If I could pick one word to define October, it’s rain. It has rained almost every day this month, which is great to help perk up the garden before the winter freeze sets in, but has also resulted in a matted carpet of leaves in my yard.
An side benefit of the rainy weather is it has dampened the temptation to get out out the house and spend money. As a result this month was a good month, spending-wise. I did have one emergency purchase: a $450 vet bill for my rescue dog Molly. I’ve had Molly for six years and she has never had a single health problem, but this month she had a minor health issue that required surgery. She’s recovering well, but it cost us around $450.
Although I did have that one unplanned expense this month, my other renovation projects have basically wrapped up, which means I did not have any major outgoing expenses this month beyond my usual budget. I also finally collected on some overdue freelancing bills, which bumped my net worth in the positive direction instead of the negative direction.
Here’s a quick look at how my net worth looked at the end of this month:
(If I say “my” below, I mean “our” because my husband and I have combined finances, including retirement savings.)
Net Worth: $129,528 (+3%)
Our net worth rallied this month after the drop it took in September due to paying tuition. This month I brought in around $4,000 in freelance income on top of my full-time job, and, besides a few extra expenes, most it it went towards either taxes or the Big Pile of Money.
Let’s look at how each individual account faired:
Liabilities
Consumer Debt: $0
Right now I’m rocking the Scotia Momentum Visa Infinite for cashback with the Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card as a backup/Costco credit card. We charge the bulk of our purchases to the Scotia visa for cashback, and then live on a cash diet for entertainment spending, which is my weakness. I’ve had some ups and downs with overspending on my credit card in the past, but those issues are safely behind me at this point.
Mortgage: $231,776 (-0.28%)
My regular monthly mortgage payment is $1,089, which uncovers about $645 per month in equity on my home. Right now about 45.5% of our net worth is made up of home equity.
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. I also don’t have the spare cash to make extra payments, as long as my husband is still in school. The recent interest rate hikes have changed things for me a little though, and once my husband is back to work full time we’ll begin making extra payments.
Assets
Home: $291,000
Two years ago we bought our home for under market value ($270,000) because it needed some work that the seller was unwilling to complete before sale. One year after that our real estate agent estimated our home was actually worth $285,000. This year I added the region’s growth of 2.1% to that number, bringing us to a home value of $291,000. This estimate is conservative and doesn’t take into account the thousands we’ve spent in home renovations over the past two years, but I’d rather be conservative that overly optimistic.
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: $22,577 (-6%)
The market took a nose dive this month, and the carnage on my RRSP has not been fun to watch. Despite the depressing numbers, I haven’t been tempted to change my asset allocation of my Tangerine Streetwise Funds, because I know that these dips happen and eventually the accounts will recover.
TFSA Investments: $3,904 (-5%)
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, and growth within this account has ground to a standstill, and even dropped.
Big Pile of Money: $16,125 (+5%)
The Big Pile of Money (nicknamed the BPM) is a no-fee, high-interest savings account at EQ Bank earning 2.30%. EQ Bank 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 10 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 10 months.
I paid the second round of tuition last month, and I’ve been building this account up ever since. I’m hoping to accumulate enough to pay for the next round of tuition (due in January) in cash, but that all depends on whether any unexpected expenses crop up in the future.
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 past net worth updates, along with my age, for reference.
2017 (Age 27)
One year ago my net worth was $107,389. I was going full tilt at paying off my car loan, which had a remaining balance of $5,000. I wanted to get it paid off by the end of the year. My retirement savings was growing nicely with a balance of $29,000, and my TFSA investments were slowly blossoming with $2,500. I also had $10,000 stashed away for emergencies.
2016 (Age 26)
In October 2016 I was lamenting the cost of car repairs and nursing a net worth of $68,000. I was still adjusting to homeownership life and my “new normal” for a monthly net worth increase was around $2,000 per month.
2015 (Age 25)
Two years ago I had a net worth of $40,000. My retirement account was starting to look like a real retirement account at $12,000, my emergency fund was around $10,000, and I was in full house saving mode, with $13,875 in my house down payment fund.
2014 (Age 24)
Three years ago I was finally getting to a point where I was comfortable with my money. I felt like I had some real cash saved, and my daily anxiety about job loss or injury was starting to subside. I had a net worth of $26,000, having just reached my goal of hitting $25,000 before age 25. My retirement account had almost $6,000 in it, and my travel fund was sitting pretty at $3,000 in preparation for my trip to Paris. I had also officially announced my plan to move to Halifax and had $2,000 in a moving fund.
You can read all of my net worth updates here, those early ones are pretty hilarious.