I might move to Spain. Here's why.

While I boldly published my intent to Sabbatical in 2020, I've had many more iterations of life-outside-of-the-workforce since then.  Lately I've been giving the Spanish teaching program more thought. If you're not familiar with it, check out this post.

After a less than ideal day at work, I have now convinced myself this is a viable option for a structured sabbatical.  Here's why...

1, I will have worked 5 years.

If I do the program in the 2020-2021 school year, I will have five years of work under my belt. This is good because even if I only do the program for one year, I'll have five years of history to show me I can make it another five years. Most early retirees seem to be able to FIRE in ten years or less. Plus with five years of work, that's more time to save more money. That last one is one reason why I'm not trying to do the program in the 2019-2020 school year. I'm not ready to fast forward leaving work without a firm plan in hand; although my Monday mornings might tell a different story.

2, It's something to look forward to.

Even though it's far off into the future, the thought of it has added a bit more focus to my time in the workforce. Now that there's a possible end in sight, I can just focus on one more year (+ 9 months). Plus there are decisions I have to make before then that will add momentum. For example, in July 2019, I'll have to start thinking about how long to renew my 2019 to 2020 lease. With Spain in mind, I'll likely need a shorter lease. I'm also thinking of going by my new name with my 'new life', so I'll need to update my passport before Jan 2020, maybe in Sept 2019.

With the urgency placed on 2019, I feel more compelled to have some noteworthy experiences. When it feels like time is running out, I tend to want to take advantage of whatever it is I feel I might lose - making better use of my free time; seeing more parts of my state; maybe finally going to a state park, to name a few.

3, What do I have to lose?

I don't think I'm going to be more eager to have an adventure in my forties than in my thirties. So if not now, then when? Really, what do I have to lose?

Money. The most obvious thing is money. I won't be working at my current income for part of 2020 and maybe all of 2021.  But so what? From Jan 1 to Sept 15, 2020, I could still max out my 401k and Roth IRA. With today's limits, that's $25k. Not the $45k I am hoping to save in 2019, but it's still something. If I can at least contribute the max on my 401k, I'll feel some semblance of being on track to some version of early retirement (ER). As for 2021, it's undecided. Ideally, I'd love to come back in Sep 2021 and resume at least my current salary.  Of note, in 2015 when I started my current job, I started in Sep and netted a gross amount of $25,000. So there's opportunity there to save at least some portion of that in 2021. Maybe even see if I can do 100% contribution per pay period to 401k...that would be awesome!

Worst case scenario.  The worst case scenario is I have a horrible time. I get placed in a horrible school with horrible kids and a horrible apartment. Barring death or permanent injury, it wouldn't be forever;  I would get over it and never want to visit Europe again. Oh, well. Lots of people never go to Europe. If it's truly horrible, I think it would make me eager to return to the US to my easy, less adventurous life (i.e. my life now). It would certainly make me think twice about retiring early abroad. I would appreciate the US more.  I do appreciate it now as I recognize that my life is pretty easy here in terms of convenience and access to just about everything. Hence, why it's easier to complain but make no change.  In the end, if it's a terrible experience, it'll be a nice reassurance that I'm not really missing much.

Best case scenario.  On the other hand, let's say it doesn't suck. I think the potential to have a really good time is high. Let's say I go through with this and a joyful or at least adventurous spirit is awakened. Under the pressure of a one year stint, I could see myself more compelled to take advantage of the proximity to other cultures. I like a good deal even if I didn't know I wanted it.

Once upon a time, people used to fascinate me before I tired of and stopped suffering them. I enjoyed learning new things and learning about different walks of life.  This may be an opportunity to see if that part of me still lives or even wants to come out to play. I could see at least a dozen countries, if I wanted. I could learn Spanish (again) or even speak it with some native fluency. I could try new water sports (thank you, Escape to the Continent). Maybe I'll even develop a hobby outside of television watching. Maybe I could go to Kenya and learn to paddle board (again thank you, Escape to the Continent). I can visit Croatia, Portugal, or if I'm feeling really bold Kenya. Croatia and Portugal are on my list for possible ER locales. I hope to be inspired by people choosing other paths of life. Right now I'm surrounded by the predictable: marriage, house, kids. #Notaboutthatlife

Additionally, it'll be fun to be a new person.  I'll be a single 30-something living abroad. I can be who ever I want to be. Yes, I have heard the saying 'wherever you are, there you'll be', but people re-invent themselves all the time!  I've been a country bumpkin from the Mid-west. I was a cool, savvy metropolitan girl for a stint. Then I was a breezy California girl who went hiking and to movie premieres. My latest life as a meek Southern girl is not my favorite, but I've managed to maintain that life for 7 years.  Why wouldn't I want to be someone else for a year!  Most of all, I think I would really enjoy just being an American (no hyphens or subcategories).

4, Why this program anyway?

That's a good question. There are at least two other widely known sponsored English-teaching programs (JET and EPIK), but this one seems the least stringent. It's a part-time gig with assistant responsibilities vs leading a class.  I think I'll benefit from the looser structure and three-day weekends; the other programs don't offer that.

