2014 Net Worth

A year of opportunities and adventures 

Mr. 50 got a job! Our side business started to grow. We barely had time to sleep.

Our cake business is now an LLC. We are legal – holy moly…how exciting! We felt like we were on top of the world. Later in the year, we also had a business partnership with a local well-known catering company. Thanks to a locally famous wedding planner who introduced us to the business. We got opportunities to work with local businesses, to meet new people, and to get to know many sweet couples. Mr. 50 also got a job (in the Summer)! My oh my… what opportunities this year has brought us! Between baking cakes for weddings, participating in bridal shows, and working at our day jobs, we were exhausted. Not to mention, taking care of a toddler is a job on its own. It has been a year of opportunities and great adventures. It has also been a very busy year and we barely had time to sleep.

Here is to our second year of FI journey…

Expenses

1. We were still paying 2 mortgages; our current home and our home in the suburb of NYC. We are no longer a single income family! A total of $35,020 in mortgages. A total of $2,211 in utilities on NY house. And here is the most exciting part. We were able to get our NY house rented in December of 2014 with a 12-month lease! I had hope that I would get it rented by Spring. It was a little too late but it is rented now 🙂
2. 50 junior daycare cost. A total of $8,840; $170 a week for 52 weeks.
3. We put up a fence in our backyard as a result of one of our dogs got run over 🙁 He magically survived the hit-and-run. He had to endure a total body cast for 6 weeks. We also had to endure a vet bill of $1,270. The cost of the fence was $8,800.

Saving and Investing

1. I got an outstanding rating at my job; the first year of working here! So I got a little raise. I am proud to say that every penny of the raise went toward our credit card debt. Further, I increased my contribution from 6% to 10% of my salary into my retirement account; 5% to traditional and 5% to Roth. My employer matches dollar-to-dollar for the first 3% and half a dollar for the next 2%.
2. Mr. 50 started his retirement account with the new employer and he maxed it out (up to the company limit)!
3. I continued contributing to 50 junior’s college saving account at $100 monthly.
4. Our cake business brought us a hefty $14,781 to our business checking account in a short time frame, less than 4 months with a part-time schedule.

The success of our cake business was unexpected. A new career for Mr. 50 happened at the least expected time. Nonetheless, I have another unexpected event that brought me tears (A year of setbacks). From a financial standpoint this year, I was blessed and I could not ask for more.

Net Worth

• Liabilities

1. The balance on the current house was $113,000 and NY house was $227,860. Yikes!
2. We owed a total of $35,725 between credit card debt and my car loan. Holy moly!
3. Later in the year, we bought a new car for Mr.50 (we sold the old one and used the cash towards the down payment). Another car payment with a hefty $28,000 in car loan 🙁
4. Thank goodness, Mr. 50 and I don’t have student loans. A future post “How I went to graduate school debt free”.

Liabilities totaled at $404,585

• Asset

1. My retirement balance (from the former employer) was $65,300.
2. My 2nd retirement balance (from current employer) was $26,617.
3. Mr. 50’s retirement balance was $2,941
4. 50 junior’s college saving account balance was $1,678.
5. The online saving account balance was $1,932.
6. The regular saving account balance was $1,780.
7. Checking account balance was $1,619.
8. The business checking account balance was $9,101.

Asset totaled at $110,968

• 2014 Net Worth -$293,617

What I learned and what I want to accomplish next year

1. Our debt went up $15,154! YIKES! This is because of a new car. This sounds bad. However, we significantly pay less for gasoline each month.
2. Our net worth went up $16,526 this year! I know we are still in the negative net worth zone. We did spend less compared to last year (groceries, utilities, etc.). However, a start-up cost for the cake business costs us a significant amount (legal fees and overhead cost).
3. We wanted a new car.  Mr. 50’s old car took away on average $440 in gasoline money each month! With a more fuel-efficient car, we hope to drive this car until a wheel falls off 😉
4. My car will be paid off in a couple of months. I wanted to tackle the new car loan by the end of 2016. We could do this as the math does work.
5. I don’t count equity of our homes nor a cash value of our cars towards our net worth (yet). Those things are harder to convert into cash and its value fluctuates with the market. Also, I don’t hope to turn our cars or home value into cash. I mean, I can’t really sell my cars or homes to get cash (or to pretend to count toward our net worth while we are still making payments). The term is irrelevant to us right now. I’ll put the value of our homes as soon as we really own them (when it paid off).  I am very conservative here when it comes to putting home equity and/or car value into the net worth.
6. Okay, let’s see here. At the end of the year, we had almost $15,000 in cash. Though, the majority of that amount was in the business checking account which we planned to use part of it for commercial kitchen rental and baking supplies next year. Again this year, I still didn’t feel good financially. We have too much debt and too many houses (okay, just 2 houses and one is now rented. I felt like we had more than that).
7. We are anxiously looking forward to not paying for 50 junior daycare starting in the Fall of next year. 50 junior is going to a real school (a pre-K)!
8. Our NY house has been rented for a month! We don’t have to worry about December utility bills and a tenant helps pay the mortgage. YAY!

The second year of our FI journey has passed. We incurred more debt, a new car loan. Though, I have a plan in mind to pay it off in 2 years. We’re finally settled in. All boxes unpacked, finally! Our backyard is fenced – this gives us peace of mind regarding the dogs. I wished we would have this before our dog got hurt.

What would you do differently if you were us?

Are we on the right track?

Would our FI journey be achievable with this much negative net worth?

I love to hear it from you.