Tag Archives: health

November 2026 – New HVAC System and Down – $594k

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11/1/20269/30/2026Difference% Change11/1/2025YoY Diff% Change
401K$475,363$479,751-$4,388-0.9%$394,310$81,053.3920.6%
Roth IRA$63,361$64,109-$748-1.2%$55,313$8,048.3214.6%
Brokerage Accts$20,686$18,204$2,48213.6%$2,829$17,857.75631.3%
Cash$17,306$34,998-$17,692-50.6%$15,873$1,432.989.0%
HSA$6,869$6,561$3084.7%$5,854$1,014.5517.3%
Total$583,585$603,623-$20,038-3.3%$474,179$109,406.9923.1%
Credit Cards$0$0$0#DIV/0!$0$0.00#DIV/0!
Auto Loan$0$0$0#DIV/0!$0$0.00#DIV/0!
Subtotal$583,585$603,623-$20,038-3.3%$474,179$109,406.9923.1%
Mortgage$325,169$327,062-$1,893-0.6%$339,868-$14,698.81-4.3%
Zillow Estimate$336,000$340,400-$4,400-1.3%$346,600-$10,600.00-3.1%
Equity Estimate$10,831$13,338-$2,507-18.8%$6,732$4,098.8160.9%
Net Total$594,417$616,961-$22,544-3.7%$480,911$113,50623.6%

As I begin to write my latest net worth update I’m watching an emotionally heavy movie called Ordinary People. It’s an award winning movie that does share some parallels with my own life. I’m finding that balance between being vulnerable but also not being stuck in events that occurred years or decades ago for me. Also as a Star Trek fan two iconic legends in the franchise passed the same week Walter Koenig and Patrick Stewart. Dealing with death is never easy, whether it’s a friend, family member, or someone who was once pivotal in your past.

My net worth is down ~$23k for the month though let me explain. Since buying this house over a year ago I knew it would require some expensive upgrades. One was the driveway that had over 30 individual cracks in it and was really old. The other was an a/c system that was oversized for the home, and inefficient. The sagging front door I got fixed in September. I made the executive decision to get a new HVAC System.

Cost: $15,806. This was the lowest of 3 quotes. The first was when my system went out around the start of 2026. Got a new capacitor and motor. The tech said $15k for the basic single stage system and $23k for the higher end variable system. The second is in this below image. I didn’t want single stage because I wanted the system to run quiet and provide me maximum savings on my home cooling costs. They too wanted $23k for a variable system, and the multiple speed system was $18k. Too much money and that didn’t even include any additional scope of work. Too expensive.

I ultimately went with the below quote which was personalized to the needs of my home. Duct work redone in 4 rooms, a new breaker installed, exterior junction box and it’s a variable system. $8k less than the competition.I applied for a 0% credit card for 12 months but once I saw my credit score drop to the 750s I just paid it off in full.

My electricity bills for the last 4 months have been the highest in a year. September $355.41, August $394.88, July $341.15 and June $289.50. So combined paying almost $1,400 in 4 months for a home just under 1600 sq ft. With that each month has a $.06867 delivery charge for every single kilowatt. On my last bill since my usage was 2,030 kW/h was $139.40. I also kept the thermostat between 78 and 80 the last month during the workday before getting the new system. If I can save $500 in the hottest months and $800 for the entire year while also increasing the value of my home and having a warranty I’d consider that a win.

For the year I’m still up $114k or 24%. My net worth will hopefully recover by the end of the year. Then starting next year I put money back into my 401k / Roth IRA. Hopefully I find out it I’m getting a raise too early next year. Some months you’re ahead some you’re behind. The important thing is to keep saving and investing.

Beyond that we splurged on a birthday brunch for my partner last week and we had a weekly date outing. Can’t be all work and no play.

We also took a weekend getaway to The Woodlands. Drove there and got a really great deal on a hotel.

I love Hotel Lighting

Earlier in the month we won a raffle got free tickets to the State Fair and got there early enough that parking was only $10, when we came back to the same lot it was $20.

Aside from that, my gym announced it is closing the end of November due to financial problems. I don’t want to join the other two local options in the area and the new gym being built near me won’t open until the Spring. Life… always throwing curveballs at me. I could rejoin Equinox but that’s going to be around $220/mo and it’s in a shopping mall undergoing a complete overhaul. So who knows how long they’ll stay there as a tenant.

I got some labwork back from my doctor who wants to put my on statins for my lipoprotein panel and cholesterol. I said no, twice. My numbers are improving but as I told him I was taking large amounts of a supplement that would cause my levels to look off. Things are going in the right direction but I’m going to have to keep at it.

My current car ownership just hit 3 years. Has it been perfect? No but some things are more dealer related than defects in the car itself. I’m starting to get that urge to trade it in. The gas mileage is not the best and the backseat is extremely cramped. Though I’m not even at 40k miles and work from home. I’d go electric but for anything with good range that isn’t a Tesla, the prices have been more than I’ve wanted to pay. In the grand scheme of things no one care though, my days of triyn to impress are over.

I’m back playing kickball regularly, got our jerseys. Won a game lost one but really happy that my plantar fasciitis is no longer limiting my abilty to walk without pain. I really took a lot of things for granted. Feeling not the most mobile while also working from home is a huge bummer. Anyway I need to go bed…

June 2026 – Fresh off a NYC Trip $571k

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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.


Original Studio Display 5K (Left) vs Studio Display XDR (Right)
5/31/265/1/26Difference% Change5/31/25YoY Diff% Change
401K$459,042$431,074$27,9696.5% $328,591  $130,451 39.7%
Roth IRA$66,872$63,527$3,3455.3% $53,866  $13,006 24.1%
Brokerage Accts$8,137$7,096$1,04214.7% $3,278  $4,860 148.3%
Cash$20,000$12,108$7,89265.2% $26,917  $(6,917)-25.7%
HSA$7,157$6,958$1992.9% $3,523  $3,634 103.2%
Total$561,209$520,763$40,4467.8% $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$40,7737.8% $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$39,5317.4%

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. ☮️

Santa Fe, New Computer – April 2026 – $474k

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A few weeks ago my bf and I took a road trip to Hobbs, NM, then Roswell, and Santa Fe. We left a day earlier than planned to make a straight run from Santa Fe to Dallas. It was one of the longest drives I’ve been on since 2004. It was nice seeing the open road and getting out of Dallas. My paid-in-full Acura TLX handled the trip like a champ. My biggest complaint was that it just sucked up a fair amount of gas at a time gas prices have been near record highs. We did that trip on a budget for sure. The flights alone round-trip would’ve been about $700/person, not to mention a car rental would be needed. Hotel we got the nice employee discount on, I think it averaged out to $50/night. We also had a spa day at 10,000 waves. A hidden gem in the mountains.

