Time for another net worth update! This is the 5th update in my series, so let’s look how far I’ve grown my net worth in August!
On Net Worth Update #4 for July, I initially screwed up my numbers and thought that I had a net worth of around $9,500. But upon looking it over and correcting that mistake, I found out that I actually had a net worth of $11,427.22, which is an increase of $3,963.71. It’s a whopping 53.11% growth from June.
For August, I’m very happy with the numbers as well for a couple of reasons that I’m gonna go over in this article.
All numbers here are logged in as of August 31 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 3 accounts that I consider my checkings account.
| Checkings | Bank Name | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Account #1 | Wells Fargo | $954.40 |
| Account #2 | Chase | $1,149.22 |
| Account #3 | PayPal | $1,793.24 |
SAVINGS Details: I have 4 High-Yield Savings Accounts.
| Savings | Bank Name | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Tax Purposes | Ally Bank | $8,123.16 |
| Personal Savings #1 | Ally Bank | $2,598.73 |
| Personal Savings #2 | Yotta | $1,913.09 |
| Personal Savings #3 | WealthFront | $701.05 |
SUMMARY:
Compared to last month’s cash numbers, August experienced the same inflow of cash from my income, but my expenses sort of increased. I had to cover some expenses at home, extra business expenses and send some money to the Philippines.
This is why my Wells Fargo account grew only a little bit. My Chase account held less money as well. But my PayPal account held more compared to last month. I make sure that at least my cash position is growing too, so I try my best not to spend as much.
As for my savings, my Tax Money only grew around $250 because I recently just noticed this, I forgot to make the transfer to that account. But instead of adding an extra $800 there in order to catch up, I’m going to let it pass. And just continue again next month.
With the way I’m setting aside tax money, I go beyond what I’m supposed to save. So I believe that missing just this one transaction won’t matter. I’ll probably end up having extra money again just like last year.
My personal savings at Ally is still growing at $100 a month. But my savings for Yotta and Wealthfront grew significantly in August because I got a refund for my airline ticket worth $950. $450 of that went straight to my savings. $200 for my emergency fund in Yotta and $250 for my sinking fund in WealthFront.
I was really thinking hard as to what I wanted to do with that extra cash. I could’ve used it all on my student loans, but decided against that because I know I’m eventually going to pay it off anyway. I went with $250 for my emergency fund because I want to hit my goal of $6,000 in my emergency fund before the year ends. That’s my next target when I’m done with my private student loan.
The other $200 went to my sinking fund because I’m still short for my Hawaii travel fund. I need at least $750 minimum, $1,000 maximum. Just some extra money to spend and enjoy my time there with family.
My Assets (Investments)
INVESTMENT Details: I have 5 investment accounts: 3 money market accounts & 2 cryptocurrency accounts. I added 1 new investment account in crypto.
| Platform | Type | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| WeBull | Stock | $7,388.24 |
| TDAmeritrade | Roth IRA/Stock | $1,283.62 |
| Coinbase | Cryptocurrency | $1,214.52 |
| BlockFi | CryptoCurrency | $474.44 |
| Public | Stock | $119.26 |
| CakeDefi | Cryptocurrency | $334.28 |
SUMMARY:
Stocks — WeBull and TDAmeritrade didn’t change that much in terms of account value aside from me adding $100 every month. For public, I do not add any money here at the moment, but I let it grow through price appreciation instead.
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 — As for my crypto investments, it’s seeing better days now. Last time, I rarely touched it and just let most of my assets sit there.
While a bulk of my crypto assets are still in CoinBase and doing nothing, in August, I made some moves and made sure that some assets are put to work. So I started staking and mining in CakeDeFi.
I’m not going to go over the specifics about CakeDeFi here. But I moved $300 of BTC into the platform and started staking and mining DFI tokens there. And every week, I earn at least $3 to $4 there for doing nothing. It’s a great way for me to use my crypto assets without doing to much work.
BlockFi is still doing great on my end. Just like CakeDeFi, I don’t do much on these platforms. I don’t check them all the time, but I’m getting some returns. For BlockFi, my interest account earns at least $2 every month. Not a big amount, but it’s earning me money.
