Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Net Worth Update

As of the end of April, my net worth was $335,541, a nice increase of about $8,500, or 2.6%. I say "nice" because I still feel like I'm spending a lot of money on my home so I'm pleasantly surprised if my net worth increases at all! March was the month when my bonus and tax refunds hit, so I expected to do well then, but in April I took a vacation so I didn't anticipate any great progress.

Quicken shows my total outflows as $6,638:
Taxes $2,045
Household $290-- lowest that's been in a while!
Dining $472-- this includes any vacation meals paid for with my credit card, but not those paid for with cash.
Business expenses $387 (these should be reimbursed next month)
Travel $928-- includes commuting and all vacation travel, as well as some miscellaneous vacation expenses such as food.
Gifts Given $151
Clothing $40
The rest went to housing, medical insurance, and not that much else-- it was actually a pretty good month.
My net of inflows/outflows was about $2,400, so the rest of my net worth gain came from my investments. I guess it was a pretty good month for the stock market too.
I'm glad I had a such a positive net this month. My household spending spree is winding down, and my big vacation expenses are behind me, so if I can keep my other spending in line I should meet my savings goals for the year. But it's also interesting to see that as my net worth grows, my gains from investments can play a larger and larger role, as opposed to just the cash I'm able to save each month. If I earn more money while keeping my lifestyle in line, I can save a larger percentage of my income, but as the amount of money I have grows, I should earn more from interest and market gains. Which contributes more to my net worth gains? It would be interesting to trace this back and see what the trend looks like on a graph.

3 comments:

SavingDiva said...

You could always use a program like Networth IQ to track and plot your networth.

Madame X said...

I do use Networth IQ-- you can see my profile here.

Unknown said...

Excellent Month..Congratulations and the progress and the gain in net worth as you work towards the ultimate goal! Simplicity in Kansas