At first glance it might appear that July was a pretty bad month. My net worth increased less than $300. But, July was actually a great month. I was forced to purchase a new car which was not the great part. The great part was that even with spending as much money as I did on my new car, my net worth still grew. The growth outpaced even this large expense, and that feels pretty cool, as I was certainly expecting to have a negative month.

June was the first down month of the year for the stock market. I took losses in most of my investment accounts but was able to just eek out a positive month due to contributions to my Vanguard individual account. Even with June, it's been a great first half of the year, well beyond record setting pace.

I received a one time payment this month that resulted in some extra gains in the the net worth. That puts me a third of the way to a million. w00t!

April was another good month. With the stock market performing like it is, how could it not be? Personally, there was a fairly substantial change in the job front, which should be beneficial overall, but will temporarily change a few things financially. That will play out in the upcoming months. April Lending Club Dashboard

March was another good month and it put me over $300k. The stock market is seeing record highs which is interesting to see even if I don't like paying higher prices for the same stocks during my accumulation phase. March Lending Club Dashboard

While I didn't reach $300k as I hoped I would, February was still an OK month. Because of some 1099-Misc income I received in 2012, I discovered I was able to open a SEP IRA and deposit a little bit of money there for increased retirement savings and decreased taxes owed. I also moved some money from my savings account to my Fidelity account to put it to work. February Lending Club Dashboard

A strong start to 2013, which is good because I've given myself some lofty goals. As you may have noticed, I've started to invest some money in Lending Club. Although it's too early to make any claims, for me it's been an enjoyable way to "be the bank" and invest some additional funds. And, I believe it has real potential. I'll include my Lending Club stats in my monthly net worth updates so those of you that are interested can see how it works out. Here's how things look at the end...

In the end, 2012 was a pretty good year financially, despite the major set back. I'll be adding a new asset in the upcoming year, and as usual, I've got bigger and better expectations for 2013.

Making the final push to get the savings to $55k and the net worth to $275k for the year.

It felt a little like I stood in place through October. There were certainly times when it felt like I would end up moving backwards, so I'm glad the month ended positive, if only slightly.