Of course, I could have put a lot of money into CakeDeFi and earn bigger returns there every week. But I don’t see the point in leaving a huge chunk of money in something that I don’t keep an eye on everyday. It’s just not my thing.
Plus, it’s best to diversify my crypto portfolio as well, and not just put everything in one platform. I don’t want it to be another case of BitConnect where I lost close to $3,000 in one platform.
Money is still money. And the best way to grow money is to put it to work. So that’s what I did here for my cryptocurrency.
Total Assets & My Comments
My total assets for August is $28,186.79, an increase of $2,153.57 — a 8.27% change from last month, July.
The change is around $1,000 less than what I’ve gained last month, but that’s totally okay. Those extra expenses really dragged down my growth but we’re still pushing forward, and finding out ways to grow these numbers.
| COMPARISON | July | August |
|---|---|---|
| Total Assets | $26,033.22 | $28,186.79 |
| Assets Change ($) | $3,271.61 | $2,153.57 |
| Assets Change (%) | 14.37% | 8.27% |
My Liabilities (Credit Cards)
CREDIT CARDS Details: I have 3 credit cards.
| Issuer | Credit Card | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Wells Fargo | Wells Fargo Platinum | $0 |
| Discover | Discover It | $9.95 |
| Chase | Chase Freedom Unlimited | $1,485.83 |
SUMMARY:
My balance transfer to Chase succeeded so my Wells Fargo balance is gone. And I will rarely use this card throughout the year. I’m not actually sure what to do with it. I might close it, but we’ll see.
I continue to use my Discover card in combination with my Chase Freedom Unlimited when it is necessary. That’s why you still see a balance here because I used the card recently.
When I transferred my balance to Chase, I had to pay a $40 fee for my $1,300 balance. Then, I continued to use the Chase Freedom throughout the month in order to hit the signup bonus, which I did. I’m liking this card so far and I’ve been using it more consistently to get those points.
And like with Wells Fargo, I’m gonna contribute $50 to paying off the balance on this card.
My Liabilities (Student Loans)
STUDENT LOANS Details: 5 student loan accounts — 1 private loan and 4 federal loans.
| Servicer | Type | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| College Avenue | Private | $275.89 |
| EdFinancial | Federal | $5,344.78 |
| EdFinancial | Federal | $1,777.45 |
| EdFinancial | Federal | $3,566.68 |
| EdFinancial | Federal | $654.23 |
SUMMARY:
College Avenue has seen an even bigger reduction throughout the month of August. From $1,828.34 at the end of July, it now sits at $275.89. I’m going to explain further in another article regarding my student loan progress, so stay tuned for that. Not much has changed with my federal student loans, and it still sits at $11,343.14.
Total Liabilities & My Comments
My total liabilities for August is $13,114.81, a decrease of $1,491.19 — a 10.21% decrease from last month, July.
This big reduction really has to do with my student loan balance dwindling, so there’s that. Really great progress on my liabilities there.
| COMPARISON | July | August |
|---|---|---|
| Total Liabilites | $24,203.17 | $ 13,114.81 |
| Liabilites Change ($) | -$692.10 | -$1,491.19 |
| Liabilites Change (%) | -4.52% | -10.21% |
My Net Worth for August 2021
So my Net Worth for August 2021 is $15,071.98, an increase of $3,644.76 — a 31.90% increase compared to the previous month, July.
Per my estimate last month, the numbers for August is lower than what it’s supposed to be because of a dip in my income. Then, I had more expenses as well. I was luckily saved by my airline refund and the Chase signup bonus.
I’ve also mentioned that August would be a month of experiments for me. I did a lot of experimenting with passive income streams. And that’s how I decided to start CakeDeFi and also do some passive “mini-hustles” on the side, which may not reward me anytime soon. But at least I got them started because they were easier to do than create an Etsy store.
I’m gonna keep doing this for September. Create mini-hustles, try to spend less, and increase my cashflow, so I can hit my goals before the year ends.