May was a good month for my Net Worth, having increased $11,220.47 to a total of $250,418.38, crossing the $250k mark for the first time in my life. I sure don’t feel like I’m worth a 1/4 of a million dollars! It’s a nice milestone to be sure, though!
My house continues to increase in value as people seem to really like my neighborhood these days, the second month in a row my home value has increased several thousand dollars. I expect it to continue to rise until about $160,000 and stay steady, or perhaps drop again if the economy shakes up a bit. I paid about $155,000 for the place back in November 2006, right before the economy tanked. I’d love to get out of here, but I don’t have the equity or a proper down payment saved up to purchase the next place… so here I am.
My 401k also increased almost $4,000 this month, which is great. I feel like it’s been moving sideways most of the year, despite continuing to contribute to it.
May 2018 Financial Statement
| Account Name | Previous Balance | Balance | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $100.00 | $0.00 | -$100.00 |
| Savings - Personal | $1,000.31 | $500.31 | -$500.00 |
| Savings - Personal (CU) | $14,008.37 | $16,009.85 | $2,001.48 |
| Checking - Personal | $3,323.79 | $928.40 | -$2,395.39 |
| Checking - Business | $2,185.43 | $2,156.51 | -$28.92 |
| Retirement - 401k | $181,298.25 | $185,265.03 | $3,966.78 |
| Credit Cards | -$14,082.00 | -$13,170.04 | $911.96 |
| Retirement - Pension | $25,840.15 | $25,840.15 | $0.00 |
| Retirement - HSA (Investements) | $7,503.77 | $7,693.95 | $190.18 |
| Retirement - HSA (Cash) | $2,534.35 | $2,777.41 | $243.06 |
| Asset - Vehicle 1 | $13,625.00 | $13,325.00 | -$300.00 |
| Auto Loan 1 | -$14,645.55 | -$14,281.36 | $364.19 |
| Asset - Vehicle 2 | $8,500.00 | $8,500.00 | $0.00 |
| Asset - Precious Metals | $500.00 | $500.00 | $0.00 |
| Asset - Home | $146,334.00 | $152,546.00 | $6,212.00 |
| Mortgage - Home | -$138,827.96 | -$138,172.83 | $655.13 |
| Net Worth | $239,197.91 | $250,418.38 | $11,220.47 |
A few things to note this month:
- My personal savings account continues to dwindle as I’ve had to support my fiance overseas with a few extras I didn’t have the extra cash for in my checking account.
- I do continue to add $2,000 a month to my credit union savings account – so that is helping me there.
- My emergency fund is now about $16,510 and I’d like to get it up to $24,000 before I focus on other debts
Side Business Income
For March, my side business did about $2,200 in revenue – our 3rd best month, and this was without having any orders from my best customer. I’m hoping we didn’t lose their business. I also spend the last month, and will use May as well, to redesign the company website and customer experience. I’m really excited for the future once we launch the new look in the beginning of June!
Retirement
May was another decent month for my 401k, returning a gain of $3,966.78. I was honestly hoping I’d be a bit farther along right now with the year almost half over, but that’s ok. It’s only $12,000 above where it was at the end of last year, and more than half of that gain is from contributions.
With retirement accounts totaling $211,195.18 and using a 3.5% safe withdrawal rate (SWR), that would allow me to take $615.99 as income each month. That’s an increase of almost $12.00 a month! Enough to pay for a day or two of groceries! I’m still about $1.500,000 away from the $5,000 a month I’d really like to have to feel comfortable… Of course I’m not counting social security, and while I don’t yet have other investments I know in a few years I will. In time, I’ll be a lot closer than I am now!
Safe Withdrawal Rate (3.5%) monthly income: $615.99
Some interesting information is that according to The Earth Awaits that’s enough to get by on in a few places in India and Ukraine! Luckily for me, Ukraine is my fiancee’s home, so it’s definitely an option for us if we need an inexpensive place to live in the future!
Spendaholic Ways
No surprise, eating out was my biggest discretionary expense. I also sent $1300 to my fiance so her and her sister can take a vacation together before she moves to the states and can’t travel home for about a year. I’m going to actually, no for real this time, curb my eating out in June. I’ll report back next month!
Emergency Fund
My personal and credit union savings is now at $16,510. Right at about 3.5 – 4 months, but I have my sights set on a full 6 months E-Fund. Not quite there yet, but it;s more than I’ve ever had saved, so I’m pretty happy about that!
Looking Ahead
For June, I’m going to challenge myself to eat at home as much as possible. This will help serve 3 purposes.
- It will help save money, as I will certainly spend less on groceries than eating 90% of meals out!
- It will help me lose weight, because I intent to eat a tad better than I do when I eat out all the time.
- It will give me a goal to works towards, and accomplishing goals is a great mental boost!