Liquid Assets

Another month of lower liquid assets. A bit part of this was the purchase of the aforementioned Glock. However, our spending was excessive elsewhere too, as you can see by the higher credit card total. Remember, I do pay this card off in full every month – but it still adds up. We really need to get our spending under control, so we can resume building up a good liquid asset base.

My Cars

I nearly broke down and purchased a “new to me” car this month. However, the price ended up being more than I wanted to spend. This was definitely a blessing in disguise, as I certainly don’t need to take on any additional debt at this point in my life. Plus, the car in question gets probably 12 MPG on premium gas, on a good day. Thank God the price was too high Beyond that, i’m inching toward $5k in negative equity. Slowly.

My House

Nothing new hear – just a 2% increase in equity.   

Retirement

After last months big win, I’m actually happy with the zero performance here. The stock market has been a roller coaster ride the last year and half or so.

Business

Down 34%? ! Partially to blame is the iMac. It’s a business expense, and it is sitting in 0% land right now. Also, I transfered some extra money to my personal accounts last month to help pay the bills. I’m still comfortable with my business assets, as the bills are being paid. I’d much rather not see any large drops like this though.

Overall

Well, a pretty bad month, overall. Spending was the culprit – both large purchases, and excessive smaller ones. I need to get back on the budget track, and stick to the envelope system that has worked so well for me in the past. June is behind is now, thankfully, on to July!

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Learn to spread purchases out

You should know by now that I don’t mean buy your large items on credit, because I certainly don’t advocate that.  Unless you can afford to buy the item in cash, and you have a 0% interest opportunity, you should never make large buys on credit.  What I mean is, if you know that you have several large costs coming up, don’t stick them all together.  Buy 1 item this month, another next month, and the last 2 months from now.

Whatever your plan, the idea is to spread things out, putting some purchases off into the future.  The longer you can delay most purchases, the better off you will be.  Draining your cash reserves can be unnerving in the best of times, and quite frightening in today’s troubled economic times.  Slowing your purchases down is a great way to keep more cash in the bank.  Build up your cash reserves a bit, before spending again.

The goal is not to deprive yourself of the things you want or need.  Simply to pace yourself, and ensure that you don’t get into the habit of taking large purchases lightly.  Plan then out, push them out, and take your time.  Your wallet, and net worth, will thank you.

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Looking at my picture here ( click for a full-size view ), I’m bad at Paint.net.  But we’ll ignore my artistic inability to focus on the fact that my net worth is the highest that it’s ever been.  That’s right, EVER.  With an increase of $2829, or 6% over last month, my net worth stands at a whopping $51,265.  That’s the first time I’ve seen $50k in net worth – a nice round number on the way to $100k.  So, what happened to make this possible?  Time to dig in.

Liquid Assets

A slight increase in liquid assets – party due to a small cash increase, precious metal value increase, and stocks / mutual funds recovery.  In other words, good news all the way around.  This is a trend i would love to see continue, as liquid assets are the best in this tough economy.

My Cars

You’ll notice that my balances didn’t change over last month.  No, I haven’t been skipping any payments, or anything crazy like that. For some reason the payments that I did make didn’t post right away.  While it looks ugly this month, next month it will look great – as two payments will post on each loan.

My House

If you guessed a 1% increase in equity, you would be a winner!  Small gains here, still down year over year, due to my write-downs in my home’s value.

Retirement

Wowza.  Is that a word?  If not, then it should be.  The stock market has been on an upswing, and nowhere is it more obvious than the Llama retirement accounts.  Up 21% over last month, back up over $11k. 

Business

Up 9% in business funds.  I’ll likely start moving a bit more of this cash to the personal side, as it’s not all needed for business ventures.  On the other hand, I like to have extra cash around here, in case an opportunity does arise – I like to be able to take advantage quickly, rather than shuffling money all around.

