We’ve past the midpoint on the year and started the downhill portion. And the world around us seems just as crazy as ever. As crazy as everything is and has been, we tried to Get Out in July in more ways than one.
I snapped that photo of the sunset off my patio last month. It was beautiful and surreal. At the same time the sky looked angry. With how 2020 has gone I wasn’t sure it it was a sign of the Apocalypse or not? But the sun did come up the next day…
Anyways, you can check the latest and greatest info on the Track Our Progress page.
First, the numbers:
Net Worth:
- End of July Balance: $652,583 up $31,977 (5.15%)
- Year to Date (YTD): Up $87,041
- Since January 2018 (this is when I started tracking our net worth): Up $347,583
Portfolio:
- End of July Balance: $468,792 Up 31,980 (7.32%)
- YTD: Up $53,554 (20.32%)
- Since January 2018: Up 228,792
The market continues to keep truckin on. In the face of surging COVID cases, it feels… bizarre.
Monthly Contributions: $4,894
We skipped our July Roth contribution again (4th month in a row now) while we continue to pay the mortgage on the rental house. My wife also had 2 weeks of furlough in July so we missed half of her income this month.
July Highlights
Light at the end of the rental tunnel?
This year we decided we wanted to get out of the rental real estate market…
…at least with our first house. July took us much closer to our goal.
Our old rental house hit the market in late June. Thus we commenced our nail biting while we waited to see if we got any offers.
There was a flurry of showings right off the bat, but alas, no offers. A lot of the feedback came in stating that the price was a bit too high, and hammered on one negative that couldn’t be changed (the basement entry is through the garage). Kinda weird but typical of the area.
In mid July we got a decent offer but the deal fell through almost immediately with the seller backing out for affordability reasons. This was a huge let down. If you recall from previous posts, this is the 3rd time we’ve tried to sell the home. Third time’s the charm, right?
Maybe. A couple weeks later, we finally received a solid offer! We jumped on it. We are currently working through negotiations with the buyer. Fingers crossed that we close this thing in mid-August!
The Great Outdoors
Continuing our Get Out theme, we got out of dodge for a couple days and went camping at a state park. This was notable because it was the first camping trip and float trip for our daughters. We finally got to tap into that vacation budget and fully kitted ourselves out for future camp outs. We practically wore out the delivery guy with a new tent, canopy, lights, fans, sleeping bags, air mattress, and so on and so on. Frugality be damned. We wanted our girls to enjoy this.
Despite an excessive heat warning, and a severe thunderstorm that hit on the float trip, I am happy to report the girls had a great time. We got to float on the beautiful current river:
We even got to explore a beautiful spring:
I am hopeful that the girls and my wife would like to go camping more often. Besides, it’s one of the few things we can do that still incorporates some social distancing.
Coming Up in August
Final Closure?
The house sale is set to close in mid-August. We are very much looking forward to putting it in our rear view and moving onward. This process has been in motion since January and involved a couple months of blood, sweat and tears in rehabbing it and getting it on the market.
Getting Savings on Track
If all goes well with closing, we should have some money to get into savings. We plan to continue with (and hopefully catch up on) our strategy to max out our Roth accounts. Additional money will be set aside to cover our expected tax liability from the sale. But we will need to figure out what to do with any remaining funds. Sounds like a topic for next month’s update.
Hi-Ho! Hi-Ho! It’s back to school they… go?
The girls start school again in August. What that will actually look like remains to be seen. Our district is giving parents the option of in-person class that may be 5 days a week or possibly 2 days (at the districts’ discretion) or 100% virtual learning. Local governments are pushing on districts to start the school year 100% virtual. Cases have been dramatically rising the last few weeks but may have leveled off this week. The only thing certain this year is that nothing is certain. Check back next month to see how this unfolds.
Thanks for reading and stay safe out there!