I won’t sugar coat it, I spent close to $4k on a new MacBook Pro M5 Max at 0% APR. The model I had was equipped with 36GB of memory, which ended up being a bit of a bottleneck for me and my usage habits. Plus the SSD was filling up, I’ve been using 1TB models the last 10 years but now with my games, increased media generation, etc. that was bumped up to 2TB. Also Wi-Fi 7 is noticably faster, I have 4 more CPU cores, 8 more graphics cores. In other words this thing doesn’t skip a beat performance-wise. Luckily I’m getting ~$2k for it later today which will put a big dent in my $4,417 credit card balance. It was supposed to be $90 more but apparently the LCD had a pinkish tint to it. I could’ve protested it but wasn’t trying to give them any reasons to cut the value down more.

The powerful yet expensive Space Black M5 Max MacBook Pro

I was on some medication that gave me more side effects than benefits of the medication. Decided to make a series of lifestyle changes to see if I could get a similar results and so far I’m 70% of the way there. Each day I try to do cardio, take some natural supplements, and eat a little bit healthier. It isn’t going to change entirely overnight but after 4 different medications and the risk of long term health problems I decided it just wasn’t worth it.

3/31/20263/1/2026Difference% Change3/28/2025YoY Diff% Change
401K$389,495$406,855-$17,360-4.3%$303,119$86,37728.5%
Roth IRA$56,714$59,206-$2,491-4.2%$49,814$6,90013.9%
Brokerage Accts$5,733$4,852$88118.2%$2,494$3,239129.9%
Cash$13,443$11,161$2,28220.4%$17,209$(3,766)-21.9%
HSA$6,754$6,380$3745.9%$3,415$3,33997.8%
Total$472,140$488,454-$16,314-3.3%$376,050$96,08925.6%
Credit Cards$4,417$0$4,417#DIV/0!$93$4,3244633.0%
Auto Loan$0$0$0#DIV/0!$0$-  #DIV/0!
Subtotal$467,723$488,454-$20,731-4.2%$375,957$91,76624.4%
Mortgage$336,130$337,077-$948-0.3%
Zillow Estimate$342,600$342,300$3000.1%
Equity Estimate$6,470$5,223$1,24823.9%
Net Total$474,193$493,677-$19,484-3.9%

It is no shock that the stock market is down….and my net worth took a pretty big hit. I get paid 3 times in April so things (hopefully) look significantly different in a month. My mortgage is paid up until June 1st. I will continue to dollar cost average and put money in my 2 brokerage accounts, 401k, Roth IRA, HSA, make 2 extra principal payments on the mortgage and save what’s leftover. I try to limit my consumption of doom and gloom content. I can’t stress about what is happening 7200 miles away from me, try to control what I can, and keep my expenses in check.

Despite all of this, I’m still up $92k in the past year even though there was a 4.2% drop from my last update. I’m confident there will be an improvement later this year. It feels like a number in a spreadsheet, not real tangible assets. I hit $500k for a day or 2 then a rapid drop. This is a time when riches are formed. 2020 March during the peak of covid had 12-13% losses. Feb 2020 I was at $73k NW, March was $50k, April was $65k, May was $76k.. So 3 months to be pretty much back to normal. Let’s see if history repeats itself.

On that note I’m off to bed, need my beauty sleep. Surprised you made it this far. Personal finance isn’t always entertaining, it’s a series of calculated decisions, hard work, and some luck over time.

Buying a House! – $438k – July 2025

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Wake up, wake up, wake up
It’s the first of the month (wake up, wake up)
So get up, get up, get up
So cash your checks and come up (get up, get up)

So yeah it’s July 1, 2025, the month of June was a jam packed one. My bf and I went to Porto, Paris, Versaille, Leeds Castle, and London all on one trip. As non world-traveled person I was a little overwhelmed with the notion but decided to plan ahead as much as possible. I call this a once in a lifetime trip. I took over 1,900 pictures, these are some of the better ones.

7/1/20255/31/2025Difference% Change7/1/2024YoY Diff% Change
401K$ 348,738$ 328,591$ 20,1476.1%$ 273,612$ 75,12627.5%
Roth IRA$ 57,216$ 53,866$ 3,3506.2%$ 42,536$ 14,68034.5%
Brokerage Accts$ 3,710$ 3,278$ 43213.2%$ 3,079$ 63120.5%
Cash$ 23,743$ 26,917$ (3,174)-11.8%$ 3,222$ 20,521636.9%
HSA*$ 4,691$ 3,523$ 1,16833.1%$ 3,799$ 89223.5%
Total$ 438,098$ 416,174$ 21,9235.3%$ 326,248$ 111,85034.3%
Credit Cards$ –$ –$ –#DIV/0!$ –$ –#DIV/0!
Auto Loan$ –$ –$ –#DIV/0!$ 8,853$ (8,853)-100.0%
Net Total$ 438,098$ 416,174$ 21,9235.3%$ 317,395$ 120,70338.0%

Onto the monthly financial updates, I am up 5.3% or $22k thanks to my savings and an uptick in the market. My HSA is asterisked because I don’t think I fully captured the balance in previous months. It’s a good amount on paper and I’m glad the number is going up. To be up $121k or 38% a year just blows my mind though. When I started this blog 13 years ago I was just trying to get to breakeven. My how times have changed. A few days ago I chagned my 401k contribution amount to get the match. No more, no less. It may slow my progress a bit but shit I have some other short term priorities.

So as far as the home buying process is concerned. Let me run it down.
1 – The townhouse I liked but had reservations on due to the fact it was a townhouse with an HOA with a small driveway and over 2200 sq ft. Just too much space for 2 people if you ask me. Not to mention the expected utility costs. Also the adjacent unit was under renovation and who knows what the neighbors you share a wall will be like.
2 – The house I really really fell for. It had a pretty new roof, lots of natural light, vaulted ceilined. However the elderly man had mobility issues and was adamant about doing a leaseback where he’d rent from me until the time the property was sold. Looking back maybe that was a blessing in disguise, it was under 1300 sq ft and a 2/2 and the seller actually raised the price the same day I made my offer. Wild. Then we discovered it needed some major foundation work. Plus there were issues with improper drainage which was apparent with the mud in the backyard and there wasn’t any grass on the property just mulch. So that was a bust, lost my inspection money but got the earnest money back relatively quickly.
3 – House I currently have an offer on. Inspection was supposed to happen yesterday but wasn’t told the bathroom was going to be ripped apart prior to the inspector showing up. Oops. So it might happen today or possibly another day. This property has the foundation work already done along with renovations. Closing is supposed to happen early August. Really hoping third time is a charm. I’ve seen over 15 individual properties and driven past an additional 10 before ruling them out. No duplexes, nothing that looks like someone died or was tortured in the home, nothing with major foundation work needed. It’s a 3/2, over 1500 sq ft. a deck, privacy fence. I’m excited but also a bit cautious about the process especially managing it on one income the first year. One way or another I’ll be out of this apartment by late August.

