Any month I don’t have to touch my slush fund is a good month. In July I did not touch my slush fund.

Net Worth

This was a three paycheck month and it shows. My net worth sits at a comfortable $142k, up $8k (6.0%) from last month. All my asset categories increased or stayed the same:

Liquid Assets	Start	End	Change
Cash & Checking	$2,500	$3,300	+$800
Emerg. Fund	$7,600	$7,600	+$0
Savings	$3,200	$3,500	+$300
Brokerage	$1,900	$3,500	+$1,600
HSA	$2,000	$2,300	+$300
Illiquid Assets	Start	End	Change
Bonds	$0	$0	$0
Home Eq	$31,200	$31,700	+$500
401K	$58,900	$62,800	+$3,900
Roth IRA	$30,300	$30,900	+$600
Debt	Start	End	Change
Loans	($3,400)	($3,300)	+$100
Net	$134,200	$142,300	$8,100
% Change	6.0%

I did a projection of my net worth, and barring a stock market downturn, my net worth should reach $200k sometime next year. It’s crazy to think that my second $100k may come one year after my first. Admittedly, a lot of the increase will come from my condo’s appreciation. The real estate market in the DC metro is unbelievable.

Spending

I went $60 over budget this month due to pesky medical expenses:

Category	Budget	Actual	Diff
(1)Bills & Utilities	$310	$266	$44 under
(2)Food	$300	$268	$32 under
(3)Medical	$-	$176	$-
(4)Misc	$500	$460	$40 under
(5)Sinking Funds	$-	$-	$-
Total (1+2+4+5)	$1,110	$994	$116 under
Total + Medical (3)		$1170	$60 over

Not shown is the extra $125 I earned. Broken down my spending went towards

(1) Bills & Utilities

The budget and spending for my bills and utilities is higher than usual because of the annual renewal of my cellphone service. I budgeted to spend $200 but I actually spent $165 on my cellphone plan.

(2)Food

I am surprised this is so low. I had hellofresh delivered twice (albeit at a discounted price); I ate out quite a bit; and I ordered Amazon meal kits. I was away for an entire week on a work trip which I’m sure lowered my spending

(3)Medical

My medical costs continue to be higher than I’d like. Boo.

(4)Misc

I had some friends come visit and stay with me earlier in the month, and hanging and eating out with them cost quite a bit of dinero. It was well worth it.

Next Month & Conclusions

In disappointing news, I learned that one of my specialists will cost me $250 each and every appointment. This specialist is the only one in the country, so there is no cheaper alternative. Hopefully with improved health I won’t have to see this or any other doctor frequently come 2020.

It’s now a few days into a new month and I’m trying a no-spend challenge. If all goes well, I won’t be placing any unnecessary online orders in August. It’s not easy, but so far I’ve limited myself to groceries and one makeup brush.