We’ve returned stateside just in time to provide another financial update. After a total of 5 weeks on the road in Asia, we spent the final few days of the month back in Florida. Despite spending most of our time in relatively low-cost cities, did we spend our money like high rollers? Read on for the February 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 over 90% of our goal. 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 February 2023:
| | BALANCE | CHANGE FROM PRIOR MONTH |
| ASSETS | | |
| Cash, Checking, Savings | $81,664 | ($4,860) |
| Investments | $1,083,788 | ($26,267) |
| LIABILITIES | | |
| Credit Cards | ($3,402) | $2,183 |
| Car Loan | ($30,143) | $0 |
| Misc. Other Debts | ($54) | ($54) |
| NET WORTH | $1,131,853 | ($28,998) |
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, we decided to keep about 2 years worth of living expenses in some form of savings. We’re spending out of that balance now while the market is down instead of selling investments.
We anticipate having a baseline budget of about $50,000 for the next few years, so we stashed $80,000 in savings and purchased $10,000 each in Series I savings bonds in 2022. The Treasury announced new I-Bond rates of 6.89% in November, still well above what we would earn in a savings account so we bought $10,000 more for each of us in January. The interest rate is tied to inflation, so as long as inflation stays high we will continue to buy and hold these, building a sort of I-bond ladder.
Investments
After climbing in January, the S&P 500 that most of our investments track shed a few percentage points in February. With our cash buffer there’s no need to actually sell any investments any time soon, giving the market time to recover. 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 to begin in March. The plan is to likely pay off the loan in full during our next stage of employment 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. This month happens to include money owed for some miscellaneous shopping.
Expenses
Here’s a look at our expenses for the month of February:
| EXPENSES | Budget | Actual | (Over)/Under |
| Home (mortgage, property taxes, maintenance, etc.) | $1,128.25 | $0.00 | $1,128.25 |
| Utilities | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Automotive | $449.75 | ($216.30) | $666.05 |
| Groceries | $308.33 | $53.41 | $254.92 |
| Dining Out | $135.42 | $31.58 | $103.84 |
| Health & Beauty | $568.33 | $442.34 | $125.99 |
| Cell Phones | $33.33 | $0.00 | $33.33 |
| Travel & Entertainment | $1,235.00 | $1,880.39 | ($645.39) |
| Pets | $87.50 | $25.67 | $61.83 |
| Merchandise | $135.67 | $51.50 | $84.17 |
| Other Expenses | $293.42 | $129.70 | $163.72 |
| Total Expenses | $4,375.00 | $2,398.29 | $1,976.71 |
A gloriously under budget month thanks to spending 25 of February’s 28 days traveling. Though it doesn’t look like it here, we actually came in under budget for the trip, which began in mid-January – but that’s a post for a different day. Let’s take a look at individual categories:
Home Expenses & Utilities
No home = no home expenses. We do anticipate returning to work and (likely) renting a place of our own later in the year. Until then we will continue traveling and staying with family.
Automotive
Since we were out of the country and our vehicle was not in use for 5 weeks, we temporarily decreased the insurance coverage on it. We received a credit in February for the prorated portion refunded.
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.
Groceries & Dining Out
We chipped in for groceries and dined out just once after returning from Asia.
Health & Beauty
This category includes our monthly health insurance premium (~$435 for 2023 minus a $30 credit I received in February). No other significant medical expenses this month.
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 4GB of 4G LTE data.
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 $10 cash back deal that you could use to stack your savings, and Rakuten is offering $5 cash back if that’s more your style.
Travel & Entertainment
We concluded 5 weeks in Southeast Asia in February, having visited 8 cities in 6 countries I had never been to before. In January, we flew from Orlando to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (in Etihad business class – highly recommend) and spent a couple nights in Dubai. We returned to Abu Dhabi for one night and then flew to Bangkok, Thailand with a long layover in Muscat, Oman.
February included 2 of our nights in Bangkok before continuing on to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for 11 nights. After KL we visited Bali, Indonesia (Sanur and Ubud – 7 nights) and Singapore (3 nights) before making the long trek back to Florida. While the return flights made for a seemingly never-ending day of travel, the trip was totally worth it. So many incredible sights and we met some amazing people along the way!
Aside from the Asia trip, February expenses included an off-shore excursion and a Caribbean e-Sim for our upcoming cruise. It sails out of San Juan, Puerto Rico and ports include the following before returning to San Juan:
- Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI
- Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis
- St. Johns, Antigua
- Castries, St. Lucia
- Bridgetown, Barbados
Pets
Just some more dog food. March expenses are likely to include a big increase, as we decided to get our dog’s teeth cleaned.
Merchandise
No merchandise for us this month, just a baby shower gift for family.
Other Expenses
Upon returning to the US I spent a solid few hours filing our 2022 income taxes, so the cost to file is included here. I was much more motivated to do so this year since we actually are due to receive a refund. I also activated a $10 cash back offer on the credit card I used to pay, so that should come back in March.
Conclusion
February was another amazing month of experiencing new cultures (and food!) around the world. Having said that, we were also very happy to return home and see our dog for a few days before sailing off into the Caribbean Sea. We’re starting to hone in on the delicate balance of “How much travel is too much travel?” while still taking full advantage of this time we’re spending out of the workforce. March (currently) promises a nearly equal blend of time on the road (or ship) with time relaxing at home and we’ve refrained from making any firm plans during the second half of 2023 to keep our options open. There are endless possibilities when you’re Funemployed!
How was your February? Any exciting travel plans? Leave a comment below!
