It’s time for the latest update to my net worth transparency series. Overall, there is only a small change, but underneath the numbers there are some big costs for the wedding. While our total net worth didn’t change very much, there is A LOT going on financially for my fiancé and I right now.
Also, keep reading to the end of the post for a complete look at how my net worth has changed each month from May 2008 (when I graduated college) till now. Let’s jump right in!
The Good
There was some positive performance in the retirement and long term savings portfolios we have, which now pretty much equals our complete net worth by themselves. Some good news for next month’s report is that on July 1st I received a sizable amount of stock that has vested after three years at my job. I am still waiting on the paperwork and the access to sell it, but that should give us a nice positive bump in July to offset the remaining wedding costs.
The Bad
There were a lot of wedding expenses this month that drew from our savings and that is also why there is a balance on our credit cards. We pay them off each month to avoid paying high interest on them and keep high credit scores, but it is still weird to see high balances on our cards.
With all of the wedding spending we are becoming quite used to spending thousands of dollars more each month than we ever have before. The chart below shows how our spending (the red part) more than doubled the past couple months during the major spending for the wedding. We are spending $5,000+ more dollars than we are earning. This is just another reason why you want to make sure you know what you are going to do financially as a couple before you get married. Luckily we knew what we were getting into. A lot of couples don’t and go heavily into debt.
The Ugly
The wedding is just two weeks away with the honeymoon following directly afterwards, so July will be another expensive month and will hurt our net worth some more. After July though, we will be back to regular expenses only and will build up our savings for our “big trip”.
Three Year Look at My Net Worth
Here is a quick graph I put together showing the progress over the past three years I’ve made on building my net worth into what it is today. I wanted to put this together to show you that I didn’t just start at where I am today. I was deep in debt after college and even though I practiced frugality where I could, I haven’t limited having fun and buying things that I want. With patience and a plan, financial progress can be made.
While it has taken a hit recently with the major expenses of the wedding, my net worth has grown on a constant angle for the past 37 months. The key reason why is it has is that I:
- Lived Within My Means
- Paid Myself First
- Did What Works For Me
Previous Net Worth Reports
June 2011: $53,244.08
May 2011: $53,583.20
April 2011: $60,268.74
A reminder of where I started: May 2008 (College Graduation): - $28,120.00
To learn more, check out how to determine your net worth in just 10 minutes or how I use Mint.com to track my spending and net worth progress.
Are you making progress on growing your net worth or are you consciously spending any extra money you have on something important to you?
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Man, that 3 year graph is where it’s at! Your consistent net worth growth is inspiring, especially since you started out in the hole. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Vic. It has really been quite the journey and I wanted to show where I’d come from after college.
I felt like there was such a huge weight on my shoulders when I calculated my debt the first time. When I sent in the payment for my student loans to be paid off I felt so free. Debt is such a hindrance.
Great post! It sucks to see how much is going towards your wedding but once it’s all said and done you’ll look back at it and smile. Money is meant to be spent and not hoarded. Enjoy your youth while you have it
-Ravi Gupta
Exactly! After scrimping and saving for so long to pay off debt it is kind of nice to have the freedom to spend money on an important event like my wedding.
Caleb, This is awesome! It is so exciting and refreshing to see a young man like yourself with your “head on straight” when it comes to finances. I wish I had known what I know about money now when I was in my 20′s. I didn’t start getting smart about money and investing until I was in my early 30′s. Way too late…
One thing I would say to you now is have a plan for your kid’s college education. I knew that I needed to save but didn’t save much at the time. Now, I have two kids in college and it’s kicking my butt. I WAS debt-free. But no more.
But we’re making it on less than 80% of our income. I give about 13% to our church and other ministries. We save 10% for retirement. So we pay existing bills and debt with the rest.
Keep up the good work, Caleb! Love hearing your good news!
Thanks Gene! I mainly got started so early because I saw people close to me struggle financially at different points in my life and I didn’t want that to happen to me.
As soon as a child is on the way, the college savings will start.
Nice Posts, Thanks for sharing
Sounds like you’re handling all of the life changing events very well. Keep up the good work!