For Spring Break month, our investment related number are up, but our expense related number are down (because our expenses went up for the month). I think that primarily has to do with the fact that we spent more this March than last March.

We planned last minute to go to Universal Orlando for Spring Break. I had made a deal with each of my daughters that if they read through the Harry Potter series, we would go. My youngest has almost completed the task and we figured now was as good a time as any to go. We tried to price out a trip to Disney as well and it turned out that tickets to Disney cost about the same as tickets and a suite at Universal. We decided Universal was the way to go. Since last year’s travel was light due to the pandemic, we had some money saved up.

If you’re wondering what I use to record our numbers monthly, it’s Personal Capital. You can start using them too and we both get $20: https://pcap.rocks/adam4058

How did this affect us?

We’ll be making monthly payments for the Europe trip for about a year or so. We also had to pay to have our taxes done, and a little bit of work done on the vehicles.

• Spring Break trip – $3011
• Europe trip deposit for daughter – $284
• Tax preparation – $300
• Car work – $195

The Money Related Numbers

46.40% to target number (previously 45.28%)

This is our invested assets/target number. Our invested assets span across a variety of investment vehicles such as 401k, HSA, IRA, Roth IRA, ESPP (Employee Stock Purchase Program) and standard taxable mutual funds.

88 months (previously 89)

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

60.06 months (previously 62.38)

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

The Expense Related Numbers

12.51 times annual spending (previously 12.56)

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 50.23%)

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

26.96 times annual spending at goal number (previously 27.73)

We have a goal amount that we’d like to reach. Given our current annual spending, this is how many times our annual spending we’ll have saved when we reach our goal number.

How Much We Invested

-0.75% Month to Month Change In How Much Saved (previously -21.72%)

This number shows the change in what we saved this month compared to the prior month in things like 401k, Roth IRA, taxable accounts, and Employee Stock Purchase Program.

-0.05% Month to Month Change in How Much Saved With Employer Contributions (previously -20.23%)

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

3.25% Month to Month Change in 6 Month Savings Average (previously 1.19%)

This number show the change in what we saved this month compared to the prior month, but on a 6 month rolling average. This helps to smooth out months over time and shows a more general trend.

3.81% of 6 Month Average Net Income Invested With Employer Contributions (previously 1.70%)

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