I’m debt free!!!!! Ok I said that before a few times but who’s tracking??
August 24, 2024. I got paid that day and was starting to feel a lot of internal stress weighing on my about still having an auto loan. Why was I letting things fester? The previous week I decided to sell assets in my non-taxable brokerage acct so that covered roughly half the previous balance. So what did I do? I paid the sucker off. $3,090.30. Between my pay, some of my emergency fund. I now own the Acura free and clear once the title comes in. On paper the math might not make sense, it was $21,500 financed at 5.99%. However with all these stories about repos and a little uncertainty about my future career trajectory I prefer to err on the side of caution.

Paid off Acura TLX – August 2024

My next financial moves are to:
1. Max out my 401k / IRA – On Track
2. Build up my emergency fund – On Track
3. Save up for future townome / house / condo – Behind

I really do like the idea of not owing money to any third party aside from my normal monthly bills including cell phone, rent, home internet access, gas, insurance, food, etc. Makes me wonder if I really want to sign up for debt again in the form of a mortgage or just stay in this period of what I call “perpetual debt freedom”. At least barring any unexpected circumstances.

As strange as it sounds, even though I can empathize with people who are in massive debt… It really doesn’t go around in the opposite direction. That’s okay though. Taking it as a learning for how to spend my time going forward. The reality is that I started taking a step to get in the right direction at age 29, 12 years ago. I’ve been incredibly lucky professionally and not everyone has the benefit of that. However if I had to hit the reset button and start off with a gig economy or entry-level type job things would look a lot different. Since this thang began, my net worth has increased by $383,000. I see people who start off with zero in their 40s and 50s and that makes me a bit sad.

Looking back at the previous years for September…
2024:$340k
2023: $232k
2022: $182k
2021: $176k
2020: $95k
2019: $54k
2018: $27k
2017: $23k
2016: $22k
2015: -$16k
2014: -$40k
2013: -$38k
2012: -$43k
Sharing a few pics of my activity for the month. Drove to Houston earlier in the month with my bf, saw the National Science Museum, checked out The Woodlands, had dinner at a fancy restaurant. Most of it done economically, he gets a great discount that drops the price to $60/night.

Some gems

Ok here’s the chart I update every month. Up $22,603 in a month. Doesn’t feel real but the numbers don’t lie. What still feels strange is that prior to 2006 and not inflation adjusted my wages in a single year weren’t even remotely near that before taxes.

	8/31/24	8/3/24	Difference	%
401K	289,322	271,447	+17,875	6.6%
Roth IRA	45,392	42,544	+2,848	6.7%
Brokerage Acct	22	3,520	-3,498	-99.4%
Cash	2,032	3,759	-1,727	-45.9%
HSA	3,574	3,617	-43	-1.2%
Total	340,342	324,888	+15,455	+4.8%
CC	349	0	+349	N/A
Auto Loan	0.00	7,497	-7,497	-100%
Net	339,994	317,390	+22,603	+7.1%

Fatman Scoop, a legend in the hip-hop community died today at 53. I would listen to him on the radio all the time during the early 2000s. He was overweight but not much more than me which is scary to think about. Have to do better. Anyway time to squeeze in a quick gym session to try and hit my calorie goal for the day… 😀 Be well!