Planning memories

What happened this last month?

Our expenses this month were actually trending to be down compared to a year ago, until we planned a trip to Walt Disney World in June of this year. Between ticket deals and renting DVC points, it was going to be the most reasonably priced Disney trip we could probably plan for some time. We also used the Target RedCard hack to save 5% on tickets. We’ve rented DVC points before through dvcrequest.com and the process is pretty straightforward and allows us to stay in a Deluxe resort at the cost of Moderate one. Our goal is to see all the things that we’ve missed over the past several years and some old favorites. Fortunately, other than food and getting there, this will be the majority cost of the trip.

This month also saw our 401k true-up where my employer contributes the remaining match amount that I didn’t receive last year because of hitting the 401k contribution limit.

Where did we spend the most?

Our monthly expenses were down considerably compared to last month. Annually, they’re up about $2300 compared to last March.

• $3049 Walt Disney World
• $660 Horse related expenses (checkup, shavings, injection)

The Money Related Numbers

83.55% to target number (previously 80.31%)

This is our invested assets (401k, HSA, IRA, brokerage, etc.) divided by our target goal number.

52 months (previously 53)

The number of months until my 45th birthday and our finish date.

11.59 months (previously 14.21)

The number of expected months until we reach our target number. This is based on our current expected monthly contributions, assuming a 10% annual return.

The Expense Related Numbers

11.80 times annual spending (previously 11.53)

This is how many multiples of our annual spending we have saved up towards our goal. For example, if this value was 9.1 and we spent $10,000 annually, we would have $91,000 saved up.

47.19% to minimum FIRE (previously 46.11%)

The minimum number to achieve FIRE is 25 times our annual spending. This number shows how close we are to the absolute minimum.

14.12 times annual spending at goal number (previously 14.35)

We’d like to save 25 times our annual spending. This is how many times our annual spending we’ll have saved when we reach our goal number. If it’s 25 or greater, than our goal number will be enough to cover our expenses. If it’s lower than 25, we’ll need to either cut our expenses or increase our goal number.

How Much We Invested

-66.07% Month to Month Change In How Much Saved (previously 209.26%)

This number shows the change in what we saved in our investment accounts this month compared to the prior month.

-60.80% Month to Month Change in How Much Saved With Employer Contributions (previously 198.69%)

Same as the prior number, but with employer contributions counted.

3.05% Month to Month Change in 12 Month Savings Average (previously 19.32%)

This number shows the change in our 12 month rolling average. This helps to smooth out months over time.

3.16% of 12 Month Average Net Income Invested With Employer Contributions (previously 18.03%)

Same as the prior number, but with employer contributions counted.

How we track the numbers

I’ve been using Empower (referral link) to track our numbers. I put them into a spreadsheet that calculates the numbers you see above.