I don’t check my portfolio very often because I’m still not back to my all time high from 2021 and I only like to look at the numbers when they’re really, really good or when they reach a new peak. But it’s time to update my chart, so I had to look, and the market has rebounded quite nicely since its dip last year so my finances are solid. I’m happy.
My expenses were roughly the same as it has been in past years, which is absolutely shocking when you consider the fact that I don’t pay rent anymore. Boyfriend used to charge me nominal ($500 rent), but stopped after several months. Instead, I spend that money on plane tickets and hotel rooms and adventures.
In 2023 I went to: The Bahamas, The U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Haiti (on a cruise), Honduras, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Rhode Island, Massachusettes, New Orleans, Morocco, Portugal, Malta, France, Chicago, San Diego, camping, Chicago, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Miami, Turks and Caicos, Mexico City, Las Vegas, Chicago, Guadeloupe, Chicago, and San Francisco.
Phew! That’s a lot of trips.
So when I tell you I spent $25,916 over those twelve months, I’m not embarrassed. That’s not bad. I did a lot of things. I’d say more than half of that total was on travel-related expenses.
I also spent on gyms ($1,500) and eating out (probably my second-biggest expense after travel) and clothes and sewing stuff and presents for other people. It was not a thrifty year by any stretch of the imagination. I bought whatever I wanted whenever I wanted and didn’t think too much about it. It’s a nice way to live.
So it’s a good thing that my net worth increased a good chunk. Returns for VTSAX topped an astonishing 26% last year. That’s not bad. Keep in mind that I don’t work and I don’t earn any money to put into Vanguard and my net worth still increased. Insane! And I take out money each year to live! Crazy!
Here is my chart.
Red, as you all know by now, represents my average monthly expense each month and green represents my average monthly projected passive income (PPI). The formula to calculate my projected passive income is (Withdrawal rate*Net Worth)/12. I use 0.04 as my withdrawal rate, or 4%.
Here’s my chart with all the prior dates I’ve recorded on it. I just like to marvel at how long I’ve been keeping up with this data.
2023 was a much more normal and comfortable year for the markets. Inflation is back under control and VTSAX is doing pretty things.
So far so good!
This past year, I spent $2,160/month on average. I think that’s reasonable. I could spend nearly double what I’m currently spending and still be fine. That’s crazy to think about.
But that’s part of wiggle room for me. I don’t want to spend as much as I can. I like seeing the gap between my expenses and projected passive income widen each year. It makes me feel rich, makes me feel safe.
Plus, it’s nice to know that if boyfriend and I ever broke up, I could afford rent on my own.
Unless there are any objections, this will likely be the last year I update you on this chart because it’s kind of a boring post, in my opinion. As long as I’m living within my means, there’s no drama! No angst. No story. Green line above the red line. Blah blah blah.
Did you make any resolutions for the new year? Currently on my resolutions chart, I have: work out (duh), swim (still trying to learn and doing immersion therapy to quit being afraid), put on lotion, eat eggs and salad (when I’m eating eggs and salad, it’s a good chance the rest of my diet is good), read 25 pages of any book, weigh myself (a tenant left behind a scale and I’ve never attempted to track my weight), Konmarie (organize) our apartment (again), write 250 words (this post took three days), and take a picture and put it on Instagram. I’ve put zero pictures up this year so far, so I deleted the “on Instagram” part and am doing fairly well on all my resolutions, nearly a week into 2024.
It’s the year of order and discipline. I kind of want to try again for that six-pack…
Let’s see what 2024 holds. Are you excited? I’m excited and nervous. And a touch bloated.
Love you all,
Anita
I enjoy your updates and find your charts to be very inspiring and I hope you keep updating them. It’s really neat to see how your portfolio grows during your early retirement.
One vote to continue was enough for me, so consider the thought of abolishing these posts officially abolished.
I actually always found these types of posts interesting to read. I am going on my 9th year or so of using your spreadsheet. It will be an exciting day when my green line to surpasses the red line 😁
That makes me so happy that you’re still using the spreadsheet! I use it too, albeit only once a year, and I love it. It’s one of my favorite things.
Ditto! I find these posts really interesting. It’s helpful seeing the numbers in real time.
Enough said! Appreciate the vote.
A dream come true. I am still fighting with myself to be out of debt and start the journey to live with Passive Income. Reading you the last years has Ben inspired. Thank you for sharing
Keep doing it! I have faith in you, friend.
