March 2017 Net Worth: +$4,657

My plan is to track our progress at the beginning of each month by posting our net worth to celebrate good things and talk through the challenges we had in the prior month.  I've been tracking our net worth since February 2013 and this is the first month that we have ever hit six figures which is a big deal.

Thank you Budgets are Sexy for the excellent net worth template!

Unexpected money found in February:

Interest earned on checking/savings accounts: $12.93

Rebate apps: $14.24

Husband's travel stipends: $330

Refund from over-payment on medical bill: $101.66

Kansas Tax Refund: $135

We received the last bill for labor and delivery in February so we paid that in full.  Having a baby is so interesting financially because you can bargain shop for just about anything else you're interested in spending your money on but they won't even tell you how much it's going to cost until after.  I think I'll save the details on that for another post.  (JUST THE MONEY PART. I promise.)

I threw just about everything left at the end of the month at the car to bring it down.  Ideally, I'm trying to pay the car off by September 2017 but I'll have a few odd months of income since I have 6 weeks of unpaid maternity leave heading my way.  Hopefully we'll be able to scratch that one off a little sooner.

I couldn't help myself and threw two of my husband's travel stipends ($55/each) at the house because I'm trying to end our PMI payment.  We have to clear $69,500 to drop the $40/month off our mortgage payment and we're so close that it's nearly unbearable to still see it.

Until next time!

18 Years and 4 + months to go.

The Goal

Our goal is probably what brought you to this page.  I would like to have our net worth be at or over a million dollars before we drop our son off at college.  So by August of 2035, we'll need to make a handful of new habits and good choices and keep them up.

I was inspired by Millionaire By Forty who set a goal to reach a million dollars in the bank by his 40th birthday.  But honestly what got my attention on his site was his simple idea to write. my. goals. down.  

Accountability has been the hardest part of keeping up with our finances in my opinion.  We generally live under our means, save quite a bit, and pay off debt aggressively when it comes into our lives but the idea of meeting a lofty goal like having a million dollars in the bank seems impossible on a month by month basis.  I'm just too close to it and need to look at the bigger picture and see what we can accomplish in the long run.  

Here are some details so you can know a little bit about me since I'm in this for the long haul.  My husband and I are both 29 and live in Kansas with our two dachshunds and brand new baby.  I work in higher education at a private university and my husband is a driver for a food distributor.   

Thank you for joining me! 18 years and 4 + months to go.