Race from 100 to 250k

[JJsfr]

I suppose I'll join in... It's crazy how week to week or month to month things seem so small, but crazy how things over years can add up. No house, just cash, investments, and SL's. Have been putting away ~$4k month or so.

Dec 2014   $101k
Jan 2015   $102k
Feb 2015   $116k
Mar 2015   $117k
Apr 2015   $117k
May 2015   $121k
Jun 2015   $120k
Jul 2015    $126k
Aug 2015  $123k
Sep 2015   $125k
Oct 2015   $139k
Nov 2015   $146k
Dec 2015   $147k
Jan 2016   $141k
Feb 2016   $149k
Mar 2016   $164k
Apr 2016   $172k
May 2016  $178k
June 2016 $183k

July 2016 $193k

[FIreDrill]

Start of
Feb 2015:                $120,796
Mar 2015:                $125,852
Apr 2015:                $134,096
May 2015:               $147,916
Jun 2015:                $151,413
Jul 2015:                 $159,678
Sep 2015:               $152,854
Oct 2015:                $157,447
Nov 2015:                $171,938
Dec 2015:                $181,198
Jan 2015:                $203,468
Feb 2016:                $198,042
Mar 2016:                $206,381
Apr 2016:                 $217,931
May 2016:                $223,700
Jun 2016:                 $228,818
Jul 2016:                  $233,784
Aug 2016:                $246,760


Getting close!  Should cross the line next month if the market stays flat.

[dandypandys]

I wish I had written the dates for end of month instead of the 1st.. anyway will update after tomorrow,
Been playing with my wee chart today. Getting close to 250k! :) if I include everything and minus off the 6k left on mortgage, which is where I have been making the most progress at the moment.

[Pooplips]

1/31/16 - $101,376.00
3/1/2016 - $102,990.00
4/1/2016 - $116,749.00
5/1/2016 - $119,487.00
6/1/2016 - $126,469.00
7/1/2016 - $130,494.00

8/1/2016 - $137,029.00

[Guava]

June 2016: $139,619
July 2016: $143,948

I was thinking about this number last night and what it means to me for a long time. The last year of my life has been filled with changes, most big, and most expensive. August and September will be the last months of paying off my medical bills, and hopefully the last months of our lingering remodel. They will also be my last months unmarried. This number will be changing a lot still these next few months before things even out...and I am very excited for all of these changes.

[FITortoise]

Start of
Feb 2015:                $120,796
Mar 2015:                $125,852
Apr 2015:                $134,096
May 2015:               $147,916
Jun 2015:                $151,413
Jul 2015:                 $159,678
Sep 2015:               $152,854
Oct 2015:                $157,447
Nov 2015:                $171,938
Dec 2015:                $181,198
Jan 2015:                $203,468
Feb 2016:                $198,042
Mar 2016:                $206,381
Apr 2016:                 $217,931
May 2016:                $223,700
Jun 2016:                 $228,818
Jul 2016:                  $233,784
Aug 2016:                $246,760


Getting close!  Should cross the line next month if the market stays flat.

Congrats!!! That's great progress. Can you share what specific actions you've taken, or investments you've made, to get you to double NW in 1.5 years? I want to learn and be inspired :-)

[FIreDrill]

Start of
Feb 2015:                $120,796
Mar 2015:                $125,852
Apr 2015:                $134,096
May 2015:               $147,916
Jun 2015:                $151,413
Jul 2015:                 $159,678
Sep 2015:               $152,854
Oct 2015:                $157,447
Nov 2015:                $171,938
Dec 2015:                $181,198
Jan 2015:                $203,468
Feb 2016:                $198,042
Mar 2016:                $206,381
Apr 2016:                 $217,931
May 2016:                $223,700
Jun 2016:                 $228,818
Jul 2016:                  $233,784
Aug 2016:                $246,760


Getting close!  Should cross the line next month if the market stays flat.

Congrats!!! That's great progress. Can you share what specific actions you've taken, or investments you've made, to get you to double NW in 1.5 years? I want to learn and be inspired :-)

The usual mustachian advice.  Decrease your spending and put raises towards investments.

