March 2007 Net Worth Update (+$10,274)

A nice recovery in response to my first down month in 2 years. My net worth gained $10,274 mostly on a recovery in the market and receiving my annual bonus at work.

Assets	Feb-07	Mar-07	Change	%
Cash & Savings	$ 76,595.31	$ 73,741	$ (2,854.69)	-3.73%
Taxable Brokerage Accts	$ 59,889.54	$ 61,785.86	$ 1,896.32	3.17%
Roth IRA	$ 32,638.53	$ 33,372.75	$ 734.22	2.25%
Pre-tax Retirement Accts	$ 124,184.47	$ 129,277.34	$ 5,092.87	4.10%
Stock Options	$ -	$ 728.00	$ 728.00
ESPP	$ 28,549.13	$ 31,660.25	$ 3,111.12	10.90%
House #1 - Rental	$ 160,000.00	$ 160,000.00	$ -
House #2 - Primary	$ 128,225.00	$ 128,225.00	$ -
Receivable (Payable)	$ -	$ 3,061.00	$ -
Other Assets	$ -	$ -	$ -
Total Assets	$ 610,081.98	$ 621,850.82	$ 11,768.84	1.93%
Liabilities
Credit Card Balances	$ (63,178.81)	$ (64,784.68)	$ (1,605.87)	2.54%
House #1 Mortgages	$ (116,519.97)	$ (116,337.04)	$ 182.93	-0.16%
House #2 Mortgages	$ (103,163.62)	$ (103,053.07)	$ 110.55	-0.11%
Rental Deposits	$ (1,000.00)	$ (1,000.00)	$ -	0.00%
Additional Tax Liability	$ -	$ (182.00)	$ (182.00)
Other Liabilities			$ -
Total Liabilities	$ (283,862.40)	$ (285,356.79)	$ (1,494.39)	0.46%
Net Worth	$ 326,219.58	$ 336,494.03	$ 10,274.45	3.21%

Highlights for March

All credit card debt (except current month's purchases) is in the form of 0% APR balance transfers earning interest in my savings accounts.
March was a busy month. I have been spending alot of time working on my primary house, getting it ready to rent out. I have been doing this home improvement on the cheap - here are my ideas on saving money on remodeling and landscaping.
I received my annual bonus, but spent it pretty quickly on taxes and home improvement.
I also started to think about what I am going to do when I reach my financial goal of a net worth of $2 million.
My fiancee and I agreed to cancel her $34.95 security system monitoring service.

Additional Stock Investments March (Outside of 401k & ESPP):

$250 in ConocoPhillips DRIP
$500 in USG DRIP
$250 in Vanguard Roth IRA
$578 in Vanguard SEP IRA

Related in Net Worth Archive:

May 2012 Net Worth Update (-$28,098) (Jun 10, 2012) Highlights for MayWe like to take advantage of 0% APR balance transfers and other credit card offers for free money. We are actively looking at taking advantage of new credit card arbitrage opportunities. Our properties are listed on our...

April 2012 Net Worth Update (+$2,763) (May 09, 2012) Highlights for AprilWe like to take advantage of 0% APR balance transfers and other credit card offers for free money. We are actively looking at taking advantage of new credit card arbitrage opportunities. We received $1,000+ in rewards cash...

March 2012 Net Worth Update (+$22,032) (Apr 11, 2012) Highlights for MarchWe like to take advantage of 0% APR balance transfers and other credit card offers for free money. We are actively looking at taking advantage of new credit card arbitrage opportunities. We are close to earning ~$1,000...

Comments (12)

Very nice month. Especially the increases in your retirement and ESPP accounts. I am amazed at the amount of 0%BTs that you have. How many different credit cards are you using?

Posted by LAMoneyGuy | April 2, 2007 11:17 AM

Very nice month! Just like mine, you seem to have made much money this month even though the market has been pretty volatle.

