Race from 10 to 100k!!

[snorr]

01/06/2018: -€60
01/01/2019: €2875.28
01/07 2019: €9288.2
01/08/2019: €10.485.05
01/09/2019: 11554.85
28/09/2019:  €12.182,10
24/10/2019: €13.082.24
26/11/2019: €14,311.49
01/02/2020: €15.260
29/04/2020: €18.544
31/05/2020: €21.280,05

Goal 01/01/2021: €27.500 Excluding sinking funds for holidays and health insurance, including student loan at 0.01% interest.

Good increase due to holiday payment this month. Will see how things go from here, as I have quit my job.

01/08/2020: €22,701.09. From here on out my total will go down, as I am currently unemployed and have lived of the remaining payments. Let's see where we get.

Hang in there :)

[scapegote]

May 31, 2020: $14,889.84
June 30, 2020: $16,337.43 (+1447.59)

July 31, 2020: $21,546.30 (+5208.87)

Huge (for me) jump due mostly to tax returns. Some of which will eventually siphon off for carpet replacement but a large chunk went to pay down debt. Just over $12k left of non-mortgage debt, cannot wait for that day.

[Trifle]

May 31, 2020: $14,889.84
June 30, 2020: $16,337.43 (+1447.59)

July 31, 2020: $21,546.30 (+5208.87)

Huge (for me) jump due mostly to tax returns. Some of which will eventually siphon off for carpet replacement but a large chunk went to pay down debt. Just over $12k left of non-mortgage debt, cannot wait for that day.

Wow @scapegote!  Great month -- and way to slay the consumer debt!!

[Tinker]

December 31, 2017- $25,583
March 31, 2018- $30,379
June 30,2018- $37,950

August 08, 2020 - $90,006


*** HELLO GUYS! HAVENT POSTED IN A WHILE, A LONG WHILE, BUT HERE IS MY UPDATE AS OF TODAY! HOPE EVERYONE IS STAYING SAFE AND CORONA FREE! XOXOXO

good to have you back, looks like you made a lot of progress in the meantime :)

[soily]

                    401K          IRA          Total
Jan 2018:   $1,050        $1,230      $2,280
Jan 2019:   $6,800        $3,500      $10,300
Jan 2020:   $12,100      $6,600      $18,700
Feb 2020:   $12,500      $6,500      $18,000
Mar 2020:   $12,700      $6,100      $18,800
Apr 2020:   $12,100      $5,100      $17,200
Aug 2020:  $21,200       $6,800      $28,000

Wow. I love only periodically checking in on my investments.

[Evasion]

20 Dec 18 - 37,800
Mid March 2019 - 45,815
20 June 2019 - 50,890
Mid September 2019 - 57,608
15 December 2019 - 65,794
1 April 2020 - 71,465
15 May 2020 - 80,396
15 June 2020 - 85,996
15 July 2020 - 90,232
1 August 2020 - 92,917
15 August 2020 - 95,320

A great update. I've been good at saving, and the market is giving me a hand too. Just passed a personal milestone of one year before tax income, and I haven't even got my tax return yet! I know I'm just a month away from graduating with a little discipline and it feels great :)

[TerrierTown]

Hi all, first post!

01 Jun 2019 NW £44,112
01 Jul 2019 NW £46,737
02 Apr 2020 NW £61,865
15 Aug 2020 NW £73,912

[Feivel2000]

87.989 €
+ 1.855 €

I saved 1.261 € last month, the additional ~600 € in increased NW are from rising ETF and Krypto valuations. My "hand-picked" stocks have lost. Surprise, I am not an stock-picking genius and I will evaluate my strategy.

I hope I will get to 100k by the end of the year. There is a lot of hidden potential in the "Unit-Linked Life Insurance", since the evaluation is from last December.

	2020	2021	2022	2023
Jan	-	-	-	-
Feb	-	-	-	-
Mar	-	-	-	-
Apr	-	-	-	-
May	-	-	-	-
Jun	-	-	-	-
Jul	86.134 €	-	-	-
Aug	87.989 €	-	-	-
Sept	-	-	-	-
Oct	-	-	-	-
Nov	-	-	-	-
Dec	-	-	-	-

Spoiler: show

Assets		Debts
Flat	+ 83.000 €	Mortage	- 76.738 €
Unit-Linked Life Insurance	+ 47.304 €
Fixed-Term Deposit	+ 2.000 €
ETFs	+ 22.164 €
Stockpicks	+ 5.891 €
Peer-To-Peer	+ 2.489 €
Crypto	+ 1.879 €

[Rosy]

GOAL: $100K by Dec 31, 2021

$  4,588 June 2017
$ 10,117 Dec 2017
       
$ 10,715 Jan 2018
$ 31,034 Dec 2018
       
$ 31,094 Jan 2019
$ 50,000 Dec 2019

$ 53,000 Jan 2020
$ 56,000 Feb 2020
$ 58,000 Mar 2020
$ 64,000 Apr 2020
$ 67,000 May 2020
$ 70,000 Jun  2020
$ 73,100 Jul   2020
$ 75.600 Aug 2020 - YAY! I broke $75K!