Happy New Year, Thriftygal! It’s amazing you had so many trips, much less that it all cost you less than 30k. I went to DC for 3 days of the year and have spent 40k, chunks of it on car repairs, vet bills and eating lunch out , and I have no mortgage. But I only work part time and health insurance is covered, so I’m pretty blessed. Goals for year: read at least 5 pages of a book a day, daily walks, make my will, journal. Keeping it simple .
I note to keep the annual chart, since that started this whole thing, and keeps the hope that this is Al do-able. I will admit that I finally feel like I’ve probably over-saved, but not a bad problem. And who knows what will happen in this next year .
Just another vote not to end these posts.
It is really encouraging to see your expenses haven’t increased meaningfully after the last two years or so.
Housing costs and their steep increase in my area have me concerned about my fire numbers. Your post is comforting.
I do worry about housing costs! My rent in Denver would be nearly $1600/month if I didn’t live with my boyfriend. That’s not a small number. I feel your fear.
Honestly, working part-time sounds like a fun thing to do. Just enough work to keep you busy. Thanks for sharing your goals for the year. I’ve got to update my will too. Appreciate the reminder!
I really enjoy your posts. I find it amazing you can do everything you do (travel to so many places) on such a small amount of money. My post didn’t include any of your charts. I like to see them. And no, your post wasn’t boring! I’m not on Instagram so photos in your emails would be great! BTW, hope your family is doing well! I liked hearing about them. All the best to you in the new year❣️
I’m sorry my post didn’t include the charts in your email version. 🙁 I don’t know how to fix that. I’ll try to remember to put more pictures in my posts. Thanks for the feedback!!
Have a great new year, yourself.
Gonna miss ya thriftygal as I enjoy your your experiences and perspective.
I’m still here! Nothing to miss yet. 🙂
These posts are not boring, but rather encouraging— help keep us on track. Good work, and thanks for your time.
Okay! Thank you for your encouragement too. We can form a mutual admiration society. 🙂
Thanks for the update! It’s great to hear you are very comfortable with your numbers. And I object to this being the last update. 🙂 It does help someone who isn’t quite on the other side of FI to see that it can work long term.
Wow, you traveled a ton! I am a little jealous of that. The mid-western skies have been consistently cloudy and grey. The weather is getting old, even though winter just officially started. Someone on TikTok posted a video asking, ‘are you trying to do summer in winter?’ Like are you trying to do a bunch of things and stay on the move instead of slowing down. It sort of struck a chord with me, but then again, I can only have so much cozy, you know?
I have’t made resolutions in many years. I would say regular exercise is the number one goal. I did get a new Garmin watch after Thanksgiving and it’s helping me track and be more accountable.
Happy New Year!
Are you trying to do summer in the winter? I like that, too. Winter is meant to be indoors and slow. Or out of the country. 🙂
Good luck with the exercise boat!
I am probably trying to do summer in winter. Have to re-wire the urge to ‘be productive’.
Thank you!!
I think about productivity as a measure of success, too and I think that’s the wrong mindset. Worthiness doesn’t depend on what you do. I think.
I thought you were considering a return to work. Did that not happen or am I mistaken on the consideration of that.
Best to you in 2024
I’m always thinking about it, but I never pull the trigger on anything. I’m subscribed to every job posting in Denver on Idealist.org, a non-profit job search engine. I just like to see what the options are.
I really like to see your chart and comments about it. I would like you to continue. ❤️
Can do! I’ll update it again next year. Appreciate the vote!
I really hope you continue to update us on this chart in the future. It’s very motivating for me to see what’s possible! Thanks so much for this update. Happy new year!
If I can motivate one person, I’ve done my job. Happy new year to you as well!
Yes, please continue. I also have a similar chart and it’s motivating to see that there is someone else out there doing something similar and it’s nice to see how we compare. So far, we’re very similar.
Ooh, I’d love to see your charts!
Maybe you should write few posts about how you “only” spent 30K to go to all these places! It would be fun to know.
Okay! I’ll write more about my travels. Thanks for the idea. Appreciate you commenting. 🙂
Please continue the chart!
Okay! They’re a fairly easy posts to write, so I’ll keep doing them. Cheers!
Ooohhh… I really like the yearly updates!
