 401(k).  We saw the total balance of our retirement accounts increased $1,513.96 over last month to $151,391.77.  It is really nice to pass the $150K mark for our retirement savings.

Brokerage Account
Currently, our brokerage account consists of one stock (my wife’s company) that went down$ 4.91 this month.  Our balance is $878.89 on a $2,000.00 in initial investment.

Cash & Savings Accounts
Cash and savings accounts consists of a small sum of cash at home and our online savings account balance. It does not include our checking account balance that we use to pay our bills each month.  This month, our cash and savings accounts decreased $81.00, bringing the total to $655.21.

College Savings Accounts
Our kids have 529 Plans through Vanguard.  This month, we contributed $0 to our son’s 529 Plan and it decreased $90.02 from last month to a total balance of $12,888.91.  We contributed $0 to our daughter’s 529 Plan and it increased $37.58 over last month to a total balance of $5,364.72.

Home
We use the $489K purchase price that we paid in January 2012 for our home value.  Current comps in the area are ~$650K.  The current balance on our mortgage loan is $361,361.06.  We paid an extra $150 towards principal this month.

Cars
“Car 1” is a 2011 SUV with ~60K miles and “Car 2” is a 2012 SUV with ~60Kmiles.  When calculating our net worth, we depreciate the vehicles 1% per month.  “Car 1” has a current loan balance of $23,291.04 and Car 2 has a current loan balance of $28,932.50.  My wife receives $800/month as a car reimbursement and her gas is paid for by her company.  I receive $230.13/month as a fixed car reimbursement and $0.22 per mile as a variable reimbursement (to help cover gas, wear and tear, etc.).

Credit Card Balance
We do not currently have a credit card balance that is not paid in full each month.

Overall

June was a negative net worth month for us but as you will see below, we intentionally depleted our savings. Our net worth decreased $6,246.30 this month, to a total of $304,948.85 (see spreadsheet screenshot).

Retirement Accounts

Our retirement accounts are comprised of my wife’s 401(k), our Roth IRAs and our Traditional IRAs. My wife’s company matches up to 3% of her 401(K) contribution and deposits the sum once a year on January 1^st (it is 100% vested when deposited). We contributed $1,083.34 to my wife’s 401(k) this month and saw the total balance of our retirement accounts increased $1,002.90 over last month to $149,877.81.

Brokerage Account

Currently, our brokerage account consists of one stock (my wife’s company) that went up $112.93 this month. Our balance is $883.80 on a $2,000.00 in initial investment.

Cash & Savings Accounts

Cash and savings accounts consists of a small sum of cash at home and our online savings account balance. It does not include our checking account balance that we use to pay our bills each month. This month, our cash and savings accounts decreased $8,441.65, bringing the total to $736.21. Scary low but my wife is having an elective surgery and we received a substantial discount on for paying cash. We are both receiving bonuses totaling $10K-16K in the next 30-60 days which will allow us to refill our savings account.

College Savings Accounts

Our kids have 529 Plans through Vanguard. This month, we contributed $0 to our son’s 529 Plan and it decreased $17.07 from last month to a total balance of $12,978.93. We contributed $165 to our daughter’s 529 Plan and it increased $158.87 over last month to a total balance of $5,402.30.

Home

We use the $489K purchase price that we paid in January 2012 for our home value. Current comps in the area are ~$650K. The current balance on our mortgage loan is $362,190.92. We paid an extra $150 towards principal this month.

Cars

“Car 1” is a 2011 SUV with ~60K miles and “Car 2” is a 2012 SUV with ~55K miles. When calculating our net worth, we depreciate the vehicles 1% per month. “Car 1” has a current loan balance of $23,631.01 and Car 2 has a current loan balance of $29,313.86. My wife receives $800/month as a car reimbursement and her gas is paid for by her company. I receive $230.13/month as a fixed car reimbursement and $0.23 per mile as a variable reimbursement (to help cover gas, wear and tear, etc.)

Credit Card Balance

We do not currently have a credit card balance that is not paid in full each month.

Overall

May was a surprisingly huge month for us. First, my wife learned that she would be receiving an unexpected quarterly bonus of $8,200 gross ($4,080.42 net). Then, we met with our tax accountant to do our taxes (we filed an extension previously) and determined our refund would be $9,118 ($7196 federal and $1,922 state). Either of these surprises would have made our month, so it was awesome to receive both in one month. Our net worth increased $11,580.21 this month, to a total of $311,195.15 (see spreadsheet screenshot).

Retirement Accounts

Our retirement accounts are comprised of my wife’s 401(k), our Roth IRAs and our Traditional IRAs. My wife’s company matches up to 3% of her 401(K) contribution and deposits the sum once a year on January 1^st (it is 100% vested when deposited). We increased my wife’s contribution from 3% to 10%, effective her 2^nd paycheck in April. We contributed $1,903.34 (includes 10% from bonus) to my wife’s 401(k) this month and saw the total balance of our retirement accounts increased $2,403.91 over last month to $1478,874.91.

