I didn't get around to making a December 2020 post, and so they say, better late than never!
To recap, my original goals for 2020 was to live among 9 countries and keep my annual budget around 30K. As we all know, Covid-19 changed the course for everyone's plans. I ended up living in only 2 countries and spent $40,338 for the year.
I did encounter several unexpected bonuses during 2020 though:
1) My business exploded.
Just about every school world wide turned to some form of online education. Since my business develops custom math resources, books, assessment questions, videos, and provides editorial services, we had more than enough work to go around. I was also able to grow my team of contractors which allowed my business to increase the volume of work, and in turn generate much more income than I could have imagined. Talk about crushing some work goals.
2) Understanding my spending habits.
I have been diligently recording every penny I spend in an app called, WanderWallet. I can categorize my purchases and I've learned a lot about my personal spending habits. Food & Alcohol were a lot, and my belly and hips are proof, as I was not exercising as much as I use to pre-Covid times. My original annual budget of 30K was based on researching spending habits of other Expats, and the various countries I was going to live in. Some countries have lower cost of living than others. Staying in Belize for so long, and living in the second most expensive part of the country, along with other factors due to Covid, is how and why I exceeded my original budget goal. The best part, it doesn't matter! I still earned more income in 2020 than I had ever in my life, and my annual cost of living was a fraction of what I had been spending in the US, so I was still able to save radically and invest wisely.
3) Savings and Investments
This is where I freak out and do a happy dance. I was able to save 90K of my income and invest that beast. That is insane!!! It showed me the power of geoarbitrage (living in lower cost of living areas when earning in a stronger currency). If I had not left the US, I would have never made the life changes to live more simply, stop trying to Keep up with The Jones's, and understand my addiction to consumerism. I use to have blinders on, especially when I the new shiny new toy (tech/clothes/jewelry) would present itself. Or maybe I would get bored and go to Walmart/Target and do that random shopping for crap I truly didn't need. And I know for a fact, that I use to spend a ton of money going out to happy hours with friends, and have expensive meals all the time, with little thought about how much I was spending. Just charge it! I don't do that anymore because of my environment. I am purposely living in tiny communities that do not have access to all of those things, and I don't use a credit card regularly anymore. I love living in a cash society and I'm shocked on how much I enjoy the minimalist lifestyle. All of this allowed me to save, save, save, and I love watching my investments grow, grow, grow! What am I investing in? Anytime I can buy more VTI, that's the first on the list. Then I also keep an eye on prices of a few more ETFs: ARKK, QQQ, and IYH. I do hold a few single stocks: AAPL, AMZN, and SOLO is a new one I picked up in February 2021. I didn't start buying ARKK until December 2020; had I started buying that position earlier, I would be even more happy with the growth. But in the FIRE communities we say, "time in the market beats timing the market." That saying is so true!
By December 31, 2020 I reached my CoastFI number or goal. If you've never heard of CoastFI, that's ok. I'll share more about that in an upcoming post and in the meantime you can Google the term on your own. I'm looking forward to sharing more about my FIRE journey, so stay tuned.
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