Tuesday 2 December 2014

November 2014 Net Worth: $561,000 (+8.8%) and Expenditure Tracker

I should state upfront that although this headline number looks like a massive jump, I have set aside ~$15,000 of this to fund my new car.  If you want to know a more accurate 'look' through net worth you need to subtract the assets by $15,000


November 2014 Net Worth: $562,000 (+8.8%)


Value% Change
Assets$921,000+4.9%
Liabilities$359,000-0.8%
Net worth$561,000+8.8%


What drove my net worth performance this month?

Holy Moly!  That performance was far better than I expected this month (although as I indicated above this number is flattered because I haven't yet bought my sports car...I'm in the process of buying one from Japan).  This is also the first month where my assets exceeded $900,000...$1 million seems so close.  So let's jump straight into the factors which affected my performance this month:
  • Positive factors
    • My bonus was paid this month
      • My bonus is paid in November every year and as a result it tends to be the 'wow' month for me
      • My bonus this year was far better than I expected which I confess is not something that happens very often.  However tax being what it is the amount that actually made it into my account was far less that the original headline number I was so excited about
    • I paid off all amounts owing to myself and saved a heap
      • By sticking to a pretty rigid budget I found that I was having to borrow money from my savings every month to make up for over-expenditures
      • When the bonus was paid into my account the first thing I did was to pay all of this back (my savings account is now 'whole') 
      • After that I put away some money for my wedding and for my car (for more details see the expenditure tracker below)
    • My credit card balance is the lowest it has been since July 2012
      • My credit card balance at the end of the month was ~$1,500.  I haven't had a balance this low in nearly 2.5 years!
      • This was driven entirely by the fact that I had saved for and cash funded my holiday expenditure.  The budget I set at the start of the year is really starting to pay off!
  • Negative factors
    • I generated a little bit of capital gains tax through share trading
      • I keep track of how much I owe in CGT so that I'm not surprised when it comes around to tax time
      • I sold some shares which I bought years ago because they had increased in price fourfold and I no longer really understood why I owned them

What is my outlook for next month?

Last month I knew my bonus was coming however I didn't realise how good it would be.  I targeted $550,000 and was happy to more than exceed this number.  In the coming month I don't have any 'big positives' coming and I'll probably be spending a bit on Christmas presents and the festive season.

I am also hoping to have purchased my sports car (which is going to cause a definite hit to my savings balance).  I am therefore going to keep my target for December 2014 to be a net worth of $550,000.  If I complete the year having achieved this I think I'm going to be pretty pleased with the outcome!

April 2014 Expenditure Tracker

ItemApr 2014Monthly TargetPerf. vs Target
Accommodation / Living expenses $1,703$2,246-$543
Car expenses$436$692-$256
Health / Well being expenses$427$566-$139
Entertainment / Personal expenses $1844$1,230+$613
Travel expenses$391$675-$284
Other 'big' expenses$4,600$3,508+$1,092
Savings / Investments$13,836$1,051+$12,785


If we look at the major line items in my tracker above

  • Accommodation and living expenses
    • I once again outperformed my expectations here.  It really does make it easier when you are sharing bills with 2 working people in the household.  I now split all grocery and utilities bills with my fiancee (however I still cover 100% of the rent...it's just the way it worked out)
  •  Car expenses
    • I didn't have any large car expenses this month (although I did have to fill the car several times unlike last month where I didn't fill it at all)
  • Health / well being expenses
    • I spent a bit more than expected this month as I fell quite sick after my South American holiday and had to spend a little bit on medications and doctors visits
  • Entertainment / personal expenses
    • I once again blew out my entertainment expense budget.  Weddings and bucks nights were the culprit and I easily spent $900 on these alone.  I have had an event every single weekend and it doesn't look like abating any time soon.
  • Travel expenses
    • I thought all my travel expenses were done until next year however I've booked in a trip to see my future in-laws who live a planes ride away.  That is an expense I'm going to have to seriously budget for in the coming years.
  • Other 'big' expenses
    • These expenses are starting to really kick into gear.  I expected to spend on my sports car this month but only spent $1,100 on appointing my import broker.  
    • I also saved $3,500 towards my upcoming wedding.  It was more than I had originally planned however with my updated weddings savings plan I needed to put in more cash while I had it.
  • Savings / investments
    • There was a lot that happened in this account this month.  I transferred the amount I had allotted for my car into my savings account until it comes time to spend it.  I also bought and sold some shares and paid back the amounts I had borrowed from my savings account
As mentioned above the coming month is likely to see big expenses on the entertainment front but also (hopefully) a rather large expenditure for my new sports car.  I will keep you up to date.

