Category: Monthly Review

Hello!

I hope you had a beautiful (and certainly warm) August! For my part, I sur did. I enjoyed the nice weather and had a great time with friends and family. What more could you ask for? Oh, and I blew out my thirtieth candle, and I’m doing great. After all, I’ve heard that the best is yet to come. 🙂

Also, it was a month full of changes on the financial side. I couldn’t wait to share the details with you! Basically, the changes are due to buying my mother’s house, as I had already mentioned in my last article. Although the purchase is not expected to be finalized until October, the process is underway and it has allowed me to get some things sorted out.

So, let’s see those changes!

Net Worth as of August 31, 2021

First of all, I can’t pass up the absolutely mind-blowing returns of the last month. It seems to me that almost every day ended in the green. Considering this, we can’t help wondering when the next correction will be, right? But in the meantime, let’s appreciate the good results and not try to time the market!

The same can be said for crypto which continues its recovery. After spending about 2 months in the red on all my positions, I am starting to see substantial profit again!

Thus, my net worth increased by a whopping $10,198. Wow! A 5-digit increase, now we’re talking. 😉

Assets

Indeed, there are a few changes here and there on the asset front.

Indeed, I no longer have worker funds RRSPs (FTQ and Fondaction). Why is that? Because I used them for the Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP). Since worker funds are very inflexible RRSPs for a FIRE goal, I thought that this was the best use I could make of it.

So, with the withdrawal of these RRSPs (totalling about $21,000), I was able to invest the majority of it in my TFSA. Yes, there is no obligation to use the entire HBP for a house down payment. This brings about a good change in the proportion of my TFSA in my total portfolio. See here the evolution of my different accounts over time:

Just last month, my TFSA represented 30% of my portfolio. Now it’s 40%. I love it!

Now I have about $14,000 left to receive from Questrade to use the HBP to its maximum of $35,000. Of that, I’ll take the minimum required for the down payment and closing costs for the house, and then the rest will also go into my TFSA.

In the end, I should have just under $9,000 left to contribute before my TFSA is maxed out. That shouldn’t take too long! Without the HBP, I had estimated that I would not have maxed it out before 2023! Hooray!

Liabilities

There are also some changes on the liability front. Yes, I gave in to temptation when I received the funds from my RRSPs for the HBP. I ended up paying off my car and my vision correction surgery! Good riddance!

Otherwise, I have a lot of credit on my credit cards due to the recent cancellation of my Hawaii trip. The current surge in Covid cases there forced my hand a bit. However, there are several other destinations where cases are better under control and sanitary measures are less severe. Stay tuned for the new destination!

In the end, my 5-digit net worth increase was actually a bit inflated by all these recent refunds. Still, it looks very nice. 😉

Savings

Here are the details of my August savings:

• August 11: $575 out of $1,836.98 net
• August 25: $1,200 out of $1,836.99 net
• Total savings: $1,775 out of $3,673.97 in August or a 48% savings rate

Of the $1,775I saved, I contributed $1,400 to my TFSA and bought $375 worth of cryptocurrency outside a registered account.

Since I paid off my car entirely on August 17, there is a world of difference on my savings rate between the two pays I received this month. It averages out to 48% for the month, but I can expect to average 65% or more for the next few months!

Also, although I will have a mortgage to pay probably starting in November, but the payments should entirely be absorbed by my October pay raise. 🙂

In short, it’s looking good for the end of the year!

Expense Report

In July, I spent $4,275.43, which is $51,305.10 annualized. If we take out my car loan payments, it comes down to $1,332.50, which is $15,989.94 annualized.

Just like that, it sure looks like a big month, considering my total car loan balance payment. However, without that, it was a pretty frugal month (even for me!). So even though it’s summer and the weather is nice, my activities are still pretty cheap. It costs almost nothing, after all, to enjoy the outdoors by hiking, biking, or visiting or entertaining friends. On the (rare) rainy days, we can always watch Star Trek on Netflix. 😉

Actually, there was originally more spending than that, but the cancellation of my trip changed that. It’s only a postponement in September, really!