We are invested in total market index funds such as VTI.  One of biggest things that helped accelerate our portfolio growth was taking advantage of pre-tax accounts.  We have two 401k's, two IRA's, and one HSA.  This allows us to tax shelter over 60k per year after you include employer matches.  So we save over 10k in taxes per year by doing this.

Things may be slowing down ALOT next year though.  My wife may be leaving her job and exploring a more independent career field.

[turketron]

April 2015: $98k
May 2015: $111k
June 2015: $112k
July 2015: $113k
Aug 2015: $113k
Sept 2015: $116k
Nov 1 2015: $120,330.91
Dec 1 2015: $138,810.56

Jan 1 2016: $141,251.00
Feb 1 2016: $135,573.00
Mar 4 2016: $138,331.39
Apr 1 2016: $146,788.37
May 1 2016: $149,149.52
Jun 1 2016: $161,205.21
July 1 2016: $165,947.80
Aug 1 2016: $176,198.00

[MichaelB]

Filled in my spreadsheets this morning to close out July, and discovered that I broke $100k this month!!

I discovered MMM a couple of months ago--April or May. My wife and were doing pretty good for the average American--savings rate was probably about 15% or so. But we kept zero track of our expenses. We just had some auto draft stuff set up into a Roth and our employer plans, and our checking account stayed in roughly the same range from month to month. But we started trimming some fat from our expenses (still plenty to go--I don't have a bike, for example, and we both commute by car every day) and really focused on pumping all our extra funds into investments. Our savings rate for the year, according to my spreadsheets, is at 30%, but it's probably quite a bit higher than that over the last few months, since I only found MMM in April.

So I'm excited to hit this milestone!

[dandypandys]

2015
Jan 1st: 98,437.97
Feb 1st: $96,898.03
Mar 1st: $103,345.54
Apr 1st: $103,819.64
May 1st $105,766.12
Jun 1st $106,565.54
Jul 1st: $105,252.33
Aug 1st: $106,267.37
Sept 1st: $99,122.12
Oct 1st: $99,291.91
Nov 1st: $105,204.00
Dec 1st : $107,535.51

2016
Jan 1st:$104,592.84
Feb 1st: $99,467.66
March 1st:$101, 189.11
April 1st: $107,119.81
May 1st: $107,369.22 
June 1st: $110,836.03  my contributions went up this month to 10%
July 1st: $112,327.7
Aug 1st: $116,833.52  upped contributions to 10.5%, work adds 10.5% too- can't be believe I didn't at least match them before!

[Uncle Scrooge]

I decided to not include our cars in our net worth. I feel as though that's cheating a bit. So here are my updated numbers:

Jan 1,2015- $111,500
July 1,2015- $112,000
Jan 1,2016- $131,900
July 1,2016- $156,400
August 1,2016- $159,000

[mrteacher]

4/1: $100,869
5/1: $104,268
6/1: $107,087
7/1: $112,489
8/1: $118,328

It's inspiring seeing everyone else's progress! Keeps me motivated (and, without a doubt, humble!)

I'm on target to hit my "reach" goal of $120,000 by 9/1! If I do, that'll mean I've increased my NW by $43,000 since 9/1/15. Holy crap!! This is the first year I've been eligible for an employer match, and the first year that I'm maxing my 403(b); amazing what some tax sheltered stashing can do!

[ender]

I'm on target to hit my "reach" goal of $120,000 by 9/1! If I do, that'll mean I've increased my NW by $43,000 since 9/1/15. Holy crap!! This is the first year I've been eligible for an employer match, and the first year that I'm maxing my 403(b); amazing what some tax sheltered stashing can do!

In our "net worth tracking" sheet I have a column that compares net worth to a year prior. Kind of interesting to see :)  It'll be interesting to see the effect over the course of a year. Market swings affect this a fair bit, though. Hah.

[mrteacher]

I'm on target to hit my "reach" goal of $120,000 by 9/1! If I do, that'll mean I've increased my NW by $43,000 since 9/1/15. Holy crap!! This is the first year I've been eligible for an employer match, and the first year that I'm maxing my 403(b); amazing what some tax sheltered stashing can do!

