After two less inspiring months, my personal finance journey is returning to its normal trajectory. The $7,662 monthly net worth gain marked the second best month of the year. Behind this satisfactory growth is a truly eventful month though. The headlines for this month's finances:

• Two big seasonal bills show up in July's P&L. First, our NYC/DC trip set us back by more than $3,000 (after my inlaws covered part of the expenses). Plus, my endodontist sent me the final bill of $2,300 for the final two root canals. I am pretty sure the dental bills are over for the year :-)

• In the stock option account, a slice of my 2002 stock option grant was vested on July 31. In addition, in a reversal of fortune, MSFT gained about 80 cents in the month, pushing my little stockpile of stock options back to the valuation level two months ago. (MSFT displayed more impressive gain in the last several trading days :-))

• My 401(k) has been faring well in the recent bull market too with almost $2,000 monthly gain.

BALANCE SHEET RESULTS

(Please refer to definition of balance sheet line items.)

• Cash and Savings: The disposition of my vested Q2 ESPP shares moved more than $5,800 to my accessible cash. Compared to one year ago, my cashpile has increased by $26,000, and I'm satisfied with the current cash level.
• 401(k): As discussed earlier, the $4,200 monthly increase includes about $2,200 in contributions and $2,000 in capital gains. This is really a sweet month for 401(k).
• Stock Option: The balance of this account rebounded with a small rally of Microsoft stock. The newly vested options added another $1,000 or so.
• ESPP: As usual, I liquidated my quarterly purchased ESPP shares almost immediately. My wife and I are still fully participating the program but we will continue our immediate-sale practice.
• Receivable: Both my wife and I attended a Microsoft conference in Atlanta, GA in mid-July, so we have a bunch of expenses to claim right now.
• Loans: The east coast trip added to our credit card balance, but all non 0% APR balance will be paid off at next cycle. By end of July, I have about $12,800 in two 0% APR balance transfer deals.
• Tax Liability: The stock option advance increased my tax exposure, which is partially offset by some extra withholding I requested in my payroll.

BRIEF DISCUSSION OF EXPENSES

This month set a spending record with $10,935 (even higher than $10,716 in August 2003 when I moved into my current house). This is actually not too bad: excluding the trip and dental expenses, my normal expense is going back to $6,000, which I considered as a reasonable range.

IMPORTANT PERSONAL FINANCE ISSUES IN MONTHS AHEAD

• August will see several batches of my stock option grants and stock awards getting vested. I look forward to five-figure monthly net worth increase for July.

• My 2004 tax return is almost done. Some final check-up and it will be fined before the August 15 extended deadline.

• I will probably get the final compensation package for my offshore assignment, which will trigger another round of financial planning.

• I will find some time in the next several months to set up the Coverdell Education Savings Account for my kid. Based on readers' feedback, I will choose Scottrade as the broker.