Reading List

August was a month of slightly lighter reading. I allowed myself a little fiction and mindset refresh.

Here is my August reading list:

• Un pas à la fois by Sébastien Sasseville
• Star Trek Picard: The Dark Veil by James Swallow
• La retraite à 40 ans by Jean-Sébastien Pilotte
• Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson
• Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

I decided to read Un pas à la fois after seeing a lecture by Sebastien Sasseville organized by my employer. I found him truly inspiring and his book did not disappoint. His adventures and exploits make us think about how much we can accomplish ourselves and we can learn a lot of lessons that can be applied to different areas of life. In short, I recommend. 🙂

I also allowed myself a little rereading of La retraite à 40 ans. Although the material has been well assimilated over time, it’s still excellent for staying motivated.

The next reread will probably be Liberté 45!

Conclusion

So that’s it for the month of August. We already have more months done than we have left in 2021. It’s amazing how fast time flies. However, now that I’m on vacation for three weeks, I wouldn’t mind if time slowed down a bit. Pretty please! 😉

In addition to my plan B for travel, I’m going to use my vacation time to practice being free. I’m so used to running one way, then the other, making lists and chasing the clock. It will be important to try to deprogram all of that for the next three weeks. I think I’m going to like it 😉

What about you, how does September look like for you? Back to the daily grind, or like me, you have a late vacation?

Either way, I wish you good weather and a great September, folks!

Another month, another review!

How is your summer going? I hope you are enjoying it as much as you want. Personally, since my vacation is only in September, I’d sure love to take a little more time off to enjoy the summer. No big deal, I’ll make it up in Hawaii. 🙂

Nevertheless, I still find time to hike, bike and even meet a few of this blog’s followers! It was nice to discuss personal finance with other people who don’t think I’m some sort of alien. I think the feeling was mutual. Let’s do it again!

My second dose of the vaccine, originally scheduled for September, is now a thing of the past. I’m very happy about it, and I can bow spend some quality time with friends, family and new acquaintances completely guilt-free.

Finally, I had a little scare one evening… A “critical error” made my blog inaccessible! I went to great lengths to try to solve the problem. In the end, I had to restore to an earlier date and lose a few things, but it was better than losing everything! Let’s just say that I had a few cold sweats that night. After all, I did invest a lot of time and energy in this blog. I’m glad it’s back on its feet, so I can once again present you a nice monthly review!

Net Worth as of July 31, 2021

Slow and steady wins the race, as they say. 🙂

It was another great month on the stock markets. However, it sometimes feels like we’re waiting for the other shoe to drop. It sure can’t stay in the green forever! But no matter the colour, I keep dollar-cost averaging every two weeks.

I have found that my net worth has increased by an average of over $5,000 per month since the beginning of the year. Considering my average savings of just over $2,000 and my debt repayments of about $800 per month, that leaves room for a substantial return. At this rate, I’ll have a very nice number at the end of the year.

In addition, you may have noticed that crypto is starting to pick up again. It’s comforting to see my purchases of the last few months bear fruit. Even if, ultimately, only the long term really matters. 🙂

Savings

Here are the details of my July savings:

• July 14: $400 out of $1,835.89 net
• July 28: $600 out of $1,836.99 net
• Total savings: $1,000 out of $ in July or a 27% savings rate

Of the $1,000 I saved, I contributed $700 to my TFSA and bought $300 worth of cryptocurrency outside a registered account.

My savings rate is still pretty low this month and it’s likely to stay that way until November. It must be said that my debt repayments still take up 35% of my disposable income. Starting in November, my savings rate should explode. 🙂

It’s amazing how saving becomes an almost addictive habit. I have to talk myself into not feeling too bad about not saving more. Since I’m aiming for an average of 50%, I feel far from the goal! But I have to remind myself that 27% is still a very good savings rate! I can be very demanding of myself. Do you sometimes feel that way?