UPDATE

1. Projected $78K Sep 2020  = ($70.5K CDs + $7.5K liquid)
   78K was my total savings goal for 2020 so I am now ahead of the game - yay.

2. New Interim Goal: $86K by Dec 31, 2020 = ($78K CD's + $8K liquid)

3. New possibility: hit $100K by July 2021 instead of Dec 2021.

[Imma]

Wow @Rosy you are doing great!! That's really worth a celebration. And even if you're not going to do the RE part of FIRE, how great is it to know you're prepared for the future? 

[TyGuy]

Student Loan Debt:

01/12/19: $43,762
05/04/20: $21,456
06/05/20: $21,456
08/05/20: $21,456


Net Worth:

03/04/19: -$30,065
05/04/20: $10,739
06/05/20: $18,006 ($7,267)
07/05/20: $8,594 (-$9,412)
08/05/20: $9,084 ($490)
08/20/20: $10,680 ($1,596)

I've been away for the the past 2 1/2 months due to closing on a new house and spending a large amount of time working on it. My net worth has decreased due to buy the home and spending money on projects to increase the value of the home. I will not be tracking the equity in my home, but my net worth of liquid assets is already back above the 10k mark. I hope to reach a net worth of 20k this year, not including home equity. I'm happy to see everyone achieve big goals over the past 2ish months!

[Rosy]

Wow @Rosy you are doing great!! That's really worth a celebration. And even if you're not going to do the RE part of FIRE, how great is it to know you're prepared for the future?

@Imma - congrats on your new job:), I know you'll make the most out of every opportunity that comes your way!
I've been retired for five years now. I am grateful to be FI and to have Mr. R. by my side.
It just feels surreal to have enough monthly retirement income to stash some extra cash and bolster our finances.

This month we hit a combined NW of $655K - not counting the house or the cars.
We only have another $100K to go towards our ultimate goal of $750K.
We'll see how it goes - these are turbulent times - Mr. R. is planning to retire in three years at age 62.

Since we plan on retiring in place and keeping our cars it makes no sense to include the house or cars as NW in our stash.
The house is paid off and we have no debt - so there is that.

In five years we went from $350K to $655K, replaced both our clunkers and I made every one of my bucket list wishes a reality.
We feel lucky and very grateful for what we have.

[Manchester]

In August my N/W grew by £853.95 to a total of 34,183.23

My savings rate has deteriorated with my reduced earnings so far this year (relating to COVID).  But I wouldn't change it.  The time off work has been brilliant for my mental health, my house is 'almost' immaculate and despite being physically separated, I've spent more time communicating with friends and family.  I'm 'nearly' as fit as I have ever been.  So I'm very much a glass half full person today.  I've still been contributing to my investments and pension and my emergency fund hasn't been touched. 

From next month we're becoming a single-car household (which should save hundreds of £'s per month). 

Let's keep the snowball rolling. :)

[Feivel2000]

In August my N/W grew by £853.95 to a total of 34,183.23

My savings rate has deteriorated with my reduced earnings so far this year (relating to COVID).  But I wouldn't change it.  The time off work has been brilliant for my mental health, my house is 'almost' immaculate and despite being physically separated, I've spent more time communicating with friends and family.  I'm 'nearly' as fit as I have ever been.  So I'm very much a glass half full person today.  I've still been contributing to my investments and pension and my emergency fund hasn't been touched. 

From next month we're becoming a single-car household (which should save hundreds of £'s per month). 

Let's keep the snowball rolling. :)

Is "Matched Betting Balance" seriously the balance of a sports betting account, where you are using free bets to make a safe profit?

[Manchester]

In August my N/W grew by £853.95 to a total of 34,183.23

My savings rate has deteriorated with my reduced earnings so far this year (relating to COVID).  But I wouldn't change it.  The time off work has been brilliant for my mental health, my house is 'almost' immaculate and despite being physically separated, I've spent more time communicating with friends and family.  I'm 'nearly' as fit as I have ever been.  So I'm very much a glass half full person today.  I've still been contributing to my investments and pension and my emergency fund hasn't been touched. 

From next month we're becoming a single-car household (which should save hundreds of £'s per month). 

Let's keep the snowball rolling. :)

Is "Matched Betting Balance" seriously the balance of a sports betting account, where you are using free bets to make a safe profit?

Yes exactly.  It's mostly money in betting 'exchanges' where you need a bit of cash to leverage against the free bets.  It's gone down slightly as I've been using matched betting money to pay for various things rather than spending money from my savings.

