Another quarter in the books! Every three months, I take a look at my personal finances, recent news from The Best Interest, and more dog pictures.
Here are my previous quarterly updates:
Why share this info? To brag about money?!
No way.
I want to be transparent. I practice what I preach and want to show you the results—both good and bad. Many of you have said that seeing my progress helps you gain confidence in your financial life.
I keep a detailed budget, spend money on what makes me happy, and invest the rest in a diverse portfolio of low-cost investment funds.
Below are the recent results of those practices.
(Plus, there are dog pics 🙂)
Personal Finances
Inflation is here! Yikes. But how has it been affecting me?
Spending and Income
In April, May, and June, I spent $3955, $3772, and $2550 respectively. That’s an average of $3425 per month, or about $200 less per month than last quarter.
Certain categories are way up, though. My gas spending, for example, is higher than ever before at $228/month for the quarter. Some categories up, some down. This will always be the case in your budget.
I generally want to keep my spending less than my net income. In other words, I want to be cashflow positive. My net income outpaced my spending by $3420 total for the quarter, or $1140 per month. Mission accomplished.
The Best Interest
The Best Interest had a solid quarter too, netting $1600 after all expenses. This profit is mostly thanks to Money Mastermind, the book I wrote with 30 other financial expert friends.
The book recently passed $31,000 in gross sales. Most of that money has gone to profit-sharing for all 30 authors.
But a slice of that $31,000 went to The Best Interest. And having a business that creates revenue is pretty cool!
FYI, you can get an e-book copy here. Use code JESSE for 30% off.
…or get a hardcopy from Amazon here.
Net Worth
We covered that I’m cashflow positive. But my net worth is down for the quarter by $8,400.
This is due to investing. Yes, investments can go down in value 🙂 This is the flip side of the intrinsic investing relationship between risk and reward. Anyone who only discusses the upsides of investing is confused, ignorant, or a charlatan. The downside is real and not only important to discuss, but, in my opinion, fun to discuss.
My cashflow is positive. My mortgage payments are mostly going to home equity. And I’ve kept on investing.
But the investments I’ve purchased over the past decade were down $17,520 on the quarter. And that’s a natural part of the investing process.
| Cashflow | +$3420 |
| Home Equity | +$2400 |
| New Investment Principal | +$3300 |
| Investment Growth | -$17,520 |
| Total | -$10,400 |
Ouch.
I didn’t lose the money, per se, because I haven’t sold the investments that are down. I haven’t locked in my losses.
But this past quarter once again shows the true cost of investing. It’s a psychological cost! It’s mentally uncomfortable to think that my investments decreased in market value by more than my net income.
The true test: do I regret being invested?
No!
This type of drop is what I’ve been reading about, learning about, and preparing for…for years! It’s never fun to see the numbers go down. But I continued investing nonetheless during this quarter, plowing more money (Roth IRA, 401k) into the market, even as it dropped.
Once again, the important message is that investments can (and will) go down. All investors should pound that into their heads. Over, and over, and over.
If that makes you nervous, that’s understandable. Your portfolio risk level should reflect how you feel, and can be adjusted if you feel too risky.
But that does not mean you should avoid investing altogether.
Projects!
Plenty of fun updates here.
The Book!
I already mentioned Money Mastermind. It’s a ~300-page personal finance and investing book, featuring content from 30 different expert authors. You can read more about it here.
Teaching Financial Literacy
I’ve continued teaching financial literacy. It’s a fun class filled with important basics, powerful long-term ideas, and helpful/practical tips that average folks can start implementing today.
If you’re interested in having me present to your organization in-person or via Zoom, shoot me an email!
Most Popular Articles This Quarter
Here are the 3 most popular articles from the quarter…
And I had an article written about me on Business Insider. Cool!
Monkey Update
I’m running another “monkeys throwing darts to pick stocks” competition.
Here’s this year’s competition description.
And here’s the current status.
Social Media
If you’re more of a social media person than a blog person, check out The Best Interest on Twitter and Instagram.
Dogs
We had three foster dogs this quarter.
First was Trixie, a former puppy mill breeding mom. I’ll spare you the details of Trixie’s past. But I’ll say this:
Puppy mills are more bad than good. Buying dogs from puppy mills perpetuates that imbalance.
Trixie had a tough life and was skittish and scared…especially of men (I wonder why?!). But she’s now in a loving home.
After Trixie came two puppies from a puppy mill—Teddy and Graham. They are half Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, half Poodle (“Cavapoo”).
These two fluffballs are in my personal pantheon of best dogs we’ve had. They were well-behaved, super cute, and (as many Cavalier mixes are) extremely loyal to the humans in their life. It’s hard to not love two cute little shadows.
And Sadie—our very first foster, whom we adopted—is doing great.
These dogs are a wonderful addition to our life. If you’re looking to add a dog to your life, adopt a foster!
Until September!
I’ll write the next update in September. Here’s to a great summer!
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this article, join 8000+ subscribers who read my 2-minute weekly email, where I send you links to the smartest financial content I find online every week.
-Jesse
Want to learn more about The Best Interest’s back story? Read here.
Looking for a great personal finance book, podcast, or other recommendation? Check out my favorites.
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