In our "net worth tracking" sheet I have a column that compares net worth to a year prior. Kind of interesting to see :)  It'll be interesting to see the effect over the course of a year. Market swings affect this a fair bit, though. Hah.

Me too! I love looking at the year over year progress -- but I agree, market swings can decimate the NW for a few months and make it look like no progress is being made! For example at the beginning of 2016 I dipped $2,000 from 1/1-2/1.

[tarheeldan]

Congrats to all on their progress!

Up 4.8% or %5,371.06 last month to $118,457.93. Thanks to the markets and despite some heavy expenses (new set of 4 tires, vehicle registration, annual vet visit, baby shower gifts).

Up 3.9% this month or $4,273 to $113,099.

Some of us are tracking our progress here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Z8OcegKpbeNJoqSI0nzoBuypFKqDD7BT2SS60oFEeCw/edit?usp=sharing

[Mazzinator]

So happy to finally join you all. It took us 23 months to graduate from the $100k thread...hope to get to $250k in 18-24 months!!

Does not include real estate.

5/3/16 - $100,825

6/3/16 - $104,923

7/6/16 - $106,848

8/3/16 - $116,321

[Money Badger]

Hi all!   I've been MIA for a few months but am proud to say "the kid is back"!   Just paid off the auto loan i focused (er, obsessed) on the past few months and stached 5k in the investment account for this challenge to get back over $101k.    And on 7/1, will put the free cash flow of the former auto loan towards the mortgage payoff club...    I feel so "less dirty" now without that stupid auto debt...  ;-)

August update - The summer months have been challenging...   Overall, up to $103K which seems good.   But spent clown money on vacation and all the stuff to send my oldest to college.   The silver lining is I sold a sizeable muni-fund income investment back in the spring that just took at 10% capital hit due to a reduction in monthly payout (for once I read the details of the annual report and interpreted correctly to sell high on that one)...   So call it an "avoided loss" which is "just like cash which is as good as real money" as Yogi Berra said on the old AFLAC commercials...  :)

[codemonkey]

Investment Accounts only.

January 2015:   $77,300
July 2015:         $115,800

January 2016:   $124,100
February 2016: $127,500
March 2016:      $141,700
April 2016:        $152,300 - Finally crossed the $150k line!  The rest of this year should be rather slow going as we front loaded our investments as much as possible this year.
May 2016:         $157,000
June 2016:        $160,200 - We are only contributing about 400 a week since we front loaded our investments this year.  The rest is market gains.
July 2016:         $163,600 - We are up $48,000 from last July, which is about $2k behind where I was hoping we would be.  Not a bad year overall though

August 2016:    $170,800 - It was a good month in the market

[Slurgi]

Okay, I'm in. First post!

Includes only financial net-worth (I don't have any other meaningful assets anyway); investment account holdings less student loan debt.

Code: [Select]

20160801: $101,832.52

[PFHC]

Okay, I'm in. First post!

Includes only financial net-worth (I don't have any other meaningful assets anyway); investment account holdings less student loan debt.

Code: [Select]

20160801: $101,832.52

Congrats and welcome Slurgi!

[kickel]

Finally made it into this thread! I'm amazed at how much some of you guys are able to put away each month. Is it high income, dual income, market return. Either way I'm jealous. Well here is my starting point, with no home equity.

8/8/16: $101,750

[tarheeldan]

Welcome, Slurgi and kickel!

[PFHC]

Finally made it into this thread! I'm amazed at how much some of you guys are able to put away each month. Is it high income, dual income, market return. Either way I'm jealous. Well here is my starting point, with no home equity.

8/8/16: $101,750

Congrats and welcome, Kickel! No need to be jealous, you are kicking ass in your own right, just by being here!

To answer your questions, we're single income and the decent increases we've shown are reflected in the screenshot of our financial chart since Dec 2010. Shows all the pertinent data:



For us, I would say its a combination of a decent income (its been high at times, but I hesitate to call it high all the time), frugal life choices, and putting our money in the right places. For investments, we're simple: we do 90% stock based index funds, 10% bond index. So, returns on investments reflect what the market does. We paid all toxic debt (which includes school and car loans) down SUPER aggressively, have put money into improving our house (which has shown fairly decent returns), and that's about it.