Brokerage Account

Currently, our brokerage account consists of one stock (my wife’s company) that went up $83.47 this month. Our balance is $770.87 on a $2,000.00 in initial investment.

Cash & Savings Accounts

Cash and savings accounts consists of a small sum of cash at home and our online savings account balance. It does not include our checking account balance that we use to pay our bills each month. This month, our cash and savings accounts increased $2,327.57, bringing the total to $9,177.86.

College Savings Accounts

Our kids have 529 Plans through Vanguard. This month, we contributed $1,000 to our son’s 529 Plan and it increased $1,114.00 over last month to a total balance of $12,996.00. We contributed $1,150 to our daughter’s 529 Plan and it increased $1,197.43 over last month to a total balance of $5,243.43.

Home

We use the $489K purchase price that we paid in January 2012 for our home value. Current comps in the area are ~$650K. The current balance on our mortgage loan is $363,018.20. We paid an extra $1,150 towards principal this month.

Cars

“Car 1” is a 2011 SUV with ~60K miles and “Car 2” is a 2012 SUV with ~55K miles. When calculating our net worth, we depreciate the vehicles 1% per month. “Car 1” has a current loan balance of $23,970.27 and Car 2 has a current loan balance of $29,694.2. My wife receives $800/month as a car reimbursement and her gas is paid for by her company. I receive $204.56/month as a fixed car reimbursement and $0.18 per mile as a variable reimbursement (to help cover gas, wear and tear, etc.)

Credit Card Balance

We paid off the $2,544.95 balance of our 0% credit card.   It feels awesome to finally put this to bed.

Overall

First of all, great news, I am starting a new sales job in May! I quit my job of 13 years in September 2014 and have been looking for an opportunity that provides better work/life balance. I will be working out of my home office and visiting accounts in the field locally. No more business trips every month:) The base salary is $52K and the bonuses if I hit my goals total $28K/year (not capped). They will pay a fixed amount to me each month for my vehicle and a variable amount based on the miles that I drive. Another positive is that this will be my first company that I’ve worked for with a 401(k) match, albeit only up to a max of $1,000/year.

April was a negative month for our net worth, primarily due to trading in “Car 3” for a newer vehicle (“Car 2”). Our net worth decreased $5,625.33 this month, to a total of $299,614.94 (see spreadsheet screenshot).

Retirement Accounts

Our retirement accounts are comprised of my wife’s 401(k), our Roth IRAs and our Traditional IRAs. My wife’s company matches up to 3% of her 401(K) contribution and deposits the sum once a year on January 1^st (it is 100% vested when deposited). We contributed $325 to my wife’s 401(k) this month and saw the total balance of our retirement accounts decreased $4,063.17 over last month to $146,471.00.

Brokerage Account

Currently, our brokerage account consists of one stock (my wife’s company) that went up a bit this month. Our balance is $687.40 on a $2,000.00 in initial investment.

Cash & Savings Accounts

Cash and savings accounts consists of a small sum of cash at home and our online savings account balance. It does not include our checking account balance that we use to pay our bills each month. This month, our cash and savings accounts decreased $924.43, bringing the total to $6,850.29.

College Savings Accounts

Our kids have 529 Plans through Vanguard. This month, we contributed $50 to our son’s 529 Plan and it increased $376.90 over last month to a total balance of $11,882.00. We contributed $0 to our daughter’s 529 Plan and it increased $111.11 over last month to a total balance of $4,046.00.

Home

We use the $489K purchase price that we paid in January 2012 for our home value. Current comps in the area are ~$650K. The current balance on our mortgage loan is $364,839.79. We paid an extra $150 towards principal this month.

Cars

“Car 1” is a 2011 SUV with ~60K miles and “Car 2” is a 2012 SUV with ~55K miles. “Car 2” was purchased this month because the company I am starting with in May requires a newer vehicle to receive the monthly reimbursement. When we purchased “Car 2” they gave us $7,000 off for trading in “Car 3”. When calculating our net worth, we depreciate the vehicles 1% per month. “Car 1” has a current loan balance of $24,307.08 and Car 2 has a current loan balance of $30,060.00. My wife receives $800/month as a car reimbursement and her gas is paid for by her company. When I start my new job in May, I should receive ~$350/month as a fixed car reimbursement and a certain amount per mile as a variable reimbursement (to cover gas, wear and tear, etc.)

Credit Card Balance

Our credit card interest is 0% for two years. This month, our credit card debit went down $100.00 to a total of $2,544.95.

Overall

March was a negative month for our net worth. It decreased $1,785.13, to a total of $305,240.27 (see spreadsheet screenshot).