Expense Report

In July, I spent $2,677.24, which is $32,126.88 annualized. If we take out my car loan payments, it comes down to $1,842.52, which is $22,110.24 annualized.

It’s a bit better this month compared to June! I still had one other travel expense to make, which was booking a rental car. Fortunately, it’s not too expensive, having paid half of the bill with my Aeroplan points and having divided the rest with my sister. Of course, the points help a lot. However, even without the points, I found that renting a car through Aeroplan (as a member) was much cheaper than through other typical sites such as Expedia, Kayak, and so on. By much cheaper, I mean easily half the price. For those who are shopping for a rental car and are an Aeroplan member, go check it out!

Otherwise, as activities are starting to pick up, I bought myself a ticket for the first NSPW wrestling gala since the pandemic. I’ve missed it so much, so that’s going to be a lot of fun! Yes, another unconventional passion, in addition to Star Trek. Are there any other fans in the room? See you there?

Otherwise, there’s nothing particularly out of the ordinary in my spending. My life’s simple pleasures keep me satisfied on a daily basis, rain or shine. 🙂

Also, July 2021 concludes my first full 12 months of expense tracking! While every personal finance book I’ve read since 2017 encourages tracking expenses, I didn’t start until August 2020. I’m glad I did the exercise, which allows me to draw some interesting conclusions and see trends. This will be the topic of a future post, by the way. I’ll let you guess how much I spent in restaurants in the last 12 months. Starbucks included. 😉

Of course, I won’t stop tracking my expenses there, since my FI goal is closely linked to them. In fact, I expect a lot of changes in the next few years, both from an inflationary point of view, as from a personal choices point of view. So I want to continue to follow everything closely and adjust my goal accordingly.

That goes without saying that tracking each expense also allows me to think them through and make sure they’re really necessary. That’s a great way to avoid mindless spending!

Reading List

My reading list was much more finance-oriented this month! It was particularly interesting.

Here is my reading list for July :

• Old Man’s War de John Scalzi
• Richer, Wiser, Happier: How the World’s Greatest Investors Win in Markets and Life de Green, William P.
• Victory Lap Retirement: Work While You Play, Play While You Work de Mike Drak, Rob Morrison et Jonathan Chevreau
• Love People, Use Things: Because the Opposite Never Works de Joshua Fields Millburn et Ryan Nicodemus
• Retirement Heaven or Hell: 9 Principles for Designing Your Ideal Post-Career Lifestyle de Mike Drak, Susan Williams et Rob Morrison

I definitely fell in love with Victory Lap Retirement. The author describes the “Victory Lap” somewhat like Coast FI, or any other form of semi-retirement. For anyone who aspires to this kind of lifestyle, this is a must-read. I had this book on my list for a while, and I’m glad I waited until now to read it. It is very appropriate in this stage of my journey.

Also, Retirement Heaven or Hell is kind of a logical sequel and explains the nine principles needed for a great retirement. It definitely provides some food for thought on what we really want after the dreaded Rat Race. And no, it doesn’t just involve getting a cocktail and a tan on the beach.

Anyway, my everyday friends who stumble upon my Goodreads list must find my reading choices pretty peculiar for a 29-year-old woman.

Conclusion

So there you have it, I hope you have some nice numbers to update too after July. While saving money may not have been everyone’s top priority with the nice weather and doing all kinds of activities, there were some nice returns.

We are now into August, the last month before my vacation! I can’t remember the last time I took three weeks off, but I’m sure it’ll do me a world of good. Plus, I’ll be starting my new position (along with the new salary) once I get back from vacation. That’s a lot of good things to look forward to!

Until then, I will continue to work on my mindset with lots of reading and possibly more discussions with new FIRE friends. And let’s not forget that I’ll be blowing out my 30th candle this month. All the more reason to keep the fire burning. 😉

Have a great month of August, friends!

Hello!

I can hardly believe that June is already over, let alone that we’re halfway through 2021!

I believe that anyone who aspires to reach FI has a special focus on the notion of time. Well, let me tell you, it sometimes feels to me like time is slipping away!

