Net Worth Update 2 - February 2026
January is month that seems to go one of two ways for most people. One half, excited for the new year, rejuvenated from the time off, setting goals, and striving to be a better version of themself. Then the other half, with new year's blues wondering if this is all there is to life. Reliving a year that eerily resembles their year prior to the last and the one before that. Unfortunately, I am one that falls into the new year lull.
On a more positive note, January was a good month for my finances. It was a 3 paycheck month, received a 3% raise, and it was my lowest spending month since March 2025.
From a spending perspective, my groceries for the month we're lower than normal with less money spent on alcohol and slightly higher on restaurants traveling to California for a weekend and then having friends in town another weekend. My spending would've been considerably lower too if Google didn't void my warranty repair due to a crack on the back of my phone that no impact on the green screen defect. Out of spite towards Google, I switched an iPhone 16 setting me back $842. The other out of ordinary expense was doubling up on my car payment. Those two unusual large payments would've dropped my monthly spending from $8,762 to $7,169.
| Date | Cash | 401K | Brokerage | HSA | Car | Sum | Credit Card | Car | Sum | Net Worth | Monthly Spend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2/1/2026 | $28,137 | $279,668 | $1,105 | $66,293 | $33,400 | $407,498 | $334 | $27,011 | $27,345 | $380,152 | |
| 1/1/2026 | $34,837 | $266,807 | $1,062 | $75,287 | $33,000 | $409,932 | $4,432 | $28,287 | $32,719 | $377,213 | $8,761 |
On the assets/debts side of things, my cash dipped slightly with the timing of credit card payments and the additional payment on my car loan. However my 401k had a nice increase although that was offset heavily by HSA account which is entirely invested in FBTC. I'm wishing now that I sold half for VTI when it was up around $125k or anywhere above $100k for that matter. Since June 9th 2023, I've seen my HSA grow from ~$11k to what it is today including my yearly maxing out which is outpacing VTI by a wide margin so the pull back doesn't feel too bad.
Looking forward to February, I'll be receiving my year-end bonus. With that I'll be doing a large $4k deposit into my brokerage account and diverting the rest to a HYSA with Ally. I may also do another double payment on car loan depending on how I feel. I'll also begin direct depositing $400 a month from my paycheck into my Fidelity brokerage account. My hope is never seeing this money in my checking account will force lower spending and more investing. Lastly, without any travel planned and trying to be healthier, my hope is that expenses for the month will be even lower than January.