Welcome to the August 2024 edition of our net worth tracker, where we’ll track our net worth month over month. I first started tracking our net worth when this blog was started 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 for a good portion of it. Not as many days as last year, but still hot. We got a little bit of a break this last week with days in the 90s, and some thunderstorms.
August is the hottest month of the year here, so I expect a good sized electric bill coming up.
Financially, August was an excellent month for us. The markets were up a good amount, especially considering the big dip we took in the middle of the month. Last month, I anticipated a market correction, and we got one. Promptly followed by a recovery.
Check out this graph that shows my account value throughout the month.
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 2024 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 (-$1478.04)
Monthly Blurb: This is where our paychecks get deposited. All our income goes into this account and 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 above-average month for us in terms of income. We brought home more than last month, but we also spent more. This balance is lower, though, because I finally remembered to transfer the money where it belongs.
Our spending was above average this month.
Investment Cash ($5,084.73)
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 usually goes, and I finally remembered to transfer the money over the past two months.
Our investment property is still on the market. The Feds are planning a September rate cut, which hopefully will attract buyers. I’ll know by the next update.
If nothing happens with the house, I plan to take it off the market until spring.
Remaining Cash Accounts (Emergency and Sinking Funds) ($4,852.27)
Nothing exciting here. Just the usual. We are back to saving up for our property tax bill for when it’s due early next year.
We are also saving up for a new car. We plan on saving $2,000 a month for the rest of the year. Two month’s worth was transferred over this month.
Retirement Accounts
401(k)s ($10,031.53)
August was a great month, all things considered. July started to tank during the last week of the month, and as you saw in the graph above, it continued to dip. Still, it ended on a positive note.
The markets ended the month, hitting record highs again.
IRA ($6,880.13)
All market performance here.
Overall, that’s a gain of 2% between the 401k and IRAs.
College Fund ($595.16)
The college fund is invested in mutual funds, just like the IRAs. It was up 0.74 percent.
Net Worth ($24,636.65)
I was pretty busy this month, but you can’t help but hear about when the markets are down. Fortunately, they reversed course, and August ended well in positive territory. Although, different types of investments fluctuated more than others.
Our expenses were slightly more than last month. Utilities were higher, and we had some unexpected expenses. On the plus side, the daycare bill was substantially lower.
In total, our net worth increased a reasonable amount. We had an increase of approximately 2.01%.
Aside from one down month, every month this year, we have been in positive territory. Seven up. One down.
We’ll see how the market performs the rest of this year. Like I said last month, if we ended the year with the same balance we have right now, I’d be happy.
Accessible Net Worth ($7,724.99)
Monthly Blurb: This is the money we are able to put away, not including the tax-advantaged retirement accounts.
Our income and expenses were both above average this month. Thanks to our income, our accessible net worth increased.
Hopefully, soon, the cash we put into the investment house will be liquid again… plus some added on top.
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! April and May’s numbers were pretty average.
June was pretty good. It’s not as good as last year, but it’s still good.
July and August were pretty good as well, beating out last year.
Last year, as a whole, was the worst I’ve had since 2017, and I have a lot more invested than I did six years ago. Four months of 2024 left. Let’s see how it plays out.
The interest rate in my savings account remained at 4.25% for the month. The market is becoming more volatile, and now the question is how many rate cuts there will be before the end of the year—not “if.”
There is a rate cut expected in September, so I expect interest rates in my savings account will start to fall.
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%. In 2022, we barely missed that goal, but we met it in 2023!
As a result of meeting the goal in 2023, I raised the bar to 55%.
In January, we missed the 55% goal, but we were over 50%.
As I mentioned earlier this year, we started saving for a car. We plan to put $2,000 aside each month for the rest of the year.
As a result, we are for sure not going to make the 55% goal. However, I’m going to keep track of two sets of Savings Rate numbers. One, as if we didn’t spend the money, and two, as if the money were spent. The latter is what you will see in the spreadsheet.
