We just passed our net worth milestone of $340,000. We passed our previous net worth milestone of $330,000 in December. We thought we would hit 340K in January but it took a few extra months:)
Our net worth is currently $340,385.78. I will update our chart on the left at the end of the month.
We hope to hit our next net worth milestone of $350,000 by June or July. God willing.
March was an awesome income month and high expense month (see spreadsheet screenshot).
Our total income in March was $15,231.46. In addition to our paychecks, I received a small monthly bonus of $261.11 gross ($159.33 net) and $524.57 in auto allowance and mileage reimbursement. My wife received $476.64 in company reimbursements. We also received a $4,102 state tax refund and a 5,382 federal tax refund. We earned $6.62 in interest income from our savings account.
This month, we spent a total of $15,231.46. Some of our larger, non-typical expenses included a $1,588 vacation, $2,601 in babysitting/nanny, and we gave $1,000 to our church.
Next month I should receive a bonus of ~$3,500 gross. Such a blessing.
Overall
In March, our net worth increased $9,578.32 to a total of $338,419.64 (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 7% to my wife’s 401(k) and 15% to my 401(k). My wife’s company matches up to 5% of her 401(K) contribution and chips in an additional 5% on top of the match (it is 100% vested when deposited). My company matches up to $1,000 per year (vested over five years). This month, we contributed $700 to my wife’s 401(k) and $639.17 to my 401(k). We saw the total balance of our retirement accounts increase $8,026.50 from last month to a total of $165,816.22.
Brokerage Account
Currently, our brokerage account consists of one stock (my wife’s old company) that went down $331.42 this month. Our balance is $731.59 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 $1,243.38, bringing the total to $9,042.06.
College Savings Accounts
Our kids have 529 Plans through Vanguard. This month, we contributed $300 to our son’s 529 Plan and it increased $584.74 from last month to a total balance of $14,223.11. We contributed $200 to our daughter’s 529 Plan and it increased $462.34 over last month to a total balance of $6,156.32.
Home
We use the $489K purchase price that we paid in January 2012 for our home value. Current comps in the area are ~$675K. The current balance on our mortgage loan is $355,235.65. We paid an extra $150 towards principal this month.
Cars
“Car 1” is a 2011 SUV with ~75K miles and “Car 2” is a 2012 SUV with ~75Kmiles. When calculating our net worth, we depreciate the vehicles 1% per month. “Car 1” has a current loan balance of $20,551.34and Car 2 has a current loan balance of $25,854.21. 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.
February was a low income month and high expense month (see spreadsheet screenshot). My wife was on unemployment most of February but started a great job at the end of the month.
Our total income in January was $4,773.15. In addition to my paychecks, I received a small monthly bonus of $276.47 gross ($166.15 net). I also received $596.02 in auto allowance and mileage reimbursement. My wife received $1,620.00 in unemployment. We earned $10.72 in interest income from our savings account.
This month, we spent a total of $10,736.19. Over twice what we made this month, thus the reason we dipped heavily into savings. Some of our larger, non-typical expenses included $1401.09 in household items and $1,002.18 in groceries.
Next month will be my wife’s first full month at her new job. The extra income will be a major blessing.
Overall
In January, our net worth decreased $1,553.71 to a total of $328,841.32 (see spreadsheet screenshot). My wife started her new job at the end of February but will not get her first paycheck until March.
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 5% to my wife’s 401(k) and 15% to my 401(k). My wife’s company matches up to 5% of her 401(K) contribution and chips in an additional 5% on top of the match (it is 100% vested when deposited). My company matches up to $1,000 per year (vested over five years). This month, we contributed $0 to my wife’s 401(k) (she hasn’t received her 1st paycheck yet) and $641.47 to my 401(k). We saw the total balance of our retirement accounts increased $2,997.60 from last month to a total of $157,789.72.
Brokerage Account
Currently, our brokerage account consists of one stock (my wife’s old company) that went down $79.23 this month. Our balance is $400.17 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 $6,039.48, bringing the total to $10,285.44.
College Savings Accounts
Our kids have 529 Plans through Vanguard. This month, we contributed $100 to our son’s 529 Plan and it increased $584.74 from last month to a total balance of $13,253.74. We contributed $0 to our daughter’s 529 Plan and it decreased $123.73 over last month to a total balance of $5,693.98.
Home
We use the $489K purchase price that we paid in January 2012 for our home value. Current comps in the area are ~$675K. The current balance on our mortgage loan is $356,084.60. We paid an extra $150 towards principal this month.
Cars
“Car 1” is a 2011 SUV with ~75K miles and “Car 2” is a 2012 SUV with ~75Kmiles. When calculating our net worth, we depreciate the vehicles 1% per month. “Car 1” has a current loan balance of $20,898.73 and Car 2 has a current loan balance of $26,246.42. 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.
January was an amazing income month and high expense month (see spreadsheet screenshot). Although my wife was laid off on December 31st, she received a generous severance package and bonus in January.
Our total income in January was $24,573.04. In addition to our paychecks, my wife received a $21,500 gross (12,938.72 net) severance and a bonus of $12,500 gross (7,500 net). I received $582 in auto allowance and mileage reimbursement. My wife also received $810 in unemployment.
This month, we spent a total of $15,745.12. A huge amount of money for us, but much less than our income for the month. Some of our larger, non-typical expenses included $1653.13 in dinning (mostly due to hosting a large party), $960 annual concert pass, and $1,344 in car servicing.
Next month, our income will be a lot less because my wife does not begin her new job until the end of February. That being said, we plan to use her severance to float us by until her first paycheck.
