Personal Finance Archives - Page 2 of 20

May 2022 Early Retirement Update – See Ya Later, America! Edition

June 7, 2022 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Personal Finance

Ok folks, it’s June and the year is almost half over. Where does all the time go?

May was another busy but fun month for us. We celebrated some birthdays with family. We went on a cruise. Our kids have finished another successful year of school. And next week we watch our oldest kid graduate from high school!

Meanwhile, we are researching and planning the final details for our big eight week summer vacation in Europe. In a week, we will get on a plane and head off to Zagreb, Croatia where the adventure begins once again. Busy, busy, busy!

Financially, May was a great month for us. Our net worth rebounded by $103,000 to end the month at $2,770,000. Income during the month totaled $4,718 while expenses were $2,972 during May.

April 2022 Early Retirement Update

May 9, 2022 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Lifestyle, Personal Finance

Another busy month comes to a close! We spent Spring Break on a cruise. Upon returning to Raleigh, the older kids prepared to take their Advanced Placement exams. And now, we are getting ready to go on another cruise!

After we get back from our next cruise, we’ll have about a month before we leave home for our two month summer trip through Europe. I need a vacation from vacations (ha ha)!

While we were at home in April, we were able to enjoy the nice mild spring weather. We had some friends over a few times and had a big family get-together for Easter.

Financially, April was a mixed month with heavy stock market declines but very low spending. Our net worth declined by $139,000 to end the month at $2,667,000. Income during the month totaled $3,666 while expenses were a mere $1,321 during April.

February 2022 Early Retirement Update – Early Spring Edition

March 8, 2022 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Personal Finance, Travel

Another month flew by! Here we are in March and spring is slowly making an appearance. I definitely like the warmer days but it’s almost too hot right now!

The nicer weather means spending more time outdoors. We got out the hammock on one particularly nice day. And we enjoyed several hikes last month. Hopefully the temperate weather is here to stay for a while before the summertime heat sets in.

Financially, February was a mixed month for us. Our net worth dropped by $40,000 to end the month at $2,719,000. Income during the month totaled $2,312 while expenses were a modest $2,535 during February.

January 2022 Early Retirement Update – Snowy Winter Edition

February 11, 2022 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Lifestyle, Personal Finance

Welcome to my first monthly update of 2022! It’s been a busy month for us. We had a nice snowy weekend during January which is rare for us here in Raleigh. The snow was just deep enough to offer some decent sledding. Then it melted the next day and it was bright and sunny and back to business as usual.

During January and the first few days of February, we finalized our big two month summer trip through Croatia, Slovenia, and Hungary. Here’s to hoping that we are able to commence on this adventure successfully once the time comes!

Financially, January was a mixed month for us. Our net worth dropped by $71,000 to end the month at $2,759,000. Income during the month totaled $4,378 while expenses were a mere $1,193 during January.

November 2021 Early Retirement Update – Turkey Time Edition

December 8, 2021 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Lifestyle, Personal Finance

Another fun and busy month of early retired life is in the books! During the past month, we hosted a big Thanksgiving celebration at our house. Since the weather was nice in November, we spent a lot of time outdoors.

I really stretched my DIY muscles in November too. I got out the power tools and replaced some trim on the porch and the shed, then painted all the new trim along with repainting the crawl space door, mailbox, and bathroom ceiling.

In less than two weeks, we are looking forward to escaping the ever-colder temperatures with a cruise to the Caribbean during Christmas. It’ll happen. I think. Fingers crossed.

Financially, last month was a “rebuilding month” for us. Net worth dropped by $49,000 to end the month at $2,715,000. Income during the month totaled $2,822 while expenses were $4,361 during November.

October 2021 Early Retirement Update – Spooky Time Edition

November 12, 2021 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Personal Finance

Fall is in full swing here and I’m loving it! We enjoyed a fun October and look forward to more of the same in November as Thanksgiving approaches. Throughout the month we spent lots of time lounging outside, going on long bike rides, and plugging away at our travel planning for 2022.