[Serendip]

Dec '17    18,146
Jan '18     23,607

Dec '18    48,380
Dec '19    60,746

Jan '20     63,186
Apr '20     62,030
May '20    62,300
June '20   63,000
July '20    58,562
Aug '20    59,500

*what a year...hopefully fall/winter will bring some normalcy! Just gotta keep on keeping on..

[Stubblestache]

July 2018: £20,385
October 2018: £24,504
January 2019: £25, 295
April 2019: £33,844
July 2019: £38,667
October 2019: £38,588
January 2020: £43,260
April  2020:  £38,094
July 2020: £49,062.35
August 2020: £50,172 just over halfway! :)

Very quick update but I had really hoped that the 2nd half of 50k would go quicker than the first... After breaching £50k at the start of this month, now with only putting in £300, I'm at £52k - so it definitely seems like it will! I know things go up and down, but for me getting from zero to £2k took a helluva lot longer than 3 weeks.

This effect must be truly magical when you get to 100k+. Really given me a dose of inspiration checking my accounts today.

[Rosy]

GOAL: $100K by Dec 31, 2021

$  4,588 June 2017
$ 10,117 Dec 2017
       
$ 10,715 Jan 2018
$ 31,034 Dec 2018
       
$ 31,094 Jan 2019
$ 50,000 Dec 2019

$ 53,000 Jan 2020
$ 56,000 Feb 2020
$ 58,000 Mar 2020
$ 64,000 Apr 2020
$ 67,000 May 2020
$ 70,000 Jun  2020
$ 73,100 Jul   2020
$ 75,600 Aug 2020 - YAY! I broke $75K!
$ 79,115 Sep 2020

It all feels so surreal - inching up to $80K!

[Imma]

April 2019: €10094.35
May 2019: €11629.87
June 2019: €12728.63
July 2019: €13021,33
August 2019: €10363,95
September 2019: €10338.28
October: €11128.59
November: €11227,46
December: €11991,27
January: €12576,72
February: €11904,39
March: €10425,32
April: €11830,70
May: €12154,67
June: €14634,19
July: €15345,09
August: €16444,46

Goals for 2020:
Savings: €5250
Investments: €14750

Another good month, financially speaking! My wealth has been increasing by €1000/ month over the last 6 months! That's just incredible, considering that my average income over the past 6 months has been around €2350 after taxes. So that's a 42,5% savings rate, actually a little bit more if you count the principal part of the mortgage as savings. Not too bad!

I feel a bit guilty that the pandemic is making me so rich. I get most of my food from independent stores now and have had more food delivered over the past 6 months than in my whole pre-pandemic life, I ordered several big orders of craft supplies from local retailers, I've purchased online classes from local teachers. I've been consciously spending to help support the businesses I value, but I'm still just saving so much money. And I haven't even started my new job yet!

My friend is in a very difficult position where she doesn't really have a place to live - a fixed low income due to disability, living with a partner she needs to leave, doesn't qualify for any place on the private market due to her income, is on the waiting list for a council flat but that's going to take years. Before moving in with her partner she lived in a shelter-type accommodation that was extremely unsafe - and both of us are used to living in places that are kind of rough, she wasn't overreacting. I wish I could help her somehow. I have lots of money but not enough to be any kind of help. She's not the type that's looking for a handout at all, she'd never ask, but I wish I was able to buy a cheap apartment in her town and rent it to her for a fair price. I've explored the options and even though it would benefit both of us financially, I just won't be able to afford it for probably the next 2 years at least. For now, I'm just helping her write complaints about every landlord who has rejected her on the grounds of her disability, because that's actually illegal. Not hopeful that's going to achieve anything though.

[haypug16]

@Imma , Sorry your friend is having such a rough time. I hope she is able to find a safe place soon!


August 2020 Update
3/31/2017 (52,848.85) - Found MMM
3/31/2018 $(14,916.69) - 1 year in
3/31/2019 $9,917.20 - 2 years in
3/31/2020 $22,896.16 - 3 years in
4/30/2020 $32,841.74
5/31/2020 $41,382.08
6/30/2020 $49,125.78
7/31/2020 $54,499.66
8/31/2020 $61,881.00 - 7,381.34 increase

Made my way into the $60ks this month which was nice. Aside from the huge downturn in March my investments are doing really well. For the year I'm averaging a $3k monthly NW increase ($7.6k average since April)


Goal is to graduate this thread by next fall

ETA: forgot to update SL balance so NW was actually about $1k higher :)

[Tass]

@FrugalFukuoka - hoping for a one-month update! :)

