Sunday, December 03, 2006
December Net Worth

While I’ve been keeping track of my net worth since March, I haven’t published anything about it. I didn’t want to publish the hard numbers. However, I realized that Excel formatting can “blank out” the balances and leave the percentages, so I give you the colorful statement here. (I use the Excel net worth calculator, and that’s the scheme that they use. [shrug]) As-of dates are the 2nd of the month.

Personal Items

The Kelley Blue Book value of my car stayed the same this month. I take an additional 5 percent or so from the “fair condition” value, to account for accidents the car has had (albeit completely repaired every time). I should probably have a real depreciation schedule for my computer, but instead I just shave $50 of the value off every three months. My other personal items are estimated at under $500, so I rarely retool those numbers.

(For the record, I value these possessions in my net worth because I COULD presumably sell them in an emergency. I take public transportation to work, and I live in a well-served area for car sharing, so selling my car is not so far-fetched. In a real emergency, I could move in with family members in the area, and that would probably involve selling some of my personal possessions. And while I wouldn’t give it up in an emergency, I also expect that I will eventually (4-6 years) purchase a new computer, in which case I would sell or donate my current one.)

Cash or Cash Equivalent

My checking account balance looks better than it “should” because a withdrawal that normally occurs on the 1st or 2nd was transmitted to my bank, but didn’t clear until this morning. Even so, my balance is slightly higher than last month. Savings had a sharp withdrawal this month partly because my November number was “inflated.” I received some checks to cover my family’s tickets for [Famous Performing Troupe] and hadn’t sent them to the credit card yet. I also had to pull some additional savings money to cover my plane ticket for Thanksgiving. My online savings accounts are up some from the big drop; I adjusted my withholding last month in order to refill my emergency fund after paying for the car repairs.

Investments

This improvement is basically all due to the run-up in the stock market (rising tides, etc.) But I expect my higher retirement contributions (thanks to my raise and now-10-percent allotment) will somewhat offset any drops occurring in December.

Loan Balances

My student loans improved even more than I expected because one payment posted on the 1st that normally posts after I finish my updates. My “other loan” is the private educational loan I transferred to my credit union. I’m still so pleased to actually see principal being retired on what used to be my biggest burden.

Other Debt

I pay my credit card statement balances in full every month. I have another gift purchase I’m being reimbursed for, which will take my balance on one card down to zero. The other is a bit higher than normal due to some Christmas shopping, but will be statement-paid this month and probably paid to zero in January.

All told, my net worth improved 4.9 percent this month. I think I can live with that.

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1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Interesting. I like that format. I have been leery about posting hard numbers on the internet as well. This is an excellent alternative!

Kudos to you for the 4.9% increase, very nice!

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