I will need about $19k at closing, plus the cost of movers, paying the homeowners + car insurance upfront of ~$3,200 and maybe buying a new couch. So let’s say $6k between now and then. Hence why I’m temporarily pulling back on the retirement, maybe until the end of the year and ramping back up for 2026. Six month emergency fund target is $18k and it’s going to be challenging to hit with one income contributing to the mortgage.

On a positive note the bathroom remodel looks pretty nice, that just got finished today. Pardon the dirt inside, that’s leftover from the construction. Beforehand it was this cheap fiberglass stuff that was attached to the wall securely but tapping on it felt cheap and made me think ok how long is this going to last. This also will help with resale value. Also I likely won’t be doing any major home repairs in the first year or so. The big thing as long as it’s in my power to do so is not to put any expenses on credit cards that won’t be paid in full over the course of a month.

I’m supposed to get a detailed inspection report soon likely tomorrow or Saturday. Took notes of things called out by the inspector.
1. Water pressure – low, also some leaking near water main. Gave demo of bathtub and sink water running at same time, sink dropped to a trickle. Is it a major plumbing issue or something minor?
2. Insulation in attic – not fully insulated, makes A/C work harde
3. Electrical box – Safety concerns no ground rod and wiring for some of the outlets
4. Carpenter ants – frass in front bedroom window – needs to be treated.
5. Washer dryer hookup – No vent from where the dryer would physically be, currently located on other side of the building. 
6. A/C 5 ton unit should be 2.5 so may be oversized for the house – inspector to lookup and verify
7. HVAC system not intaking enough air for the unit, temp drops too quickly without dehumidifying the ai
8. Roof – minor damaged from tree branch exposed fasteners
9. Leak in the master bedroom ceiling – Staining but not sure if root cause was fixed
10. Dishwasher – Kitchen – Doesn’t open fully without hitting the oven due to the narrow clearances / handle sticking out of bottom tray. Dishwasher was originally on the opposite side of the sink and moved over.
11.Garbage disposal – not functioning in the kitchen likely needs to be replaced.
12. Microwave – Have addendum for stainless steel, still see the white microwave in there as of 7/4

Foundation looks good but was told I will likely will see cracks in the walls over the next year as it settles. Inspector recommends leaving it for a year then doing the surface-level repairs. There is another home I was going back and forth on but hate the kitchen and kitchen layout though I do like the solar aspect of it. Everything has tradeoffs, I still like what I see overall. though in current state I’d give it a 6.5/10, getting fixes for some of the big items would bring that up to an 8. I don’t want the hassle of trying to address things myself plus some of the basic things will really lower the appraisal of the seller doesn’t address. I haven’t hit the buy button on furniture or appliances yet but weighing different options. I have a couple factors working in my favor but we’ll see. I still want out of this apartment. Fingers crossed on the third one being a charm. My option period ends in under a week. 😬

Anyway thanks for reading this if you’re still out there. Happy 4th of July! Pictures below taken 7/3/25 at a nearby Home Depot parking lot as I was going to buy work gloves. Peace out.

Shaken & Stirred – May 2025: $386k

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I’m currently going through the gamut of emotions right now. My employer recently went through a round of layoffs. Hundreds of good people losing their job through no fault of their own, the unfortunate outcome of mergers & acquisitions. A tale as old as time at least since people started working for corporations since the early 20th century.

I found this image illustrating the 5 stages of Grief. Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance.
Denial – I saw news stories about the event before it happened. I knew there would be some changes but nothing of this magnitude.
Anger – I tend to project others emotions on myself. How could they do this? Why couldn’t they have offered these people other jobs? Why weren’t more options given?
Bargaining – Could I have done anything to prevent this happening to the people on my team or the ones that I work with. Not really, I wasn’t consulted at all during this process.
Depression – Should I stay here? Should I jump ship? Should I start looking for other jobs, in *this* economy?!! Should I pause these plans to move out of my apartment? Am I going to be next?
Acceptance – The reality is I was *not* part of those who were laid off, though my role is changing in ways also not in my control. My salary is unchanged and I still get to work remotely. My leaders think highly enough of me to keep me on the team and it’s not my first time at the rodeo. The people impacted received severence pay and should also be eligible for unemployment. Some of them I’m sure were burned out in their previous roles but kept the fire burning hot. A few people who used to work for my employer seem a lot more relaxed after moving away from this particular industry.

Dealing with Layoffs

5 Stages of Grief

Recent Purchase Wise I spent on a few items.

  1. Gift for best friend from NY – His wife is about to deliver a baby and I could afford to spare the cash
  2. Standing desk from Flexispot – The reality is I was sitting in front of a computer and sort of hunched over about 12 hours a day. That isn’t healthy and I need to definitely get out more. In the meantime though I’m focused on making small changes. It’s also quite sturdy and able to handle a 352lb of weight. The E6 Max standing desk was $346.39 after tax is included the top at least was made in Vietnam and I don’t think impacted by the tariffs. The first one I got unfortunately had a hairline crack right in the middle of it. I called the 1800 number after hours and a rep helped me immediately. All I had to do was send over pictures and just a few days later the new top was at my door. It was annoying to reassemble half of the desk but having a box nearly as tall as I am in my small living room also wasn’t an option.
  3. Walking Pad – Along with working from home there’s a strong need for me to keep my body moving. Staying stationary I think is one of the factors contributing to my recent weight gain along with other health challenges. After my most recent bloodwork I need all the help I can get. $248.96 after a $40 coupon was applied and tax. There was a price drop after the fact I couldn’t take advantage of thanks to Amazon’s rigid price match policies. Both of these I wouldn’t normally splurge on but I had a slight financial windfall in April that is working to my favor.
  4. Expensive dinners – Well expensive to me, close to $100-$112 with tips for 2 people. Try to limit to once a week. With current prices I suppose it’s not that bad once you include alcohol. My bf also cooks meals for us and will cover some of the cheaper meals when we go out so it’s even. I also earn a higher salary so it’s fair.
  5. Clothes – I got some on clearance from J Crew Factory and some from the Penguin Store. Happy with the result, but still think a could use a few more items. In denial about it still but XL polos don’t fit me anymore unless they’re slightly oversized. Sitting down and having my belly stick out is not a good look.
  6. Groceries – I did two food orders from Whole Foods. One was $177, the other was $111. Also made a few other runs. I don’t always have the energy to go food shopping after a long day or get up early enough to do it all before work. Plus asking people for custom cuts of meat can be a little bit exhausting especially with a line of people aside from trying comb through the aisles to find the best deals. Online I can see the prices and what’s on sale without any confusion. Is it lazy? Extremely. Is it cheaper than ordering doordash delivery or driving to get fast food? Certainly.

