Coincidentally, my net worth is also "up" this month. But just like the helium balloons that gave flight to Carl Fredericksen's house, I fret that the recent market rally is just as fragile. But there's no point in worrying about what I can't control. To paraphrase Mr. Fredericksen, "It's only money".
MY DEBT
Starting Debt (6/31/08) | Last Month | This Month | DIFFERENCE | |
| Private SL | $49,528.99 | $46,141.85 | $45,782.97 | $(358.88) |
| Fed'l SL | $55,852.68 | $54,594.91 | $54,464.64 | $(130.27) |
| Credit Card | $13,610.75 | $11,696.08 | $11,574.08 | $(122.00) |
| TOTAL | $128,771.75 | $112,432.84 | $111,821.69 | $(611.15) |
I'm snowballing my debt and I'm arbitraging my 0% credit card debt. Nothing new. I've squirrelled away....SQUIRREL!!!!!
Ahem... I've put away $4,313.08 to pay down my credit card, so my balance is technically $7,261. Ugh. Still an ugly number.
MY SAVINGS
| LAST MONTH | THIS MONTH | DIFFERENCE |
| $7,584.91 | $7,685.61 | +$100.70 |
Not bad. Not great, but not bad. Assuming my barebones monthly expenses are about $3,000/month, this would only cover 2.5 months. Much more work to do in this category.
MY NET WORTH
| LAST MONTH | THIS MONTH | DIFFERENCE |
| ($3,298.19) | +$5,940.55 | +$9,238.74 |
Holy moley. I'm in positive territory for the first time in my post-law school life!
As much as this is a wonderful milestone, I'm not going to put much stock into it. (No pun intended.) Some talking heads believe that we're in the midst of a sucker's rally and I agree. I don't see any fundamental improvements in our economy that would justify a 30% pop in the stock market since March.
The current support for the S&P 500 is around 880, or about -5%. If you reduce my assets by about 5%, I would barely break even. If the market goes down lower than 5%, I'm back in negative territory. Since I can't control the market or even predict it, I'm better off focusing on reducing my debt. At least with debt reduction, that's a guaranteed dollar-for-dollar increase in my net worth that's within my control.
The breakdown of my net worth can be seen here.
7 comments:
Hi there-well done on your hard work, your savings and credit card debts are both definitely going in the right directions-keep up the good work my dear!
Wow! just... Wowee! You are doing great.
Good for you, for paying off your toxic debt. I will walk the tightrope a while longer, knowing I have to call in my soldiers at any moment. I think I'll go eat some candy out of nervous habit now while I do my own fretting.
A positive net worth... has a nice ring to it! You're doing a great job. I need to follow suit!
Hey Shtinky... Do you mind if I ask:
I clicked through to your handsome new worth history chart, to see what is driving the upward climb, and I see it is the 401K which is your main asset. Do you mind if I ask how much is contributed to that each month or every two weeks or whatever? I am trying to figure out how hard it was hit and how well it is recovering.
I think I know which UP clip is there, but I'm not going to watch it because that scene makes me giggle too hard & I'm at work.
Congrats on the positive net worth! Mine is up as well, but I'm not counting on it staying there!
sucker's rally huh? now you might be on to something. things are so crazy so like you, i too focus on things that i can control. congrats on getting over the positive line with your net worth. i say take every opportunity to celebrate, even if it's subject to market fluctuations. go shtinky!
wow - wonderful for you - your numbers look great!!!!
good to hear that the movie is good --- I plan on taking dd to it when they will accept passes - right now it is too new & I have 2 passes... so we will wait! definately can wait for 2 weeks to save $15!!!!
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