Or were you just teasing us?
Anyway, I am amazed how low your expenses are, considering you travel so much.
Makes want to check where all my money is going…
Not teasing, just worried I’m boring you all. 🙂
I want to know where my money is going, too! I’ve always wanted to budget with categories, but it seems like too much work. I thought my credit card would do it for me, but I can’t find any charts they’ve made for me.
Some of the credit card issuers have annual summary PDFs at the end of the year by category. i know for sure that Bank of America does this and I thought Chase did too.
Yeah, that’s what I thought too, but I can’t find it on the website. I’ll keep looking as it seems very odd to me that it wouldn’t be there.
I also enjoy the updates! Don’t want to obligate you to posting these if it’s tedious, but it’s nice to hear how the finances are going for people who have already pulled the plug on full time work. Also, I am amazed at how little you spend and still go to all of those places! I think I’m doing travel wrong.
I don’t mind posting the charts, I was just worried they were getting a little stale!
As for travel, I spend a lot of time looking for flight deals, so all the new places are normally really cheap flights. I’ll write more about my trips to give you some ideas. 🙂
Thanks for posting. Your posts are always fun and inspirational to do things differently from the “norm”.
Thanks! Appreciate you commenting. 🙂
Hi Anita,
Love getting updates on your life! I know you love VTSAX and was just wondering what your thoughts are on VFIAX- Vanguard 500 Index Admiral CL (Index fund) VOO – Vanguard S&P 500 Index (ETF) and
VXUS Vanguard Total Intl Stock Index Fund (ETF). Thank you!
I think those are all great options! I’m especially interested in the VXUS international fund in case the U.S. goes to poop. Whenever I want to see how the market is doing, I type in S&P to the google and that’s how I track during the day if I’m curious, so I think it’s a good approximation and a good fund. Hope that helps!
Just wondering, do you use CD savings accounts or any other types of passive income or just have all your money invested in VTSAX? I am getting good returns on CD’s but I don’t know much about how VTSAX works and the difference in returns ( I am very conservative with financial risk).
I don’t have any CDs. Everything is in Vanguard invested. Returns on CDs are, what, 5% at most? I got 26% last year on VTSAX. Of course the year before it was negative and a CD would never go negative. It’s all about risk tolerance. If you can’t stomach the drops, maybe a CD is fine. But is the rate of return keeping up with inflation? I know it hasn’t in the past.
Always enjoy reading your posts and getting insights from another early retiree. Do you use a budgeting app or software to track expenses? I’m thinking about trying one. When I record expenses I seem to stay on track better as opposed to just winging it. Thanks!!
I’ve never been able to track my expenses. Even when I was working toward retirement. It seemed too tedious. I want to though.
Thriftygal, keep updating the charts each year.
If the charts are boring, that’s good, it’s all working out.
If the charts become less boring you’ve got an interesting story to tell.
And; not everyone is as far along this journey as you are. For those starting out it is helpful to see a case study play out over the years/decades.
You always make such excellent points. I keep forgetting that all my readers aren’t as retired as I am. I’ve been doing this for more than a decade and I think you’re all in the same spot as me.
Anita, I saw you already had many votes but I’ll throw in mine, too – it’s a helpful reminder for me to take a look at it and honestly, I never find it boring! It’s interesting and motivational, too 🙂
Thanks also for sharing your resolutions with us, too! Those are always interesting. I’ve transitioned to using a bullet journal to keep my “chart” more physically and visually present (since I fell off the spreadsheet several times) but I love the approach!
P.S. I’ve been getting back into reading and am curious if you have any recommendations/thoughts you’re planning to share on that front.
Appreciate you taking the time to comment! I’m glad someone finds it useful. 🙂
I’ve heard so many good things about the bullet journal! I can’t draw well though and it seems like something you need nice handwriting for.
I just read Class by Stephanie Land. She wrote the Netflix series “Maid.” Class is her second book. I love reading about people in poverty from people in poverty’s point of view. It’s a whole different world of finance from financial independence. I’m not sure I’d recommend the book though. Her choices frustrate me.
I also just finished Harriet the Spy, which was a book I loved as a child. It mostly holds up, but it’s definitely dated.
I’m reading Maiden right now. It’s about a professor who has a group of young women under his thumb, doing his bidding. Dark and enjoyable so far.
I’d love suggestions too!