I don’t know about you, but this perception of time flying by is increased tenfold in the summer. The good weather is already very short-lived in Quebec, we don’t need for time to go to warp speed! Honestly, I can’t wait to enjoy it a bit more, without the dreaded 9 to 5! Getting 35 hours a week back is so appealing to me, especially after a short vacation week this month. I want more!

Anyway, during this short month, I took the opportunity to soak up some vitamin D, bike, run, hike, read and spend time with family and friends (now that it’s finally allowed!) and… I neglected my blog.

Don’t worry, I’m still very much invested in my goals. I just need to find the right balance for writing in a slightly busier schedule. 🙂

Net Worth as of June 30, 2021

That’s a substantial increase! Yes, a $9,974 more in net worth! You don’t see that every month. It’s also a $32,632 increase (or 28 %) for this first half of the year. I  just love how the snowball effect is getting bigger and bigger!

Let me also turn your attention to my total assets. I remembered that at this time last year, I was particularly proud to cross the $100,000 mark. Well, one year later, I’ve already crossed the $150,000 mark by increasing my assets by over $56,000! Out of my own pocket, I contributed about $28,650. How is that for spectacular returns? It won’t always be this way, of course, but it’s pretty nice to see.

The same can’t be said for crypto at the moment. Are we already in for a multi-year bear market again? Only time will tell. In the meantime, I continue my dollar-cost averaging, especially for projects with excellent long-term potential like VeChain.

Otherwise, I’m still doing my debt repayment (the never-ending car loan and my vision correction surgery) as planned. Can’t wait to be debt-free in November!

Savings

Here are the details of my June savings:

• June 2: $650 out of $1,835.89 net
• June 16: $475 out of $1,836.99 net
• June 30: $300 out of $1,836.99 net
• Total savings: $1,425 out of $5,510.96 in June or a 26% savings rate

Of the $1,425 I saved, I contributed $1,100 to my TFSA and bought $325 worth of cryptocurrency outside a registered account.

Granted, it certainly wasn’t my best month on the savings front, but that was to be expected. Fortunately, I’m still on track for my 2021 savings goal of $25,000. I’ve already reached 58% of my goal, so I’m still ahead of the game despite a slightly slower June.

Plus, I have good news for my future savings. I actually got (another) raise! Indeed, my former boss offered me a position I’d never thought I’d get in years within her team. Even though it’s at the same level as my current position, she offered me a 3% salary increase. I asked for 6%, which I got almost immediately. Clearly, I should have asked for more. 😉

Since I wasn’t expecting to change jobs anytime soon, let alone get a raise, it’s all very much welcome. This will bring my annual base salary to $83,596 once I start after my September vacation. In short, the end of the year looks promising for my savings rate!

Another side effect of a salary increase is an increase in my contributions to my DB pension. Since I plan on taking my pension’s commuted value once I resign, it’s one more step towards achieving my goals. Hooray!

Expense Report

In June, I spent $2,913.42, which is $34,961.04 annualized. If we take out my car loan payments, it comes down to $2,105.72, which is $25,268.64 annualized.

Here’s why my savings rate is down this month: high expenses! Of course, with the summer and the getting back to a more normal life, it was to be expected. Also, I helped my mother with some renovations at home. It’s all nice and good to save, but you also have to help sometimes. 🙂

Additionally, I paid part of my Airbnb for my upcoming trip to Hawaii with my sister, and I went on a little frugal trip to Gaspésie with my boyfriend during my vacation week! Having the same money mindset makes things so much easier! 🙂

For your information, I was able to cut my travel expenses considerably thanks to my credit card points. In fact, I was able to cut about $380 from our Airbnb booking with my Cobalt American Express card and about $100 from my Gaspésie trip with my CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite card.

Finally, I am happy to note that I only spent $16,477 in the first half of the year. This includes $5,250 in car payments and $2,990 for my vision correction surgery. So, if you leave out those expenses that will definitely not be recurrent once I reach FI, that comes down to $8,237 in expenses in six months.