Why a program at all? Well, because I don't have that much wanderlust. I'm not the traveler that prefers to go off the beaten path. I like touristy things; I like things that are well established. I don't usually talk to the locals when I travel. In the past, I've treated traveling as a checklist and photo-op. I don't think that part of me has changed.  So if I don't have a reason to be in Spain, I couldn't see myself going or staying for a year.  The program provides a compelling reason and a task that can be completed. That's the way I'm wired.

The Plan.

TBD.  I am etching it out now. But as I may have eluded to to, I would hope to save 10k for expenses for the school year. The program provides a 600 Euro/mon stipend that I would want to use just for housing. I would want to max out my 401k and Roth IRA the months leading up to my departure. If I can find a job that starts the Sept after the school year, I'd like to come back to the US and finish working and saving for FIRE.  I'm hoping between now and then, I'll transition into different responsibilities at work (per my professional development plan) that will make me more marketable upon my return. What helped me think this is doable is at least 2 employees on my team have returned after leaving. The most recent one was gone 13 months and resumed his last position.

So what do you think? I may do this, or this may be the last time I even think about this! C'est la vie... 

Recently inspired by: A Purple Life

1 Year Later

With the end of year comes many opportunities for reflection. Today I'm looking back at my first year of My Early Retirement Journey - both virtually and in real life. It's the first year I tracked my income and expenses. It's the first year I maxed out my 401k. It's the first year I invested in a brokerage account (and subsequently lost money). It's the first year I followed other personal finance (PF) blogs. It's also my first year blogging (update included).

Tracking my income and expenses
I tried at least three different spreadsheets this year. I eventually defaulted to the Google Sheets for tracking my income and expenses because it was portable via an internet connection. I use a home-made Excel sheet for tracking my savings and investments.

My issue with Google sheets was that the default sheet had way too many categories for my spending habits.  So for 2019, I decided to stick with it but streamlined the categories going from about 100 line items to just a few categories.

Doing it the way I did in 2018 I knew would be useful because I wanted to track transportation and housing costs for future use and help justify my decision regarding both - own a car, but not own a house.

Using less categories in 2019 will make it easier to trend broad categories especially since I have some version of early retirement where I just make a run for it.  Thus I need a round number of what is needed to cover basic expenses in my head. Right now that number is 18-20k/year. Making my FIRE number = $500k.

Tracking income and expenses is helpful and to a certain extent necessary but not always enjoyable. Because my expenses don't vary that much, I don't see myself updating my spreadsheet anymore than quarterly, and I think in the future I could do annually, if at all. But for now, I'll keep updating semi-regularly.

Read more: 11 Months of Income and Expenses in 2018

Single Girl Money | Dec 2018 Income and Expenses Update

Single Girl Money | Dec 2018 Savings and Investment Update

Trends

From the looks of it I saved as much as I had in 2016 (50%+) before I was even pursing FIRE intentionally. No surprises there, I suppose. I didn’t change much since then. However, it was a curious experiment to see what I really was spending my money on. I like data so that was beneficial in that aspect. No real surprises overall. It was nice to have a sum total of what I spent on Aunty MERJ ($5k+).

I noticed too I was not spending as much on groceries and eating out as I thought. There is probably room for improvement but not enough to warrant any drastic life changes. I recognize that food/dining out and cable are my everyday luxuries. Conceivably there are probably a few categories in which I can trim back a bit, but that would require quite a bit of effort both in thought and execution. While it may save me a bit of money it wouldn't really up my timeline, but I could be convinced otherwise.

Implications

If you recall, I stumbled upon FIRE because around this time last year (2017) I was really wondering do I really have to do this job for the next 30 years? The answer: NO.

I could reasonably escape in 15 years  (with just maxing out 401k contributions) or less. Better. But when I did that fateful Google search in Dec 2017, I was looking for a now solution. Fifteen years just isn’t soon enough.

In fact, I originally thought I can save half my salary for 10 years and take a break for 10 years and then just repeat. FIRE has presented me options but hasn't changed that line of thinking completely. It's still in the back of my mind. As I type this, I still don't know which way I'm definitely going to go. The effects of compound interest require a longer time horizon than my eagerness allows. I’m still looking for a secret door and ultimately I haven’t found it. So on the leaving the workforce NOW front, I’m still mentally eons away. So, takeout and tv it is.

Blogging
Subscribers. Even on my highest pageview day, I got maybe one or two new subscribers. In total, the addition of the pop-up gave me nine new subscribers over two months. It's better than any other two month time frame before the pop-up but it's still  a pretty low conversion rate.  Also, it’s pretty annoying and I don’t like having to worry about maintaining the subscriber list. I got rid of the pop-up (and ads on the sidebar).

Pinterest. Pretty done with creating pins. It's time consuming and I don't enjoy doing them right now. At first I was seeing no traffic, but I have seen some traffic year to date. I have about 100 old pins that get pinned daily via Google calendar. It's actually more work to stop them, so I'll just leave them.

Submissions. My best traffic days have been after a guest post publishes. It is by far easier when something I've already published is reprinted on another site such as The Financial Diet or Women Who Money. Most notable guest post was my feature on Think Save Retire.  It produced my highest pageview day to date - over 1k pageviews.  I have one previously published post left that I plan to submit soon to some external sites but likely not many more in 2019.

