Another month passes, and it’s time to update my net worth progress.  August was a tough month to be sure, but had some great positives.  For one, my wife and I have decided that she will stop working full-time in the near future, and eventually return to school.  Financially ( short term ) that’s an awful thing, but it will bring about a much simpler life.  I have no doubt we’ll adapt, and grow to find new ways to save.  For another thing, I paid off my Best Buy card ( 0% interest purchase ).  My only credit card debt left is my PenFed Visa.  That’s the card I use for things like cell phone bill, water bill, etc.  It gets paid off monthly in full.

After tallying up the numbers, I came away a bit surprised.  My net worth increased a stunning 12% over last month – wow!  That’s a full $3665 improvement in a single month.  Let’s dig to see what happened.

Liquid Assets

A six percent jump in my liquid assets is strong.  What’s the breakdown?  I paid off the Best Buy card.  My Zecco account did fairly well for the month.  The dollar value of my precious metals investment dropped ( though I still have the same number of ounces as before ), and my accounts receivable balance dropped by $500.  And no, for the record, I didn’t actually receive that money.  It was a $500 loan to a family member – made over 2 years ago.  I’ll never see that money again, so there’s not much sense hoping.  I think it’s safe to say that said family member won’t be seeing any more money from this Llama.

My Cars

My wife’s car took a nosedive in book value this month, but it was countered by a stellar rise in my own car’s value.  $3k increase, to be exact.  That little “hybrid” badge goes a long way in the days of $3.50-$4 gasoline.  I’m not officially “right side up” on my Civic.  Neato.

My House

1% equity increase. Slow but steady.

Retirement

A 5% jump puts my retirement accounts back over the $11k mark.  At $11,445 that’s the highest it’s even been.  There’s a long road ahead to be sure, but who can complain that they have more money than they’ve ever had before?

Overall

Twelve percent in a month?  Please sir, may I have another?  This month I officially surpassed the $45k net worth goal I set at the beginning of the year.  I have three more months to pummel that goal, and I have every intention of doing just that.