November Net Worth 2017

November was a great month for the growth of my stash! Which ironically it was a month full of spending. I had my Marine Corps Ball this month and it was at a resort casino. I decided I was going to make it a mini getaway and stayed two nights. So yes this does hurt the growth of my net worth. Yet It’s great for my mental health to just do small short getaways whenever possible. Also, this post is coming out a little late due to my work schedule.

Income                      

This month I made $3,145 after my contributions to my 401K. I received income from investments. Nothing super new or exciting here.

Expenses

Expenses total right at $2,263. As you can see this was around $1,000 more than I usually spend. I might have spent more this month yet I got value out of that spending. I was intentional about my spending so I’m ok with it.

Savings

This month I decided to try to start a few sinking funds. Now the real question is should these sinking funds be counted toward my savings rate? I can see why some would say no. Because they are earmarked for spending, yet so is all my investments in my opinion. I am saving so that one day I can stop working and use my investments to live off of. I saved $1,906. Which is right around 45% saving rate. Now, this is not my typical goal of a 50% savings rate. Yet I am really ok with that even though I am hard on myself. A 45% savings rate on a $50K a year salary is nothing to be ashamed of. So, this month’s break down is below.

• $1,106 Roth 401K
• $600 Money Market
• $100 Travel Sinking Fund
• $100 Maintenance Sinking Fund

Net Worth: $92,969

This is simply amazing to me. Not only have I surpassed my original goal of $85K by December 31st, yet I have now crushed my new goal of $90K by December 31st. Mix a good foundation of investments, consistency with saving, investing, and compound interest and you have the perfect storm to build wealth. That is a +$3,815 gain since last month net worth for October was $89,154.

Final Thoughts

I have been tracking my net worth for several months now. What is interesting to me is how much in gains I get each month compared to what I save. This is because the market is doing well and compounding interest each month building on itself.  The more money you save and invest the bigger gains you will see from compounding interest. I make money when I sleep because of this. It’s another whole passive stream of income besides my regular work income. This is why I value and put a priority on investing $100 vs buying clothes, shoes and what other items I don’t need. This is why the wealthy get wealthier and the poor get poorer. I have also started to use more automation for my finances to simplify it. The two sinking funds are fully automated. I also have $500 a month going to my money market account as automated. Which that money will soon be switched to my IRA as of Jan 1st. As I am thinking about doing dollar cost averaging this year for my IRA vs saving up extra cash throughout the year and maxing it in January. This would put more cash into the market sooner which equates to more money working and ultimately more gains.