Facebook. Facebook is a fun indoor activity for the most part; I feel no pressure to heavily market blog there. I have come to appreciate the groups on my lazy weekends.  Chiming in on the group posts reminds me of the original AOL chat rooms. I miss those.

Twitter. Twitter is easily forgettable. I’ll keep the automatic posts through WordPress. Not sure how much engagement I’m willing to commit to on that platform. TBD. It's not something I was using prior to blogging.

Wednesday Weekly. I started a weekly roundup a few months in. I'll likely not continue the Wednesday Weekly roundup in 2019 although I do like sharing things I read. I suppose I may do a sprinkling of roundups here and there if some interesting posts pop-up on my radar.

Comics.  I do find myself wishing I could draw. I had at least one good idea for a comic that was too difficult to figure out how to illustrate with the available templates. I really like the comics and I think if I can find an easier way to get my ideas across, I could flesh that out more. Those are fun.

Inner Blogger dilemma. I have mixed feelings being back on Wordpress. It was the promise of monetization that sold me.  Since that's not a salient goal of mine at the moment, it seems kind of pointless to be on Wordpress. (Read: I've made no money and I'm tired of trying.)  Plus there was just less pressure on Blogger. I now desire a simpler layout. I'm even getting tired of selecting images to go with each post. So some days, yes, I do regret leaving Blogger.

2018 Stats (via Jetpack for Wordpress and or Google Analytics)

Views: 17,010

Sessions: 6,695 (Oct = 1,433, Nov = 1,157)

Jetpack Top Referrers (views): Rockstar Directory (335), Pinterest (321), Search Engines (318), thinksaveretire.com (285), Facebook (209), Twitter (188)

Google Analytics Top Referrers (views): thinksaveretire.com (1,035), treadlightlyretireearly.com (801), Rockstar Directory (543), financesmiths.com (535), Pinterest (429), strugglingtobedebtfree.blogspost.com (356), Facebook (292)

Email subscribers: about 20 (4 on Wordpress, 8 on MailerLite, 7 on Feedburner, 1 on MailChimp)

Milestones. I've been blogging since February, so technically that puts me about 10 months into this foray. My milestones with the blog are as follows: quite a few guest posts on other sites; hitting 1,000 users in a month; Rockstar newsletter feature; 3 featured posts on The Financial Diet; someone actually approaching me to submit to their site. And overall connecting with a few other bloggers and sharing my story and reading theirs! I'm here for the stories and that's been wonderful!

If there are any highlights I missed or lingering questions, let me know in the comments below.

Single Girl Money | Dec 2018 Income and Expenses Update

I sort of cheated and provided a thorough eleven-month update of income and expenses earlier this month. That one did not have charts! Thus I present to you my fourth quarter or end of year update on my income and expenses for 2018.

Income

My income is primarily from my day job except for this spring when I dabbled in a side hustle. I did not love it.

2018 Total Take Home Pay: $56,960 (rounded)

Monthly Average: $4,750/mon

2018 Total Take Home Pay + 401k deductions: $75,460 (rounded)

Expenses

I used Google sheets to track my expenses all year for the first time. I included Savings and Investments as a line item just to account for where all the money was going. There's a bit of a dip in Savings and Investments in December because I had maxed out my 401k in November. I don't recommend that because I didn't get my company match for the month I didn't contribute anything.

October had a bit of a credit from Aunty MERJ because I was paid back for some of her expenses I covered. Total automated Savings and Investments for 2018 was $41,154.

Above are my monthly expenses without including Savings and Investments as a line item. Home is noticeably higher in December because I prepaid January 2019 due to some administrative issues with the leasing office. Any other questions, ask in the comments below.

2018 Totals

	Total
Aunty MERJ	$5,251	$438/mon
Debt	$6,265	$522
Entertainment	$369	$31
Everyday	$2,959	$247
Gifts/Tithe	$406	$34
Health/medical	$2,087	$174
Home	$13,097	$1,091
Technology	$280	$23
Transportation	$1,558	$130
Travel	$520	$43
Utilities	$458	$38
Other	$148	$12

Total 2018 Expenses: $32,917

Projected 2018 Expenses: $30,000

Difference: -$2,917

Projected 2018 Monthly Expenses: $2,500/mon

Actual 2018 Monthly Expenses (avg): $2743/mon

Difference: -$243/mon

Notes

Even with the addition of Aunty MERJ's expense and more than a few health appointments, I think I did pretty good this year. My projected annual expense was $30,000. I spent $32,917. My three largest expense categories were: Home ($13,097), Student Loans ($6,265), and Aunty MERJ ($5,251). So 2018 Expenses - Home - Student Loans - Aunty MERJ is $32,917 - 13,097 - 6,265 - 5,251 = $8,304. In early retirement, I would not live in such an expensive apartment; I would not have such a high student loan payment; and Aunty MERJ's expenses would be minimal. Thus, with basic annual expenses coming in just around $8,000/yr, I think it just might be possible to live off $18-20k/yr in early retirement.

Savings Rate

A firm tenet in FIRE is recognizing and increasing your savings rate.  Tracking income minus expenses, here is what the data reveals.

