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September 2013 net worth update: (+0.72%) Believe and see victory in numbers

Mr. CBB
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Your Net Worth Is Seen Through Your Eyes So Open Them Wide

I love reading about how other people grow their net worth because it’s motivating for me to see that if someone else can do it, so can I.

I believe that having a positive attitude about money is a way to get from the bottom to where you want to go, after all we all started down there.

Just the other day I finally included our Canadian Budget Binder Budget Spreadsheet to my Free Money Saving Tools which only took me 2 years to put together.

I have had many people test out our budget for me because I wanted it to reflect our values as a couple in terms of finance but also to include elements that others might enjoy.

Without our budget I can safely say that our net worth wouldn’t be where it is today although we have a long way to go in order to reach our personal finance goals.

This past month our budget has taken a hit with all the spending we have been doing around the house mainly.

Finishing the landscaping and purchasing 2 new computer systems cost us big time but we were willing to take the hit to our net worth for these pleasures.

We save each month for projected expenses like the landscaping but when items such as a new computer systems pop up it can leave a gash in your numbers that you will have to accept and move forward. We will do that and it won’t be the last time.

The good news is the exchange rate on the British pound has gone up to 1.67 and seems to be hovering around that mark for the time being.

I’m happy that I have my money in a liquid state in my UK bank account but now I have to make the move and the right move at the right time. I know you are shaking your head and like investing the bloody exchange rate is enough to make you want to scream.

I can literally lose thousands if I wait and the rate goes down or I can stand to make thousands if I wait and the exchange rate goes up.

It’s one of those situations where we might have to bite the bullet, move it over and be done with it. When I started my journey in Canada the exchange rate was around $2.30 or maybe a bit more which is depressing so I try not to think about it but I don’t want to make the same mistakes and lose even more money. It’s a decision-making process that we need to make and move on.

I am anticipating more home improvements in the upcoming October, November and December months as 2013 has seen us spend plenty more money than anticipated on improvements around the house but at least they are getting done.

The great news is a house on our street that is comparable yet smaller is selling for $349,000 with no renovations or upgrades which means we can easily get our $100,000 over the original price of what we paid for our home at $265,000 just over 4 years ago if we sold today in its current state.

I know I keep our house at $329,000 in our net worth chart but in reality it’s higher. I did that to play it safe just in case prices did go down but it’s been a year and so far house prices have been doing very well so I may adjust the housing figure come 2014.

I will also have to adjust our vehicles as they would have gone down in value for 2014 so we may see an increase but also reflect the value decrease in our vehicle assets.

Net worth tracking

I was reading a blog called the Free Money Minute the other day and they shared a list of other personal finance bloggers who track and share their net worth online with the Net Worth Tracker page that was posted.

It’s a great list of bloggers and the best part is that it’s not about having a high net worth, it’s about people who are working hard to reach financial independence by growing their net worth.

You will notice on the list that some bloggers are in the negative but the point is they are swimming and others are high net worth individuals that are soaring to the top.

They are swimming up and working their way out and that is what budgeting and setting financial goals is about to me.

If we believe in ourselves and our ability to save and spend less than we earn whilst paying off debt we can put ourselves in the position of moving up the ladder.

Sure, we’d love to have a million dollar net worth but realize that even those that are already in that position who might even be younger than us worked hard to get there no matter what way we look at it. Some people are lucky, some people get jump-starts and others make the right decisions when it comes to where they invest their money.

I’m not sure what it means to have an ultra high net worth as someone searched on the blog the other day but I can only assume that it means there are no more worries about money in your life because you have far surpassed anything imaginable to most around the world.

Not everyone will be worth millions upon millions of dollars unless you are a lottery winner, very successful business owner, investors or you excel at what you do. You might even be an actor/actress, TV personality, famous for one reason or another or a rock star who has hit it big. Should we care about those that are successful or celebrities net worth numbers? Not really but it’s more the path or footsteps that got someone there that intrigues me the most.

I wrote a post earlier this year about how we stopped focusing on other people’s financial numbers and worried more about our own personal net worth. Comparing your numbers with those of someone else’s is not a smart way to motivate yourself because we all have different incomes, debts and lifestyles.

Our personal financial advisor told us that he has high net worth clients that struggle just like everyone else but they make it to the top because they don’t let negativity get in the way.

Not only that but we are all in different stages and our age may be different so comparing numbers means nothing, but using their drive for success in personal finance is where we draw energy from and so should you.

How do you stay motivated to build your net worth?

Understanding net worth

What Does Individual Net Worth Mean?

Net Worth is a snap shot of your financial health sort of like a picture or debt to net assets. In simple terms it’s a total of the value of your assets minus your liabilities.

Determining net worth

How To Determine Net Worth?

Net Worth = Assets – Liabilities 

Figuring out net worth is fairly easy as long as you know your personal numbers or monthly finances. Net Worth is simply adding up all your assets (what you own) then taking away your liabilities (what you owe) which will give you a net worth number. Understanding your net worth will help you determine if you are on track to meeting or beating your personal financial goals. It doesn’t get any easier than that.

Do you know how to calculate your own Net Worth?

Now you can stop asking yourself, how do you find out your net worth because it’s easy to determine. Why not go ahead and calculate your own using our Free Money saving Tool Net worth Calculator (Canadian Budget Binder 2012)

Our short-term goals 2013

Our long-term goals 2013

Our financial numbers

When budgeting anything is possible, we are proof of that although we still have a long way to go in our journey. These are our numbers and our goals, not a means of comparison towards your own goals. We don’t care how much money others make or if their net worth is lower or higher as it’s not a competition. I hope our experiences perhaps will help guide you along your financial path working towards debt freedom.

Different paths

Not everyone has the same path in life. Some of  you may have had to start over like I did or go to school a second time and now have OSAP loans to pay back. Others may have divorced, lost money in the stock market or other investments, lost a job, fell ill and so on but you can’t let that stop you, I didn’t. Some of you may have been given trust funds, paid-for homes, paid educations or perks in life that give you a financial kick-start and that’s OK too. Remember what I said, “It’s not about how much money you make, it’s how you save it”.

Focus on you and don’t let the evil eye of money jealousy or keeping up with the Joneses cloud your vision. No one cares about your money as much as you do so don’t waste your energy trying. The only reason people accumulate wealth is because they know how to save or invest it wisely even if they did inherit money or win the lottery.

The smallest improvements should mean big strides in working towards reaching your goals. Sometimes we have to fail in order to learn and we’ve all been there. Money can be an evil force for some people especially those who are negative towards their own situation. I urge you to be optimistic and little by little with determination you too should see improvements, that is if you want that to happen.

Our net worth

We are always looking for ways how to increase our savings and by tracking our net worth these numbers below show us how well we are doing or what areas we should put a bit more focus in.

Net worth updates 2012-2013

Overall: I’ll be honest and say I was skeptical to see an increase in our net worth this month with all of the money we have been spending but with a bit of an increase in the exchange rate and more of an increase in our investments and the mortgage being paid down we came out ahead  at +0.72% of a net worth increase. I guess we do have to believe to see victory in numbers.  Have a great month and I’ll catch you here same time in November.

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