Overall

I have nothing negative to say.  Year to date I’m not quite where I’d like to be – I was hoping I’d be further along towards my yearly goals.  But when you consider the challenges of 2009, I’m quite happy with how things are progressing.  Here’s hoping that June will be strong as well, and I can put a string of good months together.

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Much earlier than last month, this is April’s installment of my monthly net worth report.  Great news this time, unlike last month.  My net worth grew by a solid 4%, or $1655.  So, what went right, and what went wrong?  Let’s dig in.

Liquid Assets

A drop here for the second month in a row isn’t exactly confidence-inspiring, especially with the economic situation as it is.  Dropping 4% isn’t catastrophic, but not really acceptable.  My cash drop was actually more significant, when you consider the stock market rally, and the increase in my Zecco account and mutual funds.

My Cars

Ahh 23% less negative equity – back under $5k.  I’ve tossed around the idea of selling my Civic and buying a used Fit or something similar… but I can’t bring myself to do it.  With the low miles and incredible fuel efficiency that I get out of the Civic, I’d hate to take a chance.  So for now, I’ll continue to work on these loans – Civic first, CR-V second.

My House

Another month, another 1% bump here.  I’m back over $17k in equity.  A 3% drop from a year ago – due to the write-downs I took in prior months.  I have no plans on selling in the near future, so this really is of little concern to me.

Retirement

A stock market rally helped me to a 10% increase across my retirement funds.  The ugly part?  I’m still down 11% vs a year ago.  AFTER a single-month 10% jump.  Damn.

Business

Down 1% – no worries.  Plenty of cash on hand to keep the business running smoothly.  Thankfully I don’t have huge overhead costs involved.  Aren’t online businesses wonderful?

Overall

Well up is up is up.  4% is great, in times such as these.  I do need to work on building my cash reserves back up, as they’ve been falling for a few months now.  I also need to get some consistency going, so it’s not back and forth so much.

That being said, there’s still a lot to do here, especially with my back yard project.  The biggest expense is handled, but furniture isn’t cheap to be sure.  I’ll be taking my time and purchasing carefully to minimize the cost, but it will have an impact on my finances to be sure.  Big enough to swing me to another loss?  We’ll find out next month.

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Liquid Assets

Taking a 13% hit to my liquid assets is never a good thing, especially in these times.  Most of this can be attributed to my taking $220 to have my rear patio extended.  What was once a 100 square feet patio / porch, is now a 600 square foot patio.  Once I get this furnished ( slowly! ), it will be a great place for cookouts and leisurely hanging out in the evenings, after the hot Texas sun has gone down.

My Cars

A 12% improvement here, as I march toward a total of $6k in negative equity.  Hardly an epic goal, but it’s one step closer to zero equity.  It sure would be nice to *not* have a huge drag on my net worth by this big negative number.

My House

I’ve decided to stop my home value writedowns for now.  Month after month, Zillow decides my home is worth more.  While I don’t put 100% faith in Zillow’s appraisal of my home, it does have some use.  At this point, Zillow says my home is worth more than I do, where in the past it thought it was worth far less.  So for now, I’ll take a 1% increase in equity.

Retirement

6% up is fair.  I’m still down 13% year over year, which is horribly painful. 

Business

I have 8% more cash in my business accounts this month.  I “paid” myself less in March, so that certainly helps.  But I’m also keeping spending under control here, which helps.

Overall

I can’t be particularly thrilled with a 2% drop in my net worth. After all, I want to improve my finances month after month, every time.  Still, considering my new patio out back, I don’t feel too bad.  I’m tackling this project in baby steps, so all the cost doesn’t hit me at once.  And it’s all being done in cash, so there’s no chance of credit card debt piling up.

This summer I may stagnate somewhat in growing my net worth.  There are a few projects that have been nagging me, and it may be time to start slowing taking them on.  Just about every home improvement project costs money, which I don’t feel that I have enough of.  So I’ll have to remind myself to move slowly, and not spend every dollar I can find.  Plus I have you guys to keep me honest, and not go overboard.  So, with that, on to April, my favorite month of the year.  Why?  My birthday is in April, of course.