For the third quarter, I was fortunate enough to maintain a savings rate greater than 50% across all three months. My average savings rate for 2018 was 57%.

I don't do a zero dollar budget, so how much did I really save? Depends on how you calculate it. If I do Savings = Income - Expenses, I get about $42,500 in savings or a 56% savings rate. If I do Savings = Automatic deposits to 401k, regular savings, and brokerage account, I get about $41,100 in savings or a 54% savings rate. And if I do the average of monthly savings rate, I get a 57% savings rate. So, I'll just pick an unscientific estimated savings rate of 55%. It matters not in the end.

I did some quick scratch calculations of my savings rate through the years, just using old W-2s and Jan and Dec bank statements to get a basic idea of how I did when I was less intentional about my finances. Here's what I found. Again, these are rough estimates.

2016: $34,350 (savings)/ $65,770 (rounded net pay) = 52%

2017: $17,000 (savings)/ $70, 420 (rounded net pay) = 24%

2018: Estimated savings rate = 55%

I think that's it. Questions or comments? How did your 2018 go?

Single Girl Money | Dec 2018 Savings and Investment Update

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. I ain't got no friends, so I thought I might as well post this now. In case you’re just joining us, here’s a little bit about me.  I am a single 30-something, openly Christian, hesitantly immigrant-y, human woman. I love watching TV while eating takeout, and I want to retire early. I currently work as a consultant in a tele-health call center making around $40/hr. I started my professional life in 2015 at the ripe ole age of 31 after a few false starts. I spent 2016 paying off about $10,000 worth of credit card debt. I spent 2017 paying off about $20,000 in private student loans; I still have about $300,000 in federal student loans for which I am currently on an income-based repayment plan for the next 25 years, give or take.  I started really getting into savings and investing late 2017 when I stumbled upon the FIRE (financial independence, retire early) community.  In 2018, I made the decision to try to save for a sabbatical and maybe if all goes well continue the journey to early retirement.  Along this journey, I give all sorts of updates, just like this one.

This is the December 2018 Update of my savings and investments balances, i.e. my personal capital. I don’t call it net worth because my massive student loan debt keeps me at a negative net worth and frankly that’s discouraging.

I am getting a little faster at Excel, so this update did not take quite as long to chart as my September 2018 Savings and Investment Update.  We’ll utilize a similar structure here as well. Let’s get into it!

Let’s quickly recall some budget items:

2018 Savings goal: $37,000/yr (2017: no goal)
Monthly savings contributions: $3115/mon

Investments

My projected investment goal for the end of 2018 was $90,200. I contributed as planned, but I lost a significant chunk of my contributions as of 12/20/2018. It kind of sucked honestly, and it made me doubt this investing thing. I had been planning to update my stock allocation since my first quarter update, but since it was doing well, I didn't feel as compelled. Once I saw the loss, I got a little more motivated. This is NOT what you are supposed to do, but I did. My brokerage's advice blog said not to react emotionally to market fluctuations, but if you do, then do half of what you want to do. I heeded that advice. Both my 401k and brokerage accounts were allocated at 90/10 stock/bond. I changed my brokerage to the recommended 68/32 allocation (based on an early retirement age of 42).

That being said, you'll notice the dip in my investment balance.

Total Investment Balance: $83,815

Investment Losses - $10,000

It's been a hard pill to swallow. By my calculations, I've lost about $10,000 in four months. This is a lot considering I just started and it seems as though people with much larger investment portfolios haven't lost as much proportionally.

Investment Balance (08/30/18): $83,981

Contributions (Sep to Dec 2018): $9,956  (not including employer contributions)

Investment Balance (12/20/18): $83,815

Savings and Investments

When you add in my Safety Net Fund + Regular Savings and Checking, my savings and investment balance is bumped up a bit.

Total Savings and Investments: $120,285

Thoughts

My savings goal was $37,000 this year, I did contribute at least that much, but because of market losses, that is not necessarily reflected in the end of year balance.

For some perspective, here's how far I've come.

Dec 2017 (investments only): $51,333

Dec 2018 (investments only): $83,815

Difference: $32,482 (contributions of at least $37,401)

This is actually a little bit less than where I was at my September 2018 update. Womp, womp. I still have about $5,000 in savings that need to be transferred to my investment account, but I'm holding on to it for now until I get used to the loss. And as I have all year, I still have about 1 year of expenses as a safety net, in case of job loss or if I lose my mind and make a run for it!

So that was 2018, my first year in FIRE, my first year blogging about FIRE and my first year with a defined savings goal. How did your 2018 go?

Musings over my holiday break.

Just a smattering of my thoughts during my holiday hiatus!

Wed, Nov 14 – It’s been a pretty low key week. Work is still busy, but manageable. Calls are steady but I’m not as affected, I suppose. Got so excited with only 1.5 months left in the year (50-ish days or so), I started plotting next year’s budget for target expenses and target savings. I think I might be able to eek out 45k in savings. I used the generic salary estimator.

