March was a relatively calm month (only one trip), enjoying the unseasonably warm weather even for Florida. We spent most of the time walking our dog, lounging in the lanai, and spending money, apparently. Get the details below in my March 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 March 2023:
| | BALANCE | CHANGE FROM PRIOR MONTH |
| ASSETS | | |
| Cash, Checking, Savings | $80,670 | ($994) |
| Investments | $1,117,025 | $33,237 |
| LIABILITIES | | |
| Credit Cards | ($5,166) | ($1,764) |
| Car Loan | ($29,968) | $175 |
| Misc. Other Debts | ($100) | ($46) |
| NET WORTH | $1,162,461 | $30,608 |
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
The rollercoaster continues. Up in January, down in February, back up in March. Most of our investments track the S&P 500, which climbed about 3.5% in March. With our cash buffer there’s no need to actually sell any investments any time soon, giving the market time to continue its recovery. 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 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. Baseball season is upon us!
Expenses
Here’s a look at our expenses for the month of March:
| 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 | $564.32 | ($114.57) |
| Groceries | $308.33 | $200.28 | $108.05 |
| Dining Out | $135.42 | $92.19 | $43.23 |
| Health & Beauty | $568.33 | $1,001.13 | ($432.80) |
| Cell Phones | $33.33 | $0.00 | $33.33 |
| Travel & Entertainment | $1,235.00 | $3,363.30 | ($2,128.30) |
| Pets | $87.50 | $542.81 | ($455.31) |
| Merchandise | $135.67 | $154.29 | ($18.62) |
| Other Expenses | $293.42 | ($10.00) | $303.42 |
| Total Expenses | $4,375.00 | $5,908.32 | ($1,533.32) |
Undid all that saving from February with a flurry of credit card swiping in March. 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
Payments on our new car began in March to the tune of $471. We also purchased one tank of gas and a few things to help keep the interior clean and protected from damage.
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
Back to our usual routine, chipping in for groceries and dining out occasionally here in Florida.
Health & Beauty
This category includes our monthly health insurance premium (~$435). I’ve been battling an ear infection since our time in Asia, so this month’s spending included a couple separate trips to the doctor and pharmacy.
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 $5 cash back deal that you could use to stack your savings, and Rakuten is offering $5 cash back as well if that’s more your style.
Travel & Entertainment
Just one relatively minor trip in March: a Caribbean cruise with some friends. It was a blast! We sailed from San Juan, Puerto Rico and visited a handful of other islands we had not been to previously: St. Thomas, USVI (gorgeous), St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Lucia, and Barbados. Most of the deeply discounted rate was paid in previous months, so March involved just logistics and food/drink off of the ship.
With the prospect of going back to work looming later this year, we (surprise) booked another trip. In May we will be heading from Hawaii to Japan, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan! This month’s spending included flights (mostly points, but one cash fare and some fees), Japan Rail passes, and food/walking tours. More details to come of course.
Pets
After nearly 6 years, we finally had our dog’s teeth cleaned. It wasn’t cheap since they had to use anesthesia, but we’re happy with the results and it will hopefully help prevent issues in the future.
Merchandise
An external hard drive for Mrs. FIby35 to back up her files and a birthday gift for our niece, among other small purchases.
Other Expenses
The credit here is a $10 cash back offer on the credit card I used to pay to file our taxes in late February.
Conclusion
We’ll try to do better from a spending standpoint next month, but for now we’re soaking up the last rays of Florida sunshine before heading to the Midwest and on to our next adventure. The last half of April and first half of May will be spent on the big island of Hawaii, so I can’t say we have any complaints at the moment.
On the income front, a small consulting contract fell into my lap related to my previous employment, so I’ve been logging some billable hours here and there. It’s a short-term contract, but there’s a strong likelihood of it leading to more work in the future. It’s been a bit of an adjustment doing actual work for the first time in almost 11 months, but it helps to ease back in with only a couple hours a day.
That’s all for March!
Any frugal wins in March, or did you blow the budget as well? Leave a comment below!
