A Prelude to my 2nd Anniversary of Tracking my Net Worth

Twenty-three months seemed so short with all the ups and downs that my net worth has gone through.

At first, I actually thought it was going to be boring. What difference will a month do to my finances? The first four was just up, up, up, and simply due one reason: my commitment to invest at least Php5,000.00 monthly to my mutual funds. And then came Q2 and Q3 2015 where my finances started to be challenged. Lending money proved to be no good. That also came coincidentally with my decision to purchase a condominium unit. (Bad timing!) Higher expenses, poor cash flow planning, and low liquidity. Good thing I recovered starting Q4 and thank God for the holiday payouts!

I ended the year at 38.8% growth in net worth, but far from what I had planned when I started in January.

Nonetheless, my trial year has taught me a lot of things and got me more driven to continue what I had begun. Though some seasons still had highs and lows, these became more controlled as I had already learned to expect them. Such was the case for bonuses and one-time expenses like tuition fees and my term life insurance. It also helped that I have increased and diversified my investment portfolio as I had more avenues to channel my money and not let it sit in the bank waiting to be spent. Haha! I got myself into our company’s COOP as well as seized the opportunity for share options. Getting a credit card at the middle of the year had me a bit wary, but so far, it’s only been beneficial in facilitating paying for tuition fees and for our family’s trip to Singapore.

I am currently at 21.6% growth since the start of 2016 and a few days away from recording my last net worth update for the year. Though looking at my budget, it doesn’t seem that I’ll be closing the gap from my plan, I am proud to have been able to stabilize my finances and actually hit the half-a-million mark already! I often think what my net worth could have been without my financial obligations with my family (especially as compared to my peers). But I look back and realize that if not for these challenges, I could have not have been responsible with money matters to start. Overcoming these challenges have only inspired me to look at these as milestones and pushed me to take more risks while being disciplined with my finances.

Php 338,987.41 to Php 676,066.64. Almost double at a month short of 2 years. I’m excited how 2016 will end! But even more for the coming year ahead!

 

Cheerios,

Maven