August 2017 Update

August has come and gone, leaving us with a grand Labor Day weekend, which, coincidentally will be my last days of unemployment. Hooray! I will finally get to reverse this trend of slowly draining my savings. I'm very much looking forward to socking away money again, of watching my net worth climb instead of gradually sliding down and to the right. So, let's go take a look at the damages. My net worth for this report is...

$76,589

Last month, it was $77,322; a difference of $733. Not bad, but still painful to keep seeing losses. If I were in debt and had less fiscal discipline, I imagine the numbers would be even bleaker than they are. But, since I've been out of work for 9 months, three quarters of the year, I'd say I've done pretty damn well at minimizing the damage. Let's look a little closer at where I was when I lost my job and where I'm at today.

I was fired on January 13. At the end of January, my net worth was $79,542. Since then, my net worth has slowly declined, but there were a couple of instances where it rose higher due to selling one of my vehicles and the market doing really well. The highest my net worth reached during this period was at the end of May when I had $80,332. That amount compared to my current amount is a difference of $3,743. The difference between my January net worth and my current amount is $2,953.

Overall, my current net worth is down, but by no more than about three thousand dollars in nine months' time. I'd say that's pretty freaking awesome. You can look below at the screenshot of my assets. I still haven't depleted my cash savings. I still have $714 remaining in two different high-yield accounts. I don't know what I would've done without those emergency funds! So, first order of business once I begin receiving routine paychecks is to build up those funds again.

Interestingly, as I look back through the various screenshots of my monthly net worth postings are my "investment" numbers. Beginning in January, it was $66,845. Each month, it continually rises until the end of July, when it's $76,010. The current amount is $75,876. So, it's down a bit because the market tumbled in between this time and is on its way up again. The difference between the highest recording and January is $9,165. And the difference between January's amount and the current amount is just slightly less, at $9,031. This is what has offset my losses; the gains in the market. I only expect those gains to be more visible when I increase the amount of my investments.

So, let's see...have I had any major expenses within the last month? No. I've put a little bit of money on my credit card to purchase groceries and I filled my car up once. I didn't make any payment this past month on a credit account I have for furniture. I made significant payments last month, bringing the balance down from $15k to a little more than $700. There's no interest for the first 6 months and that account is only 2 months old, so I'm good there. Aside from groceries, which is my biggest expense, my wife and I have only spent about $40 together eating breakfast in a local cafe, and that was the total for several weekend visits. So there was really no major spending/purchases last month. Something I will strive to continue for the foreseeable future.

I anticipate next month's report to be the beginning of increased dollar amounts as I bring in money and stash as much as possible away. Check back and see how I'm doing.

August 2017 net worth. Hopefully, the end of the decline.