Highest balance to date, but lower expenses

What happened this last month?

Our expenses this last fell within range of what we would want on any given month. That’s partially due to the fact that we were unable to attend a Family Camp we had been planning on going to due to illness. They were able to refund a good portion of what we paid the previous month. We also didn’t have any wild expenses this month, which helped keep things in line with what we would expect on a normal month. We did splurge a little bit by getting a new TV for the living room, and getting rid of one.

On the income side of things, this was a special month. Every 3 months, I’m eligible to get a bonus and some RSUs (company stock that I can only sell when it vests). This happened to be one of those months. Most of that went to investing. In addition, my side consulting business continues to do well each month.

We went through the first 10 years of our marriage doing well, but not necessarily ever feeling like we were thriving. We’ve been blessed the past 9 years. We’ve been on an upward trend from an income perspective and it’s helped us position ourselves to where we are today. The funny thing is that even if things stayed relatively the same as they were maybe 6-7 years ago, we would have been okay. All the income growth and extra we’ve been able to put toward saving has been icing on the cake.

Where did we spend the most?

Our monthly expenses dropped considerably compared to last month. Annually, they’re almost flat compared to last August.

• $1125 Horse training
• $1061 TV
• ($1091) Family camp refund

The Money Related Numbers

96.03% to target number (previously 92.75%)

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

47 months (previously 48)

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

2.59 months (previously 4.70)

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

12.51 times annual spending (previously 12.08)

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.

50.04% to minimum FIRE (previously 48.33%)

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

13.03 times annual spending at goal number (previously 13.03)

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

10.66% Month to Month Change In How Much Saved (previously 243.77%)

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

11.83% Month to Month Change in How Much Saved With Employer Contributions (previously 206.71%)

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

-3.41% Month to Month Change in 12 Month Savings Average (previously 6.93%)

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

-2.82% of 12 Month Average Net Income Invested With Employer Contributions (previously 6.25%)

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.