Turns out we had a pretty good year despite the massive money-letting that was the renovations to our new-to-us old house. This is our first home so we went from NW compromised of purely investments and cash to that plus home equity.
Our NW as of December 31, 2015 was $333,176.15 and current NW including home equity is $427,947.20 (+$94,771.05). This is impressive considering we spent just shy of $45k in closing costs and home improvements this year.
2016 NW breakdown
Cash and investments: $370,799.22
Home equity (purchase price - mortgage balance): $46,619.89
Cars (2): $10,528.09
Total: $427,947.20
Good news for 2017
- Annual husehold income has increased from $170,600 to $183,570 (+$12,970) due to my husband's recent promotion plus year-end increases for both of us. This doesn't include any bonus income we may see this year. Woo hoo!
- As of May 2016 my husband and I work in the same location and carpool to work most days. I'm looking forward to greatly reduced car usage and gas consumption now that we only have one home.
- All of the major renovation work in the house is finished, so we can get back to dumping serious cash into investments! We just have some small stuff left now...lawnmower, some paint, garden supplies, etc.
- We have no big spendy plans for 2017. We're talking about keeping our travel local and hosting my in-laws instead of traveling internationally to see them.
2017 NW Goal
Hit $500k NW (cash, investments, home equity) by my husband's 30th birthday in August, with a stretch goal of $550k by this time next year. --> We exceeded this goal massively, thanks to a crazy year in the market!
Well, final numbers are in and it's been a hell of a year! Current NW including home equity is $628,029.19, which represents an increase of
+$200,082 (!!) over our Dec 2016 NW of $427,947.20. This is higher than our combined salaries for the year!
Good news for 2018- Annual household income has increased from $183,570 to approx. $190,640 (
+$7,070) due to year-end increases for both of us. This doesn't include any bonus income we may see this year.
- Much of our 2018 travel was paid for already in 2017 (big trip to visit in-laws planned for Feb 2018, personal trip to Iceland for May 2018). Hopefully we can curb our travel spending a bit this year, as it's consistently about 15-20% of what we spend annually. This is ok, as it aligns with our priorities, but it's still a huge pile of money.
2018 Goals I have no idea where the market is heading, so I'm hesitant to make a NW goal. But I will set a few goals for things which I actually do have some control over....
- Reduce household spending below what we spent in 2017 ($50,347.57) & continue to plow the rest into investments. Spending goal: sub $4k / month or $48k / year. My husband's car loan is finished in June, so this should free up some cash, and there's always room for additional optimization in other areas as well.
- Personal sub-goal, inspired by Mrs. Frugalwoods: No clothing shopping for me in 2018. I don't have a clothing "problem" per-se, just want to re-program myself and really think hard about all of my purchases and make sure they align with my priorities.
