Goals, Net Worth

Net Worth Milestone – $100,000

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We passed a net worth milestone of $100,000. We hit our last net worth milestone, $90,000, back in April.

Psychologically, $100,000 represented a big hurdle that didn’t seem obtainable when we started tracking our net worth in February 2007. At the time, we had a negative net worth of -$3,168.85. Setting a plan and trusting in God allowed us to reach this goal. And there are many more ahead…

Our spreadsheet suggests we will hit our next milestone of $110,000 around March. I will update our net worth meter (on the left side of the screen) at the end of the month.

Income Statement

September 2010 Income Statement

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September was a good month for our income and expenses (see spreadsheet below).

In addition to our paychecks, my wife received a $500 gross ($280.10 net) special bonus and $75 reimbursement from her company for internet and cell phone. We also received a $100 in cash back rewards from our credit cards and an $89.63 auto insurance refund. Not too shabby.

Expenses were more or less in-line with our budget. We each got $140 in extra fun money (we’ve been doing that a lot lately), my wife went on a trip with her friends / family, we bought a few things for the Jeep, and we’ve purchased ~$250 in items for a camping trip we are taking in October.

October seems like it might be a pretty normal month. No large bills are looming and our income should be average.

Net Worth

September 2010 Net Worth Update +($6,826.81)

After taking a small step back in August, our net worth rose again in September. It increased $6,826.81from last month, to a total of $99,593.46 (click on spreadsheet below). Darn close to $100K and on our way to reaching our 2010 net worth goal of $105,700.

What Worked

We contributed $813 to our retirement accounts and saw them increase a whopping $5,891.03 to $71,979.55. We also increased our savings account by $1,116 to a total of $4,731.79.

What Didn’t Work

We’re still falling behind on our retirement account contributions, but may end up focusing on our savings account balance instead. I tried to sell back some vacation time to my company, but they asked me to wait a bit due to the economy.

Next Month

October may be our largest milestone yet because, God willing, our net worth will surpass $100,000.


Income Statement

August 2010 Income Statement

While we missed some of our investment goals in August, our income and expenses were on target.

In addition to our paychecks, my wife received a $75 reimbursement from her company for internet and cell phone and a $96.36 reimbursement from her company for a new phone. We also received a $100 rebate from Verizon for her new phone and $61.59 in reimbursements from her H.S.A. account.

Expenses were reasonable, even considering a mini vacation that we took to Malibu and new cell phones for both of us.

September may be an extra strong income month because my wife receives a $500 special bonus check from her company and I hope to sell 5 days of vacation back to my company. I will also be out of town for 1 week, hopefully reducing some of our expenses.

Net Worth

August 2010 Net Worth Update -($268.43)

Our net worth slipped off a bit in August. It decreased $268.43 from last month, to a total of $92,766.65 (click on spreadsheet below).

What Worked

We increased our savings to $3,613.59. We plan to focus on getting our savings balance to a much higher level to provide some security in this uncertain economy.

What Didn’t Work

We contributed $813 to our retirement accounts and saw them decrease $1,186.75. So far this year, we’ve contributed $12,609.65 to our retirement accounts. Last year, we contributed a total of $19,437.41. Another $3,658.50 should be contributed to my 401(k) through automatic payroll deductions over the rest of 2010. That leaves $3,169.26 that we have to contribute to our Roth IRA’s in order to match last year’s total contribution. We need to get our act in gear to make this happen.

Next Month

I’m hoping good thoughts for our net worth in September, but whatever comes our way, we’ll deal with.

Income Statement

July 2010 Income Statement

July was nice and normal income month and a decent month in terms of keeping our spending in check.

In addition to our paychecks, my wife received a $75 reimbursement from her company for internet and cell phone and we earned a $50 cash back Citi credit card reward.

Not too much to say about our expenses. They were in line with our budget and no large unexpected bills came in. All and all, a good month.

August looks like it will shape up to be similar to July.

Net Worth

July 2010 Net Worth Update +($6,339.70)

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Wow, our July was a great month for the market. Our net worth increased $6,339.70 from last month, to a total of $93,035.08 (click on spreadsheet below). It feels good to be back up over $90K.

What Worked

We contributed $1,313 to our retirement accounts and saw them increase a whopping $6,251.46.

What Didn’t Work

We didn’t contributing $1,000 to our savings this month as planned. My wife and I gave ourselves some extra fun money instead. We’ll get back on track with the savings account contributions next month.

Next Month

Who knows? Hopefully the market keeps going up and the economy strengthens. Haha.

Net Worth

June 2010 Net Worth Update (-$1,240.46)

I really have been neglecting this blog, but at least I’m still updating our net worth each month! Unfortunatley, our net worth decreased $1,240.46 from last month, to a total of $86,695.38 (click on spreadsheet below).



What Worked

$1,000 was also automatically deposited into savings account this month from my wife’s paychecks.


What Didn’t Work

We contributed $1,719.50 to our retirement accounts (401k & Roth IRAs), and saw them increase $2,015.01. We’re falling a little behind on our Roth IRA contributions. Since my Wife’s company does not have a 401(k) plan, our goal is to max out our Roth IRA’s. We’re half way through the year and have only contributed $1,250 each ($2,500 total) to our Roth IRAs. We need to pick up the pace to reach the $5,000 individual maximum contribution.


Next Month

The markets a little crazy right now, so I won’t even bother to guess at next month.






Our path to financial independence and retiring early.