Welcome to the May 2024 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.
May 2024 Net Worth
Here’s how May compares to last month:
May Account Breakdown
Let’s take a quick look at what happened in May.
Cash ($1,803.97)
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 a below-average month for us in terms of income. I forgot to transfer money to the investment account last month, so that’s the only reason we had an increase this month. Otherwise, it would be about the same.
Our spending was about average this month.
Investment Cash (-$8,319.80)
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 should have gone from April if I had remembered to transfer it. There was a small chunk that came out to pay for new flooring in the investment house.
That is the last big expense for the investment house. It should be on the market in June and hopefully sold by July. Cross your fingers!
Remaining Cash Accounts (Emergency and Sinking Funds) ($700.00)
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 ($15,683.47)
This month, the markets bounced back, and there was a substantial increase.
IRA ($22,494.84)
All market performance here, except for a Rollover. My wife changed jobs, and we rolled her 401k into an IRA.
Overall, that’s a gain of about 5.7% between the 401k and IRAs. Not great, but I can’t complain.
College Fund ($1,709.06)
The college fund is invested just like the IRAs; in mutual funds. However, this mutual fund was up by about 2 percent. It’s a gain, so no complaints.
Net Worth ($31,662.48)
May was a pretty good month. Especially compared to April. Have to be happy when you make gains. Most of the net worth increase came from our investments.
We did have some big expenses this month, but we still turned out well into positive territory, so I’m happy.
In total, our net worth increased by approximately 2.80%, up from -1.98% in April.
Accessible Net Worth (-$6,515.83)
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 above average this month. Our accessible net worth decreased as a result of putting a good amount of money into our investment house.
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
January and February are very boring months for dividends.
I didn’t realize it until adding the numbers up, but March was a record-breaking month! April and May’s numbers were pretty average.
Last year, on the whole, was the worst I’ve had since 2017, and I have a lot more invested than I did six years ago. Let’s see how 2024 plays out.
The interest rate in my savings account remained at 4.25% for the month. The market is becoming more volatile, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a rate cut by the end of the year.
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, starting in February, we are 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.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel for daycare. Three more months and counting.
Daycare has been decreasing every year, and we only have about four months left of full-time daycare. It will mostly be gone at the end of the summer. Hopefully, we can get our savings rate up above 50% when that happens and after we have enough saved up for a car.
I wonder what other expenses will pop up once daycare is done.
Here’s how we did this month.
If you don’t include the car savings, we were at 41.51% in May, making it 53.3% YTD.
Income ($8,700.85)
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 June should be slightly higher as the paychecks from my wife’s new job start rolling in.
Expenses ($7,088.98)
Our expenses were above average this month. We didn’t have any car repairs or unexpected expenses, but we did spend a bit of money on the house.
Here is a quick breakdown:
1) Home Escrow ($920.00)
The normal amount we put aside every month, plus paying for a section of fencing that needed to be replaced.
2) Giving ($870.09)
The usual 10% we give every month. Plus 1% that we started to give on top of that.
3) Cost of living ($5298.89)
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 May, we had about average expenses.
April 2024 Vs May 2024 Expenses
April and May were kinda opposite months. April saw a sell-off in the markets, and we were down almost 2%. We also had a good share of expenses that included a car repair.
May saw a rebound in the markets, and we were up almost 3%. It was a pretty average month in terms of finances.
Hopefully, June will stay fairly smooth. Hopefully, we get a house sold. We don’t have any big planned expenses this month.
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, it’s the beginning of the year, so I’m not completely sure how the other goals are going to turn out.
I’m not sure about the Real Estate (RE) Investing goal since we bought a property. I’ll include the net profits here since that will become future investment money.
So far, we’re looking good.
We’ll just continue to ignore the savings rate goal.
Blog Goal
My goal of 12 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 didn’t get around to posting anything in May, but I posted one article in January and have more posts planned. I plan on publishing one every month for the rest of the year. Take a look 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!
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. January and February were hit or miss. Now there are more sweets from easter.
May 2024 Roundup
The month of May 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.
The weather has been warming up, and we’ve had a lot of showers. I enjoy the warm showers that cool off the air a little.
I continue to be excited as we progress into June 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.