December 2019 Savings Rate

UPDATE: Took a closer look at my accounts and earned $1,895 in dividends last month, making my actual savings rate 22.22%.

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The first post of 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣0️⃣ and it may be a little alarming to some (read: most). 😳 I’m happy though because it was my CHOICE to not work in December and I took the whole month off! 😎

Despite my abysmal savings rate, my overall net worth GREW. 📈 The trifecta of compound interest, investing, and a good market y’all. ✨ MAGIC

Here’s how my December expenses panned out…

Savings: $7,586.33

Even though I had no income, I had a lot of cash left in my checking from the previous two months high earnings.

I added more to my Emergency Fund because I decided I wanted to have not just 5 months of living expenses, but enough money to cover my whopping high $8,500 health insurance deductible. That means my new e-fund goal is $23,000. It’s currently at $17,000.

401k: $0

HSA: $0

Roth IRA: $0 – Maxed for 2019

Checking: $0

Emergency HYSA: $1,050.00

Travel HYSA: $600.00

Big Event HYSA: $600.00

Brokerage: $1,200.00

Income: $2,964.11

Just look at that sad ZERO paycheck. Ah well! I’m really enjoying get a taste of FIRE life.

UPDATE: As mentioned above, a few of my investments paid out their annual dividends, so I made way more this December than anticipated. In fact, it was enough to cover my expenses for the month and put my savings rate above 0%! If this doesn’t convince you about the power of FIRE and investing, I don’t know what will.

💰 Paycheck: $0

👕 Resale: $176.60

👩‍💻Freelance: $0.00

💵 Cash back: $117.90

📈Interest: $28.53

🎁 Gifts: $782.00

📈Dividends: $1,859.08

Expenses: $2,305.57

As anticipated my major expense category that was out of whack was Gifts and Shopping (Black Friday).

Work category is also exceptionally high because I ended up buying the millennialmoneyhoney.com domain and Squarespace plan as a present to myself on Black Friday. I figured it was a good investment!

As for shopping, that expense was due to the art I got custom framed. It’s a family heirloom plus I got a great Black Friday deal, soo I’d say that was worth it.

🏡 House: $950.00

💡 Utilities: $48.84

🚕 Transportation: $20.17

🥦Groceries: $0.00

🍽 Food: $177.61

🍹Drinks: $81.62

🛍 Shopping: $114.83

💻 Work: $230.29

🎥 Entertainment: $13.20

✈️ Travel: $33.86

🚙 Car: $0.00

🏥 Health: $213.00

🎁 Gifts.: $422.15

Misc.: $0.00

So now that my FIRE December is over, I’m back on the job market. Anyone looking for a visual/brand designer? 🙇🏻‍♀️ I’m available for hire!

xo, Catie

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Disclosure: Some of these links are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may earn some compensation. All opinions are 100% my own! I truly appreciate you and your support. :)

November 2019 Savings Rate

WAHOO!!!!! November numbers are in and my savings rate is still in the ⚠️ 70% zone ⚠️ This is great considering my savings rate will be probably be negative in December since I’m not working. ✌️

For now, I’m enjoying time off with my sweet Bachan 👵🏻 and fam today!

Savings: $7,586.33

As I discussed previously this is my last contribution to my 401K for the year, so I won’t be able to max it out. :( Ah well. Instead I upped contributions to my taxable brokerage accounts

Here’s my November savings breakdown:

401k: $1,715.35

HSA: $1,000.00

Roth IRA: $0 – Maxed for 2019

Checking: $4,486.33

Emergency HYSA: $100.00

Travel HYSA: $100.00

Big Event HYSA: $400.00

Brokerage: $1,200.00

Income: $8,960.46

Another high income month, which is a nice last padding since I’m taking ALL of December off! Can’t wait to get a little taste of FIRE life. 💵

💰 Paycheck: $8,073.98

👕 Resale: $0.00

👩‍💻Freelance: $80.00

💵 Cash back: $0.00

📈Interest: $31.48

🎁 Gifts: $775.00

📈Dividends: $0.00

Expenses: $2,374.13

This month I took a trip back to my hometown to for my best friend’s engagement! It was a last minute surprise but spent about $412.36 in total.

Christmas shopping began this month so gifts category is high ($217.10) and I anticipate it will only be higher next month!

