September is done. As far as I am concerned: Good riddance! It’s been an adventure to say the least and I am happy to welcome Fall! Grumpy commentary aside, how did we do last month?
As always, you can check the latest and greatest info on the Track Our Progress page.
First, the numbers:
Net Worth:
- End of September Balance: $387,409 Up $3,945 (1.03%)
- Year to Date (YTD): Up $82,409 (27.02%)
Portfolio:
- End of September Balance: $286,167 Up $4,556 (1.62%)
- YTD: Up $46,167 (19.24%)
Monthly Contributions: $5,242 Down 5.75%
The green streak continues for the 6th consecutive month.
The Zestimates on our primary home and rental property continue their decline, which has slowed the Net Worth growth a bit over the last few months. Again, this is most likely just reflecting the seasonal nature of the housing market and should bounce back somewhat in the Spring.
If you are wondering why the contributions are down it mostly due to timing. My wife’s 401k contribution and company match always lag a few business days behind her actual pay day. Since she was paid on the 28th, those 401k contributions won’t be realized until later this week.
A September to Remember?
Speak of the Devil (Adversity) and he shall appear…
In case you missed it, a couple weeks back I wrote a post about Finding Opportunity in Adversity. Turns out, I would need to put these lessons into practice sooner than I hoped. The day after that post I was hit by a pickup truck while driving into work. Thankfully, other than a few bumps and lingering soreness I came out OK. My new car suffered approximately $8,000 in damage. I have to say, I am very impressed with how the Honda fared. The truck driver didn’t see me and turned in front of me while I was driving around 35 mph. The car’s operation was flawless after the crash. I was able to drive it for a couple days with no issues. The other guy’s truck, as a counterpoint, may have been totaled.
I downgraded from a pickup truck earlier this year and in a previous post I discussed how I was concerned that other driver’s didn’t seem to notice the car the same as my old truck. Coincidence or confirmation? Who knows. Thankfully, the other driver’s insurance has accepted full responsibility of the claim so I should come out of this just fine monetarily speaking.
When it Rains it Pours (Adversity that is)
My brother is trying to complete the sale of his house. The municipal inspections process has been a nightmare of epic proportions. As a former local government employee, I find the whole process to be overly punitive and just disgusting. For everyone reading this, learn from this situation and ALWAYS GET YOUR PERMITS! Or make sure your contractor does! Also, whenever you are considering purchasing a home, be sure to research their inspections process. Do they require minimum housing inspections? If so, what do they claim to inspect? Don’t assume that because they approved something once, that they will approve it a second time.
On the positive side we FOUND some money
A little while back we switched insurance providers from State Farm to AAA, which I wrote about here. State Farm refunded us for our paid premiums beyond the policy termination date. As it turns out, we either never got one of the refunds or failed to deposit it (I think I am guilty of the latter somehow). Either way, we received a notice that we had over $500 in unclaimed property from one of the policies! After looking through our bank records we confirmed that we were indeed missing the money. After filling out a quick form we are now waiting for the next check.
Coming Up in October
We will continue to stash cash into our savings account as fast as we can
As I mentioned in my previous post How to Compare Short Term Savings Strategies, I suspect this money will be needed within 2 years. This extra cash is going to be diverted to our money market savings account for now. Although, I really need to double check some high interest savings account options.
Internet Renegotiation
A good friend lives close by and was approached by AT&T about moving to their fiber internet service. Long story short, they parlayed this offer into a much lower rate with their current internet provider. This happens to be the same provider as us.
Time to ring up customer service!
Disney World, here we come!
In a large test of my frugality, we will be heading to Disney this month. My wife has this trip planned to a “T” and all I can say is Thank Goodness! There is so much going on that I would struggle mightily to keep it all straight.
Thanks for reading and check back in next week!