I wanted to wait until the end of 2019 to see my true expenses in this my first year tracking, but I got too excited! Currently, I am allegedly trying to spend 30k in expenses, but with 2019, I am shooting for 26k. If it starts to feel too tight, I can always adjust, but it will be cool to save 45k. I did some quick math a couple weekends ago, and I think I hit 50% savings rate in 2016 before I even knew about FIRE. So even if I don’t get to 45k (i.e. if it’s too much pressure), 50% savings (about $34k) is still pretty amazing!

Wed, Nov 21-Had an I-love-my-life moment last night! I am happiest with sunny weather and a cool breeze, juicy take-out and a TV marathon waiting. I can’t believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I’ve had a few nice friends-givings in the past. Do I miss my friends? I can’t decide. Tested the waters a few times this year and the jury’s still out. Desire to share my blog from people from my past has lessened.

Speaking of the blog, even though I’m supposed to be on hiatus I have still been checking the email and stats. I know, ugh. Oh well. I keep trying to set milestones and goals to hit.

I’ll be turning 35 in March and it seems like a good inflection point. I want to have all these things to show for it, and I do... but it’s not the normal things: marriage, baby, house. So then it makes me think I have nothing to show for it. Sometimes I wish I wanted those things just to make the passage of time more memorable and “normal.” Otherwise I feel sort of aimless. But I know it’s because I have different aims, namely not those things. I just don’t know what I’m moving towards, but when I look around no one is moving toward anything. Yet they seem so satisfied with that.

Put wings in the Crockpot before work. I hope they are delicious. So much for meat-free Wednesdays. Sorry, God. Sometimes I think life would make more sense if I didn’t believe in God. I don’t think I would be as disappointed.

My latest life plan outside of joining the circus is to apply for a language learning fellowship. I think I would enjoy that. Quick search showed you sort of still need to be in college. Womp, womp. I think what I am realizing after three years of searching is that when I’m compelled enough, I’ll make the next step. The searching is just causing for-nothing anxiety. It’s like forcing myself to floss nightly or clean once a week. Good in theory, but I’m at the point in my life where I’m more motivated by necessity. And then someone at work mentioned they were laid off from their last job and jobs in our field are hard to come by. I don’t 100% believe that, but it’s not unreasonable to think that.

Fri, Nov 23 -I remember a time when we used to get up early to go Black Friday shopping. Those were fun days. I don’t do it now because I have nothing to shop for. It was fun though. I try to muster something I might want when I start seeing the commercials, but so far have come up with nothing. Have been thinking about a new countertop oven but really don’t want to have to read anymore reviews or spend any time looking for “the best one.”

Work today. Came up with yet another new life plan. This time, I work for two more years. Then relax for 10 years. That was 9a. By 11a it was back to work until Jan or March then relax for 1 year. Oy ve!

Tues, Nov 27- All the things! Read 50 Shades of Grey. Wow! No words, but so many thoughts! Got some new pants. I couldn’t fit into any of my old ones and there is a bit of a chill in the air. At least yesterday. Today is quite nice. They’re comfy pants, borderline loungewear. Kept the tags on in case I get disapproving looks at work. Less than $20 from Walmart. Oh finally made it to Walmart. Been so long. Got some new sauces to try in Crockpot.

Other news. Grr… thinking more about leaving work in March. Couple different ideas swirling of what to do. Lounge around or do some volunteer work. Ugh, kind of don’t want to move. But kind of do.

Wed, Dec 5-Been feeling really settled the last couple days maybe even the last week. I might even round settled up to happy. I think because it’s the end of the year and there aren't really any big decisions to make. All I really have to do is...well nothing. All my angst for trying to do something big, or meaningful, or worthwhile in 2019 has unexpectedly been pushed to the side.

Yesterday I stopped at the Asian market and bought Japanese potatoes, cassava, and mango. Mangoes were out of season but I bought them anyway. So what. I don’t know what I feel, it’s been awhile since I’ve felt such little angst. Just yesterday I had a few hours of not-this-again with Aunty MERJ’s finance. New bills popped up from over a year ago and she’s still withdrawing cash to “buy her things.” Whatever.

For awhile I was trying to figure out what great thing I can do by my 35th birthday in 3 months. I don't know what that great thing is, but it certainly is NOT: buying a new house; FIRE; moving; getting a new job; waking up with a life-purpose. Whatever.

Right now I just feel acceptance. I got through 2018 hemming and hawing all the way. I have a preliminary budget for 2019. Finances were sort of the least of my worries, so I’m grateful for that. If something expensive popped up that I could convince myself I wanted, I would buy it.

While I have no grand plans, I am comforted by the fact that I have enough. I’ve given myself permission to take off time from work, and up to 1 year can be funded without much planning. That is comforting. I keep getting stuck in the plans and trying to make that time off useful, but a quiet voice in my mind is telling me just to do it anyway, who cares? So what, it whispers. I can recover from a year… I think. But don’t think on it too long, the voice says, or you’ll never do it.

I guess this is my reckless/luxury purchase. One year of freedom from responsibility and structure. Yet I know it will surely add time to my ever changing FIRE date, but I’m so blinded by the instant pleasure I foresee, I can’t think straight.

Thu, Dec 6- I was happy just yesterday. Spent at least an hour making scratch notes of an escape. Made a 3 column chart comparing the English teaching programs in Spain, Japan, and Korea. Unfortunately none are leaving in March.

