Frugal | I’m in the Black!

I’m in the Black!

Posted by Lynnae on January 2, 2008

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CalculatorI’ve never tracked my net worth before. And since my mom just sent out a Christmas letter telling all of our relatives about this blog, you won’t be seeing any specific numbers here today. :)

What I will tell you is that for the first time in our married life, my husband and I are starting the year with a positive net worth. Our debt repayment efforts last year paid off, and our assets are now more than our liabilities. How is this possible, considering the rough year 2007 was for us financially?

First of all, we don’t own our home. We have no mortgage, which is a big help in boosting our net worth. And truthfully, in our area, considering what houses cost and what we’re paying for rent, buying a house wouldn’t be a smart financial move at the moment. It would break our budget, and we will be able to accomplish our other financial goals much more quickly by continuing to rent. I do hope to buy a house someday, but now isn’t the time.

Second, we own our cars outright. Another big source of debt that most people have is a good sized car loan. Since we don’t have one, it lowers our debt to asset ratio.

That leaves only our credit card and our student loan as liabilities. Our credit card will be paid off by the end of the year. My original goal was to have all of our debt paid off by June, but that is clearly not going to happen. I’d like to see our student loan debt gone by 2010.

We don’t have much debt, but we don’t have many assets either. We have a small amount in savings and a small IRA. But the two combined are larger than our debts, so I’m pleased with that.

Being new to figuring my net worth, I’m going to set a small goal of doubling our net worth by next year. That goal should be easy to reach. While it’s tempting to get discouraged comparing my small net worth to the larger net worth of other people, I think it’s important to focus on improving my own situation. As long as I’m moving forward and not backward, I will be happy.

For other great posts on net worth, check out the following blogs:

Photo by cw3283.

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Comments

31 Responses to “I’m in the Black!”

  1. Patrick on January 2nd, 2008 4:03 am

    Congrats on being in the black! It is a great feeling! I wish you and your family the best in 2008!

  2. glblguy on January 2nd, 2008 4:09 am

    Congratulations Lynnae! I think you make a really good point about not owning a home makes good financial sense for you. There is a common misunderstanding that you need to own a home. I think you are proving that isn’t necessary and not always the best thing to do!

  3. Free From Broke on January 2nd, 2008 4:41 am

    Congrats on reaching positive net worth. When I reached that point it felt so good. Even though it was only a few dollars over at first I knew they were my dollars!

  4. rocketc on January 2nd, 2008 5:40 am

    Ha! I love it, your mom is outing you as a blogger in a Christmas letter.. . hee, hee. . . still chuckling. . . :)

  5. Mike-TWA on January 2nd, 2008 5:50 am

    That’s great! Care to take on a wee bit of my student loans? :) Oh, OK–off to buy another property then.

  6. Astreil on January 2nd, 2008 7:56 am

    Congratulations! That’s quite an accomplishment.

  7. ed on January 2nd, 2008 8:40 am

    Congratulations! I’m working toward the black myself, but I can imagine how good it must feel!

  8. Becky on January 2nd, 2008 9:33 am

    Congrats! I pray that your financial situation will improve in 2008 and that you’ll be able to more than double your net worth. God Bless :)

  9. Mrs. Micah on January 2nd, 2008 10:22 am

    That’s great, Lynnae! :D

    P.S. This is why you must edit mom’s Christmas letters. Mine was going to out me too. I didn’t prevent her from telling most of my extended family, but at least people I haven’t seen since I was 5 aren’t coming on…

  10. Kacie on January 2nd, 2008 11:21 am

    Excellent job! Woo hoo!

  11. InTheHole on January 2nd, 2008 11:43 am

    That’s awesome!! Congratulations!!

  12. Pinyo on January 2nd, 2008 12:30 pm

    Congratulation on making it out of the red zone. Best of luck in 2008!

  13. Laura on January 2nd, 2008 12:37 pm

    Wonderful job Lynnae! I think you’ll make your goal for this year and double your net worth. I look forward to following as you do it.

  14. fathersez on January 2nd, 2008 3:01 pm

    Congratulations.

    Well done and may you achieve all your 2008 goals and more.

  15. Brip Blap on January 4th, 2008 5:38 pm

    Awesome! What a great way to start the New Year :)

  16. Randall on January 31st, 2008 9:53 am

    Thanks for the linkey, Congrats on being in positive range.

Trackbacks

  1. New Year’s Net Worth: Paid down debt in 2007 and bolstered savings | Mrs. Micah: Finance for a Freelance Life
  2. How we increased our net worth by more than 170% in less than a year | Gather Little By Little
  3. Net Worth Goals for 2008 | Cash Money Life
  4. December 2007 Site and Net Worth Review (+0.72%) | Moolanomy
  5. net worth 2008? : plonkee money
  6. The M-Network+annex NetWorthapoolaza | Credit Withdrawal
  7. It’s Hard to Get Back to Zero | I've Paid For This Twice Already...
  8. rocket finance » Blog Archive » Net Worth for the New Year
  9. DebtFREE-Revolution » Blog Archive » Trying to Figure Our Net Worth
  10. The M-Network Shares Their Net Worth - You Know You Want To Peek! | My Two Dollars
  11. Frugal Babe » Archive » Blogging Inspiration
  12. brip blap » net worth or net worthless?
  13. 2007 Net Worth Update: +19.7% | My Dollar Plan
  14. Smart Spending
  15. Carnivals, Credit Card Wars, and More! | beingfrugal.net

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