Welcome to the June 2017 Net Worth Report!
June was a whirlwind of a month for this site. Not only did I continue pounding at the keyboard during all the spare moments I could find, but this little blog made it’s second appearance on the front page of Yahoo.com.
Last time this happened, I joked at this little site getting featured next to President Trump. This time, MyMoneyWizard.com was featured above President Trump.
Take that, Mr. President! (Now please don’t send the Russians after me…)
Along with the mainstream feature came a nice surge in new visitors and email subscribers. So if you’re new here, welcome! Every month, I bare all and publish all the details I can about my monthly finances.
After all, anyone can post a few articles about the theories of reaching financial independence before they’re 40. But I prefer to volunteer myself as a case study for the world, so you can follow the exact progress of somebody chasing this ambitious goal. I hope that by sharing my finances, you can learn from my successes and failures.
On the other hand, if you’re an O.G. subscriber and came here from the usual newsletter, you might take comfort in knowing there’s now a whopping 3,000 different subscribers receiving emails alongside you. Now that’s a party!
Now, back to the update.
In June, I came to the epiphany that it’s completely insane to live in a place as cold as Minnesota all winter, then leave as soon as the beautiful summer months come around. So, no travel for me this month.
Instead, I stay-cationed my way around the Twin Cities, exploring the beautiful sights and attractions this place offers whenever the weather warms up. It’s amazing that we’re often so fixated on traveling, when there’s so many amazing activities right in our backyard.
Thanks to last month’s addition of our new pup, these activities undoubtedly included several trips to lots of local dog parks.
And for that, I’m torn on the frugal-ness of our new four legged friend. On one hand, the startup and ongoing costs of a dog are insane. On the other hand, I’ve noticed he’s created a sort of new, cost effective hobby for us. An afternoon hike around the dog park costs exactly $0, so he might be more frugal encouragement than I originally suspected.
And here’s another frugal summer tip. We all love a nice baseball game under the sun, but I’m guessing most are less enthusiastic about the eye popping ticket prices.
The answer: nosebleed seats.
I know, I know. You’re probably ready to hit the X button on this page, but hear me out. After direct comparison between the $100 seats and the $10 ones, I’m ready to make a bold claim – I like the nosebleeds better.
Unless you’re a fantasy baseball addict needing precision scouting of each player on the field (full honesty: this used to be me…) you’re probably safe to relax a bit. A summer baseball game is all about the atmosphere, and going higher lets you take in the better views, at a fraction of the cost.
So while everyone in the bottom bowl needs to keep their head on a swivel to avoid it getting taken off by a 120 mph foul ball, you can comfortably sit like a king in the clouds, admiring the beautiful scenery.
Anyway, to the update!
Net Worth Update – June 2017
Here’s the detailed breakdown:
At the request of some readers, I added a third column to the chart. The “contributions” column shows how much I added (with the help of employer matching, in the case of the 401k) to the three different investment accounts. This should hopefully make it easier to tell how much of the monthly changes are from investment returns, and how much are from brute savings.
Overall, not the greatest month in the market, but hey, these things go up and down. And I like the direction of that cash account. Speaking of which…
Cash: $5,384 (+$1,108)
June was a relatively frugal month, and I was able to save a pretty solid chunk of cash. More information on this month’s spending towards the end of this update.
Brokerage: $101,420 (-$700)
No contributions this month, so the slight decline was just due to regular ups and downs of the market.
At month end, my brokerage account included:
- $51,235 invested with Vanguard’s Total Stock Market Index Fund. (Related: How to Choose a Vanguard Index Fund)
- $50,185 in a mixture of Vanguard ETFs, with a few individual stocks back from the days when I thought I could beat the market. I’ve now wised up and decided not to trade individual stocks.
401(k): $62,324 (+$2,106)
This account actually lost money during the month, but the total value still went up thanks to $2,332 of 401k contributions. This includes both my automatic paycheck contributions and my employer’s matching.
I’m contributing nearly 30% of my pre-tax income right now in order to max out the 401k in 2017. It stings the take home pay, but the tax benefits are massive. Compiling these net worth updates helps me to keep in mind just how much my 401k decision is helping me build wealth.
Roth IRA: $18,284 (+$111)
$0 of contributions this month, although it’s still a goal of mine to hit the $5,500 IRA contribution limit in 2017. So far, I still have $5,500 to go…
My Roth is invested entirely in Vanguard’s REIT index fund. I like this allocation, since I otherwise have no exposure to real estate and do not own a house.
Rent Payable: $699 (+$17)
Same rented apartment, same lease, but a lot more AC usage with the weather heating up.
Credit Cards Payable: $3,395 (+621)
Obviously, credit card bills take into account last month’s spending. This bill still had some expenses left over from last month’s Alaska vacation, as well as at least $400 of reimbursable work-related expenses.
Inspired by Raptitude’s post in this month’s Link-O-Rama, I did a better job tracking my spending in detail for the month. Personal Capital’s automatic expense tracker didn’t hurt with this task either.
Total June Spending: $2,103
- Rent – $682
- Groceries – $94
- Dinning Out – $220
- Gas – $25
- Gym – $27
- Entertainment – $182
- Major items: A few nights of drinks with friends, the previously mentioned Twins game, registration fees for my softball league, a Redbox rental, and $4 of late fees for said Redbox rental! Note to self: don’t accidentally keep a BluRay for two extra days!
- Car Insurance – $77
- More dog startup costs – $96
- Toys, food, and medicine.
