A Belated April Net Worth

Our net worth is calculated, and we've done well, raising it by almost as much as a month's take-home salary, thanks to the tax rebate.

It's not quite fair to measure net worth in the middle of the month, since we've had 6 weeks to pay debt down rather than 4, but I still think we've done well. We saved our government rebate checks rather than using them to pay down credit card debt, a decision I still feel somewhat worried about, but I hope that the cushion can help us get through the summer and buy books for classes in the fall, as we usually don't budget enough for either.

I would have liked to use our checks (plus a little) to put $2000 extra on our cc debt, bringing it down to under $5000, but I'm planning to take a trip to see my parents this summer and I would have had to use our emergency fund in order to do that. Also, my husband's GI bill runs out in June, so we wanted a little extra cushion as we prepare to live with $750 less every month. I think we've done pretty well in trimming our expenses -- my sister is quite envious of our miniscule gas bill -- and I'm continuing to try to cut corners. It would be better for me to stay here the month of June, rather than visit my family, but it's important to my personal life right now that I take this time. It's also terribly hot and miserable here in June, and a good time to be somewhere cooler.

Hopefully we'll save a little money to offset the cost, since (I'll be shameless, here) my parents and my friends will foot the cost of water and cooling (my husband usually just closes the house up and turns the a/c off when we're gone). I'm also planning to camp as we drive north, rather than stay in hotels. It's cheaper and more fun for the kids, but the biggest appeal is health related; my daughter is allergic to a lot of the cleaners/bleach used in hotels, and gets terrible rashes from staying in them. By camping we can use our own things, get nice and dirty, and she can be itch-free (I hope). I'm not sure what we'll do for showers, but 3 days without a shower, while gross, isn't the end of the world either. I'll take a camp stove and a cooler of food, so we can barbecue our way to Idaho. That should save money as well.

My hope is that my stash of money won't dwindle too badly, and I can use it to pay down credit cards when I return. I know I'm taking a risk here, but I also don't want to use the credit cards. It's purely psychological, but saving money and paying down debt is a behavioral change and I think I will be more disciplined if I cannot use the card.

This month I would have met and exceeded my networth goal of $50,000 for this year (and it's only May!) if I included the change in the worth of our house. According to Zillow, our house has gone up $10,000. But, since real estate is so rocky right now, I am keeping the worth of our house at the same for the rest of the year. The dips and hills are so unpredictable I don't want it to mar the actual progress we are making on realized debt and savings.