April 2011 Income Statement

April, for how chaotic it was financially, ended up looking pretty benign on paper. Our bottom line income and expenses remained pretty typical (click on spreadsheet below).

This was a transition month, with my wife leaving one company to join another company for a higher paying position. Because of this, she only received one (much larger) paycheck in April. In addition to our salaries, my wife received $1,037.55 for her cashed out vacation, and a $75 reimbursement from her old company for her cell phone. We earned $100 in credit card rewards, sold a table for $50 and received a $2,325 tax refund ($2,155 Federal & $170 State). We also earned $16.63 in interest income from our savings.

Our expenses were much lower than the insane spending we had in March, but still high at a total of $6227.99. Some of the larger items were: $447.59 for cobra insurance, $763.50 in vet bills, and of course more baby stuff.

May should be an interesting month. It will be my wife’s first full month employed at her new company. We will also both be traveling for business in May, so hopefully our expenses will be lower than normal (living on the company dime).

April 2011 Net Worth Update (+$4,511.92)

We passed our 2011 net worth goal of $138,100 in April! That gives us 8 months to made headway on our 2012 net worth goal of $173,200. Our net worth increased $4,511.92 from last month, to a total of $138,785.04 (click on spreadsheet below).

What Worked
Passing our 2011 net worth goal so early in the year is a major blessing. Our $2,325 tax refund ($2,155 Federal & $170 State) helped put us over the top. We contributed $1,063.00 to our retirement accounts and saw them increase $2,787.01 to $94,489.74. We also continue to improve our savings account balance.

What Didn’t Work
All accounts moved the right direction this month :)

Next Month
Progress towards our 2012 net worth goal of $173,200 begins now. May will be my wife’s first full month of pay in her new position, at a much higher income. We’re going to try to bank as much of the extra income as possible before the baby arrives.

Already Passed our 2011 Net Worth Goal

Great news! We just passed our 2011 net worth goal of $138,100. That puts us 8 months ahead of schedule. This should allow us to gain some serious ground on our 2012 net worth goal of $173,200. I will update our net worth meter (on left) at the end of the month.

March 2011 Income Statement

As expected, March was a “spendy” month and a relatively standard income (click on spreadsheet below).

In addition to our paychecks, my wife received two $75 company reimbursements (Feb & March) and we earned $125 in credit card rewards We also earned $15.47 in interest income from our savings.

Our expenses totaled a whopping $11,033.55! Some of the larger items were: $2,954.60 for paying off the student loan, $346 registration for cars, $205.40 flight to see family, $119.42 hotel, $523 pet care (vet), and a lot on “nesting” for our baby.

April should be a very good income month. In addition to my wife starting her new job, she also receives gets paid for her remaining vacation time (5 days). Plus, we will receive a combined Federal and State refund of $2,325. No large expenses are forecast for April.

March 2011 Net Worth Update (+$3,607.99)

March was another solid month. Our net worth increased $3,607.99 from last month, to a total of $134,273.12 (click on spreadsheet below).

What Worked The big news this month is that we found out that our baby is a BOY! We are very excited. Financially, we were also hugely blessed because my wife accepted a new job that starts next month with a $20,000 higher annual salary (33% increase). She also has an opportunity to make a larger bonus each quarter. I am very proud of her. This is going to really help us reach our goals. To celebrate, we paid off the last of the $2,954.60 student loan. We are now completely DEBT FREE. We contributed $1,213.00 to our retirement accounts and saw them increase $2,020.07 to $91,702.73.

What Didn’t Work Not really a negative, but our savings account balance decreased because we paid off the student loans.

Next Month There is a good chance we will pass our 2011 net worth goal of $138,100 in April, 8 months ahead of schedule. My receives her final paycheck from her old company, gets paid for her remaining vacation time, and starts her new job. We also receive a combined Federal and State refund of $2,325.