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The last few months have felt like a roller coaster in the financial sense – up one month, down the next.  And since January ended on a rough note, February ( fortunately ) ended on a solid one financially.  My net worth increase to $47627, a 9% jump from January.  However, I’m disappointed.  Remember, my tax refund was, in effect, $5500.  But my net worth only increase by $3780.  My math says, based on that, I actually lost $1720 last  month!  After all, I won’t be getting any more tax refunds this year.  Let’s get right into the breakdown:

Liquid Assets

I saw a big jump in liquid assets – 63% to be exact.  I ended up with a little more cash, a lot smaller credit card bill, and lower tax liability.  My precious metal holdings were also up slightly, though my brokerage account tanked.  Overall, I’m quite happy with this area of my finances.

My Cars

A small improvement here, getting closer to cracking that -$7k mark again.  Can I really get excited about that?

My House

Another $500 write down, another slight drop in equity.  Not sure how much lower I’ll go here.. maybe a few more months of small write-downs. 

Retirement

Ugly, ugly, ugly.  Down 13% in a single month.  And remember, that’s with me still contributing!  It’s hard not to make the call and cancel my contributions… but the patient person inside me makes sure I’m, well, patient.

Business

34% down in my business funds – the secret is out!  I had to transfer a few thousand to my personal account at the beginning of this month ( hence the improvement in liquid assets. )  My business income has been soft the past two months though, there’s no denying that.  I need to work on this and get things moving forward again.

Overall

Mixed feelings.  Up a total of 9% is great, but it’s really not that great after factoring in my tax refund.  No worries though, I’ll take an increase when I can get it.  Times are tough, and my family and I have been blessed greatly.  I am still gainfully employed, and have a successful small business.  There are plenty of folks who are in much tougher situations than I am, and for that, I’m grateful.

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What a way to start off the year, right?  My net worth dropped by 6%, or $2756 in January.  The entire reason for the drop is a $3300 legal fee (which I won’t go into detail about, except to say I’m glad that it’s taken care of, and it’s worth every penny).  This fee aside, my net worth would have shown a slight increase. 

Let’s take a look at the breakdown:

Liquid Assets

My liquid assets showed a 21% drop – most of this due to the aforementioned legal fee.  I also wrote down my last personal loan – I’ll never see the cash, so there’s no reason to keep it on my balance sheet.  You’ll also notice an empty Christmas fund – my company discontinued this program.. which means I’ll be on my own for Christmas savings this year.  With my poor track record of savings, this worries me.

My Cars

Back under 8 grand in negative equity.  Not really something to get excited about, but overall it’s getting better.

My House

Another $500 write down, another slight drop in equity.

Retirement

A 5% bump is good to see, with all the tough months lately.

Business

A 2% increase in business funds is always nice.  Although this will take a beating next month, as I transfer some cash to cover the shortfall in my personal funds.  It will put a damper on additional business purchases… but c’est la vie sometimes.

Overall

Down six percent isn’t something to celebrate, but it’s due to a one-time charge that I’m happy to pay.  Hopefully after my ( small ) tax refund in the next month or two, things will start looking up again.

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Now that’s more like it.  December turned out well, so I wanted to go ahead and put together my net worth report early.  The final numbers are in, and they’re pretty solid.  I finished up the month ( and the year ) with a total of $46,600 in net worth.  That’s up 18% from last month, and a whopping 181% from December of 2007.  Perhaps I’ll see another 181% increase when December 2009 rolls around?  Wishful thinking, indeed. 

$46,600 marks the highest my net worth has been, ever.  The tough part is that I didn’t hit my goal of $50,000.  Though technically I could have, if I wasn’t so harsh in my accounting methods.  You’ll see what I mean in the breakdown below.

