Table of Contents
Financial Update Report – May 2019
Below you will find a snapshot of our personal financials for the month for May 2019. This includes a brief synopsis of our net worth and monthly cash flow activity.
Curious as to WHY I calculate and share our personal net worth? I explain it here.
Want to track your finance the same way? See how I use Personal Capital to help create these financial reports absolutely FREE. Also, download my FIRE Budget spreadsheet – How to Budget Like a Bad Ass!
May – Overview & Updates
I’m a bit late for May but better late than never! May was a great month on a personal level. I got my first MarketWatch quote after participating in HARO (help a reporter out) requests.
Finally, I got some closure with a lost retirement account that my Mom had. I had to jump over several administrative hoops but I was able to get the funds released after a few months. The amount was just shy of $50k and my portion after dividing it up with my siblings (and accounting for taxes) will we be ~$12k. The final number will depend on taxes we’ll owe next year. I’m thankful for the windfall and it will help us to fund our Roth IRAs for 2019.
Speaking of taxes, I finally got back a draft of our return from my CPA and it looks like we’ll be getting a refund for ~$5k.
Also in May, I started shifting my late nights into early evenings. This allowed me to create a consistent morning routine. This has really helped to ground me at the start of the day and carry positive momentum throughout. This includes: drinking water, meditating (breathing/gratitude), exercising, incantations, being kind, and having some fun. So far it’s been working well.
If you’re interested in creating an early morning routine for yourself, definitely check out Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod.
Net Worth Summary
We finished the month at $2,120,925 vs. $2,121,893 this past April. This is a -$968 decrease in our net worth or -0.0005% by percentage.
I think it’s safe to call this a wash for this month. In fact, it’s probably a win given the equity markets downturn in May.
And, no, this doesn’t include the windfall from my Mom’s retirement account yet… that’ll fall into June.
Cash Flow Summary
Cash flow for May was again positive. 🙂
We ended up with +$2570 of positive cash flow for the month which was a nice surprise!
Income for May was $13,261 and just slightly up from last month.
I was happy to see a nice pop in online income which is FBA related sales, coaching, & misc blog income. I also told my supplier that I’m pausing my FBA re-orders for now despite the tempting pricing. So, once my remaining 400 units are sold, I’m going to pause this project for a while. Although it’s profitable, it’s not enough yet. So, the opportunity cost of splitting my time between blogging, coaching, and FBA had to be re-evaluated.
Our recurring income is primarily made up of my wife’s teacher salary, rental income, dividend income, misc investment income, coaching, and online income (FBA).
Expenses
May’s expenses of -$10,692 were down relative to the last couple of months as there were no major fees to pay this month.
We still eat out consistently but continue to make use of Kids Eat Free restaurants to offset some of the costs.
Portfolio Balances (Equities)
Equities fell during May, however, our portfolio weathered the slip nicely. 
Not much to note with our portfolio asset allocation this month but I’ll let you know if and when we rebalance.
Final Thoughts
I’m looking forward to June and the start of summer! Our kids will be off for 6 weeks before returning to school and we’re poised to take a couple of vacations during this time.
First up is Las Vegas when we’ll get to finally make use of our dual companion passes.
Secondly, we’ll be making our annual trip to Mammoth Lakes for fishing, camping, and outdoor activities with our neighborhood friends.
We also decided to forgo our idea to hit Hawaii in the Fall as they still haven’t released direct flights yet from San Diego.
No worries though, we booked a trip to the Bay area along with a trip to Dallas for our Fall trip.
Readers, how was your month of May? Do you have any summer plans you are excited about?
My extended goal is to help you find your personal path to financial independence, and to enjoy the entire journey along the way.
More about me
- Finding FI Interview #44: Flying Free with Captain FI - July 24, 2023
- 8 Things About Money that I Wish I Knew In College - May 17, 2023
- It Pays to Pay Attention: How Diligence Can Save and Earn You Money - April 24, 2023
7 Comments on “Financial Update Report – May 2019”
Congrats on the Marketwatch quote! 1 for 6 is actually pretty good when it comes to HAROs. I’ve found the ratio of success to be about 1 in 10 for me.
Also, I love the visuals in this post. Really inspirational stuff!
Thanks, Nate! 1 out of 10 isn’t bad either. 🙂 Any other ways you’ve found to pick up some free press?
Conducting surveys and using datasets as a way to create data-driven personal finance content has been great for us. There is a lot of free data out there from sources like the U.S. Census Bureau that you can use to tell an interesting story. You can then leverage this data (and the story) as a way to earn media. This is something I am really passionate about actually!
Hello! Looking right now for investment fund and found this one: https://www.kitv.com/story/40599924/blockchain-credit-partners-bcp-opens-first-investment-fund-for-the-fire-community Sounds good! What do you think about that?
Hey Rick, that’s certainly interesting that they are targeting the FIRE crowd. Time will tell, but I’m guessing most FIRE aficionados would be more interested in whole market index funds vs. a targeted high yield play.
Did you get a HARO reply off your first inquiry, or did it take a number of tries?
Let me know when you’re coming to Dallas. I’ll treat you to coffee/lunch/dinner… whatever you have time for.
I think I’ve replied to about 6 and have gotten back responses on 2… may just have gotten lucky as I was expecting a much lower response rate. (I do try to reply only to super relevant questions)
I definitely let you know about Dallas. I’d love to meet up! ?