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I just realized that I have been tracking my net worth for over two years.  In that two years I have had some ups and downs, but this month was fairly average.  As always, you can visit my full report at NetworthIQ.

Want to know how and why I track my net worth the way I do?  You should probably buy my new book, that I launched today, the Personal Finance Arsenal.

If you thought graduating from an MBA program that is incredibly expensive would not help your net worth, I have news for you, you are wrong.  Since March, my net worth has continued to move on up.

I am still on track to have my student loans paid in about two years and love watching my cash reserves increase (goal of $4,000 emergency fund by December 31st) and my investment accounts grow.  Click the image below to enlarge.

I encourage all of you to check out the personal finance arsenal and personal balance sheet to find out why I do this and learn how to track your net worth yourself.

I have cut back on spending from last month, but I watched the stock market sink further in the last week, so my investments are not performing as well as I would like.  I am focusing on saving up in my “emergency fund” and aggressively paying down my student loans.

Paid off the expensive plane ticket and tried (unsuccessfully) to cut back on spending. I took a beating in the stock market this month. I took $500 from my investment account and moved it to cash, but watched my 401(k) and brokerage account shrink along with the market in a horrible month for stocks.  However, I did keep my student loan payments up and lowered my debt by over 6%.

 I did make $57 this month from Demand Studios.  I am trying to increase my diversified income streams, and this is a good step up from previous months.  I am also writing more residual income articles than up front payment.  I also earned about $40 from eHow that will be paid this week.

Also, a thanks to Gai Shan Life for including my post on living paycheck to paycheck in this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance.

My net worth was up during April, but less than I usually like to see.  Buying a $1600 plane ticket to Israel was the biggest dent in my cash, but I am sure the expense will be worth it.  Other than that, it was a fairly normal month on the spending and income fronts.

You can see all of the details on my page at Net Worth IQ.   My total net worth is now $19,647, which is an increase of $1,488, or 8.19%.

I got my annual bonus at work in March.  I got my tax refunds as well.  I took my extra income and put it all directly to my students loans in addition to the $250 per paycheck I normally do.  My assets were about even, but my debt is down about 25%.

This month, I decided to pull my details off the net worth site as well.  Here is my situation today:

No More Car Loan!  That’s right.  It is paid in full.  The title came in the mail last week.  I own my car outright.  I now plan to pay $500 every month to my car loan.

I also received a bonus at work in February.  I have set up a payment for this week for the amount of my bonus to my student loan.

I hope to pay down the student loans in far less than the 10 years I am given.  If I put my tax return, bonus, and $500 per month, I should be all paid off in two to three years.

I have paid for school for the last time! Yay!  Only 10 more years of student loan payments to go and I am free and clear, unless I pay early, which I plan to do.

I have also used all of my extra cash to pay down my car loan.  I plan to have it paid off by the end of the month!  In all, it was a pretty good month.  When your net worth is below $10,000, it is not too tough to have a 25% increase in a month.

January 1st Update. Student loans increased for the last time! January I make my last grad school tuition payment. This should be the pivotal bottom.

I plan to pay off the car in the next two months and being to pay down the student loans more aggressively in the near future.

It looks like a good month, but that is partially inflated by two events.  1. I bought a share of Berkshire Hathaway class B with funds from an account for school and a future house down payment that is not included here.  2. I received a large gift and put it directly into my car loan.

December 1st Net Worth