In order to keep track of my financial progress or lack of progress I have decided to calculate my net worth each month.
My net worth as of today (4/4/2016) is as follows.
Assets
Cash – $3145.39
IRA – $22,447.78
Roth IRA – $9832.84
Loan – $0
Car/Stuff – $5000
Liabilities
Credit Card – $0
Student Loan – $127,374.30
Net Worth = $-86,948.29
My net worth improved a little over $1000 in March. The improvement was all due to an increase in assets. My liabilities stayed pretty much the same. Although I paid off the remaining $522 of my credit card balance transfer the monthly interest on my student loan was almost $600 resulting in very little progress in reducing my overall debt total.
This month is also the final month I’ll be receiving payment for the personal loan I made last year. That will be a reduction of $450 a month in cash flow which will make it slightly more difficult to continue to improve my net worth.
Since I will hopefully be hiking the next couple of months I will have a serious reduction in income so I don’t expect to make any progress on paying down my student loan and improving my net worth during that time. Once I’m back from the hike I plan to focus on increasing my income and putting all of my extra money towards my student loan debt.
Last month I wondered whether I should invest in my IRA or use that money to pay down my student loan. I think I’ll likely max out my IRA again. I have until April 15th next year to contribute the money so I don’t have to make up my mind yet.