Welcome to the October 2022 edition of our net worth tracker, where we 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.
October is over and what a fun month it was for us, minus the start of cold season. It stayed a little warmer than normal through October, as seems to be the trend this year. That means the weather was really nice for most of the month.
Financially, October has been our best month in a while. The old house has sold, and we were able to get our mortgage paid off. We just had a few utility bills that we had to pay off.
There is so much street removed from not having a mortgage. I feel like I can relax a little.
Monthly Roundup
Remember how I said the old house was staged, and it’s now in our new house? My wife has been working hard to get it sold and has been doing a great job. There are still a few more things, like a couch, but not much is left. Free boxes have surprisingly been one of the hardest things to get rid of.
October 2022 Net Worth
Here’s how October compares to last month:
October Account Breakdown
Let’s take a quick look at what happened in October.
Cash (-$266,928.49)
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.
Yeah, that’s quite a big change over the last month. All the money from selling our old house was sitting in our bank account, and that was transferred to our investment account (see the next section).
Investment Cash ($274,730.98)
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.
In addition to selling our house, we had a little bit extra on top of that we were able to transfer.
It should be back to normal-ish in November.
Remaining Cash Accounts (Emergency and Sinking Funds) ($1,074.61)
Nothing exciting here. Just the usual. We are just saving up for our property tax bill and HOA fees. (Yay, no more HOA fees.)
Retirement Accounts
401(k)s ($14,822.01)
October was a decent month for the stock market. It’s nice to finally see positives in our retirement accounts.
IRA ($10,787.35)
This increase is all due to the rise in the markets.
College Fund ($3,004.75)
Just like the other investments, the college savings rose as well.
Net Worth ($33,423.97)
September is historically bad, but this last September was worse. Fortunately, October was great, and we recovered most of those losses.
Our net worth increased by about 4.0% in October.
Accessible Net Worth ($7,814.61)
Monthly Blurb: This is the money we are able to put away, not including the tax-advantaged retirement accounts.
Our income was slightly above average, and so were our expenses. Our accessible net worth increased mostly because we got a check for the excess we had paid the mortgage company.
I still need to figure out what to do with that investment money now. Any ideas? It’s hard being patient and letting it sit there, although I think that is the right thing to do.
I want to see what direction this recession takes, especially as the housing market cools off. Hopefully, I can get a good deal on some investment properties.
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.
Temporary: We have a mortgage on the new house until the old house sells. Hopefully, that doesn’t take too long. I told you it was temporary! Ah, it feels so good having that mortgage gone.
Passive Income
September was a lackluster month. October, in comparison to previous years, was great. The best October I had prior to this year was $30, and this year was over $130!
I anticipate that December will be similar to September and expect to get about half as much as last year.
The interest rate in my savings account still feels like it is skyrocketing with all the rate hikes the fed is making.
My money is still barely making any money sitting in that “high-yield” account, now earning 3%, up from 2.15% in September and 1.75% in August.
That’s a lot better than the 0.4% we saw at the beginning of the year.
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.
Our year-to-date savings rate is still in shambles right now. No way we’re going to hit 50% with all the home-buying expenses and the debt of our mortgage.
I really dislike having a mortgage, and I’m so glad September was our last mortgage payment for the rest of our lives, hopefully.
I’m going to go ahead and say that hitting our 50% target is going to be impossible! Right now, I’m just hoping we can get it back to 40% before the end of the year.
That’s doubtful, given that we have a lot of expenses planned for November.
Here’s how we did this month.
Income ($9,267.77)
Right now, our only source of active income is through our full-time jobs.
This is what a slightly above-average month looks like for us.
Expenses ($6,906.24)
Our expenses were also above-average this month.
Here is a quick breakdown:
1) Home Escrow ($1,185.00)
The “new” normal amount we put aside every month. (That should actually go down next month).
September was the last month paying for two houses. That was expensive, and it hurts every time I see how much it costs! Now you see what it’s like without the mortgage payment, and last month you can see what it’s like with a mortgage.
I like this number a lot better!
2) Giving ($1,019.45)
The usual 10% we give every month. Plus 1% that we started to give on top of that.
3) Cost of living ($4,701.76)
Previous Months: Sep: ($3,861.16), Aug: ($3,725.56), Jul: ($4,894.60), Jun: ($4,199.79), May: ($8,107.34), Apr: ($5,767.97), Mar: ($2,486.92), Feb: ($3,306.12), Jan: ($3,409.65), Dec: (-$4,034.08), Nov: ($3,703.00), Oct: ($3,268.10), Sep: ($3,968.22)
Running Average: $3,578.90
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 October, we had well above average expenses. My wife has a work conference we paid for, as well as a license renewal.
Also, having two houses is expensive, and September was the last month with two utility bills. Some of those we finished paying in October as we received the bills.
September 2022 Vs October 2022 Expenses
We don’t have daycare for one of the kids anymore, and school is providing after-school care for free. I really appreciate that!
October went relatively smoothly, and we no longer have two houses.
Goals Progress
Financial Goals
Aside from the Roth IRA contribution, most of the financial goals this year are year-long goals. And the end of the year is coming up quickly!
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 still not completely sure how the other goals are going to turn out, but it’s not looking that great. It all hinges on how December goes.
We took a big hit from having two houses. Also, dividends aren’t that great this year, either. As a result, I don’t think that we will be able to save $60,000, nor will we have a passive income over $15,000.
I don’t even want to talk about our savings rate this year. Ugh.
Blog Goal
My goal of 1 article a month isn’t going to happen. I’ve got too much to do with the new house, and it’s nearly the end of the year.
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, 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.
October 2022 Roundup
The month of October was a good one.
I’m going to mention it for the 2,000th time. I’m glad we’re down to one house!
I’m excited as we progress into November and as we close out the rest of the year. Hopefully, I’ll get more chores off my to-do list, allowing more time for these reports and other helpful posts.
Stay tuned for next month’s Net 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 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.