Financial Independence

Q1 2020 Expenses – $8,892

The first three months of 2020 were unlike anything I have ever seen before. In January we enjoyed hosting friends from out of town. February was relatively uneventful, and then in the middle March the U.S. was practically shut down to avoid the uncontrolled spread of COVID-19. We started working from home, and pulled our daughter out of daycare. Last but not least, we found out we are expecting our second child! Before going any further, I’d like to acknowledge that we are going through challenging times. From the virus, to the dead of George Floyd, and ongoing political divisiveness. … Read more…

Q4 2019 Expense Report & Year End Update! Plus Some Thoughts on COVID-19

The last three months of 2019 were quite busy for us. As soon as tax season started winding down we took a trip to California to celebrate my daughter’s birthday. We enjoyed exploring around Los Angeles, San Diego, coastal towns in between, and Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks. Other than that, we enjoyed some fantastic weather in Raleigh spending time as a family. While the last 3 months of 2019 were pretty good on their own right, they seem absolutely glorious given the current state of the world. I’ll write about some my thoughts on the COVID-19 situation towards … Read more…

Q3 2019 Expenses – $6,548

July, August, and September were great months for us. Most of these summer months are relatively slow for me at work. My office closes for the whole week of the 4th of July. This extra time, combined with the great weather, means lots of time spent outdoors with our little one. Without further introduction let’s get into the numbers. Let’s dig into some of the larger and more interesting items. Daycare: not surprisingly daycare continues to be our biggest recurring expense. We are grateful to have found a great place right across the street from our house as it saves us … Read more…

Have We Reached Financial Independence Abroad?

As you may know from reading this blog, I track my income, expenses, and net worth at the end of every month. The process is rather simple: login to Personal Capital (free financial software) and input relevant data on my own spreadsheet. The end result looks something like this: Back in 2017, as a last step in the process of tracking my finances, I started using the Mad FIentist laboratory. The laboratory is a cool tool to graph your numbers, track your progress to financial independence (FI), and play with your assumptions. Most months, I just input my data, look … Read more…