My analysis of the data is that following MMM has been the biggest thing for allowing us large increases in net worth. We have always been anti-debt, but started following MMM in early 2015. You can see that despite making less money year after year since 2014, our stash has still been following a nice logarithmic growth. That is due largely to our steadily increasing savings rate.

[dandypandys]

Thanks! That info is really interesting to me too!I have my own graph too, but because I haven't added the other things- esp mortgage, I see little progress. With me paying off the mortgage come Sept 1st (yay) I will be able to see things more clearly going forward.

[kickel]

That is an awesome breakdown. Thanks for sharing! Ya I've started making the transition, changed jobs, and now I ride my bike to work everyday. Which is awesome, cooking more and less nights out on the town have definitely helped. The last step from here is to raise my income, without raising my standard of living.

Thanks for the break down PFHC!!

[PFHC]

That is an awesome breakdown. Thanks for sharing! Ya I've started making the transition, changed jobs, and now I ride my bike to work everyday. Which is awesome, cooking more and less nights out on the town have definitely helped. The last step from here is to raise my income, without raising my standard of living.

Thanks for the break down PFHC!!

My pleasure. I can remember in 2011, when I embarked upon improving our financial life, looking at my net worth and investments and wondering how I could ever possiblly have $100k in the bank or ever be worth anything more than $25k. I can remember when we'd get a little jealous and bummed, but we just stuck with it and it certainly seems to be working.

[SpareChange]

That is an awesome breakdown. Thanks for sharing! Ya I've started making the transition, changed jobs, and now I ride my bike to work everyday. Which is awesome, cooking more and less nights out on the town have definitely helped. The last step from here is to raise my income, without raising my standard of living.

Thanks for the break down PFHC!!

Congrats on making it to the next level!!

I'm not exactly in the top echelon in this thread, but I don't mind sharing my own experience, even if I don't have a cool chart to go along with it :). Single income. No dependents. Renter. Here's the recent history of my SS earnings record:

2011: $13,078
2012: $37,783
2013: $60,970
2014: $74,018
2015: $89,449

I graduated with the degree I currently use in May of 2012. At that time I had roughly $50k in debt, just over 80% of which was in graduate student loans. My net worth would've been around -$45k to -$50k. I paid off my non-student loan debt by Nov 2012, and my last student loan in Jan 2015. I worked on a PRN basis from graduation until Mar 2014, when I accepted a FT position. My expenses last year (outside of the last ~$4500 stud loan payments) were ~$18,350. Could've easily knocked off another $1k or so. Food and drink could've been optimized better. I don't commute on a bike, and my car is not the most gas efficient. I keep around $2k in checking, and the rest of my assets are in index funds. Market really didn't do jack for me last year. Net worth at the end of July was just over $134k.

Anyway, hope that helps! :)

[t5inside]

I'm pretty new here, but have been YNAB'ing and on this path since early 2015. I just crossed $200k NW, so my celebration is to post my progress here :)

Feb-15   $66,984.00
Mar-15   $71,573.00
Apr-15   $80,075.00
May-15   $90,638.00
Jun-15   $87,398.00
Jul-15   $88,943.00
Aug-15   $96,491.00
Sep-15   $105,033.00
Oct-15   $117,029.00
Nov-15   $124,767.00
Dec-15   $134,181.00
Jan-16   $140,510.00
Feb-16   $144,519.00
Mar-16   $154,952.00
Apr-16   $167,621.00
May-16   $177,354.00
Jun-16   $183,866.00
Jul-16   $195,548.00
Aug-16   $204,734.00


Edit: About $50k of that is house appreciation, but I do count that still.

