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 […]
The Monthly Expenses of an Early Retiree – June 2020
It is still hard to believe that the first half of 2020 is over. It was the quickest and yet the slowest year at the same time. AHP is officially out of the newborn phase and we celebrated MBP’s 3rd birthday in the middle of the pandemic. Spending wise, in June we spent 1,812.03 Preview […]
The Monthly Expenses of an Early Retiree – May 2020
In May we spent, $2,059.62 Groceries – $623.89 Food is still our biggest spending. My husband shops at Costco, WINCO and Amazon for our groceries. He goes every two weeks, or longer if we can. Home Insurance – $537.72 We also renewed our home insurance for the year. Surprisingly, I got an e-mail from our […]
The Monthly Expenses of an Early Retiree – April 2020
We incurred many one time expenses for this month and our spending is A LOT higher than usual. In April we spent $8,666.55. 529 College Plan – $3200 Our contribution to the kids 529 college plan was high for this month. I opened AHP’s 529 account with a one time contribution of $3000. Vanguard has […]
The Monthly Expenses of an Early Retiree – March 2020
We hit our lowest retirement spending this month. Our spending was very bare bones given the stay home stay safe order in Washington state. The whole chaos was hard. I was very much looking forward to being normal after being on a modified bed rest. The COVID-19 virus also brought some anxiety in our family. […]