Jul 17	$6.2k
Aug 17	$6.8k
Sept 17	$8.2k
Oct 17	$9.0k
Nov 17	$9.9k
Dec 17	$11.1k
Jan 18	$12.1k
Feb 18	$13.6k
Mar 18	$15.1k
Apr 18	$16.6k
May 18	$17.7k
Jun 18	$18.5k
Jul 18	$20.2k
Aug 18	$20.8k
Sept 18	$22.2k
Oct 18	$21.7k
Nov 18	$22.5k
Dec 18	$22.4k
Jan 19	$24.7k
Feb 19	$27.2k
Mar 19	$29.3k
Apr 19	$31.3k
May 19	$31.5k
Jun 19	$33.3k
Jul 19	$35.1k
Aug 19	$36.7k
Sep 19	$38.6k
Oct 19	$40.2k
Nov 19	$42.6k
Dec 19	$44.6k
Jan 20	$49.0k
Feb 20	$46.5k
Mar 20	$42.7k
Apr 20	$47.5k
May 20	$50.6k
Jun 20	$53.5k
Jul 20	$58.5k

Aug 20: $63.0k

I moved this month and we got a move in deal, so was able to invest most of a month's rent on top of usual savings. Plus, what the heck is the stock market doing?! 

[Ze Stash]

Net worth:
01/01/2019: -    109,47 €
01/02/2019:      269,41 € (+   378,88 €)
01/03/2019:      890,47 € (+   621,06 €)
01/04/2019:   1.767,70 € (+   877,23 €)
01/05/2019:   3.755,46 € (+1.987,76 €)
01/06/2019:   4.814,83 € (+1.059,37 €)
01/07/2019:   5.959,50 € (+1.144,67 €)
01/08/2019:   7.116,94 € (+1.157,44 €)
01/09/2019:   9.855,39 € (+2.738,45 €)
01/10/2019:   9.718,18 € (-    137,21 €)
01/11/2019: 10.726,98 € (+1.008,80 €)
01/12/2019: 11.773,70 € (+1.046,72 €)
01/01/2020: 12.979,27 € (+1.205,57 €)
01/02/2020: 14.363,54 € (+1.384,27 €)
01/03/2020: 15.039,09 € (+   675,56 €)
01/04/2020: 15.456,74 € (+   417,65 €)
01/05/2020: 16.903,74 € (+1.447,00 €)
01/06/2020: 17.847,51 € (+   943,77 €)
01/07/2020: 19.991,35 € (+2.143,84 €)
01/08/2020: 23.859,77 € (+3.868,42 €)

01/09/2020: 27.705,58 € (+3.845,81 €)

Another very good month. The next months should be back to normal savings rates of 1.000 € - 1.500 € though, as there were quite a few one off streams of income in the last 2 months. Received a raise of 400 € a month before taxes (200 € after taxes and social insurances ...) so that should help going forward. 30k € goal for the end of the year now looks very possible.

[JCGreen]

I do not include my savings to buy expensive "fun items" like new cellphone, electronics etc. as it is not very big. My checking account is also not included as it has money I will likely spend this month. Goal for 2020 is to make it to $75K.

Net worth:
2017:
Dec2017:$7800
2018
Apr2018:$13,200
Aug2018:$22,800
Sep2018: $23,645
Oct2018: $23,658
Nov2018: $23,948 (+$290)
Dec2018: $23,960 (+12)
2019
Jan2019: $27,100 (+3140)
Feb2019: $29,443 (+2343)
Mar2019: $31,603 (+2160)
Apr2019: $33,959 (+2356)
May2019: $33,933 (-$26)
Jun2019: $37,928 (+3995)
Jul2019: $39,736 (+1808)
Aug2019: $39,918 (+182)
Sep2019: $34,179 (-5739)
Oct2019: $38,091 (+3912)
Nov2019: $39,867 (+1776)
Dec2019: $43836 (+$3968)
2020
Jan2020:$45,839 (+$2003)
Feb2020:$43,345 (-$2494)
Mar2020:$39,081 (-$4264)
Apr2020:$47,551 (+$9470)
May2020:$51,613 (+$4,061)
Jun2020:$56,760 (+$5147)
Jul2020:$61,567 (+$4,807)

Aug2020:$68,102.96 (+$6,535) - Last couple of months have been great! Another month like this, and I will have made it to my 2020 goal! We will see what the stock market does, as it tends to fluctuate a lot during the election time period.

[FrugalFukuoka]

@FrugalFukuoka - hoping for a one-month update! :)

Decided to make my first post here, as I find this thread very motivating.
Started reading MMM in January, 2019:

2019-Jan: $9500
2020-Jan: $20,000
2020-Jul: $45,000

So far on track to break 50k in October.

Thanks for checking in, much appreciated.
I was waiting with my next update for when I'd hit 50k.. currently at 49.92.  _o\

Very nice progress for everyone, blown away.