Of that 50% we are spending, Housing and Daycare alone eat up over 30%. We give 10%, so that means we are living on 10% or less for everything else.
Now there’s no more daycare!
We have reached the light at the end of the tunnel for daycare. August was the last month, and it’s not a full month of daycare. Moving on, we will only have daycare bills during school breaks.
Hopefully, we can get our savings rate up above 50% with daycare gone and after we have enough saved up for a car.
I’ve been wondering what other expenses will pop up once daycare is done, and now I’m starting to see them. We’ve been doing gymnastics and now have ballet for one of the kids.
Those are relatively cheap compared to paying for daycare.
Here’s how we did this month.
If you don’t include the car savings, we were at 54.10% in August, pulling us up to 51.18% YTD.
Income ($15,215.14)
Right now, our only source of active income is through our full-time jobs.
This is what a well above-average income month looks like for us. We both received “extra” paychecks this month.
Expenses ($8,983.61)
Our expenses were above average this month as well. Plus, we are saving $2K for a new car each month. We also had some unexpected expenses come up.
There was a small $300 vet bill for one of the dogs, and we also had a problem with our sprinklers. We had to replace our double-check. That’s something I’m not comfortable doing myself. Otherwise, we mostly kept our spending in check.
Here is a quick breakdown:
1) Home Escrow ($733.97)
The normal amount we put aside every month to pay for property taxes and insurance.
2) Giving ($1,521.51)
The usual 10% we give every month.
3) Cost of living ($5,686.10)
This includes all our bills (Gas, Electric, Water, Internet, Phone), transportation, food, shopping, car insurance, and daycare. This also includes saving for the car.
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 above-average expenses.
July 2024 Vs. August 2024 Expenses
August and July were quiet different financially. We made more in August, but we also spent more money due to unexpected expenses. I expect both our income and expenses to be lower in September, if all goes as planned.
That said, September is a historically bad month for the markets. I expect our net worth will be lower by the end of the month.
We’re now tho thirds of the way through the year, and I know Christmas will be here before we know it. Stores already have Christmas decorations out.
Hopefully, the economy won’t completely crash, and we will be able to sell our investment house. Other than saving for a car, we do plan on spending some money on our home.
Goals Progress
Financial Goals
The Roth IRA contribution is done, and the money has been transferred to the proper accounts.
I’m not completely sure how the goals are going to turn out, aside from the 401k, which is on automatic contributions from my paycheck. Overall, it’s not looking good.
I’m don’t think we’ll hit the Real Estate (RE) Investing goal since we bought a property. I’ll include the net profits from selling the house here since that will become future investment money.
I don’t think we’re going to hit the passive income goal either, but I’ll have a better outlook at the end of September.
We’ll just continue to ignore the savings rate goal.
Blog Goal
My goal of 12 articles this year is in the works.
I finally get around to posting in August,. I posted one article in January and it took me this long to post more. Not good, but I do have more posts planned.
I planned on publishing one every month for the rest of the year. It’ll happen eventually. Take a look at what I have posted and let me know what you think.
Personal Goals
I’m doing a reading goal again this year with only two books. Last year, I read 2, and that seems like a good amount for me. I’m done with the first book (Crucial Conversations), and I’ve already finished reading the second book (Good to Great). Goal Complete!
I started a third book, but it’s going to take me a while to finish.
And then there is my physical health. I didn’t get to where I wanted in 2021, 2022, …or 2023, 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.
I started taking it more seriously last month and have lost a few pounds. I lost a few more pounds this month, but I have a ways to go.
August 2024 Roundup
The month of August was another good one. Nothing too unexpected happened, aside from repairing the sprinklers. We remained relatively healthy, and didn’t miss any school days.
The weather was hot for August, as expected. I survived. Now it’s starting to cool down to the point where we can do things outside again. I’m just not looking forward to getting the power bill for the energy we used in August.
I continue to be excited as we finish off the year. As always, 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.