December 2010 Net Worth Update (+$7,007.82)

It’s hard to believe the end of 2010 is already here. We ended the year on a strong note, increasing our net worth $7,007.82 from last month, to a total of $115,300.07 (click on spreadsheet below).

What Worked
We passed our 2010 net worth goal of $105,700 last month, so December gave us an opportunity to make terrific headway on our 2011 net worth goal of $138,100. In December, we contributed $1,219.50 to our retirement accounts and saw them increase $5,437.42 to $83,594.59. We also increased our savings account balance by a $1,715.00 to a total of $9,215.82.

What Didn’t Work
We spent a ton of money this month, but I’ll get into that when I do our December income statement post in a couple of days.

Next Month
In the next few days, we’ll be reviewing our 2010 financial goals and posting our 2011 financial goals.

Net Worth Milestone - $110,000

We just passed the $110,000 net worth milestone! Yippee! I will update our net worth meter (on the left side of the screen) at the end of the month.

We passed our last milestone of $100K, in October. Based on my forecasts, we should hit the next net worth milestone of $120K around April.

November 2010 Income Statement

We were doing so well being fugal most of November, but we broke the bank the last couple days of the month. Thankfully, we had a nice income month to support our overspending.

In addition to our paychecks, my wife received her Q3 bonus of $1,680 gross ($941.14 net)! She is doing amazing. We also received a $75 reimbursement from her company for internet and cell phone, $275 from selling our old tires, $100 gift from my parents, a $25 HSBC credit card reward, a $50 Chase credit card reward, and another $40 Chase credit card reward.

We spent $6,689.43 total in November, but here are my excuses: we bought new tires for both of our vehicles (one set was a “gift” to me) and completed most of our Christmas shopping. We also bought a new camera, a new suit for me, new shoes for the wife, etc. etc. Okay, Black Friday kicked our butts.

I’m so happy Christmas is almost here. God willing, will pass the net worth milestone of $110,000. I will receive an “extra” 3rd check in December and my wife should get another bonus of ~$500 gross. However, the spending will continue a bit more because we plan to buy a nice piece of jewelry for my wife as a combination Christmas/birthday/5 year anniversary gift.

Wife's Q3 Bonus Arrived

My wife's Q3 bonus arrived a little early and is a larger amount than we expected: $1,680 gross ($941.14 net). She also has another $500 gross bonus that should come in next month. Go wife!

November 2010 Net Worth Update +($3,931.33)

We had a solid increase to our new worth again this month. Our net worth increased $3,931.33 from last month, to a total of $108,292.25 (click on spreadsheet below).

What Worked
We officially passed our 2010 net worth goal of $105,700 this month. Now we can get a head start on our 2011 net worth goal of $138,100. In November, we contributed $1,313 to our retirement accounts and saw them increase $2,333.99 to $78,157.17. We also increased our savings account balance by $1,757.15 to a total of $7,479.92. UPDATE: My wife received her Q3 bonus after I posted this yesterday so I wanted to include the details here. The bonus was for $1680 gross ($941.14 net)!

What Didn’t Work
We’ve falling behind in our retirement account contributions, but this is the result of a slight change in plans. We have decided to focus on growing our savings account balance over the next 12 months so that we can hopefully be in a position to put a down-payment on a house in 2012.

Next Month
December is going to be a great month. I look forward to Christmas every year: celebrating the birth of Jesus, the festive cheer, and delicious food! Financial we’ll have a lot of income in December to look forward to also. My wife receives her Q3 bonus (bonus arrived shortly after I posted this) and I receive a third “extra” paycheck ($1,775.43 net).

Passed our 2010 Net Worth Goal

We passed our 2010 net worth goal of $105,700 today!

We're only over by a few hundred dollars, but we still have all of November and December left. God willing, we can use the next 60 days to make some headway on our 2011 goal of $138,100.

I will update our net worth meter (at left of webpage) at the end of the month.

October 2010 Income Statement

October was a pretty typical income month and a much lower than normal expense month.

In addition to our paychecks, my wife received a $75 reimbursement from her company for internet and cell phone and a $50 Chase credit card reward. They had planned to pay out the Q3 bonus this month, but for various reasons, it has been delayed until December.

Our expenses have slowly crept up over time, so mid October, we decided to challenge ourselves to spend less. I’m happy to report that we did a great job watching each dollar. We spent a total of $4,881.01. Not too bad considering we’ve averaged ~$6,000/month the past six months.

November seems like it might be a pretty normal month. We hope to continue our re-found frugal ways

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