February has come and gone in a flash! We have been very busy with swim lessons twice a week, working out five times a week, starting a new diet, doing a lot of get togethers and at the tail end even dealing with some sickness. We did even hit a milestone this month were my oldest daughter actually lost her first tooth!
It was a busy month for sure, especially when you tie in all of the 2017 goals that I've set out to accomplish this year on top of all that! Look for my accountability post on Friday for my overall progress on those for February!
If this is the first time you've stumbled upon my monthly net worth reports, I would like to explain why I choose to write them.
First, I love the accountability they force on me about handling my finances. I'm posting to be transparent and to really try to explain what happened over the last month that moved the needle for our family.
Second, I'm hoping to inspire and motivate others to reach to make their financial future better. I wanted to show that our journey is not all straight up success with no bumps in the road. Everyone has setbacks, but we can't let that get us down! We have to keep pressing forward!
What Happened to Our Net Worth This Month?
For February, it was a boring month financially, which is a good thing. We saw our investments grow more than we contributed for the month and we lost a little bit more value with the car as well as depleted our daily cash a little more than we did last month around this time. All in all, it was a good month with steady growth, which I will take anytime.
Net Worth - February 2017
Assets
- Home Value - $160,000 - Holding on to this number since our appraisal was done before our refinance (August 2014). Have finally gotten in all the quotes from six different roofers in the area. Next step is to sit down and create a feature chart and then start negotiating with them to get the price a little closer. They all came within $1,000 of each other, but we're still looking at an upcoming expense of around $7,000-$8,000 in the near future out of our emergency fund.
- Roth 403b - This account grew a little more than the contributions this month. But growth is growth.
- Traditional and Roth IRA's - So happy to have moved all my accounts in with Vanguard and have gone to a 3 fund portfolio. We saw some great growth here.
- Auto Value - Only went down $241~ in value this month after updating my mileage... I'll take it. Expenses were down this month as maintenance was very small and we came in under budget on gas this month.
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Cash Money - This month we saw a big dip versus last month for a few reasons:
- Sinking Funds took an $1100 hit due to paying for the roof patch while waiting for all the estimates to come back in from the quotes we've been asking for. If we decide to use the same company, we will get half of that money ($200) credited towards our new roof purchase.
- Groceries were a nightmare this month for us. We ended up $300 over budget, primarily due to starting a new meal replacement plan through Herbalife. I have already purchased almost all of my shakes for March though, as I've set it up to purchase a month in advance. I'm hoping this will help with my weight loss goal for the year and then I can move down on the plan and just maintain.
- We had a few medical expenses this month. These normally come out of the HSA account, but now we have to pay for them out of pocket. We spent roughly $108 in medical to pay for a chiropractor visit and another appointment.
- Our phone bill was high this month due to having our final bill from our old provider and our bill for our new provider. This should flatten out in March until we pay off my new phone, then the bill will go down even further.
- Emergency Fund Savings - No news is good news here. Just added almost another $15 in interest into our account this past month. We will be diving into this pretty soon as we are going to be getting our roof fixed soon.
Liabilities
Home Mortgage - We keep seeing small chunks eat into this mortgage. We continue to just make the minimum payments, but with only having a 20 year mortgage, this moves down pretty quickly. This past month, our principal just topped $423! When we started, this number was only about $380, so that's extra money going towards our mortgage each month! I love seeing the principle grow each month to take out bigger chunks or our mortgage. Looking forward to the day we get to start putting extra money away towards this paying it down even faster.
YTD Net Worth Growth
January 1st, 2017 : $102,049.03
March 1st, 2017 : $104,979.59
Total Growth YTD : $2,930.56 (2.87%)
Last Year's Growth: $18,336.16 (21.88%)
Take Away for the Month
February has been a mundane month financially other than our over spending. Looking to get that under control to see even bigger growth in March. I love doing these updates because they really force me to look into our spending and talk it over so that we actually understand more about it on a monthly basis. It seems so freeing!
How did your February go? Was it easy-peasy for you, or were there some hiccups?
Here are some of our articles that were posted throughout March in case you missed them.
5 Sure Proof Ways Of Adding Additional Value To Your Home
Looking for a way to get more money from the sale of your home? Check out these 5 ways to add additional value to your home to maximize your earnings.
How Financially Personable Are You? 3 Ways To Improve.
How personable to others about your finances you are makes a difference in your family’s lives and future. Check out these 3 ways to become more personable.
How are we Saving Half of our Income?
How do people create extreme saving opportunities? XYZ shares their story of how they save half of their income each month.
Becoming More Resilient With Your Finances
Building financial resilience is crucial in your overall financial plan. Check out these simple steps you can take to become more resilient.
