So, lately I've been very interested in reading and writing about raising our net worth. Since we just finished our 9 week class that we facilitated for the first time in our home called "Financial Peace University". We have been following the Baby Steps that FPU teaches since 2011 and have since been able to pay off all of our debt other than our personal residence, replace our cars by paying cash, create a monthly budget that we follow, build up an emergency fund that is at this time 70% funded towards our goal of $15,000, and lastly, we've been able to take multiple vacations debt free because we save up monthly in our sinking fund so that we can pay cash for everything that we want to do. It has been very liberating and frustrating at times throughout our journey. But, I can say, without a doubt, that we are doing good things with our money, and are in a much better place financially, then we ever were at any other point in our lives.
So, what drives me to want to raise my net worth and grow our finances instead of just spending everything that we make? I am in love with the margin that it creates. Being able to make decisions from a point of opportunity instead of desperation is huge for us. By being able to take more time to make our decisions, we are able to hunt down even better deals then when we feel that we have to have something "now".
I have been inspired by another blogger that has been blogging for quite some time and actually openly publishes his net worth from month to month and explains how his money is growing or where he has made mistakes each month. He has been tracking this for 87 months straight at the time of this post and it is truly amazing what he has done! Seeing the authenticity and the accountability that running that blog has created for him has gotten me excited about trying to get on the same track.
So, where am I at right now? I have been actually tracking my net worth for some time now using a program called Mint.com. As of today, my net worth stands at $67,844.13. My goal for 2015 is to get it up to over $80,000. This is a lofty goal as I started out at $61,998.49 at the beginning of this year. But, I believe that it should be attainable and even if I don't hit it this year, I will be making great strides towards it and will be further in my quest!
As you can see, it's not going to happen overnight. We have consistently been working to make this number improve over time. However, as you can see, we have moved in a more upward trend since we have started. Everyone will have their ups and downs and will have to work to make each month better then the last.
By looking at where I am now, I should try to set a goal of where I want to be. I would love to be able to cross the millionaire mark in the next 15 years as we continue to pay down the house, grow our retirement and continue to live on less then we make.
Check out our other Net Worth Updates to follow along our progress!
September 2018 Net Worth Update – $160,733.71 (+$21,286.78)
September was a stellar month with a very big gain for us overall. Check out how we did it inside!
August 2018 Net Worth Update – $139,446.93 (+$3,690.43)
Another big up month this month, led mainly by our investments. But, in reality, our growth is driven by continuing to live on less than we make and saving and giving the rest.
July 2018 Net Worth Update – $135,756.50 (+$1,338.43)
July was another up month, even though our emergency fund got creamed. Find out all about it here.
June 2018 Net Worth Update – $134,418.07 (+$1,089.72)
For June, we saw a mixed bag in our investments. Our emergency fund grew and we were positive for the month, reaching a new high on our net worth journey!
May 2018 Net Worth Update – $133,328.35 (+$2,918.21)
May is in the books! Investments grew, the mortgage got knocked down a little more, and we survived another month! Get the details here.
April 2018 Net Worth Update – $130,410.14 (+$4,463.27)
April was a great month for us. House value was up, markets were up and another mortgage payment edged us over $130k for the first time!
March 2018 Net Worth Update – $125,946.87 (+$167.62)
Markets have another downward month. We run into a few emergency fund purchases. Our net worth eeks out a small gain. Find out all about in our March 2018 net worth update and weigh in about how your month went financially.
February 2018 – $125,779.25 – Net Worth Update (-$2,566.07)
Markets correct, values of assets drop, February numbers are in! We have the biggest drop in our net worth since April 2017. How do you cope with this kind of downturn? Find out my thoughts on this past month’s numbers here in our February 2018 net worth update.
January 2018 – $128,345.32 – Net Worth Update (-$747.59)
January was a mixed bag for us. Our numbers were down but our investments were way up. Check out the full report to learn more about our month.
December 2017 – $129,092.91 – Net Worth Update (+$9,171.86)
I recap the last 2 months of our net worth journey and put a cap on 2017 to get ready for 2018!
Steven Goodwin
Latest posts by Steven Goodwin (see all)
- September 2018 Net Worth Update – $160,733.71 (+$21,286.78) - October 9, 2018
- August 2018 Net Worth Update – $139,446.93 (+$3,690.43) - September 2, 2018
- July 2018 Net Worth Update – $135,756.50 (+$1,338.43) - August 1, 2018
- June 2018 Net Worth Update – $134,418.07 (+$1,089.72) - July 1, 2018
Steven, the most powerful sentence in this entire post is this: “Being able to make decisions from a point of opportunity instead of desperation is huge for us.”
The ability to make decisions with the privilege of desire and want instead of necessity is amazing. You have created for yourself and your family the ability to design the life you want. There is no better thing in this life than freedom and I think it’s something many of us take for granted. So many of us are chained to something out of desperation. Our jobs, our creditors, our homes, our possessions. By being debt free and building up your Net Worth you are building a life of freedom. You’ve been doing exceptionally well and I love watching your progress.
Thanks for this post! Can’t wait to see the rest of 2017 to see if you hit $80,000.
Hey Jackie, thanks for reading my very first Net Worth Update post! It’s fun going back and looking at some of this older content and seeing how far I’ve come since!
I completely agree with you that because of the decisions we’ve made, we’ve been able to design the life we want. Thanks for commenting and I think everyone that posts their progress and journey is in a nice little niche of their own because they can share with others that do the same, like your journey too!
Hahahah…..clearly I read posts far too early in the morning. I should wait until the coffee kicks in. I saw “April” and assumed it was of this year. Did you make it to $80k by the end of 2015? Your Dec 2016 post shows that you grew by $22k in 2015 so I think that would have done the trick.
I just read your latest this morning before seeing this comment. You’ve made so much progress over two years! It all makes much more sense to me now that I realize I had the years all mixed up. At first I was thinking that you had an AMAZING month where your net worth increased by $35,000 or so. 🙂
Haha, that’s what I figured by the end of your comment, but you did make a valid point about the freedom!
We did make it and have moved all the way up to $107k this past month! I love having all the history there because it shows all the struggles and the wins that we’ve had along the way!
The best part in my opinion is that we are growing still even though I now stay home with the girls full time as well!