Net Worth Update – August 2009

by mfd on September 1, 2009

Another increase in August which is good. It seems we are still trying to get our footing back on some solid ground after the wedding. We manage to put some cash into savings. At first glance it may look like we took a big hit in savings but that’s because we put a large lump sum payment into the mortgage. We still manage to save about $1000 this month but the biggest gains came from our investments.  Its going to hurt next month when the market does its seasonal correction.

In addition we were looking into buying out our lease at the end of the term in 6 months. However as in all things in life it quite isn’t going to work out that way and we are now looking to purchase a new vehicle. This means a big down payment and several years of financing. A car is an albatross especially when you are leasing.  September is definitely going to be a bad month for our net worth.

20090801_networth

Savings: We currently maintain $4500 in our personal checking accounts so we don’t have to pay any banking fees. The rest in our accounts is being set aside for an emergency fund which we hope will reach $30k.

Mortgage: There is debate on how one should include their home in their net worth. Some people try and track the present value of their mortgage and others prefer to use their purchase price and leave it at that. I’m in the latter camp. I feel tracking the value of your home on a month to month basis isn’t worth while. We have no intention of selling since we need a place to live and it takes away from true net worth growth of saving and investing properly.

Line of Credit: This is a line of credit that I took out to invest in the market. This will remain the same as I will continue to only pay the interest since I’m claiming it on my taxes. I will eventually pay down the loan I just haven’t decided on when.

Vehicle: We are currently leasing our vehicle. This is preexisting to my fiance and I meeting. Our intention is to ultimately purchase the car once the lease expires. Unfortunately it looks like when all the added items tallied up the final price came out to a lot more then what we are willing to pay. We are looking to purchase a new vehicle now. We won’t be tracking its value as it is a depreciating asset and serves no purpose in helping us achieve our goals. It’s benefit comes in the way of us running this car for as long as possible allowing us to save and invest more.

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