Welcome to the January update. It’s hard to believe we are already one month through 2019. This update will be short and sweet as there isn’t a whole lot of progress to report as we continue to stockpile some cash. I found out that my new employer does their pay run once a month on the 15th, so things will be tighter than normal until the 15th of March. On a positive note, I have collected my company vehicle, which will save us $260 a month in transportation costs!

Now lets look at the numbers:

Forecast Jan Consolidation Loan $ 14,921.50 Credit Card A $ 0 Credit Card B $ 5,342.87 Credit Card C $ 5,474.91 Total $ 25,739.28

Actual Jan Consolidation Loan $ 17,387.20 Credit Card A $ 0 Credit Card B $ 5,341.09 Credit Card C $ 5,569.52 Total $ 28,297.81

As you can see we’ve only improved our position from last month by $863.98, and are now behind our revised forecast position by $2,558.53. It is annoying seeing these numbers, but I am confident we will close the gap come March. My new position warrants me wearing a suit every day so I have had to spend some money to ensure I look the part. This may delay our progress by 3 or 4 weeks but it was definitely money well spent. Below you can see our position flat lining for now, but still well ahead of our original forecast

On a positive note, our superannuation funds have rebounded 5.9% from their December low, bringing our total balance to $87,410.81. This brings us to our current net worth of $32,206.70, an increase of $4,716.71 from our December update. This large swing serves as a pleasant remind that we should always focus our attention on the long term outlook of our investments, and not let short term volatility impact our investment decisions.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to the next update!