2019 is upon us! I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years. Apologies for the delay in getting an update article out, we spent some much needed time away with our family and friends. It was nice to be in a place of limited internet connectivity for a week, unwinding, and spending lots of time in the water.

We tried our best to spend as little as possible during the silly season, given our circumstances and large extended families I think we did quite well. I’ve also made the decision to put a small amount of cash away during the next month to cover the transition period to my new job starting in February, as I am not quite sure when I will receive my first pay packet.

Now to the financials:

Forecast Dec Consolidation Loan $ 17,726.50 Credit Card A $ 0 Credit Card B $ 5,508.11 Credit Card C $ 5,586.65 Total $ 28,821.26

Actual Dec Consolidation Loan $ 17,971.70 Credit Card A $ 0 Credit Card B $ 5,507.09 Credit Card C $ 5,683.00 Total $ 29,161.79

As you can see we are behind our revised forecast by $340.53, but still $12,063.12 ahead of our original forecast. This is due to the annual fee for Credit Card C landing this month which I hadn’t accounted for, and a slight cutback from my wages to keep some cash for February. This gap will continue to grow at least until the end of February where some certainty around wages returns, at which time I think we will close it immediately. I do enjoy a visual representation of our progress, especially when it compares our original forecast to current position, as represented below. I think having references like this is helpful to maintain commitment along the way.

Now, how has our net worth changed since November? The equities markets have taken a hit over the last couple of months, so our combined super balance has actually decreased by $97.51 to $83,558.08. Our combined consumer debt is down to $29,161.79. My HECS debt obviously remains unchanged at $26,906.30. Considering all of this our net worth has increased $2,350.04 to $27,489.99, represented visually below:

It sure is good seeing that grey segment shrinking each month! What goals do you have for 2019?