You May Also Be Interested In
October 2014 Net Worth: $516,000 and Expenditure Tracker
My updated wedding savings plan
How to combine finances with your partner...a transitioned approach
I'm importing a car from Japan...here's why

7 comments:

  1. Looks really good, congrats on that and sure the sports car will be a cool purchase for you to enjoy!

    Out of interest have you considered buying an additional/investment property, maybe after the wedding I suppose or even getting a margin loan to turbo-charge those share investments?

    Suppose it depends on how quickly, which also increases risks I know, you want to achieve it..

    Thanks for sharing again and looking forward to continue hearing updates :)

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    1. Hi Jef - thanks a lot!

      I have been thinking about how to leverage/ change my portfolio to generate higher returns however (I am extremely long cash at the moment which is a really crap place to be in a low interest rate environment) but there are a couple of things holding me back:

      1. I'm getting married (which is soaking up a lot of cash)
      2. I will need to buy a place to move into myself (which will require a large deposit if I don't want to be stuck with a non-deductible loan)
      3. Property doesn't feel like it's cheap at the moment. I'm finding far more opportunities in the share market than the property market at the moment.

      I have some leverage in my portfolio of assets through my investment property loan however it's currently very low (circa 35%). When I end up buying my own property this leverage ratio is likely to increase significantly which is why I'm holding back.

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  2. Fair enough, thanks for breaking this down, you make some great points there!

    I can imagine that a wedding probably isn't very cheap at all..

    On point 3 yes and no, depends on the market you're looking at, I'm going to be looking for between 250 K and 350 K, likely in the Brisbane area and probably go through a buyers agency.. I do know though that property is capital intensive and ties up a lot of capital plus is a large financial committment, which is one of the potential benefits for shares :)

    Keep up the good work anyway and I'll keep following!

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    Replies
    1. Yeah it's not an optimal outcome - I'd rather be investing aggressively at this point but life and investment horizons just don't fit.

      Good luck buying a property! I don't necessarily think it's a bad idea but given I already have exposure I don't feel the need for more. Can I make some suggestions re buying a property?
      - Buying interstate you lose the intimate knowledge you have of your area. I.e. what is a good area, where do people actually want to live?
      - You need to absolutely be on top of what you want, comparable pricing and you need to see the property before you pay any cash if you are using a buying agency

      Buying your first property away from your home state is quite a large step. But if you are confident with your investment and your research then go ahead. Let me know how it goes!

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  3. Yeah, that's understandable it's really all about the journey and not the destination, and as you say you enjoy your work so all is well :)..

    I simply have a lot of things I want to do outside of the 9 to 5, which means that I'm keen to fast-track a lot of investing but those goals will always be flexible..

    Thanks for the suggestion, I've got a strategy at looking to buy under market value property in a solid capital growth area and then duplicate the process in 12 - 18 months.. I know the strategy I want to follow but yes am likely to get the purchase off a buyers agent, I've chatted with a couple who take your strategy into consideration rather than selling an off the plan one where they get a kick-back off the developer..

    I agree about losing the knowledge of where people want to live but Sydney at the moment, especially Western Sydney has really boomed and if I wanted to buy there I should have bought 12 - 18 months ago, were talking probably 20 - 25% growth over the last 12 months..

    Yeah for sure I'll keep you posted, will be picking up the property in May after I've got around a 5K more deposit

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    1. Good luck Jef - that's really exciting and I'm really happy that you've managed to get to this point so quickly! I remember when you first started thinking about getting an investment property...it wasn't that long ago!

      Good to hear that you have a strategy - let me know how it all goes.

      I guess I don't try and pick when areas are going to go through capital growth. I have found that I am not very good at picking what areas are going to boom (although some others are VERY good at this).

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  4. Cheers 90M and I'll shoot you an email once it's all complete.. Have now signed another 12 month contact, unfortunately at the same $ amount, which is a bit of a story in itself but at least that will give me certainty for a while on that front and it seems time to pull the trigger..

    For me capital growth is what's going to help build the portfolio, while it's not something you can predict with certainty or rely upon... That's why I'll be getting the services of a relatively "unbiased" buyers agent..

    Anyway, thanks for the encouragement, you're a big motivating factor or at least someone who I can see is looking at similar goals :)

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