Update #3 – July 2018

This is the first of what will be many regular (maybe monthly?) updates. I’m planning to generally lead with the summary bullets and then follow with a bit of analysis (whining) or explanation (whining) about why my expenses went to hell (…whining).

July numbers:

• Personal:
  • Gross monthly W2 pay: $5,833 (no change)
  • Net monthly W2 pay: $3,405 (no change)
  • Total credit card debt: $10,413 (-$2,333)
  • Total other non-mortgage debt: $18,213 (+$2,919)
  • Total mortgage debt: $119,032 (-$706)
  • Cash/cash equivalents: $17,537 (-$360)
  • Total retirement savings: $128,669 (+$2,022)
  • Net worth: -$1,451 (+$1,785)

I pretty much flopped balances on credit card and other non-mortgage debt. I had to pay off a credit card where my promo 0% rate was coming due. Instead of rolling that over to a new promo (at a 3% fee) I just dumped it on my HELOC (at 6.75%). I know the rate isn’t advantageous, but the HELOC balance is easier for me to pay off – and it’s much more motivational (terrifying) when I see that balance rise.

In addition to paying off the card I needed to replace an AC at one of the rental houses for $1700. In order to build that business quickly I’ve been bleeding money from my net worth/life into the rental business. There’ll be more on this in future posts, but I haven’t (yet, dammit!) built up a sufficient cash reserve in the accounts dedicated to my rental business to cover larger capital expenses. There has been a lot of work needed on those properties – hence the lot of money I’ve sunk into them.

All that being said, still a pretty good month. I managed to battle through two negative events without my spending going wildly out of whack. Bright spots are the improved mortgage balance number from tenant paydown across the portfolio, and the retirement savings improvement from an increase in one category I’ll describe in more detail next time (so, you know, you gotta come back. Marketing!)