Welcome to another Dr. PayItBack monthly checkup! I use this space to remain accountable to our expenses and goals, track net worth and debt, and muse on what was done well and what can be improved.
Despite the ongoing pandemic ‘thing’, October managed to be a super fun month for the PIB family. I didn’t know until I had a 4 year old that Halloween could be celebrated for an entire month, but we clearly needed something to go all in on and get excited for. We also got to have a visit from Grandma PIB before cases explode in our area again as they are currently threatening to do.
Budget/Cash Flow
A fairly standard month in terms of expenditures. Single largest outlay was a new camera for Mrs. PIB for $1,320. She’s really starting to kill it in the photography business, so it’s as much an investment as it is a hobby.
As always, three paycheck months are nice.
I’ve opened a taxable brokerage account for us, mostly just so that it exists for future contributions. I expect that we’ll be funneling money to both this and our down-payment fund on a monthly basis for the foreseeable future.
PayItBack Progress
LIBOR ticked up a whole 0.01% this month which is BULLSHIT; that’s like an extra 25 cents in monthly interest. I will say, as our assets become more substantial, it is becoming harder to resist the temptation to just pay off a big chunk of this in one fell swoop. The numbers don’t lie though, and paying off this debt at the expense of better investments would be irresponsible.
Net Worth
I’ve carved out down-payment savings as a separate line item here and it continues to grow quickly. We’re most likely going to be looking for something in the $350-450k range, so a ~$90k down-payment is the goal. I suppose I could use a physician loan, but I just don’t think I feel comfortable with that much additional leverage, especially as I stretch out our loan payments.
Zooming out from the trees to the forest, it’s still kind of up in the air when exactly we want to buy at all. I’m really enjoying my job right now, but with COVID it is still the definition of ‘unstable’. So we’re trying to figure out if we’re going to rent for a third year, or pull the trigger this coming spring/summer.
Financial Independence
Financial Goals for 2020
1) Devote 2/3 (66.7%) of net income to wealth-building: 70.4% running average
2) Max out 403b: $19,500 of $19,500 (100% done) ✅
3) Max out backdoor Roth IRAs: $12,000 of $12,000 (100% done) ✅
4) Max out 529s for state tax benefit: $16,000 of $16,000 (100% done) ✅
5) Pay 2019 tax underpayment: $0 remaining ✅
6) Pay off all carried 0% APR credit card balances: $0 remaining ✅
7) Pay off my car loan: $0 remaining ✅
8) Pay off Mrs. PIB’s car loan: $0 remaining ✅
9) Pay off Mrs. PIB’s student loans: $22,200 remaining