April 2012 net worth - $237,000 (+2%)

Assets: $591,000 (+0.4%)
Liabilities: $354,000 (-0.5%)
Net worth: $237,000 (+2%)

Once again this result was largely expected as I had a relatively large personal expenditure related credit card debt to pay off which meant that, once again, I could not allocate as much as I would have liked to my investments.  This months movements were driven by several factors including

• A significantly lower credit card debt as I controlled my expenditure during the month quite well
• A relatively good month for my listed investments (returned 1.5% over the month before dividends) as well as the payment of several large dividends
• Automatic increases to my superannuation account balance as well as an automatic increase in the cash allocated to my employee share investment plan

Looking back at my March 2012 net worth, I had predicted a pretty flat result and this is what panned out from an assets point of view.  It was relatively good control over my liabilities that allowed me to post a decent (though not stellar) increase in my net worth.  The strong returns from the share purchase plan did not eventuate (see my posts relating to both what I was expecting and what ended up happening)

For May I am predicting a step up in the amount I will be able to save and invest.  I will also be looking to invest some of the liquid funds I have into shares.  The hard thing about shares at the moment is that, due to the very positive run they have had since January, they very obvious value has evaporated and I have to look much deeper to find great deals.