Welcome to the August 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.
August is over, and the weather has been over 100 every day almost literally. We got a little bit of a break the last week with a couple of days in the 90s.
Financially, August was a mediocre month due to the markets, and there were no unexpected surprises.
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.
August 2023 Net Worth
Here’s how August compares to last month:
August Account Breakdown
Let’s take a quick look at what happened in August.
Cash (-$790.02)
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 an average month for us both in terms of spending and income. We brought home slightly less money than last month, that’s why our cash balance is lower this month.
Our spending was below average this month.
Investment Cash ($5,564.81)
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 July.
I did throw some money into a short-term Treasury Bond this month since they are over 5%. Seems like a good place to keep some money until I find something better to invest it in.
I’m still waiting for some opportunities to come up in the housing market, although I’m not that optimistic. The housing market is still strong.
I put a bunch of money in a CD back in February, so hopefully, nothing too exciting pops up while that money is locked away. It will be available in January, assuming I don’t roll it into another CD.
Remaining Cash Accounts (Emergency and Sinking Funds) ($909.51)
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 (-$1,565.49)
This month we had our first decrease of the year. The markets were down pretty sharp for most of August but recovered a good portion at the end.
IRA (-$4,967.90)
All market performance here. Again, more than I expected because I wasn’t really keeping up with market changes.
Overall, that’s a loss of about 1% between the 401k and IRAs.
College Fund (-$1,130.19)
The college fund is invested just like the IRAs; in mutual funds. However, this mutual fund was down by 1.6 percent.
Net Worth (-$1,681.77)
August was the worst month of the year. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. We’re late in the year, and this isn’t too bad at all.
Our expenses were about the same as last month, with no major expenses.
In total, our net worth stayed nearly the same. with a decrease of approximately 0.17%.
So far our net worth has increased every month in 2023, until now.
Accessible Net Worth ($4,851.62)
Monthly Blurb: This is the money we are able to put away, not including the tax-advantaged retirement accounts.
Our income was about average, and our expenses were below average this month as well. Our accessible net worth increased as a result of our investments and not having any crazy expenses.
Liabilities
Status: 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
January and February are very boring months for dividends. March was a record-breaking month.
May, just like April, was pretty mediocre, as it was just interest in my investment accounts.
August, June, and July, in addition to account interest, did turn out a few dividends, but nothing mind-blowing.
September is where things get a little exciting. It’s been an interesting market, so we’ll see how dividends and capital gains turn out.
The interest rate in my savings account stayed the same this month, at 4.30%. I hope to see it rise a little more as the Feds did end up raising the rate just a hair more. I don’t expect any more raises after that.
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.
Last month we missed the 50% goal. This month we missed it by a hair; only by .24%. So close that it hurts. The good news is that we are still above 50% for the year.
I don’t think we’ll meet the 50% in September because of some planned car expenses.
I’m still hoping we can carry it through the rest of the year. Hopefully, we don’t have too many unplanned expenses. Also, I’m seeing the impact of inflation all around us as it seems like the price of everything has gone up.
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. The good news is that the state legislature passed a bill last month that is supposed to give some relief. We’ll see what that looks like for sure when the property tax bill comes.
Daycare will decrease every year until it’s mostly gone at the end of the summer of 2024. Hopefully, we can get our savings rate up above 50% when that happens.
I wonder what other expenses will pop up once daycare is done.
Here’s how we did this month.
Income ($9,505.67)
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 August was average.
Expenses ($4,775.62)
Our expenses were below average this month. We didn’t have any car repairs or unexpected expenses and mostly kept the rest of our spending in check. There was also some weird stuff with our utilities where we didn’t et billed this month.
Here is a quick breakdown:
1) Home Escrow ($965.00)
The normal amount we put aside every month, plus paying for pest control.
2) Giving ($1,045.62)
The usual 10% we give every month. Plus 1% that we started to give on top of that.
3) Cost of living ($2,765.03)
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 August, we had below average expenses.
August 2023 Vs July 2023 Expenses
August and July were pretty average months in terms of finances, although we did spend slightly more in August and we made more money in July. We’re in our routine for the year, and things are going great.
Especially since our savings rate is still above 50%. I’m excited to see that, as it has been a struggle.
Hopefully, September will stay fairly smooth. We don’t have any big planned expenses this month aside from routine car maintenance.
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 no longer see us hitting the savings goal. We have fallen behind, and there’s not a whole lot of the year left. I don’t think we’ll catch up.
The savings rate goal has become a thorn in my side, but we’re positive for the year so far. We’ll see if that’s enough motivation to actually reach the goal. Maybe we can meet our goal two years in a row?
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, and there were more posted starting in July. I also plan on publishing a few every month for the rest of the year. Take a look and let me know what you think.
I plan on achieving this goal.
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. I finally started reading a second book….
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.
August 2023 Roundup
The month of August was another great one, and nothing unexpected happened. Kids didn’t have any unplanned days off school, we all stayed healthy, and pretty much life ran smoothly.
Six months in a row. Yay!
The weather has been constantly hot with pretty much no breaks. Fortunately, it will start cooling down soon.
I continue to be excited as we progress into September and as we wind up 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.