4 Years ago I started tracking my net worth.

COVID-19 was in full flow and everyone was locked in their homes. I was 23, furloughed and living at my parent’s house. I wasn’t spending a dime of my salary and I was flushed with cash. 🤑

This is when THE POT was born! 🍯

I started investing more and more in stocks, crypto and anything going but I needed a way to keep track of it all!

I whipped up a quick Google Sheet and I can now look back every month for the past 4 years and see how my investments and buying decisions performed.

Today, after doing my Yearly Finance Review, I realised how useful THE POT has been for me!

Now, as a disclaimer: I try to put absolutely no importance on my Net Worth as a measure of how ‘successful’ I am as a person or how my life is going and would encourage you to do the same.

I do however think it’s a healthy practice and I have found it incredibly helpful to keep track and know what financial changes have made the biggest impact over the years!

As a Christian, I believe we are stewards, not owners, of this world. Everything belongs to God, and we are entrusted to manage resources wisely.

It shows me how my decisions (like holidays, cars or knocking down a wall to fit a cool barn door) can impact my financial future!

Every month when you go to fill in your data, you get a reality check which either excites or scares you.

If you’re scared it motivates you to change things. If you’re excited, you’re growing and you’ll want to keep it that way!

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The Format

I have made a Pot template for you here

The first section is for CASH 👑

Simply add in any bank accounts or cash reserves holding cash you could withdraw today and run away with if needed!

The next section is for INVESTMENTS 📈

This is the exciting section.

I actually don’t track my pension because it’s so terrible. I use Vanguard, HL and used to use Freetrade for investment stuff. Coinbase for long-term holding and Phathom & Binance for silly stuff!

The final section is for ASSETS🏠🚘💻

This is the stuff you own. Values should be based on what you could get back today for them.

(Disclaimer: I don’t track the value of my house. Instead, I list the cash deposit I’ve put into the house.)

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My POT 🍯

This year our overall (cash) Net Worth a.k.a. THE POT grew by 5%! 📈

This is wasn’t a big increase but considering what happened to us in 2024 I am happy with it!

The Good:

The biggest green change in the year was our Investment pot. It saw a 160% increase.✅

• Vanguard ISA performed well (This is kinda our pension fund)
• Crypto doubled (Big year for the Crypto crew)
• Invested More. We decided to hold back some cash from our previous house sale and put it in our investments!

The Bad:

• We spent lots of money on nice meals out & holidays. It was a grim year so we paid for a lot of escapism. (Justified for great memories)
• We bought a new house which is an expensive process. We then did renovations and bought furniture to fill the house. (Justified to have a nice place to live)
• We didn’t save as much as we could.

What to Improve:

• Invest more. Set aside/save more monthly to invest.
• Spend less on meals & take-outs.
• Invest in diversified assets (Land, Property, New Businesses)
• Tone down holiday meals & accommodation. Memories can be made anywhere!

So there you have it!

I hope this was in some way helpful. It’s not the slickest or quickest way of doing it but it works for me so it might work for you! FREE POT TEMPLATE HERE

– Reuben