🏡 House: $950.00

💡 Utilities: $227.42

🚕 Transportation: $20.13

🥦Groceries: $0.00

🍽 Food: $23.47

🍹Drinks: $105.71

🛍 Shopping: $70.00

💻 Work: $84.00

🎥 Entertainment: $50.94

✈️ Travel: $412.36

🚙 Car: $0.00

🏥 Health: $213.00

🎁 Gifts.: $217.10

Misc.: $0.00

No spend November didn’t go as well as planned. I caved thrifted a dress while in Texas and I ended up getting a $40 Christmas tree. I’ll be able to use the Christmas tree for years to come though so I view it more as an investment haha.

Can’t wait for No Work December!!!

xo, Catie

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Disclosure: Some of these links are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may earn some compensation. All opinions are 100% my own! I truly appreciate you and your support. :)

October 2019 Savings Rate

I’m SHOOK. 😲 This month I was hoping to save approximately 50% since I knew I’d be spending more this month for my birthday party 🎉. Instead, I ended up 0.53% higher than my 77.13% savings rate last month!

There are 2 big factors that played into it, one good and one bad. The good thing is that since I’m on a biweekly paycheck, this month I got 3 paychecks. 🤑 The bad thing is I did not anticipate my company merging and shutting down their 401k plans. 👎 This means I got more cash out of my gross paycheck than usual, but also mean I probably won’t be able to max out my 401k this year. 😔

Savings

In major savings events, I opened up a 3rd savings account this month specifically for “Big Events” after reading I Will Teach You to Be Rich. I’m saving for my wedding or if I’m not married, a very big 35th birthday party.

Here’s my full October savings breakdown:

401k: $1,715.35

HSA: $150.00 – Upped my contributions to max out by 2019 since my 401k is temporarily discontinued. I have $2,588.70 left!

Roth IRA: $0 – Maxed for 2019

Savings - Emergency: $100.00

Savings - Travel: $400.00

Savings - Big Event: $1,500.00

Brokerage: $2,500.00

Checking: $3,936.08

Income

This is the most monthly income I’ve ever made in my life EVER. Partly due to the fact that my paycheck came 3x this month, but also because I’ve been hustling hard!

I took on a big freelance design project 🎨 and resold a few items of clothes on Depop & Facebook Marketplace. It was also my birthday, so I received a little bit of extra cash from family and friends. 💵

💰 Paycheck: $9,722.97

👕 Resale: $91.61

👩‍💻Freelance: $500.00

💵 Cash back: $3.79

📈Interest: $30.34

🎁 Gifts: $513.00

Expenses

My entertainment expenses were WILD this month, but I definitely planned for that and still came out at a high savings rate!

The total cost of my Halloween costume was $47.07 🎃, the food/beverages for my birthday party was $471.52, and I had my friends over for Thai food 🥘 on my actual birthday which cost $102.09, bringing my final birthday festivity expenses to $620.68.

Another BIG ticket 🎫 item from this month is Taylor Swift Lover’s Fest West concert tix. I was able to buy them at face value from my sister’s friend for $198.60. Confession: I’m not much into music, with the exception of T. Swift. 💕 I’m SO excited for this.

🏡 House: $850.00

💡 Utilities: $76.11

🚕 Transportation: $3.00

🥦Groceries: $162.38

🍽 Food: $31.88

🍹Drinks: $22.80

🛍 Shopping: $20.00

💻 Work: $26.33

🎥 Entertainment: $841.51

✈️ Travel: $0

🚙 Car: $44.77

🏥 Health: $213.00

🎁 Gifts.: $123.86

Misc.: $9.99

I added in a few new categories, Gifts 🎁 and Shopping 🛍 to this list since the last two months they’ve been at $0, but I’m probably going to need them going forward, especially with Christmas 🎄coming up.

