October sure went by fast. After last month, I thought it probably would. We had a good month, and although we did not partake in the stock market recovery, we still made progress increasing our net worth by paying down our debts, saving our money, and most of all swimming!
Monthly Net Worth Update
Assets
We are up a total of $2,991.91 for the month due to spending less and saving more. Here are the details.
Cash Savings
We increased our emergency fund by $1,500 last month, earned 16.44 in interest, and the total is now $6,016.44. Our goal is to save $10,000 by the end of the 2019. In addition, I am using the YNAB mindset and deposited into two additional savings accounts this past month. One is building up money for our home remodel and the second is to purchase a used Tesla Model S for Dr. SoS. I put $100 into each of these accounts. Our total increase in cash for the month was $2,070.20.
Cash Back/Gift Cards
We enjoyed our annual Hallowversary lunch, but used a credit on our card and a $25 cash back back offer instead of using our annual $50 Xmas gift card. Additionally, I plan to transfer $300 from cash back into our savings later in November.
Our cash back increased by $54.01 for the month. While speaking with American Express the other day they offered 15,000 frequent flyer miles if upgrade my card and spend $1,000 in three months. Dr. SoS wants to take a long overdue vacation in February and with the upcoming garage door purchase, I figure we could easily spend that amount in the next couple months. The upgrade to the Delta Platinum card will also give us one companion pass each year. We had this card previously, but downgraded last year when we were not traveling as much.
Cryptocurrency
No real updates here. We are down $22.98 from the previous month to $2,762.00.
Retirement
Retirement and HSA increased $1,247.11 with my deposits for the month. I noticed the markets were all up for the month, which did not affect us since we are still in cash. Most people doubt this choice, but only time will tell if we are making the right decision.
529
I accidentally deleted this section last month. We have $6,342.60 in this account. We decided to pay for $7,800 of our middle daughter, Ms. O’s, education. This will come due in August of next year. We plan to use up the money deposited in the 529 and may or may not fund it again in the future.
House
As you are now aware, we ordered a new garage door. Our current door is solid wood and rotten across the entire bottom. When it snows, the snow blows under the door. Our garage bakes in the summer and freezes in the winter without an insulated door. The new door fixes these issues. Although quite expensive, we believe it is worth upgrading. We will go from having one of the worst looking garage doors in the neighborhood to one of the best.
Cars and Boat
My 2015 KIA Optima SXL decreased in value by $58 this past month. Dr. SoS’s 2011 KIA Sorento EX AWD increased in value by $21. Our 2008 Bennington 2050GS dropped in value by $335. It is interesting how the estimated amount we could sell our cars and boat change each month.
Liabilities
Now the fun part. We paid off $2,405.07 in debt last month, bringing our total liabilities down to a new low of $379,613.62. I need to remove some marbles from our Death to Debt Skull!
Credit Cards
We had a minimal $63.30 remaining in charges at the end of the month. We are getting more comfortable receiving paychecks for Dr. SoS at the end of the month, so it is getting easier to pay off the credit cards each Friday. I just need to keep her from buying more clothing! She bought new clothes for Baby SoS, herself, and for me. I needed new work slacks. They had holes in them. Except for some small Xmas gifts, we should have some lower credit card bills next month.
Car Loan
We are down to $8,400 left on my car, which is only 14 more $600 payments to pay off my car. Once paid, we plan to fund Dr. SoS’s Tesla Model S.
Mortgage
Our last payment is due 11/01/2028. We have 109 payments or 9 years 1 months remaining to pay off the remaining $165,737.15 balance plus 3.125% APR. We refinanced 5 years ago so we are a third of the time toward paying off our house.
Student Loans
We have 280 more payments on this loan. We owe $205,413.17 paying off $532.89 against the principal in the last month.
Summary
As of the first day of November 2019, we have a new net worth high of $608,049.73! This is up 0.90% from our net worth of $602,652.75, and up 14.53% from our net worth of $530,924.36, from the first of November 2018. Our current net worth puts us in the top 28% at 218/787 bloggers on the Rockstar Finance Directory Net Worth Tracker.
We compile this information each month to keep us accountable and to hopefully inspire others to spend less than they make, save more, and make wise investment choices. If you have any comments or questions, please leave a comment or contact us directly.
Thank you for reading!
Mr. SoS