Progress Report (Pandemic Edition, Part 2)

What’s Happened and What’s Happening

We decided to become DoorDash drivers in our spare time. We’ve got a lot of that lately and needed something to do. We’ve been using the extra money we’re making from that to put towards a new car. I’d honestly suggest it if you’re looking for a way to make some extra cash and get out and see new places. We figure we’re making about $15 to $25 an hour as long as you decide to deliver during reasonably busy times. If you’re interested in checking it out, feel free to use my referral link: https://drd.sh/5rVLhP/ (I haven’t seen that I get anything if you were to use it.)

Our expenses continue to level off or decrease slightly. A lot of that can be attributed to not being able to really do anything.

This past month we ended up having to do a major car repair to our 2006 Prius. Turns out it needed some fixes to the brakes and the rear struts needed replaced after we went over a small bump and one corner of the car looked like it just gave up.

We also purchased a new lawn mower after our mower of 10+ years rusted through. We decided that will never happen again, so we went with a Toro with an aluminum deck.

Finally, we got our daughter a new phone for her birthday. When you can’t go anywhere, there aren’t really a lot of options. We figured that she’s using it a lot to stay connected, so it made sense. It wasn’t a fancy iPhone or anything.

Finally, my life insurance came due this month, so that got paid.

How did this affect us?

If things changed quickly in March, they changed just as quickly in April. You’ll see that most numbers have rebounded back to where they were a couple of months ago. Some have even improved from where they were a couple of months ago and the markets haven’t even fully recovered. Some of that may have to do with the fact that we kept investing as things were declining, so we got an extra boost when they went back up.

As for the expenses we had this month:

• Daughter’s Phone – $250
• Life Insurance – $440
• Car Repairs – $800
• Lawn Mower – $532

The Money Related Numbers

29.83% to target number (previously 26.10%)

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.

99 months (previously 100)

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

89.43 months (previously 97.44)

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

9.01 times annual spending (previously 7.88)

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.

36.03% to minimum FIRE (previously 31.52%)

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

30.20 times annual spending at goal number (previously 30.19)

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

35.95% of Gross Income Invested

This is the amount we invested in things like 401k, Roth IRA, taxable accounts, and Employee Stock Purchase Program divided by income from our main employment.

44.67% of Net Income Invested

This is the amount we invested in things like 401k, Roth IRA, taxable accounts, and Employee Stock Purchase Program divided by income from our main employment, but with taxes subtracted.

39.94% of Gross Income Invested with Employer Contributions

This is the amount we invested in things like 401k including employer contributions, Roth IRA, taxable accounts, and Employee Stock Purchase Program divided by income from our main employment.

49.63% of Net Income Invested With Employer Contributions

This is the amount we invested in things like 401k including employer contributions, Roth IRA, taxable accounts, and Employee Stock Purchase Program divided by income from our main employment, but with taxes subtracted.