I know I’m a whole lot more convinced about leaving work sooner rather than later. One milestone I might hit is getting to 100k in investment, which if all goes well, I should hit by end of March 2019. That’s my birthday month. I’m turning 35. Perfect time to make a big move. Only thing is I hate spring and summer in NC. It’s hot and miserable and polleny. I can’t go out doors. I end up just being sick for 3 months. If I’m going to be under the weather, might as well get paid.

Ideally, I would want to start my break in October if I’m going to be in NC. Then I think, why waste my free time staying in a place I don’t particularly care for. The answer is: because I’m here right now.

And so I’m back in the loop of trying to plot the ideal getaway. To escape the loop, my brain just tells me to cut it out and do something already! So there you have it. Another mental unending loop in the life of a single girl.

Fri, Dec 7 - Oh Glorious Friday! It’s 2p right now and it’s been a pretty great day so far. All is good again. Did not enjoy waking up earlier to go to dentist appointment, but took a nice warm shower and washed my hair. So fresh and so clean! No cavities and hygienist didn’t even have to do much scraping. They must’ve had a bad week at the dental practice because they kept praising me on my dental hygiene which in my opinion is pretty haphazard at best (I only brush on the weekdays…shhhhh).

Read some blog posts last night on the Spanish government English teaching program. So far it’s a front runner for what I am looking for, namely a small workload.

My new life plan:
Work till Sept 30, 2019.
Break from Oct 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020.
Work from April 1, 2020 until Aug 31, 2020 (tentative because not sure how to swing that).
Sept 1, 2020 Leave for Spanish English teaching job.

The applications for teaching in Spain in 2019 haven’t closed yet, but I do want to have my time off in the fall. Just a nice cozy fall before a big adventure is what I’m picturing. I don’t particularly enjoy spring/summer in NC so I’d rather just work and have them pay for air conditioning all day. Plus, Brain is telling me to save just a bit more money. For now that seems to make sense.

Had an interviewee sit with me at work today. Made me remember that my job is a pretty sweet gig. I don’t know why I give such a fuss about coming here everyday.

Also a quick chat with my dental hygienist, who incidentally is also from California, got me thinking that maybe my time in California is really done (for now). It really would be expensive to live on my own. And it really would be me starting all over again. Did I love California that much to do that? In this moment, no. I still have Missoula, MT in the back of my mind though.

11 Months of Income and Expenses in 2018

Well, if you knew me in real life, you would know sometimes I get really excited and can't contain it. Some might call this anxiousness. Potato, potahto. Anyway, I've been perusing my income and expenses and I just can't wait the two weeks for December to end to have a more complete picture of my income and expenses for the year.

I've also been sick for a week with little else to do other than blink and breathe, and I  want to knock out some of these updates before my scheduled vacation days next week. So I'm cheating a little bit.

Thus, I bring you a sneak peek at my income and expenses for 2018! Check out how the single girl did, and tell me your thoughts. Remember this is only eleven months of expenses and income (Jan to Nov), but with only two weeks of the year left, I don't expect much to change unless my body or my car dies. God forbid.

Income

Here's a screenshot from Google Sheets of my income for 11.5 months. My first of two December paychecks is included just to keep it confusing.

My Paycheck is from my full-time call center job. Paycheck is sans 401k contributions and after tax.  As you can see it varies because we get paid from the 1st to the 15th and then the 16th to the 31st. So sometimes, that's a lot of hours, sometimes it's just 80 hours. Bonus is annually based on secret metrics. Refunds are for things I return to the store after I buy them and realize I didn't actually need to buy that. Thank you generous return policies. Side hustle is my foray into the side hustling so common in the personal finance (PF) blogosphere. Let me tell you, I didn't love it.

As you can see, I started out doing Roth 401k contributions, then after immersing myself in the PF blogosphere I went with traditional 401k contributions. The conventional wisdom is to go with traditional if you think your tax rate will be lower in retirement anyway. 

YTD Total Income (incl 401k contributions): $72,848

Expenses

Here's a screenshot from my spreadsheet. As I got through the narrative, I realized a couple expenses were left off and were subsequently updated. So some totals may differ from the screenshot. That's what happens when you have a human doing a robot's job. 

I love it too when bloggers include blurry images...

A close-up of totals, YTD, Jan to Nov 2018.

Total
Aunty MERJ	$5,251
Debt	$6,835
Education	$0
Entertainment	$320
Everyday	$2,795
Gifts/Tithe	$106
Health/medical	$2,037
Home	$11,175
Insurance	$0
Savings/Investing	$39,287
Technology	$280
Transportation	$1,308
Travel	$520
Utilities	$424
Other	$148

YTD Total Expenses = $70, 485

YTD Total Expenses - Savings = $31,198

The Breakdown

Aunty MERJ: $5,251

Expenses for Aunty MERJ I count toward my tithe. I don't belong to a particular church, but I still tithe in terms of trying to give away 10% of my spending budget. For 2018, my spending budget was estimated to be $30,000, so 10% of that would be $3,000. I went a bit over with Aunty MERJ as her health rapidly declined and took her mood with it.

