Net Worth: $65,977

Month Change: +$8035

Check out those Assets!

My 401(k) went up by almost $6,000. I didn’t crack the stock market. I had a big fat bonus check so 14% of that went into my 401(k) in addition to my 14% of my regular salary. That plus some gains (and potentially timing of if my last reconciling included July’s contribution or my employer’s match) equals “Whoa big money!”

You can also see a big chunk of money leaving my checking account.

Credit Card Pop Quiz

1. Can you guess which credit card still has an active 0% finance charge offer?
2. Can you guess which credit card was about to have its 0% finance charge offer expire?

Answers:

1. If you guessed #7 – the card with the biggest balance remaining, congrats!
2. If you guessed #1 – the card that I just paid off a massive, nearly $8,000 balance in one fell swoop, you’re pretty smart about this money business.

My 0% for 12 month financing offer was about to expire on the main card I was using for all my charges. It still has a $477 balance because that’s the transaction total that I racked up after the statement closed. That small balance isn’t due until October.

I do my best to pay my statement balance in full each month on all cards that would otherwise accrue interest. And if you’re not already doing this, you should try to get to that magic place too. Credit card masters make money off their credit cards each year, earning more in rewards than they pay in credit card finance charges and annual fees.

Student Loans Are the Worst

Have I mentioned that I hate student loans?

Here’s another multiple choice question for you:

Based on their balance changes, guess which student loan has the highest interest rate.

Did you guess K’s grad loan? Because that one is the absolute worst. It’s at 6.8% interest. With my income based repayment plan, if I only make minimum payments due, it’ll keep growing on me.

Small Wins While Plotting Big Victories

I shaved almost $20 off my monthly recurring expenses by taking advantage of a credit card offer. My American Express card has a reward program, paying me 10% back on my phone bill and 10% back on my cable bill if I have them charged automatically to my American Express card. I happily took the two minutes to change which card was set up on my auto-pay for these accounts.

There’s a lot of talk of the “focus on big wins, not the small stuff” like shaving 10% off your bill or getting 10% back in rewards. But, real talk, big wins don’t happen in a day. My lease is until May 2018. There is no cheaper housing in the Boston area, so it’s not like I can POOF make my housing costs go dramatically down. We are contemplating buying in a cheaper area so we can get ahead. But that takes months of financial preparation and research to ensure we get a good deal. As I work towards the big goal, I’ll happily take a few small victories along the way too.

2017 Net Worth Tracker:

January: $14,107
February: $21,285
March: $30,016
April: $32,939
May: $33,537
June: $38,883
July: $41,518
August: $57,943