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.