Sep 30 2015 Net Worth Update: $131,439 (-$836, -0.6%) 10

Hi Everyone! Welcome to my end of September 2015 net worth update.

September was another volatile month. Quite frankly, it hurts to see my net worth staying at the same level as 3-4 months ago however I keep telling myself that I am getting discounts on the stocks that I will keep for a long time. I like the fact that I have a day job to add more cash to my cash reserve under the volatile environment. I will have to reserve cash to get ready for 2016’s $20,000 TFSA room for me and my wife and also some RRSP (For US Citizens,  401K, IRA, ROTH IRA…) anyways so I kinda hope that the market stays like this or even drop further temporarily so that when January 1 2016 hits, I can afford to buy more stocks at a severe discount.

When you invest, you should always look at long term investing horizon, not tomorrow, next month, next year etc…. If you foresee that you would need cash in a near future then investing in stocks isn’t for you. However when you start to focus on longer term view, then you will do quite well as long as you buy good stocks with great fundamentals at attractive price.

This is my nineth 2015 net worth update. Net worth update is posted monthly to keep track of the progress of my journey to become a millionaire. I believe anyone can be a millionaire with good saving habits and smart investing plans. If you would like to join the journey, please follow me through my Facebook and twitter pages and subscribe your email for free updates. It has been a bit more than one year since I started tracking my net worth. My net worth on July 31 2014 was $79,352 but it is now $131,439. That is $52,087 (65%) astonishing growth during last 14 months period. Can you believe it? My net worth grew by $3,720 per month on average. Keep it steady and slowly which is the key to become a millionaire.

I cried a bit when my net worth decreased for the first time three months ago since I tracked my net worth but I turned it over to positive two months ago then it dropped again last month which continued to this month. My net worth dropped from $132,275 to $131,439 over the month (-$836). Haha. Cannot get always positive. That’s ok. Failure is not an opposite of success. It is a part of success. When my wife taught herself baking about a week ago and I remembered that she ruined yeast as she boiled it. Haha I don’t understand why she ever thinking about boiling the yeast thus killing it but that was the lesson that she learned from it. Now she is able to bake this delicious pizza bread for my late beer night. The point is, don’t beat yourself when things are not very positive, as I always like to say, when there is bad news, there always an opportunity. Termination from the work may hurt your feeling but that should only make you stronger and might give you an opportunity get a better job with a better pay.

After several failures, the pizza bread finally can compliment exceptionally well with my favorite beer, Rickard’s Red.

Cash

My cash balance has increased from $2,691 to $4,575 and I am expecting it will reach close to $8-9K by the end of next month. As I mentioned, I will keep building cash position until I have enough cash for 2016’s TFSA and RRSP. For someone who do not take advantage of TFSA and RRSP, please use them for your future. They are wonderful instruments that will make your future brighter.

My credit card debt is at around $600 which is probably the lowest level I have ever achieved. I am close to debt free and I like it that way. I just love the feeling of keeping my credit card balance low as I feel empowered to be debt free.

My majority of cash is sitting in President choice Debit account. I use it for the most of the money transfer, bill payments, cheques etc… as there is no transaction fee in this amazing card and cheques are free. Major banks typically charge $50-100 for 50 cheques but I pay nothing for that. I just ordered 50 more cheques for absolutely free. Due to its partnership with CIBC bank, I can use their extensive CIBC ATMs network which is awesome. Their customer service is great as well.

I use TD bank card as well which is mainly used for investment fund transfer purpose as it is connected to TD warehouse brokerage account which gives me some convenience of transferring fund and invest. Check out the following section to see what credit cards and debit cards options we have in US and Canada.

