So this is Month #2 of posting about my net worth. I actually started tracking my net worth sporadically way back in 2017, and have posted all of my monthly numbers here.
If you would like to check out my first net worth post from June 2024, click here.
My Net Worth Update July 2024
I would love to get these posts out closer to the first of the month, but I was traveling to a family reunion this past weekend and didn’t get a chance to post. And next month is labor day, so hopefully by October I’ll be able to post the update on the first!
Regardless, I always, always hop online and update my net worth tracking spreadsheet sometime between when the market closes on the last day of the month and when the market opens the next month. I want my numbers to be as accurate as possible.
Before we get to the numbers, I want to give a big shout out to Ramit Sethi and his amazing podcast. I spent 20 hours in the car listening to people talking about money and their thoughts and feelings about their finances. It was amazing.
And he talks a lot about his “conscious spending plan”, which you can find by signing up for his email list. I’m in the process of working through my own conscious spending plan and so far, I’m not happy with the results. But once I’ve finished it up, I will post about it here.
But let’s get back to my numbers for the month…
I love the image for this month. So much green!
This was a crazy month financially. Half way through the month my wife and I separated. (We signed our separation documents in June, but I didn’t move out until July 19th).
Assets
Real Estate: (+$5,645) Since I started tracking my net worth, I’ve used an average of the values on Zillow.com and Redfin.com to put a value on our my home. It’s currently rented out and my tenant signed an extension on his lease through August 2025. Somewhere around the end of the year I will likely reach out to a realtor to give me an estimate of what I can sell it for. Beginning in March of next year I have to start paying my ex-wife interest on the promissory note for her share of the equity.
Retirement Accounts: (+$18,000) All of my retirement accounts are with Fidelity (with the exception of a small solo 401(k) at Schwab). They are invested in a mix of Apple Stock and the Fidelity Total Stock Market Index. The markets did pretty well in July, hence the increase in value. I’m still focused on paying off high-interest consumer debt, so I’m not contributing to my retirement right now.
Investment/Savings: (+$51) My investment accounts are looking pretty sad right now as I depleted them as part of my debt payoff plan. But not to worry, after I get my debt paid off I will start contributing to them once again!
Checking Accounts: (-$3,000) This is the balance of my account after I get paid in July. I use this cash to pay my bills for the first half of the month. I take a second draw from my business on the 15th to cover additional debt payments. July wasn’t as great a month for my business as June, so I didn’t take as much salary this month.
Car: (-$394) I plugged my car into Monarch Money, which I use to track my spending and net worth on a daily basis. The software automatically tracks the value of your car. I don’t envision this ever going up!
Liabilities
Once of the biggest struggles I had during my marriage was that I would make all these payments on our marital debt, just to see the balance stay the same or even go up from month to month. This was absolutely CRUSHING, and was a big reason why my wife and I are no longer together.
You can imagine my joy in seeing my debt payoff plan finally start to come to fruition. This month I paid off over $8,000 in debt, and since I signed the separation agreement with my wife, I’ve seen my debt drop by over $26,000!
So here is what happened this month…
Mortgage: (-$651) Since I’ve had this mortgage, I always round the payment up to the next hundredth. Doesn’t mean a whole lot in the current month, but were I to keep this house it would probably knock a couple of payments off the end of the loan. But my interest rate is an unfathomable 2.85% so I have no reason to pay this sucker off anytime soon. When I have extra month each month, I will likely just max out my retirement and put the rest into an index fund.
Promissory Note: ($0.00) Interest doesn’t start to accrue until next year, so no movement on this for the time being.
HELOC: (-$2,000) When I get the rent payment from my tenant, I put the entire amount less $100 to pay HOA dues onto the HELOC. Around the 10th of the month, I transfer enough back to pay the mortgage. (I can pay my mortgage up to the 15th of each month without penalty).
Auto Loan: (-$371) The payment on my car is currently $607 per month. Part of me thinks this is way too much and that I should sell the car and get something cheaper. But I drive back and forth to see family a LOT (3-4 times per year) and it is 600 miles each way. So I want to have a dependable car. It’s a pre-owned Honda Pilot and I can see myself keeping it for the next 10-15 years. So for now I’m keeping it.
Personal Loan: (-$2,200) Payments are $1,300/month and I have 18 payments left if I don’t pay it off early. Most of the payment goes to principal at this point. Last month they didn’t credit my payment until late, so it looks like two payments hit this month.
Credit Card Debt: (-$2,550) I’m down to two credit cards. I would have liked to pay off more this month, but I spend almost $2,000 on household goods/food and getting my townhome ready for my kids to visit. These were one-time expenses and moving ahead I have decided to stop putting expenses on the credit cards until they are paid off completely.
Student Loan: (-$286) Only 5.5 payments left! Woohoo!
How I Plan to Track My 2024 Net Worth Goal
For years I’ve been adding up all of my accounts in a Google Sheet and tracking my net worth manually each month.
But recently I discovered Monarch Money.
Monarch Money allows you to see your net worth in real time, every day, without adding everything into a spreadsheet.
Not only that, you can track your spending to make sure you aren’t going out of whack.
So far I love it.
I’ll talk more about Monarch Money in a future post, but for now you should use this link to check it out and see if it will make it easier to track your net worth.
FYI, this is an affiliate link. Which means if you sign up for Monarch Money, it won’t cost you anything extra, but it will help to support my blog.
Thank you in advance!
