Catching up from last month

What happened this last month?

After purchasing a car last month, this month we spent much of it catching up from last month. This meant that any additional money we would have normally invested this month, we ended up using it to rebuild accounts. Because of this, it ended up bringing down the 12 month average of what we’ve been investing.

As for expenses this month, we didn’t have anything extreme. We finally planned a 20th anniversary trip and paid the down payment on an Amtrak vacation. We also hit our health insurance deductible after paying for several different health related expenses.

One thing that we learned after purchasing the vehicle last one was that something ultimately goes wrong afterwards. For example, we had several issues with the horse trailer that took us a while to track down. Our daughter’s vehicle ended up having some various problems to be looked into. Fortunately, none of them were serious. Finally, the truck’s power folding mirror ended up breaking and stopped folding in and out. (This is a feature I wouldn’t have chose because anything “power” is just something expensive to break.) All that to say, it was a stressful month.

We’ve got approximately one more month of catching up, and then we should be on solid footing to begin investing heavily again and get back on track. I’m excited to see our expenses drop through the end of the year and the amount we invest increase to hopefully get us on solid footing. As we’ve been approaching our “retirement” date, I’ve been doing research and trying to find ways to bring that date earlier than we originally planned.

Where did we spend the most?

Our monthly expenses were down considerably compared to last last month. Annually, they’re also up quite a bit last August, and are still increasing.

• $1058 Amtrak vacation
• $976 Medical/health
• $514 Insurance increases
• $400 Horse nutritionist
• $324 Trailer repairs
• $225 Saddle fitting

The Money Related Numbers

Completed! – 119.01% to target number (previously 115.91%)

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

35 months until original FI date (previously 36)

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

Completed! – 0 months until calculated FI date (previously 0)

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

13.21 times annual spending (previously 13.02)

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.

52.83% to minimum FIRE (previously 52.07%)

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

11.10 times annual spending at goal number (previously 11.23)

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

33.41% Month to Month Change In How Much Saved (previously -31.72%)

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

36.38% Month to Month Change in How Much Saved With Employer Contributions (previously -29.32%)

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

-12.55% Month to Month Change in 12 Month Savings Average (previously -10.75%)

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

-11.49% of 12 Month Average Net Income Invested With Employer Contributions (previously -9.99%)

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.