September numbers:
- Personal:
- Gross monthly W2 pay: $4,833 (-$1,000/mo because the special pay increment changed)
- Net monthly W2 pay: $2,929 (-$470, a reflection of the above)
- Total credit card debt: $11,107 (+$1,034)
- Total other non-mortgage debt: $16,481 (+$332)
- Total mortgage debt: $117,600 (-$717)
- Cash/cash equivalents: $18,391 (+$572)
- Total retirement savings: $136,181 (+$3,825)
- Net worth: $9,383 (+$3,747)
So this was a challenging month, for a few reasons. First is my declining income. We had in place something called an ‘administrative increment’ which paid us an extra $1,000/mo for an extra 10 hours per week. Granted, the extra $25/hr doesn’t break the bank (and doesn’t really compare to my regular ~$30/hr – especially considering we’re essentially being paid less than our hourly rate for overtime). But, I figure we’re going to have to do the work anyway, so might as well take the money. Beats doing the extra work for free. So that’s gone and my takehome declined about $500.
The second challenge has been travel. I’ve been away from home more than in it for the last month. For me this has meant spending more than I really should – as reflected in the growth of my credit card and other non-mortgage debt lines. Quite simply I spent more than I should. Luckily I have no trips upcoming through Thanksgiving, so I can buckle down and re-focus on not spending anything.
The third challenge has been a small kitchen fire at one of my rentals. So, there have been added stresses from that, and the attendant conversations with the tenant, contractors, insurance folks, and the fire department – more on this in a future post when all the details are known. Makes for a busy month!
Other than that, though, I’m pretty satisfied. My net worth continues to tick up thanks to the increased pre-tax percentage I’ve been putting in my 403b since May, and the impact of collected rents driving down my mortgage balances. Real estate expenses will be high over the next few months, but hopefully only manageably, and I should be able to offset those increases with decreases in my personal spending so I have the monthly cash flow to pay those expenses without too much complaining (don’t count on it!)
Anyway, onward! Feel free to ask any questions in the comments…
