This is one hell of a way to start a new year! I have finally broken a huge miles stone that I have worked hard to achieve. Combine a good savings rate with a great market and you get incredible results. If only I knew this about 9 years ago.
Income
This month I made $3,256 after my contributions to my 401K. Still trying to sell a few items around my house with zero luck so far. Probably because of the holiday time frame. Well, tax season is upon us so I’m going to keep trying.
Expenses
Expenses total right at $1,354. Nothing fancy going on here. This is one of my lowest expense months. Thinking I’m just getting better at being intentional with my money. I also am tiring to do more things I value that are cheap or free. I started to go outdoors more lately. My biggest issue is it has been super cold here lately. I don’t have great clothes for this weather. I need to invest in a few good cold weather pieces so I can enjoy the outdoors even in the cold.
Savings
So It’s month three of the sinking funds coming back. I’m keeping it simple with one for travel and one for vehicle costs. This month I saved $2,586 which is right around a 59% savings rate.
- $1,106 Roth 401K
- $900 Money Market
- $200 Travel Sinking Fund
- $380 Maintenance Sinking Fund
Net Worth: $103,108
This is where it gets a little sticky now. My net worth posted on Personal Capital in the sleek graph below is wrong. Still, have some of that crypto that would not link to Personal Capital.
That is a +$6,308 gain since last month net worth update for December was $96,800.
Notice the one day drop in the market. Yup almost lost $1,000 in one day. But hey I can’t complain when I’m up over $6,000 in one month.
My crypto is down almost $600 since last month. Luckily I only invested a small portion of my wealth in this. This is exactly why I preach to not get into speculative investments until you have a good foundation of wealth. My index funds went up a ton this month. Goes to show simplicity is the path to wealth.
Final Thoughts
January has been an amazing month for my net worth. The market was great this month. My crypto gamble is way down this month. But I plan to keep it throughout this year to see where it goes by December 2018. If the market keeps this up I will be hitting some serious gains this year. Also, another win for me is we in the military got a 2.4% pay increase plus with the new tax reform I get to keep more of my hard-earned money. Starting next month I should see about $222 more a month I plan to save or invest.
Excellent job!! I’m seriously always impressed by how low you keep your expenses. That extra 2.4% is going to be awesome for your savings rate this year!
Nice job! For selling items, have you posted on Facebook marketplace, Craigslist, and the LetGo app? There are also some other apps but these are the most popular. I find that the combination of posting all over, having clear pictures, and putting a few details in the description including pick up location gets me quick sales.