December 3, 2014

NOT Included In Our Net Worth...Darn It!

We have been blessed with good incomes for the past 8 years, breaking the $100K mark in household income in 2008 and working our way up to ~$250K in 2014. Our net worth has grown considerably as well. From $23K at the end of 2008 to nearly $300K at the end of 2014.

With that being said, I feel like we should have made better progress on our net worth, considering our incomes. I looked back at the last couple of years and determined that a considerable amount of money has been “invested” into our new home, but are not accounted for it in our net worth calculation. Some of the larger ticket items are:

$7,000 new HVAC
$1,200 new pool pump
$1,700 pool fence
$1,600 white picket fence in front yard
$1,800 security camera system
$1,500 refrigerator
$2,500 wash and dryer
$600 dishwasher

I use the purchase price of our home ($489K) for its value when calculating our net worth. If I included home appreciation, that would add another ~$150K based on comps in the area.  

I have no plans to begin accounting for improvements to the property or home appreciation but it does make me feel good to know that we bought at a great time and have invested in our home to make it safer, nicer, and if we sell one day, maybe more valuable.

How do you account for your home as an asset?


December 1, 2014

November 2014 Income Statement

November a very good income month and a larger than budgeted expense month (see spreadsheet below).

Our total income in November was $14,923.69. In addition to my wife’s paycheck, she received an $800 auto allowance and a $130 company reimbursement for internet service and FasTrak pass. The big news was that she also earned a quarterly bonus of $12,490 gross ($7,664.17 net). Such a blessing! We received a $96.79 home owner's insurance refund for removing our jewelry rider (another post, another time) and earned $5.60 in interest income from our online savings account. 

In November, we spent a total of $9,201.88. Some of our larger non-standard expenses were $597 for airline tickets, $373 urgent care bill for our son, and $1,100 in extra mortgage principal payments. If you subtract out our extra mortgage principal payments, our expenses were a slightly more reasonable $8,101.88.  Better than last month.

Next month should be a pretty typical income month. Obviously Christmas will bring additional expenses in the form of gifts and holiday travel, but hopefully not too much.