Welcome to the April 2021 edition of our net worth tracker, where we’ll track our net worth month over month. I first started tracking our net worth at the time this blog was started, which was the beginning of September 2019. I started by creating the Net Worth Baseline report.
You can view Previous Net Worth reports HERE.
Vaccines are now available to everyone, but it’s still only a little safe to hang out if you’re vaccinated…interesting. The CDC now says it is more safe to hang out with vaccinated people. Things are trending back to normal though. Seems like the CDC is progressing to meet the Independence day goal of getting back to normal.
I’m not going to talk much about what I did this month, although things are starting to pick up again. It was an overall calm and relaxing month for us, and the baby is no longer waking up twice a night!
Monthly Roundup
Normally, I go through my month, and go over the highlights. These days I’m doing it a little different. I think I can sum up my whole month in one or two paragraphs.
Our April
A third of the year is gone already. Time really does just keep speeding up it seems.
I’ve noticed that the roads and public places are pretty much back to the same level of business as they were pre-pandemic. The nice part though is that the roads aren’t as busy during rush hour. Works out well for my wife who still has to go into the office.
The weather in April stayed really nice. I’ve enjoyed running outside again, although there have been a few days where it was too hot and humid. Now we get into May and things can really start to heat up.
There were two exciting things that happened this month. First, my best friends from out of state came to visit and I got to meet their baby. It’s always good spending time with them. Second, some good friends got married. There wedding was really well planned and executed, so props to them for that. I know from personal experience that isn’t easy.
April 2021 Net Worth
Here’s how April compares to last month:
April Account Breakdown
Let’s take a quick look at what happened in April.
Cash (-$2,074.02)
Monthly Blurb: This is where our paychecks get deposited. All our income goes into this account, then gets transferred to the proper accounts as set by my budget. As usual, I do the net worth report before transferring money to the appropriate accounts.
It was a good month for us in terms of spending. The difference in cash is because we didn’t get a tax refund, although we both received an “extra” paycheck this month.
Our spending was a little below average this month. We didn’t really do much, so that kept expenses low. We did have some home maintenance we had to spend on, and car insurance was due. We are expecting a car repair next month since the check engine light came on.
Investment Cash (-$2,766.41)
Monthly Blurb: All of our cash leftover at the end of the month is transferred here and is considered part of our saving’s rate.
This is where our leftover income went from February. It was a decent amount that we were able to put into our investment account. That said, you’re probably wondering why we have a negative number.
I finally transferred money from this account into our Roth IRA accounts for the year.
I’m still waiting for some opportunities to come up. The foreclosure moratorium was supposed to lasts until the end of 2020, but it has now been extended for most of 2021.
I expect the market will be flooded with properties a few months after the moratorium ends. The longer it last, the more severe it is going to be. If they extend it indefinitely, home owners will eventually stop renting out houses and there will be a bigger crisis.
On top of this, the real estate market is red hot in my area. There is low inventory and most homes are going above list price in a matter of days. It’s hard to find a rental property in a market like this.
Plus, I’m not sure I want a rental if I can’t evict a bad tenant. I’ve actually heard of lots of land lords selling property because of this, and because home prices are at all time highs.
Remaining Cash Accounts (Emergency and Sinking Funds) ($1061.20)
Nothing exciting here. Just the usual. We’re back at it again. We are just saving up for our property tax bill and HOA fees for when they are due early next year.
Retirement Accounts
401(k)s ($8,455.14)
Last month we saw over a 6% increase, and this month we saw similar gains. The markets hit record highs and are continuing to boil with anticipation of life getting back to normal.
Speaking of bubbling…. I still think we have to be in some sort of bubble, right? And the bubble keeps getting bigger and bigger. The markets have basically been on a bull run for 12 years. Yes, I know that there has been a recession or two, but they were short lived.
IRA ($17,656.66)
All market performance, except that $12,000 we contriubted for 2021. Haha. Last month I mentioned that I planned to transfer in money for our 2021 ROTH contributions. and I finally got around to doing that.