The crack not heard around the world

The latest news stories are talking about the impact of tariffs to the supply chain and potential empty shelves. I don’t know what the oucome of this will be. I don’t want to panic buy anything. My electronics are good for a while if prices suddenly go up. Clothes are good. If I have to button things down I can. I’ve been looking at cars again (either more powerful, more spacious interior, or electric) but the one I have is perfectly fine aside from it being kinda on the slow side.

Ok onto the finance piece. My net worth is now the equvalent of an Intel microprocessor that popular during my youth. Good ole reliable 386, $386k that is. +$10k or +2.7% where I was last month. I lucked out in terms of money coming my way and for that I’m blessed. My cash levels are at record highs for me but still not enough for a down payment on a home. I also don’t qualify for any down payment programs. The home values haven’t gone down *that* much and trust me I have been looking daily. I may do a 10% down payment and move into a property that meets most of my needs that is $350k or less. The work news makes me a little worried though and all signs point to housing getting cheaper in the next 12 months. My lease is up in close to 3. If I ride it out one more year I can get to 20% down and have an emergency fund. Do I want to do that though, 10 years in this apartment and I’m not getting any younger. I’m also borderline depressed being in such a small, physically dark place 16+ hours a day.

You may recall in my start of year post my net worth estimate for the end of the year was $455k. I no longer think that is feasible and $426k seems more realistic, perhaps less if I buy.

Compared to a year ago my total investments are up 27%, cash is up 500%, and through aggressive contributions my retirement account balances are up 21-26%. I’m tired often but pushing through. At some point I might not have the option to invest all this money. Hopefully that’s not for a long time but try to plan for all possibilities. I do get paid again Friday, $1k of that will go to savings, $293 into the Roth IRA, $920-ish to the 401k plus matching. The avg American can’t afford an $500 expense, I was there almost 15 years ago.

Well off to bed now I’m tired.

4/29/20253/28/2025Difference% Change5/4/2024YoY Diff% Change
401K$ 306,755$ 303,119$ 3,6371.2%$ 254,172$ 52,58320.7%
Roth IRA$ 50,234$ 49,814$ 4200.8%$ 39,986$ 10,24825.6%
Brokerage Accts$ 2,827$ 2,494$ 33313.3%$ 2,415$ 41117.0%
Cash$ 22,862$ 17,209$ 5,65332.8%$ 3,846$ 19,016494.4%
HSA$ 3,400$ 3,415$ (15)-0.4%$ 3,056$ 34411.2%
Total$ 386,078$ 376,050$ 10,0282.7%$ 303,476$ 82,60227.2%
Credit Cards$ –$ 93$ (93)-100.0%$ –$ –#DIV/0!
Auto Loan$ –$ –$ –#DIV/0!$ 11,555$ (11,555)-100.0%
Net Total$ 386,078$ 375,957$ 10,1212.7%$ 291,921$ 94,15732.3%

Great Depression 2025? March 2025 – $394k

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If you follow social media closely you’d think we’re in the middle of the great depression. The current administration is doing layoffs left and right. Across NOAA, USAID, IRS, SSA, Labor Dept, EPA, NHTSA, FEMA, TSA, HUD, Dept of Defense, NIH/CDC, Dept of Energy, Dept of Education, Department fo Veterans Affairs, U.S. Forest Service, Personnel Management, National Nuclear Safey Admin, GSA, FAA. About 30,000 people most of whom were contributing valuable services to the nation.

Layoffs.fyi screenshot March 2, 2025

Let’s not forget the private sector, going off https://layoffs.fyi there have been a slew of them across many different sectors. Thousands more high paying mostly white color jobs wiped out in an economy where it’s harder to find a job than ever. With over 1.6 million unemployed looking for job and the process taking at least 6 months having you balance sheet right can mean the difference between being homeless or having cushion to lower stress.

For me, my employer last week went through a round of layoffs. I wasn’t directly impacted but there are people I’ve worked with over the years that were. It makes me sad and wonder will I be next. How do I make myself Indespensible to the team to show my value. Also what skills do I need to brush up on to add to my value in the marketplace. My job is far from perfect but I try to give it 100% daily and be an effective leader of people.

Mr. Money Mustache recently made a post Wow, have you seen the stock market lately? I encourage you to take a look at. TLDR is the S&P500 has had a crazy run up and we may be due for a correction. It’s still going to be profitable in the long run and the economy will continue to grow. Ignore the headlines, enjoy you life and keep on investing. I’m very much inclined to agree with him. I look back at the top news stories from 20 years ago. That was 7,300+ days ago. Most of the headlines elicit a wow that happened kind of response but aside from national disasters they don’t impact our day to day lives much. If your eyes are glued to the latest updates on X, Fox / MSNBC / CNN, etc. you’ll drive yourself insane. Give me the archive version and keep the party moving.

If I do end up getting laid off…
1. Company has a severence package in place – I’d rather not disclose the amt but it’s significant and would be close to 22 weeks worth of pay.
2. I currently have a stockpile of cash that I’ve been saving for a potential home purchase – Almost $12k
3. There are things I could sell for close to $1k if neded
4. I have a Roth IRA that I can pull from without penalties. My cost basis might not be exactly right but it’s close to $30k
5. 401k hardship distribution – Not ideal given the need to grow the investments, and 10% penalty
6. 401k loan
Per Fidelity: With a 401(k) loan, you borrow money from your retirement savings account. Depending on what your employer’s plan allows, you could take out as much as 50% of your vested account balance or $50,000, whichever is less. An exception to this limit is if 50% of the vested account balance is less than $10,000: in such a case, the participant may borrow up to $10,000.
7. If I really really had to I could break my lease and move back in with parents 1600 miles away but that literally would be the option of last resort.
8. Unemployment would cover some of my expenses – Maximum weekly unemployment benefit is $577 available for up to 26 weeks. That’s $15k.
9 Sell my car currently valued at $34,400 on Carvana and get something 10 years old and significantly cheaper. A 2015 version of my vehicle is about $18k. That’s $16k right there.

Hopefully things stay secure and I never have to leverage any of the above options. I do believe in being prepared just in case. I’ve been keeping my momentum going on this blog for 13 years I don’t want to start going back now.

Enough about that, what the heck have I been up to the past month?
1. Filed taxes for 2024. I paid sooo much in taxes and still owed a little under $200.
2. Sold the wheels from last month on eBay. Got a few lowball offers and ended up settling at $85 plus the cost of shipping. My payout was ~$107. I’m not sure how the math works on that. I’m sure they’ll bill me for it again later.
3. Was getting over a bit of a nagging cough that wouldn’t go away. It’s 90% better now but super annoying and was at my whit’s end.
4. Covid / Flu shot – It’s the season of people getting sick including 3 people on my dodgeball team
5. Finished dodgeball – Fun season and I managed to avoid getting injured so that’s a plus.
6. Saw this cute art exhbit in Grapevine TX dedicated to Wicked. I saw the movie “only” once but go a little crazy with the soundtrack hahaha.

