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December 2019 Financial Update

January 15, 2020 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Personal Finance

After a busy end of the year, it has taken me a while to pull this monthly update together. In December, we spent twelve days on a cruise. Once we returned home, the Christmas holiday season started shortly thereafter. Then the New Year’s celebration commenced. In between were several other gatherings of family and friends. I’m looking forward to a much lazier 2020!

From a financial perspective, we had a great month in December. Our net worth climbed $63,000 to reach another all time high of $2,261,000. Our spending was slightly below budget at $3,193 while our income was a monstrous $23,579 for the month.

11 Tips to Finish the Year Strong

December 29, 2019 JustinRoG Investing, Lifestyle, Personal Finance

The year is coming to a close. Time to get your financial house in order before we pop the bubbly and ring in the new year.

Here are some tips to optimize your finances before it’s too late:

November 2019 Financial Update

December 11, 2019 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Personal Finance

Here we are in the middle of December with just a few weeks left in the year. Where did the year go? It’s busy times as usual here in the Root of Good household. As I write this we are packing our bags to set sail to the Caribbean (again) on the MSC Divina and by the time this post goes live we’ll be somewhere in the Caribbean just off the coast of South America. Life is treating us pretty well!

On the financial front, it was another great month. Our net worth climbed by $31,000 to reach another all time high of $2,198,000. Income remained strong at $3,184 for the month while expenses remained rather low at $1,420.

October 2019 Financial Update

November 12, 2019 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Personal Finance

Another month flew by! In October, we embraced the fall weather and enjoyed the changing of the leaves. The kids enjoyed dressing up for Halloween and gathering huge sacks full of candy. All of us enjoyed the very mild weather which makes the outdoors way more fun.

On the financial front, it was another great month. Our net worth climbed by $44,000 to reach an all time high of $2,167,000. Income remained strong at $3,183 for the month while expenses remained moderate at $2,628.

September 2019 Financial Update

October 7, 2019 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Personal Finance

Summer is officially over and fall is here (finally). Between the heat and humidity of our summer vacation in Southeast Asia and the excessively warm September in North Carolina, I’m definitely ready for cooler weather. Fall, my favorite time of the year, means more pleasant outdoor weather for lounging in the hammock and exploring the woods on foot and by bike.

September was a lazy month for us. I got in several nice bike rides, played a bunch of video games, and read a few books. I’m a big fan of leisurely pastimes in early retirement in case you haven’t noticed!

Financially, September was a really good month. Our net worth climbed by $45,000 to reach $2,123,000 by month end. Our income was very strong at $8,462 while our expenses were a puny $979 for the month. If every month were like September, then soon we’d be rich!

August 2019 Financial Update – Back to School Edition

September 16, 2019 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Lifestyle, Moneyhacks, Personal Finance, Travel

Here we are days away from the official start of fall. We are fully recovered from our eight week vacation in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. After we landed in Raleigh, we were immediately busy with back to school shopping for supplies and clothes and several rounds of school orientations now that each of our kids attend a different school. Throw a teenager’s birthday party/sleepover into the mix and it made for a very busy August.

Now that the kids are back in school, the adults of the Root of Good household get to take a breather. Our daily schedule shifts from the summertime routine of waking up, touring temples and palaces, and gorging on street food to the school year routine of waking up, walking one kid to school, then returning home to sip coffee for as long as we want.

Financially, last month was a mixed bag. Our net worth dropped by $34,000 to end the month at $2,078,000. Income was better than average at $3,968 while expenses remained modest at $1,995 for the month of August. Any month where income greatly exceeds expenses is a win as far as I’m concerned. Small fluctuations in the stock market don’t mean anything in terms of long term financial success for early retirement.

July 2019 Financial Update – Exploring Cambodia and Thailand Edition

August 19, 2019 JustinRoG Awesome!, Financial Independence, Personal Finance, Travel

The Root of Good family just got back to the US after an eight week adventure in Southeast Asia. We spent the month of July split between Cambodia and Thailand.

Now that we’re rested up and mostly recovered from the jet lag, I wanted to take a break from life and share our July financials before we get busy with all the back to school activities coming up soon.

Our net worth dropped ever so slightly from $2,114,000 to $2,112,000 (a $2,000 drop). Income remained strong at $2,777 for the month of July, while our expenses remained moderate at $1,961.

June 2019 Financial Update – Exploring Vietnam Edition

July 11, 2019 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Personal Finance, Travel

June was an incredibly busy month for the Root of Good family. We spent the first half of the month at home in Raleigh wrapping up the school year for the kids. Then we relaxed for a few days before packing our bags for our big eight week summer vacation in Southeast Asia.

We spent the second half of June in Vietnam where we visited Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Can Tho, a smaller city in the Mekong Delta region. I’ll have a more in depth update of that part of our trip in a future post, but read on to get a glimpse into the trip so far.

While we were hitting the road and discovering new parts of the world, our finances did a great job of taking care of themselves. June was a huge success financially. Our net worth climbed $92,000 to reach $2,114,000. Our income was strong at $8,412 for the month while our expenses totaled $4,343.

Quit Like a Millionaire

July 9, 2019 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Personal Finance, Travel

Today we have a guest post from Kristy from the blog Millennial Revolution.

“Anyone can become FI with a 6-figure salary!”

“Financially independent?! If you’re not American and privileged, forget it!”

“Try to become FI if you are living on $30K a year while raising a family! HA!”

These are some of the biggest criticisms of the FIRE movement. Apparently, we’re all a bunch of rich assholes and there’s no way you can become financially independent if you weren’t born with privilege.

I get it. Seeing other people succeed is excruciating when you’re struggling. It’s easier to dismiss their accomplishments so you can feel better. I was there. I used to be a hater too.

May 2019 Financial Update – Lazy May Daze Edition

June 10, 2019 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Lifestyle, Personal Finance

May was another successful month of early retirement. We took it easy and enjoyed a relatively slow month of leisure with family and friends. I spent a few days being a “real” blogger and influencer by attending Camp FI in Virginia where I gave a presentation titled “FIRE for Fun!”. That makes me a real blogger, right?

Our finances were a mixed bag in May. Our net worth dropped precipitously by $87,000 to end the month at $2,022,000. Fortunately our cash flow situation was much better. Income remained decent at $3,438 while our expenses dropped significantly to only $752 for the month of May. When income exceeds outflow, you can’t worry about finances too much!