June ’18 – Net Worth and monthly updates #1

I’ve fallen behind on posting recently and have been put under pressure as Mrs FU seems to be taking over my blog lately.

She has generally been on my case about my laziness and procrastination, and has been mocking me by keep playing this Jocko Willink clip. (Jocko makes me feel so inadequate!)

There has been a bit of informal competition on who is getting the most post views, not that we get many, so I thought I better get my ass into gear and write an update, and take advantage of the fact Mrs FU has gone to the Trafford Centre (hell on earth) with our daughter, FU#2. (By the way the wine tastes good, Mrs FU!)

I have decided to start doing monthly and weekly updates, including net worth updates (partly inspired by cashflow cop’s numbers post here) as I haven’t put my figures out there yet.

So here goes.

 

MONTHLY UPDATE AND GOALS

Net Worth Update June 18 – £414,258.00

Assets – £714,258.00

Cash/bank <£1000.00

Main Home £400,000.00

Rental Properties £200,000.00

Pension SIPP £113,258

Liabilities – £300,000.00

Main Home Mortgage £100,000.00

Loans, Debts and credit cards £200,000.00

 

On paper we may look relatively well off, however, at present we are still living week to week cash-flow wise, and juggling the bills is quite stressful.

Whilst we have benefitted from rising house prices over the last 20 years I would argue that the equity in our main home is mostly down to the improvements, extensions and hard work we have put into the house over that period.

Our net income is around £40-£50k per year and, although we live quite frugally and make use of money/shopping deals wherever we can, the expense of a large family quickly adds up and eats the money up.

I am ashamed to admit that we have some credit card debt. Some of this is on 0% but some of it is incurring higher rate interest and I have been making this the highest priority to reduce down.

My main goal at present is, therefore, to pay off the credit card debts and build up an emergency fund.

The other debts and loans are at quite low interest so they are not as much of a concern. The main home mortgage is an offset at 1.5% rate (1% above base rate) so I will keep that as long as possible at current interest rates and invest my money in my SIPP pension instead of paying it off.

 

Monthly Goals

Other items/goals I am going to include in my monthly update include:-

What practical FI steps have I taken this month?

What special activity/learning have I done with the kids this month?

Read 1 book a month with the kids.

What have I done outside my comfort zone this month?

What have I done to improve myself this month?

 

Weekly Goals/update

Do at least one blog post per week.

What’s the one best thing I have I learned this week about FI and/or life in general?

Best moneysaving/hack of the week.

Try to make £50/week off match betting to pay for a luxury family holiday.

Make £50/week by doing a scrap metal run and/or selling unwanted items each week.

Fitness – run 3 times per week, weights 2 times per week.

Home DIY – 1 hour per day.

One random thing I found interesting.

Any other funny things or random thoughts that happened this week.

 

What are your opinions on our situation?

All comments and questions are welcome as usual.

 

 

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10 Responses to June ’18 – Net Worth and monthly updates #1

  1. Ms ZiYou says:

    Hi there – have to say I’ve been enjoying Mrs FU’s posts, keep them coming.

    On the figures, that’s a very interesting combination there – is the rental paid off? And do you get a good cash flow from it? Is the return greater than the interest on the debts? It seems you could wipe out all the debt in one fell swoop there, and free up cash flow. Is that something you have / would consider?

    • FU MON CHU says:

      Hi

      There are 4 rental properties, but being in the poorer areas means their value is not great. The properties cashflow ok and I have put one of them up for sale as a tenant has just recently left. This will help in getting the debt down.

  2. weenie says:

    Thanks for sharing your numbers – very interesting although what drew my eye was the loans, debts and credit card figure which seems to be really large, although I assume the mortgages for the rental properties are wrapped up in this number?

    Tackling your debt should be a priority and I think you’re right to target the credit cards first to help your cash flow and set up that all-important emergency fund.

    Perhaps one of your weekly money-making schemes, eg make £50/week by doing a scrap metal run could be solely for the purposes of paying down debts.

  3. Tuppenny says:

    I agree that it’s not worth paying off your mortgage as its so low at 1.5%. In your circs with credit card debt hanging around I’m not sure I would build a separate emergency fund as your credit cards can perform that function in an emergency. Presuming you haven’t maxed them out! I would concentrate on paying off that high interest debt and transferring as much as possible to 0% cards so more of your money pays down the debt.

    full credit for doing this with 6 kids – yikes! I have 2, both older than your eldest, and money just leaked from our bank account when they were younger.

    • FU MON CHU says:

      Hi

      Yes, good point about using the credit cards for the emergency fund. I still would like a bigger buffer in my current account than at present though, maybe £4-5k.

      Mrs Fu is quite good at keeping our household costs down and always shops on deals and offers wherever possible, but it is still expensive to feed and clothe 6 kids!

  4. YoungFIGuy says:

    You’ve got your work cut out Mr Fu. Mrs Fu has been knocking it out the park!

  5. Interesting to see others numbers always… Kudos for sharing them.

    Get those high interest cards paid down asap then concentrate on the SIPP and other investments, and you’ll be golden I’m sure 🙂

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