This is probably my favorite post to write every year because maps out my current trajectory towards financial independence. It lets me know how I’m doing with my saving, investing, and spending. Collecting this information can be extremely powerful tool because of the insight it gives you and one that I recommend everyone keep track of.
You don’t need to go all out like my spreadsheet with tables, graphs, and ROI but if I had one piece of advice for someone just starting out, it would be to track your spending. This is far and away the most important data one can track.
When you know where your money is actually going throughout the year, it makes it much easier to make the small changes the next year to help you to save more. It also starts to provide some motivation to try to save that extra % more or increase your net worth that extra $1000 more.
Tracking your spending is comparable to tracking your diet. No one actually wants to know what they spend their money on. Just like no one wants to know exactly how much pizza they ate or beer they drank. But if you truly want to see the changes in your life, you need to.
Eventually this becomes a part of your lifestyle just as health and fitness does, and you don’t need to be as strict in your data collection as it becomes a bigger part of your routine.
As you’ll see below, I didn’t budget at all for this year but spent roughly the exact amount of money this year as I did last year. And this is more due to my philosophy on spending rather than any planned strategy. It’s a lifestyle, not a diet.
I use my real numbers in the charts below because I think it’s important to see the power of what some of these small investing, saving, and spending ideas are actually having on my real financial plan. I also want others to know that I do in fact practice the exact ideas that I write about.
I didn’t invent any of it. People much smarter than me did. But, the concepts aren’t hard to understand. It takes time, but I learned it from others and hope that through my story I can pay it forward and help some more people along the way.
I know that through the years I have read many other bloggers financial summaries and it really motivated me and showed me that it was possible for me too. Most of us bloggers come from very different backgrounds, have very different jobs, and very different viewpoints, but we have all figured out how to apply these concepts to our very unique lives on our own individual paths towards financial freedom.
So let’s see how we did in 2019!
| Expenses | $$/Month | Thoughts |
| Rent | $526 | I stayed in some very unique situations this year, so much so that I plan to write an entire post dedicated to my housing. |
| Loans | $275 | |
| Groceries | $217 | This is an area of saving that I would like to diveinto more next year. I meal prep every week so this bulk purchasing definitely decreases my spending. |
| Dining/Drinking | $273 | More than I would have liked this number to be. Istarted dating again at the beginning of this year..It’s expensive to date but I was happy I started.. |
| Auto | $408 | This year was rough on me in regards to my vehicle. Broken windshield, side-swiped in the parking lot, and tire replacement all on top of my usual high driving routine for work added up. Thankfully many of my miles were reimbursed between contract locations and during one of my assignments. |
| Travel | $318 | I traveled more than I ever have this year but in the life of a traveling PT, you get paid to slow travel. For all the places I saw this year $318 a month was very minimal. Thank you travel hacking and traveling PT. |
| Entertainment | $125 | Pretty normal: sporting events, games, spotify, and some random events. |
| Gym | $40 | My normal $35 per month at Anytime fitness asthere are gyms all over the country. Plus I mixed in some random classes and rec leagues. |
| Shopping | $81 | By far the most I have ever spent on shoes andclothes which is minimal for many. I lost someweight this year so my wardrobe needed a littleupgrade. |
| Household | $88 | Included here is gifts, hygiene products, cleaningsupplies and general needs around the house. |
| Licensure | $35 | This year I only had an Arizona license, AZfingerprint card and an MN renewal. |
| Blog | $38 | Hosting, domain, and logo costs. I had to buy a new computer as well as my 2010 Dell finally died…I got a Lenovo open box from Best Buy for a very affordable price. |
| Haircuts | $19 | $20 haircut every 4-6 weeks depending on mylaziness. Still probably not worth learning to selfcut my hair |
| Healthcare | $107 | This is not my weekly health, dental, or vision insurance payments as I don’t consider those spending as they are taken from my paycheck before it reaches me, as taxes are. This new expense is primarily due to my large insurance mistake that led to increased out of pocket charges. |
Spending Review
I was positive that I spent much more in 2019 than I did in 2018. I knew that I had been traveling more, had some large health insurance and automotive expenses, and started dating… I was very fearful about what my results were going to be this year.
| Year | Amount Spent |
| 2018 | $29,896 |
| 2019 | $29,632 |
But what I actually found, was that my expenses were almost identical to last year. In 2018, I spent $29,896 and in 2019 I spent $29,632 dollars. I actually spent $264 less. I was shocked.
It didn’t make sense. How could I possibly travel that much, eat out that much, and spend more than I ever thought that I had in the past yet still spend less than the year before?
What I have been able to conclude is that even when I felt I was spending lavishly, I was spending on the things that brought me happiness. Without consciously thinking about it, I was cutting my spending from areas that didn’t matter to me as much such as housing, and other discretionary spending.
But I hadn’t even realized it. I knew I was spending more on experiences such as travel, dining out with friends, and trips back home to my family. But I didn’t realize that subconsciously I was cutting from the areas that didn’t provide me value at this time in my life.
This data further solidified my feelings on being a valuist rather than a frugalist. In 2018, I tried to save, save, save, and save some more but wasn’t very happy. This year as I became more of a valuist, I spent on things that mattered to me without nearly as much of that anxious worry or the voice in the back of my head guilting me about every dollar that I spent.
