Financially speaking, September of 2008 was one of the toughest months I can remember having.  (Click on that thumbnail to your left for a full-size view.)  After a very strong August, my net worth decreased by 6% in September.  On top of that, my wife quit her job, so future income / net worth is going to be tough to maintain and increase. 

The final numbers show that my net worth decreased by $2981 – yikes.  Let’s see what went wrong this past month.

Liquid Assets

Typically a strong area in my net worth, my liquid assets took an 11% hit in September.  Why?  Well, less cash on hand, a tough month for my mutual funds, and an increase in taxes owed.  I also don’t have a spot on this report for business inventory.  I do have about $900 worth of liquid business inventory on-hand…. that would help the numbers some.  Eventually I will get back to a separate personal and business report, to account for things like this.  It is hard to separate business though, when it’s a one man show.  In addition, I’m expecting an additional $900 from a short term family loan.  I made this loan before my resolution not to do so any more.  It was supposed to be a 2 week type of loan…. and it’s been quite a few months already.  I haven’t included it in my accounts receivable, since I simply don’t know if I’ll see the cash again.

My Cars

Nothing huge here.  My wife’s car increased slightly while mine decreased slightly.  As we pay down the loans, the total equity situation improved 7%.  We’re getting closer to breaking even here.  I’d sure love to get rid of that big negative number on this report.

My House

1%.  No surprise here.

Retirement

An 11% nosedive puts me back below April 2008′s mark.  That’s frustrating, when you consider that I’m still contributing money each and every month.  But once I remind myself that this is retirement money, I don’t worry so much.  I’m only 26, so I won’t need this money for a long time.  If I had the spare funds, I would try to contribute more while prices are down.  Long term, that’s usually a very sound strategy.

Overall

After a fantastic August, a really rough September is painful.  But, if it makes me feel any better ( and it doesn’t ), I fully expect October to be an even rougher ride.  We’ll be figuring out this whole one income deal, and that won’t be cut and dry.  We’ll make mistakes, and probably overspend in a few areas.  But my envelopes are full of cash, and our credit cards are locked securely away.  See you in a month with the latest Net Worth report.