We ended the month with some trick-or-treating. It’s nice to see all the old holiday traditions coming back to life after a rough 2020!

Financially, last month was a great month. Net worth spiked upwards by $77,000 to end the month at $2,764,000. Income during the month totaled $3,049, which was only $2 more than the $3,047 we spent during October.

Let’s jump into the details from last month.

September 2021 Early Retirement Update – Back to Traveling Edition

October 13, 2021 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Personal Finance

Welcome back to a slightly belated monthly update post! Fall is in full swing here in North Carolina and I’m loving it. It’s the best time of year here. I’ve spent a lot of time enjoying the cooler mornings by sitting on the back porch drinking coffee and reading while watching the backyard wildlife.

Between the porch-sitting, the occasional bike ride in the woods, and the Netflix-watching, my schedule is pretty full these days.

During September, we have been busy planning and booking a lot of travel for 2022. That takes up a lot of time too. Hopefully these travel plans work out better than they did in 2020!

Financially, last month was a mixed bag. Net worth dropped by $38,000 to end the month at $2,687,000. Income during the month totaled $10,061, which was much higher than our $4,481 spending during the month.

August 2021 Early Retirement Update – Back to School (and College!) Edition

September 7, 2021 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Personal Finance

How is it September already? Summer break is over and all our kids have been back in school for a couple of weeks now. We are more than two thirds of the way through 2021 already! Where did all the time go?

The biggest news of the month is that our oldest kid is officially a college student. The college expenses have started on a very small scale with textbook purchases (read on to find out more details!). It’s strange to have the kids back in school after the past eighteen months of virtual schooling at home. So far so good – everyone is staying healthy!

We’re settling back in to home after our long summer trip. And once again getting used to the “new” school year routine. The weather finally started cooling off in the past week so we’ve been able to spend more time outside, which is a nice relief!

Financially, last month was great for us. Net worth popped up by $33,000 to end the month at $2,725,000. Income during the month totaled $2,587, which was slightly higher than our $2,091 spending during the month.

July 2021 Early Retirement Update – Back Home in Raleigh!

August 10, 2021 JustinRoG Awesome!, Financial Independence, Investing, Personal Finance

Welcome back to Root of Good! We arrived in Raleigh two weeks ago after spending most of the summer driving cross country for our road trip. I can’t believe summer is almost over! One of our kids starts college half time in one week and all three will commence regular classes in two weeks. When they said “time flies when you’re having fun”, they didn’t lie!

We’ve spent the past two weeks getting situated in Raleigh and relaxing after a busy but fun summer vacation. So far it looks like all the kids will be attending class in person this fall. For us adults, that means we will have a lot more free time between the hours of 9 am and 2:30 pm. This will be quite a schedule adjustment compared to the past 18 months of the kids being here almost all day every day.

Financially, last month was pretty decent but not overwhelmingly positive. For the second month in a row, our stock investments went down very slightly. Net worth dipped by $9,000 to end the month at $2,692,000. Income during the month totaled $2,888, which was slightly higher than our $2,128 spending during the month.

May 2021 Early Retirement Update

June 7, 2021 JustinRoG Awesome!, Financial Independence, Personal Finance

It was another busy month here in the Root of Good household. We have been busy with final preparations for our seven week road trip across the USA. I think we are ready to go. Two of our kids are completely done with school for the year. Our third kid will be logging into class from the road for a few days (if the cell signal holds up!)

This May brought us the best North Carolina weather I can remember in a long time. Very mild days, with some chilly temps mixed in. We got to enjoy the outdoors in comfort! The humidity just showed up in the past couple of days, so that’s a sign it’s time for us to head out of town for the summer.

Before we hit the road, here is a look at our finances over the past month. Net worth continued its upward climb with a $46,000 increase in May. Our net worth ended the month at $2,713,000. Income during the month totaled $2,290, which was slightly lower than our $2,418 spending during the month.