I’m also doing a No Spend November in anticipation of the holidays. 🎅 This means NO shopping or buying anything that needs unless it needs replenishing. 🙅‍♀️ I’m not counting food/experience type stuff OR getting gifts for people. I’m hoping to actually do a bit of gift shopping on Black Friday/Cyber Monday since those have the best deals! 🖤

xo, Catie

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Disclosure: Some of these links are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may earn some compensation. All opinions are 100% my own! I truly appreciate you and your support. :)

September 2019 Savings Rate

Wow, wow, wow! 77.13%?! 😯 This has gotta be THE MOST I’ve saved in one month. It’s my first month into my F.I.R.E. (Financial Independence, Retire Early) journey, which I think has been a huge motivating factor to get me to save way more than I normally do. 🔥

For reference, my August savings was only at 14.49%—mainly due to starting a new job so had a lapse in paychecks coupled with some big expenses (like $500 on a haircut and color.)

Savings

I have ~$9,000 left to contribute for the rest of the year. I’m only on this contract job, in which I have a 401k, until the end of November, so I’ve upped my contributions to a whopping 29% to max it out in the next 5 paychecks. 😮 I need to be careful to not over contribute since my balance is been split up between my old 401k account.

I also opened an HSA that comes with my HDHP and need to crunch the numbers to see if I can max out this triple tax-advantaged account for 2019.

Here’s my full September savings breakdown:

Savings - Travel: $500.00

Savings - Big Event: $0.00

Brokerage: $1,300.00

Checking: $908.56

401k: $926.10

HSA: $0.00

Roth IRA: $1,600.00

Savings - Emergency: $400.00

Income

The majority of my high savings rate was a result of starting a new job. My new hourly rate right now is at $70/hr plus overtime, up from $41/hr, no OT. 

In support of pay transparency and closing the gender wage gap, here’s a breakdown of all my income (gross pay, after taxes)

Paycheck: $6,545.09

Resale: $43.00

Freelance: $20.00

Cash back: $77.22

Expenses

The majority of my expenses went to housing and utilities (18.59%). But I also spent quite a bit on going out, which is my Drinks category. 🍻 I lump the cost of transportation (Uber/Lyft) into this category too so I can see my true cost of going out.

Right now in my life, socializing is a HUGE priority and something I don’t skimp out on. Saving for retirement 👵 vs. living with my friends in the moment 💃 is a trade-off worth spending on for me.

House: $960.00

Utilities: $283.35

Transportation: $15.56

Groceries: $90.75

Food: $53.29

Drinks: $102.88

Work: $45.00

Entertainment: $8.00

Travel: $93.49

Car: $79.60

Health: $213.00

Misc.: $31.84

October is gonna be a BIG month for me. I turn 28 and have lots of friends whose birthdays are this month too.

According to Wealthfront, which has been monitoring all of my accounts for the last few years, I save more consistently at a 53% rate. Hoping to be about that level when it’s all said and done, even with upping my 401k contributions!

xo, Catie

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Disclosure: Some of these links are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may earn some compensation. All opinions are 100% my own! I truly appreciate you and your support. :)

How Much Money You Need to Retire Early

I’m the first to admit, even though I’m the Millennial Money Honey, math is NOT my strength. 🧮So when I was reading about the formula to calculate your Financial Independence number—current net worth plus average savings rate factoring in taxes, wage growth, investment growth, withdrawal, and inflation—I was v overwhelmed. 😭

Thank goodness my math deficiency is made up by resourcefulness and ability Google. I found this handy dandy online Financial Independence Early Retirement calculator by Financial Toolbelt. 🧰There were quite a few out there, but as a designer, I’m a snob when it comes to resources with good design and functional usability. Other ones weren’t as easy on the eyes. 👀

Above are my inputs based on what I think is my current savings rate, as well as a conservative estimate on my investment growth. As I’m currently tracking my savings rate from September-October, I might have to update if my actual rate is way off. But anyway, those numbers gave me these results:

So this is saying I need $1,056,900 ($706K being my hard earned dollars, the rest from earnings) to be able to stop working and withdrawal at a 4% rate every single year until I die. This is great target number for me to aim for, it makes me a bit nervous since it’s saying my take home spending is $2,178/month.

Of course $2,200/month is easy to live off of now, but it doesn’t factor in kids, which I’d love to have. But I know when I “retire," I’m not going to give up working entirely for money, so hopefully me making even $20,000/year for fun will be enough keep me at ease.

Until then, I’m counting down the days until I’m 38 with $1M in the bank and I’ll be financially FREEEEE! (Hopefully I inspire at least one person to join me by then, so I’m not alone. Maybe that’s you? ;)

xo,

Catie

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