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Net Worth

Net Worth | March 2023

Welcome to the March 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.

March 2023 Net Worth

Here’s how March compares to last month:

March 2023 Net Worth Summary

March Account Breakdown

Let’s take a quick look at what happened in March.

Cash ($6,874.82)

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 great month for us in terms of spending and income. It’s possibly the best month we’ve had in terms of our savings rate. The difference in cash on hand is due mainly to making more money than last month.

Our spending was well below average this month thanks to cashback from Costco and overall low spending. We didn’t really do much so that kept expenses low.

Investment Cash ($4,812.16)

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 February.

I’m still waiting for some opportunities to come up in the housing market, although I’m not that optimistic. 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) (-$1,185.63)

Nothing exciting here. Just the usual. Well, perhaps a little unusual because it’s negative this month. We paid to have the trees trimmed and took it out of our housing fund.

Other than that, everything is normal. We are just saving up for our property tax bill for when it’s due early next year.

Retirement Accounts

401(k)s ($4,620.56)

This month we had a very small increase. It would have been negative without our contributions, but overall the market was flat.

IRA ($812.36)

All market performance here. This is about on par with what I expected.

Overall, that’s a gain of less than 1% between the 401k and IRAs. I can’t complain.

College Fund ($483.25)

The college fund is invested just like the IRAs; in mutual funds. The gain is equal to about 1%. It’s gain, but nothing to write home about.

Net Worth ($17,206.47)

March was an okay month. Have to be happy when you make gains, even if they’re small. It appears that most of the net worth increase came from our jobs this month.

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 approximately 1.4%.

Accessible Net Worth ($11,699.14)

Monthly Blurb: This is the money we are able to put away, not including the tax-advantaged retirement accounts.

Our income was great, and our expenses were below-average this month. Our accessible net worth increased as a result of making a good amount of money this 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

February and January are very boring months for dividends. Finally, March has arrived! Here is where we actually start to bring in some dividend income.

And guess what? It was a record-breaking March! Not a record-breaking month compared to December, but just this month compared to previous “March’s”.

This caught me off guard as companies are holding back a lot of money with the recession and bank failures and such.

I’m curious what April will look like because most of that dividend comes from one mutual fund in the biotech sector. Last year was lackluster, to say the least, at only $6.

The interest rate in my savings account is at least better than last year. I hope to see it rise a little more as the Fed raised rates again.

March 2023 Passive Income

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 2023, we barely missed that goal! I’ve set the same goal for this year.

This month we killed that goal! Finally! Thank’s to low spending and an amazing amount of income (at least for us), we were able to reach our goal for the first time this year.

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.

March 2023 Savings Rate

Income ($14,243.46)

Right now, our only source of active income is through our full-time jobs.

This is what an above-average income month looks like for us. Last month I expected that we would be paying some taxes, but they turned out to be almost nothing. I also got that work bonus I mentioned.

Expenses ($3,770.43)

Our expenses were well below average this month. We didn’t have any car repairs or unexpected expenses, and we didn’t have to buy too many other things either. We managed to keep our utilities at a reasonable price, which helped.

Here is a quick breakdown:

1) Home Escrow ($-1,197.79)

The normal amount we put aside every month, plus paying for the trees to be trimmed. It’s not cheap is what I learned.

2) Giving ($1,566.78)

The usual 10% we give every month. Plus 1% that we started to give on top of that.

3) Cost of living ($1,238.65)

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 March, we had below-average expenses.

February 2023 Vs March 2023 Expenses

February 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, April stays fairly smooth, and we continue to bring in record dividends. That’s always fun to see.

Goals Progress

March 2023 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. If the rest of the year stays like this month, we’ll do great. Unfortunately, that’s not gonna happen. I have lots of planned expenses for April.

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 10 articles this year is in the works. I’ve actually been working on some content for this site other than my net worth reports!

Last month I said I’d try to get a few posted, but I ended up posting a bunch. 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.

March 2023 Roundup

The month of March 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.

There were a few rainy days and tornado sirens The weather has been warming up, and it’s been pretty nice outside.

I continue to be excited as we progress into April, 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.