7. Getting back into the fitness journey flow. It tires me out sometimes but it beats the alternative option. I also am learning I don’t drink nearly as much water as I should be. My energy levels are higher, my skin is clearer, along with other benefits.
8. Friends and I did an escape room for a friend’s birthday and watched the Superbowl together. Kendrick Lamar deserves all the accolates he’s been receiving lately. Not Like Us and Humble are my jams.

Ok ok let’s talk about a net worth update.

3/2/20252/2/2025Difference% Change3/1/2024YoY Diff% Change
401K$ 320,732$ 324,256$ (3,524)-1.1%$ 247,070$ 73,66229.8%
Roth IRA$ 52,922$ 53,272$ (351)-0.7%$ 37,111$ 15,81142.6%
Brokerage Accts$ 2,321$ 2,016$ 30415.1%$ 2,189$ 1326.0%
Cash$ 14,303$ 11,975$ 2,32819.4%$ 3,589$ 10,714298.5%
HSA$ 3,537$ 3,562$ (25)-0.7%$ 3,067$ 47015.3%
Total$ 393,814$ 395,082$ (1,267)-0.3%$ 293,026$ 100,78834.4%
Credit Cards$ –$ 166$ (166)-100.0%$ 440$ (440)-100.0%
Auto Loan$ –$ –$ –#DIV/0!$ 15,314$ (15,314)-100.0%
Net Total$ 393,814$ 394,915$ (1,101)-0.3%$ 277,272$ 116,54242.0%

My net worth in the middle of the month got as high as $404k then with some of the recent economic updates it went down. Am I at the mercy of the markets? Yes and I’ve been recently trying to diversify slightly away from that while also leveraging Dollar-Cost-Averaging.

I’m not quite a dividend investor. However I am chugging along slowly with my 4-4.5% in a high yield savings account. So far my little balance has yielded my $80 since December. My FEPI investment (cost basis ~$1008 current value $942) paid $20 in dividends in Feb, $20.86 in Jan, $21.16 in late December. Mid December I got a $536 dividend payment from FZROX in my Roth IRA. For My 401k I Got a $3,079 dividend from FSKAX. I got a few other dividends, $7 here, $2.50 there. It all adds up

Am I bummed about my net worth being down from the start of February? Not really. $1k decline is really nothing in the grand scheme of things. I’m still up over $116k from where I was last year. I also expect to see extra income come through this month and will likely end up with 50% more cash than I have today. A year ago I had about 3 months rent set aside in cash. The average person would struggle to handle a $500 unexpected expense without using a credit card. Meanwhile I’m living the debt free lifestyle with a healthy amount of cash reserves. So even if the $2k/mo I’m setting aside on top of other expenses / investments makes me feel “forced poverty” sometimes, it’s for a good purpose.

Throughout the week I look at homes for sale, the prices are coming down. Currently there are 3 homes in the development I once lived in. They aren’t selling. The homes I think are nice average out to be about $385k most of them are 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom. That’s a $77k downpayment. I have 18% of that right now and my lease ends mid-August 2025. That’s basically 5 months away…
3 bedroom homes in the area:

So the next question… Do I need a 3 bedroom home for 2 people? Well, I do work from home and dedicated “office” space would be nice instead of working from my bedroom or living room. Plus if my partner moves in with me he should have his own space. Same for if my parents come to visit though that hasn’t happened in over 6 years…

2 bedroom homes:
These two bedroom homes are priced a bit lower but not *that* much cheaper. I will say the some of these look a bit more modern. About $30k cheaper in some cases the savings are more. Those savings of $40k-$70k add up. I can look in other areas too, a change of pace could do me a bit of good.

I looked at condos in the area as an option, but one had an $812/mo. GTFO here with that nonsense. Another option had that fee at $609/mo. With the insurance included I guess it’s not soooo bad but stil let’s say that’s $200 of it. “All Facilities, Association Management, Insurance, Maintenance Grounds, Sewer, Trash, Water”. You don’t have a garage to park your car in, or a driveway and still have taxes on top of that. Another property it didn’t include insurance on for $451/mo. Then no guarantee they won’t jack up the HOA dues again the next month. These units also don’t move quickly. One property has been on the market for 190 days and they also historically don’t appreciate at the same rate as stand-alone homes.

I’m still looking and hoping the prices keep coming down more. There are so many units on the market right now. I also hope that I don’t lose my job since that could push things back a longggg time. In any case I’ll keep saving and to have the ability to do that I’m thankful. Going to focus on the things I can control and try to adapt to the ones I cannot to the best of my ability. Off to enjoy the rest of my Sunday now. Cheers!

Feb 2025 Starting the Year Off Right? Sorta… – $395k

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January was a weird month for me. I started out at a friend’s gathering then I got sick and developed a nagging cough that wouldn’t completely go away. I took a really strong antibiotic which the nurse practitioner said to take it if I needed to. It just made me feel worse. I’m about 90% good now but the cough still comes and goes.

  1. After getting a scrape on one of my wheels I bought a new one… For almost $550 brand new at a discount from a company that supplies parts for Acuras. I unsuccessfully tried to get a guy to come out and repair them who ghosted me, then the place I got repair done from previously wants to charge $200 and keep them 2 days plus they’re about 32 miles away which is not very convenient. I have the old one on eBay right now but no bites. Slowly lowering the price down to see what happens.
Brand new wheel

2. We had snow, likely for the only time this year. Everything basically came to a grinding halt. I enjoyed pictures of it from afar online.
3. Bf and I went to this really wondeful light snow on the outskirts of Dallas called Astra Lumina. We both really enjoyed it and it was pretty empty. 100% worth it.

4. Getting back in the flow of playing sports. I wore these leggings out for the first time and it was an adjustment. My body is a little stiff from yesterday but at least myt face is good after getting hit right in the face with a dodgeball.

5. Checked out fun restaurants and bars including Boxcar and Copper and Vine. I’m giving myself more grace with drinking, light drinking 1-2 drinks a week is my limit. I’m all about the vibe. These places aren’t cheap but it’s good for us to go out and occasionally indulge after long week.

