Budget Freak

Since the beginning of this year, I’ve been keeping track of my net worth. For those new to the game, net worth is basically the total of all your assets (checking and savings accounts, investments, real estate, etc), minus all your liabilities (car loans, credit cards, mortgages, etc). To see how to build your own net worth spreadsheet, check The Simple Dollar’s How to Calculate Your Net Worth. While this calculation is not the be-all-end-all, it’s a good progress indicator.

For the first quarter of this year, my net worth is up 33.8%. I enjoyed 3 positive growth months of 12%, 6%, and 14%. Most importantly, my retirement assets almost doubled, growing 82% in 3 months. Funds went from $6,800 in December 31st, to now $12,500 as of March 31st. This was mostly due to increased contributions to my 401(k), a $4,000 contribution to my ROTH IRA, and a little help from the market.

All told, I’m moving in the right direction. I’m spending less than I earn, and stocking as much as I can towards retirement. I’m still working on getting my spending down, but if I can continue these double digit growth months, I’ll be happy.

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