We’ve been keeping track of our overall financial picture since 2015. We got really serious and committed to tracking our monthly net worth back in 2016. I’m happy to report that we’ve kept it up for 5+ years!

Tracking our net worth monthly has been so helpful because it’s easy to feel like you’re not making progress until you look back to see where you’ve been. I love seeing these annual recaps for the same reason!

If you’re not familiar, your net worth is your assets (what you own) minus your liabilities (what you owe). Finding your net worth number is the first step on the path to financial freedom, and is helpful information to have. Don’t be intimidated if the number is negative when you first start — information is power! Even if you’ve had financial challenges in the past, you can’t move forward until you have a clear picture of your financial situation.

 

Here’s some context:

In 2018, we were 33 and 34 with one child, aged 16.

Our family was living outside of the US on a generous expat package, which helped us get started on the path to financial independence. We were still living rent-, car-, and debt-free!

 

Our monthly expenses are <$2,500 and include the following:

  • Utilities: electricity, water, internet
  • Mobile phones
  • Food (groceries + eating out)
  • Transportation
  • Miscellaneous (clothing, home purchases, gifts, etc.)

Note: our monthly expenses do NOT include travel expenses, as we save each month and pull from those savings to cover travel costs.

 

In 2018:

  • We had been living outside of the US for more than two years and were still loving it!
  • Mr. Unsettled completed his original 2-year contract and we decided to extend again for “just one more year”, committing to staying overseas until mid-2019.
  • We parted ways with our Certified Financial Planner because we felt that we had outgrown her advice, which is geared towards millennial clients.
  • We had officially reached the half-millionaire club, celebrating by doing something super extravagant: cooking dinner at home. Probably tacos.

2018 was another great year for travel! We all traveled back to the US for the North American summer, and the teenager and I were grateful to spend a week at Disney World in Orlando for my parents’ 35th wedding anniversary. Mr. Unsettled and I traveled to Las Vegas (our first time!) with his brother and sister-in-law. The tree of us also spent Christmas and the New Year on a whirlwind trip through Europe.

 

Unfortunately 2018 also brought with it some emergency travel.

Part of being an expat can mean sacrificing being there for your families when the proverbial shit hits the fan, and missing emergencies and even big family events is the reality for a lot of the expat community. Travel can be expensive, and last-minute travel can reach exorbitant levels. On top of the costs associated with emergency travel, there’s also the factor of time. Not everyone can just drop everything at the last minute, especially those with young children, pets, etc. And not having the ability to take time off work — especially in a country that doesn’t have labor laws like the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in the US — is a reality for many. I was so grateful to be there for both emergencies and being able to do that was made possible by our hefty emergency savings and by having a lifestyle that allows me to drop everything and go.

 

Our dog needed urgent (not emergency) surgery.

My in-laws, who are taking care of him, were unable to schedule time off work in order to give him the constant care he needed during his recovery. I was able to fly there to take him in for his surgery, and then stay for two weeks to get them all through the toughest part of his recovery.

 

The second emergency was a health scare with my father that landed him in the ICU.

I was on a plane within 24 hours of getting the initial call. He’s totally fine now, but I was grateful to be there, most especially to be there for my mother. I will not soon forget the feeling of getting on a plane not knowing if he’d make it through the night. Turning my phone on when I landed in the US was one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever experienced.

 

Here’s how our financial picture looked at the end of 2018:

And because I find this bit super helpful, here’s the change from 2017:

 

Cash +$4,834
Taxable Investments +$43,128
Tax-Advantaged Investments +$23,565
Debt: $0
Total Change: +$71,527

As you can see, even though the markets took a turn near the end of 2018, we still had some increases in our investment accounts at the end of the year. Our net worth reached a high of $550,000 in September of 2018 before taking a dive in the months following. It was our first taste of a living through a market drop and it was good practice for weathering the volatility that the US stock market can bring. We continued to invest even when the market was dropping, reminding ourselves that losses weren’t real losses until you sell.