December is usually a hectic month for most, as holiday shopping and travel reach their peak. Having learned from our past mistakes, this year we made things more simple. No treacherous ice-covered roads of the Midwest – just the sun-drenched skies of Florida. How did this change in strategy impact our finances? Read on for my December 2023 financial update!
In our inaugural blog post, I briefly introduced you to our goal of achieving financial independence (“FI”) by the age of 35 and shared that we are already over halfway to our target net worth of $1,250,000! Since that time, our net worth has climbed to reach our goal…so we increased it even more. Here’s last month’s update in case you missed it, and here’s how we fared last year in total.
This post is the latest in a regular series of monthly financial updates to track our progress to FI and beyond. Bear with me – I’m a little obsessed with spreadsheets and track every penny we make and spend in excruciating detail. I’ll do my best to summarize that activity in a way that gives enough insight into our financial maneuverings without boring you to tears.
Net Worth
Here’s where our net worth ended up through December 2023:
| | BALANCE | CHANGE FROM PRIOR MONTH |
| ASSETS | | |
| Cash, Checking, Savings | $62,886 | ($837) |
| Investments | $1,327,902 | $67,034 |
| LIABILITIES | | |
| Credit Cards | ($6,027) | $2,613 |
| Car Loan | ($27,465) | $289 |
| Misc. Other Debts | $0 | $0 |
| NET WORTH | $1,357,296 | $69,099 |
We ended the year on a high note, riding the S&P to a new all-time high net worth!
Let’s check out each individual category:
Cash, Checking, Savings
This consists mostly of our emergency fund held in a high-yield online savings account at Ally Bank and Series I savings bonds. The rest is held in a “big bank” for depositing our paychecks(!) and paying bills. After the sale of our home in May 2022, we decided to keep about 2 years worth of living expenses in some form of savings. We had been spending out of that balance instead of selling investments for the past year and a half. Now that we’ve re-entered the workforce, our paychecks are enough to cover our expenses and build our savings and investments.
In September we began redeeming some of our I-bonds. Since interest rates were at or below what we can now earn in savings, we cashed out the original $10,000 we each purchased last May. Per the terms of the Treasury, we forfeited the most recent 3 months of interest to do so, but still earned about $1,700 along the way. Unfortunately, redeeming the remaining I-bonds will have to wait until at least the one-year mark in January.
Investments
Most of our investments track the S&P 500, which continued its rise in December. With our cash buffer and regular paycheck, there’s no need to actually sell any investments any time soon, giving the market time to climb. The only real reason for me to track market performance is for these monthly updates.
Credit Cards
Just the balance on our various credit cards (we use these extensively to fund our travel hacking exploits) as of the end of the month. We pay these off on time and in full each month, so the change in this balance will usually manifest itself in the expenses below.
Car Loan
We were hoping to run our 2009 Toyota RAV-4 into the ground someday in the distant future, but that day came sooner than expected. In January we purchased a shiny new Subaru Forester and *gasp* financed it all, with payments beginning in March. The plan is to pay off the loan in full before leaving the workforce again, whenever that may be.
Misc. Other Debts
Usually just my administrative accounting of who owes what for various fantasy sports leagues. Payouts occurred at the conclusion of fantasy baseball season in October, so no activity here until next year.
Expenses
Here’s a look at our expenses for the month of December:
| EXPENSES | Budget | Actual | (Over)/Under |
| Home (mortgage, property taxes, maintenance, etc.) | $1,128.25 | $1,914.00 | ($785.75) |
| Utilities | $0.00 | $165.06 | ($165.06) |
| Automotive | $449.75 | $583.06 | ($133.31) |
| Groceries | $308.33 | $478.41 | ($170.08) |
| Dining Out | $135.42 | $42.87 | $92.55 |
| Health & Beauty | $568.33 | $301.77 | $266.56 |
| Cell Phones | $33.33 | $0.00 | $33.33 |
| Travel & Entertainment | $1,235.00 | $871.83 | $363.17 |
| Pets | $87.50 | $11.99 | $75.51 |
| Merchandise | $135.67 | ($741.93) | $877.60 |
| Other Expenses | $293.42 | ($2.12) | $295.54 |
| Total Expenses | $4,375.00 | $3,624.94 | $750.06 |
The positive trends continue as our spending was well under budget. December was our third least expensive month of 2023 and the lowest since we moved in September.
Let’s take a look at individual categories:
Home Expenses & Utilities
A full month of rent this month, although utilities were slightly cheaper than November as temperatures cooled. Utilities included internet, electricity, water/sewer, and trash.
Automotive
Payments on our new car began in March to the tune of $471/month. Our insurance coverage limits are also slightly higher now to accommodate the umbrella policy purchased in September.
I budgeted conservatively for insurance this year and also had a pretty good chunk budgeted for maintenance. But with the new car, most of that budgeted maintenance will be shifted to paying the loan instead. All in all, the new car shouldn’t cost us much more out of pocket this year than the old one would have. December included about 2 tanks of gas on top of the loan payment. Fortunately, an oil change at the dealership we purchased the car from was free.
Groceries & Dining Out
We stocked up a bit on groceries in an effort to reduce our dining out through the end of the year. Mission accomplished.
Health & Beauty
This category no longer includes our monthly health insurance premium, since we joined my new employer’s insurance plan starting in September. I account for the cost of health insurance in our budget when paying out of our own pocket but that cost just gets absorbed by my paycheck while working.
Most of this is Mrs. FIby35’s exercise membership. It’s a bit pricey, but the benefits seem to be worth it so far.
Cell Phones
As I’ve explained previously, we both have cell phone plans through Mint Mobile that only cost about $15 each per month for unlimited talk, text, and 5GB of 4G LTE data (an increase from 4GB after they were bought out by T-Mobile).
We love Mint Mobile and highly recommend their services for a much more affordable option than some of the big names out there. I’d be thrilled if you used this referral link and signed up with them. Right now, you can sign up for 3 months of service just to try it out before committing to a full year. Mr. Rebates is also running a $5 cash back deal that you could use to stack your savings. Rakuten is offering $5 cash back as well if that’s more your style.
Travel & Entertainment
A couple local trips in December as we continue to survey what Florida has to offer.
First, Mrs. FIby35 and I spent a weekend in Tampa/St. Petersburg early in the month. Spending was mostly on food and drink, since hotels were paid for using Hyatt points (savings of $563). We enjoyed visiting the area and would definitely go back, but I’m not sure that we would consider moving there in the near future.
Next, Mrs. FIby35 couldn’t resist making the most of her final days before starting to work again, so she spent a few days at Universal Studios with her mom.
Finally, included in this month’s total is the cost of flights for Mrs. FIby35 to go to Mexico in January.
Pets
We restocked his supplies in November so this month included just a nail trim.
Merchandise
Lots of returns and reimbursements in December for items purchased in previous months, hence the negative amount. Hopefully this category continues to stay low going forward since we should have about all the “stuff” we need.
Other Expenses
More reimbursements in this area to close out the year. We will have a couple credit card annual fees coming due in January to make decisions on, but that’s a future problem.
Conclusion
December was one of the most successful months financially we had all year. The simple combination of spending less than you earn and investing the rest has proven to be a winning formula. The stock market won’t always boom like it did again this month, but the impact to our net worth when it does is incredible.
To add to our financial successes, we enjoyed Christmas relaxing with family and reflected on all the excitement and new experiences of the past year. I’m anxious to see what 2024 has in store!
How was your December? Leave a comment below!
