I just flew in from Rochester, and boy, are my arms tired! Actually, my everything is tired. The NASA Tweetup for the shuttle launch finally happened, but the shuttle launch itself didn’t. And I jet-setted all around the East Coast to be there and get to a wedding back home… but I haven’t got a single regret in the whole thing.
Sure, I’ll tell you more about that. But first, the numbers!
Change: +$522 or +1.75 %
Whoa… not bad at all! Especially considering the crazy travels of the past week! I left for Orlando on Wednesday night, spent two and a half nights in a group rental house near Kennedy Space Center, caught a 6am flight up to Rochester, saw my parents briefly, attended a wedding, visited with local Geocachers for breakfast (tradition!) and then took a final flight back to DC to collapse into bed on Sunday.
With all that going on, I really expected a “down” month, net worth wise, and was prepared to be okay with a down month! But my new pay rate kicked in and a three-week paycheck at the same time didn’t hurt at all, so things balanced out in my favor in the end.
Let’s take a moment to look at what else happened, besides my crazy long weekend at the end of the month:
Taxes: April the taxman cometh! Both my federal and state direct payments were scheduled for April, so my “Cash” assets dropped like a stone, by more than $3,100 this month. That’s okay! My tax liability dropped by more than $3,200 because of those payments, so I actually got another little tax refund of $100 or so there, didn’t I? Woot woot!
New Savings Snowball: Last month I implemented an updated version of my savings strategy, and after my end-of-month payments, you can already start to see progress over last month’s snowball:
| Name | Goal Total | Progress | Monthly Payment |
| Future Car Fund | $10,000 | $1096 | $50 + All that I can |
| Travel | Rolling | $0 | $90 |
| Weddings | Rolling | $1140 | $75 |
| Retirement | $5,000/year | $3,714(total) | $150 |
| Charity Fund | Rolling | $95 | $30 |
| Occasionals | Rolling | $361 | $110 |
| Emergency Fund | $3,000 | $3,183 | Achieved! |
I was able to drop a whopping $500 extra into my Future Car Fund, despite all the craziness! So that goal is hopping right along — I can’t promise $550 jumps every month, but it was a real kickstart for the new plan, anyway! My travel fund dropped to $0 for very obvious reasons, and probably won’t recover at all next month due to the rescheduling of the shuttle launch.
If you’re not following me on Twitter, I should quickly explain that last bit. The NASA Tweetup was great: it was two days of tours and amazing speakers that was worth it all on its own. Four former astronauts, several amazing scientists, engineers, and support staff from NASA and other agencies took their time to talk to the 150 of us and show us, up close, things that the rest of the public never really gets to see.
It was very once-in-a-lifetimey, but at the last minute, literally as the shuttle astronauts were driving past us in the astrovan out to the launch pad, the launch had to be “scrubbed” due to a failed Auxiliary Power Unit. There was heartbreak, especially for the people who traveled in from places like the UK or Australia, but mostly, there was understanding. Understanding that NASA is not going to unnecessarily risk the astronauts’ lives. Understanding that they’re not going to fly any ship before she’s ready. And understanding that this launch isn’t for us; it’s for the good of science, the nation, and the world.
Plus, a lot of us are so totally planning to go back for the launch when it happens, anyway.
If you have any questions about my net worth or how it is calculated, feel free to ask them in the comments.
It’s great to hear you managed to save the $550 but sorry about the launch being cancelled i’m sure you will see it next time. It sounds like you must have a lot of weddings to go to with that amount put away already lol.
Thanks Craig! Yes, I’m 24 years old, so weddings are popping up quite frequently in my life right now! The weddings fund includes travel costs for weddings, most of which are happening hundreds of miles away, bridesmaids dresses for those weddings where I’m in the bridal party, and wedding presents. It may also serve as the base of my own wedding fund… if that ever happens! 😉
I think it’s very mature for someone your age to be tracking net worth. Few adults do this, so you definitely have a head start. Keep up the good work!
I just stumbled across your site and will definitely be keeping up with it in the future. I’m 27 and about 2 1/2 years ago I started doing exactly what you are doing, but didn’t think to blog about it. I read your goal was 0 net worth by the end of the year. Are you still on track? What’s your interest rate on the debt?
Unless it’s extremely low you may be better off diverting the retirement money and maybe the car money to that then using the money that would have gone to payments on those things later. Paying down debt is a risk free return after all. Same with the emergency money, obviously you need some but maybe not so much when you could be eliminating payments to the bank.
Of coarse a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, so maybe you are more comfortable holding the cash. I just wanted to throw some ideas out there. Anyway, excellent blog I look forward to comparing our progress over time. None of my friends seem to share my enthusiasm for eventually escaping the rat-race.
Congrats on the increase. As a car guy, I think that all can be another addition to the Future Car fund?
The net worth is looking pretty decent. Mine is still waaaay below yours. Can’t wait until I get to where you’re at. I’ll be doing a happy dance.
I like your Savings Snowball. It’s a nifty way to simplify something that can get complicated. I started with a similar tool when I started budgeting. Then my tool evolved into a complete budgeting software that has the capability to reconcile your budget with reality. I recommend 3D Budget for anyone who would like to set financial goals and track results and be sure that everything is being captured.
Great job on saving money because in these economic time in is not an easy thing to do.
you are almost at zero net worth. great savings effort. keep saving hard but don’t forget to have fun. you onyl live once.
I know this isn’t the main point of the post, but i think it’s so cool you’re a NASA groupie!
Heehee, why thanks! I think you win an award here, because “NASA groupie” is absolutely the best descriptor for me, and you’re the first person to describe me that way! 😀
I just ran into this site so Im sorry this comment is on a slightly dated post. It is certainly refreshing to see someone being so honestly candid about their worth. Most people sharing this kind of information are raving about their brand new Hummer and yacht.
Thanks for the article, very interesting and informative. It’s funny how sometimes seem so obvious once someone tells you what you are doing wrong!