Welcome to the November 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.
November is over, and the year has gone by fast. November started with freezing temperatures, but it’s really been pleasant for most of the month.
Financially, November was a great month due to the markets, even better than I expected, as I found out while doing our budget.
Up until November, the markets had been down 5 of the past 6 weeks. In November, the markets shot right back up.
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.
November 2023 Net Worth
Here’s how November compares to last month:
November Account Breakdown
Let’s take a quick look at what happened in November.
Cash ($9,432.82)
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 average month for us both in terms of income and slightly above average in spending. We brought home nearly the same amount of money as last month, and I forgot to transfer last month’s earnings into the savings account, so that’s why this is positive.
Our spending was still above average this month.
Investment Cash ($891.55)
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, but I forgot to transfer it, so the net positive is just from interest.
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 fairly strong, but winter is coming up, so we’ll see.
I put a bunch of money in a CD in February, so hopefully, nothing too exciting will pop up while that money is locked away. It will be available in January, assuming I don’t roll it into another CD. I don’t think I will at this point. Rates are beginning to fall and aren’t as enticing as they were a few months ago.
Remaining Cash Accounts (Emergency and Sinking Funds) ($815.42)
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 ($21,488.37)
Finally, we are back in positive territory. The previous three months had been negative. November rebounded by quite a bit, as you can see. The markets were up pretty sharp for November.
IRA ($19,302.51)
All market performance here.
Overall, that’s a gain of 7.59% between the 401k and IRAs.
College Fund ($4,925.85)
The college fund is invested just like the IRAs, in mutual funds. The college fund was up by 7.1 percent.
Net Worth ($51,190.40)
November was the best month of the year. The past three months hurt, so it was a relief to have a positive month. November ended up rebounding, recovering all the previous losses and still gaining some on top of that.
Our expenses were slightly lower than last month. We mostly kept our expenses down but had a few splurges since we had family out to visit for Thanksgiving.
In total, our net worth jumped. A lot. We had an increase of approximately 4.97%. Not so bad compared to October, which was 0.42%
The year started out great, with our net worth increasing every month in 2023, then we had three negative months in a row from August to September. That’s a whole quarter of a year now!
November was a great month. Historically, December is one of the best months for the market. Let’s hope we finish out the year strong!
Accessible Net Worth ($10,399.52)
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 about average this month. Our accessible net worth increased as a result of our earnings and not having too crazy of 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 typically get a little exciting. That was not the case this year. The mutual funds I’m invested in did NOT pay out any dividends or capital gains, for the most part.
November usually gets a little more interesting, but not by much. This year, there were no dividend or capital gains payouts, so it was just as boring as October. Hopefully, we end the year with an exciting December.
This year is on track to be the worst I’ve had since 2017, and I have a lot more invested than I did six years ago.
The interest rate in my savings account stayed the same this month, at 4.30%. Right now, the Feds don’t plan on raising the rate as long as inflation stays in check.
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.
In October, we missed the 50% goal by the largest margin this year, and now our average for the year is even further below 50%.
As I expected, we did not meet the 50% goal in November because of some planned car expenses. However, we were closer than I expected. The car did get new tires, but I didn’t buy the water heater yet.
That looks like it’s turning into a bigger project than originally planned. That money will probably come out of the house sinking fund, so it won’t show up in the budget here.
I feel like I’ve been on the fence all year about whether or not we’ll meet this goal. If December goes as planned, we’ll be above 50% for the month, and it will be enough to pull us over 50% for the year. Hopefully, we won’t have too many unplanned expenses.
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 in July that is supposed to give some relief. I finally got my property tax bill, and my taxes are lower by a significant amount.
Daycare has been decreasing every year, and we only have about nine months left of full-time daycare. It will mostly be 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 ($9,504.56)
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.
Expenses ($5,417.63)
Our expenses were above average this month. We did have some car maintenance but no unexpected expenses, and mostly kept the rest of our spending in check.
Here is a quick breakdown:
1) Home Escrow ($700.00)
The normal amount we put aside every month. We cleared out storage, so that is why it is so much lower than last month.
2) Giving ($1,045.50)
The usual 10% we give every month. Plus 1% that we started to give on top of that.
3) Cost of living ($3,672.13)
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 November, we had above-average expenses.
October 2023 Vs. November 2023 Expenses
October and November were similar different months in terms of finances. We spent slightly more in October but also made more hair.
Hopefully, December will stay fairly smooth, and I won’t make any more impulse purchases. There is one big purchase that we have to make: a water heater. And I’m considering going tankless.
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, although I’m starting to get a feeling.
There’s one month left to the year, and it comes down to December on whether we’ll meet some of the goals or not. That’s how close some of them are.
After September’s performance, I’m not sure we’ll hit the passive income goal. I’m really not all that hopeful about receiving a good amount of dividends in December
I’m pretty sure we’ll hit the savings goal now. We are behind, but not by much. December is usually pretty good for us, and I think we’ll be able to catch up.
The savings rate goal has become a thorn in my side, and we’re no longer positive for the year. We’ll see if that’s enough motivation to actually reach the goal.
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 have been more posts in the last couple of months. I 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, and I’m not too far off from that now. Only two left.
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.
November 2023 Roundup
The month of November was another great one, and nothing unexpected happened. We remained relatively healthy, which is always nice
The weather was overall nice, especially considering it was November.
I continue to be excited as we progress into November and finish up the year. As always, there’s really a lot to be thankful for.
Only one more net worth report before the end-of-year summary!
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.