During my first summer off, and for the first time since I started tracking my net worth consistently, my net worth actually decreased from last month. All things considered, this was an expected part of my financial plan. I knew taking the summer off would lead to short-term losses. Still, I’m slightly surprised to report that I haven’t had any negative emotional reaction to these losses. Taking off work has been so valuable to me, and I feel so blessed that I have another month to focus on other important things in my life.
Let’s take a look at the numbers to get a full view of exactly how my accounts are looking.
To explain the big jump in my Roth IRA: I invested $1640 (the total amount for both July and August) into my Roth IRA this month. I figured I should add August’s contribution upfront rather than have it sit in my summer savings account, as to maximize the potential compound interest. Aside from my contributions, it grew $400 in interest this month– an encouraging sign. My 457 grew $98 in interest, and I didn’t contribute anything to my pension this month. As you guys know, I have only tracked my contributions up until this month. But good news! I now have year-long access to my pension, so I can give a much more accurate number in future posts š
My savings are where I saw the biggest hit, as I’m living off of my summer savings account. In addition to that, I took a few trips to the beach which decreased my travel fund, and I had a few car expenses (renewing my registration and replacing my radiator) that decreased my car fund. All in all, my savings took a $2,942 hit. The fact that I was even able to somewhat balance this out with my investments is such a blessing to me, because now that I have my savings in a safe place, I care more about growth in my investments than I do my savings.
I think staying above the $30k mark (somewhere I was pleasantly surprised to be) is a part of what’s keeping me satisfied with my money, even though it’s arbitrary. The other piece of the puzzle is that my investments earned me about $500 in interest alone this month, making me passive income while I’m not working for a paycheck.
Things will go down a lot more for August– already, I put some travel money into an AirBNB for a future trip (more details on this to come), and I won’t see the same drastic increase in my investments as I won’t be contributing more (I’ll only see gains from interest). Make sure to come back next month to check the damage and see if I’m still in a positive mental space about my money & if I’m still staying above 30k.
š Rachel
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It’s fantastic that you’re not stressing over this. That’s part of why I don’t track our net worth to the penny–because I know I would! Hope you can follow your plan and stay positive.
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Thanks for reading, Penny! You’re completely right that you HAVE to know yourself and what will be healthiest for you when it comes to checking in on your numbers. This has actually changed for me over time– last summer, I did NOT check my net worth at all because (despite working a part-time job) I didn’t adequately plan for the summer and really didn’t want to face the damage. Having a plan– and having stuck to savings goals throughout the year– is what made the difference for me.
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