The first quarter of 2021 ended. Unlike last year, I find myself more and more optimistic. AHP turned one year old last month and his schedule is getting more and more predictable. We are venturing outside more and more, enjoying the local parks and the trails that our neighborhood offers. MBP started playing soccer. The […]
The Monthly Expenses of Early Retiree – February 2021
We celebrated 2 birthdays in February. It was my grandmother’s birthday and AHP’s birthday. We’ve been really good at low key celebrations with just the immediate family. We also went to a drive by birthday parade for one of MBP’s classmate. She turned 4 and was so cute about it. There was also Valentines Day. […]
The Monthly Expenses of Early Retiree – January 2021
Well this was a very late post, given that it is already end of March. I thought about stopping my monthly update since our last year’s expenses are surprisingly low. That said, I still find this update useful for me. I like looking back and comparing my finances and the updates of our early retirement […]
Everything we spent on our first full year of retirement
Everything we spent in 2020
The Monthly Expenses of Early Retiree – December 2020
We celebrated the end of 2020 by spending on gifts, just because we can. I’ve been tracking our spending every month and was pleasantly surprised of the number. We have some surplus from our budget so we decided to spend some more in December. We spent $7,315.39 this December. Whoa! Here are some unusual / […]
The Monthly Expenses of Early Retiree – November 2020
In November, we voted, celebrated the result of the election, celebrated Thanksgiving and hunkered down. I’m glad the election is over. I’m happy with the result but I did spent a lot of time refreshing my browser asking google for election result. We also had a small Thanksgiving celebration. Our initial plan is to have […]
The Monthly Expenses of Early Retiree – October 2020
October is a month of getting into a routine and anticipation of the election results. We are starting to get comfortable with our new normal. Our routine includes going to outdoor preschool 2x a week, seeing my family every 2 weeks and getting groceries once a week. This month, MBP’s class visited the Thomassen Family […]
The Monthly Expenses of Early Retiree – September 2020
Pacific Northwest experienced some fire this September which was very unusual. We were 5 miles from the evacuated area, which is too close in my opinion. We left our house and stayed with my parents for 3 nights because I was being overly cautious. The kids had fun with the sleep over with the grandparents, […]
The Monthly Expenses of an Early Retiree – August 2020
We enjoyed the sunny month of August. There were very warm days and we had to turn on our portable air conditioner. We don’t have central AC. In fact majority of the houses in the Pacific Northwest do not have AC. We rarely experience 90 degree weather and it always cool down at night. An […]
The Monthly Expenses of an Early Retiree – July 2020
July 1st marked our first year anniversary of early retirement. It was fastest year, yet many slow days with a toddler and an infant. Our spending is not normal. This is the year of paying Cobra, giving birth and the pandemic. The first two contributed to an increase in expenses while the pandemic probably decrease […]