Counting my blessings this month as I do everyday and every month I am upright.

Less than 24 hours ago I returned to DFW after several days in Manhatta with my bf for a much needed couples getaway. Some of the activities including lunch with parents, visiting the Museum of Modern Art, The Met Cloister, Central Park, 9/11 Memorial, One World Trade Center, walking through Time Square, dinner at some really nice restaurants. Along with several subway rides. Our hotel stay thanks to the employee discount was $105/night which really couldn’t be beat anywhere else.

The trip was wonderful, not too long, not to short. Got a lot done from Wednesday night to the time we left on Saturday morning. I thought it would be interesting to see what a space the size of my house would cost in Midtown Manhattan. The cheapest of the cheap was $1.3M , vs my house of $350k. Sticking with my approach of living somewhere modestly affordable and traveling to locations that are exciting. If I had $10s of millions of dollars I might think differently.

I made a bit of a splurge purchase but hear me out. I look at a computer screen minimum 8 hours a day but often more like 8-12 between work, consuming content, learning, etc. June 2022 I purchased the original 5K Apple Studio Display. Now I’ve expanded that into the XDR Studio Display. To me it’s worth it for the brightness, true HDR support, faster refresh rates, much deeper blacks even for non HDR content, improved bass. I bought from Microcenter $3,099 plus tax local pickup and 5% instant cash back when I opened up a credit card with them. Promptly paid off. Literally the best deal I could get on one in the entire country. $3,200.74 after tax. Could possibly get 4 years or more out of the new one too. Cost works out to be around $16 a week if that’s the case. Going to hold onto the original one too since I love a dual 27″ 5K monitor setup. The secondary monitor I was using was 4k and much lower brightness but 6 years out of it wasn’t bad. Still works perfectly fine.

	5/31/26	5/1/26	Difference	% Change	5/31/25	YoY Diff	% Change
401K	$459,042	$431,074	$27,969	6.5%	$328,591	$130,451	39.7%
Roth IRA	$66,872	$63,527	$3,345	5.3%	$53,866	$13,006	24.1%
Brokerage Accts	$8,137	$7,096	$1,042	14.7%	$3,278	$4,860	148.3%
Cash	$20,000	$12,108	$7,892	65.2%	$26,917	$(6,917)	-25.7%
HSA	$7,157	$6,958	$199	2.9%	$3,523	$3,634	103.2%
Total	$561,209	$520,763	$40,446	7.8%	$416,174	$145,034	34.8%
Credit Cards	$1,011	$1,339	-$327	-24.5%	$-	$1,011	#DIV/0!
Auto Loan	$0	$0	$0	#DIV/0!	$-	$-	#DIV/0!
Subtotal	$560,197	$519,424	$40,773	7.8%	$416,174	$144,023	34.6%
Mortgage	$334,219	$335,177	-$958	-0.3%
Zillow Estimate	$345,500	$347,700	-$2,200	-0.6%
Equity Estimate	$11,281	$12,523	-$1,242	-9.9%
Net Total	$571,479	$531,947	$39,531	7.4%

May was a good month. Net worth up essentially $40k in a month, $144k in a year. Trip expenses 100% paid off. On the mortgage I managed to shave 11 months off the original maturity of Sept 2055. If I continue at the extra $625/mo pace that cuts 12 years off or October 2042. I’ve officially surpassed my 2026 net worth goal of $552,960 which is wild to me. considering we have 7 more months left in the year.

We had a skunk problem for roughly 2 months. Told the pest control company but there wasn’t much they could do since the porch was blocking it. I tried to take care of it 5/17 and failed. My Harbor Freight painting “hazmat” suit ripped in the leg area since I’m thick… The fleas took advantage of that. Made a trip to the dermatologist for multiple bug bites and on 5/26 bf removed it while I worked. I bought him the suit ($13.99), the cordless battery saw ($39.99), the light equipped endoscope camera ($16.99), a 4 lb bad of Diatomaceous Earth ($13.98) I called another local pest company about the dead skunk they said I’d have to hire a handyman to open up the patio, then $139 for the skunk removal and 3 visits every 2 weeks of $169/visit ($499) to have it addressed. Our way saved $500 easy. Plus avoided the awkwardness of the handyman dealing wth the skunk smell and fleas.Word is still out on whether the fleas are entirely gone now but I’m hopeful.

Still no update on my protest for a 16% tax increase with the county. I wasn’t going to file but most people just do it here. Cost of living is already high enough as it is, don’t give up without a fight. I did get a nice little homestead exemption refund check from the city which was a welcome surprise.

Anyway that’s the update for June. Hard to believe the year is basically halfway over. Be kind, level up, focus on the important things in your life. ☮️