Welcome to the June 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.
It feels nice being able to see peoples faces again, doesn’t it? The main part I don’t like is that the streets are crowded again! I feel like they’re worse than they were before, but maybe that’s just because it’s been so long.
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
I used to go through my month and go over the highlights. These days I do it a little different. I think people just want to see the numbers if they’re reading my net worth reports. (Am I right?) I think I can sum up my whole month in one or two paragraphs.
Our June
For June, the weather was really nice. Lot’s a spring showers and flowers blooming. Overall, June was a great month.
In terms of the things we did, not much happened besides a couple of my girls birthdays! I feel like we stayed busy on the weekends, but I don’t see much on the calendar when I look back. The baby’s birthday was fun and it was nice seeing family.
It was also my wife’s birthday, and I spent a lot! And! It’s going to be a monthly expense moving forward. I either really like her, or I’m out of my mind. Or maybe both.
June 2021 Net Worth
Here’s how June compares to last month:
June Account Breakdown
Let’s take a quick look at what happened in June.
Cash (-$933.22)
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 income month for us.
It was also an average month for us in terms of spending. We spent a little more on house, and spend about the same as last month in the other areas. The difference in cash is because my present to my wife was hiring someone to clean our house. I’m hiring them to clean once a month, but this first clean was a deep clean. You pay for what you get, and the house looked great when they were done.
Investment Cash ($6,915.60)
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 May. It wasn’t much compared to some of our other months, but I can’t complain. Especially as I sit here in my nice clean house.
I’m still waiting for some opportunities to come up for investing. The foreclosure moratorium was supposed to last until the end of 2020, but Biden extended it through June 30, 2021. That’s the end of this month! Finally!
“I don’t expect to see any bargains right away, but I do expect the housing market will cool off after being red hot so far this summer. I also half way expect Biden to inject money into this area of the market as well.”
May 2021 Net Worth Report
Well, the moratorium has all been but extended:
“In most cases, lenders will only be allowed to foreclose on a home if it is abandoned, if the borrower has not responded to messages for at least 90 days, or if the borrower has been formally evaluated for all available “loss mitigation” options (such as a loan modification) and none are viable.”
New York Times
So if foreclosures couldn’t start until July, and a house has to be vacant or a barrower has to be allowed 90 days, were basically not going to see any foreclosures being listed for sale until 2022.
I’m guessing most homes are not vacant. For an occupied house, 90 days puts us in October before the foreclosure process can start. And that process takes a couple months. Hopefully the housing market cools off by then.
I’m still questioning whether I want a rental if I can’t evict a bad tenant. I’ve actually heard of lots of land lords selling property over the last year because of this, and because home prices are at all time highs.
Remaining Cash Accounts (Emergency and Sinking Funds) ($1,068.82)
Nothing exciting here. Just the usual. 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 ($7,741.34)
Last month we saw about a 1.5% increase. This month was great compared to last month. The markets were already at record highs and we saw some volatility, but the markets still reached higher highs.
I’ll say this again and again…. 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, going on 13. Yes, I know that there has been a recession or two, but they were short lived and fairly insignificant.
I think we are starting to see that bull market tapper off.
IRA ($7,746.69)
The 401k’s were able to make pretty good gains, but the IRA’s made a relatively insignificant amount.
Overall, that’s a gain of about 5.5% for the 401k’s and a gain of 1.75% for the IRA’s. Not too bad. I’m happy that we’re back in positive territory, unlike last month.
College Fund ($2,948.12)
The college fund is invested just like the IRAs; in mutual funds. The gain is equal to about 2.5%. Not great, but I won’t complain. Almost keeps up with inflation at that rate.
Net Worth ($17,39074)
Last month was an okay month, but I would say this month was pretty good. Not great, but good. I’m always surprised at the end of the month and see how much our net worth has increased. One step closer to retirement each month.
In total, our net worth increased by 2.85%.
Accessible Net Worth ($1,786.78)
Monthly Blurb: This is the money we are able to put away, not including the tax-advantaged retirement accounts.
Our income was normal and our expenses were about average this month The markets were running on highs and were positive. Our accessible net worth increased as a result of saving money from last month.
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.
We are now continuing through what I call “The Big Lull” over summer until we receive dividends in September. We did receive some dividends this month, and Passive income was a whole $98 this month.
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%. Hopefully the rate starts turning positive before too long.
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 didn’t meet that goal! In fact, our saving’s rate was an incredibly poor 28%. Even worse than our previous low for the year, 32%.
The numbers this month actually look like what I’ve been expecting for a normal paycheck month, and having to pay for day care and property taxes, along with the living necessities. Hopefully we can do better next month, although I plan on spending a lot for my Wife’s birthday. Plus, I paid big bucks for that house cleaning!
When all goes according to plan, of that 50% we plan to spend, 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. In fact, I expect daycare to decrease slightly in August, and maybe some in September. Hopefully we can get our savings rate up to 70% within 5 years from now.
At the rate time is flying by, it won’t be long!
Here’s how we did this month.
Income ($9,118.83)
Right now, our only source of active income is through our full-time jobs.
This is what a normal income month looks like for us. Neither of us received an “extra” paycheck.
Expenses ($6,531.52)
Our expenses were above average this month. We spent a bit on shopping and a lot getting the house cleaned.
Here is a quick break down:
1) Home Escrow ($2,245.79)
Ouch, was above the normal amount we put aside every month. As I mentioned last month, this went up slightly we hired a gardener, and because I put the house cleaning in this category.
2) Giving ($875.69)
The usual 10% we give every month.
3) Cost of living ($3,373.85)
Previous Months: May: ($3,726.16), Apr: ($3,857.24), 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),
Running Average: $3,085.03
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 paper work for us.
We have been driving more, so our gasoline bill is starting to climb. We hit a peak in June as Gasoline prices have risen. 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.
We managed to keep our saving’s rate above 50% up until May. I expect that to drop throughout the remainder of the year until we hit December. Hopefully changes in day care will help us keep that number above 50%.
June 2021 Vs May 2021 Expenses
June and May were pretty similar in terms of expenses, despite differences in where the money went. The difference in saving’s rate is only about a $200 difference.
We’re in our routine for the year, and things are going great.
Hopefully July stays fairly smooth and we don’t have any unforeseen expenses.
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 completely 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 officially half way over now, and we’ve managed to save nearly 60% 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. I know it looks ugly now, but most of the money comes in at the end of the year; September an December.
The savings rate goal of 50% is turning into a stretch goal, but I still think we can do it. We’ve dropped below 50% right now! And the rest of the year is the challenging part. We’ll see what we can do to upright this ship.
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.
June 2021 Roundup
The month of June was a a good one, and nothing too unusual happened. A couple of Birthdays in the household.
I’m excited as we progress into July, and for the rest of the year. We are inching closer and closer towards normal. Independence day, right? Only one month away now! Well, it’s close enough to Independence Day, and fewer and fewer people are wearing masks. Covid is still pretty common in the news, but not as dominant as it was before. It’s starting to fall off.
I’m still hopeful that we will be able to stop wearing masks everywhere we go soon. I think public transportation and a few states are all that’s left. I’m hoping independence day comes and we get our freedom back. We didn’t quite get all our freedom back, but hopefully not much longer.
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.