Retirement Accounts

Our retirement accounts are comprised of my wife’s 401(k), our Roth IRAs and our Traditional IRAs. My wife’s company matches up to 3% of her 401(K) contribution and deposits the sum once a year on January 1^st (it is 100% vested when deposited). We contributed $325 to my wife’s 401(k) this month and saw the total balance of our retirement accounts decreased $1,780.03 over last month to $142,407.83.

Brokerage Account

Currently, our brokerage account consists of one stock (my wife’s company) that went down in March. Our balance is $662.85 on a $2,000.00 in initial investment.

Cash & Savings Accounts

Cash and savings accounts consists of a small sum of cash at home and our online savings account balance. It does not include our checking account balance that we use to pay our bills each month. This month, our cash and savings accounts decreased $184.00, bringing the total to $7,774.72.

College Savings Accounts

Our kids have 529 Plans through Vanguard. This month, we contributed $0 to our son’s 529 Plan and it decreased $276.37 over last month to a total balance of $11,505.10. We contributed $50 to our daughter’s 529 Plan and it decreased $44.04 over last month to a total balance of $3,934.89.

Home

We use the $489K purchase price that we paid in January 2012 for our home value. Current comps in the area are ~$650K. The current balance on our mortgage loan is $365,658.82. We paid an extra $150 towards principal this month.

Cars

“Car 1” is a 2011 SUV with ~55K miles and “Car 3” is a 2004 SUV with ~100K miles. We no longer own a “Car 2”. When calculating our net worth, we depreciate the vehicles 1% per month. Car 1 has a current loan balance of $24,643.15 and Car 3 is paid off.

Credit Card Balance

Our credit card interest is 0% for two years. This month, our credit card debit went up $12.57 to a total of $2,644.95.

Overall

February was an awesome month for our net worth. It increased $16,185.37, to a total of $307,025.40 (see spreadsheet screenshot).  Definitely a nice turn-around from last month. The two main contributors were my wife’s quarterly bonus of $16,745.00 gross ($9,088.68 net) and her large promotion ($97K/year to $130K/year).  She’s a keeper:)

Retirement Accounts

Our retirement accounts are comprised of my wife’s 401(k), our Roth IRAs and our Traditional IRAs. My wife’s company matches up to 3% of her 401(K) contribution and deposits the sum once a year on January 1^st (it is 100% vested when deposited).  This month, we contributed $827.35 to my wife’s 401(k) and saw the total balance of our retirement accounts increase $8,050.18 over last month to $144,187.86.

Brokerage Account

Currently, our brokerage account consists of one stock (my wife’s company) that moved up in February. Our balance is $883.80 on a $2,000.00 in initial investment.

Cash & Savings Accounts

Cash and savings accounts consists of a small sum of cash at home and our online savings account balance. It does not include our checking account balance that we use to pay our bills each month. This month, our cash and savings accounts increased $2,073.95, bringing the total to $7,958.72.

College Savings Accounts

Our kids have 529 Plans through Vanguard. This month, we contributed $250 to our son’s 529 Plan and it increased $926.92 over last month to a total balance of $11,781.47. We also contributed $250 to our daughter’s 529 Plan and it increased $469.36 over last month to a total balance of $3,978.93.

Home

We use the $489K purchase price that we paid in January 2012 for our home value. Current comps in the area are ~$650K. The current balance on our mortgage loan is $366,475.29. We have been paying ~$150 in escrow shortage payments for the past year, but our shortage payments are finally complete. We decided to continue paying the extra $150 each month towards principal. Since my wife received an awesome quarterly bonus in February, we added an extra $1,000 on top of the $150. So, we paid $1,150 extra to mortgage principal this month.  Sweet!

Cars

“Car 1” is a 2011 SUV with ~55K miles and “Car 3” is a 2004 SUV with ~100K miles. We no longer own a “Car 2”. When calculating our net worth, we depreciate the vehicles 1% per month. Car 1 has a current loan balance of $24,983.79 and Car 3 is paid off.

Credit Card Balance

Great news!! We paid off a $5,651.31 balance on a 0% credit card from a new HVAC that we installed in September 2014. However, we also added another $2,632.38 in credit card debit for office furniture and. It is 0% for two years.

Overall

January was a down month for our net worth. It decreased $5,286.35, to a total of $290,840.03 (see spreadsheet screenshot). Not an awesome start to the year, but not the end of the world either. My wife just received a huge promotion so we’ll catch up in February.

Retirement Accounts

Our retirement accounts are comprised of my wife’s 401(k), our Roth IRAs and our Traditional IRAs. My wife’s company matches up to 3% of her 401(K) contribution and deposits the sum once a year on January 1^st (it is 100% vested when deposited). We contributed $242.50 to my wife’s 401(k) and saw the total balance of our retirement accounts decrease $2,885.95 over last month to $136,137.68. In January, my wife also received her 3% company match ($1,012.52) for 2014.

