Point of interest: my printer ink finally ran out, and I had to replace the cartridge today – 9 months after it started warning me that my ink level was low. And I never saw a drop in print quality until very last sheet that it printed. Nice.
So, net worth time! Because I’m such a data-head, this is my favorite time of the month!
Change: $309 or +0.89 %
A very good month for me! 
I managed to put aside $352 to pay off my credit card this month, which pulled my balance down to less than $1,000! I feel like I’m on the home stretch now – if all goes as planned, I’d like to have the credit card paid off by the end of the summer.
I also had a good month for gas spending – I only filled up my tank once, which likely contributed to my ability to pay so much more off my credit card than usual.
I’ve begun depreciating my car by $50 a month, because it’s worth a bit less than it was when I originally bought it. My student loan balance will increase a bit over the summer, because of interest. After I’ve paid off my credit card, I’m going to evaluate whether I should pay off that interest before I graduate, or not.
I’m glad May set the bar high for the summer – it’s a new record for me to try and top in the coming months!
For a look at my assets and liabilities, check out my NetworthIQ for May. For an explanation of the categories I use, check out the bottom of my entry about February’s net worth balance.
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8 responses to “Net Worth Update: May 2008” 
The decision to pay off the interest should depend on the interest rate. Don’t pay it if the rate is low. It might be the best rate you’ll ever have.
Давид’s last blog post..June 2008 Net Worth Report
That’s interesting. Your blog automatically found my last post on NetworthIQ.
Depreciating your car by $50 per month is a good idea. That’s exactly what I do.
I am the same way as you, can’t wait to update my profile every month.
@Давид: It’s a tricky situation. The interest rate is 6.8% because it’s a Direct Stafford Loan (unsubsidized, which is why it’s wracking up interest while I’m still in school).
The reason it will take some thinking is that it’s between paying off the interest on the loans I already have, or putting the money aside to pay tuition for my last year, and lower the amount of further loans I have to take out. So, basically, the same interest rate on both. Both count as a reduction of the principal, because the interest on the current loan will capitalize into the principal if I don’t pay it off before repayment begins. So I guess it doesn’t matter… or maybe it does?
I’ll do a post on this when I get close to paying off my credit card, and it comes time to make the decision.
I had a lot of unsubsidized student loans when I graduated college. The interest was 6.8%.
I would not pay them off yet if I were you. That’s not a bad interest rate. It’s an above-the-line tax deduction.
Besides, paying off interest does not make much difference in your payment. You will be able to pay off the loan easily after graduation. Just look at my profile.
If you are interested in tracking your cars worth more accurately you could also plug its info into the Edmunds true market value (TMV) tool. I guess that is a bit overkill, but I enjoy seeing the number every month when I run my net worth calculations.
Wouldn’t be better to pay your loan first, because in the long run you’d get less interest? Let’s say you’ve got $1000 loan and 10% interest. So at the end of year your dept is $1000 + $100. So if you’re paying interest, you still have $1000 dept, But if you paid loan it would be $900 + $100 unpaid interest. And after second year your dept would be $1100 [1000 + 100] (first case) and $1090 [900 + 190] (second case). You save $10. Just my 2 cents.
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@Blogging for Money – It doesn’t really work like that, because it’s not compound interest right now. At the end of my schooling, all of the debt and interest will roll together and become the principal loan balance.
Also, it’s not between paying interest and paying a loan, it’s between paying interest, or putting aside money so that I can get a smaller loan. Kind of like a “down payment” for my last year’s tuition. I’ll run the math on this in a few months, when it comes up.
Great achievement and its always nice to be going up and hitting one’s targets!
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