Net Worth Update 1 - January 2026
I began tracking my net worth in October 2016 and my spending in September 2018. You may ask why the disconnect, but it's because I didn't make enough money to spend during those first couple years out of college (graduated in May 2015) with the bulk of excess funds going towards student loans.
| Work Year | Taxed Social Security Earnings | Taxed Medicare Earnings |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Not Yet Recorded | Not Yet Recorded |
| 2024 | $168,600 | $182,416 |
| 2023 | $160,200 | $202,012 |
| 2022 | $132,751 | $132,751 |
| 2021 | $137,030 | $137,030 |
| 2020 | $78,205 | $78,205 |
| 2019 | $68,805 | $68,805 |
| 2018 | $67,764 | $67,764 |
| 2017 | $53,660 | $53,660 |
| 2016 | $45,456 | $45,456 |
| 2015 | $29,392 | $29,392 |
I'm glad that I instilled good saving habits early on in my career to take advantage of compound interest, however lifestyle inflation has taken a hold of me over the last few years. While I've maxed out 401k and HSA the last 5 years, I haven't saved a single dime beyond that as you can see by my spending per year breakdown. In fact, shamefully... I've spent more money than I've brought home during much of the last few years even with a well above average salary.
| Year | Total Spent |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $115,677 |
| 2024 | $116,828 |
| 2023 | $112,074 |
| 2022 | $95,157 |
| 2021 | $62,952 |
| 2020 | $38,107 |
| 2019 | $52,686 |
As with any new year, this has been a time of self reflection. What I've become is not who I am. I would like to return to my roots and go back to embracing the FIRE mentality and minimalism.
Moving to a new state forced me to reduce a lot of my belongings and items that have been left in boxes or unused since the move have been donated. There has been a significant reduction in "stuff" since moving here. I've setup an item tracker to understand the cost of ownership of things I buy and I'm focused on buying only essentials for the year of 2026.
I'm unsure of the intention behind this blog other than it being a place for me to digitize my thoughts and hopefully keep me accountable. In the past, I've started blogs focused on certain subjects and telling myself to adhere to a posting schedule, but I have no plans for that this time. It'll be random and when I want to.
Circling back to the original intent of this post...a net worth update.
I will start by saying, I'm not the FIRE movement poster child nor am I an extreme minimalist. I'm more focused on the build you life you want then save for it aspect of FIRE, though I've built too much of that life to a fault :) which is why I'm here now.
| Date | Cash | 401K | Brokerage | HSA | Car | Assets Sum | Credit Card | Car Loan | Liabilities Sum | Net Worth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/1/2026 | $34,837 | $266,807 | $1,062 | $75,287 | $33,000 | $409,932 | $4,432 | $28,287 | $32,719 | $377,213 |
My credit card is paid off each month, but the timing of when I update my spreadsheet will reflect the current totals.
My car is something that I've been going back and forth on. My spouses car is paid off and has averaged less than 3k miles per year on it. My car is little 16 months old and has 15.5k miles on it. We can switch to a 1 car household, or I can purchase a used car with better fuel efficiency for about 40% less than what I owe on my loan today.
Outside of that, I do plan to spend less this year and direct those funds to my cash and my brokerage accounts. My only other note is that my spouse and I keep our finances separate so everything shown on my website will be in a singular lens.
We also did sell our house in the last year and the funds from that sale did help me pay off close to $27k in consumer debt. I was living a lifestyle that I did not make the money to support. Excessive alcohol consumption, expensive dinners, paying for others food/alcohol/trips/gifts, new cars, endlessly buying stuff I saw recommended online (clothes/supplements/technology). This is not a place I want to end back up in and I acknowledge was my entirely my own doing.
| Date | Net Worth |
|---|---|
| 1/1/2026 | $377,212.78 |
| 1/1/2025 | $279,341.29 |
| 1/1/2024 | $181,697.30 |
| 1/1/2023 | $91,641.06 |
| 1/1/2022 | $122,969.79 |
| 1/1/2021 | $74,680.90 |
| 1/1/2020 | $39,578.09 |
| 1/1/2019 | $24,147.61 |
| 1/1/2018 | $121,582.00 |
| 1/1/2017 | -$10,921.00 |
In the above you can see my net worth by year. The one anomaly is 2018 which coincided with a crypto craze, more specifically "ICOs". The run up was glorious but of course I never cashed out any of it and reality set in a few months later.
Since then I've been living the normal life outside of crypto and my net worth has essentially mimicked the market plus maxing out my 401k & HSA accounts the last 5 years.
Hopefully this serves as a good reference for whoever stumbles upon it. It's okay to not be perfect. We need to be honest with ourselves. With who we want to be and hold ourselves accountable when taking the necessary steps to get there.