Personal Finance Archives - Page 11 of 23

January 2018 Financial Update

February 5, 2018 JustinRoG Awesome!, Financial Independence, Lifestyle, Personal Finance

Wow, January flew by! I can’t believe it’s already February. Here in North Carolina it was a rather frigid January. We experienced not one, but TWO (!!) snowstorms during the month which is a rare occurrence. If you’ve never experienced snow in the South, it’s a treat. Everything shuts down and the kids get a few days off school. We busted out the sleds, bundled up, and made the most of it. Ironically we ended up at our neighborhood elementary school where we hit the slopes hard.

January was a fun month for our finances, too. The market continued its upward trajectory throughout the month and left us much wealthier. Our net worth climbed $77,000 to $2,114,000. Income remained strong at $4,055 which more than covered our spending of $1,281 for the month.

December 2017 Financial Update

January 8, 2018 JustinRoG Awesome!, Financial Independence, Lifestyle, Personal Finance

Happy New Year! Another great year in the books for us. Our youngest started kindergarten. We took an amazing nine week trip to Europe. And with all the kids in school we were finally able to take advantage of a nice last minute travel deal when Mrs. Root of Good and I jumped on a cruise to the Caribbean for a week. Our early retirement lifestyle is going well.

Here’s how our finances finished 2017. Year end dividends rolled into the investment accounts in December pushing our total income to just over $14,000. Our spending was rather high at almost $8,000 (which needs some explaining). Another freakishly good month in the stock market pushed our net worth up another $26,000 to leave us with $2,037,000 at year end. Needless to say, our 2017 went remarkably well from a financial perspective.

Cracking $2 Million: November 2017 Financial Update

December 6, 2017 JustinRoG Lifestyle, Moneyhacks, Personal Finance

Where did the year go? As I write this we are less than four weeks from 2018! Time flies when you are having fun. As usual, November weather has been beautiful here in North Carolina and we have enjoyed many nice days outside. Now that December is here, it’s starting to feel more like winter with the short days and frost on the ground for a brief time span some mornings.

Big news on the financial front. In November, our net worth smashed through the big $2 million dollar mark! Our net worth climbed $33,000 to close the month at $2,011,000. Income remained strong at $3,228 while expenses increased to $2,857 (still within budget though). To summarize: we are doing okay financially.

Costco Costs More: A Cautionary Tale of Bulk Buying Gone Wrong

November 20, 2017 JustinRoG Lifestyle, Moneyhacks, Personal Finance

Every year or two I revisit my assumption that I’m spending my money in an optimal way. Sometimes this means shopping my home and auto policies to several new insurers to make sure I’m getting the best rates available. More recently, I questioned whether I could save money by buying in bulk at Costco or by shifting more grocery spending to Target or Walmart.

Enter the cost comparison. During September and October 2017 I stealthily visited five stores near me in the Raleigh area to check prices on sixteen different staple foods. I chose Trader Joes, Costco, Walmart, Aldi, and Target.

Going into the experiment, I assumed Walmart and Aldi would be the cheapest, with Target slightly more expensive than those two. Costco would come in fourth place while Trader Joe’s would stand out as the most expensive. This was exactly the results of my study (with the exception that Target was noticeably more expensive compared to Aldi/Walmart). Walmart was the cheapest while Trader Joe’s was the most expensive with the other stores falling in between in the predicted order.

Cruising through Fall – October 2017 Financial Update

November 7, 2017 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Lifestyle, Personal Finance, Travel

October was another great month for us! We had a blast, blew some money on a quick jaunt on the high seas, and enjoyed the outdoors. And grew $42,000 wealthier while having all that fun. No complaints here.

In financial terms, our net worth climbed to $1,978,000. Income remained steady at $4,573 while total spending for the month of October remained modest at $1,748. Given that we don’t even spend our current income, I’m starting to unravel the mystery of why our cash balance continues to grow month after month. Spending less than we make – an old habit we can’t kick.

September 2017 Financial Update

October 5, 2017 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Personal Finance

Life is going well for the Root of Good family. The kids are all back in school and we are settling into our new school-time routine. Most weekday mornings start with the walk to school to drop off our kindergartner. Then we play tennis, take a walk, go hiking, or go swimming. As the days grow cooler we’ll adjust our routine to take advantage of warmer afternoons on days that we plan on being outside for a while. I always look forward to fall and this year is no different. For us it means more time outside, campfires, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and time with family.

We just closed the books on September and along with it, marked the end of the third quarter of 2017. Our income spiked up to $7,433 for the month while our expenses remained low at $1,824. Net worth grew by a massive $46,000, thereby boosting our net worth to $1,936,000 by the end of September.

August 2017 Financial Update

September 11, 2017 JustinRoG Lifestyle, Personal Finance

Greetings from Raleigh! We are back home after nine weeks in Europe. School is back in session and fall is just around the corner. Our five year old started kindergarten and we are transitioning into empty nesters. At least on weekdays between 8:30 AM and 2:45 PM.

Our financials for the month were once again wonderful. Once I arrived home from Europe, I deposited an accumulated stack of checks from the blog and elsewhere which led to a superb monthly income of $6,281. Expenses were tiny at just $1,390 in spite of spending two weeks of August in Europe and picking up a ton of back to school supplies and clothes. Our net worth crept up another $8,000 to $1,890,000 – another all time net worth high.

July 2017 Financial Update

August 11, 2017 JustinRoG Awesome!, Personal Finance

It’s a rainy day in the outskirts of Koblenz, Germany and I finally have time to crank out the latest monthly financial update. It’s 60 degrees and drizzling all day. The fog rising over the farm fields obscures the view of the next village over. Though a rainy day would mark ruin for others’ vacations, for us it’s a nice forced break from our routine of exploring new cities and sights.

In July, we visited Milan and Venice in Italy, Ljulbjana and Lake Bled/Kranjska Gora/Soca Valley in Slovenia, Salzburg and Hallstatt in Austria, Munich and Berlin in Germany, and Prague in Czech Republic. Our nine week summer vacation in Europe is drawing to a close with only a few days remaining in Koblenz, Germany then a few days in Amsterdam before we fly back home to Raleigh.

July was another great month for us. Our net worth rose another $40,000 to $1,882,000. Our income remained steady at $1,549 which was barely eclipsed by our spending of $1,616. In other words, a combination of passive dividend income from our portfolio and a small amount of income from this blog came close to covering all of our expenses for the month while we have been vacationing in Europe.

June 2017 Financial Update

July 10, 2017 JustinRoG Lifestyle, Personal Finance, Travel

This month’s financial update comes to you from Ljubljana, Slovenia – an undiscovered gem in Europe. We are about to head to Lake Bled, Slovenia for some hiking, lake-lounging, and more relaxing. After that we’re on to Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic for the next month before ending our vacation in Amsterdam. It’s hard to believe we are almost half way through our nine week summer vacation in Europe!

June was another great month financially. Net worth increased $14,000 to $1,842,000. Income was very strong at $7,793 during June, while expenses remained moderate at $2,629. Such a great feeling to watch your assets continue to grow for you while you’re on the other side of the world exploring and relaxing!

May 2017 Financial Update

June 6, 2017 JustinRoG Personal Finance

May is all done, and it proved to be another great month for our household. Our net worth climbed $23,000 to $1,828,000 (another all time record high). Our income was huge at $9,149 while our expenses remained moderate at $1,829.

The kids are out of school in a few more days and we head out for our nine week summer vacation in Europe in less than a week! Exciting, busy times for us. Let’s check out how we did last month.