Aside from the contriubtion, both IRA accounts still had small buy healthy performances for the month.
Overall, that’s a gain of about 4% between the 401k and IRA’s. Not too bad. I could live off that, as long as we don’t have hyperinflation.
College Fund ($1,927.82)
The college fund is invested just like the IRAs; in mutual funds. The gain is equal to about 2.8%. Not great, but at least it’s positive and about on pace with inflation.
Net Worth ($21,276.43)
Last month was a great month and this month was another great one. I’m always surprised at the end of the month and see how much our net worth has increased.
In total, our net worth increased by 3.6%.
Accessible Net Worth (-$4,835.37)
Monthly Blurb: This is the money we are able to put away, not including the tax-advantaged retirement accounts.
Our income was high and our expenses were a little below average this month The markets were up a decent amount. However. our accessible net worth decreased as a result of moving money into our Roth IRA accounts.
Liabilities
Status: (Other than the hospital bills.) None, as usual. They’re a burden, so I avoid them. The cars, the house, they’re all paid for. Student loans…never used them. Credit Card debt? I only use one, and it gets paid off every month, and often I’ll pay it off multiple times per month. Just depends on how many times I think about it.
Passive Income
December was a near record month for dividend income, and 2020 was a record year. We are about 25% of the way to being able to live solely off the dividend. And it’s suppose to grow exponentially, right? So, Financial Independence here we come!
That said, February, along with January, are very boring months for dividends. March was about on par with 2020, with a small decrease.
April shattered our previous dividend records. It all comes from one mutual fund invested in the bio-tech sector. Turns out they have been doing well.
The dividend from that mutual fund doubled in 2020 from 2019. And guess what? It doubled again this year! I was expecting it to do well, but not double again.
Now we begin the big lull over summer until we receive dividends in September.
The interest rate in my savings account is super low, as can be expected. My money is barely making any money sitting in that “high-yield” account now earning a measly 0.3%.
Saving’s Rate
I track my savings rate in order to help keep my feet to the fire, so later I can be Gone on FIRE. As a bonus, you get a glimpse into my cash flow by looking at the income and expense rows.
Last year, I had to adjust the savings goal to 50%, which we didn’t achieve. I’m setting the same goal this year, and it’s looking like it will be tough to get there.
This month we actually reached that goal! That’s two months in a row. I’m normally optimistic, but I’m going to take a pessimistic view of this. We wouldn’t have made it without receiving the extra paychecks.
Of that 50% we are spending, Housing and Daycare alone eat up about 30%. We give 10%, so that means we are living on 10-15% for everything else.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel for daycare, but these Texas property taxes kill me. They will be the reason I move out of the state. Is that Tennessee I see in the future???
I expect moving there will at least cut property taxes in half. Daycare will decrease every year, until it’s gone in about 5 or so years. Hopefully we can get our savings rate up to 70% by then.
At the rate time is flying by, it won’t be long!
Here’s how we did this month.
Income ($13,399.55)
Right now, our only source of active income is through our full-time jobs.
This is what a way above normal income month looks like for us, since we both receives “extra” paychecks.
Expenses ($6,492.51)
Our expenses were above average this month. We had some car expenses including insurance, home maintenance, and preparing to travel in May. Really though, most of that increase was because of the 10% we give every month.
Here is a quick break down:
1) Home Escrow ($1295.31)
The normal amount we put aside every month. And as I mentioned last month, this went up slightly we hired a gardener. Plus the HOA sent us a “friendly” notice saying we need to stain our fence or they’re going to fine us.
2) Giving ($1,339.96)
The usual 10% we give every month.
