Welcome to the April 2023 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 at the beginning of September 2019. I started by creating the Net Worth Baseline report.
You can view Previous Net Worth reports HERE.
Let’s dive straight into this month’s report.
Monthly Roundup
Previously, I would go through my month, and go over the highlights. These days I’m doing it a little differently. Unless you convince me that you want to hear about my month, I’m not going to talk about it.
April 2023 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 (-$8,055.95)
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 an average month for us both in terms of spending and income. It would be nice if every month looked like March, but alas, it can’t. The difference in cash on hand is due mainly to making less money than last month.
Our spending was about average this month.
Investment Cash ($14,122.30)
Monthly Blurb: All of our cash left over at the end of the month is transferred here and is considered part of our savings rate.
This is where our leftover income went from March.
I’m still waiting for some opportunities to come up in the housing market, although I’m not that optimistic. I have noticed that the market is still below what it was compared to last year.
I put a bunch of money in a CD, so hopefully, nothing too exciting pops up while that money is locked away.
Remaining Cash Accounts (Emergency and Sinking Funds) ($813.63)
Nothing exciting here. Just the usual. We are just saving up for our property tax bill for when it’s due early next year.
Retirement Accounts
401(k)s ($2,069.43)
This month we had a very small increase. It may have been negative without our contributions, but overall the market was very flat.
IRA ($3,988.01)
All market performance here. This is about on par with what I expected.
Overall, that’s a gain of about 1% between the 401k and IRAs. Not great, but I can’t complain.
College Fund ($58.90)
The college fund is invested just like the IRAs; in mutual funds. However, this mutual fund was down by about a tenth of a percent. The loss is equal to about .1%. It’s a loss, but nothing that’s going to keep me up at night.
Net Worth ($12,135.56)
April was an okay month. Have to be happy when you make gains, even if they’re small. It appears that half of the net worth increase came from our jobs this month and the other half was from investments.
I’m always surprised at the end of the month and see how much our net worth has increased. Even though our investments were up about 1%, it’s still a five-figure swing.
In total, our net worth increased by approximately 1.3%, down from 1.4% in March.
Accessible Net Worth ($6,078.12)
Monthly Blurb: This is the money we are able to put away, not including the tax-advantaged retirement accounts.
Our income was average, and our expenses were average this month. Our accessible net worth increased as a result of making a good amount of money this month and not having any crazy expenses.
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
February and January are very boring months for dividends. March was a record-breaking month.
April was pretty mediocre, as it was just interest in my investment accounts. The biotech mutual fund didn’t pay a dividend this year.
The interest rate in my savings account was raised again and now sits at 3.75%. I hope to see it rise a little more since the Fed raised rates again.
Saving’s Rate
I track my savings rate in order to help keep my feet to the fire so that 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.
A couple of years ago, I had to adjust the savings goal to 50%, which we didn’t achieve. In 2022, we barely missed that goal! I’ve set the same goal for this year.
This month we were short of the 50% goal again by about 5%. However, we are still above 50% for the year. I suspect that will continue to drop as we have a couple of expensive items we plan on buying.
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.
Daycare will decrease every year until it’s mostly gone in about a year or so. Hopefully, we can get our savings rate up above 50% by then.
I wonder what other expenses will pop up once daycare is done.
Here’s how we did this month.
Income ($10,296.62)
Right now, our only source of active income is through our full-time jobs.
This is what an average income month looks like for us. Income for May should be pretty similar.
Expenses ($5,728.79)
Our expenses were about average this month. We didn’t have any car repairs or unexpected expenses, but we did have to pay for car insurance.
Here is a quick breakdown:
1) Home Escrow ($1,117.55)
The normal amount we put aside every month, plus paying for pest control.
2) Giving ($1,132.63)
The usual 10% we give every month. Plus 1% that we started to give on top of that.
3) Cost of living ($3,478.61)
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 paperwork for us.
In April, we had average expenses.
April 2023 Vs March 2023 Expenses
April was a pretty average month, in terms of finances, but March was an above-average month. We’re in our routine for the year, and things are going great.
Hopefully, May stays fairly smooth, although we do have big expenses we have to pay in May. Like license renewals for work.
Goals Progress
Financial Goals
The Roth IRA contribution is done, and the money has been transferred to the proper accounts.
Aside from the 401k, which is on automatic contributions from my paycheck, I’m not completely sure how the other goals are going to turn out. It’s still too early to tell.
I think we’ll hit the passive income goal, but I’m not sure about the savings goal. We are on track, but there’s a lot of year left. Who knows what will come up?
The savings rate goal is starting to become a thorn in my side. We’ll see if that’s enough motivation to actually reach the goal.
Blog Goal
My goal of 24 articles this year is in the works. I’ve actually been working on some content for this site other than my net worth reports!
I posted a bunch of articles in March. Take a look and let me know what you think.
I’ll try to at least get one or two more posted before the end of the month.
Personal Goals
I’m doing a reading goal again this year with the same number of books. Last year I only read 2, but I know I can do 3. I’m done with the first book. Now to read the next 2…
And then there is my physical health. I didn’t get to where I wanted in 2021, …or 2022, so we’ll continue to try again this year. I want to lose fat, and part of that is going to be by eating healthier. So far, that hasn’t happened. I’m gonna try cutting soda in April.
April 2023 Roundup
The month of April was a good one, and nothing too unexpected happened. Kids didn’t have any unplanned days off school, we all stayed healthy, and pretty much life ran smoothly.
Two months in a row. Yay!
There were a few rainy days, and the plants are starting to grow. The weather has been warming up, and it’s been pretty nice outside.
I continue to be excited as we progress into May and for the rest of the year.
There’s really a lot to be thankful for.
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 the 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.