Liquid Assets

I’ll take a 25% increase in my liquid assets any time.  Of course, that’s after a healthy drop the month before, so it’s not really that impressive.  So, what went right?  A slight recovery in my mutual funds and stocks helped offset less cash on hand.  I purchased a few more ounces of silver, and both silver and gold prices increase vs last month.  I received ( and then overspent ) my Christmas fund / bonus.  I did a pretty poor job of keeping my Christmas spending in check, which I’m not a real happy camper about. 

I did take an additional $500 write-down for accounts receivable.  I’ll take the last $500 hit next month.  Yet another family “loan” that will never be paid back.  That’s getting old in a big hurry.

From a tax standpoint, things are different this month for sure.  I paid my property taxes for 2008, and I made an $8000 payment to the federal government for estimated business taxes.  I also accounted for a my estimated December tax liability in this month’s report – normally I carry it over to the next month.  That’s a $2300 hit that I don’t necessarily “have” to take, but I want to be more accurate.  I’d rather be accurate than have a big flashy number at the end.

My Cars

My car values are once again dropping faster than I’m paying them off.  My negative equity is now over $8,000 again.  Fun.

My House

I’ve taken an additional ( estimated ) $1,000 write down in my home’s value.  That brings my equity to just over $17,000.  Perhaps I’m being overly harsh here..  or maybe I’m not being tough enough.  I’m not going to pay for an appraisal to find out either way… I’ll just go with my best guess here.

Retirement

Up 9% for the month, but down a total of 7% for the year.  That hurts, considering the amount of contributions I’ve made the entire year.  I don’t want to do the math, it’s too painful.

Business

To make up for last month’s 26% drop in business assets, December ended with a 61% increase.  That’s more like it, and better reflects the business success that I’ve enjoyed the last few months.

Overall

After crunching all the numbers, my net worth jumped a cool 18%, to finish the year at $46,600.  If I wasn’t quite so honest, I could have come in at $50,400 – all due to optional write-downs, and earlier accounting of tax liabilities.  That would have put me at my goal – but not in the way I wanted.  So, I’ll be content with $46,600 – a 181% increase from the end of 2007.  And that even in the face of a catastrophic stock market crash.  All in all, a pretty amazing year.

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Terrible, terrible, terrible.  November of 2008 was not a good month, at least on paper.  My total net worth tanked by a cool 13% for the month – back to levels not seen since May of 2008.  I will place a caveat here though – my business assets / liabilities are estimated, rather than definitive.  I was extremely busy with my small business during the month, and it would take an extraordinary amount of time to finalize these numbers.  I think that time would be better spent working, rather than just making this report 100% perfect.  I hope you understand.

That aside, let’s take a look at what happened in November to make it so bad.

Liquid Assets

Another 13% drop in liquid assets.  Less cash on hand and a spectacular drop in my brokerage account lead the way here.  Somehow I saw a small gain in my mutual funds, and my credit card bill was much smaller, due to an increased reliance on the envelope system.  I fear next month will be different, due to the wonderful Christmas season .  Christmas is a great time of year, but certainly an expensive one, at least in the Llama house.

My Cars

I guess those days of increasing equity are over, with the drop in gas price.  I’m now upside-down a combined $7576 between my two cars.  One day I’ll be in the black with regards to my cars.  Probably the day they’re paid off

My House

The San Antonio housing market didn’t see anywhere near the run-up in prices that much of the US did.  However, with the situation the way it is, I thought it prudent to take a “write-down” in my home’s value.  Without an appraisal ( an expense I have no interest in paying ), I don’t know the exact value.  So, I took a small $1300 write-down, and I’ll likely follow that up with a few more like it in the coming months.

Retirement

After a staggering 19% drop in October, my retirement accounts were somehow flat for November.  Keep in mind, I’m still contributing to these accounts, so it’s still negative in reality, if not on paper.

Business

Here’s where it gets fuzzy.  I have logged a 26% drop in business assets.  With so much money flowing in and out, I’m probably conservative with these numbers.  When I do December’s report ( and my year end ), I’ll be sure to finalize everything.  That may mean an adjustment of November’s numbers.  I expect to adjust upward.

