Doubling Dollars Net Worth Report for the 3rd Quarter of 2017

I’ve hit another high increase of quarterly net worth! *Trumpets and horns* (plus balloons falling from the ceiling)

You know what an important thing to be doing is if you want to increase your net worth? Track the damn thing!

Seriously, watching those numbers will motivate you to have them ever increasing. It’s just like playing a video game and your net worth is the score. You want to perform as best as you can so you can add your initials to the top ten.

I am so glad that I broke free from a monetary coma three years ago and got down to business. My salary hasn’t increased all that much, but now every dollar has a job to do. The majority of them go to work FOR me making more money babies.

You can change your relationship with money. You can be the master of it, instead of it lording over you. Read. Learn. The knowledge is out there.

Once you gain the knowledge, you change your mindset. You change your mindset, you change your life.

It happened to me. Let me show you in numbers.

(This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a commission – at no additional cost to yourself – if you end up buying the product or service offered.)

CASH

Starting $13,593 Ending $15,277 [+1,684]

I like to have around $10,000 in liquid cash, spread between my different checking and emergency fund accounts. This quarter I quickly opened up an account at CIT Bank to grab a 1.35% interest rate on my emergency fund. This sure beats my .75% I was getting at Capital One!

Not that I am going to get rich off it, but it negates a pretty good chunk of inflation. This whole journey towards financial independence is just about maximizing the efficiency of your money. Grabbing a larger interest rate is a VERY easy way to do it. You should check out CIT Bank and make that emergency fund more efficient. The signup process was easy and painless.

Open a Premier High Yield Savings account and get a 1.35% APY (on balances up to $100k.) See site for full terms and conditions on this offer.

I’m building up a bit of a cash surplus so that I can drop $5,500 in my IRA the first business day of 2018.

INVESTMENTS

Starting $72,781 Ending $81,897 [+9,116]

Through my work retirement plan, I invest approximately $1,000 per month into index funds. The rest is additions to my brokerage accounts. I have two, my main one is Robinhood but I often find companies that Robinhood do not trade. To invest in those companies I have another brokerage, but it costs a commission. Not Robinhood though! That’s why I prefer to do all my trades with them.

If Robinhood interests you, sign up using this link to get a free share of stock (I will too). Even a share of Apple or Facebook is possible, worth over $150.

This quarter my star investments were STRL [+36%] and two junior lithium companies – OROCF [+58%] and GALXF [+96%].

Oh, and that spike down? That was a glitch in Motif Investing on July 4th.

MORTGAGE

Starting $62,577 Ending $61,526 [+1,051]

This is the only thing I pay interest on (credit cards are paid in full each month), to the tune of about $175 per month. Still, I would rather that amount be zero. But I see the benefit of investing for growth higher than the mortgage interest rate.

So I pay a little extra on the mortgage and invest the lions share. I’ve always been the type of person to compromise between two different ways.

A small mortgage (and corresponding payment) allows more flexibility in life. Not as much as say living in an RV, just more. I could basically do any job and earn enough to live. I have low overhead.

ASSETS

Starting $186,707 Ending $192,448 [+5,741]

Three cars and a house fall under this asset category. I know some people will rail that a house is a poor investment, but not me! I love it because I researched and bought smartly.

I know Zillow is not exactly accurate, but I purchased my house 3 years ago for less than $100K and now it is at $175K. You can subtract $12K for renovations, but that is still a very good return. Plus, it is all tax-free if we choose to sell since we have lived in it for over 2 years.

All together this comes out to a net worth of $227,556!

A TOTAL QUARTERLY INCREASE OF $19,096!

This may or may not seem impressive to you, but let me put this into perspective. During the 3rd quarter, I earned a GROSS total (before taxes and deductions) of $16,598.03 from my job. My wife is a stay at home mom, and I have two kids.

I think I am doing very well.

You might ask how can a person increase their net worth more than the total amount of money they earned? Well, that is the beauty of investing. You get your money working for you. I also work hard for my money by doing a few different side-hustles. The final piece is to live way below your means, change your mindset from just that money buys things to money is time. You’ll find that buying things don’t interest you as much. 

That’s really all there is to it.

THE BIG PICTURE

I started the year with a net worth of $173,276. So far this year it comes out to a net worth increase of 31.3%! And there are still three more months to go.

From just the second quarter of this year, my net worth is up 9.2%.

I am not special. I just changed my money mindset and now look where I am.

On the first of January, 2015 I had a net worth of $81,249. That is what I accumulated over 33 years of life.

In less than 3 years I have increased that to $227,556 – or a gain of 180%

So 33 years = $81,249

Changed my money mindset.

The next 3 years = $146,307

If I can do it, so can you. Heck, you probably can be doing better than me.

What are you waiting for?

How is your journey to financial independence going? Let me know in a comment below.