Welcome to another monthly Net Worth update! This time its Net Worth June 2019 edition:
For those that are new, I will be posting these on a monthly basis to show my progress towards Financial Independence. The purpose of these is not to brag, or show off what I have, merely to show that little by little, even over the course of just 28-31 days, much progress can be made.
In addition, by tracking and posting this on the blog where everyone can see, I’m hoping this helps to hold me accountable to my goals. Where slip ups and unchecked spending can easily be passed off by keeping it to myself, with other people watching it should help to keep me in line! (Nothing like trying to avoid public humiliation to keep you motivated!)
If you haven’t already, check out last month’s report from May.
June
June was an absolutely wonderful month. The rains that had plagued the weekends in DC in early spring seemed to have subsided which allowed for much needed time outdoors!
Outside of the first weekend, my girlfriend and I went hiking for the last 4 weekends of the month, so you can say we certainly satisfied our cravings for nature!
Our excuse for the first weekend was that my girlfriends best friend from home was getting married down in Wilmington, NC, so we ventured down for a long weekend there. The wedding was a blast, and we also got to spend some time on our own afterwards which of course was a really fun time 🙂
The next four weekends were all hiking focused, with a side of breweries and pool involved! Northern Virginia has tons of wineries, cideries and breweries so we thought it would be fun to stop at different ones as a reward after a long morning/afternoon of hiking. And of course, being able to take a dip in the pool to cool off at my apartment complex is pretty nice too!
One of those weekends we also got our camping gear out so we could see a nice Shenandoah sunset, as well as stargaze outside of the light polluted city! It was wonderful, even though neither of us got great sleep haha.
Below are a couple pictures from the many adventures taken this month!
Net Worth
June breaks down as follows:
Wow. Just one year after crossing the $100K mark, I’ve hit $150K Net Worth!! Whoever said it goes a lot faster after hitting $100K was not kidding!
For reference, it took me 2 years and 2 months to save my first $50K, so the difference is pretty remarkable!
While I’m still a ways away from my target, it’s nice to celebrate the milestones and acknowledge how far you’ve come.
The slight variance is due to a late breaking interest payment in my 401K that did not have time to post by the time I ran Personal Capital.
Cash: $25,285 – $732
Due to my above average salary I have a lot of excess cash coming in. See the income section below to view what I bring in.
The new raise I just received just went into effect so the first paycheck for that will hit in July. The monthly increase here wasn’t as big as it usually is as I had to fork over $950 (my half) for the security deposit on the apt I’m moving into next month with my girlfriend. I assume I will get most if not all of this back whenever we move out, so I’m not counting this as an expense.
Side note: I don’t usually keep my cash this high, but I’m currently saving up for a rental property for my next big investment. A second offer was made, but still no luck 🙁
401K: $85,394 – $6,425
Contributions this month totaled $1,752 (Employer Matching included).
It’s pretty wild to see the gains in this account when the market has a great month. Nearly $5,000 in gains is crazy to think about!
I take the simple approach to investing and have about 90% of this account in stocks (70/30 Domestic/International), and 10% in bonds.
Roth IRA: $13,454 – $879
No contributions this month so this is just the market doing its thing. I’ve contributed $1,000 so far this year, so still a ways to go to max this out.
Now that the rental property is looking less likely this year, I will probably start putting in $1,000 in a month this second half of the year to dollar cost average it in (given that the market is near an all time high right now).
This account is invested 100% in VTSAX (Vanguard Total Stock Market).
Brokerage: $14,878 – $925
No contributions here, and there probably won’t be any for quite some time. I’m holding off on future contributions here until after I purchase a rental property.
New high here! The individual stock I own has been doing well, and is at the highest level it’s been in the past couple years. I’m debating selling it and paying the capital gains on it (it wouldn’t be material), though not sure if that’s the best move or not. I’ll mull it over and hopefully make a decision while it’s still doing well!
I originally invested $12K into the account, $10K in the low fee VTI (Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF) and $2K in a high yield dividend paying stock.
HSA: $6,170 – $286
$212 of this was my own contributions with the rest just the market doing it’s thing.
All my funds here are invested into a REIT.
Auto Value: $7,638 – ($8)
KBB value for my 2014 Ford Fusion with 82,000 miles on it.
I’m always amused by whatever this number shows. Apparently it’s worth $8 less than last month!
Credit Cards: $(732) – ($171)
I pay off my credit cards in full every month so this is just the monthly balance. By doing this I build credit and get free travel rewards and cash back while paying the credit card companies nothing in interest!
Just regular spending this month, nothing out of the ordinary to report.
As always, see below for the full breakout of spending to see how I did against my budget.
Monthly Expenses:
The restaurant and entertainment costs were a bit high this month, but nothing egregious to report.
Here are the details:
Monthly Rent $1,185:
This is for a 2 BR apartment in which I split the cost with a roommate. We could have found a place a little bit cheaper, however it would have been much further away from where we wanted to be (leading to an even longer commute), and with much less perks than what we have now.
