December 2014 Net Worth Update (+$1,239)

Highlights for December

We have earned approx $3,000 (in gift cards, points, and miles) through 6 credit card signup bonuses this year. Our credit scores are still hovering around 800, but since we have no plans to utilize our credit for other financing anytime soon, we are making a little money off our credit scores by taking advantage of these promotional opportunities.We are not spending extra, but focusing our spending on these new cards to earn the bonuses.
Our properties are listed on our balance sheet based on their cost basis, not current market value. We have done this during the the real estate market highs and lows. I believe real estate is too illiquid to list based on recent sale transactions. For those interested, our November Zillow property estimates are: $205,750; $127,006; $296,989; and $227,259 (total: $857,004 vs $751,255 on balance sheet).
Our expenses were up significantly in December due to Christmas shopping and annual real estate tax payments for 2 of our rental properties. We ended the month with our net worth balance up slightly.
I switched from AT&T to Cricket Wireless for my cell phone this month. My contract recently ended and I was able to purchase a phone with a Cyber Monday deal. I paid $210 for a new phone (my current phone had become unreliable. I reduced my monthly bill from an average of $70/month to $35/month. The change increases the minutes and texts available to me, but throttles my data after 1G (vs 2G w/ ATT) and doesn't offer the same international connectivity. Its worth it to me to cut our monthly phone bill in 1/2. We expect to save $420 (annual savings $35 x12) - $210 (cost of phone) = $210 over the course of the first year.

Related in Net Worth:

July 2018 Net Worth Update (+$52,101) (Aug 03, 2018) Highlights for JulyI come out of July feeling optimistic all the way around. We had positive developments on numerous fronts including the bottom line.In July we purchased our 5th rental property! The property market is very hot around our...

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Comments (3)

Looking over your balance sheet, the rental deposits should be on the assets side..

Posted by garrett | January 17, 2015 8:30 PM

Garret, The rental deposits are currently rolled up under cash, what we track as a liability is the amount of rental deposits we expect to pay back to tenants. This number will go down as rental deposits are paid back or consume for repair expenses out of the tenant's rental deposit.

Posted by 2million | January 20, 2015 1:19 PM

Great work on the $3k in credit card sign ups!!
Wish we had better incentives in Australia for debt applications!

The new phone deal sounds like a great price!

Posted by Mr Ikonz @ Project Ikonz | January 22, 2015 9:35 PM