Time for another net worth update!
On Net Worth Update #10 for January, I had a net worth of $23,892.78.
I really liked that month because I went all in on paying off debt that I’ve racked up in December. And for this month, I continued paying off some leftover debt.
For this update though, I decided to make a very big change that would impact my numbers moving forward. It was a hard decision to make because it felt like I was starting over, but I had to do it.
Before we dive into the numbers, let me explain what this big decision was. On my previous net worth update, I mentioned that my net worth was going to decrease because I am going to take out the money from my tax savings account.
As I was thinking that over, I realized that that scenario is going to happen again next year whenever I have to pay my taxes. That means that I would have to experience a sharp decline in my net worth AGAIN.
While I actually like seeing my net worth grow, having that sharp decline didn’t sit well with me. I didn’t want to see a cycle of decline every February. So I thought about simply removing the accounts that are involved with that scenario.
So moving forward, I won’t be including any accounts that are associated with my business. And because of that, there will be a very big spread from what you’ve seen in last year’s net worth from this year. It will really feel like I’m starting over again.
All numbers here are logged in as of February 28 at 5pm. As always, to make things simpler in my blog, I’m going to do bullet points and quick summaries so that there’s no need to read.
My Assets (Cash & Savings)
CASH Details: I have 1 account that I consider my personal checking account. I removed 2 accounts associated with my business, namely, Chase and PayPal.
- Wells Fargo — $953.14
SAVINGS Details: I have 2 personal high-yield savings accounts. I removed 1 account associated with my business, Ally.
- Ally — $3,256.05
- Yotta — $3,662.51
SUMMARY:
CASH — There is a big difference in numbers compared to my last update without Chase and PayPal. These two accounts had very stable growth in numbers because I try to keep my business expenses low.
With only Wells Fargo being the sole checking account, I suspect that I will have more volatile numbers compared to when I had those two accounts as a buffer.
While I don’t have big personal expenses very month, there are some times when I make some purchases that don’t go along my financial plans.
It’s sad to see the two accounts go, but it must be done so I can “clean up” my records and really see my net net worth. It was a nice thing to see when my cash accounts totaled to more than $3K, but now it’s going to be a challenge for me to get it to that level using only 1 account.
SAVINGS — I removed the first Ally Bank account I’ve listed in my tracker since that was the main culprit of my concern — the tax savings account.
This is also the main factor as to why my net worth will change dramatically. To be honest, when I removed that row from my spreadsheet, it felt like losing $13K in an instant. I know it’s not real but I had a little bit of attachment with the numbers I reached. I think it was because hitting a net worth of more than $20K was a big milestone for me.
It’s like hitting 100 subscribers on YouTube, you celebrate and then, next day, it went below to 90 subs. You were happy for a moment, but then it was taken away. But I digress. I know this is temporary and I will bring this savings amount even beyond the level I had before.
My Assets (Investments)
INVESTMENT Details: I have 6 investment accounts: 3 money market accounts & 3 cryptocurrency accounts. I have added multiple crypto yield farms to monitor.
SUMMARY:
Stocks — The market hasn’t been nice to all investors. There’s a correction happening and it may not reach the bottom any time soon, according to some. There are obvious factors to this, such as the Russia-Ukraine issue, multiple rate hikes for this year, and most importantly, the market’s sentiment.
In December, I hit $8,000 in value, but as the new year went along, that value started dropping. I felt a little nervous that this was happening, but I reminded myself that this is normal and the market will simply recover at some point.
So, the focus for my dividend portfolio is to simply add more to my positions, and close any if there is a need. DCA will be the best strategy for me during this uncertain time, so I can set up my portfolio for bigger gains when the next bull run happens.
If you’re ever interested in investing in stocks, WeBull and Public are great platforms to start with because they give you signup bonuses. So make sure to check out WeBull for 2 free stocks and Public for a free stock worth $50 or more!
Cryptocurrency — It hasn’t been a good start for crypto in 2022. The market cap for crypto hit close to $2.7 trillion in December 2021 and has since slid down to $1.7 trillion. That’s a lot of value gone in a span of 3 months.