6. I made a few clothing purchases and cologne. Trying to do samples to figure out what I like and use those sparingly for when I go out. Altogether it was about $280 and one item I gave away to my bf since it didn’t fit, another I bought twice since I thought I threw it out by accident so now I have 3 packs of samples.
7. For Retirement – The Roth IRA is maxed out for 2024. This Friday I’ll make my first 2025 contribution. I hate making the contributions honestly but it’s for my future. I was “only” able to contribute 96% or $22,125.05 to my 401k last year out of a $23k limit. YTD I’m at $1,840 plus matching. Each month this year I project to see a NW increase of ~$2500/mo or $30k/yr from the estimated return rate of my investments.
8. Housing – I’m still saving for a home but at the rate housing prices and interest rates aren’t coming down this may take longer than expected. Almost $10k a month in to the near year is a good start though. One of my IG friends who is a realtor essentially said come be my neighbor, the place looked amazing but $500k though. Most people under 40 aren’t going to be able afford that. Maybe couples, situations with 3 people on the mortgage, families with generational wealth, or the top 10%, but still. That’s a $100k down payment and $3k a month not including utilities, maintenance, HOA, etc. $300k is about the sweet spot in terms of what a home looks like and what I think I’d be able to afford. I believe in math. Do I have a little FOMO when I see someone in Forney that has a whole house and probably has half my salary? Yes a little bit, however that would be 40 miles from my bf’s job or up to 2 hour drive after work on a weekday. That and no one I know lives out there. Fuck that haha.
9. For time preservation, algorithm, and mental health reasons. I’ve decided to try and be 80-90% apolitical online but it’s hard. Even with the exclusion of certain mutes words and , me not personally posting political content it’s E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E. That and the number of things to get outraged over seems to be rising exponentially. A cousin in Kentucky came across a flyer related to a divisive group’s meetings and was hoping it’s fake but it ‘s real. It’s always been there but now the people are coming out of the woodwork. The best revenge is living a good life so that’s what I’ll keep going. Also not going to any of those areas that want to take us back to the dark ages of segregation.
10. Stepdad’s home is finally sold, he’s been handling the finances of it since 1997 and the proceeds are significant. He worked 2 jobs for years to keep it all afloat and I’m glad he doesn’t have to worry about it anymore, though now he wants to build a home on a parcel of land he owns to avoid cap gains taxes. It sounds crazy to me, but then again I don’t want to deal with tenants especially in NY.

Ok here are the actual numbers…

February 2025 Net Worth Update
2/2/202512/27/2024Difference% Change1/31/2024
401K$ 324,256$ 315,581$ 8,6752.7%$ 232,746
Roth IRA$ 53,272$ 51,574$ 1,6983.3%$ 34,506
Brokerage Accts$ 2,016$ 1,644$ 37222.6%$ 2,031
Cash$ 11,975$ 11,896$ 790.7%$ 4,448
HSA$ 3,562$ 3,559$ 30.1%$ 2,725
Total$ 395,082$ 384,254$ 10,8282.8%$ 276,456
Credit Cards$ 166$ –$ 166#DIV/0!$ 87
Auto Loan$ –$ –$ –#DIV/0!$ 16,536
Net Total$ 394,915$ 384,254$ 10,6612.8%$ 259,833

I’m up about $11k over last month and $135k to last year. I get paid on Friday and trying to keep my spending in check. The credit card payments are scheduled to bring it down to 0 but haven’t posted yet. I might hit $400k net worth this month but it’s a little iffy since right now at least it looks like I may owe $1200 in taxes. Am I excited about this milestone? Eh a little bit. Most of my money I’m not touching until hopefully until I’m 59.5. It’s all relative though, I consider myself one of the fortunate ones… Especially with all the ruckus happening with the federal government and tech sectors. Not to mention all the wildfires in Los Angeles. My problems are important to me but also small by comparison.

I have a really bad case of cabin fever right now but it’s supposed to be warmer this week. Doing things with friends in your 40s on a whim is near impossible. I think they assume I’m busy when I’m not or when I do ask them they are busy. What can you do though… Basically plan stuff on my own and maybe I’ll run into people I know. A big chunk of my 20s / 30s was spent hoping people would like me, to a fault. Now I’m like yeah it would be nice but not losing sleep over it. I can do fun stuff too and being fancy if I choose to be isn’t breaking my finances.

Last but not least one of our family friends going back to the 1980s passed away recently at the age of 84. She was one of the nicest people I’ve met and never complained about anything. She came to NY from the south almost 50 years ago with nothing. She made many friends, became like family in many ways, worked at a nursing home and volunteered at a church. I haven’t seen her since I left NY but my mom would stay in touch. The years go by quickly, make the most of them. I watched an hour long service from the church on YouTube. It was very touching.

Stay strong even if your finances are down right now. Long term history suggests things will continue to go up so that’s that I’m going to focus on. Much love to you all.

To the Two Comma Club – Dec 2024 – $383k

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Assuming I stop investing completely and market returns stay at current rates I’ll double my portfolio from the current $373k as of a few days ago to $735k in 8.5 years or 2032. Then double it again and hit ~$1.5M in 2040. I will be 57 years old then and presumably retired or very close to it.

In practice I’m putting about $1,986 of my own money aside monthly in 401k plus let’s say $745/mo of matching. Not including Roth, crypto, or brokerage account. So that’s $2,731. At that rate I will double my portfolio to $756k in 5 years. If I could hold that pace for 5 more years I hit $1.3M 5 years from now or 2035 at 52. That’s independent of money I’m putting into a Roth IRA, high yield savings account, bonuses / the rest of my income, or may go to a potential home.

Not stressing about any of this really. If it happens great, if not I will keep focusing on things and people who matter in my life. 2024 has been a year of uncertainty,. A friend got laid off a few weeks ago, a former coworker was looking for employment for close to a year and took a demotion, another who left voluntarily got laid off elsewhere not only once but twice.

I spend a ton of money this month but mostly for good things.
1. Tire – Got a new set of tires – $1,392.13 – TLDR on this is I drove to Arkansas and my tire started to make a bit of a noise. I had the car aligned several times, along with tires balanced before so this was odd. The Discount Tire rep said 3 of the tires balanced but the one I had issues with wouldn’t balance. He then showed me irregular wear on the tire and what looked like a liter of liquid sloshing around. The car is AWD so it’s recommended to replace all 4 tires at once. So the car I bought October 2023 at Grubbs Acura of Grapevine, TX had tire sealant the time I purchased it. I e-mailed a few people there and got a pretty generic response. I was fuming because it could have resulted in the tire sidewall exploding and I drove 10k miles with the tire in that state. I was able to pay if off that week with money I had saved up. I was pissed though. The car rides much quieter and I get road hazard coverage / free rotations for multiple years.
2. Europe flight and seat upgrades – American Airlines $1,737.23 – I knew the expense was coming. Did I want to make the payment this early? Not really but I’m going to have a blast
3. Dodgeball team membership – $90.50 – Since the kickball season stopped and we’re not doing cornhole I wanted some type of social outlet with people I knew. Missed the early brid pricing by a few days oops.
4. MacBook Pro $2,899 plus tax – Got $2,252 for the old one. Wasn’t going to replace but the big bulky 16″ barely fit on my desk. and discouraged my from going out anywhere with it. The specs are a slight downgrade in terms of amount of memory and GPU cores but the system is faster than my own one so real world it just uses more of its RAM and a tiny bit of swap space.
5. Wicked tickets… j/k on that one but great movie. The acting, special effects, and the music. This film had a huuuge $145M budget.