[Optimiser]

Mar 2019 $14,000
Apr 2019 $12,700
May 2019 $9,500
Jun 2019 $11,500
Jul 2019 $17,000
Aug 2019 $19,900
Sep 2019 $19,900
Oct 2019 $26,200
Nov 2019 $34,500
Dec 2019 $37,200
Jan 2020 $43,700
Feb 2020 $45,400
Mar 2020 $45,300
Apr 2020 $52,800
May 2020 $59,400
Jun 2020 $63,400
Jul 2020 $70,900

Aug 2020 $78,500

[Stubblestache]

July 2018: £20,385
October 2018: £24,504
January 2019: £25, 295
April 2019: £33,844
July 2019: £38,667
October 2019: £38,588
January 2020: £43,260
April  2020:  £38,094
July 2020: £49,062.35
August 2020: £50,172 just over halfway! :)
Sept 2020: £55,556

[nmitb]

	2019	2020	2021	2022
Jan	-$7,248	$35,632	-	-
Feb	-$6,093	$32,925	-	-
Mar	-$1,081	$32,425	-	-
Apr	$1,221	$25,737	-	-
May	$4,418	$26,441	-	-
Jun	$5,562	$28,440	-	-
Jul	$7,408	$30,601	-	-
Aug	$9,255	$31,579	-	-
Sept	$25,361	$34,167	-	-
Oct	$27,333	-	-	-
Nov	$31,211	-	-	-
Dec	$33,422	-	-	-

With some luck i will break even this year...

[Feivel2000]

I have to boost my income. I don't even make what you guys add to your stache each month...

[Lelyy]

Hello everyone! I don’t post very often but I really like to see the monthly updates and decided I’d give it a try. Here it goes:

2016: $6,222
2017: $25,604
2018: $42,277
2019: $75,560

2020
1/1/2020: $75,560
2/1/2020: $75,958 (+$398)
3/1/2020: $70,838 (-$5120)
4/1/2020: $60,843 (-$9,995)
5/1/2020: $69,088 (+$8,245)
6/1/2020: $77,048 (+$7,960)
7/1/2020: $80,663 (+$3,616)
8/1/2020: $86,713 (+$6,049)
9/1/2020: $93,441 (+$6,728)

*457/401k only*

[Gingersnaps]

01/07/2020 - £75,523.86
01/08/2020 - £76,466.46
01/09/2020 - £79,690.65

I say this every month but I'm still missing my husbands updated pension figure, he did attempt to get this but log in details stumped him. Going to stand over him until it's done!
If that looks good then we could potentially have £100k within grasp by the end of the year.

ETA: Whoops forgot some nice news, we also found out this month we have a mini moustache on the way next year. Need to maximise those savings now while we can!

Looks like there's some amazing progress this month - can only see a few but @Lelyy hope to see you graduate this month!
@Feivel2000 making more income is great but this month I've added more through market gains and employer pensions contributions than I've saved myself, it soon starts ramping up so don't feel disheartened
@Stubblestache nice to see some fellows £s, great gains this month!

[bcbaseballman]

2018
1/31 : (5949.05)
2/28 : (5288.30)
3/31 : (4273.93)
4/30 : (2592.07)
5/31 : (629.70)
6/30 : 1,206.77
7/31 : 2,703.97
8/31: 5,651.70
9/31: 8,039.01
10/31: 7,803.49
11/30: 9,531.28
12/31: 9,296.79

2019
1/31/19: 13,493.35
2/28/2019: 15,766.50
3/31/2019: 19,286
4/30/2019: 19,283
5/31/2019: 18,676
6/30/2019 :22,362
7/31/2019: 24,646
8/30/2019: $27,199
9/31/2019: $30,664
10/31/2019: $33,343
11/30/2019: $35,249
12/31/2019: $39,079

2020
1/31/2020: $44,514
2/29/2020: $48,891
3/31/2020: $46,104
4/30/2020: $52,720
5/31/2020: $55,177
6/30/2020: $59,720
7/31/2020: $65,792

8/31/2020: $71,970

I wish that the percentage gains could look like this forever. I know they will most likely slow down at some point but you have to love the market gains that have been happening the last few months.

As always don't forget to update the spread sheet.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aBcGP8d7UD2oJif5IMSY9xmi8sIcRWKYRUswL1FE-ZM/edit#gid=0

[mckaylabaloney]

6/1/2020: $19,606.73
7/1/2020: $26,480.37
8/1/2020: $40,657.65
9/1/2020: $52,868.32

Geez. It is crazy to see my net worth grow this much in one month, mostly from market gains, and know that I am really just at the beginning of my journey -- I can't quite imagine what a month like this will do to my NW when my stash is much larger. I know how exponential growth works but seeing it start to happen is another thing entirely! (And no doubt I will look back at this comment someday and laugh...)

