As of May 6 , 2014, we are $438,339.52 in debt (that includes the mortgage). Without the mortgage, we’re at $22,544.49 in debt. This includes student loans and an auto loan. We currently have $1,030,065.49 in assets (including our house). Our retirement accounts are at $370,706.34. Our Net Worth is $591,725.97 (includes house and mortgage), up from $589,763.53 last month (0.33% increase).
This month was relatively flat in the investment area. We went up by our contributions, and that’s it (1.33%). Our assets went down again – our estimated house value (through Zillow) dropped as well as using some of our savings to pay off debt. I suspect the house value will increase a bit as the spring/summer selling season goes on – there are about 5 houses for sale in our neighborhood, none of which are our model though (one of the largest in the neighborhood).
I decided to strategically reduce our emergency fund to pay off more of the student loans. The 6.55% loan has a balance of about $2,300, and will be paid off in July (at the latest). We reduced our e-fund from 5k to 3k, so we still have quite a bit should Murphy pay a visit. The plan is to pump up our e-fund to 3 months of expenses after paying off the student loans (and maxing my 401k contribution), then split what’s left between bringing it up to 6 months and investing. At 5k it would cover our minimum expenses for a month if both of us lost our jobs at the same time (which is unlikely), *and* we use YNAB’s rule 4 to live on last month’s income, so we have a built in one month buffer/e-fund there as well.
We’re still up 5.30% in net worth since the beginning of the year, and I think we’ll be able to hit our goal of 650k this year – especially if we keep contributing as we plan to. If the markets take a dive, we’ll be out of luck, but that’s gambling for you!
Debt (in the order we’re paying it down):
- Line of credit (8.75%): $0.00
- Chase (4.99% for life): $ 0.00
- Student loans (aggregated 4.21%): $4,944.49 (-3,282.14)
- Car loan (0%): $17,600 (-490.00)
- Mortgage (4.125%): $ 415,795.03 (-705.01)
Total paid off in April: $4,477.17
Congratulations on your progress. I think throwing some of your emergency fund at debt was a smart move. When we were finishing paying off our debt, we did the same, and kept a $1,000 emergency fund. I was nervous about having so little saved up, but during the year it took, we never used the emergency fund once. I was able to squish little Murphies here and there by selling things we didn’t need, selling some stocks, doing a little freelance work, etc. It doesn’t really make sense to have a ton of money sitting in savings when you’re throwing money away paying interest. Best of luck!
We actually are about to dip into it to pay for a procedure for one of our kitties – unexpected and more than we have in the ‘kitty care’ fund. Will be easy to refill, but it’s the kind of thing we have it for. It’s more than $1000, so I’m glad we still have the slightly larger efund for now.