Inside of old tire wearing abnormally and new tire

The 2024 Edition laptop – M4 Max MacBook Pro

Sharing a couple pictures from my camera roll in November.. Lots of Christmas. experiences. 😀

On the health front I was sick for a few days but my blood pressure also was sky high 152/97. I was drinking lots of water, taking garlique and dandelion root, going for walks whenever possible. It was working for a while until it wasn’t. The other medication I was on just ruined my GI system. High blood pressure is the silent killer so I openly accepted going back on another medication with the hopes of getting back into normal range. Numbers are back to normal again. Since the election I’ve been down about 10 pounds so it’s helping. I also no longer am active on X / Twitter instead favoring Mastodon and Blusky. The X algo would constantly show me performative outrage, political content I never asked for, its owner’s comments non-stop, and videos that go viral for all the wrong reasons. The platform is polarizing, toxic, and quiet honestly a waste of time. Garbage in, garbage out.

My net worth is at an all-time high. I am having doubts about being able to afford a home by August 2025. A common rule of thumb is to not exceed 28% of your take home on housing expenses. That with my aggressive retirement investing would be about $1708 (good luck finding a mortgage payment that cheap) and then a Ramit Sethi video said add 50% to that to account for all kinds of additional expenses. So $2,562…

Up $24k in a month due to a recent surge in the market. Doubtful this momentum will continue but I’m pushing as much as I can. $400k by March? Def a possibility. It doesn’t feel real though. 12/2/23 I was at $233,478 so a +64% or +$149k gain in a year. I’m extremely thankful and vividly remember the -$45k I came from when starting this blog. Still working on stacking cash but it takes time.. Alright it’s after 3am I should be in bed now.

12/1/202411/1/2024Difference% Change
401k319,005297,76421,241+7.1%
Roth IRA51,30847,9773,332+6.9%
Brokerage Accts1,346882465+52.7%
Cash7,6038,686-1,083-12.5%
HSA3,5613,49071+2%
Total382,824358,79924,025+6.7%
Credit Cards166–166
Auto Loan–––
Net Total382,658358,79923,859+6.6%

Forecasting The Future – May 2024 – $292k

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My Life and Month in pictures.

  1. On a whim we decided to see this Barbie Experience activity at a nearby mall here. It wasn’t crowded when we went and I really enjoyed the level of detail that went into each exhibit.
  2. A CosMc’s (branch of the McDonald’s franchise) recently opened here. I really was impressed at the exterior design and concept. However the execution left me wanting more. So many ultra processed ingredients, high fructose corn syrup, snacks loaded in sugar. My drink tasted bitter and I didn’t finish it all. Can’t say I plan to go back anytime soon.
  3. Visited my family in New York after about a year and a half. My flight credit was due to expire and the timing was about right so I figured why the heck not. I ended up working 4 out of the 5 days there 10-6. I saw one of my friends who got married in 2022. He and his wife are doing great. I don’t know how they have so many pets, I could only handle one maybe 2 small dogs. Not 5, 2 cats, and birds. My parents are getting older, in the back of my mind I need to start making effort to see them more often. Especially since they haven’t been here in about 6 years. This 1 bedroom apartment is tight for any type of company. While there helped do a little bit of decluttering, helped set up a new 2021 M3 MacBook Air, and wiped the 2018 so that my stepdad could use it. The sales guy at Microcenter was a bit on the pushy side and I basically told him no to the warranties, and some anti-virus software that really isn’t needed. Passing down the Mac hw was much more useful than the paltry $160 being offered for it. They still had the 17″ MacBook Pro I used in grad school (2006-2008) now with a swollen battery! The screen wouldn’t turn on, the keyboard was barely functional and the bottom case was a bit bent. I literally try to keep all my computers and cars close to mint and shook my head about it. There was another computer from 2007 I also tried to wipe as much as I could without the system install DVD. I enjoyed the trip but not the constant exhaustion or sleeping in my old XL Twin bed.
  4. Last summer I had a small ant investation in my laundry room light fixture. The pest control company did multiple treatments and the went away for a while. However for the last 2 months they’ve been back. Tonight they came out with a vengence, nearly 100 of them right outside of my door feeling displaced by activity I took days earlier to eliminate them. I bought any baits at home depot right before closing only to read the fine print they aren’t god for Carpenter Ants. It’s got me really thinking about moving though, I’m overdue for an upgrade. Was trying to hold out until my car payments were gone but not so sure anymore. I work from home and my desk is just a few feet away from these annyoing insects. I got a response from maintenance this morning. They are going to treat the mount on Monday. Fingers crossed I don’t have two nights in a row of this stressful experience but I’m not so hopeful.
  5. Prior to the NY trip I called Expedia to try and settle the matter. Was on hold over 2hrs 15 minutes and no one picked up the phone. I had the sense to use the chat with an agent who took an entire hour to resovle my issues. I was tempted to give up but that was $500+ of my hard earned money.
  6. Yesterday I took my car in for an alignment check and tire rotation. The young guy working there really liked my red seats. I asked the service advisor about my rusting lug nuts and he brushed me off just like the other dealership I went to. May just buy some black ones and home they don’t mess them up.
  7. Solar Eclipse – DFW was on a direct trajectory to see it and there won’t be another one like this for approximately 20 years. A dear friend gave me a pair of the glasses as to avoid permanent eye damage. Definitely one of the experiences where pics don’t do it justice.
  8. Not sure how fast I’m going to go on this but I reached out to Fidelity and reclassified my old employer stock purchase plan as a regular brokerage account. Also so glad I only put $20 in because the company went bankrupt not too long after I left. I wonder how my old coworkers who said to invest 100% in it with the belief it’s going to go up is feeling now. I’m adding $50 every week to it in addition to the $25/wk with my M1 acct. So a whopping $75/wk or $300/mo + the $2172/mo in my 401k and $742/mo into the Roth to play catchup for 2024. $3,214 feels like it’s close to the max I’m comfortable with given my income levels. Ideally I think I’ll need a total of $1-$1.5M invested, $2M to feel comfortable.
  9. Cleaning – I’ve had this steamer since moving into my apartment and for the most part it just collected dust. Earlier this week I grabbed it, started sweeping and using it again. How much dust accumulates on a floor and next to my washer / dryer was really an eye opener and kind of nasty to be honest. I will make doing this part of my weekly routine. I also cleaned out a pretty big chunk of my closet.
  10. Bf moves – He’s moving a lot closer to me for work / quality of life reasons. He really works hard between two jobs and I definitely am proud of him. His apartment might actually be nicer than me despite the age / income gap lol. I haven’t seen the specific unit in person but soon.
  11. Sports – Playing kickball and cornhole still. The latter has been a total bust, I haven’t been playing as well as before. We did win today’s kickball game so I’ll take it.
  12. Life and Death – Someone years ago I knew through the dating app scene but didn’t really have that dating connection with… recently passed away at 33 years old. He was funny, sassy, and I knew lots of people. Looking at a few of his pictures he lost a ton of weight and was looking a bit unhealthy to me. Not sure if it was gastric bypass related but what I’ve read on social media indicated it was unexpected. We last chatted in 2021 and I feel for his family and twin brother especially. RIP Justin.
  13. Health – It has been a struggle. The new whey protein isolate shake I bought absolutely destroys my stomach. People say the sugar substitute sucralose is part of the problem. I don’t know that for sure but not worth these crazy side effects. So back to the vegetarian option. I got my bloodwork done from my doctor and I’m going further into prediabetic mode so it’s been time to make changes. I tried to get Wegovy / Ozempic but insurance won’t cover it until I hit the $2,450 annual deductible. I’m only about $900 into it and it resets in August so that’s a no.
  14. iPad Pro – Apparently mine is about 90% battery. Lately with the latest release version of iPad OS the system has been rapidly depleting that just playing Youtube. Apple is offering $400 to trade it in as of today and a 3rd party offered me slightly less. Not sure if I need the latest and greatest for what I essentially use for watching YouTube and doing some light web browsing. Most of that AI stuff can apply to my Mac and iPhone. I say that now at least without having seen the final product.