Big personal milestone this month in that my investments (all in tax-advantaged accounts) surpassed the amount left on my student loans (which is still a six-figure number, so it feels rather meaningful). I've been prioritizing maxing out my tax-advantaged accounts before paying extra on my loans and it is definitely paying off already.

[Manchester]

I have to boost my income. I don't even make what you guys add to your stache each month...

Don't get disheartened looking at other people's gains.  Firstly, a lot of American posters usually earn very high salaries compared to people in Europe and are taxed less.  That isn't the case for all, but a lot of the people adding $5k dollars to their N/W will usually be extremely high earners.  Secondly, the markets have risen so much over the past few months.  I've actually got less cash available to me, but my N/W is rising due to markets recovering.  If you're not heavily in the market, you might not notice the rises that someone like myself has done. 

I think it's useful for everyone to consider how to raise their income.  Do you have a case study or journal?  It could be worth creating one so fellow posters can offer advice?

[Manchester]

April 2019: €10094.35
May 2019: €11629.87
June 2019: €12728.63
July 2019: €13021,33
August 2019: €10363,95
September 2019: €10338.28
October: €11128.59
November: €11227,46
December: €11991,27
January: €12576,72
February: €11904,39
March: €10425,32
April: €11830,70
May: €12154,67
June: €14634,19
July: €15345,09
August: €16444,46

Goals for 2020:
Savings: €5250
Investments: €14750

Another good month, financially speaking! My wealth has been increasing by €1000/ month over the last 6 months! That's just incredible, considering that my average income over the past 6 months has been around €2350 after taxes. So that's a 42,5% savings rate, actually a little bit more if you count the principal part of the mortgage as savings. Not too bad!

I feel a bit guilty that the pandemic is making me so rich. I get most of my food from independent stores now and have had more food delivered over the past 6 months than in my whole pre-pandemic life, I ordered several big orders of craft supplies from local retailers, I've purchased online classes from local teachers. I've been consciously spending to help support the businesses I value, but I'm still just saving so much money. And I haven't even started my new job yet!

My friend is in a very difficult position where she doesn't really have a place to live - a fixed low income due to disability, living with a partner she needs to leave, doesn't qualify for any place on the private market due to her income, is on the waiting list for a council flat but that's going to take years. Before moving in with her partner she lived in a shelter-type accommodation that was extremely unsafe - and both of us are used to living in places that are kind of rough, she wasn't overreacting. I wish I could help her somehow. I have lots of money but not enough to be any kind of help. She's not the type that's looking for a handout at all, she'd never ask, but I wish I was able to buy a cheap apartment in her town and rent it to her for a fair price. I've explored the options and even though it would benefit both of us financially, I just won't be able to afford it for probably the next 2 years at least. For now, I'm just helping her write complaints about every landlord who has rejected her on the grounds of her disability, because that's actually illegal. Not hopeful that's going to achieve anything though.

Great work!  It's exciting to see your N/W increase quite quickly before you've started the new job. 

Obviously, no-one is happy about the pandemic, but you've built a certain lifestyle that means you've been able to react to the pandemic and the issues that have arisen.  You're like Noah, building your ark.  Eventually, the worlds flooded and you're alright - but it's because of the hard work you've put in beforehand.

It's a shame about your friend.  I can't offer much advice other than to try and avoid tying yourself into any financial responsibility with her.  As horrible as that seems, you don't want to end up paying off a second mortgage and receiving nothing in return.

[LittleWanderer]

August 2019 - $29,884
September 2019 - $30,602
October 2019 - $31,770
November 2019 - $33,081
December 2019 - $34,820
January 2020 - $36,392
February 2020 - $35,701
March 2020 - $32,466
April 2020 - $36,157
May 2020 - $38,540
June 2020 - $39,514
July 2020 - $42,207

August 2020 - $44,045

Stock market is bonkers.  I mean, this can't go on like this...but who the hell knows with anything anymore.

[Optimiser]

I have to boost my income. I don't even make what you guys add to your stache each month...

I don't either, my stache has been growing like crazy this year, far in excess of my salary. Last month my NW went up by about twice what my salary was for the month. Most of my gains are due to increases in the value of my house and retirement accounts, not due to savings. I know it won't always be like that, and it blows my mind every single month when I see how much my net worth has gone up. It wasn't long ago that my net worth was negative and it was a real uphill battle. Now that I have a tailwind at my back it feels really good.

Edit: It looks like my NW increase for the last 12 months is approximately equal to my salary for the last 12 months, but my savings rate is nowhere near 100%!

[Imma]

@Feivel2000 when I first joined I made about €1200. I've doubled my income since! I had no idea that was possible but it was. And the market helps a lot.

For reference: I transfer €300/month to one of my investment accounts, but the market added an extra €300 in gains. That's 3% in a month. That's unsustainable for the long term and I fear a correction will happen soon. But it sure looks good in my monthly update now.