These expenses included visits to Florida and paying Aunty MERJ's rent while I got a handle on her finances. 

Debt: $6,835

My whopping $300,000 student loan debt. I sacrilegiously have chosen not to pay off this debt. I know, I know. I am on income-based repayment for the next 25 years. 

Entertainment: $320

This was one fitness class ($88), tickets to the state fair ($14), and three months of cable ($43/mon).  Yes, I know. I still have cable. Last year I was spending $90/mon on cable though, so this is an improvement. My hack was using the DirecTV Now app vs regular Time Warner cable through a cord. DirecTV Now app is loaded on the Roku stick so you can still watch TV on the big screen vs a laptop. And I still get the same channels. A good binge watch + yummy snacks = favorite single girl pastime.

Everyday: $2,795

These expenses include Groceries, Restaurants, and Personal Supplies.  On average, I seem to spend about $250/mon in this category as a whole. That's pretty good considering I budgeted $200/mon just on Groceries alone.  For an itemized breakdown, in the last 11 months, I spent $1,281 on Groceries for one single girl, and  $868 on Restaurants.  Monthly, that's an average of about $117/mon on Groceries and about $79/mon on Restaurants. Not bad! 

Gifts/Tithe: $106

I gave some money to my other aunt who helped me out during my surgery.  My little cousins were going to prom and wanted to buy prom tickets. 

Health/ Medical: $2,037

This category was a stunner this year. I had leftover dental work from 2017 that needed to be completed. I also had surgery. This is with health insurance. But, I thank God anyway. This year was a year of ailments from the root canal, to the surgery, to back and tailbone pain to recurring respiratory distress. As I type this I am hacking my life away with acute bronchitis - a single girl first. I don't know what's going on. Is this what 35 has in store for me? 

Home: $11,175

No real surprises here. My rent went up but overall with utilities I stay around $1,000/mon to house myself. As an aside, there is a new mattress ($708) factored into this total as well. Continuing, I have considered home ownership but I can't afford anything where I currently live and I'm not ready to give up my pretty easy commute. I know- another blasphemous proposition for the single girl. Plus, if I'm honest, the numbers didn't work for me without a long term plan to stay in the area. It would take five to seven years to break even and that's with moving 1 hour away. 

Savings/Investing: $39,287 (really about $36,287)

This is my first year actively investing, and by actively I mean fully contributing to my employer's 401k plan and opening my first brokerage account. After much deliberation, I decided to go traditional on the 401k. No real rhyme or reason in the end. The first blogger I read did it, so I did it too. Plus it keeps my adjusted gross income down for my income based student loan repayment.  My savings goal for the year was $37,000 and I'm just about there. Thank the Lord!  The $3,000 difference is because some of that was money I earned in 2017 that was hanging out in my checking and savings while I got comfortable with this whole financial independence thing. So far, so meh. More on that later...

Technology: $280

This is a few false starts with the blog mainly. Most of this was refunded just not captured in the way I charted my expenses for this category. 

Transportation: $1,308

This was the category I was most looking forward to. I didn't have a clear picture of what it costs to own a car each year after monthly payments are done. Now I have some idea. I drive a 2007 Honda that I bought new, and I'm curious to see how long I will be able to drive it. It has close to 150,000 miles and still runs fine.  When it's time for my next car, it will be nice to have some accounting of the true cost of owning a car.

This category captured: fuel, insurance, license/registration, and maintenance. On average, this year I spent about $42/mon in gas or $459 over the last eleven months. That's a little high attributable to more fill-ups the four months I was side-hustling. In fact during four non-hustling months, I spent less than $25/mon on gas! I spent $708 on car insurance this year, and a whopping $142 for registration and inspection. I still have some outstanding maintenance, but only time will tell if I get to it in the next two weeks. 

Travel: $520

Ahoy! Single girl, you didn't go anywhere?! Yes, that's right. This is the cost of my staycations for the year. Wait, what? Yes, well in May I spent $50 in gas to go to Maryland to see my cousins graduate. In August, I had some serious back pain and spent a weekend in a hotel and called it a writer's retreat. And in September, I bought some delicious food and holed up in my apartment for the week. It was berry niiiice. 

Utilities: $424

This is my eleven month total for power.  Water and internet is paid to my apartment complex with my rent check. Which averages about $38/mon but I carry a credit on that account because I prepay. 

Other: $148

This is mostly the cost to renew my professional license. Work pays for continuing education courses, of which we have to have 15 hours or so. Then at the end of the year we certify we took those courses and didn't do anything bad, then we get a new license and carry on with our lives. It's a nice life. 

That's pretty much it. I enjoyed this conversation a lot more than my updates with graphs. They're pretty, but boring. Stay tuned for the Q4 financial update with pictures and the remainder of December 2018 expenses and income. 

Announcing My Guilt-Free 2019 Budget Projections

Today is Dec 15, 2018 and it's ten days till Christmas. Yippee. With season's greetings come feelings of reflections of the year. I tend to live in the future (not the moment). I've already taken a sneak peek at this year's income and expenses, and I have so many thoughts. I have so many thoughts on how the year has gone, and I am having trouble containing them or even confining them to one space. That's how I know it's time to write a post.

