Background
Each month I will post an update on my finances to both give you, the reader, some insight into my situation and to give me markers of my progress on my financial journey. My updates include both spending and net worth.
- Spending is divided into joint and individual spending. My husband gets $600 a month and I get $450 a month for our own individual spending as an “allowance.” After this month, my individual spending will be reduced to $150 a month.
- I don’t include charitable contributions in our numbers below, but we allocate 10% of our post-tax income to this each year.
- Our net worth goal tracked using undisclosed units of money. Our goal is to hit “Financial Equilibrium”, based on Thomas J. Anderson’s book The Value of Debt in Building Wealth. This is fairly close to our FIRE number.
Spending
Net Worth
Monthly Update
Finally finished the last month of work and am now officially on maternity leave! Just in time too— the past week I’ve been so exhausted all the time. I love this little bub, and it can at times be really fun to feel them kicking about, but I’m ready for them to get out now please. They’re now basically at term— well, technically early term— so there’s really nothing we’re waiting on except for them to be ready. (Waits expectantly.)
In other good news, got a big cash bonus this month from work, which helped buoy our net worth despite a continued downturn. I’m a bit worried I’m going to be laid off soon, since our company is not doing so hot at the moment. Which with the baby is pretty unfortunate timing, so I’m choosing to hold onto a lot of cash until the situation is a bit clearer. Also, at this point where we’re seeing our investments go down month after month feels like throwing money into a black hole. I recognize we should continue to dollar cost average in (and so we do to some extent in retirement accounts), but it’s kind of like when will it end?
Lastly, I’ve been feeling kind of lonely lately. We don’t really go out to see new people much because of the respiratory illness season. Further I feel like my friends are busy with their own families and while we still talk some, it feels like we’re just kind of going through the motions of chatting and not really communicating, if that makes sense? I don’t know. I’m hoping once this little bean gets more of an immune system, or when then weather gets nicer, that we can start taking them to different baby & parent groups and meet people.
How was your December?
Yet Another PF Blog 