Utilities/Internet $101:
I decided to combine my utilities and internet lines as the internet was not going to really be changing all year so there wouldn’t be much to say on that front.
Fairly normal month here on the utilities front as well.
Groceries $160 / Restaurants $140:
Groceries have been trending a bit higher this year than last year. This is mostly due to slight diet changes (adding in more nuts which are surprisingly expensive!), and working out more (meaning more protein powder, which can be pricey). It’s not a hugely material amount, so I’m not too concerned about it
After a below average month, the restaurant spending was up, largely due to a couple more meals out than normal with my girlfriend.. No regrets!
Auto Insurance $0 / Fuel $133 / Other $36:
I’m covered through July on my Auto Insurance after paying for 6 months up front.
A few more gas fills ups were needed this month due to work and hiking and also included one of the ways for the trip down to Wilmington.
My car needed an oil change which explains the $36 “Other” cost.
Cell Phone $0:
I’m still under my parents plan so this is my portion of the bill. I pay my parents directly up front for 6 months at a time.
I’m now covered through the end of June after paying in January.
Medical $0:
No medical costs this month.
Entertainment $209:
The big purchase here this month was $120 for a Fitbit. Ever since I lost my previous Fitbit last July, I’ve been missing it and wanting another one. I held out for a while, and then stumbled upon a sale going on and figured it was the right time to finally get it again.
I’ve already noticed it’s helped me to get up and moving more throughout the day instead of sitting at my desk so you know that’s a good thing!
The other big category was $43 from the aforementioned breweries after hiking, and a happy hour with a friend visiting town.
Otherwise the rest rounded out to be $16 in uber trips to/from the wedding, $15 for camping in Shenendoah, and $15 for monthly Spotify.
Travel $95:
$95 to renew my chase sapphire preferred that I first opened to start my travel hacking!
While I could have cancelled the card to avoid the fee, I feel like this card is still worth keeping for whenever I eventually do go and use all those points I’ve accumulated.
Gifts/Donations $115:
$100 of this was for my portion of the wedding gift to my girlfriends friend.
The other $15 was for my portion of a baby shower gift for my sister in law. My girlfriend split the gift with me as she was invited to the shower, but we felt it would have been too much to make the trip home for it.
Misc $70:
$60 for an application fee for a new apartment. As mentioned in my Q2 Goals Update, my girlfriend and I are moving in together at the end of July and are very excited!
$10 for monthly laundry. This may be my last fill up on my card for this as the new apartment will have an in unit washer/dryer which I am very excited to have again after two years without one.
Savings Rate
Here’s the overall picture:
Still hovering in the low 60% range which is nice! It’s gonna take some low spending levels the second half of the year to inch me up to 65%.
The $39 of Other Income was simply cash back from a credit card I use for gas. I let it accrue for a bit before finally withdrawing it out so I don’t have tons of minor transactions.
It’s been a great first half of the year so I’m looking forward to what the second half will bring!
If you want to see how I’ve done in past months, check out my Net Worth Updates page to see over a year’s worth of reports.
How did your June turn out!?
Looks like a month full of adventure! I was once in the area of Manassas years ago but it was late in the day and getting too dark to go and see anything. Last December I took a swing through Harper’s Ferry, Antietam and Gettysburg on the way back from your neck of the woods. I’ve been to Gettysburg multiple times over the years (this week, ironically, is the battle’s anniversary) and it never ceases to amaze me. Antietam was a similar experience, you should also go and see that if you haven’t already since you’re relatively local to it.
It sure has been a good start to the year for the markets. Hopefully most people’s accounts have recovered from the big dip at the end of 2018. Nice to hear your stock is doing well. It all depends on what your goal is. Are you looking to make a quick profit on it or is it a sustainable company that you want to hold for the long term? Are you comfortable with a big drop during the next recession or when the individual company makes a mistake or encounters hard times? Are you confident it would rebound from such a drop?
Last year I decided that I wanted to give a few individual stocks a try and hold them for the long term (ideally 20+ years) through ups and downs. I invested around $2K in four different well-known companies, all in different industries to diversify a bit. I didn’t want to invest more than that in order to mitigate risk. The best performer is up around 40% since I bought it, the worst is down about 3%. The other two have gains around 20% and a little less than 10% to date. All in all it was a good year for these stocks, even through the volatility we saw late last year.
Yes it was! And yea I love all the history in the area, and especially going to see all the battlefield parks. I’ve been to most, but still have a few to make it to.
Regarding the stock, I do think it has decent long term potential, but perhaps not as good long term as others / there are other companies I’d rather invest in. The stock is up almost 20% since I invested in it, so a decent return, but wondering if now is time to get out and put my money elsewhere.
And wow, those are some pretty great returns for picking individual stocks! Let’s hope your success continues!