Overall
In January, our net worth increased $179.62 to a total of $331,293.56 (see spreadsheet screenshot). My wife and her team were laid off on December 31st but she received a severance and quarterly bonus in January. My wife is such a superstar that she already landed a new job that starts in February making the same salary ($130K), a similar target bonus ($35K), two months off per year, car/laptop/phone, and her new company contributes 10% of her annual salary into her 401(k). Such a blessing!
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 3% to my wife’s 401(k) and 15% 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 $397.35 to my wife’s 401(k) and $900 to my 401(k). My wife also received her once a year 3% company match totaling $3,900 to her 401(k). We saw the total balance of our retirement accounts decrease -$4,549.96 last month to a total of $154,792.12.
Brokerage Account
Currently, our brokerage account consists of one stock (my wife’s old company) that went down $79.23 this month. Our balance is $642.54 on a $2,000.00 in initial investment. Even though my wife’s team was laid off, we’re going to hold onto the stock.
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. Thanks to my wife’s severance and bonus, this month our cash and savings accounts increased $4,808.46, bringing the total to $16,324.92.
College Savings Accounts
Our kids have 529 Plans through Vanguard. This month, we contributed $200 to our son’s 529 Plan and it decreased $654.37 from last month to a total balance of $12,669.00. We contributed $200 to our daughter’s 529 Plan and it decreased $191.82 over last month to a total balance of $5,570.25.
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 $356,930.90. We paid an extra $0 towards principal this month.
Cars
“Car 1” is a 2011 SUV with ~70K miles and “Car 2” is a 2012 SUV with ~75Kmiles. When calculating our net worth, we depreciate the vehicles 1% per month. “Car 1” has a current loan balance of $21,245.41 and Car 2 has a current loan balance of $26,637.61. 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.
I hope everyone’s new year is off to a great start! We hit three out of five of our 2015 financial goals and hope to have better luck reaching our 2016 financial goals listed below.
1) Pass both our 2016 and 2017 Net Worth Goals We finished 2015 with a net worth of $331,113, meaning we are roughly $12K short of our 2106 net worth goal of $343,700. God willing, we should easily reach that goal and once we do, we’ll shoot for hitting our 2017 net worth goal of $395,200 one year early. My wife was laid off on 12/31/15, so these goals are more challenging than they seem.
2) Pay off Car 1 Loan Last year, we went from having no car payment to have two car payments that total $850/month. Insane! We must try to pay off the smaller of the two loans. As of December 2015, we owe $21,585.22 on our loan for Car 1.
3) Pay $4,000 extra towards mortgage principal We paid $3,100 total in extra mortgage principal payments in 2015 and would love to try pay an extra $4,000 towards mortgage principal in 2016 (an average of $333/month in extra payments.
4) Contribute $4,000 to 529 Plans ($2,000 for each child) We hope again be able to contribute $4,000 total ($2,000 for each child) to our kids 529 Plans in 2016. We barely pulled it off in 2015 and hope to do it again in 2016. Our 4-year-old currently has a balance of $13,323.37 and our 18-month-old has a balance of $5,762.07.
5) Building savings account balance to $20,000 We’ve tried so many times to build and maintain a saving account balance of $20,000. We ended 2015 with a saving account balance of $11,516.46. Hopefully we will reach $20,000 in 2016.
I can’t believe 2016 is hear already. Below are the results of the 2015 financial goals that we set for ourselves 12 months ago. As you can see, it’s a mixed bag in terms of success and failure. We’re excited about what 2016 will bring. I’ll be posting our 2016 financial goals soon.
1) Pass our 2016 Net Worth Goal 1 year early – FAIL
We passed our 2015 net worth goal of $296K one year early so we set a goal to of hitting our 2016 net worth goal of $343K by the end of 2015. We didn’t quite get there but got darn close, ending 2015 with a net worth of $331,113. I was out of a job the first 5 months of the year so that’s not too shabby.
2) Pay off credit card balance of $5,767.31 – SUCCESS
We successfully paid off the $5,767.31 credit card balance from purchasing a new HVAC system a little over a year ago.
3) Pay $3,000 extra towards mortgage principal – SUCCESS
Another success! We paid $3,100 total in extra mortgage principal payments in 2015, surpassing our goal by a tiny bit.
4) Contribute $4,000 to 529 Plans ($2,000 for each child) – SUCCESS
We squeezed this one in the last month of the year. By contributing $640 to our son’s 529 Plan in December and $285 to our daughter’s plan in December, we reached goal of contributing $2,000 to each of their 529 Plans in 2015.
4) Building savings account balance to $15,000 – FAIL
We set a goal of building our savings to $15,000 in 2015. We didn’t quite make it but finished with a respectable $11,516.46. We hope to exceed the $15K in savings in just a couple of weeks with a ~$34K gross severance that my wife will receive in January.
December was a great income month and reasonable expense month (see spreadsheet screenshot). Sadly, my wife and her team were informed that they are being laid off as of 12/31/15. Thankfully, they put together a generous severance package for her.
Our total income in November was $18,110.35. In addition to our paychecks, my wife received $4,489.54 (net) for cashed in PTO and I received a monthly bonus $2,764.10 gross ($1,584.05 net). My wife also received an $800 auto allowance and a $150 in company reimbursements. I received $481.58 in auto allowance and mileage reimbursement. We also received $287 in preschool reimbursement, and earned $4.10 in interest income from our online savings account.
This month, we spent a total of $10,724.62. Relatively low compared to our income for the month. Some of our larger, non-typical expenses included $1,407 in gifts (Christmas), $1,024 in household items, and $181 in clothing.
Next month, my wife will receive a severance and bonus totaling $34K gross. We plan to bank as much of this as possible to provide us a cushion as she looks for a new job.
