Net Positive

For years and years, I have been what is called “net negative” financially. Basically, I owe more than I own.

Sometimes you may here about people talking about “net worth”. This may sound like a complicated concept, but it really is a simple principle. Your net worth is a simple equation of all of your assets – everything you own – minus all of your liabilities – everything you owe.

With student loans and credit card debt, I have been in the net negative since I was about 18 years old. As soon as I took out that first college loan, the total amount that I owed in life surpassed all of what I owned. It has been that way for a decade. Until just recently.

I tend to push myself pretty hard, and I rarely allow myself to enjoy a good victory when they do come along in life. Instead I often keep my head down and try to keep pushing toward the next goal or challenge. But, I need to be better about this! So today I am going to celebrate that Jos and I are finally net positive for the first time just recently.

A few things definitely helped us get to net positive. We were fortunate in buying our house when we did in late December/early January this year. As a result of the house continuing to go up in value, that has added some equity that counts towards this net positive.

We have also cut loose some of the things that were dragging us down. We were able to pay off most of the credit card deb that we had accumulated during the first few months of being in the new house. I finally unloaded the electric car that I had. We are now once again both driving used, paid-for cars which helps a lot. The only debt left is the mortgage and student loans.

Today, we celebrate being net positive and we look forward to continuing to make smarter decisions financially. As I’ve continued to write this blog, it really has been a case of truly Figuring Out Finances. It is a work in progress. We are learning. We will still make mistakes. And we will have other victories to celebrate. The important thing is that we strive to be good stewards (or managers) of the resources that God has entrusted us with. May that always be the core of what we do and the core of this blog.

As a final note, I have had a couple of friends and readers reach out to me with questions or stories from their own financial journey. I will say again that I LOVE to talk finances and would love to hear from you, whether is a question for me, or a tip you have learned along the way that might be beneficial to me or other readers. Have a blessed day!