Btw, how are the credit card 0% balance transfer treating you? I've always wanted to do this (seemed like free money) but is scared that it will affect my credit score as I'm also looking to purchase a house in a couple months.

My Own Millions Blog

Posted by MyOwnMillions | April 2, 2007 1:08 PM

I'm always curious, when you mention your fiancee and how you always seem to "talk" her into (out of) things that she doesn't seem immediately receptive to, has she ever talked you out of a purchase or investment? Has she ever even tried? Being a single mom, if someone I was engaged to tried to talk me out of my security system just to save some bucks, I would no longer be engaged to that person. Especially when my safety concerns are simply dismissed as a matter of dollars and cents, and can be written off as a silly discretionary expense like so many Manolo Blahniks.

Posted by Stefanie | April 2, 2007 3:56 PM

Great work. Thanks for the update. When are the options actionable?

Posted by cmraynew | April 2, 2007 4:14 PM

Good question - Im not sure my fiancee is plugged in enough to talk me in or out of an investment. I take that back -- she was a big influence in my current home I purchased in June -- she talked me out of a few others I had considered.

As for the saftey comment -- its clear I haven't written up that episode in the right manner -- people are thinking I pushed my fiancee into dumping her security system and putting her safety at risk. I don't think things could be further from the truth. If anyone can provide any evidence that a two way montioring service provides any level of additional security -- please let me know. She will still have the security system - just not the $34.95 monitoring service.

Come to think about it -- I think there are a lot of short sighted people out there that are jumping to conclusions and not thinking it through. Quite frankly if you think I am bulllying my fiancee into dumping her security system to save a few dollars - your an idiot. We are getting married -- my baseball bat and right arm are the new security system :-).

Posted by 2 million | April 2, 2007 10:48 PM

I have about $61k in 0% balance transfers on 4 cards. I wouldn't try it if your buying a house, but if you have no plans to use your credit then its certainly a tool you can consider.

Posted by 2 million | April 2, 2007 10:52 PM

I use a nine iron. Your "bat speed" on an iron is much higher than a baseball bat. The damage that it imposes may not be quite as much, but it will be ample.

Posted by LAMoneyGuy | April 3, 2007 12:27 AM

LOL -- good point. Ill move the 9 iron to the bedroom closet, just in case.

Posted by 2 million | April 3, 2007 5:14 PM

Thanks for the warning/advice on the 0% credit cards. I will keep my greedy self trying to do this until I get my mortgage and house first.

Posted by David Ning | April 4, 2007 1:26 AM

If you are living with her that's quite a different story.
And I do think that when a criminal is belted with a siren, and the realization that they've broken into a house where police will show up within ten minutes, they are much more likely to just turn around and run away than they would if they walked into a house where there was a woman sleeping (and in my case, a three year old as well). I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be very intimidated at all.
On the morbid side, if I was being attacked by said criminal, the police might find my body sooner, maybe in enough time so that I could be saved.
If I can't reach a phone on my own, I would be relying on the alarm system to being help.
God forbid.
Sorry to be so cynical, got out of a nasty marriage and I NEED the security system, though I pay only $80/qtr. And I got it installed for free, all three doors, and several 1st floor windows. So at least I was frugal about it.
I don't think your a jerk and unconcerned with her safety, I just see you've posted several times about your "persuasion" powers with the fiancee, and I didn't know if she had equal footing. It really isn't my business though. These damn blogs.

Posted by Stefanie | April 4, 2007 6:11 PM

Thanks for the explanation -- I this has been getting under my skin a bit, but I understand why -- Im giving a one side slant on the story and relating it to my financial goals. If I read this on someones blog then Id probably be thinking the same thing.

Posted by 2 million | April 6, 2007 4:58 PM

I assume you're not just using the basic (and ripoff) IBM TDSP plan? IBM has a 401k option called "mutual fund window" that allows you to invest in far better quality funds (and much lower expenses too!).

Posted by Proteus | April 14, 2007 12:10 AM