June 2017 Update

Happy Independence Day! My apologies for posting a couple of days late. I've been relaxing over the weekend after a grueling week running the job-search gauntlet. Meeting with potential employers and trying to sell myself is a good reminder of why I'm pursuing FI/RE. I'm so sick of the dog-and-pony show. But, of course, I'm nowhere near retirement in a financial sense, so I have to put on my big boy pants and go through with it anyway. So, let's jump in and see where I stand this month so I can get off the computer and commence with relaxing. My net worth as of today is...

$77,876

A difference of $2,456 from last month's amount. Not too bad since in that time my wife and I have relocated to another state and are trying to find our "groove". We hired professional movers to bring our stuff to our new apartment, and there's the rent for said apartment.

I don't really have much to report as far as expenditures because, to be honest, I haven't really been keeping track of my budget with the same intensity as I was when I was working. Hell, I haven't been keeping track of it at all! I've just tried to maintain my frugal spending, buying only what I needed and looking for the cheaper deals, with a few exceptions. A few times I treated us to dinners out because we didn't have china or silverware and the refrigerator was bare just after we moved in. Also, there are some awesome breweries around here and really cool festivals with tasty food. I decided to splurge a little.

I mentioned before that the number priority once I moved was to find a job. I started circulating my resume about 2 weeks ago, on a Wednesday. I've received a lot of email and phone calls from recruiters and employers. I've been to several agencies/companies for meetings with recruiters and face-to-face interviews with hiring managers and, in a few cases, the CEO. So far, the response has been pretty positive. However, I haven't received any offers despite the interest in my experience and skill set (20 years as a computer programmer). It's tiring to dress up and sit in front of someone who determines whether you're "what they're looking for". I can do the job. I'm not worried about that. It's the salesmanship that wears me down. I grow tired of being "on". I mean, I became a programmer for a reason, because I'm an introvert and don't enjoy interfacing with people. Otherwise, I would've become a salesman or some other profession who interacts with people more often.

Hopefully, in next month's update, I'll be able to announce that I'm working for a new company. Fingers crossed, because forging the gap from unemployed to employed, to me, is the worst.

In retrospect, I think I've done pretty damn well with my finances. I found myself unemployed mid-January with approximately 80k in assets. After six months of trying my best to eschew any form of work that I could, I haven't really lost much of what I was able to accumulate while working. Back in January, I predicted my net worth would drop steadily and I'd probably end up with somewhere around 50-60k by the time I found another job. So, I'm damn happy with where my net worth stands six months later.

Again, let's see what I have to announce next month. I hope my net worth is higher because I have a job that allows me to save like I did previously. Only time will tell. In the meantime, happy 4th of July!

Net worth for June 2017