July 1st Net Worth Update!

Jordann Net Worth

Happy July! Boy it really feels like July. Most of June was cool, but the long weekend brought with it an oppressive heat that has got me scheming ways to get rid of my oil furnace in favour of a heat pump with air conditioning. Unfortunately it’s not really in the cards right now since my household is living on one income, but I can dream, right?

June marked our first full month of living on one income while my husband goes back to school for a 16 month program. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure how this was going to pan out. We had a few outstanding home renovation projects that needed to be wrapped up, like the pergola pictured (full photos and write-up coming soon), and they weren’t cheap. Freelance income is always inconsistent, so I knew I couldn’t rely on that to boost our net worth this month. The one bright spot is that I did receive a substantial raise this month (partly because I received no raise last year) which took a lot of pressure off our budget.

Fortunately, the end results aren’t half bad. Our net worth went up about 3% in June, despite the fact that we spent some money on home renovations and we’re currently living on a budget deficit (more details on that in a later post).

Here’s how our net worth shakes out this month:

(If I say “my” below, I mean “our” because my husband and I have combined finances, including retirement savings.)

Net Worth: $120,789 (+3%)

First, let’s hold a little dance party for my net worth finally getting out of the teens and into the 20’s! It’s been hovering somewhere between $110,000 – $120,000 for the last six months thanks to a hefty income tax bill and then paying my husband’s first semester of tuition last month. It seems like we’re finally putting those teens behind us, for the moment, anyway.

Liabilities

Consumer Debt: $0

There have big some big changes in our consumer credit profile lately. I cancelled one credit card, and decreased the credit limit on my line of credit. On top of that I applied for a Tangerine Money Back Credit Card as my “backup” credit card and to earn cash back at Costco. All of these changes make my current credit products better suit my needs, and thanks to a diligent habit of paying off my credit cards biweekly, I’m still consumer debt free.

Mortgage: $234,358 (-0.27%)

I’ve finally popped over the $50,000 in equity mark on my mortgage. I’m not making any extra payments on my mortgage so this has been a slow and steady process. My regular monthly mortgage payment is $1,089, which uncovers about $630 in equity every month. I’m not in a hurry to pay down my mortgage right now because my mortgage interest rate is just 2.29%, so I’m not making any extra payments.

Assets

Home: $285,000

I bought my home in July 2016 for $270,000. The home hadn’t been maintained properly for several years, and it was in need of a bunch of relatively inexpensive upgrades. As a result, the homeowner opted to sell the home for less than it was worth rather than negotiate and coordinate all of the work to be completed pre-sale.

Since then my husband and I have been working steadily to tick off every last item on the home inspectors report, and as a result of these fixes, the home is now worth more than it was when we bought it. On the anniversary of our home sale last year, I contacted our real estate agent who let me know that we could sell the home for $285,000, but that number is due to be updated this month.

Car: $20,098

According to Canadian Black Book, my 2014 Subaru Crosstrek is worth $20,098. I’ll update the value once a year in January. Some people don’t include their car in their net worth updates because they “need it” and while I do need a car in my life, I don’t need a $20,000 car. If I needed to, I could sell this car and buy a beater.

Retirement Savings: $24,160 (+2%)

Last month I withdrew $10,000 from this account through the Lifelong Learning Plan to help cover the costs of my husband’s return to school. It was painful to watch this account drop by a third, especially because I’m not making any contributions whilst we’re living on one income. It did go up by 2% this month though, due 100% to stock market fluctuations.

TFSA Investments: $4,134 (+2%)

I opened this account last year and it has slowly grown as I’ve contributed about 10% of my freelance income every month. Since my husband has returned to school I’ve suspended those contributions, but the account is still managing to grow on its own.

Big Pile of Money: $18,101 (+10%)

The Big Pile of Money (nicknamed the BPM) is a high-interest savings account at EQ Bank. This is where I’m hoarding cash at the moment. This money is meant to pay for my husband’s tuition, to bridge the gap between my income and our budget, and cover any expenses that come up over the next 16 months. I’m contributing the bulk of my freelance income to this account with the hope that the balance will go up instead of down in the next 15 months. So far I’ve been able to increase it by about 10%.

Other Money

If you’re doing the math, you know that there is some unexplained money in my net worth. I’ll tell you where that money is: in my planned spending account for taxes, mortgage payments, gas, the internet, etc.

Previous Net Worth Updates

Here are my previous net worth updates, along with my age, for reference.

2017 (Age 27)

This time last year I had a net worth of $89,000. I was in the midst of paying off my car loan, which still had a balance of $11,000. My retirement account sat at $25,000 and my TFSA had just $1,500 deposited.

2016 (Age 26)

At this point two years ago I had a net worth of about $58,000. My retirement savings were at $16,000 and my house fund was oh so close to the $30,000 mark. While I hadn’t mentioned it to the blog yet, I also made an offer (and had it accepted) on my first home, and was on my way to becoming a homeowner!

2015 (Age 25)

In 2015 I was just getting into the swing of living in my new city. My net worth was a solid $34,000 and my retirement savings had just popped over the $10,000 mark (which made me feel like a big girl), my emergency fund was full and I had $6,500 saved for a home.

2014 (Age 24)

In June 2014 I was debt free and had a net worth of $17,700. I’d just accomplished my goal of a $10,000 emergency fund and was working to fill up my travel fund for FinCon in New Orleans.

2013 (Age 23)

In June 2013, I was preparing for my wedding! I still had $8,000 in debt, and my net worth was barely positive at $3,894. My biggest goal in June 2013 was to get married without incurring any debt – which I achieved!

You can read all five years’ worth of my net worth updates, those early ones are hilariously poorly written.