April 2021 Net Worth update: $181,414
April is here and it is wedding season. This month my wife and I had the privilege to go to three different weddings and watch our friends get married. Each one was special and we were so happy to go to these weddings. Today is the day I write about the April 2021 net worth update.
After a long hiatus of not writing my net worth. I usually publish this at the beginning of the month, but I have slacked off and have been writing more content for my blog.
Now it is time to dive back into how my net worth is going so far.
Most of the time we have talked about net worth growing, but overall my liquid net worth has been growing the most.
This month, my wife and I were able to send some more money to the states to invest in some of our favorite index fund ETFs like VTI. Our taxable brokerage account did some of the heaviest liftings for the month of April.
In the month of April, our net worth went up to $10,362. That is just an amazing number. We have been so blessed to watch this number grown.
Since I have been tracking my net worth it has gone up almost 3x the amount we started off with. April 2020, our net worth was around $63,900, and now it is close to $181,400. That is truly amazing.
It is the power of consistently investing, being frugal, and letting our investments compound over time.
April Weddings
Like I said before, my wife and I had been to three different weddings. Weddings cost money to put on and even to go to. As a good guest, it is appropriate to give gifts. In Taiwan, we give red envelopes to the couple.
One wedding, we actually received money from the couple for helping out with the wedding. We still gave the couple money.
Getting married can cost a good bit. My wife and I did everything we could to have a small frugal wedding, and it is not always possible, but through gifts from family and friends we were able to cover the costs.
We hope to help cover the costs of our friend’s weddings as well.
Budget and Savings for April:
As I have said, our budget has done pretty well this month. This month we cut down on our food budget which was just 3% of what we spent this month.
The gifts for our friend’s weddings were actually the second largest spend on our budget. It came in at 8% of our spending. We spent about 15% on rent.
April has been a quite frugal month altogether. If we can keep saving the way we do we can really increase our investments to hit financial freedom much sooner than expected.
Frugality is really helping us in increasing our savings rates.
Net Worth Breakdown
This month has been a great month for our net worth. We have increased it by $10,362. That is the amazing part. We just invested more money and as the market went up so did our investments.
I cannot say that this will happen every month. It seems like a dream to see all of our investments go up so high.
Reality will one day set in when we have a down month, but living below our means, and saving as much as we can really help our net worth for the future.
Here is the breakdown for April 2021 Net Worth:
Cash Savings: (-$4,634)
Our Cash savings was a bit down this month. We sent over around $9,800 back to the states to invest and save.
Every couple of months, we try to send some money back to invest. I thought it was a good time to go ahead and get my money working for me instead of sitting in a bank account.
It surely did do some work for us too. We were glad we sent some money back.
The thing I sometimes dislike is the exchange rates. The exchange rates have been quite favorable, but they went up a little as we transferred money.
Timing the market is not always good. So we don’t try to time the market. It is all about getting that money to work for us.
Taxable Brokerage Account: (+$12,355)
Our taxable account balance went up really high. We had put in about $7,000 into ETFs like VTI, and in April it just skyrocketed.
We have been very blessed. Our job is to stay patient and invest for the long term. Each and every little bit counts. So the more we can put in the better.
It is best to invest early and often instead of waiting till the last minute. It is never too late to invest, but it is always best to invest early.
Roth IRA: (+$208)
My Roth IRA is on autopilot. I do not invest in it because I cannot at this time, but it keeps going up. I rarely look at its worth.
Once a month, I write it down and see how it has gone.
This month it has gone up to $200, which is quite nice. It is a great place for some retirement funds.
My Wife's Super: (+$1,974)
My wife’s Super is a fun one. Each month is different. The exchange rates change quite often, and the investments go up and down.
I really do not pay attention to this one as well. I just let the index funds work and wait until my wife is old enough to withdraw from the Super.
Mrs. FE's Taiwan Pension (+$168 )
Every month this one gets larger. It is an automatic 6% every month that goes into the fund. We cannot withdraw from it until we are 60 so this is another wait and see.
Liabilities (-$291 )
We are back to not spending much money on our credit cards. I had spent a little bit on doing our taxes, some Netflix, and any other thing that we may have spent.
It is quite little, and I am hopeful for the points we are gaining to help pay for some free flights.
April is done, and May is here.
This month has been great. We have saved around 56% of our income. Our net worth has gone up over $10,000, and we are getting very close to Coast FI.
Now we need to continue to grow our wealth, keep saving, and not allow lifestyle creep to occur. This is a great feeling.
How did your net worth go for the month of April?
I’m Steve. I’m an English Teacher, traveler, and an avid outdoorsman. If you’d like to comment, ask a question, or simply say hi, leave me a message here, on Twitter (@thefrugalexpat1). Many of my posts have been written to help those in their journey to financial independence. I am on my journey, and as I learn more I hope to share more. And as always, thanks for reading The Frugal Expat.
It was a big month, our net worth went up $147K USD. That’s kind of bizarre for one month. And that was a month with zero earned income, just investments. It was actually the first month in my entire adult life that I didn’t get paid for working. And yet my net worth soared, kind of a strange thing to observe.
Wow, Steve!! That is such a great month. I do not have as much in my net worth as you, but I can only imagine. That is amazing that it is straight from investments. Those are the goals I want. Every day is a day getting closer to those goals. Thanks for sharing.
I’m always excited to read your net worth updates. You and your wife are amazing savers—even when you have THREE weddings to attend!
Congrats on the continued growth in your investments. As you said, you could very well reach financial freedom much earlier than expected. How amazing that would be!
Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing. I dream of when we can get back to normal things like weddings here in Canada!
Thank you so much Chrissy. April was an adventure for sure. It was great seeing friends get married, plus we our investments to continue to grow. Soon enough, I will have the May Net Worth out. Time keeps flying by, and I think our Net Worth goal for 2021, will be surpassed by August, which is amazing.
I can’t wait for things to be normalized.