As of the end of May 2008, I am officially 16% richer than I was at the end of April.  How come I don’t feel 16% richer?  It’s funny how that works.

That 16% increase comes out to a cool $5294 jump in net worth, in a single month.  That may not be much to some folks, but it’s a HUGE amount for me.  What made up the increase?  Let’s dig around and find out:

Liquid Assets

This is perhaps the most important section in my net worth.  Liquid assets are the things that are either cash, or easily convertable to cash.  In other words, this is money I can spend in a hurry if I need to.  I saw a cool 13% jump in my liquid assets – nice!  A big jump in cash, solid performance in my mutual funds and brokerage account, and a slight drop in credit card debt add up to a good showing.

My Cars

According to KBB, both of my cars are worth a bit more than they were a month ago.  With gas prices through the roof, and both of my cars being pretty efficient, I’ll buy that.  I’m closing in on the $10k in negative equity mark once again – hopefully this time I can pass it up and leave it in the dust.

My Casa

Hey I’m in Texas, and my wife is from Honduras – why not a little Spanish?  My equity increased – you guessed it – 1% this month.  Now I have a total of $18,019 in home equity.  I won’t be using it for anything, but it’s nice to know that it’s there.

Retirement

My retirement accounts managed a 6% increase, to a total of $11,272.  I sure won’t be able to retire anytime soon, but my savings is growing.  I do need to work on speeding this up though.

Overall

What can I say?  A one-month 16% increase is nothing short of fantastic.  The year is almost halfway over, so next month I’ll be evaluating my progress toward my goals for 2008.  Stay tuned for the next installment.