My Family’s Money

Our Net Worth to end January 2008 is $21,488, an increase in net worth by 5.53% over last month. We saw a 7% reduction in our retirement funds, but this was offset by an increase in cash from saving our salaries as well as a decrease in our outstanding credit card debt (which we pay off in full every month). If we were to continue to grow by the same monetary value each month for the rest of the year we would fall somewhere around $7,000 short of our year’s net worth goal. If we grew at the same rate of growth we would only fall $1,200 away from our goal.

Either way, my wife and I can only control so much as we seek to gain a strong financial foothold in our marriage. What we can control is how much we plan to spend. So we have developed a flexible budget that has some give to it but also meets our needs. It pushes us to be better care-takers of the money in our possession. That is about all that we can control. We can’t control the bends in the market. We can’t control the price of gas (which has finally dropped to under $3.00!). We can’t control what goes on sale and when. In fact, there is way more out there that we can’t control than what we can, but I feel good about not being in control.

If I were completely in control I’d probably end up becoming a pirate ninja who can magically leap from peak to peak in the market – timing everything correctly and growing my portfolio by 1000000% for every second of active trading. Then I would transform all trees into stationary magical meat machines that you can walk up to and get racks of lamb, bbq pork ribs without any of the fat but all of the juicy goodness, and bacon. Water would become clean and drinkable from the gutter, removing the need for wasteful drinking fountains and bottled water. After completing these simple tasks, I would set out on the adventure of all adventures: I would seek the last of the castrati. His angelic voice starves cancer cells, cures neurological disease, and makes the internet obsolete. The quest would be treacherous and I would need all the clean gutter water and magical meat machines I just created. More on this quest later.