It feels good to have a positive month after all those negative months. Much of the increase was due to a comeback in the markets. Things have been much better on the debt side, as I paid back some of my line of credit and controlled spending more tightly on the credit cards. Let's see the details!
Assets ($134 358, up 0.3% from $133 989)
- Bank Accounts $3 789 (down 14% from $4 425)
- Emergency Funds $2990 (down 12% from $3 394)
- RRSP Accounts $30 018 (up 3.5% from $28 993)
- Non-Registered Investments $11 355 (up 5.8% from $10 728)
- Home $86 100 (stable)
Liabilities ($ 65 265, down 4.2% from $68 115)
- Credit Cards $2 964 (down 36% from $4 642)
- Mortgage $54 867 (down 0.2% from $54 989)
- Heat Pump Loan $6 328 (down 0.9% from $6 386)
- Line of Credit $1 000 (down 50% from $2 000)
So my bank accounts have come down from last month, partly due to planned expenses and partly from paying down half of my line of credit. The other big item was credit card debt, which went down substancially this month as a reined in spending. It shows too. so I'm happy with that.
My plan to concentrate on debt reduction for a couple of months is going well. I will keep doing that this month, but I expect May to be harder on liquidities, because of planned expenses for the house (second municipal tax payment and the last payment on the windows we replaced last fall).
4 comments:
Great work.
I am wondering why you wouldn't just pay your entire credit card balance off? Or are you just reporting the figure month to month before you pay the bal. in full.
That's because the amount on my credit card is not an unpaid balance. I do indeed pay the balance in full each month. But since those payments usually occur in the second week of a month, I always have an amount pending on my credit cards. Since this is something that I have to pay off, I report it as a liability.
I also have some 0% financings that I use for car repairs.
Oh, ok. I just ignore these short term balances on my net worth statement.
I could do that too, by simply substracting the amount I owe on my credit cards from the amount I have in my bank accounts.
From a net worth perspective, it doesn't matter.
However, I find that it does matter from a cash flow perspective. I have to make sure I have the cash available to pay my balances in full each month, so I track this.
It also helps me determine how much money I've been spending, since almost everything I buy goes on the credit cards. When I see the amount rise too much for my tastes, it's a signal to cut back for a while. In short, it keeps me honest about my spending habits. ;o)
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