Blech, I feel chewed up, swallowed, and spit out. What a week. Just seemed like a complicated week.

I wouldn't even know where to begin. But I did take one mental health day this week and have resumed coming home EVERY DAY for lunch. So far I think it is helping. I stopped due to time constraints and expensive gas, but my mental health is worth more and I also feel more productive. Well, we'll see...

IT cuts into my blog time though, significantly. I have been pretty MIA.

Net Worth

Anyway, I updated my Net Worth for June. Was just too giddy and impatient, the accountant in me.

We are up $12,300 for the quarter. Woohoo.

3% exactly.

For the year we are up $15,300 (3.75%). My goal is $25k for the whole year. Getting there...

If you take out all the equity in our home we are up 7% for the quarter/9% for the year.

Quarter:
*Cash is up $5,500
*Retirement is up $3,000
*Paid off $900 on the mortgage
Paid off $2,900 on the car

Year-to-Date:
*Cash is up $5,000
*Retirement is up $5,000
*Paid off $1,900 on the mortgage
*Paid off $3,400 on the car

Investments

We still have some pretty conservative positions. But our entire portfolio is up 7% for this year. Keeping more returns, paying less fees. Feels good...

June Budget

I assumed we would not be able to save for a 2nd month ($850 car repair & $500 vacation explains it all - usually save around $500/month).

But our june budget is insane. We drove to LA & will have 2 trips to San Jose after the weekend. With gas prices dropping and other factors we will be below budget all the same. Woohoo.

Our groceries will be way under budget. Being gone 1 week heavily contributed to that.

Dining out - $14 - Under Budget!

Misc. - $35 - some books and a trip to the San Francisco zoo (divine). (My Misc. budget is $150).

Vacation - $500

I am still a little puzzled how we had such a divine/splurgy month and still came out so ahead. Our credit card bill will be below $1200 and that is my budget - very aggressive - rarely make it. So it is the best month we ever had pretty much. Since budget crackdown. I think I made $1200 once - certainly never BELOW that. I budget by expense categories but I try to couple that with I only have enough cash every month to comfortably pay a $1200 cc bill. So I watch the bill and as it gets higher I know the extras have to scale back, etc. I keep an eye on it overall so overall amazed. Though obviously when we have a good month on the budget it is reflected in the cc bill.

The fact is looking at the numbers that we did not eat out more than once - cheap at that (outside vacation). That we curbed our driving and were very mindful of gas prices outside our big trips. That we were gone for a week. That we didn't feel like we could splurge after vacation so we didn't. The trip to the zoo was a real treat but at $30 or so. But we could do that 5 times in a month if we don't splurge on anything else.

Oh but most importantly we didn't have anything unexpected this month. woohoo! No copays, no car repairs, etc.

So I am super happy that with around $1500 in budget overages over the last couple of months that I was only short 1 month on savings - or $500.

Looks like I can transfer some money to saving for July! I might have my ROTH IRA money saved by October at this rate. I will let you know when the day arrives and I do my conversion because I can tell you now that is when the market will go bad. LOL. I keep thinking waiting is fine since the market will probably go down a bit (& lower my conversion tax bill accordingly). Instead while I have been waiting my IRA portfolio is up almost 20%. Figures!!!!! I still have to wait for the cash to pay the tax bill, so I keep telling my friends I will let them know the day I do the conversion. Market will drop and I will have paid too much tax. Murphy's Law. Then again I converted dh's IRA before all this. So PHEW. I timed one well enough...

I have to say a good chunk of our net worth doing well is our retirement investment returns. But I am hoping to get to a spot by next year that I do not rely on that for much of my net worth progress. I want to get to a point in the next year or 2 where our net worth increases $25k/year before investment returns, and that those are just gravy. & also so the bad stock years don't affect my annual goals too heavily. Getting there... This year our net worth is getting some positive hits from good luck (cash windfall and wonderful market). But setting things in motion so we don't rely on luck so much in the future.