@Manchester, I've had those thoughts as well. But this is someone I know very well, and I also know quite a bit about her finances because of helping her with legal/tax stuff over the years. And we both have the same mustachian values. I wouldn't do it for my own sister, but my gut feeling says this could work out. And in the worst case, after 3 months of non-payment you can get someone evicted. For now it's still a pipe dream anyway. I haven't discussed it with her.

 I've been in her situation, low income due to disability, no landlord wanted to rent to me. I found someone willing to co-sign the lease and be a pretend-roommate (I could afford it but landlords just don't want disabled tenants). Eventually a miracle drug allowed me to go back to work. I could co-sign a lease with her too, but in the worst case scenario that would be a bigger liability from a financial perspective. I'm just so angry that if you are a disabled or chronically ill young person and you don't have family with money to support you, you're basically just kicked on the street by the government. My main motivation to become FI is to be able to fend for myself if/when my health declines again.

[Stubblestache]

@Gingersnaps thanks! The market has been up up up this month, I can't really believe how much it has grown myself. Congratulations on your lovely mini stache news!

@Feivel2000 It can be pretty disheartening early on, but the snowball effect is real. I was over the moon to get to 50k at the start of Aug and I've added over 5k to that, mostly from market gains.

I remember when I started out reading about 22 year olds with 150k invested fretting that they didn't have enough and thinking that if they think that then what chance do I have?!

I just stuck with it and tried not to focus on what other people were doing because at the end of the day, it's not their money I'm going to be relying on later in life. When I was earning less, I was saving and investing less BUT I also had fewer outgoings because I always lived within my means (my saving rate has been at least 50% for a long time, so I guess it's more accurate to say I live well within my means). If you're living within your means and investing a decent chunk of your wages, it does not matter so much what the absolute figure is because it is relative to your expenditure. Just my 2p worth, but I found this line of thinking helpful when I was disheartened.

[shrimpwd]

                  401K   NW
1-1-2018     6455   24k
12-1-2018   9518   37k
4-1-2019    10960  49k
11-6-2019   13466  53k -start of race
12-29-19     14460   56k
2-02-20       14991  57k
3-01-20       14632   58k
4-01-20       13884   58k
5-01-20       17011   63k
6-01-20       19255   66.5k
7-01-20       20358   68.4k
8-01-20.      21993   70k

9-01-20        23312    72.3k

The numbers don't look as nice this month, but that's just because Thursday is payday. I actually think I'll see 25k invested by the end of the month! I wasn't expecting that before the end of the year. I suppose I'm a bit speechless.

Congrats to everyone moving up to the next challenge! Hope to join you in 2-3 years!

[Feivel2000]

Thank you @Imma, @Stubblestache and all.
What I am missing yet is the track record, the prove of my ever growing stache. That's why I am here.

[Runningtuff]

Paid off my student loan this month - it was 0% but still a nice milestone.

Also got the government retirement credit of $500 for the year, so currently sitting at $22,800, from $16,600 a year and a bit ago. It's encouraging to see it add up with just small steps.

I think I got deleted at some point due to absence, but thought I'd pop back and report that I technically 'graduated' this month...5 years on. Not quick, but still satisfying. :D
I'm including the deposit I put into the house we bought last year and some paid-off principle in the maths. Next goal - get to 100k outside the house.

[Stubblestache]

@Feivel2000 have you seen the race to 10k thread? It's probably the most important of all the "Race to...X" threads because it gets people in the zone and sets the right behaviour patterns for everything that follows. Might be worth checking out if you haven't?

[Feivel2000]

@Feivel2000 have you seen the race to 10k thread? It's probably the most important of all the "Race to...X" threads because it gets people in the zone and sets the right behaviour patterns for everything that follows. Might be worth checking out if you haven't?

Thank you, I am late to the party, but had my first post here two months ago and I were super surprised that I "start" at ~85k.

[Evasion]

20 Dec 18 - 37,800
Mid March 2019 - 45,815
20 June 2019 - 50,890
Mid September 2019 - 57,608
15 December 2019 - 65,794
1 April 2020 - 71,465
15 May 2020 - 80,396
15 June 2020 - 85,996
15 July 2020 - 90,232
1 August 2020 - 92,917
15 August 2020 - 95,320

2 September 2020 - 100,406

MADE IT to 100k! Payday, tax return and some help from the market run. I have cash until the next pay and $406 to spare so I will claim graduation now. To answer to the people who complain about things being slow; compounding does really work, I am playing with AUD, I have a high income.
Having said that, the main reason behind being relatively fast  for me is having a simple life with cornerstone habits (no car, no new clothes, shop for cheap, etc.).

I do expect the market to correct eventually, but hopefully I'll be well settled into the next thread by then. Otherwise I'll see you all in 15 days 😂 Enough self congratulations for now, onwards to 250k!