2020 and 2021 was a big year for crypto and a lot of inexperienced investors bought usually at peaks for different tokens. And as certain factors played in, more experienced investors took in profits due to the oversold prices of tokens.
As for me, I’ve been heavily affected in my DeFi projects. I exited 3 projects I started in 2021 — PancakeSwap, Wonderland, and Pacoca (which I still have to make an article on). This is why I’ve revealed the rows on my spreadsheet that has these three projects. They’re out of the mix now and the funds from these projects will be redirected to relatively safer investments.
I’ve also removed two rows under my centralized finance category. These two were rows for Celsius and Hodlnaut. The SEC has been cracking down on crypto firms that offer interest accounts, and the most recent example of this was BlockFi. They settled on a lawsuit by the SEC, and will be in continued talks on how to continue doing business in the US.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the two other platforms I planned to use would be investigated next by the SEC. So, I’m removing them since I probably wouldn’t be able to create an interest accounts with them in the meantime.
Total Assets & My Comments
My total assets for February is $20,055.28, an increase of $1,462.11 — a 7.86% increase from last month, January.
With my recent change in numbers, this is totally not bad. I’m still seeing some growth even though it is now smaller changes.
My Liabilities (Credit Cards)
CREDIT CARDS Details: I have 1 personal credit card. I removed 1 account associated with my business.
- Discover It — $33.98
SUMMARY:
I’ve removed my Chase Freedom Unlimited from the equation too since I primarily use it for my business. I’ve paid off all of the personal debt I had in it so there wouldn’t be anymore confusion. While I may have removed some cash from my numbers, I’ve removed a big chunk of debt too from it.
Discover will now be my main credit card. And cashback-wise, this may not be the best strategy, but I barely think about this at all anyway. I’m not a credit card pro at this point, but I will continue to use my credit card for purchases to still get cashback.
My Liabilities (Student Loans)
STUDENT LOANS Details: I have 2 federal student loan accounts.
- EdFinancial Group A — $5,344.78
- EdFinancial Group C — $2,154.13
SUMMARY:
As you may know, I paused my student loan payments for close to a month in order to save up for something else. This decision proved to be a good one since I was able to do some saving and pay off some consumer debt. Without that, I would’ve drained my accounts throughout February.
I still have two federal accounts though, but I’m targeting to finishing Group C before the payment pause ends and starts on May 1. The goal is still to fully pay off my loans this year. So stay close and watch the journey!
Total Liabilities & My Comments
My total liabilities for February is $7,532.89, an decrease of $366.02 — a 4.63% decrease from last month, January.
Usually, I would decrease my debt twice or thrice this amount, but since I had to pause my student loan payments, there is a slowdown on my debt. But on a good note, it is still a good progress because the amount is falling.
My Net Worth for February 2022
So my new Net Worth for February 2022 is $12,522.39, an increase of $1,828.13 — a 17.09% increase compared to the previous month, January.
Looking at the rate of change, it is big, but simply because my net worth is smaller. It’s a nice thing to see to be honest. I’ll celebrate it but also challenge it so I can increase it even more.
For this month, the main focus will be the student loans. And I’m happy that I have resumed my student loan payments because that will help decrease my liabilities even further. I‘m sort of in a race though before the payment pause ends, because I’d hate to miss the opportunity on not paying any interest. But I am confident that I can pay the account I’m on before that happens.
I also need to find a way to increase my passive income streams. So, I’ve started a Medium blog, which is basically a blog version of my YouTube channel, so if you prefer doing some reading, check it out.
Also, I’ve been doubling down on automations and hiring a team for my business to help me with operations. It’s been a blast having a team because you can actually focus on things that really move the needle. I’ve been crazy about making SOPs recently, and I’m feeling really good about how this will turn out for my digital marketing agency.
As always, I will do my best to limit my personal expenses this month since I don’t see any significant events happening for March. Most would probably be business expenses that you won’t see included in here anyway.