- Cleaning fee – $100
- Yep, that’s a maid. Go ahead and banish me now, frugal bloggers. In the interest of matrimonial harmony, I’ve hired someone to clean my place top to bottom. It’s a ridiculously lazy expense, but hey… compromise. And I do have to say, I’ve never seen a bathroom so clean. 🙂
- Ski Pass – $600
- Ouch… that hurts. Oh well, it will go to fund several vacations this winter, and is so much cheaper than buying regular tickets. (Related: 9 Proven Strategies for a Cheap Ski Trip)
Overall, a pretty good month outside of the insanely, monstrously expensive ski pass. Including the ski pass, which will help pay for future expenses, my savings rate was roughly 40%, and omitting the ski pass I’d have been closer to my usual ~60%.
Conclusion
An increased net worth, despite a decrease in the market. When you save money, good things happen, regardless of the market noise.
Readers, how did you do with your savings goals in June?
Oh, and Happy Summer!
Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post contain affiliate links, which means I’ll earn a commission at no cost to you. I only recommend products I find extremely useful.
Related Posts:
- Should You Trade Individual Stocks?
- How to Choose a Vanguard Index Fund
- 11 Fun Facts About Pets [Go Figure]
Good work! Love seeing these updates. Keep up the great work!
Hahaha, I love your honesty about the maid! I keep joking to Mr. Picky Pincher that I’m going to hire a maid so we can do fun stuff for once lol. I think it’s all about knowing where to compromise on money versus time, and this is one of those times for y’all.
And congrats on the blog growth and features!!!
On your 401K contributions, I understand you want to max out for 2017, but be careful since some companies only match on paychecks that you contribute. It seems like you will max out before the end of the year and you might not get your employer match on the paychecks you are not contributing, since you have already maxed out. Hope this is not the case for you, but something your readers should be aware of, especially if they are maxing out for the first time.
Good point, and that’s worth highlighting. I almost learned this the hard way last year, but luckily it worked out.
This year I should be ok. I’m playing catch up with my contributions after a slow start to the year, which might make it look like I’ll max it out sooner than I actually will. If all goes according to plan I should get the match all the way through the year’s last paycheck.
Awesome stuff. Always look forward to reading these each month?
Hey MMW
Long time reader of your blog, first time commenter!
As a chartered accountant living in the UK and specialising in personal taxation, I’m really interested in the level of tax that you guys pay on your different types of income in the US. Of course I assume there will be different rates in different states (even cities?) but could you give an example of the rate of tax you pay on your employment income, dividends, etc?
PS – I am superbly jealous of how cheap your housing costs in the US seem to be in comparison to the UK, there’s just not enough land here I guess!
J
I live in the same state as The Money Wizard so can speak a bit to this: The US has a progressive tax system; subsequent dollars earned are taxed at higher rates. There are currently 7 tax brackets so you could be taxed anywhere from 10% to almost 40%, marginally (meaning just on the next dollar). Your effective tax rate therefore is always lower than your marginal rate.
For Minnesota where Money Wizard and I live, same story just lower amounts (marginal tax rates are about 7-8%).
Some states like Florida or Arizona have no state income tax. That’s part of the reason why it is common to retire in those states. If you don’t have to pay 6-9% state income tax, it’s an effective ‘raise’ and will let you live more comfortably.
Typically people just simplify taxes when talking in theoreticals like the Personal Finance Blogosphere to be something like 25% or 28% or around that ballpark. It’s complicated and everyone differs, so no point in getting hyper specific in most cases.
Dividend income varies based on a lot of different things. Typically if it’s in a taxable account you’re probably looking at 10% or 15%. https://g.foolcdn.com/editorial/images/169858/dividend-tax-rates_large.JPG is a good image that outlines federal tax rates on income and dividends.
I had my best month of saving ever, with 85% of my income going to savings (my average is about 70%). It was a shitty month in terms of how much I worked, but extra work does keep the earning up and the spending down.
I fully support your money spent on a housekeeper. It can make a huge difference to personal and relationship happiness.
Still in shock at that house cleaning bill…and that dining out bill! But hey I guess you’re still still doing alright lol
Nice progress!
What Twins game was that? We had dugout seats through a friend’s work (Emerson) vs the Mariners a few weeks back when they scored like 27 runs or whatever it was. That game was inSANE!
And yeah the weather up here is hot this week, but we totally agree on not traveling much in the summertime. It is why we delayed going on our honeymoon (married June 24) until the winter!!
I wish my June looked as good as yours but with the wedding, we took a pretty big financial hit. Thankfully it was all stuff we’d budgeted and saved for.
Nice write. The more people I see publishing these detailed break downs it makes me want to do the same. Part of me still has this money should be kept private from years of conditioning. I’ll break free one day 🙂
That grocery bill is pretty impressive.
Don’t even worry about that ski pass. We must all find balance between saving and enjoying life. Odds are you will never have more time and freedom than you do right now. Spending money on memories is worthwhile. Just don’t book a trip to Bora Bora in the name of a good memory.
As someone not from America, I thought that the “nosebleed” seats where the ones so close to the field that you could be hit by a ball and thus get a nosebleed.
I now understand that the “nosebleed” refers to the fact that you’re so high in the air that the low air pressure could give you a nosebleed.
Funny 🙂
I have been reading your blog since I found it a couple days ago. I have kept a spreadsheet of my net worth for a few years. It’s fun watching the net worth go up! I was comparing my expenses to yours and noticed you didn’t list a ‘phone expense’. Did I miss a post about how to get free phone coverage? 😉
Way to go on your progress. I wish I had been as wise at your age.
Congratulations on the Yahoo mention…that is impressive! My June went fairly well, despite overspending my Vacation sinking fund and having to cash flow part of our beach vacation. Lessons learned – increase sinking fund contribution and find a cheaper place to stay next year.