And guess what… I spent the same amount…
Income
| Amount | Thoughts | |
| Income -Take Home | $74,730 | |
| Pre-Tax 401K Investments | $8,968 | I finally started my 401k this year!! |
| Total Income | $83,698 | Due to some higher paying jobs, a little blog income and some low taxes I was able to reach my highest income to date. I also was able to take an entire month off of work this year. Maybe next year I’ll try and work the whole year. |
| Total Spending | $29,632 | I actually spent less money this year than last year |
| Savings | $54,066 | |
| Savings Rate | 64.60% | I didn’t save any extra money this year but I wasable to increase my income which led to theincrease in savings rate. There are always 2 partsto the equation. It’s best to focus on both IMO. |
| 2019 Investment Returns | $21,354 | As many of you know, the market his historic highs this year. |
| ROI % | 17.10% | After just beginning to invest last year and losingover 10% this was a nice and unexpected ROI.This finally proved to me why I invest. |
| Networth | $125,410 | $25,000 more than my goal I set at the beginningof last year. |
Income Review
I really didn’t set any goals for my income this year but I ended up making almost $10,000 more than I did last year which actually increased my savings rate by almost 5% from 2018. And this wasn’t due to a raise or working more hours this year.
If anything I actually worked less because I still took a month off between two of my assignments and even had one unique assignment where I only worked 36 hours/week for about 4 months over the summer.
I actually haven’t worked a Friday since the end of March…I’m getting a little spoiled…
Really what it came down to, was a better understanding of how traveling healthcare worked and my own understanding of the value I bring. You hear it all the time, but any time money is involved, you need to know your worth.
Now that I have completed nearly 10 travel assignments, it’s safe to say I know what my work is worth and I don’t take jobs any more that don’t compensate me for that worth. My first few contracts I know I was underpaid but I didn’t have the confidence in myself or the experience to turn them down or negotiate for more.
Now, I can see how much some of these locations need healthcare workers and I understand that many times they need me more than I need them. I can always find another assignment if I’m flexible, they often times can’t find another traveler very quickly and already have an overworked or understaffed practice.
Taxable Income
The best part with traveling healthcare is that the above income is my take home pay, not my taxable income. And because as a traveler, a large portion of my income is through tax free stipends my taxable income is likely much less than this.
I don’t have all my W2s yet this year but based on last year and the W2’s I do have, I’d guess my taxable income is somewhere between $33,000 and $40,000 before my tax deductions from my 401k, HSA and traditional IRA. Which puts me in a very low tax bracket for 2019.
If you estimated my income based on normal full time, permanent PT position, I would likely be making over $100,000 per year. Which is hard to find as a second year physical therapist who doesn’t have any managerial responsibilities.
Again, it’s not a forever position as traveling can be tough on you without the stability but it’s an underutilized tool to gain experience, make good money, and see the United States if you have minimal ties to one location.
If you are interested in traveling healthcare, feel free to email me at fiscaltherapist1@gmail.com or check out my free page on commonly asked questions and concerns with traveling healthcare.
Net Worth
Net Worth Review
Like I mentioned above, the crazy returns that the market had this year was the primary factor in the sharp increase in net worth above expectations. After losing over 10% in 2018, returning 17% was quite the improvement. I could finally feel the effects of compound interest that everyone is always talking about in the FI community.
At the end of this year, I contemplated realizing some capital gains in my brokerage account due to my extremely low tax bracket, but I decided that because this is still an area of investing that I need to understand more, that I would just let it ride for now.
This is definitely something I need to take some time this year to learn more about so that I can feel more comfortable and confident with these decisions in the future. Because right now, my taxable income is probably the lowest it will ever be, especially once I stop traveling.
Regardless, I am very proud of this accomplishment as reaching the six figure club was one of my main financial goals for 2019.
I’m told that as we age and our net worth continues to grow it becomes less of something we check or even care about. But for right now, I plan to continue to use it as a goal for motivation while I’m in the accumulation phase of my life. As long as my happiness continues to be the primary decision maker.
Plans for 2020
I plan to continue to travel for work in 2020 as I can’t seem to give up the income boost at least in these first years of my career. I’m currently working in Arizona and plan to at least finish the school year here as I am working at one of the school districts as part of my current contract.
From there, I will have options to get an assignment back home in MN or WI or possibly follow Ms. Fiscal Therapist (my girlfriend) as she begins her rotations for dental school. The best part is that traveling gives me the flexibility to make these decisions in stride.
Financially, I have aspirations to reach $200,000 in 2020.
I also plan to continue to travel and see the United States and hopefully begin my out of country travels. Normally I would outline my travel experiences in this post, but I plan to release a new post on how I could possibly travel this much while saving over 64% of my income!
Click here to read my entire list of 2020 goals
Conclusion
2019 was a great year both financially and personally. I was able to grow my net worth all while I was able to make the most growth I ever have as a person. What it really did was prove to me that I can still enjoy life and pursue my happiness all while I chase my financial freedom. One does not have to be sacrificed for the other!
So to quote the great Marshawn Lynch “…start taking care of y’all mentals, y’all bodies, and y’all chicken.”
Cheers to 2020!!
Feel free to comment below with thoughts or questions. Or if you have personal questions for me or want to learn about how to get started in traveling healthcare, feel free to email me here.
