Run of the mill month
What happened this last month?
Nothing too crazy this month to speak of. As for income – work and the side business has continued going well this month. We’ve been diverting some of our income that would normally be invested to saving for a vehicle. That does slow down how quickly we save up money, but it will also keep us from taking out a car loan when we find something we like.
As for expenses – we had a few different ones that popped up. We had to buy some new horse blankets for the horse to fill in the gaps of the ones we had. In addition, we had some other equine services included in the mix.
We purchased 3 Ninja Slush machines. Not all of them were for us though. We donated two of them to the church youth group to use for events. Our dog also had his annual vet appointment and got his heartworm and flea medicine. It’s stupidly expensive.
Finally, we went to another MLS Columbus Crew game this year with some friends. It was great to hang out with them and see a game in person. We had pretty close seats, and got to enjoy a really good game!
Where did we spend the most?
Our monthly expenses were up quite a bit compared to last month. Annually, they’re up some still from last October.
- $937 Horse blankets and other services
- $849 Slush machines
- $524 Dog vet appointment
- $393 MLS soccer game
The Money Related Numbers
98.20% to target number (previously 98.68%)
This is our invested assets (401k, HSA, IRA, brokerage, etc.) divided by our target goal number.
45 months until original FI date (previously 46)
The number of months until my 45th birthday and our Financial Independence date.
1.16 months until calculated FI date (previously 0.85)
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
12.87 times annual spending (previously 12.98)
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.
51.47% to minimum FIRE (previously 51.94%)
The minimum number to achieve FIRE is 25 times our annual spending. This number shows how close we are to the absolute minimum.
13.10 times annual spending at goal number (previously 13.16)
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
-1.62% Month to Month Change In How Much Saved (previously -65.92%)
This number shows the change in what we saved in our investment accounts this month compared to the prior month.
-0.07% Month to Month Change in How Much Saved With Employer Contributions (previously -64.21%)
Same as the prior number, but with employer contributions counted.
0.67% Month to Month Change in 12 Month Savings Average (previously 0.99%)
This number shows the change in our 12 month rolling average. This helps to smooth out months over time.
0.75% of 12 Month Average Net Income Invested With Employer Contributions (previously 0.98%)
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.