Let’s see what the rest of the year holds for me!

Reading List

Summer or winter, any month is a good month for a little reading. Although I didn’t read much about finances, some of my reading was still very relevant for developing my mindset. So, here’s my June reading list:

• Let’s Talk by Art Rios
• Tendre vers le zéro déchet by Mélissa de La Fontaine
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
• Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport
• Bitcoin Billionaires: A True Story of Genius, Betrayal, and Redemption by Ben Mezrich
• The President’s Daughter by James Patterson and Bill Clinton

Digital Minimalism was an eye-opener on my (and our collective) addiction to technological devices. For those who’ve seen the Netflix documentary called The Social Dilemma, it’s in the same vein. I have since been trying to reduce my exposure to my smartphone. Needless to say, it’s not simple.

For crypto fans, the book Bitcoin Billionaires was particularly interesting. There aren’t tons of books on the subject yet, by the way, so it was nice to read something on the subject. We get to learn more about the early days of bitcoin and the Winklevoss twins’ early involvement. A must-read!

Conclusion

So there you go. Slow and steady wins the race, as they say. With the first half of the year already behind us, I can hardly believe how far I’ve come. Sometimes it can feel like not much is happening. You just need to take a step back and look at the big picture. Zoom out!

With any luck, I should have a slightly less busy July. So, I really want to meet some of you who are interested. Talking finances and FIRE would be especially invigorating! I’ll contact directly those who already came forward. 🙂

What about you? Have you made any observations about the beginning of your year? And how is the second half looking? Please let me know.

I look forward to hearing from you. 🙂

Hello!

I hope you’ve all had a great month of May, despite the uncertainties of the stock markets. Personally, I’ve simply stayed the course. 😉

So, what happened in May? Well, despite the lack of motivation, things are going well at work. I had an excellent early midyear evaluation with my now-former boss. Yes, I’m talking about the manager who hired me last February on my current temporary position. Too bad, because I had never had such a decent and human manager before.

As a matter of fact, she asked me if I was concerned about a new manager handling my possible tenure. You know what? I hadn’t even thought about it.

Is that the power of F.U. Money (chaste ears, beware)? No matter what happens next, I know I am in a good enough position to put up only with what’s best for me.

Otherwise, I went on some delightful bike rides. Here’s a good example of life’s simple pleasures. 🙂

Plus, I got my first dose of the vaccine! My second dose is scheduled for September, but the latest news suggests that it’ll be much earlier than that. What great news!

You may have noticed that my articles are getting a little more scarce. What can I say. I don’t feel like staying in front of my computer when the weather is nice. Especially since I’m enjoying the nice weather with good company these days. Yes, you can really meet someone on Fire Dating. 😉

How should I refer to him on the blog, now? Mr. SLAP? I’m open to suggestions. 😂

Okay, let’s get down to business now.

Net Worth as of May 31, 2021

Yes, it has not been an easy month on the stock market, as well as for crypto. In fact, it’s especially not easy for new investors who are experiencing their first dips. For the regulars, we know what that means. It’s sales time!

Let’s remember Warren Buffett’s words, after all:

Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.

By the way, did you know that there are stock market and crypto indexes that monitor market sentiments? Fascinating what you can find on the internet. 😉

Anyway, despite all this, I continued my regular investments. And despite that, my assets barely moved! Thus, the +$2,326 change in my net worth is essentially due to my debt repayment.

Of note, I received $800 from my group insurance to pay off part of my vision correction surgery. I put in $500 myself, in addition to my two car payments. So while my assets have stagnated, my liabilities have decreased quite a bit. Yay!

Also, you may be wondering why I’m carrying a balance on my credit card? After all, it’s basic personal finance not to carry bad debt! Actually, I meant to transfer it all to my personal line of credit (5.45% interest with Tangerine). However, I found out that my BMO AIR MILES credit card has a 9-month promotional rate on balance transfers. The promotional rate is 1.99%, which is much lower than my line of credit. So that’s where I transferred it instead.