Based on what my income and expenses have shown thus far, here's what I propose for 2019 (God-willing).

My Working Budget for 2019

GROSS SALARY:	$91,000	($44/HR)
NET SALARY:	$71,000	(INCL 401K CONTRIBUTIONS)
SPENDING BUDGET:	$26,000/ yr	($2,167/MON)
TOTAL SAVINGS GOAL:	$45K/YR	TOTAL = POST-TAX SAVINGS + 401K (45K = 26K + 19K)

2019 PROJECTIONS

MONTHLY SPENDING	$2167/MON	26K/YR			SAVINGS	$45K/YR
Student Loans	$570					Per Pay Period	Notes	Annually
Housing/ Utilities	$1,000	(46%)			401K	$731/pp	Payroll deduction	$19,000
[REMAINDER ≈ $600]					[REMAINDER = 26K]
Tithe	$200
Everyday Expenses -Groceries (~$200/mon) -Dining Out -Gas Other (cable, personal supplies, wellness visit, family, other)	$400				Roth IRA	$231/pp		$6,000
					Taxable account	$834/pp		$20,000

For previous versions, see Budget Struggles.

Notes on my guilt-free budget projections. I generally get a couple hours of overtime each month, that will go toward any extra expenses guilt-free.  My spending budget is pretty basic on purpose. I plan to have $400/mon from my paycheck direct deposited onto a prepaid debit card for Everyday Expenses.  I use the Amex BlueBird card (no affiliate) because it has no fees. Extra expenses might include an extra doctor's visit; maybe I'll finally go on a trip; or my family might need help with a purchase. For any larger expenses that might arise, as they often do, I have a built in cushion in my savings budget. Guilt-free again.

More on the taxable account. Yes, my 401k contributions are automatic payroll deductions. Yes, my Roth IRA contributions are automated twice a month to a brokerage account. The remaining savings (20k) are funneled to a broker but those are semi-automated. This worked in 2018, so I'm going to try it again in 2019. I automated 75% of the amount allocated for the taxable account. So each pay period only 75% of the $834 gets routed to the broker. (I use a robo-advisor for now.) The remaining 25% sits in a savings account and is routed throughout the year when the balance gets uncomfortably high.  I do this so that if a big expense does arise, this money is easily accessible. Yes, I do keep a safety net in my checking and savings, but I really do see that as a safety net for job loss. So the taxable account cushion that lingers in my savings account is in addition to an established safety net. I don't want to ever feel strapped for cash.

Overall, while I have a spending target and savings target in mind, my budget is not immutable. I aim to keep financial independence guilt-free. The savings target and spending target are just tools to give my money some discipline and structure; it can't just be hanging out all willy nilly. If I need to spend more, it's enough knowing that I can. If I end up saving less than my target, it really is okay. Keep in mind a reasonable savings rate to a traditional and comfortable retirement is 20%, so anything above that is just gravy.  I want to be mindful not to get to a place where I start feeling bad for spending money that I earn. Financial independence goals are a choice and really not even the end goal, just an avenue to options.

Comparing 2018 vs 2019 Budget Projections

	2018	2019	Notes
Hourly Rate	43/hr	44/hr	Hourly rate based on hourly rate at the start of each year; historically incremental raises go into effect around April each year.
Estimated Gross Salary	89,440	91,000	The estimate for 2018 was calculated using hourly rate x 40 hrs/ wk x 52 weeks. The estimate for 2019 was calculated using a payment model at work.
Estimated Net Salary	67,080	71,000	The estimate for 2018 was calculated on a simple 25% tax rate. The estimate for 2019 was calculated using a payment modeling application at work that accounts for payroll deductions.
Savings Target	$37,000/yr	$45,000/ yr	For 2018, I hypothesized I could save half my salary and spend half based on the observation that I was already meeting most of my expenses from one of my two monthly paychecks. For 2019, after my first year of tracking expenses, I hypothesized I could keep recurring expenses to under 26k/yr and decided to shoot for a target savings of 45k/yr by funneling most of it away from my checking account. No pressure.
Spending Budget	$30,000/yr	$26,000/ yr

Final Thoughts.

I know this 2019 budget update is a little premature since I haven't done my full Q4 update yet, but with only one paycheck left and two weeks left of the year, I have a pretty good idea of what I've spent and what I've earned in 2018. The only lingering thing is whether I take my car in to get serviced before the year ends. The maintenance work has been pending since at least October. Then the weather just got colder and the days got shorter, and I really don't like running errands that require a huge time commitment.  But I'm just so excited to have gotten through this year and actually stuck with tracking my spending, I just had to offer this sneak peek! Let me know what you think...

Stay tuned for the upcoming Q4 update and reflections to see exactly what I did manage to spend and save in 2018!

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About Think Save Retire

Steve is an enviable early retiree who said goodbye to the workforce at the ripe old age of 35. As he shares on his site, his retired lifestyle no longer depends on any source of income. Earned income doing fun stuff is icing on the cake! Check out my post and his site for more....

My Early Retirement Journey on MikedUp Blog

My Early Retirement Journey interviewed on MikedUp Blog

Single Girl shares her wins and losses on MikedUp Blog.

Head on over to check it out. You don't want to miss this!

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