[FIreDrill]

I'm pretty new here, but have been YNAB'ing and on this path since early 2015. I just crossed $200k NW, so my celebration is to post my progress here :)

Feb-15   $66,984.00
Mar-15   $71,573.00
Apr-15   $80,075.00
May-15   $90,638.00
Jun-15   $87,398.00
Jul-15   $88,943.00
Aug-15   $96,491.00
Sep-15   $105,033.00
Oct-15   $117,029.00
Nov-15   $124,767.00
Dec-15   $134,181.00
Jan-16   $140,510.00
Feb-16   $144,519.00
Mar-16   $154,952.00
Apr-16   $167,621.00
May-16   $177,354.00
Jun-16   $183,866.00
Jul-16   $195,548.00
Aug-16   $204,734.00

Welcome and congrats on hitting 200k!

Your NW is increasing pretty rapidly.  Way to keep it up over the last 2 years!

[SpareChange]

I'm pretty new here, but have been YNAB'ing and on this path since early 2015. I just crossed $200k NW, so my celebration is to post my progress here :)

Feb-15   $66,984.00
Mar-15   $71,573.00
Apr-15   $80,075.00
May-15   $90,638.00
Jun-15   $87,398.00
Jul-15   $88,943.00
Aug-15   $96,491.00
Sep-15   $105,033.00
Oct-15   $117,029.00
Nov-15   $124,767.00
Dec-15   $134,181.00
Jan-16   $140,510.00
Feb-16   $144,519.00
Mar-16   $154,952.00
Apr-16   $167,621.00
May-16   $177,354.00
Jun-16   $183,866.00
Jul-16   $195,548.00
Aug-16   $204,734.00

Wow, amazing progress!!

[Woodro85]

Alright, I'm joining in!
NW today is $103,038
On current pace to break $250k by December 2019 but I think the snowball will help me get there much faster.

[Kaspian]

Holy shitballs, people!  I've never seen this thread.  Many of you have managed to plow $70-120K within a year and a half.  Amazing.  This thread would make many "normal" people out there either faint or become enraged with screaming.  (Yeah, financial numeracy seems to upset the masses.)  I find it purely mindblowing and inspiring.  :D

...Now if I could just write a program to time-machine this data back to 23 year-old me. 

[FIreDrill]

Well it's been a fun ride everyone!  We officially went over 250k in the last couple days. 

I'm sure we will bounce around between 245 to 255 over the next month but I'm going to jump ship to the 250-500k thread.  Hope to see everyone there soon :)


End Of
2014-Q1:                $55,471
2014-Q2:                $78,319
2014-Q3:                $84,251
2014-Q4:                $106,801
2015-Q1:                $126,464
2015-Q2:                $145,996
2015-Q3:                $151,957
2015-Q4:                $203,486
2016-Q1:                $217,931
2016-Q2:                $233,784
Current:                   $250,019


Keep on rocking it everyone!

[t5inside]

Thanks, and StudentStacher, congrats. See you over there in a few months!

[tarheeldan]

Well it's been a fun ride everyone!  We officially went over 250k in the last couple days. 

Congratulations!!!

[PFHC]

Well it's been a fun ride everyone!  We officially went over 250k in the last couple days. 

I'm sure we will bounce around between 245 to 255 over the next month but I'm going to jump ship to the 250-500k thread.  Hope to see everyone there soon :)


End Of
2014-Q1:                $55,471
2014-Q2:                $78,319
2014-Q3:                $84,251
2014-Q4:                $106,801
2015-Q1:                $126,464
2015-Q2:                $145,996
2015-Q3:                $151,957
2015-Q4:                $203,486
2016-Q1:                $217,931
2016-Q2:                $233,784
Current:                   $250,019


Keep on rocking it everyone!

Congrats StudentStacher! I should be right behind you when the next check hits the bank...

[steveo]

I just graduated from the the 10k to 100k thread.

I'll do it like this:-

1. I only include assets outside of super and my house.
2. I'll update every 3 months.

I have no idea how long this will take but I think about 2 years. So I'll aim to complete this by July 2018.

I just hit $102k today.

[SpareChange]

Well it's been a fun ride everyone!  We officially went over 250k in the last couple days. 

Congrats!! You should be very proud. :)

[SpareChange]

Alright, I'm joining in!
NW today is $103,038
On current pace to break $250k by December 2019 but I think the snowball will help me get there much faster.

