December was an exciting month for us. We have been renting a condo for 2+ years and have been looking for a home as we saved money. After a lot of searching and savings, we found a beautiful 5 bed/3 bath with a pool in a great part of town. Our offer of $489,000, with 3% back towards closing costs, was accepted and escrow is scheduled to close 1/23. Anyways, on to our net worth. We had another great net worth increase of $8,349.58 from last month, to a total of $164,821.70 (click on spreadsheet below).

What Worked
We sold Car 3, our recreational 4×4, for $14,995 in order to provide an influx of cash to furnish our new home. For now this is going into savings, but it will start to flow out of savings once we move in to the new place in January. We were able to deposit $17,095 into savings, plus an addition to $51,000 from our retirement accounts for the down payment.

What Didn’t Work
We contributed a total of $893.96 our retirement accounts, but they decreased $49,649.99 because we raided our retirement accounts for $51,000 to help fund our 20% down payment ($97,800) on our new home.

Next Month
January will be a huge month for us. We’re scheduled to move into our new home and will be spending copious amounts of money to furnish and decorate it. My wife also goes back to work on January 2, so we will begin paying a nanny $225/week to care for our baby boy.

I will be posting a review of our 2011 Financial Goals in a few days.

With the ups and downs of the market, it was tough to tell where November would land. Thankfully, it landed up and our net worth increased $8,068.61 from last month, to a total of $156,472.12 (click on spreadsheet below).

What Worked
The biggest impact to our net worth this month was a $3,425 gross ($2,701.37 net) bonus that my wife earned. On top of that, this was an “extra” check month for me. So, we were able to deposit $4,891.17 into savings.

What Didn’t Work
We also contributed a total of $1,834.88 to our retirement accounts. but they only increased $1,633.64.

Next Month
December may be a tricky month as my wife switches from SDI (not taxed) to PFL (taxed). That being said, I am changing my filing status from M1 to M3, which should help our cash flow. It is also obviously the end of the year, so I’ll be reviewing our 2011 goals and posting our goals for 2012.

I’m posting this a few days early because I will be away on business. After a $6K+ drop in our net worth last month, I was happy to see it recover nicely this month. Our net worth increased $9,000.12 from last month, to a total of $148,403.51 (click on spreadsheet below).

What Worked
My wife’s 10% 401(k) contributions began this month. We contributed a total of $1,428.38 to our retirement accounts and saw them increase a massive $8,477.30. We also opened a Vanguard 529 Plan for our baby, funding it with $3,000 from our savings.

What Didn’t Work
Our savings balance dropped, but only to fund our son’s new 529 Plan.

Next Month
November looks to be shaping up as another strong month. I receive a 3rd “extra” paycheck that we should be able to bank 100% of.

It’s a BOY!!! Our son was born at the end of September, making this our best month EVER. Being new parents is a lot of work, but there is nothing that comes close to the amazing feeling. We the excitement of our new baby, I haven’t had a second thought about our net worth getting pummeled again this month. Our net worth decreased $6,074.95 from last month, to a total of $139,403.39 (click on spreadsheet below).

What Worked
Our beautiful baby boy was born!

What Didn’t Work
We contributed $1,013.00 to our retirement accounts, but saw them decrease $7,716.19 to $81,483.75.

Next Month
Going forward, my wife’s net income will be reduced because of her new 401(k) contribution and we will be adding our baby to her insurance. We have elected to begin contributing 10% of my wife’s pay to her 401(k) plan during her first open enrollment in October (the company matches 6% with a 3 year vesting period). We will also be adding the baby to my wife’s insurance, increasing the cost from $75/month to $325/month.

A market correction was bound to happen :). As a result, our net worth decreased $5,075.62 from last month, to a total of $145,478.34 (click on spreadsheet below).

What Worked

With the huge drop in the stock market, everything went on “sale”. William Bernstein, author of The Four Pillars of Investing, has said that young savers should be praying for a bear market so they can accumulate shares cheaply before they retire. So, we contributed $1,513.00 to our retirement accounts, but saw them decrease $6,500.62 to $89,199.94. We were blessed with my wife earning a Q2 2011 bonus of $1,006.83 gross ($937.87 net).