Brokerage Account

Currently, our brokerage account consists of one stock (my wife’s company) that has continued to decline as of late. Our balance is $810.15 on a $2,000.00 in initial investment.

Cash & Savings Accounts

Cash and savings accounts consists of a small sum of cash at home and our online savings account balance. It does not include our checking account balance that we use to pay our bills each month. This month, due to a number of large annual bills, we had a decrease of $3,322.53 to our cash and savings bringing the total to $5,884.77.

College Savings Accounts

Our kids have 529 Plans through Vanguard. We contributed $0 to our son’s 529 Plan and it decreased $494.68 over last month to a total balance of $10,854.55. We contributed $0 to our daughter’s 529 Plan and it decreased $163.75 over last month to a total balance of $3,509.57.

Home

We use the $489K purchase price that we paid in January 2012 for our home value. Current comps in the area are ~$650K. The current balance on our mortgage loan is $368,136.26. We paid $100 extra to mortgage principal this month.

Cars

“Car 1” is a 2011 SUV with 53K miles and “Car 3” is a 2004 SUV with 99K miles. We no longer own a “Car 2”. When calculating our net worth, we depreciate the vehicles 1% per month. Car 1 has a current loan balance of $25,323.76 and Car 3 is paid off.

Credit Card Balance

The $5,651.31 credit card balance is from a new HVAC that we installed in September 2014. It is 0% for two years.  We expect to pay this off in February once my wife receives her quarterly bonus.

I love reviewing our numbers to see how we got to where we are.  This screenshot is shows our net worth progress by month for 2014. Some highlights from include:

• We increased our net worth from $245,457.24 to $296,126.38 ($50,669.14 increase), surpassing our 2014 net worth goal of $251K and our 2015 net worth goal of $296K (one year ahead of time).
• We contributed $20,297.18 to our retirement accounts. Our total retirement account balance grew from $109,117.55 to $139,023.63 ($29,906.08 increase).
• We increased our savings from $3,762.38 to $9,207.30 ($5,444.92 increase).
• My wife took 3 months off (disability) for the birth of our daughter.
• We opened a 529 Plan for our baby girl.
• I left my company at the end of September to find a job that provides better work/life balance.
• I rolled my 401(K) to a traditional IRA.
• We sold “Car 2” and bought “Car 1”.
• We put a couple of large purchases (including a $7K HVAC) on a 0% credit card.
• We increased our debt from $390,184.30 to $400,314.63 ($10,130.33 increase).

With the new year approaching, I decided to change the format of our monthly net worth updates. The spreadsheet layout will stay the same for easy comparison to previous months, but the detail in the blog post will change. I am replacing my typical “What Worked”, “What Didn’t Work”, and “Next Month” sections with more detailed information on each line item on the spreadsheet.

Overall

Overall, December was an okay month for our net worth. It increased $2,376.30, to a total of $296,126.38 (see spreadsheet screenshot). It might not be a huge increase, but it was enough to get us past our 2015 net worth goal of $296K one year ahead of schedule!

Retirement Accounts

Our retirement accounts are comprised of my wife’s 401(k), our Roth IRAs and our Traditional IRAs. My wife’s company matches up to 3% of her 401(K) contribution and deposits the sum once a year on January 1^st (it is 100% vested when deposited). In December, we contributed $242.50 to my wife’s 401(k) and saw the total balance of our retirement accounts increase $1,001.86 over last month to $139,023.63.

Cash & Savings Accounts

Cash and savings accounts consists of a small sum of cash at home and our online savings account balance. It does not include our checking account balance that we use to pay our bills each month. This month, we had a tiny increase of $54.60 to our cash and savings bringing the total to $9,207.30.

College Savings Accounts

Our kids have 529 Plans through Vanguard. We contributed $165 to our son’s 529 Plan and it increased $314.84 over last month to a total balance of $11,349.23. We also contributed $165 to our daughter’s 529 Plan and it increased $216.25 over last month to a total balance of $3,673.32.

Home

We use the $489K purchase price that we paid in January 2012 for our home value. Current comps in the area are ~$650K. The current balance on our mortgage loan is $368,895.17. We paid $100 extra to mortgage principal this month.

Cars

“Car 1” is a 2011 SUV with 53K miles and “Car 3” is a 2004 SUV with 99K miles. We no longer own a “Car 2”. When calculating our net worth, we depreciate the vehicles 1% per month. Car 1 has a current loan balance of $25,652.15 and Car 3 is paid off.

Credit Card Balance

The $5,767.31 credit card balance is from a new HVAC that we installed in September 2014. It is 0% for two years.