Starting Net Worth: $302,700
July was another month that reminded us that managing our finances is about more than simply watching investment returns. Throughout the month, we had some additional expenses related to veterinary care as well as a few unexpected costs associated with our rental property. While these expenses were higher than normal, we were still able to maintain our overall financial progress.
One of our biggest priorities continues to be making sure that extra cash flow has a purpose. After covering our regular expenses and these additional costs, we used the remaining cash flow to pay down debt while also allowing our bank balance to grow. This approach gives us the best of both worlds. We are continuing to make progress toward becoming debt-free while also building up our cash reserves to help handle future unexpected expenses.
On the investment side, we continued to aggressively save and invest throughout the month. The market experienced some weakness during July, which meant that investment performance itself was not the primary driver of our portfolio growth. Instead, our continued contributions helped offset some of the market decline and allowed our investment balances to continue moving higher.
This is an important lesson that we have seen repeatedly throughout our financial journey: you don't need the market to go up every month to make financial progress. Consistently contributing to your investments means that you're continuing to put money to work regardless of what the market is doing. When markets decline, it can be tempting to pause contributions or wait for things to improve. However, doing so can make it difficult to stay on track with long-term goals. By continuing to invest through both positive and negative markets, we are able to maintain our focus on the things we can control: how much we save, how much we spend, and how we allocate our money.
Despite unexpected expenses and the market working against us, we still finished the month making progress in several important areas. We paid down debt, increased our cash reserves, and continued aggressively investing for the future.
Ultimately, that's what successful financial planning looks like. There will always be months when expenses are higher than expected or markets don't cooperate. The goal isn't to have a perfect month every month. Instead, it's to build a financial system that allows you to continue making progress even when things don't go according to plan.
Ending Net Worth: $308,976
None of the above information is a recommendation. This blog is purely intended as commentary on things that have happened along our financial journey.