This way, I feel less of a need to pay it back quickly,  and I can keep investing. 😉

Savings

Here are the details of my May savings:

• May 5: $825 out of $1,835.89 net
• May 19: $975 out of $1,837.00 net
• Total savings: $1,800 out of $3,672.89 in May or a 49% savings rate

Of the $1,800 I saved, I contributed $1,350 to my TFSA and bought $450 worth of cryptocurrency outside a registered account.

I’m quite happy I managed to save so much! As mentioned earlier, I still have my surgery to pay off, so I was anticipating that this would pull my savings rate down. However, I’ve been able to offset that a bit by selling a few things here and there, such as books and Blu-rays that I’ve been meaning to get rid of for a while.

In fact, I finally got rid of my old hybrid bike that I haven’t used since I bought my road bike in 2018. Considering I paid $120 for it, used, selling it for $200 in 2021 felt absolutely great! 😉

Expense Report

In May, I spent $2,142.71, which is $25,712.52 annualized.If we take out my car loan payments, it comes down to $1,335.01, which is $16,020.12 annualized.

Most of my expenses are the same as usual. I also bought some sports clothes at Decathlon. The prices there are really extraordinary. Needless to say, I will never go back to Sport Expert.

So it was pretty quiet on the spending front until I finally decided to use my United flight credit. So, yeah, my Hawaii trip is finally booked, come what may. My first dose of the vaccine finally convinced me to do it. 😉

Of course, prices having increased since then, I still had to pay $221. I will have other expenses to do in the next few months in preparation for this trip. So there is a good chance that the savings rate will continue to take a hit. 😉

Finally, still on the topic of expenses, a reader recently wrote to me for tips on how to buy groceries at a lower cost. Since this is usually one of the biggest expense items, it’s worth looking into. Since I’ve been tracking my expenses, I see that the average I pay for groceries per month is $206.

So, I’m not forgetting you, dear reader. Although I’ve touched on the subject here, it could definitely be the subject of a future article. Stay tuned!

Reading List

Curiously, I have done a little less reading this month. Maybe for lack of time or lack of interest? The nice weather and Mr. Slap make reading somewhat less frequent and appealing. 😉

Despite that, my May reading list looked like this:

• Hannibal by Thomas Harris
• Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely
• Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett et Dave Evans
• A History of What Comes Next by Sylvain Neuvel
• Master Your Emotions by Thibaut Meurisse
• Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day by Jay Shetty
• I Will Teach You to Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. No BS. Just a 6-Week Program That Works by Ramit Sethi

Predictably Irrational was particularly interesting! It was actually a suggestion from one of my Facebook page subscriber. Thanks for the recommendation, it was right up my alley!

I think Think Like a Monk is worth a special mention. I have often joked that I live like a monk. I can confirm that many of the concepts detailed in the book resonated with me.

Finally, I reread I Will Teach You to Be Rich. I realize that many of my good financial habits today took shape from reading this book in 2017. Now, it’s a little less relevant to me, as most of the content is now perfectly implemented. However, it was a nice change to read about the wealth and abundance mindset, compared to frugality and the FIRE movement in general.

Of course, I’m perfectly happy with my frugal lifestyle, but it’s always interesting and rewarding to see things from a different perspective. One thing is certain. Ramit Sethi certainly wouldn’t tell me to cut back on my Starbucks coffees. 😉

Conclusion

So here we are, another month gone and it’s already June. How time flies!

This month, I have a week of vacation planned for the first time in almost a year. I didn’t see the point in taking a lot vacation in 2020, oddly enough. After that, my real vacation time (three weeks, two of them in Hawaii) will be in September. The week in June will only serve as an appetizer. 😉

Spending will most likely be more frequent in the months to come. However, no worries, I’m already ahead on my savings goal for 2021. 😉

If any of you are interested in a little meet up in a park or something in the Quebec City area, don’t hesitate to let me know. It’d be nice to talk in person with other FIRE and personal finance enthusiasts!

Hope to see you there. 🙂