3) Cost of living ($3,857.24)
Previous Months: Mar: ($2,962.72), Feb: ($2,632.65), Jan: ($4,757.43), Dec: ($-$1,132.39), Nov: ($1,372.91), Oct: ($6,397.83), Sep: ($2,602.07), Aug: ($2,835.56), July: ($4,283.01), June: ($3,031.71), May: ($2,957.92), Apr: ($2,164.31), Mar: ($3,078.52)
Running Average: $3,005.54
This includes all our bills (Gas, Electric, Water, Internet, Phone), transportation, food, shopping, car insurance, and daycare. Home insurance is paid for out of our Home Escrow savings account. Like last year, we are going to drain our dependent care account at the end of the year in one lump sum. Doing it that way is less paper work for us.
We have been driving more, so our gasoline bill is starting to climb. It was partially offset by our utility bills. The weather has been great, and the yard is getting watered with rain.
I mentioned that after February, I should have a pretty good idea what a normal month looks like. And I’ll know if a savings rate of 50% is likely.
Unfortunately, after seeing what a normal month looks like for us, I think a 50% savings rate is a little bit of a stretch for us. I’m not going to change it though, because it will be a good challenge to see if we can make it.
So far, we are above 50%, but I expect that to drop throughout the remainder of the year until we hit December.
April 2021 Vs March 2021 Expenses
April and March were pretty similar in terms of income and expenses, despite differences in where the money came from and where it went. March was sprinkled with some bonuses we didn’t really think we were going to get.
Other than that, We’re in our routine for the year, and things are going great.
Hopefully May stays fairly smooth, although we may have another car repair and we are traveling. We’ll see how that impacts spending.
Goals Progress
Financial Goals
Aside from the Roth IRA contribution, most of the financial goals this year are year long goals.
The Roth IRA contribution is done. I finally got around to transferring the money.
Aside from the 401k, which is on automatic contributions from my paycheck, I’m still not sure how the other ones are going to turn out. Time will tell.
We are on track to save over $50,000 for real estate investing. The year is a third of the way through, and we’ve managed to already save half of what the year long goal is. I think we will make this one.
If dividends keep breaking records, than I will meet the passive income goal. Currently, I’m on pace to meet the $15,000 goal for passive income. We’ll see if that pace keeps up.
The savings rate goal of 50% is turning into a stretch goal, but I still think we can do it. We made two months in a row now! That said, the rest of the year is the challenging part.
Blog Goal
For 2021, I want to create more content. My goal is at least one article a month. I failed to do that so far this year. I keep saying hopefully next month I’ll get an article posted, but life is just keeping me busy. Honestly, I struggle to find time just to make these net worth reports, but it’s something I’m committed to doing.
Personal Goals
I’m doing a reading goal again this year, but half the number of books. I know 6 books isn’t much, but it felt like a lot. I think I can do 3.
So far I haven’t started.
And then their is my physical health. I didn’t get to where I wanted in 2020, so we’ll try again this year.
I’ve been loosing some weight this year, and I’ve been going to the gym again and running. That’s been helping. Just need to eat a little healthier.
The desserts got me this month, and I back tracked some. May will be rough too since we’re travelling, but I’ll try to stay somewhat healthy.
April 2021 Roundup
The month of April was a a good one, and nothing too unusual happened. We did get a stomach virus which knocked us out for a day or two, but it wasn’t too bad.
I’m continue to be excited as we progress into May, and for the rest of the year. We are inching closer and closer towards normal. Independence day, right? Only two months away now!
I’m still hopeful that we will be able to stop wearing masks everywhere we go soon. Doesn’t look like it will happen in May, but summer? Yes, I’m very hopeful for that. Can you tell?
Stay tuned for next month’s New Worth update!
FIRE Away!
REMINDERS:
- 2 big items not included in my net worth:
- House & Cars – Their value will be added to my net worth if and when I sell them.
- 2 accounts not included in net worth total (even though they’re listed):
- 529 – This is my money for my babies. Consider it their net worth summary.
- Home Escrow – This is Uncle Sam’s money. We don’t mess around with Uncle Sam and his money.
- Total income only includes our active income, which is currently our full-time jobs.