Another month in the books and another 10%+ growth in my net worth. I am not sure how much longer I can keep the 10% jump, but it feels so good and it is the third straight month. Seems we are at a stand still with the stock market at the moment, which is fine with me, just don't start to go downward. This month was just one of those months that everything seemed to pile up on top of each other and I actually didn't make my budget(-$400.00). I spend $50 to go karting, $120 on Chicago Cubs tickets for August, $140 on Insurance(I just set up an insurance fund), $233 for getting my vehicle licensed , and $200 for a weekend in New York. With that being said, I still saved close to 2k! Lets break it down:Cash & Savings: See above still managed to save some even with not making my budget. The reason mostly because I have a few funds growing in here. It houses the funds for my down payment on house, engagement ring, insurance, auto maintenance, Roth IRA(before I purchase), and vacation. This is why it can be deceiving, it also holds my monthly budget in it. It isn't just sitting there as a savings account even though some is. It is used on a daily bases for covering expenses, rent, food, auto, etc...
Stocks/Brokerage: Gain of $27.00 - I will take over losing $27
Retirement 401k: Slight jump from last month, mostly to the new money going into it from paychecks, as the stock market is sitting about the same place it was last month. I am ok with the steady growth here, especially since we were losing money a few months back. At the end of the day these are long term investments anyways, so no need to stress or get happy if it loses or gain slightly(just no big dips).
Retirement IRA: I actually lost some money mostly because I transfered my Roth over to Vanguard from Edward Jones and I got hit with some penalties for taking them out of certain funds prematurely(lesson learned). I think in the long run though, I made the right choice in moving everything over to Vanguard. I put about 3k in Vanguard Total Stock Market Fund(VTSMX) and the rest into Vanguard STAR Fund (VGSTX)
Debts and Liabilities - Vehicle and Credit still high
Credit Cards: Most of this is still the engagement credit card with a 12 month 0% APR, I am not going to put much a dent into this debt until the 12 month when I will pay it off in full. I have that money going straight into my saving account creating a little interest off of it till I pay it in full. The only other is $99 in AMEX credit card because of my .Mac or Mobile Me account renewed, which I will pay off in full before the interest kicks in.
Car Loan: Still the same...slowly paying it off every month. It has crossed my mind to try and sell it(for a used better gas mileage vehicle), I just have a lot going on and really don't want and have to deal with it at the moment.
So if I can keep it up and have the same type of month without all the extra, July should be nice. I have a crazy August and September coming up so this could be a month I can save a little more. I am also going to be watching the stock market very closely, if the Dow makes it to 10,000 or so, I might pull back into some cash and also rollover my old 401k to Vanguard. Until next month, I am happy and I hope you are growing your net worth as well!
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Keep rockin' it out!!!
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