About time! Jk....good to see you've joined us! :)

[Nick_Miller]

Ugh our Net Worth was lower than I thought.

May 2016: $106,529
June 2016: $109,892
July 2016: $115,035

We should be able to increase it by $3K monthly, bare minimum, for the rest of the year, so we should be at $130K by year's end. But we'll shoot for $135K!

August 2016: $125,235.44.

Had a great August with a large bonus that allowed me to max my IRA for the year and open one for my wife. Upping goal to $150K net worth by year's end.

[Nick_Miller]

Alright, I'm joining in!
NW today is $103,038
On current pace to break $250k by December 2019 but I think the snowball will help me get there much faster.

Reaching $250K by Dec 2019 (or earlier!) would be an awesome goal for my family as well!  It's nice to see others on roughly the same course. Best wishes getting there as soon as possible!

[Tris Prior]

Whoops, a couple weeks late in doing my Aug. 1 update:

401k: 84,132.92
Roth: 42,940.48
Emergency fund: 9,485.13     

Total: 136558.53
July 1 Total: 129,534.11
Increase: 7024.42

[PFHC]

Aug 2015: $133,000
Sept 2015: $147,097
Oct 2015: $153,200
Nov 2015: $155,986
Dec 2015: $154,299
Jan 2016: $156,663
Feb 2016: $158,332
Mar 2016 $182,654
Apr 2016: $186,898
May 2016: $197,500 + $18,000 unvested pension
Jun 2016: $227,300
Jul 2016: $243,161

Aug 2016: $248,088

Damn! So close! Forgot we had to pay state and property tax. :(

Since I effed myself last month by saying I would be out of here this month, so no more guesses. Just hoping it will be soon!

[Nick_Miller]

Aug 2015: $133,000
Sept 2015: $147,097
Oct 2015: $153,200
Nov 2015: $155,986
Dec 2015: $154,299
Jan 2016: $156,663
Feb 2016: $158,332
Mar 2016 $182,654
Apr 2016: $186,898
May 2016: $197,500 + $18,000 unvested pension
Jun 2016: $227,300
Jul 2016: $243,161

Aug 2016: $248,088

Damn! So close! Forgot we had to pay state and property tax. :(

Since I effed myself last month by saying I would be out of here this month, so no more guesses. Just hoping it will be soon!

Man/woman, you're killing it! I wouldn't sweat over one more month. Adding over $100K in NW in a year is freakin' awesome!

[PFHC]

Man/woman, you're killing it! I wouldn't sweat over one more month. Adding over $100K in NW in a year is freakin' awesome!

Man. And thanks! Been a good year!

[easternblockbabe]

Quick progress:

July 28 2016:      $150,359.87 retirement     $204,445.70 total non-equity
Aug 26 2016:      $152,086.45 retirement     $213,655.96 total non-equity   

[Imustacheyouaquestion]

Hello, I just graduated from the race to $100k thread. Is there a google spreadsheet for this one? I'm at $104k now :)

[tarheeldan]

Hello, I just graduated from the race to $100k thread. Is there a google spreadsheet for this one? I'm at $104k now :)

Welcome! And yes 👍 :
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Z8OcegKpbeNJoqSI0nzoBuypFKqDD7BT2SS60oFEeCw/edit?usp=drive_web

[SpareChange]

Hello, I just graduated from the race to $100k thread. Is there a google spreadsheet for this one? I'm at $104k now :)

I second the welcome!!!

[SeattleStache]

Retirement only, does not include real estate or cash savings:
January 2015: $98,619
February 2015: $102,414
March 2015: $104,001
April 2015: $106,458
May 2015: $106,866
June 2015: $107,133
July 2015: $107,090
August 2015: $102,260
September 2015: $103,731
October 2015: $106,389
November 2015: $107,314
December 2015: $105,826
January 2016: $101,235
February 2016: $101,464
March 2016: $117,072
April 2016: 120,517
May 2016: $122,419
June 2016: $123,916
July 2016: $131, 349
August 2016: $133, 749

Total NW including real estate and cash savings: $216,561.