New year, new budget. In the 2024 budget reveal, I explained how we chose to significantly increase our spending compared to previous years. Here we are already a full month into it, so how did we fare? Read on for my January 2024 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 January 2024:
| | BALANCE | CHANGE FROM PRIOR MONTH |
| ASSETS | | |
| Cash, Checking, Savings | $62,942 | $56 |
| Investments | $1,357,808 | $29,906 |
| LIABILITIES | | |
| Credit Cards | ($6,474) | ($447) |
| Car Loan | ($27,162) | $303 |
| Misc. Other Debts | $0 | $0 |
| NET WORTH | $1,387,114 | $29,818 |
Picking up where we left off in December, we achieved another 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 while in between jobs. But now that we’ve re-entered the workforce, our paychecks are enough to cover our expenses and build our savings and investments.
In January we redeemed the last of our I-bonds and collected some decent interest earnings. But since the prevailing rate on those can be achieved in a high-yield savings account, we opted for easier access and more simplicity. More money in less different places makes my life easier.
Investments
Most of our investments track the S&P 500, which continued its rise in January. We contributed $11,700 of our own to add to $18,100 in market gains this month. With our cash buffer and regular paychecks, 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. So in January 2023 we purchased a shiny new Subaru Forester and *gasp* financed it all. 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. It’s the offseason for baseball, so no activity here this month.
Expenses
Here’s a look at our expenses for the month of January:
| EXPENSES | Budget | Actual | (Over)/Under |
| Home (mortgage, property taxes, maintenance, etc.) | $2,124.42 | $1,914.00 | $210.42 |
| Utilities | $136.67 | $162.60 | ($25.93) |
| Automotive | $790.80 | $567.70 | $223.10 |
| Groceries | $500.00 | $510.70 | ($10.70) |
| Dining Out | $150.00 | $227.81 | ($77.81) |
| Health & Beauty | $487.33 | $746.24 | ($258.91) |
| Cell Phones | $41.67 | $0.00 | $41.67 |
| Travel & Entertainment | $1,174.67 | $1,474.65 | ($299.98) |
| Pets | $154.17 | $59.31 | $94.86 |
| Merchandise | $175.11 | $513.96 | ($338.85) |
| Other Expenses | $515.17 | $1,230.64 | ($715.47) |
| Total Expenses | $6,250.00 | $7,407.61 | ($1,157.61) |
We gave ourselves a big budget increase for 2024 and still managed to blast it in January!
Let’s take a look at individual categories:
Home Expenses & Utilities
A full month of rent, plus slightly higher utilities than normal. Utilities included internet, electricity, water/sewer, and trash.
Automotive
The budget includes our $471 monthly loan payment and conservative estimates for insurance, gas, and maintenance.
In addition to the loan payment, we went through about 2 tanks of gas and a car wash in January.
Groceries & Dining Out
We upped the grocery budget for 2024 to encourage ourselves to buy healthier ingredients without worrying too much about the price. This approach seems to have been successful in January as we ate well and came in right around budget.
Despite an increased budget for dining out, we still exceeded it this month. I think as long as we are exploring Florida, we will probably go over budget more often than not.
Health & Beauty
This category includes all health and beauty related spending: gym memberships, beauty products, wellness treatments, etc. It does not include our monthly insurance premiums – I account for the cost of health insurance in our budget when paying out of our own pocket but that cost is absorbed by our paychecks while working.
In the Year of Health and Wellness, Mrs. FIby35 went hard after those goals this month. Beauty treatments, monthly exercise membership, and some vitamins and supplements rounded out the spending.
Cell Phones
As I’ve explained previously, we both have cell phone plans through Mint Mobile that provide unlimited talk, text, and a certain amount of 4G LTE data. My plan is about $15 per month for 5GB, while Mrs. FIby35 plans to upgrade to the unlimited data plan at $25 per month. Still fantastically affordable.
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. 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
The majority of this month’s spending was for Mrs. FIby35’s girls trip/birthday celebration in Cancun. She used a combination of Southwest and Delta points to travel hack her way to $430 in savings. The hotel stay was paid in cash, though she will earn a good chunk of Hyatt points.
Other spending this month included an airport transfer for my upcoming trip to Jamaica and a food tour for our weekend in Savannah, Georgia. The rest of the Jamaica trip was paid for last November, so I should only have the cost of tips to worry about when I’m there.
Pets
Just a small bag of food, dental powder to sprinkle on said food, and a nail trim. Next month will likely include a more substantial grooming procedure.
Merchandise
Over budget here, but several versions and sizes of clothes were bought with the intention of returning what doesn’t fit. Those returns should come through in February.
Other Expenses
This category is almost entirely expenses for a work trip Mrs. FIby35 took in January, which will be reimbursed in February.
Conclusion
All in all, the actual spending wasn’t too bad when factoring in the nearly $1,700 in returns and reimbursements we should receive in February. As we strive to direct our spending on what brings us happiness and health, I’d say we did pretty well to start off 2024.
The stock market had another excellent month and we’re on track with our saving/investing goals. Whether the market goes up or down, we still win when we’re contributing to our retirement like we are – it’s just more fun when it goes up!
Did you start off the year strong financially? Leave a comment below!