Specific to my personal finance I know I’m doing better than most people. I was watching this video ‘Something Terring is Happening to Boomers’ and the guy said 50% have no savings and avg savings is $100,000. I’m near 3x that with about 20 years to go until I’m anywhere near that age cohort. For te presenter in that video he talked about income being greater than assets. My bare minimum expenses to live is about $3k/month or $36k. To have that in passive high yield savings acct income I’d need to have $720k with a 5% return rate. Still a long way from that The car debt is still a bit of a thorn in the side but I’m paying $1400/mo to knock it down. I started off financing $21,500 so 46% of the way there at 5.99% in 6 months.

5/4/20243/31/2024Difference% Change
401K254,172257,260(3,088)-1.2%
Roth IRA39,98639,0209662.5%
Brokerage Accts2,4152,367482.0%
Cash3,8463,39245513.4%
HSA3,0562,69336413.5%
Total303,476304,731(1,255)-.4%
Credit Cards065(65)-100%
Auto Loan11,55513,587(2,032)-15%
Net Total291,921291,079842+.3%
May 2024 – $292k Net Worth

So a game I started playing – Star Trek Online has you as the captain of a ship and you get into battle just like the tv shows / movies. April felt like I kept getting hit with phasers and photon torpedoes in the stock market. I just tell myself it’s paper money and being flat net worth wise month over month isn’t that bad. I see the stories of people at Tesla and other companies who lost their jobs and am like okay you’ve got it better than most. Same with homeless people with signs asking for money or sleeping under a bridge. A year ago my net worth was $186k so +57% in a year. I’m going to Vegas in June and need to buy tickets soon and car insurance hits next month. So even though I feel like I have a little bit of extra cash right now, it goes fast.

Anyway I’ve got to squeeze out a gym workout before we see this Challenger movie and do a cuatro de mayo dinner beforehand. Peace =/\=. If you’re still reading this, how are you doing?

Recessions, Bad Health and April 2023 Update – $195k

3 Replies
3/31/20232/28/2023Difference% Change
401K$173,931$167,673$3,611+3.7%
Roth IRA$27,186$25,508$1,678+6.6%
M1 Acct$770$663$107+16.1%
Cash$3,135$3,635($500)-13.8%
HSA$3,030$2,988$42+1.4%
Total$208,053$200,468$4,938+3.8%
Credit Cards$0$163$(163)-100%
Auto Loan$12,938$14,382$(1,444)-10.0%
Net Total$195,115$185,923$6,545+4.9%
April 2023 Net Worth Update

March was a rough month, effectively sick for over 2 weeks and still have a lingering cough. Overall I’m doing much better now but missed out on some activities with friends and felt like a total hermit. The brother of someone I went on a few dates with on and off over the years passed after getting tonsil surgery in his sleep. Dude was literally the same age as me too. Also a guy I dated before the pandemic and am friends with now is dealing with complications from a relatively procedure he had in early 2022 and having thyroid problems. He’s currently on medical leave, unable to work, and likely will have to undergo two, possibly 3 surgeries. An acquaintence of mine lost his job of 8 years working for an insulation company, he bought a house a few years ago he saved up a long time for. Hopefully he lands back on his feet soon.

My neighbors moved out, didn’t have anything bad to say about them other than the smoke that I had to complain about a few times since it vented into my unit. There are actually 5 out of 8 units in this building that will be available here between now and July. Can’t say I fully blame them, the price they want for a 1br ranges between $1,316 and $1,447. I pay $1,134 and presumably that amount is going to increase. For the last few months I pay my rent 3-4 weeks early so I don’t have to worry about it. When I get paid next week I’ll make the payment for May.

I’m happy that I was able to make a dent in my auto loan balance, it’s still a stretch to pay $1,444 in car payments in a month. $2,163.56 a month (including matching) is going in my 401k, $500+ a month in the Roth IRA and $100/mo in the M1 account. Up $6,545 in a month or 4.9% in a year. Net worth is essentially flat to a year ago which is good considering I bought a new car in October and financed $26k.

The overall state of the economy is still concerning to me, I see lots of doom and gloom content one day on YouTube and the next day the stock market is having it’s best year ever… Clickbaiting at its finest. Even Michael Burry of The Big Short fame said he was wrong. By following a lot of these folks you can miss out on major gains. Between capital gains, missing the best days of the market in any given year, and not dollar cost averaging due to fear. I would however keep adding to that emergency fund and maintain some diversity in assets (something I still need to work on). The layoffs at many big companies is very much a real thing however, seems like the numbers keep going up.

Lastly a bit of a rant… I see more and more people who don’t take personal accountability for their actions. I don’t know exactly what the root cause is but after how many years do you still blame your parents, society, a person of a different race, gender, orientation, insert the blank. People would rather point the finger than take action and focus their energy on improving their situation. I’ve been guilty of it too and try to remind myself in new situations that I might be my biggest obstacle.

Case in point was some bloodwork I had in March. The numbers aren’t good but knowing is a big part of the battle. Cutting back on sodium, alcohol, drinking more water, and eating more vegetables is how I will claw my way back. Also playing kickball again starting this afternoon and I’m super excited. Much love. Don’t give up the good fight whatever that may be for you.