Good luck to everyone else, keep up the good work.

[Stubblestache]

@Feivel2000 gosh, well I should be taking tips from you then! :)
@Evasion Woop woop congratulations!

[Sanitary Stache]

May 31, 2020          - $ 72,426.81
June 19, 2020         - $ 82,681.14 (+$10,254.33)  About $7,000 back as tax refund/credits.
August 6, 2020        - $ 89,237.00 (+$6,555.86)   Bonus at work and market gains
September 2, 2020  - $ 93,346.17 (+$4,109.17)  This must be all market craziness.

I am interested to see how this plays out into January of 2021.  I think I have attached significance to the new year in that if we are still increasing savings, then it might be real.

[Feivel2000]

@Feivel2000 gosh, well I should be taking tips from you then! :)

Don't think so... not a big accomplishment... I saved ~220€/month (less than 10% of my income, in a high fee insurance wrapper... the break-even point after costs was just one or two years ago) for 15 years and got a ~20k severance package.

[YarnBudget]

EOY 2019 = $32,211.58
Jan 2020 = $33,874.65 (+ $1,663.07)
Feb 2020 = $36,738.94 (+ $2,864.29)
Mar 2020 = $31,221.02 (- $5,517.92)
April 2020 = $41,641.53 (+ $10,420.51)
May 2020 = $45,506.49 (+ $4,864.96)
June 2020 = $49,273.35 (+ $2,766.86)
July 2020 = $55,277.20 (+ $6,003.85)
August 2020 = $62,157.20 (+$6,880.00)

Wow, I only contributed a little under $2300 last month, so this is mostly market gains...

[dizzy]

Oct 2019- $1000
Nov 2019- $2340
Dec 2019- $2779
Jan 2020- $5658
Feb 2020- $5539
Mar 2020- $5024
Apr 2020- $5444
May 2020- $8302  (wherein I finally got some of unemployment)
June 2020- $20864 (wherein I got more unemployment plus the EIDL)
mid July 2020- $31724 (got the rest of the backpay, woohoo!)
7/31/20- $33340
9/2/20- $36366

Good- I got hired for two new jobs, both of which will or might pay more per hour than the one I have now!  Crazy, as the vast majority of my friends don't have a job right now at all (STILL!) unless they are teaching.  Even my bf is just doing deliveries, he hasn't had a job job since end of Feb.

Bad- it's now been 7 weeks since I got any payment from unemployment.  I'm about to not need it anymore, but it's still annoying that I didn't get what I was owed yet.  Our state is massively backlogged with issues related to identity verification that need a certified examiner to look at them.  As of today I'm owed roughly $3850.  I do want it but also acknowledge I'm in very good shape, have a roof over my head, not struggling, and saving.

My market gains have kinda sucked since I was doing a value investing ETF scheme...didn't sell anything except the 10% I had in bonds at the market bottom, which I bought more equities with...rode everything back to pretty close where they were (excepting REITs and SLYV which have done TERRIBLE).  I have been putting new funds in gold/silver/miners, and commodities, and also have a small position in bitcoin staking/USD coin staking (about $750 right now, I did it for some sign up bonuses but am leaving the coins for now) and GBTC (like $200, will DCA that).  I also started a small growth portfolio, only $2k which % is very small part of my stash.  All of these have gained more than the market so far, so I am pleased.

Finally got my solo401k open so looking forward to working on that.

[kaposzta]

July 12, 2019: $66,565
Aug 1, 2019: $68,207 (+2.47%, +$1,642)
Aug 29, 2019: $69,931 (+2.53%, +$1,724)
Sept 29, 2019: $71,138 (+1.73%, +$1,207)
Oct 31, 2019: $71,517 (+0.53%, +$379)
Nov 29, 2019: $73,138 (+2.27%, +$1,621)
Jan 01, 2020: $74,276 (+1.56%, +$1,138)
Feb 06, 2020: $73,621 (-0.88%, -$655)
March 05, 2020: $74,517 (+1.22%, +$896)
No data for April, I lost my interest seeing the losses :)
May 05, 2020: $68,620 (-8.59%, -$5,897)
June 04, 2020: $70,345 (+2.51%, +$1,725)
July 02, 2020: $72,483 (+3.04%, +$2,138)
August 05, 2020: $74,655 (+3.00%, +$2,172)
Sept 03, 2020: $75,241 (+0.78%, +$586)

While SR was over 68% in August, my investments were down by ~1%.
I had a $150 domain sale last month, but I haven't received the funds yet, I'm also waiting for a $90 installment on a former domain sale.
I'm content with the fact that my net worth is now higher than in March (before the time I lost 10% on my investments), and hopefully I'll be able to pass the 80k mark still in 2020.