A few spreadsheets later (A 2020 Money and Life Update)

 Psych! I was trying not to put Merry Christmas in the title! But that's what I want to say. 

So for next year - 2021- I was trying to figure out what my quote or theme should be. As soon as I say, don't talk to people that don't make you feel good ..then I immediately want to talk to everyone!!

My Former Roommate just... I don't know what the issue is. Right now Brain is percolating on the fact that she said anyone who knows me knows I don't like grey area. When I really wanted to call her out on the fact that, no, you certainly didn't and still don't really know how to interact with me. You are a constant source of frustration. 

My other Aunt  - my remaining parent seems to think we have a special bond. Yeah, okay. Maybe don't pawn your kids off on someone else to take care of. Okay, that's my 1stworldproblems talking, but still. 

Also, why am I so irritated, it's Christmas! I love Christmas! This is how we know what Love is. 

My Racist Friend - ugh. What to even say there. Low point.

So how do I want next year to look different. I don't even want to point to financial goals because the stock market is another fickle friend. 

Well for the actions I can control:

Money Aims

 - Maintain my automated savings to my 401k 

     - 19.5k pre-tax

     - 24k after-tax

- Max out Roth IRA (6k)

Life Aims

- Figure out if I'm really dying Nov 2021 (when my aunt's monthly pension money stops); I wasn't able to renew my driver's license and get a pistol permit but I still could

- Until I decide to die, I really want to go back to the way things were before my Darling Aunty died and my emotional safety net was snatched away

- I don't think I can make friends - it's just too hard- so I have to figure out how to continue going at this alone, expecting nothing from no one

- I do want to get more involved in STEM related volunteer activities and maybe some food pantry stuff

Career Aims

- I still pray for a big, significant, positive, sustainable impact at work

- I still would like to move on to something more lucrative and satisfying and still WFH by Jun 2021 - I'm thinking either promotional review or labelling

FIRE

- When I look at A Purple Life's numbers, she made steady progress from where I am right now to her goal of 500k in 2 years. Is that possible for me? Should I even get my hopes up? According to my FIRE tracker I shouldn't reach 500k for another 6 years. Mint is saying I might reach it in 4. But if I could reach it in 2, that would be amazing! What would I even do with myself? 

The spreadsheets... here's a rough estimate of where I ended this year and a little comparison of other years for context. 

	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Income
Gross Pay	$93,000	$98,200	$98,841	$91,471	$120,908
Total Wages/Take Home Pay	--	$59,344	$56,159	$51,257	$62,000
401k Contribution	$8,800	$10,950	$18,500	$18,996	$19,264
401k Spillover Post-Tax					$4,900
HSA	--	--	--	$1,675	$1,627
Post-Tax Savings		$16,246	$28,630	$20,843	$41,763
Total Expenses	--	$52,095	$33,552	$28,698	$29,570

I too was perturbed on how my post-tax savings + total expenses > take home pay. I didn't dive too deeply, but I think there was always some extra savings left over from the year(s) before. Everything I invested in one year wasn't pulled from everything I made that year. I guess, I don't know. Like I said, I didn't delve too deeply. 

I will say this year, there were a lot of extra funds being thrown my way. Oh, I think I might have mentioned this elsewhere, but the grand finale of Free Money from Bank bonuses and some minor cashback deals this year: $3,740. Yowza!

Onwards! I just discovered the latest dramatic season of The Bachelorette. I accidentally saw the winner online but I think I can still get into it. So I will watch that and eat the things I made yesterday and be happy!

Merry Christmas, y'all!