Assets:
Primary Home - $196,000.00
Rental Property - $137,000.00
Car - $19,000.00
Retirement - $40,452.44
Cash (checking & savings) - $24,539.79
Brokerage - $2163.57
Total Assets: $429,655.80

Liabilities:
Primary Home Mortgage - $181,496.82
Rental Property Mortgage - $147,904.30
Student Loan - $22,500.00
Credit Cards - $0
Total Liabilities: $351,901.12

Summary Report:

• Assets increased $702.83 (.16%)
• Liabilities decreased $481.60 (.14%)
• My overall Networth increased $1184.43 (1.55%)
• Again, the stock market decreases continue to hurt my overall networth. My 401k and brokerage account are both currently experiencing double digit losses.
• I was able to barely stay within my budget this month. I nickled and dimed my budget to the max.
  
• September will be a tight month for spending. I plan to keep a closer eye on the budget to make sure I don't end up like I did in August.
  

Assets:

• Primary Home - $196,000.00
• Rental Property - $137,000.00
• Car - $19,000
• Retirement - $40,758.09
• Cash (checking & savings) - $23,575.12
• Brokerage - $2119.76
• TOTAL ASSETS: $428,952.97

Liabilities:

• Primary Home Mortgage - $181,646.82
• Rental Property Mortgage - $148,140.28
• Student Loan - $22,500.00
• Credit Cards - $95.62
• TOTAL LIABILITIES: $352,382.72

Summary Report:

• Assets increased $2,156.19 (.51%)
• Liabilities decreased $328.09 (-.09%). I need to start paying more towards my debt!
• Overall, me Networth increased $2,484.24 (3.35%). Not bad considering the stock market.
• I was able to save over $2300 this month due to careful planning and an extra paycheck.
• Thanks to the extra paycheck this month, I was able to get my Emergency Fund back to my $20,000 minimum.
• I increased my yearend Networth goal by $10,000 to $85,000. I'd originally set a yearend goal of $75,000 by December 2008. Since that goal was met in July, I am increasing the goal to $85,000.
  

Assets:

• Primary Home - $196,000.00
• Rental Property - $137,000.00
• Car - $19,000.00
• Retirement - $41,432.76
• Cash (checking, savings) - $20,683.08
• Brokerage - $2142.64

Total Assets: $426,796.78, decrease of (-.40%)

Liabilities:

• Primary Home Mortgage - $181,796.82
• Rental Property Mortgage - $148,375.11
• Student Loans - $22,500.00
• Credit Card - $38.85

Total Liabilities: $352,710.78, decrease of (-.10)

Net Worth: $74,086, decrease of (-1.84%)

Monthly Recap:

• June Net Worth took a nosedive due to the drop in the stock market at the end of the month.
• Major Expenses: My Umbrella Policy and my Auto Insurance policies both renew this month. I've already saved for these expenses in my Flexible Savings Account.
• July should be a great month for my cash position. I should be receiving my stimulus check and an extra paycheck.

Yesterday's Thursday Talkback question was whether your finances were worse, better or about the same as this time last year. One of my readers, Kara, asked me the same question. I knew that my finances had improved over the last year but I had not sat down and actually looked at the numbers in detail. I pulled out the records for April 2007 and compared the numbers with April 2008 and here's what happened. The numbers have been rounded off for clarity.

Assets:

• April 2007 - $446,694
• April 2008 - $449,543
• Result: Increased $2,849 or 0.64%

Liabilities (including Mortgages):

• April 2007 - $399,711
• April 2008 - $376,591
• Result: Reduced $23,120 or 5.78%

Liabilities (not inc Mortgages):

• April 2007 - $62,990
• April 2008 - $45,652
• Result: Reduced $17,338 or 27.53%

Net Worth:

• April 2007 - $46,982
• April 2008 - $72,953
• Result: Increased $25,971 or 55.28%

Doing this exercise was surprising to say the least. I was a little upset that my Assets didn't break the 1% mark but I was ecstatic to realize that realize my Net Worth had increased over 50%. I was also happy to see that my non-mortgage debt decreased by almost a third. I think part of the reason I did not have a bigger increase in the assets category was due to losses in my retirement and brokerage accounts. Considering some of the financial pains some people are going through, I certainly cannot complain.

What have I done to improve my finances?

• Used a budget to manage my outflows and spent less than I earned.
• I paid off my lingering credit card debt. I no longer pay any credit card interest because I only charge what I can afford to pay in full when the bill comes.
• I saved as much money as I could.
• I planned for Emergencies by saving money in a separate account.
• I planned for irregular expenses by adding up the total amount and dividing by 12. I then saved that money each month in a separate account.

I can't wait to do this again next year to see how things have changed.

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As we count down the last few days of 2007 and head into 2008, I wanted to review my financial goals I set in 2007 and post my complete 2008 financial goals.

In this post from September 10, 2007, my main goals were to:

• Payoff my 0% credit card balance before the promo rate expires. This has been completed. I paid this off when I paid off the remainder of my credit card debt.
• Payoff my credit card balance at 2.9% for life. This was also completed. See above.
  
• Increase my Freedom Savings Account to $2000. This has been completed. The balance now stands at around $2400 due to the infusion of cash from my year end bonus. This account is where I keep money to pay for my automobile insurance premiums, automobile tag fees, and any other bill that is paid on a quarterly or bi-annual basis.
  
• Increase Rental Property Savings Account to $1000. This has not been completed. While the balance has increased, it has not increased to where I've planned it to be. Since my Freedom Account is fully funded, I will direct more money into this account until it is fully funded. This is the account I use for any emergency repairs to my rental property and to pay for the home maintenance plan.
  
• Setup automatic bi-weekly transfers to my Freedom Account and Rental Property Account. Not only did I setup an automatic transfer to these accounts, I setup a WEEKLY transfer instead of bi-weekly. I don't even miss the money now.
  
• End 2007 with a Networth of $64,000. After that September post, I increased the goal to $65,000. I've passed both of those goals but the final numbers will depend on how the market performs thru the rest of the year.
  

As I posted in the 1st Carnival of Financial Goals - 2008 Resolutions Edition, one of my goals for 2008 is to decrease the balance of my car loan to less than $20,000 by the end of 2008. To accomplish this, I will add an additional $200 a month to my regular payment to decrease the principal balance. I would also like to:

• Increase my Networth to at least $75,000. This is very conservative and will be adjusted accordingly around the middle of the year.
  
• Increase my Freedom Account balance to $5000.00. This is alot more than I need in this account and if the balance gets that high, I will direct any additional money towards debt payments.
  
• Increase my Rental Property Account balance to at least $1500.00
• Decrease my Non-Mortgage debt to less than $40,000. Now that my credit card debt is gone, my focus is now on the car loan balance. Once the car loan balance is gone, I will then start on the student loan.
  
• Increase my Credit Scores. I would like to have at least a 720 with all 3 bureaus.
  

Be sure to subscribe to SingleGuyMoney to see if I accomplish these goals. I would also would like to wish you a very happy and prosperous New Year. Let's make 2008 the year we get free of debt!!!!!

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