How Paying Off the Mortgage In 7.5 Years Changed My Outlook
Rob from Mustard Seed Money shares his story of paying off his mortgage in 7.5 years to become debt-free. Read how he was able to achieve this and how you can move towards a debt-free lifestyle as well!
2017 Goals: January Accountability Check In
January is typically a month a lot of people set goals or resolutions. This year, I’m checking in monthly about my goals to become more accountable.
5 Tips to Stop Eating Your Paycheck; How to Save Money On Food
The guest post I have lined up for you today is going to hit most of us in our gut. It’s all about how much we’re spending on food in our budget. I know in my budget, our family has always had a hard time with this, but we’re slowly getting it more and more under control! Today, Kyle from Dollar Diligence is back to share some tips on how to save money on your groceries. Last time he was here, he told us his story of how he paid off $33,000 of student loans on a teacher’s salary. Take it […]
January 2017 – $103,162.35 – Net Worth Update (+$1,113.32)
January showed steady growth with the markets rallying. We reflect on overspending on groceries, sinking funds and a new phone purchase.
Are you ready to finally take control of your finances? Let my budgeting spreadsheets help!
Just fill out the form below and I'll send you the link to get the same exact budgeting spreadsheets that I use each month!
Included in the workbook:
- Monthly budget form
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I've been using these same forms since August 2011 and have grown my family's net worth 500% tracking our money using these forms!
Steven Goodwin
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- June 2018 Net Worth Update – $134,418.07 (+$1,089.72) - July 1, 2018
Look like you had a nice month.
Keep this good work and it will keep growing.
The Financial Tech recently posted…Net Worth Feb 2017 Update : $14,182.08 (-$2,674.45 -15.87%)
We had a steady month and had fun during it! Thanks for stopping by and commenting! Hope your march goes better than your February!
Steve, LOVE that you’re getting your kids in the water 2x/week (you know I love swimming!). That, and your personal goal of working out 5x a week, are as important as the finances!
I enjoy your monthly updates, and agree that the accountability is a great thing! Thanks for sharing, and congrats on a strong month!
Swimming is such a good form of exercise! The girls are really enjoying the water and we were gifted season passes to a water park this year so that’s the whole reason I got them started! I have really seen the working out pay off lately as I’ve been able to slim down and build muscle mass as well!
I’m glad to have you read my updates and that you’re enjoying them! The accountability is a great way to learn! Have a great day!
Definitely a good reminder of why we save for home repairs- kudos on having your net worth rise, even with the roof patch!
Daniel Palmer recently posted…Why The Envelope Budget is So Successful, and How to Use It
Well we’ve only done the patch so far, but when we pull the trigger and do the roof, then it’ll drop quite a bit… thanks for reading and commenting as usual bud!
Nice work. Any positive increase is a good one! I had a good February overall. I’ve decided to change strategies a bit and enroll my wife in both her 457b and 403b accounts versus growing our taxable investment portfolio. I’ve been meaning to set up the 457b since earlier this year since you can make withdrawals penalty free anytime. Their sign up process was terrible but finally got it done. With the 403b, our taxable portfolio will be smaller, but we should be able to convert to roth over the years and not push us into a higher tax bracket. This is going to allow us to save a lot more during the year and will likely speed up our early retirement date.
Go Finance Yourself! recently posted…Leverage Your Way to More Money
Is the 403b a Roth then? Ours is. We don’t have a 457 available to us that I know of, but we are pretty far from maxing or anything like that. It’s probably nice that you were able to cross that off the todo list! Good for you guys that you’re able to make good progress as well!
Looks like an awesome steady month for you!!! I love seeing lines trending up. I just checked out net worth and there looks like it was a nice 3% bump up. So I’d say that’s a great month for us. I wouldn’t mind a 36% in net worth if I could get 3% each and every month 🙂
Rob recently posted…Why You Probably Need More Sleep
It sure was a good month! 3% is awesome man! Thanks for stopping by! Hope we can both continue the trend!
Great work! Still heading up in the right direction. I don’t calculate net worth until the end of the quarter, so I’m living vicariously through everyone else right now!
Yeah, it’s fun going through everyone’s Net Worth Posts and seeing how their month went compared to our own, isn’t it? What’s your reasoning for only doing it once a quarter?
Wow, I think you are a great example of someone who’s being intentional about driving their financial future. When you get down to this level of detail it’s so much easier to win with money. I think it’s this financial forecasting and measuring that is the first step many people never take. It give such a better idea of where you are and where you are going with a little planning. Thanks for sharing it!
Suburban Toolbox recently posted…All of you time isn’t worth money-the time is money argument.
Thanks, I’m glad you appreciate the level of detail I’m putting in! It really does force me to think through my situations that I’ve dealt with this past month and learn from the mistakes and love on the good ones! Thanks for stopping by!