Overall

After tallying everything up, my net worth dropped by 13% this month, to $39,565.  The last time I was under $40k was May; I don’t like going backwards.  I can’t wait to get working in December to improve my situation.  I’m determined to get as close to $50k by the end of the year as possible.  I don’t know if I’ll hit it, but you can be sure I’ll do my best.

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After a tough September, a strong October is a welcome sight.  Don’t get me wrong – there were some extremely tough financial areas in October, that I’ll get to shortly.  But my wife and I stepped up work on our side business and had a record month there, which more than offset the negatives. 

For the first time since issuing net worth reports, I’m able to give a yearly comparison as well.  In fact, I started this site on Nov 1, 2007 – just over a year ago.  Somehow I managed to forget!  So, Happy Birthday Llama Money!

And finally one last change.  I’ve gone back to separating my business assets and liabilities from my personal ones.  The only confusing area is taxes.  Since I owe taxes on my business ( which I account for monthly to keep things in line ), there’s a large tax liability each month.  I keep the money for this in my personal savings account.  To make sure the number lines up nice, I simply put the tax liability as part of my personal net worth – to offset that cash that’s spoken for already.  K, enough blabbering, let’s look at the ups and downs.

Liquid Assets

My personal liquid assets dropped by 13.5% for the month, though they gained 456% vs Oct 2007.  The reason for the drop is largely because of stock losses – my mutual funds and individual securities tanked spectacularly.  I added a well-priced ounce of gold to my metals portfolio, so that helped offset weak metals prices.   I’m not sweating this drop, mainly because of the newly separated business section.  "Real world", I don’t feel that I have less liquid assets than before… and I probably don’t. 

My Cars

A huge reversal here – mainly in my Civic Hybrid.  With the new "low" gas prices, it simply isn’t worth as much as it was last month.  People have such short term memories, don’t they?  Gas is dropping in large part because of the election.  Isn’t Bush doing a great job, keeping gas prices low?

No matter the reason, reality says that my cars are worth less this month, so I took a big hit here.  Moving away from positive equity once again, and not a direction that I like to go in.

My House

1%.  No surprise here.  Topped $19k for the first time, at least on paper.  I may have to look into revaluing my home.  Here in souther Texas, we didn’t have the insane run-ups in pricing that the coasts saw… but reality may mean a lower valuation is in order here.  I’ll look into this later on this month.

Retirement

Negative 19% for the month.  Ugh.  At least my accounts are up 12% for the year – though that’s due to contributions alone.  I don’t want to do the math to see how much money I had to invest to see that 12% "gain" – I’ve no doubt it’s scary.

Business

I had a record month in business earnings.  About double my best prior month – so it’s something to celebrate.   I’m still sitting on a bit of inventory that I need to move… but I’m not worried.  I have enough cash on hand to cover any outstanding bills, which is all that really matters.  I’ve begun dabbling in selling certain commodities online…. and I’m sure prices will rebound so I can unload my current and inbound inventory.

Overall

A 5.5% gain in the face of a horrific month for all my investments is pretty solid.  Even though my personal net worth dropped by almost 16%, my business gains overshadowed the losses.  My net worth is still below the high I set in August, but I hope to overtake that this month. 

For a really crazy number, look at my total NW year over year – up 184%.  Not too shabby for a single year of blogging about money.  If I wasn’t paying attention, how bad would that number look?  Awareness is a person’s most powerful tool with regards to his or her finances.  If you know where you’re doing well, and where you need work, it’s so much easier to improve on your rough spots.  If you don’t know where you are, how can you know where you’re going?  Stay tuned, and hopefully we’ll see a record November 2008.

Hi there - could you help spread the word about Llama Money? This is a new site, and I could really use your help in getting my work out to new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would appreciate it. October 2008 Net Worth Report – $45503.61 +5.5% is a post from: Llama Money