December 2012 Net Worth Update (+$6,595)

Highlights for Decemer

We like to take advantage of 0% APR balance transfers and other credit card offers for free money. In December I signed up for a Capital One Spark Business Credit Card that offered a $500 bonus after spending $4,500 within the 1st 3 months and offers 1.5% cash back off all purchases with no annual fee.
Our properties are listed on our balance sheet based on their cost basis, not current market value. We did this while the real estate market was riding high and we continue to do it now during the slide. I believe real estate is too illiquid to list based on recent sale transactions. For those interested, our Jan Zillow property estimates are: $189,928; $121,219; $291,952 (which recently appraised for $270k); and $228,995.
Now that we have 2 houses with no primary mortgage with escrow, we paid out ~$4,400 property taxes in December.
In December we took our first road trip with the expanded family for the holidays. We spent $406 ($287 - tow hitch, ~$60 hitch haul, $59 cargo bag) to expand our cargo carrying capacity to handle the bigger family. Were hoping with this expansion well be able to indefinitely put off having to purchase a larger vehicle for the family.
In December our investment portfolio outperformed nicely compared to our benchmark (2.91% vs 1.30%). I'll post our investment report shortly.
We are still a stone's throw away from being millionaires (on the balance sheet at least) and inching closer. We didn't make it in 2012, but I feel pretty comfortable we will pass the milestone in 1H2013 barring any unforseen major changes.

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Comments (3)

I am looking for a link to the Capital One Spark card with a $500 bonus... best I can find is $150 bonus. Do you know how to access the offer you received? Thanks!

Posted by Eric | January 4, 2013 9:28 AM

Eric - I responded to a direct mail offer - unable to locate it online at this point.

Posted by 2million | January 4, 2013 11:41 AM

Do you reduce the value of your pre-tax retirement accounts by an estimated tax rate?

Posted by steve | January 7, 2013 1:59 PM