What Didn’t Work

Our retirement accounts were down $15,000+ earlier in the month, but rebounded considerably, cutting out paper loss in half. Our spending was completely out of control this month. I will provide details in my income statement post in a couple of days.

Next Month

September it is going to be a great month because our first baby will be born. We have a couple of large bills in September: $1,845 for cord blood banking and $400 for balance due to doula. We will also be adding the baby to my wife’s insurance increasing the cost from $75/month to $325/month. Depending on the timing of the baby’s birth, my wife and I are also scheduled to be in our friend’s wedding, which will be roughly $200 for tux (my wife already bought a dress). With these bills hitting next month, we do not plan to save anything beyond my 401k contribution in September.

We were blessed with another net worth increase this month. In July, our net worth increased $3,714.78 from June, to a total of $150,553.96 (click on spreadsheet below).

What Worked
We passed the net worth milestone of $150,000 this month! We contributed $1,213.00 to our retirement accounts in July and saw them increase $1,841.10 to $95,700.56. We also continue to increase our savings account balance for a house down payment and private adoption. Of the $31,047.79 we have in savings, $23,425.66 is earmarked for a down payment and $7,622.13 for adoption. We still have a long way to go to reach our savings goal for both.

What Didn’t Work
N/A 🙂

Next Month
August is our last full month to prepare for the arrival of our first baby. As a result, we will need to purchase any necessary items that we didn’t receive at the baby showers. As a result, we will be contributing less money next month to retirement and savings.

We were blessed with another net worth increase this month. Our net worth increased $4,791.04 from last month, to a total of $146,839.18 (click on spreadsheet below).

What Worked
We received a huge windfall in the form of a $4,470 class action settlement from my wife’s old company (that she worked at for ~6 weeks). She was automatically included in the settlement, and frankly, we weren’t expecting much to come of it. Imagine our surprise when a check for $4,470 showed up. This helped us dramatically increase our savings account balance. One step closer to having a home downpayment.

What Didn’t Work
We contributed $1,419.50 to our retirement accounts in June and saw them decrease $970.28 to $93,859.46. Not a big deal.

Next Month
My Wife receives a third “extra” check in July, but we also have a few large bills including $233 for 6 months of life insurance premiums (Husband & Wife), $400 for a 50% prepayment to our doula, and a $327 traffic ticket. God willing, we hope to hit a net worth milestone of $150K in July.

Since passing our 2011 net worth goal of $138,100 last month, any further increase helps with our 2012 net worth goal of $173,200. In May, our net worth increased $3,263.10 from last month, to a total of $142,048.14 (click on spreadsheet below).

What Worked
Passing our 2011 net worth goal so early in the year is a major blessing. We contributed $1,063.00 to our retirement accounts in May and saw them increase $340.00 to $94,829.74. Remarkably, our traditional IRA balance did not change from the month prior. We were also able to sock away a nice chuck of change into savings.

What Didn’t Work
All accounts moved the right direction this month:)

Next Month
I’m hoping the good progress will continue next month. I receive a third “extra” check in June, which also includes an extra 401(K) contribution. However, we also have a few large insurance bills due in June for a total of $2,289.31.

We passed our 2011 net worth goal of $138,100 in April! That gives us 8 months to made headway on our 2012 net worth goal of $173,200. Our net worth increased $4,511.92 from last month, to a total of $138,785.04 (click on spreadsheet below).

What Worked
Passing our 2011 net worth goal so early in the year is a major blessing. Our $2,325 tax refund ($2,155 Federal & $170 State) helped put us over the top. We contributed $1,063.00 to our retirement accounts and saw them increase $2,787.01 to $94,489.74. We also continue to improve our savings account balance.

What Didn’t Work
All accounts moved the right direction this month 🙂

Next Month
Progress towards our 2012 net worth goal of $173,200 begins now. May will be my wife’s first full month of pay in her new position, at a much higher income. We’re going to try to bank as much of the extra income as possible before the baby arrives.