Investment

As you may have noticed from My portfolio section, I sold all of my VTI holding in August. I figured, if I am going to keep investing for a long time or forever, then I would switch to stocks from ETFs. I am not going to lie, VTI was amazing for last one year period as I purchased at $104 but due to strengthening US currency, my average cost reduced to $95-$97. I sold some VTI about 3-4 months ago at $110.50 and about 10 days ago, sold the rest at $108.76. Both of them generated about 10-15% gain for one year while I held which I am extremely happy with. It has been good VTI. So long. With the proceeds, I purchased

140 shares of ARLP at $24.82.

100 shares of BHP at $35.58.

120 shares of CSX Corp at $29.60.

40 shares of Chevron at $83.20.

76 shares of NOV at $39.52.

34 shares of NSC at $81.99.

36 shares of UNP at $92.68.

50 shares of WMT at $71.80.

All the purchases will add US$1300 to my annual dividend income. That’s more than $100 every month. Yay!!!  Please see the following link for more detail. Recent Buy- ARLP, BHP, CSX, CVX, NOV, NSC, UNP and WMT.

What a great fun I had. 🙂 I got no patience for market timing. Instant reallocation of all my available fund! This is how I release all my stress. Haha

I also purchased 122 shares of CNQ at CDN$28.60 as well.

Other than that, my TFSA has dropped by $1,981 (3%) and RRSP decreased by $913 (2%).  🙁 Check out my portfolio page to see what stocks I own and the following article for more investment tips-How to Simply Invest and Get Richer for Dummies in 8 Easy Steps.

If you are also a dividend investor like me, then you should check out the following page to see how other dividend investors are doing. You won’t regret a moment of reading their valuable and inspirational articles. The Financial Bloggers Dividend Income List Oh right, you may want to check out the following section to see what other investing bloggers are up to as well. Blogroll

Credit card

We tried to minimize spending over last couple of months and it worked out pretty well. We use Capital one Costco credit card as it gives us 3% cash back on restaurants (6% on first 3 months). I spend about $500 per month on my team meals at work so that would be $15 ($30 for first 3 months) cash back per month. Remember. Everything adds up.

We also have MBNA cash back card that we use mainly for grocery and gas for 2% cash back and everything else for 1% cash back (5% on first 6 months) without any annual fee. Unlike capital one cash back card and all other cash back cards out there, MBNA card is well beyond expectation. First of all, MBNA pays cold hard cash back (not points toward purchasing goods and services) and secondly, MBNA directly deposits the cash right away to your bank when it hits $50 mark. That’s great as I don’t have to wait until the end of the year to collect cash. Check out the following links if you are interested in getting awesome credit cards like MBNA and Capital one credit cards.

US residents

Canadian residents

Spending

We have been tightening up spending. We set up two major rules and following religiously so far.

1. My wife added some more healthy option after watching some documentary films about how chickens, milk cows etc… are raised so we have been purchasing quality organic ingredients, cook home meals most of time and go out and enjoy restaurant meal once a month together in a mutually agreed restaurant.
2. We shop at Costco once a month for majority of grocery (They are always fresh and love their AAA beef so much for very attractive prices) then for urgent needs, my wife goes grocery nearby our place for eggs, milks, vegetable and fruits as in need basis. Our monthly grocery budget is $500 per month. I know it is high for just two people but we love healthy and good quality food and I am a meateatarian.
3. We will keep being frugal on all other expenditures. See the following links for excellent ways to save money.
   • 30 most important tips to be a millionaire no matter how much you make.
   • Renting vs Buying
   • 16 most important tips to save on car insurance by 40-60%
   • Norbert’s Gambit- Save thousands of dollar from foreign exchange conversion fees
   • What’s in my wallet
   • Needs vs Wants
   • 20 smart moving tips that will save you time and money
   • How to save $1,000 annually from your TV cable bill

Hope you enjoyed this month’s net worth update. Remember, if you haven’t, set your saving & investing plans up and try to see how much net worth you have reached as of now and how much it has fluctuated in the past. Knowing where you are and where you will be headed will be a great starting point to be a millionaire and retire comfortably. Hang in there. I will be on the journey with you.

 

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